"Is it still raining?" Chen Yan's voice came from beneath the canopy before Ruan Nan reached the screen.
Ruan Nan pushed the lattice aside and looked at the gray thread of river beyond the garden. He smiled once.
"It is, a soft rain. It will ease by noon," he said.
"Soft for the river, heavy for the fields," Chen Yan answered. Her hand rested on the back of a low chair. The child on the floor built a tower with wooden animals and ignored weather and rank.
Yu Ci stepped forward with an armful of boards and a stack of papers. He did not speak until they had placed everything in order.
"Dismiss the other men," Ruan Nan said.
"Yes, Your Highness." Yu Ci's voice held the usual respect and the bare hint of quick humor he saved for private moments. He moved to the doorway and gave a single sharp nod. Servants bowed and slipped away like shadows.
Chen Yan watched him fold his hands. "You will actually go out, won't you?"
"One day," Ruan Nan said. He glanced toward the courtyard. "One day away from palace business, one day for us."
Chen Yan did not argue. She only said, "Don't promise what the court will take back the moment you try to spend it." A small smile softened her warning.
"I promise," Ruan Nan said. He crouched, examined the child's tower, then carefully placed his palm over the top animal so the tower
