Page 18 of The Scarlet Alchemist

The alchemist grabbed my sleeve, inspecting the hemp fabric stained brown at the ends from clay. “Is your dress made from used diapers?” he said.

I snatched my sleeve back as the other men laughed. “Is your mustache made from cockroach legs?” I said.

A few of the other men laughed softly, but were quickly silenced by the first man’s glare. He stepped closer, his warm breath reeking like baked fish.

“Why don’t you just go home to your husband?” he said. “Or are you here because no one wants to marry you? Can’t say I blame them.”

He grinned darkly, one of his front teeth unnaturally white and smooth. Those who could afford it sometimes had their teeth replaced by pearls or gold if they fell out. Or sometimes they’d pull them out just to replace them with a more expensive gem.

But if he thought I could be scared off by a couple of rich men, he was wrong. I was Fan Yufei’s ugly sister, thegwáimuigirl of Guangzhou, and there was nothing he could say to me that I hadn’t already heard.

“Find some entertainment that doesn’t involve me,” I said. “There are easier targets, believe me.”

The men seemed stunned at my words, so I took the chance to push past them.

A hand closed around my wrist, yanking me back into their circle. I looked over my shoulder at the man with the mustache.

“You’re not pretty enough to get away with being so mouthy,” he said.

I clenched my fists, and instead of pulling away, I closed the distance between us, looming over the man, arm tense in his grip.

“Do you really want to find out why I’m here?” I said. I didn’t want to get disqualified before the exam had even started, but I wouldn’t let this man tug me around like a rag doll. I was here because I was an alchemist, not a plaything.

He was incredibly lucky that the state official in a yellow robe banged a drum at the other end of the street. He released me and stormed off, the rest of the men shoving past me as they followed him.

The official cleared his throat, standing on an elevated podium at the far end of the yard. The crowd fell quiet as everyone drew closer to listen.

“Aspiring alchemists,” he said, his voice wispy with age, but perfectly clear in the nervous silence of the courtyard, “welcome to the preliminary round examination for imperial alchemists, held in this year 775, in service to the Perpetual Empress of the House of Li. We gather here in service to her, and the family that Heaven has chosen for us. It is my hope that the best among you will earn a place among her ranks, and bring pride back to the southern provinces.”

He held out a shaking hand, gesturing to the rows of metal enclosures in the courtyard before him.

“Now, alchemists,” he said, “please enter your cages.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

Enter your cages?I thought.Those are actually forus?

If this surprised the other alchemists, they didn’t show it. All of them bent down and crawled inside, so I hurried into one as well, hugging my knees to make myself smaller, metal bars digging into my back. The guards came around and locked the doors, one by one. When they finished, the official in yellow once again stepped forward, and all eyes turned to him. He stood beside a long table of five men in red and green robes, a massive wooden board beside him covered in blank scroll paper.

“Aspiring alchemists,” he said, “your task is to break free within the hour, but you will soon find that these are not normal cages. Our judges—” he turned, gesturing to the table of scholars “—will be watching you carefully. The first ten to escape will move to the second round in Chang’an. Best of luck to you all.”

Then he moved back, and more officials came up and down the rows, laying trays of alchemical stones on the ground in front of our cages. I supposed this was meant to make the exam fair, so that the wealthy scholars couldn’t bring wagons full of every stone in the world.

I peered through the bars while I waited for them to reach my cage, trying to discern the stone types from color alone, but I needed to feel them to be sure. My fingers twitched as the other alchemists started sifting through their supply. I couldn’t sit here and wait patiently for my turn. I needed a strategy.

I ran my fingers up and down the bars.You will soon find that these are not normal cages, the official had said. What did that mean?

The metal was silver-colored, at least on the surface. I closed my eyes and tried to identify the metal type by feel, but I was used to holding stones in my hand, testing their weight against each other. I scraped my thumbnail against the bars but couldn’t scratch the surface.

At last, the guards reached my cage. I leaned forward, gripping the bars as the man shifted to set a tray in front of me.

He hesitated, his gaze dropping to my wristband. Then he stood up swiftly, withdrawing the tray and instead setting it down at the next alchemist’s cage.

“Wait!” I said, swiping a hand out as if I could snatch the stones back, but the guard ignored me, hurrying to distribute the rest of the trays.

My hands shook against the bars, heartbeat throbbing in my ears as I realized what was happening. It didn’t matter how good of an alchemist I was. They weren’t even going to let me try. They’d decided it the moment they’d learned what I was.

I smashed my fists against the floor, the echo ringing out across the courtyard, making the other alchemists flinch.

---