"Smash!" The hammer hit. Rock exploded into my back. "Move," Jiang Feng said, like he was asking for tea. I coughed and tasted metal. The garden smelled of incense, jasmine, and other people's satisfaction. "You still breathing?" one of his attendants asked, amusement in his voice. "I'm stubborn," I said. "And cheap to break." Laughter rippled out. Laughter always makes people louder when they're winning. Jiang Feng planted a boot on my ribs. He leaned in close enough that I could see the gold dust on his collarbones. "Lowborn," he said. "You should know your place. Try to crawl off my family grounds before I decide to entertain myself." "Ten silver each time I make you blush," I offered. "I'll need an advance." He smirked. "Enough. Crush her." The hammer came down again. Pain cleaved into me, but it didn't stop me from answering. "Make it worth my while," I said. Someone clapped. A servant near the gate clapped as if at a play. "She's dead, isn't she?" a woman whispered. "Let the dogs finish what the scion starts," a nobleman said. "We can't have lowborn mouths wagging about our purity." I stopped listening to them and listened for the thrum that had never been there before the last hour. A cold ticker at the edge of my vision. A thin rectangle with neat text. I had learned the rules of this life the hard way: do not stare at the HUD