Gunpowder Alchemy by Jeannie Lin Page A

The seams were crisp and the material heavy in appearance. Buttons gleamed along the front. Nothing like the loose-fitting clothing of our people.
    Yang moved away from me, toward the door. “Our land is already dying from within. All that matters to anyone anymore is profit.”
    â€œThat can’t be true. There’s still honor and loyalty. Family.”
    â€œThere is no secret elixir, Soling,” he cut in sharply.
    When I set out to find my old friend, there had been one last flicker of hope inside me, but it died as Yang regarded me sullenly from the doorway. In Father’s workshop, he had been brilliant, always the one with new theories and experiments. He never gave up on any problem. He was convinced there was always a solution.
    Like everything else from my past, Yang had changed. That spark of ingenuity and optimism inside him had burnt away.
    â€œYou’ve asked quite a few questions already, Soling. More than three.” Yang regarded me with a grave expression. “I have a few questions of my own.”
    I swallowed, finding my throat had gone dry. “What do wish to know?”
    â€œDid they promise you something or did they threaten you?”
    The hard edge of his voice raised the hairs on my neck. I didn’t know how to answer.
    â€œTo make you come after me, did they threaten you or did they bribe you? Whatever it was, I don’t blame you, Soling. Under the rule of the Emperor, you are all his slaves—as I once was.”
    I shook my head. “I just wanted to help.”
    He returned and took my hand in his, the first time Yang Hanzhu had done such a thing. My heart beat faster.
    â€œI was loyal to your father to the end. The Emperor’s minions knew that and knew they could use you to draw me out. There was no other way for them to control me. I’m no longer their puppet.”
    â€œThen you won’t give them the formula.”
    His lip curled. “Even if I had it, I wouldn’t give it to those bastards.”
    â€œThen I was wrong to come.” I slipped my hand out of his grasp and he let me go. “If you’ll release me we can forget all this.”
    â€œThe Empire won’t let us forget,” he said bitterly. “I won’t let them exploit you.”
    I looked at him in shock. “You can’t mean to keep me here?”
    â€œIt’s the only way to keep you safe. I owe it to your father.”
    I thought of my family. For a brief moment, I considered pleading on their behalf to Yang. Maybe he could take us all in. Bring us to somewhere new, somewhere Mother wouldn’t waste away breathing black smoke and despair into her lungs. Somewhere Tian might have a chance outside the factories.
    But Yang was a traitor. He might even be a madman. He had bought his safety among the foreign devils in some illicit manner that I didn’t yet know of. What I did know was that Yang belonged nowhere. This ship was his only haven, and he’d chosen that desolate path.
    â€œUncle Hanzhu.” I used the honorific on purpose. “My father’s execution devastated our family. For years, I felt betrayed. Lost. But this is my chance to redeem our name. It’s your chance as well.”
    He stared at me long and hard. For a moment, I thought he might be considering my words, and I tried to imagine what it would be like if the Ministry of Science hadn’t been purged. If the engineering corps had remained intact. What if my father and his most gifted disciples had been hard at work all these years, designing a defense against the foreign invasion? Chen Chang-wei, Yang Hanzhu, all of the others.
    My hope was allowed to spark for only a brief moment. Yang straightened without a word and looked down at me.
    â€œI have no need of redemption,” he said before turning to go.
    He closed the door quietly, leaving me alone in his quarters. For a long time, I stood where I was while the ship rocked beneath me, in