The fireworks had been preceded by a private dinner party at Lady Xue’s townhouse. A rather prestigious affair with a select number of visitors, the evening had passed in good cheer and afterwards, they had gathered on the balconies to watch the sky explode in festive colors. They had left before the hour turned indecent, but Jiao-Jie was a generous hostess and had poured the guests’ drink of choice with their meals.  She had watched them go with high hopes for their peaceful slumber.<br/><br/>Several hours after the last guests had expressed their gratitude and left the diminutive woman to the quiet night, they would not have recognized their hostess if they had come face to face. Dressed in dark colors, a combination of red and dark grey, the young noble woman wore a country woman’s pants and a matching shirt. Her hair, usually worked into an elaborate bun and adorned with expensive pins, was held together in a single ponytail. If she were seen, she might be dismissed for a visitor from the country… -IF- she were seen… which was the exact opposite of her intentions.<br/><br/>When the scream cut through the sheltering fog, Jaio-Jie froze in the comfortable crouch that would have lowered her from Wei-San’s roof to his balcony. Over duck and oysters the wealthy merchant had refused a second glass of rice wine, confiding that he was a heavy sleeper after a fine meal. One slender hand clenched around the roof-turret, fingers hooked around the likeness of a rider and horse while she cocked her head and turned her eyes towards the sound. This should not be my concern, she thought, already rising to tiptoe, hoisting lithe form back upon the roof.<br/><br/>She picked her way towards the sound, choosing Dailiang’s highest road, swiftly climbing from rooftop to fence to balcony to rooftop, ever approaching the damsel’s probable location. It was not her concern, as her instincts told her, but the scream had been a woman’s and Jiao-Jie refused to leave a less fortunate of her helpless gender to her fate.<br/><br/><em><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 8pt;">{perception roll : 8}</span></em>