Zhi Lan grabbed her other slipper and flung it at him.
4 – Shao Qing
The shoe smacked theside of Shao Qing’s head. He didn’t move, though the blow rather smarted.
“You...you!” the girl sputtered. “I’ve never heard such drivel in my life!”
He had expected to run into a maidservant, but somehow it ended up being her—the apprentice of that old painter.
She was a strangely hyper one, this Nong Zhi Lan, gasping and sputtering and kicking as if she had the energy of a thousand wild birds. Shao Qing should’ve drugged her with his handkerchief ages ago. And yet, here they were conversing.
From this proximity, he assessed her figure. She was too slender to be fashionably beautiful, but she had a good head of hair and all her teeth. Her features were delicate, comparable to the most sought after courtesans in The Peony Pagoda. Her eyes were wide, her lashes wet from her earlier episode. Her lips were especially perfect. Full and shockingly red, with a symmetrical cupid’s bow.
They pressed into a harsh, thin line.
Shao Qing’s breath caught.
Strange! He wondered at his reaction. What had it been? Her beauty? Surely not. Shao Qing had come across plenty of pretty girls and he hadn’t felt any which way about them. There was something different about her—or about this place—that made him more aware of himself. For once he didn’t feel completely numb. He felt...awake. Just like he had when he stole the magistrate’s painting.
Shao Qing brought his gaze back to the girl’s eyes. She glared at him fiercely.
“If you’re worried about your prospects,” he said slowly, “the magistrate will keep you whether you paint or not.”
She caught his meaning easily enough. Miss Nong drew herself up to her full diminutive height while still remaining seated. “How dare you! You are the rudest, most rotten, most addle-brainedeggI’ve ever had the displeasure of speaking to! Didn’t your mother teach you any manners?”
A bubble of amusement ran up his throat. Amusement! Shao Qing was compelled to crack a smile, though it was concealed beneath his mask. “I have no mother.”
Movement sounded outside—the shuffling of footsteps and the deep voices of guards.
Shao Qing turned, alert.
Such a range of feelings tonight, he mused.
It wasn’t entirely unwelcome. And neither was the light that shone through the latticed doors, silhouetting the approaching guards. He didn’t know how he’d been spotted, but getting out of a scrape was one of his favorite pastimes. Shao Qing scanned the room. It was an open planned suite, the sleeping area, sitting area, and study each sectioned off by a silk screen. The space was sparsely furnished. There was nowhere to hide.
He turned back to Miss Nong. “I don’t suppose there’s another way out?”
