Shao Qing inclined his head.
***
THEY BARELY MADE ITfive paces across the courtyard before they were seen.
Lady Bu stepped out of the main hall, accompanied by a maid. The lady’s eyes locked on hers. There was no escaping the meeting now.
“Lady Bu! Good morning.” Zhi Lan clasped her hands and bowed.
A waft of jasmine perfume washed over her as Lady Bu approached. “You’re the student of Master Dan, yes? We didn’t have the pleasure of speaking yesterday. What is your name again?”
“Nong Zhi Lan, your ladyship.”
She stole a look at Lady Bu. Up close, the magistrate’s wife was even more beautiful. She wore several layers of light silk robes, all varying shades of purple. Her hair was done up exquisitely, held together by golden pins, complementing her swan-like neck. Zhi Lan figured this was the closest she’d get to a noblewoman in her lifetime.
“Zhi Lan. Like an orchid,” Lady Bu said softly, folding her pale hands in front of her. “You do have the looks of a flower in bloom.”
Zhi Lan blushed. “Thank you, your ladyship.” A compliment from a woman was infinitely more flattering than one from a man.
“Are you finding your stay here comfortable?”
Not in the slightest. “Yes, of course.”
Lady Bu smiled. “I must apologize for my husband’s behavior the other night. His temper is...unpleasant at times.”
“Magistrate Bu’s anger was understandable,” Zhi Lan said quickly. She heard Shao Qing scoff under his breath, and she scrambled to conceal the sound by coughing loudly into her sleeve. “Excuse me.”
Lady Bu smiled. The expression became her, and Zhi Lan realized she hadn’t seen her smile at all in the magistrate’s presence. “Are you going somewhere?” the lady asked.
“Yes! I have errands to run for my master.”
“One typically doesn’t leave the ward without a pass.”
“Oh. I-I didn’t know.” Zhi Lan bemoaned her fate for a minute before Lady Bu produced an intricately carved wooden badge from her belt and presented it to her.
“You may show this to the guards on your way out,” she said. “It’s my personal pass.”
Zhi Lan took the pass with both hands. “Thank you, your ladyship!”
“You will be back today, yes?”
Zhi Lan glanced behind her at Shao Qing, who was standing quietly with downcast eyes. He didn’t seem to notice her silent question, so she turned back. “I hope so, your ladyship,” she said, hazarding a guess.
Lady Bu’s gaze slid curiously to Shao Qing. “This is...?”
“One of your manor’s servants,” Zhi Lan blurted out. “I’m borrowing him for the day, if that’s alright. To carry the cargo.”
The lady studied him for a moment. Zhi Lan hoped she didn’t immediately know that Shao Qing was not part of her staff. Ma claimed rich folks never remembered their servants’ faces.
To Zhi Lan’s relief, that seemed to be true. Lady Bu stepped aside and gestured to the gate.
“I’ll not keep you, then,” she said.
Zhi Lan bowed again. “Thank you for your generosity, Lady Bu.”
They made it past the manor gate without so much as a nod from the guards. Zhi Lan breathed a sigh of relief as she and Shao Qing headed down the street. She looked back at the front gates of Magistrate Bu’s manor. Bold calligraphy was pasted on the doors, reading “Fortune and Virtue”. She had found very little of either within those walls.
It was still relatively quiet outside. Zhi Lan inhaled and turned to the thief. “Where did you stash Master Dan’s painting?” she whispered. “Somewhere dry, I hope.”
