The owner shook his head disbelievingly. “Very well, follow me.”
He led them down a back hallway that was dark and cluttered with miscellaneous items. Zhi Lan passed the large, decorative head of a lion costume, wondering if a traveling performance troupe had left it in haste. They descended a narrow flight of stairs, turned a dark corner, and stopped in front of a sliding door. Mold speckled the wooden frame and there were holes poked into the paper screen as if someone had stuck their finger through it to peek inside. In short, it was the seediest room Zhi Lan ever had the displeasure of paying for.
She handed the owner the money with a clink, though he seemed reluctant to accept the coins. He took his leave with a bow, shooting one last glare at Shao Qing before he disappeared into the shadowy hall.
Zhi Lan peered into her pouch. “We only have two meals left to eat after this so I hope we conclude this business before dinner tomorrow.”
“We only have two morepaidmeals,” Shao Qing corrected.
She began to reprimand him, but she pressed her lips together. Shewasin the presence of a thief.
Shao Qing slid the door open. It creaked terribly, revealing a small chamber with a shallow alcove bed with white curtains and a rickety table and stool, upon which a melted candle stump sat. It was barely larger than a closet.
“Lovely,” Zhi Lan said grouchily.
She hadn’t had a good night’s sleep last night. Clearly she wouldn’t be getting one tonight, either.
Then, with some alarm, she realized she would have to spend the night with Shao Qing.Again.The thief in question began to remove his outer robe. After a day of traveling, he smelled even worse, which she didn’t think was possible. A mixture of sweat and dirt and man. Zhi Lan pinched her nostrils closed.
There was hardly any floor space to lay down comfortably. And the floorboards were badly stained with mold and some other sticky substance Zhi Lan didn’t care to identify. She couldn’t make him take the floor with good conscience, but...
Before she could voice her dilemma, Shao Qing sat and stretched his legs over the bed. Zhi Lan looked on awkwardly, clutching her bag to her chest.
Theyhadslept in the same room just the other night. But she hadn’t been entirely at his mercy, like she was now.
“I won’t touch you, if that’s what you’re worried about,” he said.
“I’m not worried,” Zhi Lan said quickly.
Shao Qing tipped his head to the inside of the bed.
“Why the inside?” she said suspiciously.
“So I can better protect us if there’s an intruder.”
Zhi Lan suddenly remembered Shao Qing was a wanted criminal. “Do you think the constables will come after you?” she asked faintly.
“Unlikely. Magistrate Bu is terrible at finding thieves.”
This was news to her. “But isn’t that his job?”
Shao Qing rearranged the bedding. “If he were good at it, Yao would’ve long been imprisoned.”
Zhi Lan shifted uncomfortably. Magistrate Bu was turning out to be a very different sort of man than she expected. At first, she’d been happy that he had become their patron. Magistrates were supposed to be fair and just—intelligent men with good morals who upheld the same values in the populace. Zhi Lan had been sure that they would be safe and secure under him. Little did she know that Magistrate Bu wasn’t very fair, nor apparently was he very intelligent.
“Are you going to sleep standing there?” Shao Qing said.
With a deep breath, Zhi Lan set her things on the table, then awkwardly climbed over Shao Qing’s legs into the hard bed, not bothering to remove her outer robe. The more barriers between them, the better.
The sheets smelled like mildew.
Shao Qing laid himself down and closed his eyes. Zhi Lan pushed away her uneasiness as she did the same, making sure to wedge herself into the furthest corner of the alcove. But even then, she was all too aware of the male presence to her left. Skies, what would Ma and Ba think of her, traipsing around with a criminal and sharing a bed with him?
Her desperation to save Master Dan and her future was truly unmatched.
Zhi Lan turned on her side and covered her nose with her sleeve. The unpleasant smells were keeping her from the lull of sleep. She considered confronting Shao Qing about her missing coins. In their current positions, it would be odd pillow talk, but she needed to know—she had intended to send some of her monthly allowance back home, but now there wouldn’t be enough. She stole a peek over at him.
Shao Qing’s elegant profile was silhouetted in the dim room, his breaths deep and even. Was he asleep already?
