“He’s...not a servant,” Zhi Lan admitted. She still thought it unwise to admit that Shao Qing was the thief the magistrate was looking for.
Lady Bu didn’t seem to mind this. “What is his name?”
“Shao Qing, my lady.”
“Do you know of his family?” she asked.
“He’s an orphan.”
Lady Bu furrowed her brows. “Did his parents pass?”
“I don’t know, my lady. He says he was found behind a pleasure house.”
“In this city?”
Zhi Lan nodded uncertainly, wondering why Lady Bu was so interested in Shao Qing’s background.
“Thank you for telling me.” She rested her hand on Zhi Lan’s shoulder, her touch gentle where the magistrate’s had been punishing. “Are you in pain?”
Zhi Lan shook her head. There was some pain, but it was nothing compared to what she thought was going to happen. She felt like crying again. “How do you stand him?” she hazarded to ask. “Does he hurt you like this?”
Lady Bu smiled mirthlessly. “He won’t touch me unless I permit it. I am not powerless. I have my family behind me. But you...”
Zhi Lan didn’t need to hear the rest. She knew her background was humble and that she was an easy target for someone like the magistrate. Meanwhile, Lady Bu was the daughter of someone of equal standing as Magistrate Bu. She blinked, suddenly nervous.
“You don’t truly mean to bring me to Magistrate Li, do you, my lady?” Zhi Lan asked.
Lady Bu’s smile softened. “Not if you wish it. But you ought to follow me out in any case. It’s best to avoid my husband when he is angry.”
They made it out the gate. A carriage was waiting outside, and Lady Bu ascended it, drawing the window curtain aside to peer out at Zhi Lan.
“Do you have somewhere to go?” the lady asked. “Let me drop you off.”
Zhi Lan clasped her hands and bowed. “Thank you, Lady Bu. I will be fine on my own.”
“Then the best of luck to you, child.”
The lady and her carriage clip clopped down the road in the direction of the city gate. Zhi Lan sighed, shielding her eyes from the sun.
A clash of a bell sounded near theyamen, but Zhi Lan was too far away to investigate. Since she was out, she might as well run her errand early. She had planned to go back to Yao and An Qin and ask them about Shao Qing’s whereabouts. It was too bad she hadn’t had the chance to look into the magistrate’s art room or speak to Master Dan, but there was no turning back now.
Poor Master Dan. She was proving to be an unwieldy student to him.
Zhi Lan followed the winding path Shao Qing had first taken her through. She even managed to make it over the boarded up door in the alleyway without help. After scaling walls and running along roofs, a climb over a door wasn’t so bad.
As she straightened her skirts, someone tugged on her sleeve.
It was the little street urchin who had attempted to rob her a few days before. She looked cleaner now, her small face wiped clean of dirt and her tattered robe replaced by a sturdy green one that looked a tad too big for her.
“I have nothing to steal,” Zhi Lan said crossly, shaking her sleeve free.
“I came to say thank you for the money, miss,” the girl said. “The young master who gave it to me said it was yours.”
Zhi Lan tilted her head at this. “When did he tell you that?”
“Last night. I saw him and wondered if he had more to give me,” the urchin said.
Her lips tugged up. “And did he?”
