20 – Zhi Lan
Zhi Lan had to admitthat the handsome, smiling young man was completely unlike the thief she had known. His enthusiasm was almost childlike as he showed her his family manor, pointing out the smallest of details, from the wood beams on the ceiling to a crescent shaped scratch on a post.
Wealth suited Shao Qing immensely. He was dressed in fine robes with the wide sleeves of the nobility, half his hair smoothed into a neat top knot and the lower half cascading down his back like a brushstroke. His elegant features were no longer at odds with his dress.
Shao Qing led Zhi Lan back outside. They sat on a stone bench below a willow tree, the breeze rustling the boughs.
Zhi Lan brushed off a few leaves that landed on her, not knowing what to say. She had donned her best clothes—made of silk, recently acquired. She’d even used a hint of rouge on her lips. Zhi Lan told herself it was because she didn’t want to look out of place amongst the lavish manor, but a part of her knew that wasn’t entirely the case.
She had thought about Shao Qing for the past couple of months—perhaps more than she should have. She missed having someone to argue with during the peaceful weeks of painting and traveling with Master Dan. Nearly every day she regretted that she hadn’t said a proper goodbye. She had assumed if they had a chance to speak again, the right words would find her.
How utterly wrong she was.
“You look well,” Shao Qing said. His words, though somewhat stilted, broke the awkward silence. He seemed to have a hard time meeting her eyes, though she couldn’t imagine why. Their manners had been so easy before.
“So do you,” Zhi Lan murmured. She glanced around the large manor. “Have you adjusted to life here?”
“Somewhat. It takes...getting used to.” Shao Qing lifted his arms, looking at his large sleeves like they were extra appendages.
Zhi Lan laughed.
His eyes lit up, a slight smile turning up the corners of his mouth.
“Your parents and Magistrate Li have been kind to you, yes?”
“They have. More than I deserve.”
“Everyone deserves kindness,” Zhi Lan said. Then, added quickly, “Including stinky vagabonds like you.”
Shao Qing chuckled. She marveled at the way it transformed him. It was the first time she had seen him laugh, and it made him twice as handsome.
Zhi Lan suddenly felt shy.
The last time they had been this close, he’d been kissing her senseless. She banished the thought immediately. He probably didn’t even remember, being half delirious at the time. Meanwhile, the memory had burned itself into her brain. It had cost her a few restless nights.
“Master Dan and I found another patron,” Zhi Lan continued, feeling a blush rise to her cheeks. This she could talk about without embarrassment. After Magistrate Bu had been demoted, there had been quite a buzz about the scholar painter caught in the middle of the whirlwind drama. She told Shao Qing about the marquess who had taken a liking to Master Dan’s work, and how he had purchased a few of his paintings and rewarded each of them generously. “Even me, though I’ve done little else but grind ink,” Zhi Lan said with a laugh. “I daresay I have a modest dowry now.”
Shao Qing tilted his head at this.
She cleared her throat. “Not that I plan on marrying any time soon. The marquess wants to take Master Dan and I to the capital city next week.”
“Next week. That’s soon.”
“It is.” Zhi Lan had barely wrapped her head around it herself. She was happy for Master Dan, of course. She didn’t want to admit it to him, but she had grown rather weary of big cities, and missed the early days when they had taken excursions to mountains and rivers. She even missed her village and her rambunctious brothers.
“Zhi Lan?”
