Chapter 2: Cui Jius Kutsche

The lantern went out. In the lane only the road underfoot remained. The blue bricks, soaked dark by night dew, felt soft underfoot, and damp crept into the uppers of her shoes. The shadow of the crooked-neck locust tree at the mouth of the lane lay black and heavy across the wall, and when the wind passed, the shadow moved a little. Shen Du walked quickly, her heels striking into the cracks between the bricks without making much sound, her hands gathered in her sleeve tubes, her fingertips pinching her palms, pressing down the anger that had been rising since the second half of the night.

It was just getting light. In the east the edge of the sky showed a layer of gray-white, with no real light through yet. In the distance the watch drum beat its last round, its sound scattering in the mist.

Night dew dripped under the eaves. Drops of water had hung on the tile ends all night and were now falling one by one, hitting the stone steps and making small white marks. A young servant sweeping the ground saw her, paused with his broom, then lowered his head again and swept faster than before. The tip of the broom scraped over the blue bricks with a rustling sound, as if he was afraid she would stop and ask him something.

Shen Du did not take the main corridor, but went around by the west side passage. The passage was narrow, moss grew at the foot of the wall, green turning black, and in the cracks of the stone steps were stuck a few withered willow twigs - whether the wind had blown them there last night, or someone had tossed them there casually, no one knew. As she passed, her steps paused for half a breath, then she walked on.

"Elder Sister."

The voice came from behind the moon gate. Shen Lan leaned against the door frame, in a new lotus-pink jacket, her hair combed so smooth it could reflect a person, holding a blue porcelain dish in her hand. The dish held candied fruit, with white sesame sprinkled on top, glittering in the gray light of dawn. She had obviously been waiting a while, standing loosely, but her eyes kept following Shen Du.

"You were out all night," Shen Lan said. "Mother asked three times."

"Asked what."

"Asked who Elder Sister spent the night with outside." Shen Lan smiled, showing white teeth. "I said Elder Sister is not that kind of person. Elder Sister went to handle proper business."

Shen Du looked at her.

Shen Lan held the dish forward a little. "Aunt sent these over. Try some."

Shen Du did not take it.

"Not eating, then." Shen Lan picked up one herself and slipped it into her mouth, her cheek bulging. "This outfit of Elder Sister's - it is the same one you wore when you went out yesterday, is it not? The collar has gone gray. Later I will have the embroiderer cut a new one for you."

"Where do you get the money."

"Mother gave it."

"Your mother's money is your father's salary. Your father's salary comes from the income of the shops my mother left behind." Shen Du said. "Before you cut clothes, ask first what surname that money bears."

Shen Lan's mouth, chewing the candied fruit, stopped for a moment.

"The way Elder Sister puts it," she set the dish on the railing and rubbed her fingertip along its rim, "it sounds as if my mother owes you something."

"Whether she owes anything or not, the account books are in the storehouse. Turn through them and you will know."

"Account books?" Shen Lan laughed out loud. "Elder Sister, your mother has been dead for eight years. Can the account books still turn up flowers?"

"They cannot turn up flowers," Shen Du said. "They can turn up numbers."

Shen Lan's smile hung on her face, and could not stay there.

She picked up the dish, turning her fingertip halfway around its rim. "Elder Sister, I call you Elder Sister out of kindness. And you, every sentence has a thorn in it."

"I have no thorns. What I am talking about is numbers."

"Numbers?" Shen Lan took a step forward and lowered her voice. "My mother said that that little dowry of your mother's long ago filled the shortfall in the household accounts. If you go through the account books, is it my mother's face you want to turn up?"

"My mother's face does not need me to turn it up," Shen Du said. "She earned it herself."

Shen Lan's expression changed.

"Shen Du." She bit out the words. "Do not think that because you know a few people outside, you can throw your weight around in this house."

"I am not throwing my weight around," Shen Du said. "I am standing here."

Shen Lan knocked the dish against the railing. A piece of candied fruit rolled down, landed on the blue bricks, and got covered in dust.

Shen Du looked down at it once, raised her foot, and stepped over it.

The main hall.

Madam Liu was setting out bowls. She was in her early forties, with hardly any lines on her face, her eyes curving when she smiled, and she always spoke half a beat slowly. The porridge was plain porridge, with chopped scallions sprinkled on top, steaming hot, and when she set it on the table the bottom of the bowl knocked against the wooden table with a dull sound. Four small dishes were arranged neatly on the table, and the heads of the chopsticks all faced the edge of the table.

"A Du is back." Madam Liu pushed a bowl of porridge over. "Sit quickly, the porridge is still hot."

Shen Chong sat in the place of honor, holding a roll of official documents. Hearing the movement, he raised his head for a look, then lowered it again. The tip of his brush paused on the paper, leaving a small drop of ink.

Shen Du sat down.

Madam Liu: "The wind was strong last night. For a young girl like you to be outside, Mother did not sleep soundly all night."

Shen Du: "I have made Mother worry."

Madam Liu: "Worrying is only right. Only, A Du, you are sixteen this year. If you keep showing yourself in public like this, the neighbors' mouths cannot be stopped."

Shen Lan came in, sat down, pulled her bowl toward herself, and said nothing. Her chopsticks tapped twice on the rim of her bowl, then stopped.

"Mother," Shen Lan suddenly said, "Elder Sister went to handle proper business yesterday."

Madam Liu: "What proper business?"

Shen Lan: "I do not know either. Elder Sister would not say."

Shen Chong raised his head. "What proper business."

Shen Du set down her chopsticks. "Father, Squad Leader Cui came to see me."

Shen Chong's hand stopped on the official documents.

"Cui Jiu?" He frowned. "A man of the Imperial City Office - what did he want with you?"

"He asked about some old matters," Shen Du said. "He asked me about the old Qin residence, in the year when I was nine."

The hall fell silent.

Madam Liu ladled more porridge for Shen Chong, her hand very steady. The porridge spoon knocked once against the rim of the bowl, very softly.

"That Qin family case," Madam Liu said, "how many years has it been since it passed? How has it been dug up again?"

"I do not know," Shen Du said. "Squad Leader Cui did not go into detail."

Shen Chong closed the official documents. "Do not get too close to him. Men of the Imperial City Office - once you are stuck to them, you cannot shake them off."

"Your daughter understands."

Shen Lan suddenly laughed once. "What does Elder Sister understand? I heard that the Qin family head was guilty of colluding with the enemy, and the whole household was executed. Elder Sister burrowed into that kind of family's house - are you not afraid of picking up bad luck?"

Shen Du raised her eyes.

"Who did you hear that from?"

"Everyone on the street says so."

"The street also says," Shen Du pushed her bowl forward a little, "that on the fifteenth of last month, you went to the silk shop in the West Market, stayed inside for an hour, and when you came out there was an extra box in your hands."

Shen Lan's face paled by a layer.

"What was in that box?"

"I - I bought flower patterns."

"Do flower patterns need to be bought in secret?"

"You -"

Madam Liu set her porridge bowl down on the table. The sound was not loud, but everyone at the table stopped.

"A Du." Madam Liu smiled gently. "Your younger sister is young, and speaks without weighing her words. As the elder sister, give way to her a little."

Shen Du looked at her. "I have given way."

"That is good."

"I am still sitting here, am I not?"

Madam Liu's smile froze for an instant.

Shen Chong coughed once. "Eat."

No one at the table spoke again. Only the steam from the porridge rose slowly upward.

After the meal.

Shen Du returned to her own courtyard. The birdcage hanging under the corridor was empty, its door open, and no one knew how long ago the bird had flown away.

She pushed the door open. The chest in the room stood with its lid open. The chest was made of elm wood, covered with a thin layer of dust, and a strip of cloth was draped over the edge of the lid - who had hung it there to dry, no one knew.

She walked over, crouched down, and felt once along the bottom of the chest. She felt nothing.

She stood up, turned, and walked straight out.

Shen Lan was in the corridor, talking with a maid. There was an extra silver hairpin in her hair. When she saw her come out, the maid lowered her head and withdrew.

Shen Du walked over.

"The hairpin."

Shen Lan touched her head. "What hairpin?"

"The one my mother left behind," Shen Du said. "On the inside of the hairpin stem is carved the character Liu."

Shen Lan's face reddened and then paled. "Mother gave this to me."

"If your mother gave it to you, why would it be carved with my mother's surname?"

"I - I do not know anything about characters. This hairpin was taken from my mother's chest."

"Then go and ask your mother."

Shen Du turned and walked toward the main courtyard. Shen Lan chased after her and pulled at her sleeve. "Where are you going!"

Shen Du did not stop.

"Shen Du!" Shen Lan grew frantic. "It is only a hairpin. Do you have to make such a thing of it!"

"I do."

The main courtyard.

Madam Liu was doing accounts, the beads of her abacus clicking loudly. Morning light came through the window paper and fell on a corner of the account book.

Shen Du went in. Shen Lan followed behind her, her steps disordered, half a step behind at the end.

"Mother," Shen Du said, "the silver hairpin my mother left behind is on my younger sister's head."

Madam Liu raised her head, looked at Shen Lan's head, then looked at Shen Du.

"I gave it to her," Madam Liu said. "A single hairpin - leaving it sitting there is just leaving it sitting there."

"Leaving it sitting there, it is still mine."

"A Du," Madam Liu set down her brush, "I have been keeping your mother's keepsakes for you because I feared you were young and would lose them. Now your younger sister likes it. Let her wear it for two days, and she will return it to you."

"Return it now."

"A Du."

"Return it now," Shen Du said. "My mother's hairpin does not go on anyone else's head."

Madam Liu looked at her for a while.

"Lan'er, take it off."

Shen Lan unwillingly pulled out the hairpin and tossed it onto the table. The hairpin slid half a foot across the tabletop and stopped beside the account book.

Shen Du reached out and picked it up, and turned the stem over.

On the inside was the character Liu, worn shallow, but still clearly visible.

She put the hairpin away into her sleeve.

"Mother," she said, "my mother's dowry was thirty-seven chest-loads, not one chest-load short. I have memorized the list. If one day you want to check it item by item, I will recite it for you."

Madam Liu's hand stopped on the abacus.

"You child," she smiled, "what kind of talk is that?"

"Human talk."

Shen Du turned and walked away.

Behind her, Shen Lan said in a small voice, "Mother, look at her,"

Madam Liu did not answer.

The abacus beads sounded again, more chaotically than before.

Back in her room.

Shen Du put the hairpin under the lamp and wiped it.

The silver surface was wiped bright, reflecting a small patch of light. She rubbed with a cloth at the character Liu on the hairpin stem, rubbing for a long time.

Her mother's surname was Liu.

In the winter eight years ago, her mother fell ill - an illness that came on urgently, and she left just as urgently. On the third day, Madam Liu came through the door.

Shen Du stuck the hairpin into her hair, looked at it by the lamp for a while, then pulled it out again and put it away in a pocket close to her body.

Under the lamp lay two wooden tokens.

One was Cui, one was Ye.

She turned the token carved Ye over and over. There was nothing on the other side.

She put the two tokens side by side into her sleeve and blew out the lamp.

Three days later.

Before dawn, Shen Du went out. The mist on the street had not yet dispersed, and a few steps away you could not make out a person's face.

At the camp gate.

The carriage was stopped there, with blue curtains. On the shaft sat a man she did not know, holding a short stick in his arms, who did not move when he saw her.

Shen Du stopped.

The carriage curtain was lifted by a crack.

"Get in." Cui Jiu's voice.

Shen Du got into the carriage.

Inside the carriage a small lamp was lit. Cui Jiu sat inside, with a wooden box in front of him.