Yu Ping had never suffered such a terrible ordeal in his entire life. Though he had not been beaten to death nor had his legs broken, he had been subjected to severe bodily punishment. His shoulders, neck, legs, and backside were all covered in wounds. Yu Miaomiao was heartbroken and sent the inn attendant to fetch a physician, while also arranging chickens, ducks, and fish to help Yu Ping build up his strength.

The physician came quickly, took several packets of medicine from his medical box, and set them down, then made to leave. Zhù Ying said: “That’s it?” The physician said: “Brought out from the campaign headquarters? Used to work in a government office? You’re getting more than your money’s worth — these past two days I’ve done nothing but treat this kind of injury.”

Zhù Ying was speechless. She let him go. The physician walked away without looking back — he was likely rushing off to the next case.

Yu Miaomiao bustled about getting Yu Ping new clothes. Zhù Ying and Zhang Xiangu withdrew first. They did not wish to disturb Yu Miaomiao while she was occupied, and took the opportunity to tidy their own belongings. Mother and daughter had very few possessions to their name. They divided the money into several portions: each kept a little on their person, with some tucked into bundles and some wrapped inside bedding. Beyond that, there were only a few needles and odds and ends of thread that Zhù Ying had casually picked up during her wanderings through the city.

Their packing was quickly done. Zhang Xiangu looked around at the tidy room and said: “My, it really does feel like a dream.”

Zhù Ying said: “In the future we’ll live this well just on our own!”

“What rubbish! Don’t start thinking about crooked roads! I haven’t even finished talking to you about that — “

Zhù Ying rolled her eyes: “What is there to say? I didn’t do it! Didn’t do it! Those kinds of things — once you do them, there’s no going back. You can never live openly and honorably again for the rest of your life — I know all this perfectly well.”

Zhang Xiangu reluctantly let it go, then fretted: “Oh dear, I wonder how your father is getting on.”

Zhù Ying said: “That’s exactly what I was going to bring up. The imperial envoy has given orders that the county magistrate and Yu Ping and the others must thoroughly investigate Father’s situation — the case may be quite large.”

“What?”

“That’s exactly why I said we should part ways. First, to avoid dragging Huajie and the others into this. Second, I don’t entirely trust Yu Ping. Third, the county magistrate is now going to investigate even more aggressively. If it’s investigated thoroughly, Yu Ping won’t be able to conceal things either — why involve them unnecessarily? I always feel like Yu Ping is hiding something from us, but I can’t quite put my finger on what.”

“Then we definitely can’t count on them!” Zhang Xiangu said. “We’ll have a parting dinner tonight and be off.”

Just as they were speaking, a knock came at the door. Zhang Xiangu opened it: “Huajie? What’s happened to you? You’re drenched in sweat! Come in and wipe yourself off.”

Huajie pushed her inside the room, shut the door, and said: “Godmother, you and Sanlang must leave quickly! My older cousin said the imperial envoy has ordered them to investigate your family! My older cousin said he can’t conceal it — the county magistrate questioned him, and he…”

It turned out that after returning, Yu Ping had finally told his aunt the truth. He had known about Zhū Shenhan’s affairs for a long time, and had previously covered for him and lobbied the county magistrate on his behalf. Now the imperial envoy had given the county magistrate a hard and fast order — if he couldn’t sort it out, he would be impeached and dismissed. The county magistrate would naturally no longer listen to Yu Ping’s words. Once Yu Ping returned to the county, the county magistrate would certainly question him again! And they still didn’t know what Zhū Shenhan had confessed to in prison, which made concealment even harder.

Yu Miaomiao had urged Yu Ping to think of some way to protect himself. Yu Ping was deliberating over whether to tell the truth to the county magistrate and to the imperial envoy. For he was still “serving under punishment to earn merit” — his conduct was being evaluated, and one misstep and the imperial envoy could have him beaten to death right then and there! He said to Yu Miaomiao: “What a pity about Sanlang — but it is also his fate! Auntie must insist we knew nothing of his surname being Zhū — he is simply a Zhù, a son-in-law we recently took in. His family’s name should not appear anywhere in the Zhū clan registry.”

After all, it was the Zhū Shenhan household itself that had been doing the deceiving.

Yu Ping told Yu Miaomiao and her daughter-in-law to act as though they knew nothing. The matter of reporting to the authorities he would handle and explain himself. He also promised Yu Miaomiao that once they had weathered this ordeal, he would make it up to her by finding her a son-in-law with a clean and proper background. He added one last remark: “That imperial envoy — he truly dares to kill people!”

Huajie, hearing all of this, thought of how Zhù Ying and Zhang Xiangu had treated her well and accompanied them all this way. Unable to bear the thought of doing nothing, she had run over to bring them warning. She pulled a handkerchief of valuables from her bosom: “I still have a little of my own savings. Take it, and go quickly — if you’re too late it’ll be too late!”

Zhang Xiangu jumped up and was about to curse, but was pulled back down by Huajie and Zhù Ying on either side. She swallowed her anger and managed to stay silent. Huajie pressed the valuables into Zhù Ying’s hand: “Go quickly!”

Huajie opened the door first — only to see Yu Miaomiao walking toward them. Her heart lurched. She hid her hands behind her back and gave a small wave, then stepped forward to greet Yu Miaomiao. Yu Miaomiao glanced at her. Huajie had the feeling that the woman who had been weeping so often these past few days had reverted to her former strong and steadfast self.

Yu Miaomiao also placed a handkerchief of items in Huajie’s hand: “Here — give these to them. I saw nothing.”

“Mother?”

“Did I not say it? You and I — we saw nothing. Let’s go! Quickly!”

Zhang Xiangu, hearing this, stepped out and called: “Great Madam.”

Yu Miaomiao turned her head away and refused to look at her, but her hand reached out to grab hold of her and push her toward the door: “Go! Go!”

Zhù Ying dropped her bundle on the ground, bowed on the spot three times, rose, slung the bundle onto her back, and the two of them — she and Zhang Xiangu — left the small courtyard at a swift pace.

——

Zhang Xiangu had no idea where to run. Her whole mind was focused on charging forward. Zhù Ying pulled her back: “Mother! Come here!”

“What for?”

“Running out like this, the whole street will see us.” From her waist Zhù Ying drew out her silver five-tool set and selected the pick, then opened the lock of the adjacent courtyard. Not every enclosed courtyard at an inn was occupied at all times. Mother and daughter entered and slid the bolt closed. Zhù Ying pushed open a side room door and pulled Zhang Xiangu inside.

Zhang Xiangu said: “We can’t stay here either! What if someone comes to stay here soon and we’re found out?”

Zhù Ying said: “Who said anything about staying here? Change clothes quickly. Whoever they’re looking for is a mother and son pair. Mother has always wanted me to dress as a girl — now we change our appearance, and dress me as a girl.”

That was a good idea! Zhang Xiangu had her own thoughts: “We can’t wear these clothes anymore — Yu Ping knows them! Come on, let’s change!”

Zhang Xiangu opened her bundle, which contained two or three sets of clothes. She shuffled the color combinations around, chose a green upper garment and found a white skirt, and helped Zhù Ying into them: “This set is a little small — never mind, I’ll take it in a bit.” Then she changed her own outfit as well.

She combed Zhù Ying’s hair next. Looking at the mirror to see a pretty young girl looking back at her, Zhang Xiangu’s eyes grew red. Zhù Ying said: “Mother, redo your hair too.” Zhang Xiangu said: “What style could I manage?” She pulled the pins and flowers from her hair, took a strip of cloth, and wrapped her head.

Zhang Xiangu asked: “Shall we go? Let’s leave the city first. There should be some abandoned temples outside the city where we can get through the night. Whatever happens, don’t walk by night. Once the storm has passed, we’ll come back and listen for news about your father. If it truly comes to the worst, we can only wait to collect the body.”

Zhù Ying said: “We’re not leaving the city.”

“What?”

Zhù Ying smiled slyly: “Under those three memorial arches in East Market, there is always a crowd of people — short-term laborers without long-term employers, hired for a day or two, three to five days at most, two months at the longest, then they move on. They take on jobs wherever people are temporarily shorthanded. Some jobs require skills; others are just physical labor. We’ll take on some odd job and wait out this trouble first. We absolutely cannot actually run away — we need to stay in the city so we can keep tabs on Father’s situation.”

Zhang Xiangu thought this was a fine idea and laughed, scolding her fondly: “You really are a crafty thing!”

Zhù Ying said: “Some of these short-term jobs are just moving things — a half-day’s work, you collect your wages and go. Most won’t check your background too carefully. And we happen to have no identity documents — this is ideal. We’ll say we came to visit relatives, used up all our travel money, and the relatives are nowhere to be found, so we need to take on some short-term work to get by. And don’t bring the bedding — hide it here. Just take our hand bundles.”

Zhang Xiangu said: “Fine! Though it’s a shame to leave the bedding behind — and we’re afraid of them finding it.”

Zhù Ying used the table for leverage, sprang up to the ceiling beam, found a stable spot on the beam to wedge the bedding roll, and leaped back down: “Done. Let’s go.”

She locked the courtyard gate again, and mother and daughter quietly slipped out the back door of the inn, heading straight for the three memorial arches in East Market. The back door was secluded, but once they had turned two alleyway corners, Zhù Ying became increasingly uneasy. Zhang Xiangu followed her daughter and noticed she was walking faster and faster, and asked quietly: “What’s the matter? Is there a ghost chasing you?”

Zhù Ying frowned: “Strange — something feels off.” She looked carefully around again. At first she suspected someone was tailing them. After walking a little further she quickly spotted the anomaly: there were indeed people looking at her, but not in the manner of surveillance — rather, some men were casting glances over mother and daughter with deeply unpleasant looks. This was something she had never experienced before.

Zhù Ying said: “The way those people keep staring — it’s truly annoying!”

Zhang Xiangu seemed not to notice it at all: “These sorts of things — hasn’t it always been like this?”

Zhù Ying said nothing. She steered Zhang Xiangu down a shortcut to the three memorial arches.

——

The area around the three memorial arches was constantly coming and going — people looking to hire workers, and far more people waiting to be hired as short-term laborers. The men stood in one group, the women in another. The mother and daughter linked arms and stood in the women’s group. Zhang Xiangu pressed a hand onto her daughter’s head to make her stop holding it so high: “Just stay beside me. Don’t speak. You need to look like a modest unmarried girl.” Zhù Ying did as she was told and pressed close to her.

They were dressed somewhat better than most people there. Some people watched them; some people tried to edge them out. There were also those who were in charge here, with a few small cliques among them. Whatever good opportunities came was decided partly by the employers, and partly on recommendations from these minor leaders. The minor leaders were no official designation — they had simply claimed their territory and collected a small protection fee.

Zhang Xiangu was entirely in her element here. Zhù Ying watched the people around them quietly while Zhang Xiangu had already struck up conversation with several nearby women in short order.

She had an open and cheerful temperament, and after the past days living with Yu Miaomiao and the others — where food and lodging were good but where she had always felt somewhat stifled — she felt here the familiar ease of her own kind. Before long she had already become one of the group, and while speaking of her own hardships, she also offered to read the palm of a thin and gaunt woman beside her, saying she saw that the woman’s household had troubles and that someone at home was ill. She even got it right!

Zhang Xiangu quickly earned a degree of goodwill, and after reading five or six palms and telling three or four faces, someone pulled her aside to warn her: “You two look clean — be careful you don’t get cheated. Some people with rotten consciences come here looking for fair-looking young women for dirty business.”

When employers began arriving, their conversation was brought to an end. Women were being hired away one by one. Some people also took a liking to Zhang Xiangu and her daughter — but some only wanted Zhang Xiangu alone for her capable and vigorous manner, or wanted only Zhù Ying for her youth. Zhang Xiangu refused all of them, insisting they come as a pair — a common enough demand when being hired or purchased, and not one that drew attention. Mother and daughter were also sizing up each employer in their own minds.

Until a middle-aged woman in cotton clothes walked over: “You two — what can you do?”

Zhang Xiangu said: “Washing, scrubbing, mending, and sewing, as well as general odd jobs. We can also manage tea and meals.”

The woman smiled: “You both look tidy enough. It’s you two, then. First go and let the Madam look you over — she decides whether to keep you. Three days first. If you do well, there may be more days after that. Be sharp about it.”

Zhang Xiangu quickly asked: “And if the Madam doesn’t take to us?”

The woman smiled again: “Which is exactly why you must be sharp — put away those too-clever looks.”

Well enough. It was already late afternoon, and they hadn’t had a place to eat the midday meal. Better to find a nest to get through the night first — if they were out at midnight without lodging and the night watchmen spotted them, wouldn’t they be just waiting for the authorities to arrest them?

Zhang Xiangu looked the woman over — she seemed tidy and clean, and her face didn’t suggest any sinister intentions. She said: “Don’t worry. Once I go with you, I’ll be a gourd without a mouth.”

Zhang Xiangu asked the woman her name. The woman said: “My husband’s surname is Zhao — just call me Elder Sister Zhao.” Zhang Xiangu was satisfied and followed Elder Sister Zhao along, daughter in tow.

With each step, Zhù Ying’s sense of wrongness grew — this wretched place, wasn’t it looking very much like the prefectural yamen?! The inner quarters of a yamen would certainly have strict rules — leaving would be next to impossible, so how would she investigate anything? The outer official quarters were even more problematic — Mr. Huang and the other clerks all served under the prefectural yamen, and they had all seen her. Wasn’t she walking straight into a trap? Zhù Ying stopped. Zhang Xiangu didn’t understand what was happening, but stopped as well.

Elder Sister Zhao saw the mother and daughter standing frozen at the sight of the yamen’s outer wall and could not take another step forward — a surge of pride welled up within her: “That’s the place — it’s not going to eat you! Don’t be so timid! Whether they even keep you is still up in the air! Move it!”

Not moving was the only option! Zhù Ying was right on the verge of dragging Zhang Xiangu away — but they had already reached the street in front of the yamen, and the yamen runners were already looking over!

Mother and daughter exchanged a glance. Zhù Ying gave a small nod. Zhang Xiangu said to Elder Sister Zhao: “Do take care of us, Elder Sister.”

Elder Sister Zhao smiled with restrained satisfaction: “Follow me.”

The moment the three of them entered the yamen through a small side door, a squad of men charged into the inn.