Chapter 13: The Boat-Girl

Mei had meant to wait until she knew what Lord Bei's answer meant, and whether not her day was the drunken part or the dangerous part, and how a name beside her mother's line could belong to a man who had drowned years before. She had meant to come at the question sideways, as she would a price she disliked. Then, on the night of the twenty-sixth, the first-watch bell rang, and she poured Liulang the good wine. He came up beside the ferry with his round face shining. The pale gold wine smelled of apricots, and he held the cup in both hands as if Mei had given him a festival gift instead of half a month's lamp oil. "My mother's line," she said. "In the Register." The cup stopped below his mouth. "It had your name beside it. Wang." Mei kept her hand on the jar. "Why?" Liulang…