Chapter 41: Every Other Way

Han sat behind his desk with Of Balances open in front of him. He had read the section twice, the second time with his finger under every character, as Ming read. Now he took his finger away and looked up at her. "I've seen four restorations," he said. "In three hundred years in this Bureau. Four." He closed the book. "And?" "Every one of them the same. A living person stood in the Hearing Hall and gave up their line, and walked out without one." He looked at her over the cold teapot. "The last one was a mother. For a son who'd been struck by mistake. A clerk's error. Two hundred years ago." "What happened to her?" "She lived another thirty years," said Han. "Unseen. Nobody could charge her a tax or enter a debt against her or write her into a marriage." He turned the cold teapot a…