Shuli Go Stories Vol. 6: Liars and Cheats

Part 2

Yao Yun's office was a neat and tidy affair. A cabinet full of papers, one window looking out into the garden, and a single chair behind the orderly desk. Lian, like all of Yao's guests, stood.

"Ten copper?" Yao asked without looking up from his ledger. "They owed twenty."

"Ten was all they had," Lian lied. Yao paused but didn't glance up. Shuli Go weren't the only ones who could detect a lie when it came to the taxman.

"Is that so?"

"Well," she admitted, "they did have a nice cooking pot I could have taken instead. Probably worth another forty. But I figured they're more likely to pay in the future if they're not eating raw rice."

"Yes, of course," Yao said despite having lost all interest in Lian's story as soon as "cooking pot" entered the discussion. He finished another entry in the ledger then closed it with a great heave. He finally looked up at Lian and smiled.

"Lord Baodung has been very impressed with you."

"He's never met me."

"Well I've been very impressed with you. You came highly recommended from Lord Ma, and I must say you've done a much better job than our usual tax collectors. Receipts look to be up ten per cent this year."

"So that means you're actually going to pay me."

"Yes of course, our agreed upon five per cent. Assuming we don't learn you've been pocketing any of the returns before you come here, of course."

Lian had considered skimming at least a little, given the unpleasant nature of tax collection, but Lord Ma was actually the third landowner in this province which she'd worked for and used as a reference. A fourth would go a long way to ensuring she could return for more work in the future. She smiled at Yao. "You have nothing to worry about."

"Good. Then how would you like to earn a far more substantial sum on top of your five per cent?"

Lian started listening. "I'm listening."

"Lord Baodung's daughter was kidnapped last night, while you were on the road. We've sent word to Prefect Ren, but she's told us not to expect an investigator for several days. Which may very well be too late. Lord Baodung has authorized me to contract your services. To find her. Do you accept?"

Yao was a simple man with a thin moustache, thin hair, and ears that came to a point. He'd already struck Lian as a straightforward, obedient, but intelligent enough man – the kind that Lords like Baodung valued so long as they never asked for too much or came up with any ideas of their own. The speech he'd just given Lian matched her read of him, but there was something off about it: it seemed a little too practiced, as if he'd worked out the exact wording to use well in advance. She felt certain she knew which of the words had been pre-determined.

"Of course it's my duty to help anyone in need," Lian performed a short bow. "I would be happy to help both the Lord Baodung and his daughter."

"Very good," Yao said, rising to his feet. "You should begin at once then. First I can show you to her room where she was taken."

"Second. First, we discuss pay."

"Ah," Yao nodded, leaning onto his desk and placing his fists down on the top. "Of course." He considered it a moment then continued. "We had prepared a bribe of three silver for the inspector. If you can find her before one arrives, it's yours."

"Five silver. By the time one arrives, chances are she'll be too far gone and your three silver would go to waste."

"Three and a half, if you find her."

"Five. Because I will find her, or at least her body. And every second we stand haggling is a second she's further away from here and closer to being a body."

Yao's eyes narrowed and his jaw trembled. Lian couldn't tell if it was from the negotiation or the thought of the girl dead.

"Fine. Five, if you find her alive. Four if she's dead. Agreed?"

Lian knew it was bad practice to agree to a different price for something beyond her ability to control, but four silver was the fair price she was hoping for anyway. She nodded. "Agreed."

"Then I'll take you to her room immediately."

They set off into Lord Baodung's large manor home – a three story affair, newly renovated but in the traditional style of previous dynasties. Lian had seen almost none of it, so she absorbed as much as she could as they moved up one set of stairs after another. As they climbed, Lian took in each stately column, each finely sculptured railing, each polished piece of stone floor. Around the edges of all the crafted beauty was a small army of servants, their eyes always to the ground, their clothes clean but drab, their bodies hustling and shifting things that operated in quiet invisibility. Lian never found the eye of a single one, never heard a voice. They were there, running the house from the outside in, but they were hired to be neither seen nor heard.

As Lian climbed behind Yao she asked, "How do you know she was kidnapped?"

"She was in her bedroom last night. This morning she was not."

"And how old is she?"

"Seventeen."

"Seventeen year old girls sometimes have other reasons to leave in the middle of the night."

Yao stopped and spun, his face aflame, almost overwhelming the subservient nature of his own visage for a second. "She was kidnapped!" He shouted. Lian no longer doubted why his jaw had trembled.

"I see."

Yao took a breath and reasserted his calm demeanor. "No you don't. But you will. And I'm sorry for the outburst, but Madam Jingyi is very dear to all of us here. Lord Baodung is beside himself, and Madam Baodung has not risen from bed since it happened. All of us who serve at Lord Baodung's pleasure are also quite upset. I hope you understand."

"...Of course. I'm sorry." Yao turned back and they continued their ascent. Once a few moments had passed Lian returned to her thought. "You said I would know she was kidnapped. How will I know that?"

"When you see her room," Yao responded flatly, his voice composed of pain.