‘You were betrayed and cut out of the stake,’ he suggested.
Li Feng looked away, seemingly absorbed by the play of sunlight on the grass.
‘Your mother is aged and sick and you were stealing to save her,’ he threw out lightly.
Her gaze snapped back to him with a tinge of annoyance that told him he was wrong, but had hit upon something. ‘Is this effective, asking so many questions with no direction?’
His laugh was directed at himself. ‘I’ve actually been told by a very wise man that it is always best to say as little as possible.’
Criminals tended to reveal themselves. It was in their nature to want to confess, the crime staining their soul as it did.
‘I was only curious,’ he admitted. ‘And it’s a long way to Taining.’
Han usually wasn’t so interested in knowing the reasons behind the crime. That was for the tribunal to sort out, if the motivations of the accused were even pertinent. Han found that in most cases, the reasons were quite clear. Only in a few instances did the accused ever confound him. The bandit Lo was one. Wen Li Feng was another.
There was another reason Han wanted information. Once he handed the dancer over to the authorities in Taining, she would inevitably be questioned about her accomplices. If she was more forthcoming to him, she might avoid a more ruthless interrogation at the hands of the magistrate.
Li Feng shifted her weight from one shoulder to another against the tree, her bonds constricting her movement. The dancer was not one for remaining still.
‘Were you so cordial to Two Dragon Lo?’ she asked.
His stomach knotted. It was back to Lo again. He couldn’t escape the man. Han conjured the remote tavern in the hills and a long night of trading drinks and stories with a fellow traveller. The wine jug was nearly empty when they had raised their cups in a salute. Lo’s sleeve had fallen just enough to reveal the tail of a dragon.
‘You killed him,’ she remarked.
So the tale goes. ‘That wasn’t my intention. He was to be brought to trial like any other criminal.’
‘An outlaw like Lo would fight to the death rather than be taken alive.’
Her fascination with the bandit disturbed him. She spoke of killing and death too casually, with a worldly air that was unexpected in a young woman.
‘Lo was more than a common thief. He had been enlisted in the provincial army and trained to fight with sword and spear,’ Han explained. ‘He didn’t stop at attacking merchants on the open road. The bandit formed a gang of outlaws and started threatening local officials as well.’
‘You say that Two Dragon Lo needed to be stopped,’ she said. ‘He was growing in power and greedy for more.’
He didn’t quite understand Li Feng’s cynical expression. ‘Many of the local armies have been disbanded in recent years. The situation has left too many dangerous men wandering with no direction, no discipline.’
She snorted. ‘Do you know who truly controls Taining? Not the magistrate or his constables. The county is controlled by a man named Wang Shizhen, who regularly extorts bribes of jade and silver and gold.’
‘General Wang Shizhen is the appointed commander of the southern garrison,’ Han pointed out.
‘You say there are too many soldiers without wars to fight and no commanders to keep them in line.’ Her gaze was unflinching on him. ‘Some of them turn into bandits like Lo while others forcibly take control with their armies. Is there any difference between them?’
‘This is dangerous talk,’ he warned.
She shrugged, too easily. ‘Just talk.’
Theft was punishable by beating or servitude, depending on the circumstances, but rebellion was unpardonable. The province had been plagued by famine and flood over the last ten years, pushing desperate men to banditry or insurrection. His own family had suffered in the aftermath of a rebellion in Fuzhou province to the east.
The singular punishment for rebelling against the state was both harsh and swift: public execution by beheading.
‘Time to go,’ Han muttered, his stomach knotted tight.
‘Are you going to carry me?’ she taunted.
It was awkward between them with her bound as she was. He was reduced to behaving like a servant, seeing to her needs.
Li Feng shrank back as he went to kneel beside her. Han paused with his hand at her foot, a pose that with any other woman would have only been possible in a moment of intimacy. He heard the quickening of her breath and tension built along her very well-formed calf.
She was his prisoner, he reminded himself.
The conversation had revealed more about Wen Li Feng than he’d intended, though it shouldn’t have mattered. If she was a criminal, she deserved to be punished according to the law.
‘Don’t try to run,’ he warned through his teeth. Han cut away the rope at her ankles and dragged her up. ‘If you do, I’ll catch you and beat you myself.’
The town was a fledgling one that had sprouted up at a convenient distance between two larger cities. The main road cut between two rows of buildings: an inn, a few shops and a stable. There was little else to the place aside from a few huts built of wood and thatched with hay.
They stopped beside a road stand serving food and drink. Han had to once again assist as Li Feng dismounted with her wrists still tied in front of her. His hands rounded her waist before settling her on to the ground. She shot him a look, though he hardly deserved it. The touch was purely innocent. There was just no getting around the fact that he was a man and she a woman.
‘I need to use the privy,’ she said.
He expected as much. The grey-haired woman standing behind the cooking pot pointed to the back area. Han followed closely behind as Li Feng started towards the outhouse.
She cast him a slanted look. ‘You’re going to follow me there?’
‘This is when every prisoner attempts to escape.’
‘I need my hands at least.’
‘Absolutely not.’
She huffed at him, blowing a strand of hair away from her face in the process. With a gesture, he beckoned the serving woman over and gave her a coin.
‘Please assist this young lady,’ he directed.
The old woman nodded. As they disappeared inside the hut, Han circled around to make sure there was no way to escape out the back. Then he returned to the benches where he had a full view of the door. By the time the old woman and Li Feng returned, the table had been set with a pot of tea and two bowls of mixed rice. She settled down quietly on to the bench beside him.
‘I asked for a serving spoon,’ he said, feeling quite generous. ‘So you can feed yourself with your wrists tied.’
It wouldn’t be the most elegant of meals, but he was sure she could manage.
‘Thank you,’ Li Feng murmured, head down.
She sniffled. He bent to see her face which was suddenly hidden behind a veil of hair.
‘Have you been crying?’ he asked incredulously.
Her nose and eyes looked red and she ducked away even further from him. Her shoulders were slumped and defeated. Her sniffling grew more pronounced. This was quickly becoming embarrassing.
‘Li Fe—Miss Wen?’ It was awkward having to be so polite to a prisoner, but there was no other way to address a woman. ‘What is this?’
She pushed at him,