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changed the subject abruptly. He informed her that the servant who had been driving the cart had been dismissed by their father.
    Jade looked aghast. "But Brother! It's not fair! It wasn't his fault—he didn't even know I was there!"
    Tiger looked at her sternly. In some way Jade felt that he had understood why she had attempted her escape, and he had not said one word against it—until now. "Jade, it is not your place to question the actions of our father."
    Jade's heart ached when she thought of how her rash plan had cost a man his job. She remembered how he had tried his best to cover her with the cloth, and realized that he must have felt doomed from the moment he laid eyes on her. She sighed, but for the moment her thoughts turned to something else.
    "Brother, the next time you go to the marketplace, I need you to do me a favor. Please give my share of sweets to the child of Chang the cabbage seller. His stall is the third on the right, and the child is the age of our brother, Mountain Wind."
    Tiger was exasperated. "Sister, don't you think this adventure should be behind you now?"
    "It is, Brother. But I made a promise, and I must keep it."
    Tiger relented. "Just this once. If I start handing out sweets, every urchin in town will be begging from me."
    It was not a compromise that satisfied Jade; she had planned to ask Tiger to give the child her share of sweets on a regular basis. She had had time to reflect on their encounter, and recalled how the child had made three sweets sound like a king's treasure.... Tiger brought her at least a dozen sweets at a time. The memory of the child's lively eyes and friendly manner had become one of the few highlights of her forlorn adventure. But Jade had still more questions.
    "Brother, when I was out on the road, I saw many women and girls. Are they always there? How is it that they leave their Inner Courts?"
    Tiger looked puzzled, then uncomfortable. "Their families are different," he mumbled.
    "Different? What do you mean? Don't they care that strange men see them all the time?"
    Tiger considered for a moment. "You know our servants. They live with us, and earn money, and once a year they go home to visit their own families."
    Jade sat still, trying hard to understand. She knew that the servants left once a year, at different times, depending on when they could most easily be spared from their work. The gardener left for several days during the winter. The cook left in the spring, during a stretch of time when there were no feast days. But Jade had never thought to wonder where they went when they left.
    "What does that have to do with the girls out there on the road?"
    "Jade, not everyone lives as we do. Those women and girls, their families are poor—even poorer than our servants. Everyone in their families has to work—"
    "Everyone? Even the girls?"
    "They live in a different way—they don't have the same rules—" Tiger stumbled over his words as he tried to explain.
    Jade thought some more about the people she had seen. She had not thought much of it then, but now she could remember their rough clothing, unkempt hair, and bare feet. And in her mind she had an image of Willow in her silk robes, carried aloft in her sedan chair, while behind her the little Chang child scrabbled for sweets in the dirt.

Chapter Twelve
    A Humble Request
    Jade paused before the door of the finest room in the men's quarters. But she hesitated for only a moment, for she knew if she stood there any longer, she would lose her courage. She cleared her throat and called quietly.
    " Abu-ji? " Hoping from the outset to communicate her respect, Jade used the most formal word for "father," not the more affectionate Ah-pa.
    The paper door slid open. Jade's father, head of the Han household, stood in the doorway. Although, as always, his face showed no emotion, Jade thought that he looked very tired.
    "Good evening, Daughter. Have you eaten well?" He returned her greeting with equal formality.
    In truth,