The Constable Booked the Assassin Every Night novel · Chapter 24 of 24
Chapter 24: The Last Booking
Shouzhi went down the stairs in his shirt, with his hair unbound and his collar open.
His mother handed him his cap without a word.
Dou stood in the lane with the cracked seal.
He looked at the persimmon tree and not at Shouzhi.
"The Inspector says the Doors must have a Chief by the new moon," he said.
"I'm fifty-five, Tan, and my leg is a ruin."
"I've held that chair twenty years for the Prefecture's convenience."
"I'd like to give it to a man who pulled a Prefect down in front of the whole city."
"Chief."
"I'm not the Chief."
"I'll take it," Shouzhi said. "On one condition."
Dou's white eyebrows rose.
"Name it."
"Yan Qinghe plays in the Hall. Every evening, at the fourth watch, in the back room. As the Doors' musician. Charged to the Doors' purse."
"On what grounds?"
"He's in my keeping," Shouzhi said. "A keeping is a household. Households have music."
Dou looked at him for a long moment.
Then something went across his big grey face that was very like a smile.
"The Prefecture's purse comes to the Doors again this year," he said.
"Under the new Prefect."
"I can find a pipa player's wage."
"God help me, I'll even listen."
He put the seal into Shouzhi's hands.
It was heavier than Shouzhi had expected.
"Don't drop it," Dou said. "It's cracked enough."
At dusk Shouzhi went to the Plum Lantern.
The wax was gone from the door, and the lanterns were lit again along the canal.
Madam Hui sat behind her counter in the lilac jacket, with her gold pin crooked and every one of her rings on.
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–6 of The Constable Booked the Assassin Every Night are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
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