“This rascal,” William Thompson shook his head with a smile, but what Samuel Williams said made sense—they should first ask Mute Girl what surname she wanted. She might still be thinking of her own parents.

It was still early, so William Thompson went to find the carpenter and the tiler, then made a round to inspect everywhere. As noon approached, he remembered the matter of household registration and hurried home. The courtyard was bustling. The carpenter had already fixed the door and left. A tall ladder leaned against the eaves, and four or five tilers were busy on the roof, while two others cleaned up debris below. The yard was a mess.

William Thompson saw a small table set in the courtyard, with five or six bowls on it. Mute Girl was holding a teapot, pouring water into the bowls. When she saw him return, Mute Girl’s eyes lit up with delight. She came over and made an eating gesture, her bright gaze fixed on him.

It was the first time William Thompson had seen her smile, and he felt a surge of joy. Smiling slightly, he said, “I’ve already eaten at the yamen. I came back to ask you something.” Seeing no one else around, he lowered his voice: “I want to register you in the household. I’d like to ask—what surname do you want?”

Mute Girl’s eyes dimmed. She lowered her head and didn’t respond for a while. Seeing her sorrowful expression, William Thompson realized she was thinking of her parents and comforted her: “How about taking the surname Li?”

But Mute Girl shook her head, found a twig, and wrote the character ‘郭’ on the ground. William Thompson was surprised by her neat handwriting and couldn’t help but ask, “You can read and write?”

Mute Girl wrote on the ground again: “I went to school for a few years.”

William Thompson was overjoyed. “That’s wonderful! From now on, we can write to communicate.”

“Surname Guo.” He pondered for a moment and asked, “What’s your given name? Can you tell me?”

Mute Girl hesitated for a long time before finally writing two characters on the ground: ‘倩倩’.

“Guo Qianqian.” William Thompson repeated the name twice. It didn’t quite sound like a name from an ordinary family. He quickly smiled and said, “I was just thinking! Mute Girl isn’t a very good name. From now on, I’ll call you Claire.”

Mute Girl shook her head slightly, then wrote ‘哑妹’ on the ground again and pointed to herself.

“All right then! If you like it, I’ll keep calling you Mute Girl.” William Thompson smiled and patted her arm. “I’m heading back to the yamen. I’ll leave things here to you.”

When William Thompson’s hand touched her arm, her body trembled slightly, but this time she didn’t pull away. She wrote three more characters: ‘Wait a moment.’

She ran back and poured a bowl of tea, handing it to him. William Thompson hurriedly took it and drank it all in one gulp. Seeing how much he enjoyed it, Mute Girl pursed her lips and smiled gently. In that moment, her bright eyes and white teeth made her look nothing like a lowly slave who had been auctioned off, nor a frail, yellow-haired girl as thin as a bean sprout. She was clearly a refined and serene young lady from a distinguished family. Although her graceful bearing vanished in an instant, William Thompson was still stunned.

He suddenly put down the bowl and said repeatedly, “All right, I really have to get back to the yamen. I’ve already paid the workers, so you don’t need to worry.”

William Thompson left his residence and hurried toward the yamen. Along the way, he couldn’t get her gentle smile out of his mind, and he was filled with doubt—who exactly was Mute Girl?

When he reached the yamen gate, Samuel Williams was already waiting for him. “Boss, Old Qian who handles the household registration said that in ten days there will be the last batch for this year. He wants to know if the freed slaves should be sent back to their original place of registration, or if we should apply for new household records.”

“Of course, we’ll apply for new records, and they should be ordinary civilian registrations.” William Thompson handed him the slip of paper with Guo Qianqian’s name, but suddenly remembered something: to apply for new civilian registration, you needed property or land, and neither he nor Mute Girl had any. He’d have to go home and discuss it with his father.

“Let’s wait a couple of days! I need to go back to my hometown first.”

……

Volume One: Swept into a Major Case

Chapter Eight: Father in Trouble

He had planned to return home the next day, but early that morning something unexpected happened. With the New Year approaching, many royal princes were coming to Fengyang to pay respects to their ancestors. Because of this, the acting commander of the Central Capital’s security office came to Linhuai County to inspect the safety measures. As a yamen runner, William Thompson had to accompany him the whole way. For several days, he couldn’t get away, and every night he returned home late after finishing official business. On this day, the inspecting commander finally left Linhuai County, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. William Thompson calculated that there were only three days left until the last chance for registration this year—he couldn’t delay any longer. He asked Sheriff King for a day off, planning to return to his hometown the next day.

When he got home, it was already late at night. The courtyard gate was ajar. He pushed it open and went inside. There was a faint light in the house. William Thompson walked to the main room door and, peeking through the crack, saw Mute Girl had fallen asleep at the table. Dishes were set out on the table, all cold by now. He felt a pang of guilt—he could have sent a yamen runner ahead to let her know, but he had forgotten.