Wang Yang felt around and pulled the candle from the bronze candlestick, saying:
"First, you knocked down the bamboo prop when you climbed through the window. Second, my voice didn't sound like I'd been asleep. Third, he left far too readily. He didn't ask to come inside then, but he was already suspicious. And once he was suspicious, he was bound to come and investigate."
The young woman asked again, "Then why did you take off...?"
"The room's only so big, and the gauze curtains aren't thick. With the firelight, one careful look would have exposed us! Once I stripped, all their attention was on me, and they wouldn't dare look too closely. It was a lucky coincidence that you happened to knock down the papers and candlestick."
As he spoke, Wang Yang hid the candlestick in his right sleeve.
"What difference did knocking down the papers and candlestick make?"
"Uh... it's complicated. I can't explain it clearly in a moment," Wang Yang answered evasively, tugging his sleeve down.
The gauze curtains parted. The young woman got off the bed and sat opposite Wang Yang, her gaze icy. "I ask, you answer. No lies."
Wang Yang said solemnly, "You saved my little sister yesterday. I owe you a great debt, so of course I wouldn't lie to you. Ask whatever you like. I'll tell you everything I know and hold nothing back."
"Name and identity."
"My surname is Liu, my given name Bi. I'm a student at the Jingzhou Commandery Academy," Wang Yang said without batting an eye.
"You know Jiao Zheng?"
"I only met him today."
"Why did you come to his house?"
"To settle a score."
"What score?"
"He tampered with the Soldier Register and transferred one of my men to another commandery."
Their questions and answers followed