Immediately after Wen Jia recognizes the veiled visitor's handwriting, the atelier's oil lamp burns low over the letter and examination tools.

Wen Jia reacts to a sound outside and moves the veiled woman away from the front room.

Wen Jia hides Bai Yan in the back room and gives clear survival instructions.

Bai Lou's arrival turns the alley outside Three-Stamp Atelier into a controlled space.

Lin Qiao announces Bai Lou while Wen Jia rearranges the room to hide her fear.

Bai Lou's greeting makes the atelier feel smaller; Wen Jia answers with procedure instead of fear.

Bai Lou notices the inner curtain; Wen Jia claims client confidentiality before he can ask directly.

Bai Lou sits and asks for her conclusion; Wen Jia begins inventing procedural delays.

Wen Jia lists extra requirements; Lin Qiao blurts out that they already brought the letter.

A tiny sound from the back room almost betrays Bai Yan, and Wen Jia covers it with a deliberate accident.

Bai Lou begins studying Wen Jia's wooden fingers openly.

The reader is reminded of the legal punishment attached to Wen Jia's old perjury while Bai Lou keeps probing.

Wen Jia uses the court oath as justification for the excessive records she demands.

Bai Lou's men wait outside while he decides to indulge Wen Jia's procedural delay.

Wen Jia expects Bai Lou to leave with Lin Qiao, but Bai Lou stays in the atelier.

Wen Jia forces Bai Lou into paperwork to keep him from looking toward the back room.

Bai Lou signs the invented form and comments on Wen Jia's old certification for him.

Bai Lou reminds Wen Jia that only her living thumb can bind her in court.

Bai Lou's attention nears the curtain again; Bai Yan almost betrays herself, and Wen Jia redirects him with work.

Wen Jia explains the ink test plainly to justify the delay while keeping Bai Lou occupied.

Lin Qiao returns before the records are ready, forcing Bai Lou to leave in person to retrieve what Wen Jia demanded.

Bai Lou decides to leave for the records, but first makes sure Wen Jia knows he is choosing to allow the delay.

At the door, Bai Lou alludes to the old perjury and the proof he kept.

Bai Lou leaves; Wen Jia and the hidden woman understand the room is only temporarily safe.