The wheels turned with a rumbling sound as the carriage rolled silently through street after street, alley after alley — sometimes voices and lamplight drifted in from outside, sometimes the alleys turned dark and everything fell into silence around them. Xi Junyu sat in the carriage, occasionally frowning, glancing at the silent Guard Geng seated across from him.

“At a time like this… what exactly are we going to do?”

He’d already asked variations of this question several times, probing indirectly, but each time the answer had been more or less the same.

“Manager Xi will know when the time comes.”

He’d originally been mulling over what method Su Tan’er might use tonight to turn defeat into victory, but gradually he was beginning to think it might not be anything like that after all. The imperial merchant matter had first shown cracks four months ago, and the chain of events had led step by step to tonight — the clan assembly, where the second and third branches would finally turn on Su Tan’er, was already a foregone conclusion. If this couldn’t be resolved, Su Tan’er would be stripped of her authority afterward, and any future plans would all come to nothing — what could possibly be done at this point?

He disliked this feeling of not being able to see the whole picture clearly. Su Tan’er was, in a sense, a student who’d come up under his tutelage, and yet under these circumstances, he found himself completely unable to read her at all. Still, he had confidence, in the end, in how much he was trusted — he’d simply have to wait and see what she was actually planning…

Sitting in the carriage, he tried to gauge where they were by now, occasionally glancing out through the curtain at some landmark. The carriage seemed to be heading out of the city, and it was an odd sort of carriage too — not one of the Su household’s own. Along the way, it had circled back on itself a few times, perhaps out of concern about being followed. Xi Junyu’s suspicion only deepened. He understood perfectly well who the Su family’s current adversary was and what this affair concerned — so why would this kind of countermeasure be necessary?

The carriage left Jiangning city and finally stopped in front of a courtyard just outside the walls. Xi Junyu looked around at the surroundings — this area was relatively secluded, but not far off was a small, usually rather busy place with a somewhat mixed reputation, called Ten-Step Ridge. There were a few shops and fish stalls there, where people from nearby villages would come to buy goods, and occasionally violent incidents — turf wars, even killings — would break out.

Xi Junyu walked in through the courtyard gate.

In the next instant, he stood there, something almost impossible to believe surging up in his heart — and yet undeniably real. He was beginning to understand something.

A sharp blade pressed against his side. Figures began emerging by the doorway.

“Brother Geng, what exactly… is going on?”

“Come inside first, Manager Xi. Let’s wait here a while. Whatever you want to know, someone will explain it to you eventually. If there’s been some mistake, I’ll apologize to you then.”

…

At Yuexiang Tower, the sound of a zither rang out clear and elegant, a soft, lovely singing voice accompanying it. Luo Miaomiao plucked the strings, singing at ease under the gaze of everyone present. Xue Yan, Xue Jin, and the others joined in the singing, thoroughly absorbed in the mood. When the song ended, they raised their cups with smiles, offering praise all around.

They’d been waiting here today for news from the Su family for quite some time now. Between drinking and merrymaking, with Luo Miaomiao’s company, the wait hadn’t felt tedious at all. After a while, Xue Jin glanced toward the direction of the Su residence. “Come to think of it, the Su family should be reaching some kind of outcome by now.”

“A pity we couldn’t go see it with our own eyes at the Su residence — I imagine the third branch’s scheming and infighting must be quite the spectacle.” Someone nearby chimed in with a laugh.

“With Miaomiao’s company here today, all we need to do is wait for the outcome. And here you are, still wanting to go watch that scheming and infighting — truly a case of boiling a crane and burning a zither for firewood, utterly uncouth. Where does that leave Miss Miaomiao? A penalty drink for you!”

Amid the laughter, they also couldn’t help lamenting how disunited the Su family had become, feeling grateful their own Xue family had no such internal struggle over the estate. As they chatted, someone lifted the curtain and entered — a member of the Lü family, who’d been there from the start but had stepped out briefly to handle something, now returning. Xue Yan laughed. “Brother Lü, we’ve all been waiting for you for so long, finally back — you don’t even know what you missed, stepping out right when Miss Miaomiao was performing, what a shame that must be…”

The young man surnamed Lü laughed and apologized a few times, then sat down and said, “I took a turn around outside just now, heard about some rather lively goings-on. Oh, right — has word come back from the Su family yet, about the outcome?”

“Not yet. Is Brother Lü getting anxious? Ha ha, just as I said — the Lü family’s really put in serious effort on this one, even neglecting Miss Miaomiao just now, that deserves a penalty too.”

“Heh, Brother Xue jests. Everyone knows your Xue family has prepared most thoroughly of all for this affair — once trouble hits the Su family, it’s your Xue family’s business that stands to gain the most. As for us Lü family, we’re just scavenging scraps from behind, muddying the waters a little. Brother Xue’s words are pure slander, Miss Miaomiao, don’t believe him. He’s clearly anxious about the Su family’s outcome, and just deflecting by teasing someone else.”

Luo Miaomiao glanced at them. “None of you gentlemen ever say a word I can believe — I really don’t know who to trust anymore. I’d probably get sold off by you and end up thanking you for it. And what’s worse, not even for a good price…” The woman laughed. “That poor Su family, really — becoming your rivals is quite the misfortune.”

The group burst into laughter. Xue Yan shook his head. “Let’s not talk about that, let’s not — the Su family’s fate is already sealed, no need to worry over it. Tonight’s about enjoying ourselves, everything else is secondary. But Brother Lü, you mentioned something lively happening — what exactly was it?”

“Oh, over at Changyun Pavilion, quite the commotion — I heard that Liu Qingdi’s been battling the whole crowd in a poetry duel, ha ha, nearly came to blows.”

Today Puyang Yi was hosting a banquet at Changyun Pavilion, with Liu Qingdi, Cao Guan, and others in attendance — quite an important gathering in Jiangning today. As poets and men of letters gathered together, Xue Yan and the others naturally couldn’t take part, and even though Xue Jin and the others had some literary grounding, it only meant they didn’t write doggerel. Earlier at their own banquet, they’d discussed that gathering a little, and now, hearing things had grown heated, Luo Miaomiao asked with concern, “Is Sister Qilan all right?”

“Ha ha, of course nothing will come of it, it’s just a manner of speaking. With Puyang Yi there, there’s no way it’ll actually come to blows — both sides are just fired up, that’s all. But, well…” He paused, glancing at Xue Yan and Xue Jin. “This affair actually involves Ning Yi from the Su family.”

Xue Jin was taken aback. “Impossible, how could Ning Yi be at Changyun Pavilion right now?”

“Not that he’s there in person, ha ha, but someone brought out a new ci poem of Ning Yi’s at Changyun Pavilion. It’s quite an interesting story, actually — as for how Liu Qingdi…”

He went on describing what had happened at Changyun Pavilion, from Liu Qingdi’s dispute with someone, to how he’d overpowered the crowd with poem after poem, and finally to Chen Lu’s outburst — the Recluse of the Empty Mountain. He also pulled out two sheets of rice paper from inside his robe, on which were copied down some of the finest works from tonight’s poetry duel at Changyun Pavilion.

“…That last one is the new ci written by Ning Yi. Apparently he’s currently teaching at the family’s Yushan Academy, and wrote it casually the other day while explaining poetry to a nine-year-old child — he never intended to publicize it, but Su Chonghua happened to see it, and later told Chen Lu, the Recluse of the Empty Mountain, about it. This ci is actually called ‘Calming the Waves’ — a genuinely fine piece. I imagine this Ning Yi’s literary reputation is about to climb yet another notch after today… though thinking about the Su family’s current situation, it really is rather ironic…”

Amid the chatter, everyone passed the poems around. Tonight’s competition at Changyun Pavilion had apparently been quite high-level — every piece was excellent — but looking at that final one, everyone’s expressions grew a little complicated. Luo Miaomiao took the papers and read through them one by one, reading rather slowly, her eyes bright with interest, but when she reached the last one, she hesitated for a good while before finally reading the lines aloud.

“Calming the Waves…

Listen not to the sound of rain striking through the trees; why not chant and stroll on, unhurried? Bamboo staff and straw sandals outpace a horse with ease — who’s afraid! A cloak of rain and mist, and I’ll spend my life as I please!

The chill spring wind sobers me from wine, a little cold — but the slanting light atop the hills comes to greet me all the same. Looking back on the bleak place I passed through, I’ll go back. No wind, no rain, no shine — it’s all the same to me…

This ci…”

Many in the room had already read it once themselves; when Luo Miaomiao finished reciting it, an odd hush fell over the room. Xue Yan glanced around, then laughed.

“Calming the Waves, Calming the Waves… ha ha, this Ning Yi’s talent in poetry really is beyond dispute. But given everything going on with him lately, why write something like ‘Calming the Waves’ — could it be he’s feeling gloomy inside and trying to console himself?”

As he said this, the others chimed in with laughter too. “No wonder he only showed it to a nine-year-old — probably felt it was a bit too much self-deception, so he could only show it to a child, seeking some comfort.”

“Personally, I think it’s not as good as that piece he wrote in grief that night for Wu Chenghou, ‘Drinking Wine with Pei Di’ — at least that one, even though it was basically plagiarism, didn’t invite this kind of laughter, ha ha ha ha…”

“We’re all rough men here, not much good at judging the quality of poetry — Miss Miaomiao’s talent far surpasses ours, I wonder what Miss Miaomiao thinks of this ci?”

Luo Miaomiao looked around at everyone’s expressions, then at the poem in her hand, and said softly with a smile, “The composition is quite good.” Having given the poem this “quite good” verdict, the others laughed all the more heartily. Luo Miaomiao glanced over the lines once more, then passed it along with a smile, silently reciting it to herself.

Then came another round of chatter and laughter, repeating once more the story of the Su family’s efforts two months ago and their spectacular final failure, of Ning Yi’s pitiful composition of “Drinking Wine with Pei Di” before the Wu family, and everything that followed. But the mood shifted, almost imperceptibly, as time went on — occasionally someone would remark on one of Liu Qingdi’s fine pieces, pick up the papers to look them over, yet inevitably their gaze would linger a moment on “Calming the Waves” before turning away.

This sudden appearance of “Calming the Waves” hung over the space like a small, invisible snag.

But no one voiced it aloud — it wasn’t really that significant a matter to begin with. Once word came back from the Su family, this faint, half-noticed snag would surely dissolve on its own. Xue Yan occasionally glanced down toward the floor below, almost absently, and at one point, he finally smiled.

“The result’s in.”

A servant came running up from downstairs, and everyone burst into smiles. Xue Yan, seated by the window near the door, pulled it open and stepped out under everyone’s watchful gaze; the servant came up from below too, and everyone could see Xue Yan’s back as he waited.

“Come on, drink up, drink up.” Xue Jin put on a show of nonchalance, greeting everyone, and everyone responded with smiles, waiting for Xue Yan to come back in and share the news.

The Su family’s fate had long been all but settled — reporting it should be a matter of just a sentence or two. Even with some minor twists, there probably wasn’t much to say. Everyone waited for Xue Yan to turn around, smiling, and relay the outcome to them. But the servant, with an oddly secretive air, kept whispering into Xue Yan’s ear, and they waited like this for quite a long while.

“What did you say…”

“How… could that be…”

“Who did you say?”

After a long moment, faint, fragmented fragments of speech drifted in — not entirely clear, but those seated closer to the door could still make some of it out. Xue Yan kept asking, repeating things. The group, who’d been laughing and clinking cups just moments ago, finally fell silent, exchanging puzzled glances, unsure what had happened or what complication had arisen. Perhaps something unexpected had happened on the Xue family’s own end — the others, like the Chen and Lü families, weren’t especially worried yet. Finally, Xue Jin stood up, thought it over, and walked toward the door.

He’d meant to ask: “Brother, what’s happened?” But the words never made it out — Xue Yan had already turned around, his expression complicated, his mind seemingly elsewhere entirely. He simply glanced at his younger brother, then walked back in, looking around at everyone in the room, opening his mouth as if to say something, but nothing came out. Under everyone’s watchful gaze, he made his way back to his seat, shook his head, looking almost as if he couldn’t quite comprehend what had happened.

“Brother Xue, what’s wrong?” the Lü family member asked.

“Heh.” Xue Yan gave a faint smile, and after a moment, said quietly, “The Su family’s result is in.”

“And?”

“And…” Xue Yan repeated the word, blinking, then after a moment pressed his forehead hard with one hand, eyes squeezed shut. The Xue family had made more preparations regarding the Su family’s affairs than anyone, and only now did the others begin to sense that the outcome probably hadn’t gone as hoped — or rather, had gone very much against hope. Xue Yan opened his eyes, swept an arm hard across the bowls and chopsticks in front of him, then spotted the two sheets of poetry nearby. He tapped them with two fingers, pulled out the bottom sheet with a sharp motion, held it up before his eyes, and after a moment, began reading it aloud, as though reciting it for everyone to hear.

“Heh… listen not to the sound of rain striking through the trees… why not chant and stroll on, unhurried? Bamboo staff and straw sandals outpace a horse with ease — who’s afraid… a cloak of rain and mist, and I’ll spend my life as I please…” He recited the entire “Calming the Waves” through, and hearing it now, in everyone’s ears, it carried an almost entirely different weight. He looked around at everyone again. “Looking back on the bleak place I passed through… ha. If I told you we’d all guessed wrong, that everyone’s been played, played completely and utterly clean — what would you say?”

No one answered.

“Four months…” Xue Yan gazed out the window, murmuring. “Heh, the Wu family’s probably been played the worst of all, and the Su family’s useless second and third branches too…”

“Brother Xue… specifically, what exactly happened?”

“Just this.” Xue Yan slapped the poem down on the table. “They’re laughing at us right now. The outcome… turned out to be the best possible result for Su Tan’er. Internal troubles and external threats, all cleared away in one stroke. That fabric… that fabric actually…” His composure seemed to slip a little, and he rubbed at his forehead. “Thinking about it now… it’s simply… calculated to the last step…”

“…Ning Liheng.”

That final name, spoken with a sigh, rang out in the hall, and everyone froze. But as for the whole affair, they still didn’t understand it at all. Xue Yan took a deep breath, finally lifted his head, and smiled.

“My apologies, everyone — a four-month scheme… no, more than two months of scheming, all blown apart in an instant. I lost my composure there, please bear with me. The Su family’s result is in — let me tell you all about it, and you’ll understand…”

Back in time, not long before this — night, the Su residence’s clan meeting hall.

A round of argument had, at last, come to its end…