In the main hall of Wangqiu Pavilion, people came and went in an endless stream of customers.
Mo Zi glanced sideways at Hong Mei.
Hong Mei was tugging down her short jacket for about the hundredth time. Having never worn men’s clothing in her life—blue jacket, black trousers, her hair tied in a topknot—she felt extremely awkward.
Mo Zi whispered to Qiu Sanniang, “Proprietress, next time you bring her out, just let her wear women’s clothing. Otherwise, with how uncomfortable she looks, people will immediately know she’s a woman, then suspect all of us are women too, and we’ll all be exposed together. Besides, bringing a maid along is more respectable than bringing a manservant.”
Qiu Sanniang tapped Hong Mei’s restless hand with her fan. “If you keep this up, I won’t bring you out next time.” So unseemly!
Upon hearing this, Hong Mei thought that wouldn’t do—the outside world was so interesting! She quickly straightened her garment, stood obediently to the side with hands lowered, though her eyes couldn’t stop looking around.
Mo Zi smiled. The dazzling world outside was intoxicating to the eyes.
When they requested a private room in the inner garden, the server looked troubled. “Dear guest, all the inner garden private rooms are fully booked. However, a room in the main hall just became available. Through the window you can see the garden scenery and the water pavilion stage. If you don’t mind, it’s on the third floor.”
Seeing business was so thriving, Qiu Sanniang was too delighted to care about such details. She had the server lead the way.
Mo Zi went to the inner garden to fetch Cen Er.
As soon as she entered the inner garden, someone she knew approached, wanting to speak but somewhat hesitant. It was none other than Zhao Liang, the repeatedly unsuccessful examination candidate—Steward Zhao. Cen Er’s father had transferred him to the capital to facilitate his examination attempts.
“Steward Zhao, I trust you’ve been well. Brother Mo offers his respects.” Mo Zi clasped her fists. “The pavilion is so busy—I hope it’s not interfering with your studies.”
“Brother Mo, not seeing you for several months, you’ve gotten much paler. I almost didn’t recognize you. I’m ashamed to say the books are all in my head, but once I enter the examination hall, my mind becomes like plain water.” Zhao Liang looked more spirited than before, with less of that decaying scholarly air and more maturity and experience. “I heard from Chief Steward Cen that Brother Mo put in a good word for me. My humble wife says we must thank you no matter what. Please honor us by visiting our home.”
When Zhao Liang said she’d gotten much paler, she nearly laughed out loud. Of course—today she hadn’t applied any darkening color either. She planned not to apply it anymore. If they had the ability, let them just come kill her directly. The more she hid, the less peace she had. Better to just live openly and honestly.
“The capital’s climate is nourishing—it’s turned me into a pretty boy.” Mo Zi laughed heartily. “How could I refuse your wife’s invitation? You set the date, and I’ll definitely be there.”
Zhao Liang also laughed. “Whether dark or pale, this forthright personality is definitely Brother Mo himself.”
“Steward Zhao, you have great ambitions—why fear the examination hall? Could there be difficult-to-handle drunk customers, unreasonable customers, or aggressive customers in the examination hall who would yell at you constantly? If I were you, I’d treat the examination hall as if it weren’t an examination hall but our Wangqiu Pavilion. You’re not an examination candidate but Steward Zhao. Your belly may have plain water, but your mind has brilliant embroidery. As you said, you’re ultimately yourself.” Mo Zi liked dealing with good people.
Zhao Liang bowed with both hands clasped. “This humble one is enlightened by your words.”
“Is Cen Er here today?” Because of her injury, she had given him the design plans for Hongyu Cove, having him find people to start construction, so Cen Er had to run back and forth between both places.
“He’s here, greeting customers at Tea Fragrance Pavilion right now. I’ll go call him for you.” Zhao Liang had been promoted and was now Cen Er’s right-hand man.
“It’s not urgent. The proprietress has come and will eat before leaving. Come along with Cen Er to meet her.” The people selected to meet Qiu Sanniang were all carefully considered by Cen Er and Qiu Sanniang. She was just the messenger.
Zhao Liang had never met the proprietress. Hearing Mo Zi say this, he knew he had earned their trust. Naturally delighted, he ran off quickly to fetch Cen Er.
Mo Zi was about to return to the main hall when she suddenly saw a group of women emerge from behind the rockery, chatting and laughing. Leading them was Qin Gu.
“Aunt Qin, how are your prized students performing?” As she spoke, she looked over the women. Each had different charms, but their bearing and temperament were remarkably graceful and outstanding—clearly Qin Gu had taught them well.
Most of the women thought Mo Zi was a man. Being looked at by him made them somewhat embarrassed, so they all lowered their heads, whispering among themselves.
Mo Zi vaguely heard words like “refined,” “handsome,” and “elegant,” and raised her eyebrows at Qin Gu, indicating her own charm.
Qin Gu couldn’t be bothered with her and turned to tell the girls, “Don’t set your hearts on her. She’s a playboy who loves fun and pleasure but takes no responsibility.”
Mo Zi’s mouth hung half-open. She couldn’t refute Qin Gu’s defamatory words—Qin Gu was helping cover up her female identity.
“All right, all right, you all go prepare to take the stage. Remember, Geqiu only offer their art, not their hearts and bodies. If you like someone, you must make them properly marry you.” Qin Gu waved her hand, having the Geqiu leave first.
Qin Gu had been a renowned music lady in Jiangnan in her youth. After mistakenly trusting a man, her heart grew cold and she gave up the idea of marriage, devoting herself to teaching women music. Her most accomplished student was naturally Qiu Sanniang—the student surpassing the master. After Mo Zi proposed the idea of Geqiu Ladies, Qiu Sanniang had asked Qin Gu to preside over training batches of excellent Geqiu. Because of her own experience, she hoped the Geqiu could avoid the tragedy of being deceived by men.
Mo Zi raised both hands in support of this philosophy.
If you want others not to belittle you, you must first not belittle yourself. Geqiu Ladies had an employment relationship with Wangqiu Pavilion. They could freely decide matters of the heart, but if they behaved too casually, it would affect all the Geqiu. For this reason, during the employment period, the Geqiu Ladies’ daily life was constrained by Wangqiu Pavilion’s rules. Unless a male customer formally sought to marry them, they couldn’t meet male customers privately. If they fell in love with a customer in secret and wanted to be together regardless of propriety, that was equivalent to breaking the contract and they would have to leave Wangqiu Pavilion.
“Aunt Qin, I’ve heard about your secret weapon.” Mo Zi watched the group of Geqiu walk away. Among them was a woman wearing a butterfly-patterned skirt who never looked directly at her from start to finish. As soon as Qin Gu mentioned taking the stage, that woman walked away very quickly. Strange—being so shy, how could she perform in front of customers?
Speaking of this, Qin Gu’s eyes shone brightly. “You mean Chen Niang? Let me tell you, I really found a treasure. That voice of hers—when she sings, it’s truly like rain falling from heaven, snow flying across ten thousand mountains—extremely wonderful.”
Rain falling from heaven, snow flying across ten thousand mountains. Such powerful descriptive words?
Mo Zi laughed and said fine. “Aunt Qin, you must let us listen and see. If you’re exaggerating, you’ll have to drink three cups as penalty in front of the proprietress.”
“Sanniang came out? Where is she sitting?” Qin Gu really missed this student.
“In a private room on the third floor of the main hall.” Mo Zi pointed upward at the pavilion.
“The grand proprietress of Wangqiu Pavilion came but is in the hall. However, seeing how good business is, she probably doesn’t mind.” Qin Gu also understood Sanniang’s personality well. “Chen Niang has to go on stage. After she finishes singing, I’ll come. Tell Sanniang to wait for me—I haven’t seen her in so long, I miss her dearly.”
At this moment, two young Geqiu came running over, calling for Aunt to hurry.
Qin Gu left in a rush.
However, Mo Zi wasn’t so obedient. Seeing that their performance was at Cloud Song Stage not far from where she stood, and it happened to be on Cen Er’s route, she simply decided to go watch.
Cloud Song Stage was something Mo Zi had experimentally designed using echo principles. The curved structure touched slightly on sonar principles, and utilizing porcelain tiles and space, it became a natural amplifier. In front of Cloud Song Stage were special pavilions for listening to songs. According to news from Cen Er, one had to reserve five or six days in advance; otherwise, it was impossible to get a spot. Clearly, the acoustic effect was quite good. Later, Qin Gu mentioned that Chen Niang’s debut was at Cloud Song Stage. Her voice brought out the ultimate potential of Cloud Song Stage, which earned it the praise of “rain falling from heaven, snow flying across ten thousand mountains.”
In the future, people from Wuyou Pavilion would come to scout the competition and finally discover that besides the treasure Chen Niang who anchored the pavilion, Cloud Song Stage was also a winning feature. They tried to copy it, but the imitation was far inferior to the original. One must know that what seemed to be just a curve required extremely precise angles—otherwise, a tiny deviation would lead to enormous error.
Standing by the roadside, she could clearly hear the chorus of the young Geqiu in the recessed area. It truly was like echoes in an empty valley, very pleasant to the ear. When one song ended, the applause was enthusiastic. She could see some customers, all dressed in fine silks and adorned with jade—men and women all wealthy and noble.
Then, sudden silence. A woman moved forward with lotus steps, the hundred butterflies on her skirt dancing with her movements. Without pipa, without music, she lowered her eyes, parted her lips, and sang softly.
The lyrics were from “Your Heart and Mine.”
The sound was like pearls and jade falling.
Instantly, soul-captivating.
She was Chen Niang.
Chen Niang was also Zhen Niang.
Before Mo Zi could exclaim “wonderful,” she was shocked beyond measure by what her eyes discovered. Her feet involuntarily moved forward. She didn’t notice she had entered the customer area until someone pulled her back.
“Brother Mo!” came a somewhat suspiciously loud voice. It was Cen Er, bracing himself.
“Cen Er.” Compared to Cen Er’s urgency, after being pulled by him, Mo Zi calmed down. “How did Zhen Niang become Chen Niang?”
Cen Er saw customers in the nearby pavilion looking over and hastily pulled Mo Zi around, lowering his voice. “Brother Mo, don’t disturb the distinguished guests.”
The two walked out of Cloud Song Stage and found a quiet spot by the roadside.
“Cen Er, you young fellow are something else. I asked you to take care of the young lady, letting her choose to stay or go, and you’ve turned her into the pavilion’s treasure.” A calm tone didn’t mean she’d simply let it pass.
Cen Er repeatedly cried injustice. “Brother Mo, how could I have made her change? You should blame Aunt Qin. One day she heard her singing a little tune and wouldn’t let it go. However, her debut performance was to repay us for saving her. Who knew she’d become famous overnight? Now she’s signed a three-year contract with our pavilion—”
Mo Zi glared at Cen Er.
Cen Er frantically waved his hands. “She begged me! I didn’t agree at first, but she said she’d throw herself in the lake or hang herself from a tree. Here’s what happened. That heartless older brother of hers was found by people from Leopard Gang. Xu Jiu brought Zhen Niang’s brother personally to our place, so naturally Zhen Niang came out to meet them. Young Master Lin knelt before her, begging her to save him. That scene—you didn’t see it, but it really made one grind one’s teeth in hatred. The silver we gave Young Master Lin was completely taken by his wife alone—she ran away. Young Master Lin had no ability to repay the debt, so the original loan contract had to be executed. If you ask me, they should just sever the sibling relationship and refuse to acknowledge this debt no matter what. But Lady Lin Zhen is kind-hearted. In front of Xu Jiu, she said she would repay this money and asked Xu Jiu to release her brother. Then she begged me, saying that as long as I lent her this silver, she would work as a Geqiu Lady to repay the debt.”
Xu Jiu had acted according to the agreement. Mo Zi couldn’t fault him. However, the elder Lin brother had never taken responsibility, ultimately requiring his sister to repay his debt—truly chilling to the heart.