“Why did you leave back then?”

Old Sun asked.

He had drunk nearly three jin of wine by now. His face was flushed, his tongue already a little thick, so that when these words came out, there was hardly any accusation in them — only a tiny thread of grievance.

“I am probably not the same as normal people.”

Su Ruye drained his cup.

“So what we see is also different.”

Su Ruye looked at his empty cup and seemed to be speaking to himself: “In this world, every person’s strength is different, is that not right?”

Old Sun nodded: “Obviously.”

Su Ruye said: “Those with greater strength should not be using it to bully those with lesser strength, is that not right?”

Old Sun thought it over and answered: “If the one with lesser strength is a bastard — a degenerate piece of filth — never mind bullying; you could kill them and it would be fine.”

Su Ruye looked at him, then said: “That’s true too.”

Old Sun actually smiled: “See — you do have normal moments… but what exactly are you trying to say?”

Su Ruye said: “I have always felt something wrong about this world of ours. It is as though some very powerful presence watches us from the shadows. When something wrong arises in this world, that presence will arrange for the right person to appear and clear it away. I believe I may be the one tasked with a mission to clear something.”

Old Sun sighed: “I take back what I just said. You have no normal moments.”

Su Ruye did not mind. After all, everyone found him abnormal, everyone considered him a madman — or else said he was afflicted with some delusion, a very serious delusion.

Su Ruye did not argue, did not contend. He simply went on, speaking to himself.

“At first I thought: Dachu has collapsed into this state. There must be something wrong that has arisen. I wanted to find it.”

Old Sun said: “And yet you never went to kill Liu Chongxin.”

Su Ruye shook his head: “What does Liu Chongxin amount to? Even with him dead, the world would still be the same.”

Old Sun: “Then did you find it? You abandoned Nihao and wandered for all this time — what did you find?”

Su Ruye looked at old Sun: “She is such a proud person.”

Old Sun shot him a sideways look: “You think I don’t know?”

Su Ruye said: “If I told her directly that I would never in this life take a wife or have children, she might think it was because I looked down on her — rather than that I genuinely do not want a wife and children. So I thought that if I was gone for a very long time, she would probably come to terms with it on her own. Otherwise, with her pride, how could she ever accept that?”

Old Sun: “Nonsense.”

Su Ruye actually nodded: “Yes. In hindsight it truly was nonsense. I should have told her directly.”

Old Sun asked: “Then tell me — do you like her or not?”

“I do.”

Su Ruye’s answer was immediate.

Old Sun glared at him: “Then what the hell do you want? You like her, yet you don’t want to take a wife or have children — are you toying with her?”

“No…”

Su Ruye poured another cup of wine and drained it.

“You know, I have seen people walking on the moon with bouncing steps. I have seen an iron fish deep in the sea that swims without moving its fins. I have also seen that young man riding a whale.”

Old Sun said: “I know. You’ve told me.”

Su Ruye: “I have also seen myself — pinned to a city wall by a sword, hanging there. And then another me flew out from my body and floated in the air, looking down at my own corpse.”

Old Sun was stunned.

Then he spat: “Ptui! It’s all fake. Besides you, who else can see any of it? It’s all your own delusions.”

Su Ruye smiled: “But what if?”

He looked down and said: “Someone once wrote: *If a love is truly meant to last — what need for it to be every moment of every day?*… What do you think of those words?”

Old Sun: “They’re good.”

Su Ruye said: “They are good. But if I cannot give her the *lasting* — then I will give her not even a single moment. If I indulge in a moment’s joy and leave her with a lifetime of sorrow, that is the most irresponsible thing. That makes me the worst kind of person.”

Old Sun was silent.

Su Ruye smiled slightly: “It was a very beautiful sword. It pierced me through the heart, and I somehow could not dodge it, could not catch it.”

Within that smile — such complexity.

Old Sun stood up: “I’ve drunk too much. I’m going back to sleep. If one day you truly do end up hung on a city wall, I will take you down. And then I will follow her to avenge you. You know she will go — whoever she needs to face. So everything you’ve been thinking is nonsense, and you really are the worst kind of person.”

With that, old Sun departed — swaying on his feet, seemingly truly drunk.

Su Ruye savored the last thing old Sun had said, and felt something suddenly become clear to him.

Yes…

If I am killed, she will certainly go to avenge me. Even knowing that the one who could kill even me could certainly kill her too.

Su Ruye exhaled slowly, murmuring to himself: “I really am the worst kind of person.”

—

*In another courtyard.*

The women were also drinking. Drinking the same wine, they made a considerably more picturesque scene.

On the stone table in the courtyard were delicate dishes and refined pastries, and even the wine pots and cups were delicate.

At first they drank quite cheerfully — but as it went on, silence fell. Because Nihao was crying.

No one tried to comfort her. The girls simply sat quietly keeping her company.

After a long while, Nihao straightened her posture and raised her cup: “Let’s drink.”

The girls hurriedly raised their cups: “Let’s drink.”

Nihao asked: “You’re all still young — you probably haven’t been through the kind of heartache I’ve known. That’s good.”

Xiahou Yili said: “What are you talking about? It’s not just that we haven’t been through heartache — we haven’t even been through feelings.”

Nihao blanked for a moment, then burst out laughing.

She asked curiously: “Has there really never been a man you liked?”

Xiahou Yili curled her lip: “Ordinary men are not as good as the men we already have.”

As she spoke, she unconsciously glanced over at Gao Xining.

From that glance Nihao seemed to understand something. She raised a finger and pointed at Gao Xining: “Oh! She likes you!”

Gao Xining covered her face: “Sister, your powers of observation are truly sharp. Why don’t you come to our Tingwei Office? You can like me too.”

Nihao burst into laughter.

She did not usually enjoy spending time with others. Most of the time she lived alone, and found the company of both men and women to be troublesome.

But when a few women who were almost on the same level as she appeared, the feeling became curiously wonderful.

In truth, this might sound a little harsh — but it was so.

She did not enjoy the company of others, most likely because others fell so far below her — when you and someone else are not on the same level, even a single exchange of words feels superfluous.

But that is simply the nature of the world we live in — which is probably why so many people love fairy tales.

—

Just then, old Sun arrived — no trace of any swaying now.

Three jin of wine — for him, even three more would not have him swaying.

Among the girls, the one who looked most delighted at old Sun’s arrival was Cao Xiaozhaō. She turned her thumb up at him, making clear with that gesture: I have always been on your side.

Old Sun smiled at her, then looked at Nihao: “I have something to say to you.”

Nihao looked at Gao Xining and the others, then stood up: “All right.”

She followed old Sun to the doorway. Gao Xining and the others, a little gaggle of gossips, stared without blinking, every one of them with ears perked up like a cluster of adorable little white rabbits.

“Is old Sun about to confess his feelings?”

Cao Xiaozhaō’s face was full of excitement.

Gao Xining shook her head: “Doesn’t look like it. The way old Sun is speaking looks more like he’s trying to persuade her of something.”

Not long after, Nihao returned, and old Sun came back too. It was plain to see that Nihao’s eyes now held a different kind of calm — not the calm of having let something go, but the calm of someone full of anticipation.

Old Sun looked at the food and wine on the table: “Why do you have dishes with your wine?”

Gao Xining gave a small laugh and glanced sideways toward the side room of the courtyard — a kitchen. Inside was a man with an apron tied around his waist, still cooking for them.

That man — quite remarkable indeed. Everyone else called him Prince Ning.

Old Sun stood rooted to the spot. He too looked toward the kitchen. Not only did he see Prince Ning cooking, but he also saw Gui Yuanshu cooking. And Xiahou Zuo. And Yu Jiuling.

A room full of women sat here drinking wine. A room full of men busied themselves in the kitchen.

Old Sun rubbed his eyes, thinking he must have drunk too much — a scene like this, he had never once seen in all his days.

Although Chu customs were somewhat more open than some, the status of women still fell far below that of men.

A man with rank and title going into the kitchen to cook would be laughed to scorn. If the court ever found out, there would be heavy punishment.

Old Sun looked again at the dishes on the table, then ventured to ask: “May I sit here and not do any cooking? I want to eat without cooking — is that too much to ask?”

Gao Xining said: “Sit down and drink.”

Old Sun said: “I’d be the only man sitting among all these women. That doesn’t feel quite right… Very well. From now until we finish this drink, we are all sisters.”

Xiahou Yili: “What are you saying, Auntie?”

Old Sun burst out laughing.

Old Sun, who had not gotten drunk splitting three jin of wine with a man, got drunk drinking with a table of young women.

Come to think of it, this made a kind of sense. Put one woman among a table of men, and the one who ends up drunk will be the woman. Put one man among a table of women, and the one who ends up drunk will be their Auntie Sun.

Drunk old Sun suddenly looked over at Nihao: “What if I help you drug him? We’ll make the rice cooked before we worry about the rest.”

At those words, the girls all froze — and then the expression on every face became something extraordinary.

Old Sun held up his cup, looked at it, and sighed: “I just offered to drug the man that the woman I like is in love with… does anyone have something?”

Xiahou Yili: “I do!”

Old Sun narrowed his eyes at her. Xiahou Yili’s face went red: “Auntie, don’t misunderstand — in the Tingwei Army my role is exactly this. The Third Office’s business falls under me — things like medicine production, instrument crafting, that sort of thing.”

Old Sun shook his head: “I wasn’t questioning whether you have the medicine. I was asking — will it work?”

Xiahou Yili clapped her chest: “Now you’re looking down on me. Drugging a man — how could it not work?”

Her voice had gone a bit louder, and Li Chi, who was coming out of the kitchen carrying a dish, heard it and nearly dropped everything.

Xiahou Zuo behind him was also startled. He grabbed Li Chi by the arm: “You’re sleeping with me tonight. I don’t feel at ease.”

Li Chi: “Huh?”

Xiahou Zuo looked at his younger sister over there, slapping her chest and announcing that drugging a man was nothing — he genuinely did not feel at ease.

Li Chi sighed, then turned to look at Xiahou Zuo: “Can I ask a favor?”

Xiahou Zuo: “What do you want to say?”

Li Chi said: “Have your sister give the medicine to Gao Xining and have Gao Xining drug me.”

Xiahou Zuo: “…”

He thought to himself: you great blockhead — if someone was going to drug you, why go to all that trouble…