Before being adopted into the Feng household, Feng Dalang had not been very wealthy; and after the adoption he was kept under Madam Feng’s thumb. Still, he had inherited everything the Feng family had — including the Feng family’s various connections, as well as an honorary post granted to him after the family’s rehabilitation.

His own official rank was the sixth grade, which didn’t sound high, but Sheng Ying — who was considered “capable” — was his maternal uncle, Chancellor Chen was his aunt’s husband, and Chen Meng was a cousin who maintained close ties with his maternal family. The people he associated with in daily life all had some degree of distinction, so he didn’t think much of a mere Assessor Su, and he didn’t even bother asking Zhù Ying who that person had been. He simply pulled Zhù Ying along to a banquet.

Zhù Ying politely asked, “Why did you think of eating and drinking today? Is there some happy occasion?”

Feng Dalang said, “What happy occasion? Can’t I ask you out for a drink without one?”

Zhù Ying thought to herself: we aren’t anywhere near that familiar with each other. Strictly speaking, even if I had some connection with Chen Meng, with the Feng family I’d be on the side of having a grudge. Even if you sent an invitation card, I wouldn’t necessarily have to go — so what exactly is this?

She stood still.

Feng Dalang strained to pull at her hand. “Hey — there’s no one else, just me and Cousin Chen.”

Zhù Ying’s eyebrow shifted. “The two of you? Did you find Elder Sister?”

Her surprise was genuine! This should not have happened — she had just been back in contact with Huajie, and Huajie was living perfectly well at Golden Snail Temple. The temple was quite small; the name had “gold” in it but the reality was anything but rich — the kind where the Protector of Dharma’s staff rested on the ground. Huajie had offered a small sum of money and rented a room in the temple, claiming to be someone from out of town who had come to the capital to broaden her experience, wanted to visit all the great temples of the capital and study the Dharma, and needed to rent the room for three months.

She had read several sutras in Madam Feng’s company and was not entirely ignorant of Buddhist teachings, so there was no risk of being exposed. Zhù Ying had “accidentally” wandered into a few small temples, and Golden Snail Temple was one of them, which was how Zhù Ying knew Huajie’s situation. On the day she left the nunnery, she had even gone back later and cleared away the remaining traces for Huajie herself.

There might be people in the world more capable than Zhù Ying, but someone finding Huajie this precisely — that was nearly impossible.

Feng Dalang heard her mention Huajie and his hand loosened; he let out a sigh. “Not at all — isn’t that why I’m looking for you to discuss this?”

If that was the topic, Zhù Ying was willing to go with him. She said, “I should tell my family first.”

Feng Dalang instructed one of his own attendants: “Go to Third Sir’s home and let them know. Just say First Young Master Chen has something to discuss with Third Sir.” Then, “Sanlang — please come.”

Zhù Ying had no fear that Feng Dalang would lure her into some dark corner to beat her up. She followed him all the way to a brightly lit and bustling establishment.

Standing at the entrance of the alley, looking at the entire unusually lively flower street, Zhù Ying asked, “Here?”

Feng Dalang said, “Please come in!”

Zhù Ying couldn’t help but feel for her short blade at her waist — still there — and followed Feng Dalang into a certain residence.

Zhù Ying naturally knew it was a courtesan house, but she had little contact with women of that profession. Courtesans tended to be fairly generous with fortune-tellers, but Zhang Xiangu had always been careful not to let her daughter become involved in that trade. Now that she was in the capital, she had even less occasion to visit — no time for it, and no money for it either.

Courtesans came in several varieties; the kind Feng Dalang brought Zhù Ying into was an official entertainment house. Inside were a few women in powder and rouge, yet not dressed in any particularly vulgar way — they had a touch of style about them. Mixed among them were one or two older women. One of them, in clothing and accessories that differed hardly at all from those of an ordinary wealthy household woman, caught the eye.

Calling her an older courtesan — fine lines had already appeared at the corners of her eyes, and she appeared to be around fifty — but in her movements there lingered the shadow of a graceful elegance from her younger years.

She made a bow to Feng Dalang. “Dalang, First Young Master is already inside waiting.”

Feng Dalang addressed her as “Jiu Niang.” Jiu Niang looked toward Zhù Ying. “And this young official is…? May I ask your honorable name?” As she looked at Zhù Ying, the back of Zhù Ying’s neck suddenly tightened and her hair stood on end. Very slowly, as if evaluating — or as if merely glancing carelessly — her gaze slid past.

When Jiu Niang looked at Zhù Ying, she also felt a slight, puzzled sensation — in this profession one made a point of gauging every guest the moment they stepped through the door. Gauging whether they had money, whether they were willing to spend it, what sort of person they liked, what their temperament was — reading the situation and acting accordingly. This young official — she gauged and gauged, and something always felt faintly off.

But that one glance of Zhù Ying’s gave her a sense of pressure. And the moment that pressure arrived, the faint sense of wrongness dissolved.

Jiu Niang thought to herself: so young and already this guarded — this is going to be a difficult guest to manage. In her experience, this kind of person was very averse to having others probe their inner thoughts, and had no wish for others to know their preferences.

Hmph! Coming to a place like this and still putting on airs of unfathomable depth? Not even fully grown yet, and already all scheming and no directness!

Jiu Niang turned a magnificent eye-roll inward! But she couldn’t afford to offend Chen Meng, who had specifically arranged this hosting, so she dared not be neglectful. She smiled with a politeness that showed neither too much familiarity nor too much distance, modulating her manner perfectly, and ushered the two of them into the small courtyard Chen Meng had reserved.

Zhù Ying gave her a nod. Jiu Niang smiled again. “First Young Master — now that the honored guests have arrived, shall I have them play music?”

Chen Meng said, “No rush. Let’s talk first. Sanlang — come.”

Jiu Niang dared not linger and glided out, careful not to remain within earshot.

——

Once Zhù Ying judged Jiu Niang safely out of range, she swept a look at the people around Chen Meng. Chen Meng had brought two servants from home — both from the prefectural city, and Zhù Ying recognized them; she gave a nod. Besides these two, Feng Dalang’s servants had also come in. In the courtesan house, there were two young girls of eight or nine holding wine pitchers.

Zhù Ying didn’t sit first; she asked, “What’s so important that it needs to be discussed here?”

Chen Meng took the wine pitcher from one of the girls and poured himself a cup. “Sit down and talk.”

Zhù Ying chose a seat with no one behind her and sat down. She said, “They don’t let me drink — they say I make a scene when I’m drunk.”

Chen Meng smiled. “You? Never — and we’re not forcing you to drink; just sitting here with nothing else to do would be dull.”

Feng Dalang also sat down; one of the young girls poured for him too. Zhù Ying asked, “What exactly is this about? Has there been news of Elder Sister?”

Chen Meng’s hand paused; he set down the wine pitcher and said, “You are a person of good conscience — but no, there’s been no news.”

Zhù Ying said, “First Young Master has something to say — just say it. There’s been no news of Elder Sister, and the three of us are talking in a place like this — that’s rather inappropriate, isn’t it?”

It was barely over a month since Huajie had gone missing. A “former husband” going to a pleasure house to drink could conceivably be explained; her actual brother and cousin also coming here — that was harder to justify.

Chen Meng had been intending to use exactly this situation as an opening. He said, “By now you must have covered nearly all the capital’s nunneries. Did you find anyone?”

Zhù Ying shook her head. “I’m afraid she’s not in any of them.”

Chen Meng said, “Not just nunneries — I looked at places where Taoist priestesses live as well. My father even used the pretext of maintaining capital order to have the Capital Prefecture check once more at various inns for any young women staying there. And do you know what they found? Nothing! She’s probably not in the capital anymore. If we keep searching like this, word will get out that she’s missing, and even if she’s found later, it’ll be hard to cover things up.”

Zhù Ying asked, “So what is First Young Master thinking?”

Feng Dalang said, “Sanlang — you’ve been putting your heart into this, and we appreciate it. She’s my sister, and we care about her no less than you do — but I am her brother, so I can say this: Sanlang, set your feelings aside and live your life well. Madam has had a hard life and has some rigid and peculiar ways, but we are all reasonable people. Just get on with your own life well — that’s enough.”

Chen Meng said, “I’ve already had people in the prefectural city waiting. Life is short; Guanqun wouldn’t want you living like this either. You’re still young. Even if you don’t want to take a wife right now, don’t you have enough to keep you busy at the Court of Judicial Review? Isn’t your career enough to concern you?”

All that, and it came to this!

Zhù Ying said, “First Young Master — those words are rather strange. Has something happened to Elder Sister?”

She fixed Chen Meng with an unblinking stare.

Chen Meng suddenly felt himself under pressure. He straightened his spine and said, “No! No news at all! The moment there is any news, I will always let you know. Besides — if something had truly happened to her, there would no longer be anything too difficult to say. Right?”

Zhù Ying thought it over, stood up, and said, “All right — I understand. In that case, I’ll take my leave.”

Both Chen Meng and Feng Dalang urged her warmly to stay for a drink. Feng Dalang said, “We already sent someone to let your family know you were here — why the hurry?”

Chen Meng also said, “Setting Guanqun aside, we’re fellow townspeople — we came up to the capital together. Listening to a piece of music, catching up on news from home — is that not allowed either? Or do you have something else pressing to attend to?”

Feng Dalang said, “Even if you have something pressing, take a look at my cousin here. You should at least trust his abilities, even if you don’t trust mine.”

Zhù Ying listened to this cousin-and-brother-in-law duo’s back-and-forth and understood: even without Huajie, they intended to use this occasion to deepen their acquaintance with her a little further. Thinking it over every which way, she had nothing they could possibly want to scheme over. She knew herself to be capable, but she had no roots, no helpers, and barely qualified as having a powerful backer — and that was Zheng Xi. She certainly couldn’t be changing allegiances right now. She genuinely couldn’t understand what they were thinking.

Chen Meng hadn’t been thinking very complicated thoughts. As far as he was concerned, having been away from the capital for years and then returning, apart from having a chancellor for a father, he had no more advantage in the capital than Zhù Ying did. His existing friends here were fine, but the connections weren’t deep. Those friends couldn’t be neglected, of course — but capable, capable people couldn’t be let go of either.

Chen Meng slid the wine cup forward. “Aside from you two, I haven’t anyone else I can speak my heart to. You two both know things about my past. Ah…”

Feng Dalang said, “Cousin! You’re so much stronger now than you were in those years — why say such things? Lord Father has the Emperor’s deep trust, and he values you too. You’re saying that, and what do the rest of us do?”

Chen Meng gave a rueful smile, looked up at Zhù Ying, and said, “Even when a new emperor ascends the throne with the righteous claim of the great mandate, he still has to contend with the old ministers left by the previous emperor. Can the son of a chancellor simply take everything for granted as his natural due?”

Zhù Ying lowered her eyes and sat back down.

Chen Meng poured himself a cup, drank it slowly, and said, “If I’d had children a little earlier, they’d be about your age by now. We happen to have met; just treat it as me having no one to talk to and bending your ear with a few words.”

Zhù Ying looked at Feng Dalang; Feng Dalang shrugged. She said, “First Young Master — what’s come over you today? This doesn’t sound like you at all.”

Chen Meng waved his hand. “Unfortunate things make up eight or nine parts of ten, and the ones you can actually speak of to someone are two or three at most! I can’t find Guanqun — and it makes me feel suddenly how uncertain the world is. When my mother died I was only a few years old — I had no one to rely on. Now I can rely on many people, and I still can’t find my own cousin. Tell me — doesn’t that seem pitiable? And so absurd? You can see that no matter what kind of status, position, or power a person has, there are always things they cannot accomplish. The same goes for you — as intelligent and capable as you are, can you say that everything in your life goes exactly as you wish?”

Zhù Ying shook her head.

Chen Meng nodded. “That’s right — it can’t! Look at him: he grew up in a comfortable modest household. Didn’t he want to have servants to command, official robes to wear? Didn’t he assume that once he became an official, he’d be commanding respect all around?”

Feng Dalang nodded. “That’s exactly right.”

“And now he’s inherited the family line, been granted an official post by imperial grace — is he living more freely than before?”

Feng Dalang pulled a long face and sipped a cup of wine. “Cousin — stop bringing this up! Enough, enough!”

Zhù Ying also let out a soft sigh. “Everyone has their own troubles.”

Chen Meng said, “Yes — everyone has their own troubles. But a person in this world can’t simply resign themselves to all of it. Some troubles can be avoided. Some difficulties can be escaped.”

Zhù Ying said, “First Young Master — just say what you mean.”

Feng Dalang shook his head at Zhù Ying. “You really are too young. You don’t understand these things about being an official — and no one has taught you. Ah… if you were still our relative by marriage, how much better it would be!”

Chen Meng waved a hand. “Sanlang — I can see you’re perceptive; you’re not someone who fails to understand. It’s just that no one has spoken of this to you. Lord Zheng values you; you thrive under his cultivation. He is your superior, and you have benefited greatly from his guidance. This kind of debt is one you cannot lightly betray. But you have no supporters, no family backing. Whenever anything happens, there is no one to help you. You still need to have more people you can trust.

In officialdom, beyond this kind of debt of cultivation and recommendation, there is also the bond of teacher and student — both of these mean you have entered someone else’s circle, and once you betray them, you’ll be condemned by everyone. But there is one exception — fellow townspeople. You can freely cultivate your friendships with fellow townspeople.”

Zhù Ying immediately understood Chen Meng’s meaning. A person can hold many kinds of identity and belonging. She gave a quiet nod.

Chen Meng pushed a cup of wine forward. “Do you know which fellow townspeople are in the capital, and where they live? Which ones have genuine ability but are dragons in shallow waters, and which ones are already dragons soaring in the sky? And which ones are of good character, and which ones are just now useful to you?”

Zhù Ying didn’t drink; instead she took the teapot and poured tea for Chen Meng. “I can’t drink wine — I’d have a hard time explaining it at home. I’ll substitute tea.”

Chen Meng and Feng Dalang looked at each other and smiled, and both accepted the tea and drank.

Feng Dalang called out, “Jiu Niang — bring wine and dishes, and start the music and dancing!”

Before long, Jiu Niang arrived with three or four young, attractive women.

Chen Meng said to Zhù Ying, “Jiu Niang’s establishment may not be large, but there are certain distinctions to it.”

Jiu Niang pouted prettily. “Who speaks ill of someone to their face like that?”

Chen Meng said to Zhù Ying, “She recently acquired a new arrival who plays the pipa superbly, and can also play the konghou — and sings very well too.”

Feng Dalang also urged Zhù Ying to loosen up a little: “Good to know. All the famous, refined, and talented men of the world, the literary scholars — not one of them was above spending time in places like these. Whenever a fine composition was produced, it would be spread by the courtesans who sang it…”

Zhù Ying understood: it was mutual flattery. But she genuinely had little interest in any of this; since it wasn’t convenient to brush aside Chen Meng’s goodwill, she just said, “Then I’ll listen to the music.”

Everyone laughed — except Jiu Niang, who didn’t. She called, “Pearl.”

And a petite young woman came in, carrying a pipa. Zhù Ying couldn’t help looking at her a moment longer — this girl, though petite, was well-proportioned. But she had a slight limp. When she opened her mouth to speak, Zhù Ying also noticed that her official dialect was a shade too precise — each character enunciated with great clarity. She was clearly not from the capital.

Pearl came forward and gave a slight bow. Jiu Niang told her to play whatever she did best. To be able to walk with a limp and still earn Chen Meng’s particular praise — her skill was indeed very good.

Chen Meng and Feng Dalang clinked cups, each with a courtesan filling their wine, and chatted and laughed; then they said they wanted to play a drinking game.

Zhù Ying had absolutely no idea how to play their drinking game! She knew how to arm-wrestle, play cards, throw dice — all the rougher village pastimes — but the elegant game Feng Dalang and Chen Meng were playing was utterly beyond her. It required enormous accumulation of knowledge: the classical texts, the histories, the philosophers, and the various works of contemporary literary masters, all of it was fair material.

Chen Meng laughed. “How can you not know these things? You’ll need them all the time from here on out!”

Zhù Ying listened to this former elder brother-in-law who was now subtly positioning himself as her senior giving her another lesson, and bore it good-humoredly — she was never resentful when there was something new to learn. So she sat drinking her tea and let Chen Meng teach her.

When Pearl finished her first piece, Feng Dalang called out great praise and wanted to reward her. Zhù Ying asked, “Could you play a piece on the konghou?”

Jiu Niang had someone bring the konghou in. After listening for a while, Chen Meng said, “Your konghou is not as refined as your pipa playing.”

Pearl simply answered, “That is so.” Chen Meng saw that she said nothing more, and gave a faint sigh, as if touched with a measure of pity. Feng Dalang cleared his throat with a meaningful look, and said plainly, “Well then, let’s not disturb them! Sanlang — take a look at some of these…”

Zhù Ying glanced at the courtesans, shook her head, and said, “I need to get home. I have to be at the Court of Judicial Review first thing tomorrow morning.”

Feng Dalang had little official business to occupy him and said, “What’s the hurry? If you leave now, Jiu Niang is going to be laughed at tomorrow.”

Zhù Ying looked at Jiu Niang, gave her a slight nod, and then shook her head. “In your household, Madam does no worse than quote propriety and discipline at you with a few classical allusions, and if things get bad she resorts to family law, but the servants wouldn’t dare beat you. Tonight if I don’t go home, my mother will personally come chasing after me down three streets with a broom in hand. That won’t do at all. Another day when I’m free, let’s gather again.” She then turned to Chen Meng and said, “Take care on the road.”

Chen Meng said, “All right, then. Safe travels.” He dispatched one of his servants to accompany her home.

The moment Zhù Ying left, Feng Dalang — not even bothering to pull a courtesan close for some light flirtation first — said, “That little wretch is really difficult to handle!”

Chen Meng said, “The ones that are easy to manage aren’t worth the effort.”

Feng Dalang said, “Ah — she really does care for my sister. But her heart is too hard.”

Chen Meng said, “There’s no hurry.”

Since Feng Dalang had been there from the start just to play second voice for Chen Meng, once Chen Meng was in no hurry, he was even less so. He pulled a courtesan over and joined in the drinking.

——

Zhù Ying came out of the pleasure house with a face that showed nothing, but inwardly thought: I should tell Huajie about this. She’ll probably have no more lingering attachment to this “family of hers.”

Out of the alleyway she said to the servant, “It’s getting dark — I know the way. Go back and tell First Young Master: thank you for today’s hospitality, and a reciprocal gesture will follow.” She produced a piece of silver for the servant.

The servant smiled and accepted it. “Sanlang — truly thoughtful.”

Zhù Ying smiled lightly. She could see there was still a little time left, and thinking there was a Taoist monastery nearby she hadn’t yet scouted, she decided to take a look. She turned a corner heading toward it; one more turn around another street corner and she’d be there. But at the bend she saw, not far away, someone walking toward her.

Zhù Ying stopped. She recognized the person coming — it was Wang Pozi, the servant who had attended Huajie at the Feng residence.

This Nanny Wang was the woman whose biological daughter had been taken away as a replacement to suffer in Huajie’s place. Right now her whole person radiated a kind of low-grade disorder: her hair was loose and disheveled, her eyes unfocused, her steps irregular. Zhù Ying let out a sigh and stepped a little to one side.

Yet Nanny Wang stopped right in front of her. “Son-in-law Zhù? Where are you going?”

Zhù Ying waved dismissively. “I’m no one’s son-in-law.”

Nanny Wang turned, followed the direction Zhù Ying was facing, looked for a moment, turned back, and asked, “Are you out here looking for Young Mistress too?”

Zhù Ying gave a soft sound of affirmation, and Nanny Wang began to sob loudly. “She’s not here — I’ve looked everywhere here already.”

Zhù Ying said, “Don’t cry yet — speak clearly. What’s happened? Why are you here alone? Where is everyone else?”

Nanny Wang raised her sleeve to wipe her tears. “They searched for a few days at first, and then they eased off. Madam will never speak her name again — I know her kind of person. In a great family, when a girl runs away, her family considers it a disgrace and wants nothing more to do with her. They treat her as dead. Son-in-law — in a couple of days there will be a funeral at the residence. Don’t take it as true, I beg you — keep looking! They have no hearts! You are a good person — don’t forget our Young Mistress. She too is a good person, a very good person. That residence — it’s no place for a human being to live! Don’t blame her, don’t blame her.”

Zhù Ying said, “She may not be your flesh and blood, but you don’t need to grieve so deeply for her. She sent you away to spare you from punishment — you should understand her feelings in doing that.”

Nanny Wang’s tears poured down like rain. “Then what hopes do I have left? What does my life still have in it? What is there left worth doing? Going back to the residence to be scolded by Madam, to be mocked by the young maidservants? Or going home to be blamed by that cursed dead bastard — to get another beating? Let me search, let me search a little. Let me keep looking.”

Zhù Ying gave her the last little bit of money left in her pouch, and told her to go home and rest. “I will keep looking for the person. You are not as nimble as I am.”

Nanny Wang wouldn’t take the money; she only wanted Zhù Ying’s promise. “Don’t forget to keep looking.”

Zhù Ying watched her walk away into the distance, then continued as planned to the Taoist monastery for a quick tour, and seeing that the hour was growing late, made her way home. When she got back, Zhang Xiangu saw that her face didn’t look happy, and asked, “Did they make things difficult for you? Or is there news of Flower Sister…”

As she spoke, Zhang Xiangu seemed startled by her own speculation.

Zhù Ying smiled. “Nothing’s wrong. We met and talked; they’re not going to look for Flower Sister so hard anymore.”

Zhang Xiangu said, “How can people become so inhumane the moment they have money and become officials? Third Child — don’t you follow their example!”

Zhù Ying said, “I won’t.”

Zhang Xiangu said, “Your color doesn’t look well — get some rest quickly.” And then, feeling that something about Zhù Ying’s state was off, she worried she might have been disturbed by something unclean, and pulling Zhù Da along, the two of them set to work — burning a fire basin, burning paper money, and waving a peach-wood sword around Zhù Ying.

Zhù Ying felt a little better inside. “I’m fine — no need for this.”

Zhang Xiangu insisted, “It’s necessary, it’s necessary!”

Zhù Ying thought: you don’t know — and it’s a pity Huajie doesn’t want anyone to know, so I can’t tell you the truth.

Yet Zhang Xiangu, who had never been the least bit effective in her entire life as a spirit-medium, was — just this once — a tiny bit effective.

The next day Zhù Ying went to the Court of Judicial Review, and Assessor Su was already there, exchanging courtesies with colleagues and distributing small local foods he’d brought back from his journey. Immediately after, Assessor Su took not even a single day’s leave, but threw himself into work at the Court of Judicial Review with great gusto. Left Assessor said of him: “Though he doesn’t get through things as neatly as Little Zhù, he’s a thorough person.”

But the way Left Assessor looked when he said it didn’t seem like much of a compliment at all. Zhù Ying didn’t ask directly; presumably there was some history between Assessor Su and Left Assessor and the others. And while Zhù Ying and Left Assessor had a passable relationship, they were not close confidants — it wouldn’t be appropriate to ask directly.

Several days passed like this. Then Left Assessor suddenly came to find Zhù Ying and said, “Little Zhù — what are you doing, going in and out of nunneries all day?”

Zhù Ying said back, “What are you talking about?”

Left Assessor thumped her on the shoulder. “Still hiding it from us? Young person — indulging a romantic inclination isn’t such a terrible offense. But how could you be so careless? Fine if you kept it from us — but how could you fail to keep it from Assessor Su too? He found out, and told Lord Zheng. And he said it very solicitously, very much acting in your best interest. ‘Little Zhù is young and doesn’t know the dangers involved. Among the nuns and Taoist priestesses there are many wanton women, and some are even in league with criminals. Lord Wang of the Capital Prefecture enforces the law very strictly; should the authorities one day raid such a nest of irregularities and find Little Zhù entangled in it, it would be bad for his career.’ Listen to that — listen to that! Such genuine concern for you!”

Zhù Ying said, “Were you there too?”

Left Assessor said, “If I’d been there, I would have put in a word in your defense. Unfortunately I wasn’t. It was Old Huang who brings the hot water — he was delivering water and overheard it, and came back and told me.”

Left Assessor seemed about to say more when a junior official came hurrying over. “Assessor Zhù — Lord Zheng requests your presence.”