A’Cuo had been busy scheming on her side of things, but neither of the two elder sisters had been present. Ye Qinglan was accompanying Han Yueqi for some matter, while Ye Lingbo found herself dealing with a genuine unexpected incident.
Truth be told, among the Ye household’s manservants, none was more sharp-witted than Liu Ji. Unlike Yang Hua, who had been born into the household, the sibling pair of Xiao Liu’er and Liu Ji had actually been purchased by the Ye family. Back when the late Madam Ye was still alive, she had distributed congee every winter without fail, saving countless poor souls, and had continued to do so even when she fell ill. The Liu siblings had been refugees during the great flood of the third year of the Yongxi reign, their parents having perished on the road. The two of them had been only seven or eight years old at the time, too small even to snatch congee from others — a truly pitiful sight. Madam Ye had taken them in when she saw them.
Even then, Liu Ji had already shown himself to be clever and quick-witted, and more rarely, had a sense of responsibility. When he was surrounded and beaten by a group of people, he refused to surrender the steamed bun tucked against his chest. Madam Ye had the household retainers drive the refugees away, and after learning the full story, discovered that he had wanted to bring the bun back for his younger sister — a remarkable strength of character for one so young.
After entering the Ye household and becoming a manservant, Liu Ji thrived. Madam Ye ran a strict but generous household, and the servants got on well with one another. Liu Ji ate and dressed well under her roof, learned to drive carriages, tend horses, trim hooves, cut grass, and maintain harnesses and bridles — and through his own diligence, even learned to read, which set him apart considerably among the household’s manservants. Ordinary manservants, though obedient enough, tended to be slippery and work-averse, unwilling to better themselves. Liu Ji, by contrast, had always been dependable. The Ye sisters relied on him heavily — he handled the distribution of calling cards and gifts when entertaining guests, and made his own decisions on routine matters, essentially serving as a half-steward.
This occasion was no different. Ever since Ye Lingbo had entrusted him with the task of following Pei Zhao, he had taken it to heart. Though he continued to oversee the sedan chairs and horses, on a day like this one — once he had delivered the young misses to their destination and instructed the other manservants to tend the chairs and horses under Uncle Yang’s supervision — he had slipped away on his own, riding a horse to Qingshao Lane in the Ping’an Quarter.
Someone had already been waiting for him there: Yang Hua’s cousin, known as Yang Xiaolai, who admired Liu Ji enormously. He rushed forward at once to hold the horse’s head, calling out cheerfully, “Brother Liu Ji!”
Liu Ji had never properly learned to ride. He was no young master from a noble family — how would he have had the chance? He had simply been clever enough to pick up a smattering of skill from watching the capital’s princes and aristocrats ride past, just enough to stay in the saddle without falling off. But among manservants, this was already considered remarkably impressive.
“Well? Have you kept eyes on him?” Liu Ji asked, with an air of authority.
“Yes, yes, eyes kept!” Yang Xiaolai had earned his nickname from a scabby rash he had suffered as a child; though it had long since healed, the nickname had stuck. He reported eagerly to Liu Ji: “That man with the surname Pei entered this lane before dawn and hasn’t come out yet.”
“That long.” Liu Ji frowned, surveying the surroundings. “I haven’t heard of any gambling dens in the Ping’an Quarter. The people living here are all ordinary commoners. There are two laundry workshops, that much is true.”
“Perhaps there’s a hidden establishment tucked in here somewhere, with gambling going on inside,” Yang Xiaolai offered helpfully.
Liu Ji rapped him on the head.
“Don’t talk nonsense,” he said. “He’s with the Northern Frontier Army, after all. He wouldn’t sink that low.”
“It really is true though — the laundry workers have such hard lives. Li Xiaoba, a manservant in the He household, his family runs one of these places. His father died early, and his mother washed clothes to raise him until her hands cracked open and two of her fingers turned black from the cold, and even then she couldn’t afford to keep him, so she sold him into the He household as a manservant. Otherwise she would have had to sell herself into a disreputable house. He still cries when he talks about it.”
“Enough.” Liu Ji fixed him with a look of exasperated disappointment, and Yang Xiaolai fell silent.
“We are manservants of the secondary residence. Wherever we go, we represent the face of our young miss. Don’t go blurting out just anything. A disreputable house means a hidden prostitute — can you go around speaking of such things so casually? The Flower Season Banquet is at a critical moment. Don’t let your mouth run loose, talking about things you haven’t even seen yourself.” Having delivered this lecture, Liu Ji dismounted.
Yang Xiaolai dared not say anything further. He simply stretched out his hands to cup Liu Ji’s foot and help him down, saying admiringly, “Brother Liu Ji, you’re amazing — you can even ride a horse.”
“You could learn if you practiced. It’s not that difficult.”
“I can’t. I’m afraid of the horse kicking me,” Yang Xiaolai said.
Liu Ji said nothing to this. He peered into the lane and asked, “Which house did he go into?”
“I don’t know.” Yang Xiaolai answered honestly. “I didn’t dare follow him inside. I was afraid he’d spot me.”
“And if he spotted you? Would he really beat you for it?”
“Everyone in the Northern Frontier Army knows martial arts. If he beat me, it would still hurt quite a bit,” Yang Xiaolai said.
Liu Ji gave him a look of disdain, thought for a moment, then handed him the reins.
“I’ll go in and have a look. Keep an eye on the horse for me.”
Yang Xiaolai was delighted — then after a moment’s thought, his face crumpled.
“What if I can’t manage it?”
“Haven’t you ridden out with Uncle Yang before? You kept watch over all those carriage horses then, and now you can’t manage one?”
“Carriage horses are hitched to the shafts — they can’t run off. But this is the best horse in our household. Second Miss especially granted it to you for riding. It’s worth more than a whole carriage. What if someone steals it? Li Xiaoba stole one of my silver buttons and still hasn’t given it back.” Yang Xiaolai looked utterly wretched.
Liu Ji laughed despite his irritation. He took back the reins and tied the horse to a tree at the lane’s entrance, knotting it firmly.
“There. The horse is tied up. All you have to do is make sure no one unties it. Understood?”
“Understood.”
With the horse secured, Liu Ji tidied his hat and clothing and walked into Qingshao Lane. He examined the faded couplets hanging at several doorways, and finally knocked at one with a cloth strip tied to its wooden gate.
“Coming.” The door opened shortly, revealing a young girl with yellowish hair, no more than ten years old. She sized Liu Ji up and said, “Big outer garments are one copper coin per piece to wash, small garments are three pieces per copper coin. Mending is extra.”
“I’m not here to have laundry done,” Liu Ji said. “I want to ask something. Did you see a military gentleman come here this morning looking for someone?”
“Didn’t see anyone.” The girl immediately moved to shut the door, but Liu Ji blocked it with his foot and smiled, holding out a small string of copper coins.
The girl immediately opened the door wide.
“I didn’t see the military gentleman, but my granny definitely saw him. She knows the business of every family on this street, clear as day.”
Liu Ji went inside to gather information. Meanwhile, Yang Xiaolai waited idly at the lane’s entrance, bored. Qingshao Lane was the kind of poor alley he rarely visited — Ye household manservants were better off than most ordinary folk’s children, never having to worry about food or clothing. So the sights here struck him as novel and interesting. A pear vendor pushed his cart past, calling out his wares, and immediately a dozen or so ragged children swarmed around the stall asking the price. Finally one child bought a single pear, but just as it was in hand, someone bumped into him and the pear fell to the ground. Everyone scrambled for it, and when the child finally wrestled it back, several large bites had already been taken out of it. He burst into loud crying and wailing, grabbing the culprit to demand compensation. The culprit, no pushover himself, immediately started fighting back, and the children tumbled into a brawl. Yang Xiaolai watched with great amusement, even cheering from the sideline: “Fight, fight, fight! I saw it — it was him who took the bite!”
He was thoroughly entertained, laughing heartily, and as he finished laughing, he absently reached behind him — and felt nothing. He turned around, and his stomach dropped: Liu Ji’s horse was gone.
“All right, thank you very much, Auntie.” Liu Ji, having gathered what he needed, was saying his farewells and stepping out the door. The girl called Erya was still pestering him: “Brother Liu Ji, you promised to buy me a pear!”
“Yes, yes, I will.” Liu Ji had finished his business and was in high spirits, about to take Erya to buy a pear, when the most extraordinary coincidence occurred — he walked straight into a figure in blue garments coming the other way. Erya was already pointing at him: “Brother Liu Ji, that’s the person you were looking for—”
Liu Ji hastily clapped a hand over her mouth. But Pei Zhao had clearly already heard, and smiled at him. “It’s you. Were you looking for me?”
“No, no,” Liu Ji said, laughing and waving his hands. “I came to visit my concubine-aunt’s family. She lives right here in this lane. This is my younger cousin—”
“Is that so?” Pei Zhao only smiled.
“It is so.”
“Then I’ll be on my way.” Pei Zhao said. “If you need to find me again, you’ll have to ask your young miss to come herself.”
“The general is joking.” Liu Ji refused to admit to anything. “I only came to visit relatives — how would I dare seek out a general?”
Pei Zhao walked on ahead. Liu Ji was just congratulating himself on having narrowly escaped, when before Pei Zhao could even reach the lane’s entrance, Yang Xiaolai came running back inside with the face of a man heading to his own funeral. Seeing Liu Ji, he reacted as though a savior had appeared — and then simultaneously as though a plague god had materialized — and dared not advance further, only standing there with a pitiful expression, staring at him.
Liu Ji didn’t need to ask. One glance at Yang Xiaolai, one glance at the tree at the lane’s entrance, and he understood everything.
Yang Xiaolai, seeing that Liu Ji understood, actually began to explain himself: “Brother Liu Ji, this isn’t my fault. I don’t know where a bunch of wild children came from—”
Before he could finish, that same group of children came running into the lane. Seeing Pei Zhao, they swarmed around him one by one calling out “Brother Pei,” dragging their runny noses and clinging to him demanding sweets. Pei Zhao showed not the slightest distaste, even picking one of them up — the very child who had been buying the pear earlier.
As clever as Liu Ji was, there was nothing he could not figure out. He was furious with himself: he had spent all day hunting the hawk, and in the end the hawk had pecked out his eye.
The men of the Northern Frontier Army truly did have some ability to them.
He steeled himself and stepped forward. Facing Pei Zhao, who was surrounded by children, he smiled apologetically and said: “General Pei, I caused you offense earlier, and I ask your magnanimity. You know how it is — I was carrying out my master’s errand… That horse was actually my own…”
Pei Zhao didn’t spare him so much as a glance. He only laughed and played with the child in his arms.
“Didn’t I say?” he said — and he truly had been born with that sort of arresting appearance, his smile almost infuriatingly beautiful — “If you need to find me again, ask your young miss to come herself.”