Xiao Nanhui walked ahead with her head lowered, and every now and then she glanced sidelong at the person keeping pace beside her — that man was behaving with exceptional docility, watching her with a perfectly harmless expression on his face.

What to do? She felt that asking such a question while facing this particular face would be nothing short of an act of desecration. Yet…

That really is a lot of silver.

“Young Master Yao’s brow — what has happened to it? It’s been twitching continuously this whole time.”

Ding Weixiang’s scrutinizing gaze landed on her; Xiao Nanhui lost her nerve somewhat, and had to press down the restless idea for the time being. She laughed awkwardly. “I must have slept on it awkwardly last night — it feels a bit off.”

By the time they finished talking, they had arrived at the side room door. Bolao heard them coming and opened the door, looking rather impatient: “What took so long just to bring someone back?”

Xiao Nanhui pushed her back into the room and gestured for the two uninvited guests to follow.

Once the carved wooden door was closed, Xiao Nanhui pressed her ear to the gap and listened for a moment before turning to the two who had arrived without invitation. “Weren’t we supposed to wait for news from Hao Bai? Why come now?”

Zhongli Jing sat in the room’s worn and rickety chair with perfect composure and studied the tuberose carved into the wooden door. “No particular reason — I simply found myself thinking of what Young Master Yao mentioned on the boat, and thought I’d come take a look at this entertainment quarter.”

This man’s capacity for saying things with a straight face was genuinely not to be underestimated. Xiao Nanhui couldn’t be bothered to expose him; instead, Zhou Waiye’s tempting proposal was beginning to itch at her again, and she decided to feel things out a little.

“And what does Young Master Zhongli think of it, now that he’s seen it?”

Zhongli Jing nodded. “Adequate. Not quite as disreputable as you described.”

Xiao Nanhui blinked and decided to press a little further. “On the boat earlier, I was talking to Hao Bai about our respective family enterprises. I still don’t know whether your household, Young Master Zhongli, is in official service or in trade?”

She wasn’t sure whether it was her imagination, but the moment she asked, Ding Weixiang — who had been standing silently in the shadow of the wall — looked up and shot her a glance.

Zhongli Jing, however, gave the question rare consideration before replying with quiet composure: “I cannot compare to Young Master Yao or Doctor Hao, each with your own distinct accomplishments. I merely inherited the family’s ancestral business.”

Xiao Nanhui saw her opening and moved to climb the pole: “Relying on the ancestors without building for yourself is no long-term strategy, and besides, surely a family as established as Young Master Zhongli’s must have many brothers and siblings — being in such a large family, you really ought to make some provisions for yourself early on—”

“Just what is Young Master Yao trying to say?” Zhongli Jing had not yet spoken — Ding Weixiang’s expression had already darkened and he cut Xiao Nanhui off.

Bolao bared her teeth in a protective retort: “We’re just having a conversation. Our master hasn’t said a word; what are you jumping in for?”

Ding Weixiang went from furious to derisive; Bolao gave no ground; the two glared at each other, deadlocked.

Xiao Nanhui had never imagined that a conversation she had started would end up in such a state, and for a moment she had no idea what to do.

Meanwhile, the other person at the center of it all seemed to have his thoughts somewhere else entirely. Zhongli Jing rose and walked over to the dressing table, picking up with two fingers the peach-red handkerchief that had been tossed carelessly on its surface. “This handkerchief—”

Xiao Nanhui quickly took over: “Oh, that’s the handkerchief Bolao and I used to cover our faces last night.”

“Is this your own handkerchief, Young Master Yao?”

Xiao Nanhui stared at that touch of peach-red and felt her throat tighten slightly.

She absolutely did not have that sort of taste.

“No — we were in such a rush to leave that I never thought to bring something like that. It was something I found in this room.”

Zhongli Jing said nothing, but his fingertip lingered over the handkerchief as though it interested him considerably.

Just then, a sudden clamor broke out in the rear courtyard outside. Listening carefully, it seemed as though someone had forced their way in.

All four people in the room exchanged looks, and quietly edged toward the window, ears pricked.

Xiao Nanhui felt an inexplicable sense of dread rise in her chest. She pressed a small hole in the side window and looked out. At some point, seven or eight unfamiliar figures had appeared in the courtyard; the one in front was a nanny whose build rivaled that of a grown man — it was Li Guizhen, Zhao Shi’s personal attendant. Even Zhou Waiye and the sizable men he had brought with him seemed no real match for her.

That damned Hao Bai — whatever had he said to Zhao Shi to bring her all the way here like this?

Li Guizhen was as wide as she was imposing, her voice carrying enough force to fill the entire courtyard with echoes.

“Whoever it was that received our Master Zou last month — kindly step forward yourselves. Don’t make this old woman come and drag you out personally; there’s no need to make things ugly for everyone.”

A number of the tower’s guards had already surrounded the newcomers, but daunted by the Zou Family’s power and influence, none dared to act. They all watched Zhou Waiye’s expression for a cue.

Zhou Waiye might have been getting on in years, but he was fully capable of holding his ground, and his face still wore its usual good-natured smile; the words that came with it, however, were sharp. “Now, Nanny, that’s something I don’t quite follow. Those legs are attached to Master Zou himself — if he chose to come, then he came. As for which of our people he sought out, surely you ought to go and ask Master Zou directly?”

Li Guizhen’s eyes slanted, and one of the men she had brought flung an object to the ground.

Xiao Nanhui narrowed her eyes — and her hand went instinctively to her ear.

What lay on the ground in a heap of jade-green was none other than the handkerchief she had thrown away in the Zou Mansion the night before.

Li Guizhen gave a cold snort and jabbed a finger at the handkerchief in a threatening gesture: “Thieves broke into the Zou Mansion last night, and this is what they left behind. In a moment I’ll have someone deliver it to the magistrate’s yamen and see which brazen creature seduced our master — and then had the audacity to come in the dead of night and play at haunting.”

Li Guizhen’s words carried a certain power of intimidation. The last thing an establishment like this needed was entanglement with the yamen; even if it all eventually came to nothing, there would still be layers of silver scraped away in the process.

The thought of it was enough to leave Zhou Waiye seething inwardly. With all this commotion, everyone in the tower was now craning their necks to watch the spectacle. The servants were delighted to have such entertainment to look at — and to catch a moment’s rest from their work in the process.

Jin Dou’er, arms full of freshly washed bedding, looked through the surrounding crowd and in a single glance spotted the handkerchief lying on the ground. His feet moved toward it before he knew it.

“Oh? This looks like the one I put in A’Yun’s room before—”

As he spoke, his hand pointed by reflex toward the uppermost side room.

Inside the side room, the other three occupants turned their gazes in unison toward Xiao Nanhui.

Xiao Nanhui let out a dry laugh; she had the distinct sense that she had caused rather an enormous amount of trouble.

The moment Li Guizhen came upstairs to this room, all of them would be scooped up together in one go.

At this critical juncture, a door on the third floor that had been firmly shut suddenly swung open, and out stepped a man with his robes half-open, his face full of indignation — it was A’Xi. His attendant followed with an expression of anxious desperation, as though he had tried and failed to hold him back, and could only stand by and worry helplessly.

A’Xi glanced down at the imperious nanny below with an air of arrogant disdain and opened his mouth: “And here I thought, who could be making such a commotion — and it turns out it’s nothing but a hen.”

Li Guizhen’s favorite outfit for the day happened to be a jacket of dark gray with silver-bead embroidery — the one she was most fond of in her entire wardrobe. Yet now this man had likened her to a feather-ruffled hen, and her face went green with rage.

“You shameless, neither-man-nor-woman, filthy, lowborn creature—”

A’Xi was already nursing a chest full of resentment over having been played for a fool by the Zou master — and now, given an outlet, he let fly with a string of profanities so fierce they left Li Guizhen’s face cycling through shades of green and red, until she rushed up to the third floor with her men in tow: “I will tear that mouth of yours apart today, or I’ll have no answer for Madam!”

Xiao Nanhui was startled by this sudden turn of events; by the time she’d gathered her wits, the commotion outside had already descended into absolute chaos.

The narrow staircase was crammed with fighters, peacemakers, and innocent bystanders caught in the crossfire. Zhou Waiye, feather duster raised, couldn’t even push his way in and was stuck on the outside, watching helplessly.

A’Xi’s frame was built for singing and dancing, and was no real match for Li Guizhen — a nanny hardened by years of household service. One hard grab seized him by the hair, and he let out a sharp cry: “You wretched woman — let go!”

Li Guizhen had no intention of releasing her grip; she only tightened it. “Today I’ll see to you on the Madam’s behalf, you vixen — let’s see who dares bedevil our master again after this!”

A’Xi felt his scalp screaming with the strain; if this kept up he was going to lose his hair, and the desperation made him cry out: “Zou Sifang only came to my room to discuss business — if you’re looking for someone to blame, go find Xiong Bingnan!”

Li Guizhen’s hand stilled, and the implications clicked into place immediately: “You’re saying the master was secretly meeting with someone from the Xiong Family?”

“Who knows what Xiong Bingnan came to ingratiate himself about! Hmph — fires burning in your own backyard, and yet you come blaming everyone else—”

A’Xi was still rambling, but Li Guizhen had already released him. Her expression was dark enough to frighten anyone; she barked at the men she had brought: “Go. To the Xiong Family — we want an explanation.”

This farce finally drew to a close. Zhou Waiye started shouting orders to clean up the aftermath; A’Xi stamped his feet and demanded a physician be sent for; Jin Dou’er, amid the chaos, quietly picked up the handkerchief from the ground — and no one seemed to notice.

With Li Guizhen’s departure, the noise outside gradually settled.

The four people inside the room sat in silence for a moment; it was Bolao who finally broke the uncanny stillness: “Now what?”

Xiao Nanhui felt thoroughly vexed. Who could have imagined that a thoughtless act the night before would bring down such a storm from Zhao Shi?

They had agreed in words to collaborate with Zhongli Jing and the others — but in the end, each of them still had their own aims. She had been counting on simply having Zou Sifang cured first, then having Hao Bai do some prodding to lure the snake from its hole; once the master brought the object out, she and Bolao would find a way to make a quiet switch, and the thing would be in their hands without anyone being the wiser.

Now that trouble had flared between Zhao Shi and the Xiong Family, keeping a low profile was no longer possible. And that wasn’t the worst of it — Zhao Shi had actually come knocking at their door, which meant the matter of the imperial seal was likely out in the open already. Once the master was cured, it would probably all come spilling out, and she would still have to get past Zhao Shi.

Thinking along those lines, Xiao Nanhui’s train of thought took a turn. With all the uproar that had broken out in Mu Er He, the various factions couldn’t possibly be sitting entirely idle — yet at present the whole city appeared calm, giving the impression that the people who had come for the jade were not only after the object itself, but were also waiting for someone.

She did not respond to Bolao’s question. After turning it over in her mind, she decided to voice the doubt at the bottom of her heart: “Since we entered Huozhou, have any of you heard any news of the Qu Family?”

At these words, Bolao immediately began shooting pointed looks in her direction — the unspoken message being: we don’t know yet whether they’re friend or foe, stop saying so much.

But she simply did not believe that Zhongli Jing, clever as he was, knew any less than she did. With someone like this, sometimes hiding and hedging was no match for asking plainly.

As expected, no hint of conflict crossed Zhongli Jing’s face. He simply exhaled the two words with quiet evenness: “We have not.”

That was strange. The invitation to bring in an appraiser had supposedly been made openly — yet what was evidently not a matter meant for wide circulation had nonetheless drawn all these parties in from all sides, only for them to drag their feet while everyone gathered; and then Zou Sifang had gone and fallen ill, making the jade authentication impossible altogether. Aside from a whisper of news from a month ago, the Qu Family seemed to have never materialized at all. Unless—

“Do you suppose,” Xiao Nanhui said slowly, “that the invitation to the Qu Family might have been a trap? It is not beyond the realm of possibility that someone wished to draw out everyone who knew of the imperial seal’s existence and eliminate them all at once.”

Bolao shook her head. “And who do you think that someone might be?”

Xiao Nanhui shrugged. “Who knows? Maybe the Emperor, maybe—”

“Impossible.”

She hadn’t finished speaking when Ding Weixiang cut her off with a cold voice. She looked over at him with some curiosity. “How can you be so certain?”

Ding Weixiang glanced almost imperceptibly at Zhongli Jing — who remained expressionless — and then smoothed his own expression back into perfect composure, answering without a crack showing: “If the Imperial Family wished to pursue this matter, they would not have waited until now. Action would have been taken long ago, at the time it first arose. Besides, Huozhou is already a city crowded with all manner of people; why go out of the way to set a trap here and create unnecessary trouble for oneself?”

Xiao Nanhui gave a provisional nod, but the situation still gnawed at her with unease. Meanwhile, Zhongli Jing — who had been entirely quiet — spoke up: “There is no need for idle speculation on the part of those present. Why not find an opportunity to draw everyone out into the open and let us all have a look at who is who?”

Having said this, Zhongli Jing shifted his gaze to Xiao Nanhui.

She felt an inexplicable sense of foreboding rise from somewhere deep within her — and sure enough, he continued:

“Three days from now, the Zhuming Festival — does Young Master Yao have any confidence in participating?”

Xiao Nanhui blinked. “The Zhuming Festival? Participate in the Zhuming Festival for what?”

Zhongli Jing smiled, and in his eyes there flashed for a moment a piercing, captivating sharpness: “To seize the imperial seal.”

“You want Zou Sifang to offer the seal as a sacrificial offering?” Xiao Nanhui found this difficult to believe.

Setting aside the question of how that old Zou master might cherish this so-called “treasure jade,” even if he could be persuaded to offer it up — what confidence did she have of coming out on top? And if she did come out on top, exposed to all eyes, what confidence did she have of leaving Huozhou alive with the thing in hand?

She turned all of this over, and something finally occurred to her. She said, with some irritation: “You’re pushing me toward the blade’s edge.” She pointed at Ding Weixiang standing nearby. “His martial skill is probably no lesser than mine or Bolao’s — why not send him?”

“Weixiang’s abilities are of a particular kind; the moment he appeared in the ring, people would recognize him and it would cause more trouble than it solved.” The man delivered this brush-off with perfect matter-of-factness, and in closing could not resist adding: “This situation has become as complicated as it has, due in no small part to Young Master Yao’s own contribution. I hope the Young Master will not decline.”

This wasn’t just pushing her toward the blade’s edge — he was roasting her over a fire on top of it.

Xiao Nanhui cast Bolao a look of bitter resignation.

She’d known all along that those face-covering handkerchiefs were going to be trouble — and sure enough, they had.

Thinking of what the Zhuming Festival competition entailed, Xiao Nanhui wanted to make one last effort to resist: “How do you know I’m trustworthy? Aren’t you afraid I’ll take the thing and disappear once I’ve won?”

“You are, naturally, trustworthy.”

Xiao Nanhui stared somewhat blankly at the man as he rose from the chair and began walking toward her, one step at a time.

“From the very first moment we met, I knew that.”

With that, Zhongli Jing’s face suddenly drew close to Xiao Nanhui’s ear, and in a voice audible to no one else, he called her by her name.

“Xiao Nanhui — wouldn’t you say so?”