There weren’t many pedestrians on the road…

Zhou Shaojin’s heart stirred with excitement.

But running out to play on New Year’s Eve seemed a bit improper… She couldn’t help but hesitate.

Ji Ying saw through her thoughts, smiled with pursed lips, and kept urging her: “Let’s go! Let’s go! It’s really fun there. When I came from Cangzhou, I disembarked at Jiangdong Bridge. At that time I was stunned by all those boats large and small coming and going at Jiangdong Bridge. It’s just that my mood wasn’t good then, so I didn’t have time to look carefully. Later after moving into Zao Garden, I couldn’t figure out the way. This time I can finally get out, and your family elders aren’t home either, so we can go see it together… I heard that all the food, drink, and supplies for Jinling City are transported in through Jiangdong Bridge. During the busy spring and autumn trading seasons, hundreds of boats compete with their sails—the scene is quite spectacular. But at that time we probably won’t be able to go out easily, otherwise we really should go witness it.”

Zhou Shaojin still couldn’t quite make up her mind.

Just then Zhou Chujin came over to greet Ji Ying. Hearing this, she asked Ji Ying with a smile: “Running to Jiangdong Bridge like this won’t cause you trouble?”

Ji Ying, hearing some give in these words, quickly said: “What trouble could there be—Fourth Master has to go with Old Madam Guo to Tingyu Pavilion for New Year’s Eve dinner and to see in the new year. By the time I get back, Tingyu Pavilion probably won’t even have dispersed yet!”

That was actually true.

Zhou Chujin thought for a moment and nodded: “You can go out, but you must return before the beginning of Shen hour (3 PM).”

Zhou Shaojin jumped with joy, saying in disbelief: “Sister, I can really go out?”

“You really can,” Zhou Chujin said with a smile. “However, if you can’t return on time, you’ll never be allowed out again in the future.”

Zhou Shaojin hugged her sister tightly.

Ji Ying also repeatedly thanked her, adding: “Eldest Miss, why don’t you come out with us for a walk too?”

“I need to stay home to prepare the New Year’s Eve dinner,” Zhou Chujin said with a smile. “If it weren’t for the rules at Jiuru Lane, I’d keep you here for New Year’s Eve dinner!”

The more it was a holiday, the more easily people tired. The servant women staying at Jiuru Lane for New Year could receive a considerable reward, but they also had to stay in the mansion for twelve hours a day without going anywhere.

Ji Ying chuckled and said: “One day I’ll treat Eldest Miss to roasted pork neck!”

Zhou Chujin never ate such things, but grateful for her kind intentions, she smiled and thanked her, instructing the Ma Fushan household to arrange sedan chairs and accompanying maids, servants, and guards to take Zhou Shaojin and Ji Ying to Jiangdong Bridge.

Ji Ying said with a smile: “Eldest Miss, you don’t need to go to such trouble. I brought a carriage.”

Zhou Chujin was taken aback.

Families in Jinling City mostly used sedan chairs—those using carriages were extremely rare. Not to mention anything else, horses themselves were controlled by the court, and due to water and soil issues, were very difficult to maintain. It was even more expensive than hiring several sedan chair bearers.

Ji Ying smiled: “It’s the Cheng household’s carriage.”

Zhou Chujin was still somewhat uneasy and said to the Ma Fushan household: “On this big New Year day, to trouble them to make a trip to Jiangdong Bridge—go send some hot soup to those serving with the carriage, greet them, and reward them with some money.”

The Ma Fushan household went off in acknowledgment.

These were all matters of etiquette that Ji Ying didn’t take to heart. But Zhou Shaojin knew her sister was worried about Ji Ying and was having the Ma Fushan household verify whether the carriage and coachman really were from the Cheng household.

Before long, the Ma Fushan household returned with a smile, giving Zhou Chujin a “reassuring” look while saying: “It’s Huanqing, the elder brother of Huanxi who serves by Steward Xu’s side. Thinking that his younger brother personally serves Steward Xu, I rewarded him a few extra taels of silver.”

Only then did Zhou Chujin’s heart settle. She saw Zhou Shaojin and Ji Ying off.

The shops along the street had long since closed their doors. The streets were cold and deserted with hardly any people visible. Occasionally they’d see a sundries shop, but it would just be a rotund shopkeeper or a shrewd and capable proprietress sitting alone in the shop, tending to one or two customers. The formerly bustling marketplace suddenly gave people a rather desolate feeling.

Zhou Shaojin couldn’t help tightening the gray squirrel fur cloak around her, saying: “Going to Jiangdong Bridge at this time, will there still be boats to see?”

“Actually, I don’t know either,” Ji Ying said honestly. “I mainly just wanted to get out for a walk. Staying in Hanbi Mountain House all day looking at green leaves—I’m about to grow moss myself.”

Zhou Shaojin couldn’t help laughing.

Ji Ying sighed: “You don’t know—Madam Yuan left for the capital after the Little New Year reunion dinner, saying she won’t return until before Old Madam’s birthday on the ninth day of the ninth month. Just thinking about having to stay in Hanbi Mountain House for nine months makes me feel like I’ve lost half my life. Yesterday I told your Uncle Chi to just send me to Zao Garden to sweep floors. Your Uncle Chi said we’d see when the time comes.” As she spoke, she looked at Zhou Shaojin with a beaming smile. “If I go to Zao Garden, I’ll definitely invite you to visit.”

“Is the scenery at Zao Garden very nice?” Zhou Shaojin asked curiously.

“At least better than Hanbi Mountain House,” Ji Ying said with a smile. “They’ve planted many flowering trees—it has a feeling of flowers blooming all four seasons…”

As they talked, they quickly arrived near Jiangdong Bridge.

The carriage stopped, and Huanqing reported through the curtain: “Second Cousin Miss, Miss Ji Ying, the carriage can’t get through here. Please wait a moment while I go hire a sedan chair.”

Ji Ying asked in surprise: “How can we not get through? Didn’t Qin Ziping say it was easy to reach?”

“Isn’t New Year approaching?” Huanqing said with a smile. “Jiangdong Bridge area is home to many porters and mule drivers. During normal days when they’re working outside you don’t notice, but now they’re all resting at home, and all their handcarts and baskets are tied up at their doorways, blocking the road…”

“Can we even find sedan chairs at this time?” Ji Ying said. “Why not take a different road?”

“If we take a different road, I’m afraid that after sending Second Cousin Miss back to the mansion, Jiuru Lane will be locked up,” Huanqing said with a smile. “This area is mostly inhabited by laborers. If I ask around, I should be able to find some. If I can’t find any, it won’t be too late to take a different road then.”

What he was actually telling Ji Ying was that it was best to go this way, or else don’t blame him if they returned late.

Ji Ying had come out to relax, but now she had a bellyful of frustration. She couldn’t help complaining in a low voice: “No wonder people in the mansion say that although Huanqing and Huanxi are brothers, they’re like two different people—Huanqing is lazy and Huanxi is worldly… He can’t even handle such a small matter properly!”

Zhou Shaojin comforted her: “We don’t have anything urgent. Let’s just wait patiently. At worst, we can come again next time.”

“I suppose that’s all we can do!” Ji Ying nodded listlessly.

After waiting a while, Huanqing still hadn’t returned.

She couldn’t sit still anymore and said: “Let’s stand outside the carriage for a bit. The air is better outside.”

Zhou Shaojin was dressed warmly and got off the carriage with Ji Ying.

The place where they stopped was a small alley. Many things were piled on both sides, even children’s cradles, but every household had their doors tightly shut, with the fragrant smell of stewed and braised dishes wafting out.

As soon as they got off the carriage, they saw tall masts and the broad river surface.

“Where is that?” Zhou Shaojin asked with some excitement. “Is that Jiangdong Bridge?”

“It should be,” Ji Ying stood on tiptoe to look and said. “It seems Huanqing took a side road. With this short distance, we might as well walk over. Waiting for him to hire sedan chairs—who knows how long that will take?”

Zhou Shaojin saw that the alley was only a stone’s throw away, and they had a sturdy servant woman and two young maids with them, so she nodded in agreement.

Ji Ying led Zhou Shaojin, watching out for potholes and bumps underfoot while saying: “It’s a pity I don’t know where Tong Garden is. I heard the late Emperor, concerned for the people’s welfare, planted tens of millions of tung and lacquer trees at Jiang Mountain…”

“Look!” Zhou Shaojin, who was following her, suddenly grabbed her sleeve and said: “Doesn’t that person look like Uncle Chi?”

Ji Ying looked in that direction.

On the bow of a three-masted sailing ship not far away stood two people. One was tall and jade-like, wearing a black sable fur cloak, his hand adorned with a jade thumb ring resting leisurely on the ship’s rail. The winter sunlight shone warmly on him, as if illuminating a jade vase—lustrous as jade, graceful and noble.

Ji Ying was greatly startled and exclaimed: “It really is Cheng Zichuan! What’s he doing here at this time? Didn’t he say he had to accompany Old Madam Guo to play chess this afternoon?”

Zhou Shaojin leaned forward: “Is it really Uncle Chi?”

“It’s really Cheng Zichuan,” Ji Ying looked again, then her expression tightened. She pulled Zhou Shaojin back: “It’s too cold. We’d better wait for Huanqing in the carriage.”

Zhou Shaojin smiled knowingly: “You’re afraid of being discovered by Uncle Chi, aren’t you?” As she spoke, she looked back at the ship’s bow again.

Standing beside Cheng Chi was a man of about thirty. He was burly, wearing a lambskin jacket inside out, with a brown cotton robe underneath. He stood straight as a rod facing Cheng Chi, his eyebrows as thick and black as two brooms, beneath which were eyes as deep and cold as a dried well or cold pool, faintly revealing an air of dominance over the world, forming a stark contrast with the elegant and composed Cheng Chi.

She couldn’t help murmuring in a low voice: “Strange! That man looks like a rough laborer or porter, but his bearing is very imposing. He doesn’t seem like someone who does rough work—he’s more like… like a bandit who commands hundreds with a single call…”

Ji Ying gasped.

She suddenly really wanted to tell Cheng Chi what Zhou Shaojin had said.

Cheng Chi’s expression would surely be quite spectacular…

※※※

Because of the chance encounter with Cheng Chi, their Jiangdong Bridge excursion ended hastily like that.

When Zhou Shaojin returned and told Zhou Chujin about it.

Zhou Chujin covered her mouth and laughed: “You’re allowed to secretly run out to play, but Uncle Chi isn’t allowed to secretly go out to meet friends? You and Ji Ying are master and servant, while he and his friend are civil and martial—what’s so strange about that?”

Zhou Shaojin giggled and performed ancestral rites with her sister, then ate the reunion dinner.

Outside, firecrackers crackled loudly, making their small flower hall seem even more tranquil.

Zhou Shaojin didn’t find it cold or lonely though.

She ladled a bowl of pork belly and rice soup for her sister and asked with a beaming smile: “What did you say when you offered incense to our ancestors just now?”

Zhou Chujin ignored her and took a sip of soup, saying: “If I tell you, it won’t come true!”

Zhou Shaojin just smiled.

In her previous life, she had heard.

Her sister had said, asking the ancestors to bless Li Shi with bearing a son to support the family, bring glory to the ancestors, and leave his name in history.

This time, her sister was destined to be disappointed.

But at least their little sister would live and grow up safely and peacefully.