Yang Qing had hurried as fast as he could, but by the time he finally reached the Bian River, the riverbank was already packed with onlookers so tightly that not even water could trickle through. The servants around him exerted tremendous effort to carve out a path, escorting him as they squeezed their way to the river’s edge.

The river surface was dotted with countless pleasure boats of all sizes, and numerous small vessels wove between them. Yang Qing shot a glance at his servant, who quickly caught on and began chatting up the people nearby: “So someone really did die? Who was it? Why is there such a huge commotion?”

The surrounding crowd chimed in with various answers, but before the servant could relay anything coherent to Yang Qing, someone from the outer edge shouted loudly: “The Wang family has sent more people! A whole group of them this time!”

Yang Qing turned with the crowd and indeed saw a dozen or so people surging toward them in a mighty procession, brandishing torches. He recognized the man at the front—having thoroughly investigated the Wang family, he naturally knew all the men who made public appearances. This one seemed to be the Second Old Master from the second branch of the Wang family’s legitimate line, who should be Young Master Wang’s uncle.

In the blink of an eye, the group arrived. Second Old Master Wang wore the expression of someone whose family had just suffered a death. He hurried through the crowd, leading the Wang family’s younger generation onto a small boat and heading toward the three-story pleasure boat drifting in the middle of the river.

People around began whispering: “So it really is Young Master Wang who died? Although Young Master Wang wasn’t domineering, he was still a member of the Wang family. Who would be so bold as to dare kill him?”

“If it weren’t the Wang family’s eldest young master, would the Wang family send so many people?” someone nearby replied dismissively, eyes excitedly fixed on the river surface. “This must be the Wang family’s eldest young master who got into trouble. Haha, I told you—the way he carried on so wildly, something was bound to happen sooner or later. And sure enough, it did! I heard it was over jealousy—someone pushed him off the boat. Tsk tsk, the Bian River is so deep. Once you fall in, how could you survive? He deserved it for causing such trouble!”

The onlookers buzzed with discussion. Yang Qing stood listening for a while, then quietly ordered his servant to find a boat. Taking advantage of the authorities not having arrived yet, they rowed ahead to the pleasure boat.

Inside the pleasure boat, chaos reigned—the Wang family had brought far too many people, and with so many present, pandemonium was inevitable. Yang Qing watched as the Wang family’s servants carried out a corpse covered in white cloth, still dripping water, their faces grief-stricken. His heart relaxed even more. Before long, the commotion inside the pleasure boat intensified. Someone wailed: “Our Fourth Young Master is a son of an Earl’s household! Have you all eaten a bear’s heart and leopard’s gall?!”

Soon after, the boat’s windows were smashed open. Through the lanterns held by servants and the wind lamps hanging on the pleasure boat, Yang Qing could see Song Yan being protected in the middle by a group of people, locked in tense confrontation with the Wang family’s men.

He looked no further and turned to instruct his servant: “Take advantage of the chaos, go up, find Dashan who’s beside Young Master Wang, and have him come see me.”

The servant agreed and, quick-eyed and nimble-handed, climbed aboard via the gangplank. But after searching the boat, he returned rather disheveled: “I didn’t see Dashan anywhere. The fighting up there is fierce—even I got kicked a few times for no reason.”

With the Wang family having lost their eldest young master, they were practically mad with grief, creating such a terrible ruckus that it couldn’t be suppressed. Yang Qing frowned, but before he could react, the crowd of onlookers on shore let out another enormous gasp. He looked in that direction and discovered many constables in official uniforms had arrived, carrying torches.

The Wang family was a local power in Jinling. With such a major incident occurring, they would certainly report it to the authorities—this was within expectations. Yang Qing assessed the current situation for a moment, then instructed his servant to have the boatman row their small craft to the other side, where they went ashore downstream from the pleasure boat.

It was too chaotic. That young male courtesan would certainly be kept by the Wang family to testify against Song Yan. He wondered whether the person would first be taken away by the Yingtian Prefecture authorities or detained by the Wang family’s people. Yang Qing stood on the shore for a while, until he saw the Yingtian Prefecture constables march Song Yan out from the pleasure boat and onto a small boat, before he finally left the riverbank.

It wasn’t surprising that the Wang family was making such a fuss—after all, the Wang family had lost their eldest legitimate grandson. If it were him, he would probably be even more furious.

Now that the authorities had been alerted and everyone had been arrested and taken to the prefecture office, there really wasn’t much more to say about the matter. Old Master Chen was only concerned about the aftermath: “That young male courtesan’s mouth must be sealed tight. He should say what ought to be said and absolutely not say what shouldn’t be said. Once Song Yan got into trouble, the people around him must have already sent word outside. Before the Song and Cui families’ people arrive, we must first solidify the charges against Song Yan.”

Yang Qing also knew this matter brooked no delay. After his servant returned to report that Yingtian Prefecture had taken both the Wang family’s people and Song Yan into custody together, he discussed with Old Master Chen: “Everyone is now at Yingtian Prefecture—this is the best time to manipulate things. This student will send someone to grease some palms.”

Grease some palms to find that young male courtesan and Young Master Wang’s servant, and teach them how to appear in court and how to answer questions in the hall.

Old Master Chen pondered for a moment before nodding: “Go ahead, but send someone cautious and clever. We can’t have them expose our hand and ruin everything.”

Yang Qing went back to make arrangements. Though it was already very late, he immediately delegated the tasks—this kind of work of coaching witnesses was naturally easier to accomplish undetected during chaotic times. If they waited until the trial began, it would be very easy to leave traces.

After giving all the instructions, he ran through the day’s events once more in his mind. Confirming that he hadn’t overlooked anything or made any mistakes, he finally returned to his room with peace of mind.

The next day, after breakfast, he accompanied Old Master Chen through the meal and began waiting for people to return with news.

However, the person sent returned in defeat. According to him, the Song family’s people were also pulling strings to find that young male courtesan, and the Song family had sent what appeared to be a steward who was extremely willing to spend money, having given the jailer a large sum of silver.

Old Master Chen immediately frowned: “We cannot let the Song family’s people make contact with him first!”

Right—how could they have forgotten? Song Yan had gotten into trouble, but not all the people around him had been arrested with him. Upon hearing of the incident, they would certainly seek out the only third party present at the scene—that young male courtesan.

Yang Qing slapped his own forehead and turned to look at Old Master Chen: “Teacher, then this student will make the trip personally.”

They couldn’t let the Song family’s people bribe the jailer first. It would be more reliable if he went himself. Old Master Chen thought the same way—he would feel more at ease if Yang Qing personally handled this matter: “Very well, be careful. Fortunately, you’re newly arrived and no one knows you. If worst comes to worst, just make it final once and for all.”

Bribe the jailer to kill both the young male courtesan and that servant called Dashan—that would save them, and prevent the Song family’s people from finding an opportunity.