After leaving Ji Lan’s room, Ji Cheng sent Yu Qian’er to find Hao Ren and arrange a meeting time. Since Shen Cui and Su Yun were both participating in the Zhongtan Arts Selection, Madam Huang and Ji Lan took several young ladies back to the city. Only the Old Madam remained at Jing Garden to escape the summer heat.
“What instructions does Miss have for me?” Hao Ren asked, putting on a respectful demeanor as soon as he saw Ji Cheng. Before she could speak, he continued, “I’ve already started working on the matter you mentioned last time, Miss. However, to make this performance flawless, we need a process of preparation. It can’t be rushed.”
Ji Cheng smiled and said, “I have complete faith in your abilities, sir. I didn’t call you here today for that matter, but to entrust you with something else.”
Hao Ren quickly replied, “I don’t dare to presume. I’m at your service, Miss.”
Ji Cheng explained the situation and then said, “I estimate my aunt will start with the leader of the Qibao League and several officials. If you have any connections, please keep an eye out for me and pay attention to any witnesses or evidence.”
Hao Ren thought to himself: My goodness, what a dark-hearted girl! She’s going for her aunt’s weak spot. But Ji Cheng’s aunt indeed doesn’t have a kind heart, willing to feed such a tender girl to the dying old emperor.
Ever since Hao Ren heard Ji Cheng’s words and began preparing to deal with Ji Lan, he had thoroughly investigated her daily affairs. He even knew how many times she went to the latrine at night through Ji Cheng’s inquiries.
As for Ji Lan’s external affairs, Hao Ren was even more clear. She had established connections with old eunuchs in the palace, trying to find ways to bypass the various imperial consorts and present Ji Cheng to the old emperor. Hao Ren hadn’t told Ji Cheng about this filthy business yet, planning to inform her when his hand reached this line, to report a great merit and exchange it for the leverage Ji Cheng held over him.
“Don’t worry, Third Miss. I may not be able to guarantee everything, but I can certainly find out about the Qibao League’s affairs,” Hao Ren said. “Old Xiao and I are sworn brothers.”
The “Old Xiao” Hao Ren mentioned was Xiao Rumeng, the current leader of the Qibao League. As it was a union of civilian polo clubs, to minimize the influence of the powerful and wealthy while demonstrating its authority, the Qibao League’s leader and officials were all ordinary citizens.
For the Qibao League to create such a grand spectacle in the capital, besides maintaining good relations with the stewards, they also had to appease the local powers, and Hao Ren was on this line.
Ji Cheng nodded, inwardly admiring Hao Ren’s abilities even more, but also becoming more determined to keep Hao Ren working for her.
Ji Cheng didn’t avoid Liu Ye’er and Yu Qian’er during her conversation with Hao Ren. These two were her trusted confidantes, and in the capital, she often couldn’t meet Hao Ren herself, so she would have to rely on them in the future.
After Hao Ren left, Liu Ye’er asked Ji Cheng, “How does Miss know that the Third Madam will use the money to bribe people in the Qibao League?”
“Because she has no other means besides money,” Ji Cheng replied. She had thoroughly investigated her aunt’s affairs, after all, intending to replicate her success.
Ji Lan had been so famous in Jin territory partly due to her beauty, but also because the Ji family’s money had bought her many friends. However, after marrying into the capital, the stench of money seemed particularly unwelcome, leaving Ji Lan isolated and causing her to throw money around even more desperately.
Even if Ji Lan’s dowry had been a mountain of gold and silver, it couldn’t withstand such spending, especially since the Ji family wasn’t as prosperous then as it is now. That’s why during Ji Cheng’s previous incident, Ji Lan refused to budge until she took half of the Ji family’s money.
Observing Ji Lan’s actions, Ji Cheng knew she wouldn’t have many ways to make Shen Cui stand out in the Zhongtan Arts Selection. Using money to pave the way was certainly the first method Ji Lan would think of.
When leaving Orchid Lane, Ji Cheng also visited the Ji family’s medicine shop and spice shop in the capital.
“Miss wants to make a hair-darkening paste?” Liu Ye’er understood as soon as she saw the list Ji Cheng wrote out. “Don’t we still have a jar?”
Ji Cheng said, “It’s not for our use. I noticed the Old Madam has more silver hair, so I want to make a jar for her and also send one each to Teacher Lian and Teacher Yu. They all prefer different scents, so we need to make them separately.”
“Miss is so filial,” Yu Qian’er flattered.
Ji Cheng shook her head. This filial piety wasn’t pure; it was mostly because she hoped they would be good to her, so she cared for them. But isn’t this how relationships between people work? Ji Cheng also knew she was overthinking it. Starting from the Old Madam, these people weren’t expecting anything from her; they were all genuinely kind to her. But the flaws in her character meant she couldn’t give without expecting something in return, which made her quite ashamed.
Seeing Ji Cheng looking gloomy, Yu Qian’er didn’t dare to speak again.
After buying the items, the carriage returned to the Shen residence via Chang’an Street. The western side of Chang’an Street was Cloud Come District, where most of the Hu people from the Western Regions lived, especially Hu women. Gradually, it became a place for the people of the capital to seek pleasure, and even the capital’s established brothels gradually moved closer to this area. After decades of development, it had formed into a large district.
As Ji Cheng’s carriage passed the entrance of Cloud Come District, it suddenly came to a sharp stop. If Ji Cheng hadn’t braced her foot against the carriage door frame to steady herself, she would have fallen out.
Yu Qian’er’s forehead hit the doorpost, and her face turned red with anger. As soon as she steadied herself, she jumped out of the carriage, intending to confront the culprit.
After settling herself, Ji Cheng lifted the curtain to look outside. She saw a man wearing a dirty, worn-out robe sitting on the ground in front of the carriage, shouting, “I really can write poems, I really can write poems…”
“Haha, trying to scam at the entrance of my Lichun House? You should have asked around about who your father is. You can write poems? Look at that chicken scratch you wrote. I spit on you. You’re lucky today that our young mistress is fasting. Otherwise, I’d beat you to death.” The guard of Lichun House spat on the man again viciously.
“You’re a grown man with no money, and you still go to brothels? Aren’t you ashamed?” Yu Qian’er drew her finger across her cheek at the man.
Ji Cheng lowered the curtain, no longer interested in the scene outside. She naturally couldn’t muster any sympathy for such a man.
However, the man’s wailing was pitiful. The Ji family was in business, and they couldn’t ignore such an opportunity for charity presented before their eyes, lest they offend the Bodhisattva.
So Ji Cheng gave Liu Ye’er a look, and Liu Ye’er lifted the curtain to switch places with Yu Qian’er. “Give him some silver to treat his injuries.”
Yu Qian’er nodded, took out a piece of silver from her purse, and threw it at the man. “Here, take it. My mistress took pity on you and gave you this. You’re a grown man with hands and feet, stop being a swindler. You even tried to scam brothel girls, how useless.”
“I’m not scamming, I really can write poems. Poetry, lyrics, prose, I can do it all,” the man lying on the ground insisted. He struggled to lift himself and looked over Yu Qian’er’s shoulder. Through the raised curtain, he caught a glimpse of Ji Cheng. Although it was just a fleeting moment, Su Qingci was instantly captivated.
Indeed, unpolluted, natural places produce true beauty. This scene of “beauty saving the hero” instantly made Su Qingci feel that he had encountered his first female protagonist since coming to ancient times.
Thinking that his future wife would be this great beauty before him, Su Qingci felt a surge of strength throughout his body. He stood up at once and limped to the carriage. “Miss, I really can write poems.”
Ji Cheng wouldn’t pay any attention to Su Qingci. With a glance from Yu Qian’er, the carriage driver dragged Su Qingci to the side, then took out a stool for Yu Qian’er to climb back into the carriage.
Seeing Yu Qian’er getting into the carriage, Su Qingci rushed over again, afraid of missing his chance with Ji Cheng. He hurriedly recited, “Red-sleeved hands, yellow-sealed wine, spring colors fill the city, willows by palace walls. East wind cruel, joy so thin, a cup of sorrow, years of separation. Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! Spring as before, person grew lean, tear stains seep through silk…”
The poem was indeed excellent. Ji Cheng was captivated at first listening, but although she hadn’t heard this poem before, she couldn’t believe it was composed by the man before her. If she didn’t want to be fooled, she should have left immediately.
But all instances of being deceived stem from greed. Ji Cheng also had greed. What if this poem was his creation? If such a good poem were given to Shen Cui to sing, surely the chances of winning the Zhongtan Arts Selection would be even greater.
With the attitude of “better to kill by mistake than to let go by mistake,” Ji Cheng lowered her head and said to Liu Ye’er, “Take him to Orchid Lane.”
This world offers many opportunities, but people often miss them due to various fears and concerns. So they didn’t believe Su Qingci, because being deceived by such a person would be too embarrassing.
As for Ji Cheng, her principle was that it’s okay to be deceived a thousand times as long as you seize one opportunity to turn things around. So she was willing to invest in Su Qingci, especially since giving away this small amount of silver was just a drop in the bucket for her.
Just as evening approached, Liu Ye’er came to report to Ji Cheng.
“Miss, that Su Qingci is quite strange. He can barely write clearly, yet he can recite exquisite verses,” Liu Ye’er handed two sheets of paper to Ji Cheng.
Ji Cheng took them and read, “You dwell at the head of the Yangtze, I at its tail. Daily I think of you but never see you…”
Besides this poem, there was another excellent verse that stirred one’s heart when read.
“Did you find out about his background?” Ji Cheng asked.
“This person’s words don’t make sense, and he’s lying. His accent is indistinguishable, with a very strange intonation. Although he can write, his characters are different from ours. We can barely guess what the characters are. He says our characters are called ‘traditional’ something, and he is called ‘simplified’. I don’t understand it either,” Liu Ye’er said.
Ji Cheng didn’t understand either. “Have Steward Mo treat him well with food and drink, but don’t let him leave. At least not before the 26th of the sixth month. Also, find a calligraphy copybook and have him practice our characters.”
Liu Ye’er nodded.
Meanwhile, Ji Cheng took the two poems written by Su Qingci to visit Teacher Lian. Teacher Lian loved poetry and prose. If she hadn’t heard of these two poems, then there was an eight or nine out of ten chance that they hadn’t been published yet. Additionally, Ji Cheng made several copies of these two poems herself and had Liu Ye’er and Yu Qian’er take them to ask the managers of the Ji family shops.
These managers had traveled far and wide and had been to many brothels. Many contemporary poems were initially spread from such places. When famous scholars couldn’t pay their debts, they liked to use poems to pay for drinks at brothels. Su Qingci had learned from these people.
As a result, neither Teacher Lian nor the managers had heard of these two poems. Teacher Lian was particularly enamored with these two poems, calling them heavenly verses, and expressed a strong desire to meet Mr. Su.
Ji Cheng had to make up a lie to deal with the situation.
“So these two poems were written by Mr. Su?” Liu Ye’er asked Ji Cheng incredulously. In her words, she had unconsciously started referring to Su Qingci as “Mr. Su.”
Ji Cheng said, “It’s hard to say.” But for Ji Cheng, none of this mattered. As long as the poems were good and unknown, that was enough.
“Ask Mr. Su to write another poem, preferably one that’s passionate and grand,” Ji Cheng said.