A’Shui held the light purple oil-paper umbrella, standing gracefully in the wind and rain. Tang Lici no longer looked at her and closed his eyes.

She kept standing there, not leaving.

The wind and rain gradually intensified. Both their clothes were soaked through and through, already dripping water. After a very long time – long enough for Tang Lici to be certain she wouldn’t leave – he finally said gently, “A’Shui, you’re a good girl. I’ve said I liked you, hoped you’d live well, and also said I hoped you’d be devoted to me, willingly climb into my bed to live and die for me… but…” He spoke very calmly. “A man having desire for a woman doesn’t mean he respects her, nor does it mean he wants to marry her as his wife. Don’t you understand this with your experience?”

“I understand…” She said slowly after a very long pause. “A man’s desire for a woman is often… born of vanity.”

Tang Lici smiled slightly. “You’re a very beautiful woman with a naturally refined appearance, well-educated and reasonable, patient and yielding, who won’t cling to any man. The more such a woman is, the more she makes men want to conquer her… Hao Wenhou captured you because you wouldn’t submit; Liu Yan was infatuated with you because you were indifferent; I was good to you because you had no place for me in your heart.” His tone became increasingly calm and peaceful. “A’Shui, no one has ever respected you because no one has ever thought highly of you. Men really aren’t different… Toward you, Hao Wenhou used rape, Liu Yan used torment, and I… was merely visiting a prostitute.” Opening his eyes, his brows and eyes smiled very elegantly. “Refined prostitute patronage, that’s all.”

With a crack, lightning flashed across the sky. A’Shui’s face was especially pale in the wind and rain. “I know Young Master Tang speaks from the heart.”

A purple shadow fluttered before Tang Lici’s eyes as she abandoned the oil-paper umbrella and supported his shoulder. “The wind and rain are getting heavier. Let’s go.”

He still sat motionless, rainwater sliding down his silver-gray long hair into his collar, ice-cold and bone-chilling. A’Shui tried hard to help him up. “If we keep sitting here, neither of us will be able to bear it – the rain is too heavy.”

The rain was too heavy; the oil-paper umbrella could no longer block it.

“Let’s go.”

“Beg me.” Tang Lici’s tone was as elegant and gentle as before. “You beg me to take you away, and I’ll take you away.”

A’Shui was silent for a moment, then said in a low voice, “I… beg Young Master Tang to take me… home.”

In an instant his arm tightened around her waist. Tang Lici embraced her waist, and she only felt the wind and rain suddenly become fierce at her side, the trees blurred, her whole person seeming to float up, speeding away into the boundless evening mist.

Tang Lici’s body was ice-cold. She held tightly to his shoulder, and after a good while, seeming to sense something, she raised her hand. Her palm was brilliantly red – covered in blood.

Refined prostitute patronage…

A household courtesan was a household courtesan, a maid was a maid.

Wind and rain intensified, becoming more violent and urgent. Traveling swiftly all the way, in her perception the wind was as wild as a storm, the rain beating so hard she couldn’t open her eyes, the sound of rushing noise in her ears seeming to be trees swaying and toppling. The ten-li journey was completed in no time. When she could see clearly before her, they were already in the back courtyard of Xingyang Bookshop.

Tang Lici’s white robes had been washed very white by the rain, showing no trace of bloodstains. His silver-gray long hair hung down loose, appearing even smoother after being rain-soaked. He still stood very straight in the wind and rain. If one didn’t know he was severely wounded, one probably couldn’t tell he was injured at all… A’Shui straightened up, her lips moving slightly. Before she could speak, Tang Lici smiled faintly. “You begged me to come to your home, yet you’ll make me stand at the door?”

A’Shui paused slightly, didn’t answer, and opened the back door. There was no one home – Fengfeng wasn’t there.

Tang Lici stepped inside. “Where’s Fengfeng?”

A’Shui sighed softly. “I left him at Aunt Liu’s house. I need to go fetch him back shortly. You… please sit in the guest room first.” She hurriedly pushed open the door and walked toward Aunt Liu’s house.

Fengfeng was having great fun at Aunt Liu’s house, having torn the Liu family’s window paper and broken several eggs. Aunt Liu was both heartbroken and scolding, yet couldn’t bear to give Fengfeng a severe beating. When A’Shui came to fetch Fengfeng back, he was still giggling happily, babbling and hitting people painfully. Aunt Liu must have suffered quite a bit when he was causing trouble at her house earlier. A’Shui felt very apologetic, repeatedly apologizing and secretly thinking that if Aunt Liu had difficulties in the future, she must repay her properly.

Returning home, she paused slightly at the door. Young Master Tang… was unwilling to receive favor from a prostitute. When he was in a good mood, he could chat intimately and drink merrily with a so-called prostitute, but… in his heart, he had never considered her a true friend. Even when severely wounded and unable to remain composed, he still had to maintain his posture, otherwise… he would feel very degraded…

She stood dazedly at the door. Being regarded as a “prostitute”… she also felt very degraded, but people always value their own feelings and can’t see others’ sorrow.

Maintaining a friendship was very difficult; hurting others was always very easy, not even requiring intention.

“Yi wu… wu… wu…” Seeing her standing at the door without entering, Fengfeng strangely grabbed her hair and pulled hard. “Girl…” He still couldn’t call “mama,” and called her “girl-girl” too.

A’Shui smiled faintly, touched Fengfeng’s back, and walked in gently.

She thought Tang Lici should be resting. Stepping through the door, she gently closed it and looked toward the guest room.

On the floor of the guest room were scattered bloodstains, drop by drop. She lightened her steps and slowly peered inside. Tang Lici was merely resting his chin on his hand at the table with eyes closed. He still wore the damp white robes, with a patch of fresh blood red slowly spreading across his back. Obviously he was wounded, and drops of rainwater mixed with fresh blood dripped onto the floor. He sat with eyes closed and chin propped, yet his expression was very gentle and calm.

As if he were merely slightly tired and taking a brief nap, ready to wake at any moment, ready to leave at any moment.

Opening her mouth slightly, she wanted to say something but ultimately said nothing. Holding Fengfeng, she gently closed the guest room door and turned back to her own room. Fengfeng curiously looked at Tang Lici’s door, pointing his pink little finger at the guest room door. “Wu… wu wu…” A’Shui carried him back to the room, changed his clothes and bathed him. When she carried water out, there wasn’t the slightest sound from Tang Lici’s room.

He was obviously still sitting at the table in false sleep, not having moved. A’Shui looked at that door and sighed gently, her lips moving but still not speaking. She wanted to urge him to change clothes, wanted to call him to rest in bed, wanted to ask how his injuries were… should she call a doctor? But faced with that gentle expression, she couldn’t say a word.

Refined prostitute patronage…

Calm expression, gentle words – when he spoke those five words, they were no longer friends. The estrangement was too clear and too distant, so distant that even a casual word of concern would be too presumptuous. She could only remain silent.

The wind and rain outside were heavy, mixed with lightning and thunder. Fengfeng chattered at the guest room direction for a long time. Seeing that A’Shui didn’t respond, he could only aggrievedly close his mouth, and after a while fell asleep.

The neighbors had all gone to sleep. Looking out the half-closed window, very few houses had lights on. The night was dark and fierce, the sound of wind and rain like roaring tigers and galloping horses, shaking the entire house as if it were swaying. She looked out the window, listening to the wind and rain, sitting for a long, long time. After a very long time she smiled faintly – she actually didn’t know whether she should sleep or not sleep.

“Knock knock knock…” Suddenly there came knocking sounds from outside the door. A’Shui was startled and stood up. Would soldiers really come knocking at this rainy night? Were they conducting another search for suspicious strangers, or had Yang Guihua changed his mind and specially sent people here to find Tang Lici? Amid her doubts, she still opened the door.

Outside was a black-clothed young woman with a very bright complexion, a long sword hanging at her waist. Seeing her open the door, her smile became very brilliant. “Can we stay here for one night? Such heavy wind and rain – we missed the inn and don’t know where to find food, and we’ve lost our way too!”

A’Shui responded with a gentle smile. “Miss, you are…”

“My surname is Yu, called Yu Tuan’er.” The girl outside was very forthright. “There are three of us. Looking around, only your house has lights on. Can we stay?”

“Three people?” A’Shui pondered slightly and opened the main door. “My humble dwelling is small. If you don’t mind, you can barely take shelter from the rain in the hall.”

Xingyang Bookshop wasn’t large, and she wasn’t the bookshop’s owner. The bookshop’s owner was surnamed She and lived in the west of the city. Normally A’Shui managed the bookshop and was allowed to live in the back courtyard. A’Shui had grown up in this back courtyard and could be considered half an adopted daughter of Old She, but the bookshop was after all not a wealthy household. The back courtyard only had three rooms – a guest room, a bedroom, and a not-very-large hall.

The black-clothed young woman outside smiled gracefully, her smile showing not a trace of worry. She turned back to call, “Come in, you two. This sister is very kind and letting us stay!”

A’Shui stepped back a few paces to make room, glancing at the tightly closed guest room door. Tang Lici was inside, still making no sound.

A yellow-clothed man walked in from outside, with a red-feathered fan stuck behind his neck and a black-clothed person on his back. She glanced at that black-clothed person – he had black cloth covering his face, lying motionless on the yellow-clothed man’s back like he was dead, his legs dangling loosely, apparently broken. But the yellow-clothed man was dashing. Though soaked through, he still laughed heartily. “Pardon our presumption in disturbing you, miss, please don’t take offense. But I wonder if there are steamed buns or dumplings here? We’ve come all the way from Shaolin Temple, rushing and fleeing along the way, panicking and losing our direction. We haven’t eaten for two meals now.”