Li Xiang had recently been fond of running to the Yun Family home, holding a tattered fan and waving it about. He claimed to be looking for Yun Shou, but his eyes always glanced toward the moon gate of the Yun Family residence. Ever since last time when Yun Mu agreed to accompany him to an outing, he had been in this state.
“Elder Brother, Little Mu won’t come out at this hour. She likes to nap in the afternoon. After waking, she’ll go find my father and help him organize his study, then she’ll go to the garden to swing on the swings, and finally return to the small kitchen in the inner residence to learn how to make little pastries with the cook. You don’t need to wait,” Li Yanrong said to her restless elder brother while holding her son.
“Little Sister, we’ve relied on each other for survival since childhood. You must help me with this matter. Elder Brother was young and foolish in the past, acting absurdly. Now I want to properly marry a Princess Consort of Hengshan. I think Little Mu is very suitable. Last time your brother already spoke very clearly with Little Mu, but she talked about everything except the matter at hand and wouldn’t give me a definite answer. Help me ask her.”
“Ask what? Everyone in this household has strong opinions of their own. You’re unwilling to give up even a singing courtesan, yet you’re thinking about Little Mu—stop daydreaming! Who is Little Mu? My father-in-law cherishes Little Mu to his very bones. If you act so rashly and rashly and my father-in-law discovers it, be careful he doesn’t break your legs. The old gentleman has been in a very bad temper lately.”
Li Xiang seemed not to hear his sister’s words. Yun Shou had gone to work, which Li Xiang himself knew. He only wanted to see Yun Mu, but it seemed today was destined to be a failure.
Li Xiang imitated how Yun Ye and the others used to do it, tucking the folding fan into the back of his collar before leaving the Yun Family home. He thought himself dashing, but didn’t realize this manner was very much like a hooligan. Nowadays, whether literate or not, everyone in Chang’an carried a folding fan in hand.
The past deeds of Yun Ye and his group had already become legend among the wastrels. Their former behavior was still being imitated by wastrels to this day. Whenever riding horses, they would don red cloaks. Whenever it rained, they would wet their hair and whistle at passing fragrant carriages as they went by. This was the key point—the whistle must be loud and clear, preferably startling the carriage horses enough to make them jump.
Of course, nowadays Prince Li Daozong’s household had strict gate restrictions, and no wastrel dared to peek at the Prince’s beloved concubine bathing. But peeking at famous courtesans bathing was still acceptable, so beneath those courtesans’ embroidered towers always stood two burly men with folded arms acting as guards.
Who knew why, but those famous courtesans loved to bathe. Sometimes the windows were half-open, with spring scenery seemingly visible yet not. In the tavern across from the embroidered tower, countless pairs of eyes looked this way. The most arrogant fellow among them actually held a telescope in his hands, drooling without realizing it.
“Damn it, Chun Shisanniang’s bellyband is red! That cursed old procuress actually pulled up the curtain. Damn it, I’ll put up ten silver coins—who’ll go take over that old procuress tonight?”
“Yun Huan, you’d better forget it. You came back from Yuezhou this time to get married, not to find courtesans. If you enter a brothel, we brothers will all be beaten to death by Master Cheng. The old gentleman has developed a new habit now—he likes to roll two iron balls in his hands. Last time when I went with my father to pay respects to the old gentleman, I heard him say he’s already trained the iron balls to hit targets without fail. They say he can break a tree as thick as a bowl’s mouth with one strike. We don’t want to court bad luck.”
“Your future wife’s battle-axe is also more than us brothers can handle. Last time just because we took Cheng Min to a brothel, she led a group of people to chase and kill us with nowhere to escape. Fortunately you weren’t there, otherwise Cheng Huahua would go mad.”
Whenever the Cheng Family was mentioned, Yun Huan had not half a bit of temper. Originally he thought that hiding in Yuezhou, he wouldn’t encounter anyone from the Cheng Family again. Ever since Father’s letter hauled him to Chang’an, he knew his doomsday had arrived.
Huahua was actually very beautiful, and her temperament had also become very gentle over these years—at least toward him it was so. Having grown up together since childhood, to say there were no feelings would be false. Others could just casually find a wife to keep at home, then spend their time carousing outside without restraint. But he couldn’t do this. If Huahua knew he was fooling around outside, someone might die—very likely it would be his own life. This was terrifying. He had already begged Grandma Meiji to teach her properly. Two years had passed—why was she still like this?
Mournfully, he handed the telescope to Chai Yuan. His father Chai Lingwu was far away in Jiangnan. Without supervision at home, he often took pride in this matter. His wife at home was also someone without opinions, so this fellow could already be said to have whored his way through all of Chang’an.
“Yun Huan, let’s just forget it. You and I have bad luck. Some things we can only drool over. Let’s go home instead, lest our buttocks suffer.” The one speaking was Niu Jiong—that is, Niu Jianhu’s eldest son. His fate wasn’t much different from Yun Huan’s, because his father-in-law was Yuchi Baolin.
Chai Yuan suddenly let out a miserable cry and quickly hid himself. Yun Huan noticed this fellow’s nose and mouth had turned blue-green, and his whole body was trembling as if he’d seen a malevolent ghost.
Yun Huan carefully lifted the curtain and stealthily glanced outside. He likewise quickly hid himself. Niu Jiong’s courage was the smallest—without even looking, he carefully hid under the table.
Spring Breeze Once Pavilion—this was a newly opened brothel. Niu Jianhu, Yun Ye, Yuchi Baolin, Cheng Chumo, Liu Zhengwu, Chai Lingwu, and Pei Du were laughing and talking as they entered the brothel. That Chun Shisanniang who had just been bathing with her window half-open was now kneeling at the staircase entrance waiting respectfully.
“It’s over. With great difficulty we saw one who caught the eye, but who knew she’d be ruined by a group of old lechers.” Liu Cheng had just spoken this sentence when he saw Yun Huan, Chai Yuan, Niu Jiong, and Yuchi Jinglei all looking viciously at him. Before he could protect his head, fists and feet fell upon him like raindrops. By the time he got up with a bruised and swollen face, those villains who had beaten him had already fled. After all, watching one’s own father visit prostitutes was not a pleasant matter.
When Yun Ye and the others ascended to Spring Breeze Once Pavilion and looked around, Niu Jianhu said with a smile: “The name is quite distinctive—Spring Breeze Once Pavilion, making one’s thoughts wander endlessly. I heard the courtesans here are all surnamed Chun. Is this so, procuress?”
A procuress of faded beauty hurried out and answered in a half-squatting position: “In response to the Marquis’s words, this humble establishment is indeed named this way. This humble concubine’s daughters are arranged in order from Chun Yiniang to Chun Ershinian. Among them, Chun Shisanniang is the most outstanding. Today it will be she who performs a song and dance to serve the distinguished guests.”
Yun Ye waved his folding fan and said with a smile: “I don’t have the fate to visit brothels. Whenever I come to a brothel, not once has it been peaceful. Qing Que will arrive soon. Chengqian cannot come over now. When all is said and done, we brothers still can’t gather together completely.”
Cheng Chumo said in a muffled voice: “Don’t speak of such dispiriting matters. Coming here today is to seek pleasure. Don’t let irrelevant people spoil the mood.”
Pei Du spread both hands helplessly and said: “We’ve lost the sharpness of our former days. In the past when we saw beautiful women, we couldn’t wait to pounce immediately. Now we have to deliberate for a while before mounting the saddle and horse. Could it be we’ve truly grown old?”
Niu Jianhu’s legs and feet were not very convenient. As soon as he entered, he found a soft couch and lay down, saying: “Stop being shameless, Old Pei. Among us brothers, you have the most wives. Sixteen wives haven’t diminished your thoughts of seeking pleasure and entertainment. Are all you Pei Family people making your family clan enormous and boundless precisely because of this?”
Yuchi Baolin’s face was covered with black lines as he looked at Niu Jianhu and said: “I only have one wife but also have five sons and one daughter. Old Niu, don’t make insinuations, will you? Among us several, I have the most sons.”
The group spoke of various disorderly matters and each selected their positions to sit down. Before long, young courtesans brought various melons and fruits. Yun Ye looked at the sweet melon before him and couldn’t help but sigh. His reputation for liking sweet melons had apparently deeply penetrated the hearts of these brothel women.
Today after coming out from Yuchi Baolin’s home, the group had originally thought to just walk around casually. Heaven knew why Chai Lingwu, who had just returned to the capital without even going home, insisted on going to a brothel. Yet now that they were at the brothel, he was the most silent one.
Ever since Chai Shao died, the Chai Family had become very subdued. Brothers Chai Lingwu ultimately didn’t have Chai Shao’s kind of decisive killing ability, so they could only advance along the path their father had arranged for them before his death. Though things couldn’t be considered the best now, they weren’t bad either. However, regarding the reason for Chai Lingwu’s secret return to the capital, Yun Ye still knew a bit.
He should have come at Zhangsun Wuji’s request to speak with him, probably wanting to privately sign some agreements. But these things were extremely taboo, so Yun Ye was unwilling to listen, whether verbal or written.
Zhangsun Wuji was simply an old fox. Saying he had three schemes per step would be underestimating him. In the way of government affairs, the old fellow had already played things to the extreme. Whether good matters or bad matters, Yun Ye dared to guarantee that with the passage of time, they would all ultimately turn into bad matters. So not dealing with him from the very beginning was the best solution.
Calling several people to come together was to tell Chai Lingwu: don’t speak of it, and don’t be an intermediary for Zhangsun Wuji. There was no advantage to being this intermediary. According to what Yun Ye knew, all those who gained advantages from Zhangsun Wuji would ultimately spit everything out with interest, and that muddled and confused Li Zhi was the best example.
The song and dance were quite good. When cups were being exchanged, Chai Lingwu finally found a gap and said to Yun Ye: “Stop the disputes. If this continues, all of us will have a very difficult time. Since we’re all laying foundations for our own family clans, why not all have an easier time together? What do you say?”
“Lingwu, people cannot retreat. Retreat one step, and you’ll retreat two steps. Retreat two steps and there will be a third step. In the end you’ll discover you’ve already become accustomed to yielding. Once you become like this, I dare guarantee that the person who yields will definitely die without a burial place.”