“Hit me! Go on — hit me! Young Master Xu, don’t tell me that losing your silver has left you too weak to even throw a punch?”

A burst of laughter rippled through the crowd. The young man in fine robes at the center of the circle flushed red, and with every last ounce of strength he could muster, kicked and beat at the person in front of him.

Zhou Zhuang, his face a battered mass of bruises, retched up a mouthful of fresh blood. His frail body went down under a flying kick and lay sprawled on the ground, motionless.

“He’s not dead, is he?” said one onlooker.

The young man in fine robes looked uneasy, but kept up a bluffing front: “Whether he lives or dies is no concern of mine — he offered himself!”

He fished a fingernail-sized nugget of silver from the purse at his waist, threw it to the ground, and strutted away without looking back.

Zhou Zhuang squinted through his swollen, bleeding eyes, slowly pulled himself up, deaf to the jeers and ridicule from those around him, and crawled to where the small piece of silver had fallen. With trembling hands, he picked it up and held it in his palm.

He blew the dust off it. A smile crossed his face involuntarily — not the joy of receiving silver, but the joy of having money to gamble with.

Zhou Zhuang staggered to his feet and immediately threw himself into the nearest gambling table. Once that small piece of silver had been lost to the last coin, he looked around again and called out:

“Guaranteed enjoyment! A little money buys you guaranteed enjoyment! Come one, come all, gentlemen — unhappy after losing your silver? Ten copper coins buys you a punch. One tael of silver buys you a guaranteed good time! Come on, gentlemen — doesn’t anyone want to have a little fun?”

On the second floor of the gambling house, two men stood at the balustrade looking down at the spectacle below.

One was Hu Yishou, pipe in hand. The other was a middle-aged man in silk robes — broad-backed and powerfully built, yet possessed of a pair of narrow, slanted triangular eyes set into a flat, wide face.

“Hu-ye, you have no shortage of talent in this gambling house of yours.” The man spoke with a half-smile.

“You flatter me, Huang-ye. Yutou County is only this big — how could it compare to the wealth of talent in Huang-ye’s city of Xiangyang?” Hu Yishou said with a smile.

“Talented as Xiangyang may be, this is the first time Huang has ever seen anyone come up with a way to earn money like this,” said Huang Jinguang.

“This person is more or less one of mine. Since Huang-ye is curious about him, I’ll have him come upstairs to speak.”

One cup of tea later, Zhou Zhuang was kneeling before Huang Jinguang. Hu Yishou tapped his pipe against the edge of the table and said slowly: “This is Huang-laoye, come down from Xiangyang. He asks, you answer — understand?”

Zhou Zhuang’s face was still streaked with dried blood. He put on an ingratiating smile first and answered eagerly: “Understood, understood…”

“Hu-ye said you are more or less one of his men. What does ‘more or less’ mean?” Huang Jinguang asked.

Zhou Zhuang rubbed at the dried blood on his hands and smiled. “Because I owe Hu-ye a great deal of money, and I had no choice but to sell the rest of my life to the gambling house…”

“So you earn money every day just by getting beaten?”

“Not entirely from that.” Zhou Zhuang was still smiling, but his smile had turned peculiar.

“You have other means of earning money?”

“Every person has a different way of relieving frustration — getting beaten up is just one of them… Huang-ye, Chunfeng Courtyard is still a fair distance from here.” Zhou Zhuang hinted obliquely.

The name “Chunfeng Courtyard” made its nature clear without need for elaboration, and the meaning of the entire sentence was naturally self-evident.

The look Huang Jinguang gave Zhou Zhuang carried a tinge of contempt.

Hu Yishou stepped in at the right moment and waved his hand. “Take him down.”

Two able-bodied young men walked forward and took hold of Zhou Zhuang on either side. Zhou Zhuang tried to struggle, but the tendons in his four limbs had been severed, and they were limp and useless — he could only twist his head toward Huang Jinguang and shout:

“Huang-ye, Huang-ye! I have one more hidden talent!”

“What talent?” Huang Jinguang narrowed his eyes.

Hu Yishou, seeing this, waved his hand again. The two young men released Zhou Zhuang and stepped back to one side.

Zhou Zhuang knelt down in a disheveled heap and arranged his most obliging expression as he said earnestly:

“Huang-ye, I have one unique skill — no matter who it is, I can always extract silver from them. Even Huang-ye is no exception.”

Huang Jinguang’s expression cooled. He let out a cold laugh. “You’re saying Huang would pay for your services too?”

“No, no, no, that’s not what I mean…” Zhou Zhuang shook his head hastily. “Huang-ye is a man of distinction. How could you possibly take any interest in someone like me? One look and it’s clear Huang-ye is a great figure from Xiangyang. Only a beauty with fair skin, red lips, and a fine, delicate figure could be worthy of Huang-ye’s attention.”

The corner of Huang Jinguang’s mouth curved upward. Zhou Zhuang, who had been watching his reaction carefully, pressed his advantage:

“Huang-ye, do you believe me when I say I’ve even extracted silver from Hu-ye?”

“How so?”

“I owed Hu-ye a great sum of money, yet Hu-ye, being a man of great mercy, spared my life — only severed the tendons in my limbs and kept me on at the gambling house. To Hu-ye, I am nothing but a wretched life worth nothing. Yet to me, my own life is a priceless treasure. If I have retrieved my priceless treasure from Hu-ye’s hands, then haven’t I come out ahead?”

Zhou Zhuang’s shameless words made Huang Jinguang laugh despite himself. Zhou Zhuang, in response, brightened like a hungry dog that had just caught the scent of a bone and shuffled two knee-steps closer.

“Huang-ye is in the prime of life and has achieved great success. I’d wager there are already several fine women at home, are there not?”

Huang Jinguang showed a satisfied smile but said nothing. The thin, reed-like man behind him spoke instead: “More than a few — our Huang-ye is today accompanying his newly married seventeenth concubine to pay her family a return visit.”

“What an honor, what an honor!” Zhou Zhuang exclaimed dramatically. “Huang-ye enjoys such enviable fortune! Seventeen wives and concubines — they must each have their own distinctive charms, each outstanding in beauty?”

Huang Jinguang’s expression fell. The thin man behind him spoke again: “Huang-ye’s family affairs — why are you asking so intently? Tired of living?”

“I wouldn’t dare… it’s just that it reminds me of the greatest beauty in our town…”

Huang Jinguang raised his eyelids, stirred by what he said.

“All right — take him down.” Hu Yishou suddenly spoke up, cutting Zhou Zhuang off.

Hu Yishou’s two men hesitated and paused.

“Let him finish.” Huang Jinguang said. “This greatest beauty of Yutou Town — Huang has heard of her for quite some time. One of my reasons for coming to Yutou County this time was to see this Li woman in person, and find out what kind of power she holds that has the prefect of Jinzhou’s son pining and unable to eat.”

“Huang-ye!” Zhou Zhuang called out loudly. “Li Qingman is old news! The greatest beauty in Yutou Town right now is no longer her!”

“Not her? Is there truly a beauty more beautiful than Miss Li?”

Hu Yishou looked down and said no more. He slowly drew on his pipe and exhaled, the smoke obscuring whatever lay behind his expression.

“There’s a woman who came from elsewhere in our town — oh, that appearance, that bearing — it puts the village girls of our town to absolute shame. Huang-ye, I’ve heard that this woman escaped from the imperial palace — cultured and learned, with the air and dignity of nobility — only it’s a pity…”

“A pity what?” Huang Jinguang pressed immediately.

“A pity only that she’s married. She escaped from the palace and happened to be saved by a local ruffian from our town. This woman, knowing how to repay kindness, married him as his wife. What a waste, what a waste…” Zhou Zhuang shook his head. “A fine flower stuck in a pile of dung! In all my years, Zhou Zhuang has never laid eyes on a woman so strikingly beautiful. You’d believe it if someone said she was a princess!”

“…Is this woman truly as beautiful as you say?” Huang Jinguang was moved but still skeptical.

“Huang-ye, I’d dare deceive anyone but you!” Zhou Zhuang knocked his head against the floor without hesitation, several solid kowtows.

“Take him down.” Hu Yishou spoke up.

Huang Jinguang’s two men immediately moved. Zhou Zhuang looked alarmed.

“Wait—” said Huang Jinguang.

Hu Yishou’s two men hesitated and stopped.

“Hu-ye, is what he said true?” Huang Jinguang turned to look at Hu Yishou, seated at his side.

Hu Yishou extended his left hand, and an attendant beside him immediately bowed and took his pipe from him. Hu Yishou picked up the tea bowl on the table, drew a slow sip, and spoke: “There is indeed such a woman, but her husband is not a simple ruffian.”

Huang Jinguang pulled at the corner of his mouth, seemingly contemptuous: “How do you mean?”

“This person’s name is Li Wu. He has both courage and wit. Starting from a street beggar, he has become the dominant force in Yutou Town, and furthermore, having caught the eye of the county magistrate, he stands a head above even me. He cannot simply be summed up as a ruffian.”

“Hu-ye…” Huang Jinguang laughed, a meaningful look in his eye. “You and this Li Wu — are you on good terms?”

“Not particularly. We share the same town. We coexist in peace, nothing more.”

“Then why do all your words sound like you’re speaking up for this man surnamed Li?” Huang Jinguang said dismissively. “Li Wu may have the Yutou County magistrate’s eye, but he is still nothing but one of the magistrate’s dogs. We are all men who serve others — we understand the principle better than anyone: even dogs are ranked according to their masters.”

“Indeed, Huang-ye makes a fair point.” Hu Yishou’s expression gave nothing away as he gently set down the tea bowl.

“Our prefect governs the entire Xiang Prefecture. Under him there are countless men like your Yutou County magistrate, and Huang doesn’t even deign to notice them — let alone the dogs under them.” Huang Jinguang smiled with narrowed eyes. “Who this man surnamed Li is — Huang has no interest in knowing. If I enjoy myself in Yutou County and put in a few good words with our prefect when I return, what would be so difficult about letting Hu-ye’s gambling house spread across all of Xiang Prefecture?”

“This person — Huang would like to borrow him briefly, ask him a few questions, and return him afterward. Hu-ye, no objections?” Huang Jinguang said.

Zhou Zhuang, upon hearing this, began kowtowing joyfully. “Many thanks, Huang-ye! Many thanks, Huang-ye! This one will tell you everything, hold nothing back!”

Hu Yishou remained silent.

Huang Jinguang rose from his armchair, brushed off the sleeves of his silk robe, and smiled an expression that reached his face but not his eyes: “Take him away.”

Zhou Zhuang scrambled unsteadily to his feet and followed Huang Jinguang’s steps with eager haste. Once the group had gone, Hu Yishou’s trusted aide stepped forward, his voice full of concern. “Hu-ye… should we send someone to warn Li Wu?”

“Warn him where?” Hu Yishou reached out to take back his pipe. After drawing on it slowly a couple of times, he spoke at a measured pace: “Li Wu left for Xicheng County first thing yesterday morning with the magistrate. If Huang Jinguang wants to make a move, by the time Li Wu returns, it will be too late to act.”

“Then we…”

“Do nothing.” Hu Yishou said. “Remember — this matter has nothing to do with us.”

His aide’s expression grew heavy, and he answered in a low voice.

Hu Yishou watched the wisps of white smoke curling up from the pipe in his hand and murmured: “I have done what my conscience allows. What comes next depends on Li Wu’s luck.”

The autumn sun poured warmly down overhead. The Li family courtyard was filled with the sweet fragrance of osmanthus blossoms.

A slender young woman in a pale persimmon-red jacket and skirt seemed to sense something and turned suddenly.

Behind her was nothing — empty air. And yet she felt a chill creep quietly up her back.

Was it the autumn cold?

“…Can Yutou Town get its hands on animal-fat charcoal?” she murmured.

Shen Zhuxi, cradling a rattan basket filled with freshly gathered golden osmanthus blossoms, walked back under the eaves, entirely unaware.

Through the gaps in the bamboo fence, a pair of murky triangular eyes flickered with greed.