Qin Wenyuan’s face darkened. “Why not?”

Qingyan’s heart pounded anxiously. “There are quite a few officials patrolling the streets. If they catch those loafers and they give you away—”

Qin Wenyuan smiled dismissively. “Tell those loafers not to linger too long—just leave before the officials arrive. The lantern festival is packed with people. By the time the officials hear any commotion, they’ll have had plenty of time to chat.”

Seeing that Qin Wenyuan’s mind was made up, Qingyan dared not press further.

In a dimly lit area, several loafers gazed intently, scrutinizing the people strolling about.

They were searching for suitable targets.

A day like the Qixi Festival meant joy, but it also meant danger.

Some careless people might be targeted and lose their money pouches, while young women traveling alone or children whose parents weren’t paying attention could fall into the hands of human traffickers.

These loafers were looking for well-dressed people, planning to take advantage of the crowded conditions to pick some pockets.

People attending the lantern festival wouldn’t have empty purses.

“Gentlemen—”

Qingyan’s sudden greeting startled the loafers.

They hadn’t even begun yet—it couldn’t be that someone had discovered them and come looking, could it?

Seeing Qingyan dressed as a servant, the men became even more wary.

“What do you want?”

“There’s something I’d like to ask for your help with.”

“What is it?”

Qingyan stepped forward and spoke a few words to the leader of the loafers.

The lead loafer frowned.

Qingyan quickly added, “I’ll pay five taels of silver.”

“This kind of thing could cause trouble if it goes wrong—” The lead loafer was somewhat tempted.

Five taels of silver wasn’t a small amount, though he could try to bargain for more.

“It’s just chatting with a few young ladies. That’s not difficult for you gentlemen.”

“If we attract the attention of the officials, we’ll be in deep trouble. Your five taels aren’t easy to earn.”

“You gentlemen don’t need to linger—just let the people around see it and that’ll be enough.” Qingyan chuckled. “I may not have been clear earlier—it’s five taels per person.”

“Five taels each?” The loafers exclaimed in unison.

“Big brother—” One loafer couldn’t help but call out.

It was just verbally harassing some young ladies, then running away afterwards—and they’d each get five taels of silver for it. Where else could they find such a good deal!

The lead loafer immediately nodded. “Alright, but you need to give us five taels as a deposit.”

“The deposit can only be two taels. But rest assured, gentlemen, once I lead you to find those two young ladies, I’ll go wait by the osmanthus tree next to Wang’s pastry shop. As soon as you’ve finished the job, come get your money immediately.”

The lead loafer thought it over and nodded. “We’ll do it that way then. Let me make this clear—I’ve memorized what you look like. If you’re trying to fool us, we’ll track you down sooner or later.”

“How could that be? Since I’m asking for your help, I want to get this done properly. I don’t want any trouble.”

“Then let’s go.”

Qingyan glanced in Qin Wenyuan’s direction, then walked quickly toward the brightly lit area.

Qin Wenyuan followed closely behind them.

The street was bustling with throngs of people. Finding someone wasn’t actually easy. Following Qin Wenyuan’s reminder, Qingyan headed straight for the riverside.

The Qixi Festival was also called the Daughters’ Festival. Young girls would place small wooden boats filled with巧果 cleverness fruits and flower melons into the water, praying for happy and smooth marriages.

According to unwritten rules, the river sections where daughters of wealthy families and daughters of common people released their boats were slightly different.

By this time, the riverside was already crowded with young women. Qingyan’s eyes were dazzled until he finally found the people.

“See those two young ladies standing together? One wearing a pomegranate-red skirt, one wearing a goose-yellow shirt—those are them.”

The loafer nodded.

“Then I’ll leave it to you gentlemen.” Having given his instructions, Qingyan quietly returned to Qin Wenyuan’s side.

“Is it done?”

Gone was Qingyan’s earlier nervousness when he’d first heard Qin Wenyuan’s plan. He smiled and said, “Young Master, rest assured, it’s all arranged. When those loafers heard it was five taels per person, they agreed immediately.”

“Good.” Qin Wenyuan revealed a satisfied smile.

To avoid detection, the master and servant weren’t standing very close to the riverside. Though Qin Wenyuan’s view of the river was blocked by the constant flow of people, he still couldn’t help staring in that direction.

His eyes held anticipation, and the anger in his heart had diminished considerably.

So what if she had a sharp tongue? A noble young lady being harassed by loafers on the street—he’d like to see how she handled that!

“Qingyan, go wait for them under the osmanthus tree. Settle the money and be done with it, to avoid future trouble.”

“Young Master will stay here?”

Qin Wenyuan smiled slightly. “How could I miss such a good show? Once I see the beginning, I’ll head straight back to the estate. After you finish, you head straight back too.”

Qingyan acknowledged and hurried toward the agreed meeting place.

The loafers were walking toward Lin Hao when the lead loafer’s shoulder was suddenly tapped.

“Who?” The loafer jumped in alarm and immediately turned to look.

What met his eyes was an extraordinarily handsome young man.

The young man wore a smile devoid of warmth at the corners of his lips, his voice low. “How about helping me with something?”

The loafers found this strange.

What was going on today? One after another coming to find them to do jobs.

“I know someone gave you five taels each to make trouble for two young ladies—”

The lead loafer was shocked. “Who are you? What do you want?”

The loafers immediately surrounded the young man.

Surrounded, the young man remained composed. “Don’t be hasty. Hear me out.”

The loafers stared at him intently.

The young man smiled slightly, then suddenly pointed somewhere. “See that young man in the sapphire-blue robe? He’s the one who paid you to do the job.”

Curious, the loafers peered through the gaps in the passing crowd and indeed saw a young man wearing a sapphire-blue robe.

“Don’t tell me he hired us and hired you too?” The lead loafer looked at this young man’s bearing and thought it unlikely, but couldn’t figure out any other reason for him to approach them.

“Harassing young ladies is extremely disreputable.” The young man’s tone was measured, but his words were earth-shattering. “I’ll pay ten times that—fifty taels each. Go harass that man in the blue robe instead.”

“What?”

The loafers thought they’d heard wrong.

“You want us to harass a man?”

“Fifty taels.” The young man’s tone was bland.

The loafers exchanged glances.

Fifty taels. Fifty taels each!

They’d do it!

“You have to pay first.” The lead loafer suppressed his pounding heartbeat, unconsciously revealing a fierce expression on his face.

This was fifty taels per person—for all four of them, that was two hundred taels.

With these two hundred taels, they could completely wash their hands of this business.

The young man slapped a stack of banknotes into the lead loafer’s hand.

The loafer quickly counted them—ten-tael denomination notes, twenty of them total, exactly two hundred taels.

He looked at the young man in astonishment.

He gave them everything upfront?

“I find it troublesome and can’t be bothered to wait for you under the osmanthus tree afterwards. I trust you’re also people who dislike trouble, correct?”

The young man’s question was calm, yet the men heard the threat in it.

“Of course, of course. We take money to do the job—Young Master can rest completely assured.” The lead loafer smiled.

This young man had actually heard their earlier conversation clearly, yet none of them had noticed—such a person naturally couldn’t be offended.

Besides, a cheapskate who only offered five taels per person probably wouldn’t be able to offer more money to sway them.

“Brothers, let’s go.”