Zhou You, though a wealthy young man born into privilege, was not the brooding, sentimental type. When it rained on the road, he could endure it for a day or half a day and still admire the rain in his own way. When it dragged on for several days, he grew impatient. He also had prisoners to escort — the prisoner wagons had no rain cover, and for the whole group of condemned, having a bamboo hat on their heads at all was already considered generous by Zhong Yi’s standards. By the day before yesterday, someone had finally fallen ill. The rain was heavy, and they’d had no choice but to stop here. Today news arrived that a stretch of road up ahead had been washed out by the rain — they would have to wait at least until the sky cleared before being able to move on.

How long had they been out? The assignment was still unfinished, and now there was another delay. Even Zhong Yi was beginning to crack.

Right now, Zhong Yi was in his room reading and writing. Zhou You had no wish to annoy him, nor did he dare find a singing girl to accompany his drinking, play finger-guessing games, or gamble to pass the time — so he’d taken to squatting under the eaves.

Of all the times to choose, Zheng Xi had to show up now!

Zheng Xi didn’t feel it was any great matter, but Zhou You first felt a prickle of displeasure deep in his heart. He just squatted there, slanting his eyes and crooking his mouth as he watched Zheng Xi. Zheng Xi didn’t bother to contend with him, and said with the same warm, courteous manner as always, “So you are already here. Is Master Zhong resting? Allow me to get settled first and then I’ll come and pay my respects.”

Zhou You stewed for a while, and finally produced, “You’ve arrived too, have you! I’ll go tell the Elder to know.” He stood up and made a rough bow in the general direction of Zheng Xi — it was unclear whether it was directed at Zheng Xi or at Sheng Ying, or perhaps a loose gesture covering everyone.

Zheng Xi and Sheng Ying exchanged a glance and both showed a helpless smile, then yielded to each other in entering the main hall. Jin Liang and the others negotiated with the posting station keeper about accommodations. The keeper said carefully that the best rooms had been given to Imperial Commissioner Zhong. Jin Liang said with a grinning scold, “As long as rooms are assigned according to rank and appointment, and all provisions are conscientiously seen to — who would deliberately make difficulties for you?” The keeper felt as if he’d been granted an amnesty: “Of course! All arrangements will be made! Only the courtyard is a bit off to the side compared to that honored party’s — otherwise everything will be exactly the same.”

Because of the rain, a number of officials passing through and runners delivering documents had been stranded here. Seeing this, they all silently commended Zheng Xi in their hearts for being young yet modest and humble — a man of limitless prospects.

Zheng Xi, besides his attendants, was also escorting prisoners. Sheng Ying had brought along his nephew and niece with their whole household. Both men and their attendants were also carrying substantial local gifts and presents. This vast, bustling crowd took until late in the evening to settle in. Jin Liang, looking out for Zhù Ying, still managed even in these cramped conditions to find a room for the family of three: “It’s a bit close to the kitchen and firewood storage, but it’s far from the stables and not too noisy. However it is a communal sleeping platform — my apologies for putting you through this. As soon as something better comes available, I’ll have you moved.”

Zhang Xiangu said quickly, “Jin-brother, what are you saying? This is already very fine. Getting even this room is thanks to your looking out for us.”

Zhù Ying asked, “And you? Is everything upstairs taken care of?”

“Do you even need to say it?” Jin Liang said with a laughing scolding. “If Seventh Brother weren’t attended to, would I be coming to check on you?”

Zhù Da, hearing that the upstairs had been settled, said, “Then come in and sit. Have a couple of drinks.”

Jin Liang said, “Thank you, but no — I still need to check on those criminal prisoners. They’ve been soaked by the rain on the road. If the wounds fester, they could die on the road in two days, and this whole trip would have been for nothing.”

Zhang Xiangu said, “Then go quickly and attend to your proper business.”

Once Jin Liang left, Zhang Xiangu pulled her daughter aside: “Old Third, quickly — sit down, take off your shoes and socks! Let me get a basin of hot water so you can soak your feet properly!”

For these past few days Zhù Ying had been sitting outside on the cart footboard chatting with Gan Ze. How much she’d learned about driving in rainy weather was unclear, but in chatting she’d picked up quite a bit about the background of Zheng Xi’s household and the news from the capital. The cold rain fell steadily, and while the head and body were covered, wind-blown rain had soaked through beneath the rain cape, leaving both feet half-drenched.

Zhù Da told her not to bother, but Zhang Xiangu said, “What do you know! She can’t afford to catch a chill! Quick, sit down — take your shoes and socks off first. Wet and cold and stuck to your body — how can that be comfortable? They’re still unloading the cart and tending to the master’s needs. Once the feet are soaked you’ll still make it in time for dinner. After dinner you come back here, all warm and toasty from head to foot — then it’ll be fine to read.”

Zhù Ying sat on the edge of the communal bed and soaked her feet, warm and comfortable. Gazing down into the basin of water, she thought of Huajie and wondered how she was doing. Zhang Xiangu brought out a pair of new shoes: “Here — just made. Put these on.” Zhù Ying came to herself and said, “It’s raining. The ground is wet — I won’t wear these. Just get the old pair from the bundle. When the sky clears and we get to the capital, I’ll wear these then.”

Zhang Xiangu said, “Those are the ones Da Niangzi had made for you — the season was different then, so wearing them now won’t keep you warm.” She tipped the wet shoes upside-down to drain the water so they’d dry faster.

Zhù Ying fished out the old shoes and put them on. They were a bit tight, but no problem for going to eat dinner. She said, “Fine.”

In a little while, a posting station worker brought a food box inside. Zhù Ying received it. Zhang Xiangu said, “Go eat your dinner. They’ll be starting over there too — be quick about it, speak nicely with everyone.”

Zhù Ying set out the food before she left. Zhù Da pulled a chair up to the table: “Eating yet?” Zhang Xiangu said, “The water’s still hot — let me soak my feet too. Get over here and soak yours as well! Don’t just start eating without me!”

……——

The dining hall was lively to an extraordinary degree!

Two groups of the Imperial Commissioner’s attendants had filled the hall nearly to capacity, and the addition of some travelers along the way made for a very full room. Zheng Xi, Zhong Yi, and the others were not eating here. Jin Liang was technically entitled to dine separately, but his habit from his military days was to eat with his men, and he did the same here. He still sat with Zhù Ying and the two military officers.

Zhù Ying’s appetite struck him as slightly small, and he said, “Eat more — you can only work if you can eat! Bulk up a bit, and I’ll teach you a couple of moves. What do you say?”

Zhù Ying cradled her bowl, not even lifting her head: “Not interested.”

Jin Liang was displeased. “Why not? You’ll learn everything else, but not my fighting skills? Most people beg me to teach them and I still wouldn’t do it.”

Zhù Ying set down her bowl. “You’re this wide and this tall — I’m this wide and this tall. How could our styles possibly be the same? No thank you.”

Jin Liang heard the sense in this and said with great regret, “If you’re not learning, you’re not learning. As if I’d teach you anyway.”

“If you had some other skill, I’d learn that.”

“What would you want to learn then?”

Zhù Ying said, “I haven’t decided yet. There are so many skills I never knew about before — seeing them all along the way on this journey. I need to think carefully about what to learn.”

Jin Liang said, “Eat your food!”

The two military officers watching both laughed. Jin Liang said, “And you two! Eat your food!”

Zhù Ying said, “You’re not eating?”

Jin Liang said, “I can see this rain coming and going — I’ll go get everyone settled. Some people not arranged yet?”

Zhù Ying said, “There seemed to be everyone here from what I could see.” She had long since noted in her mind every member of Zheng Xi’s retinue. Including the servants brought by the Chen household, she had a tally in her head. A few people were not eating here — they were the master’s trusted confidants or personal attendants, and should be with the masters. They shouldn’t be unaccounted for.

Jin Liang said, “Those prisoners. First I put them in a sheltered spot, but now with the rain coming and going, I need to find a place with a roof over their heads. Over at Zhong Xi’s side there’s already a prisoner who fell ill — we can’t end up like them.”

A military officer said, “Where is there room to put them now? The quarters are split fifty-fifty with Zhong Xi’s people, and there are other travelers passing through and messengers delivering reports — our own people are already cramped.”

Jin Liang said, “I’ll go see.” A little later Jin Liang returned and said, “Sorted. Tossed them all in the firewood shed.”

Zhù Ying asked, “All the prisoners? What about Zhong Xi’s side?”

Two military officers muttered, “Zhong Xi is notoriously harsh, and he’s in a particularly foul temper now. The ones who fell into his hands are going to have bad luck. Tsk!”

Jin Liang said, “Be careful what you say.”

“It’s fine — their people are sitting right over there and can’t hear.”

Zhù Ying listened as they chatted, speculating about the goings-on among the officials at court, and found it all fascinating. After eating, she returned to her room to read. Zhang Xiangu lit two wicks for her as before. Zhù Da, with nothing to do, took out three copper coins and kept flipping them back and forth. Zhang Xiangu scolded, “She’s reading! Stop disturbing her!”

Zhù Da stood up and said, “I’m going out for a bit.”

Zhang Xiangu said, “What good deed are you up to now? Your case still isn’t settled — if someone spots you, they might haul you back!”

Zhù Da said impatiently, “The Imperial Commissioner said it was resolved, that I’d been cleared…”

“He didn’t say you were a good person either!”

The two argued in the room. Zhù Ying had been listening to this since she was small and paid it no mind, going on with her reading. In the end, Zhù Da said, “Fine, fine — I’ll play dead. Sigh, I wonder how Old Daoist Xu is doing.” Old Daoist Xu was the middleman elder they’d mentioned before — also a case of bad luck, who had simply been organizing his colleagues to make some money with a commission taken from the top, and ended up caught in the case and hauled along in the prisoner wagon to the capital.

Zhang Xiangu said, “Why not trade places with him?”

Zhù Da didn’t say another word.

Zhù Ying said, “It’s dark — don’t go out. There are so many people at the posting station now, and if someone mistakes you for a thief, they’ll grab you. If you have sympathy for him, tomorrow morning after breakfast I’ll mention it to Jin Gege and take him some warm food, and a blanket.”

Zhù Da hesitated, then said, “Don’t get yourself in trouble on his account.”

Zhù Ying said, “It’ll be fine.”

……——

The second day, Zhù Ying was up at the crack of dawn. Opening the door and looking out, the rain was still falling, so she shrank back inside and went on reading.

Zhang Xiangu said, “Goodness, the rain still hasn’t stopped. Before, if it rained I’d be worried to death. Now look at this rain — it’s no wonder Da Niangzi once said: the sound of rain is lovely for sleeping.”

In the past she had to worry that the roof was leaking again, that the patch of vegetable garden barely a third of an acre would be washed away. Worried that the rice jar was almost empty and she couldn’t go out in the rain to earn money and had no money to buy rice. Now she needn’t worry anymore! The sound of rain — it really was quite nice!

With the sky overcast and gray, Zhang Xiangu, usually so brisk and energetic, found herself on the edge of a faint, slight wistfulness. Then she suddenly woke up: “Goodness, it’s gotten dark! Old Third, stop reading for now — let me light another lamp for you.”

Zhù Ying had just finished the last few pages, and was in excellent spirits. If they’d traveled today, she would have had to wait until tonight to finish this volume. Being stranded for a few days was just right for her — she could learn a bit more before entering the capital.

Before long it was time for breakfast. Zhù Ying also mentioned to Jin Liang the matter of warm soup and a blanket for the prisoners. Jin Liang said, “You’re right — I’ll tell them in a minute. No blankets available — pile up more straw.”

Zhù Ying asked Jin Liang, “Is today a good time to report on my studies?”

Jin Liang said, “Why wouldn’t it be?”

“Yesterday we ran into Imperial Commissioner Zhong — what if there’s important business today?”

Jin Liang said, “It won’t matter.”

And so Zhù Ying went to find Zheng Xi to report on her studies, and saw that Sheng Ying was there as well. She greeted him politely. Sheng Ying’s expression stiffened as he glanced at Zheng Xi, thinking: this young person is completely different from before! What Chen Meng described was far too understated!

Zheng Xi gave Zhù Ying a new volume and sent her back to continue reading. Watching Sheng Ying’s gaze follow Zhù Ying as she left, Zheng Xi felt a slight twinge of displeasure, and said, “Once the sky clears we should get on the road. That Zhou You — he really is a headache!”

Sheng Ying withdrew his gaze and smiled: “Quite so. Under ordinary circumstances one doesn’t notice, but stuck in this little posting station with such a person, it’s truly hard to bear.”

The two smiled at each other.

The person they found so trying, this “headache,” was about to have a small encounter with Zhù Ying.

It began after lunch, when Zhù Ying returned to her room to read. Lu Chao called to her from outside the window.

Zhù Ying took an umbrella and went out: “What is it?”

Lu Chao glanced inside the room, then said in a low voice, “Stuck in the posting station with nothing else to do. Want to play a game for fun? After breakfast they were already at it in the rooms, and in the afternoon everyone says to gather in the main hall — more people makes it livelier.”

Zhù Ying said, “I don’t gamble.”

Lu Chao said, “Look down on me?”

Zhù Ying said helplessly, “I have no money.”

“I’ll lend you some.”

“Does it need to be repaid?”

“Dream on!”

Zhù Ying said, “Then forget it. I have a family to support.”

While the two were talking, a few more people came by, all of them saying let’s go together. Zhù Ying said, “Then I’ll watch.”

“Now that’s more like it!”

Zhù Ying said, “Hold on — I need to tell the family first.” She told Zhang Xiangu she was going out, that her companions were calling her to chat. Zhang Xiangu felt a person shouldn’t be too antisocial, and said, “Go on then.” Zhù Ying didn’t bring any money and went empty-handed.

Lu Chao and the others were in the main hall, where they had pushed several tables together to make one large gambling table. Someone brought out a dice cup. Zhù Ying said, “Now that’s lively.” Rolling dice, a whole group betting high or low and shouting at each other, was the liveliest entertainment of all. By comparison, card games were practically refined.

Lu Chao said, “Right? Come on, let’s go!”

Zhù Ying hadn’t said she knew how to play, so she stood to one side and watched. Lu Chao and the others shook a few rounds, with wins and losses. One of the losers said the dice were weighted. Lu Chao threw the dice down — they were a normal set of bone dice. The accuser looked a bit embarrassed. Lu Chao smiled: “Keep going — I have another set.” He brought out another pair.

The bets gradually grew a little larger. Gan Ze said, “No — can’t bet too big. If the masters find out, we’ll be beaten. Let’s leave the stakes as they are.”

They clamored on for a while and drew in some of Zhong Yi’s attendants as well. Even though the two parties’ masters were at odds with each other, the subordinates ended up playing together. With more people, the mixed smells of the human body grew stronger. Zhù Ying said, “Second Brother, I need to go check on my mother.”

Lu Chao said, “How old are you? Always needing to find your mother?”

Someone from Zhong Yi’s side said, “Still nursing, more like?”

Zhù Ying gave him a cool look, recognizing him as Zhou You’s young manservant. This young fellow probably didn’t remember her at all, but Zhù Ying remembered him. Wasn’t he supposed to be attending to Zhou You? What was he doing gambling?

And as she was thinking this, the man himself appeared.

“Well, well! How dare you gamble!”

Zhou You had just received a thorough tongue-lashing from Zhong Yi. He was frequently lectured by his father’s friends, and since these men also looked after him, he never bore them any resentment for this kind of treatment. But — when Zhong Yi was lecturing him, once again Zheng Xi came up: “He is only twenty-seven and already possesses such composure and strategic depth, while I am already fifty-seven. When I return to the capital this time I must step back for a while. Now that you hold a real office rather than a sinecure, your situation is different from before. He outranks you and is your superior — you must not be discourteous to him. You must give us peace of mind!”

Zhou You took this dressing-down and added another mark against Zheng Xi’s account. He went back to his room and found his manservant had been slacking off and had vanished who knew where. Then he heard noise from the main hall and strode over, spoiling for trouble. The manservant luckily had just been mocking Zhù Ying. Zhou You saw that both sides’ attendants were there, more of them from Zheng Xi’s side. So he simply decided to make a scene and see how Zheng Xi handled it. He was determined to mock Zheng Xi for “losing control of his subordinates.”

Zheng Xi, Sheng Ying, and Zhong Yi all came. Looking at the scene, none of them said anything about severe punishment. Zhong Yi ordered everything smashed: “Do you all have money to spare? One month’s wages forfeited, each of you.”

Zheng Xi said to his own attendants, “You as well — same.”

Then he looked at Zhù Ying.

Zhù Ying half-raised both hands, saying, “I have no money — I wasn’t gambling.”

Zheng Xi said, “Go read your book!”

Zhù Ying said obediently, “Yes.”

Lu Chao’s heart leaped into his throat — the first set of bone dice had indeed been a normal pair, but the second set he had switched in was weighted with lead! Once this was smashed, everyone would see it, and that would truly be the end of him.

Lu Chao closed his eyes.

“Crack! Snap! Snap!” Dice and dice cup were all smashed to pieces. No one muttered curses at him, and the people standing next to him didn’t strike him. He opened his eyes and looked — strange? The smashed ones were the normal pair.

How very peculiar!

On the other side, Zhù Ying returned to her room and put what she was holding on the table. Zhang Xiangu was doing needlework by the window, and asked, “What did you bring back?”

Zhù Ying’s palm swept across the table and closed into a fist, then said, “Mother, give me a number.”

Zhang Xiangu said, “Three.”

Zhù Ying put what she was holding back on the table — three dice with red dots face up! Zhang Xiangu heard the sound, got up, and looked. She scolded, “Are you trying to get yourself killed? Learning bad habits! Where did that thing come from?” Zhù Ying swept the dice up again, rolled them in her palm, and dropped them — this time three dice each showing three dots face up.

She said with a grin, “They dragged me into their gambling, and I had no money to gamble with. So I took this back — that way there’s no need to gamble.”

Zhang Xiangu smacked her two or three times: “Learning bad habits! Go back to your reading! And stop this!”

“This even needs to be learned? Their skills are limited — the lead-weighted ones work just so. The real masters use mercury.” Even more skillful than that, there was no need for either lead or mercury — just regular dice would do. The technique was entirely in the hands.

Zhang Xiangu said furiously, “You’ve grown quite capable! Give them to me!” She held out her palm upward and planted it in front of Zhù Ying.

Zhù Ying said, “They’re not mine — I need to return them.”

“Return them to whom?”

Zhù Ying said, “Second Brother Lu.”

Zhang Xiangu then scolded Lu Chao for being a bad person — how could he lead a perfectly good child of hers into gambling? “You’re not to play with him anymore!”

“All right.”

The “bad person” Lu Chao was utterly bewildered. He turned his own gambling equipment inside out, examining every piece carefully. No question about it — he’d gone through two pairs of dice today, one normal, one loaded with lead. He’d smashed the normal one himself, everyone had seen that. Zhong Yi had the loaded pair smashed, but once they were broken, they were also apparently normal, and everyone had seen that too.

He was still puzzling over his gambling equipment when Gan Ze saw him and said, “Stop mourning over it. Zhù San has dice over there — go ask him for a couple of pairs. Careful though — just play in the room, today got way too out of hand.”

“Ha! And he claimed he wasn’t gambling!”

Gan Ze said, “You’d take advantage of an honest person again? He’s got a peddler’s carrying pole with all sorts of odds and ends inside. Needles and thread for women, dice for men — he has everything. The young fellow used to be a peddler to earn a little extra for the family. It wasn’t easy.”

The two went to find Zhù Ying and ask for the dice.

Zhang Xiangu wasn’t pleasant about it, but feeling that keeping the dice with her daughter was bad too, she said, “You might as well give them to him.”

Zhù Ying opened a small box and took out a packet of dice: “Two taels!”

Lu Chao didn’t understand. Zhang Xiangu said, “This packet isn’t worth two taels!”

Zhù Ying said, “I’m charging him two taels.”

Gan Ze started to put in a word, but Lu Chao said indignantly, “Two taels it is! Here!”

Zhù Ying said, “Just got docked a month’s wages and can still come up with two taels — Second Brother Lu is quite the wealthy man.” She put a small packet of dice in his hand, then tucked something else into his palm. Lu Chao looked down, surprised, and his expression instantly changed: “Good friend — I knew you were solid!”

Gan Ze was confused: “What are you two doing?”

Zhù Ying said, “Da Gege Gan doesn’t know? Some things — blink and they’re gone. You can’t see the whole story clearly. Hehe.”

Lu Chao, afraid Gan Ze would ask more questions, clutched the dice and dragged Gan Ze away. Zhang Xiangu asked Zhù Ying, “What was that about? How come you still took money from him? And there was also…”

Zhù Ying said, “They earn money gambling. I sold them dice for money — what’s wrong with that?”

She handed the silver to Zhang Xiangu. “Don’t save it. Ask for hot water, hot food — give it freely.”

Zhang Xiangu, having seen more and more silver in recent days, sat in a daze thinking: silver isn’t so hard to earn. Then what were our lives before? And about the Third…

She thought for a good long while, then heard the watchman’s clapper and said, “Let me go get the hot water — it’s time to sleep.” She looked over at Zhù Da, who had already fallen flat out and was asleep.

……

The communal sleeping platform had Zhù Da on the left, Zhang Xiangu in the middle, and Zhù Ying on the right. Zhù Ying listened to the heavy breathing of Zhù Da and Zhang Xiangu interleaved with small snoring, accompanied by the steady patter of rain outside the window, and gradually fell asleep.

Suddenly, Zhù Ying opened her eyes. She gently pushed back the covers and sat up, concentrating her hearing.

It seemed as though she couldn’t hear the sound anymore. She furrowed her brow, thought for a moment, and still got up, put on her clothes, and made her way to the door, where her hands found the umbrella against the wall. She thought further, then also groped in the peddler’s carrying pole for the small axe.

Zhang Xiangu jolted awake: “Who’s there?!”

Zhù Da had been sleeping soundly, then was startled awake by Zhang Xiangu: “What is it, what is it? Is there a thief?!”

Zhù Ying said, “It’s me! I’m going out for a look!”

Zhang Xiangu sat up: “Half the night gone, not sleeping — are you going off to be a thief?”

Zhù Da also said, “Sound asleep, what do you have to do now?”

Zhù Ying pulled the door open: “You two sleep. I’ll be right back.”

Zhang Xiangu got up and groped for the flint to light a lamp: “What do you have in your hands?! Get back here!”

The sight of Zhù Ying holding an umbrella in one hand and an axe in the other startled her: “What are you doing with that?”

“I’m going to check on the firewood shed.”

With that, Zhù Ying headed for the firewood shed. It was very close to where they were staying — just the other side of a courtyard wall. Zhang Xiangu, uneasy, also took the lamp, put up an umbrella, and went to look. Zhù Ying was already at the door of the firewood shed!

The firewood shed held the prisoners, a considerable number of them. The guards, finding it too crowded, and with rain outside, had retreated to the small room of the cook across the way. The night being deep, the guards had made one round and then gone to sleep. What could happen in weather like this?

Yet Zhù Ying had heard something wrong. The firewood shed was too close to their quarters — she was fairly certain she’d heard something like the sound of a wall collapsing.

Zhù Ying turned and took the oil lamp from Zhang Xiangu’s hand, held it into the firewood shed, and shouted at the top of her voice: “There’s an escapee!!!”

The shed’s window was a wooden lattice without paper covering. The lamp held inside revealed that at the base of the wall there was already a hole dug through it, and the count of people inside the firewood shed appeared to be off!

One was missing!

Zhang Xiangu, afraid her daughter would be harmed, bellowed at full volume: “Someone help!!! Escapee!!!”

Zhù Ying saw this would not do, and dragged Zhang Xiangu into the kitchen. She grabbed a pot and began banging it with the axe — bang bang: “Prisoner has escaped!!!”

The guards were the first to be roused. Then the entire posting station was awakened! Torches were quickly lit, and people rushed toward the firewood shed!

Zhù Ying, seeing enough people had gathered, shielded Zhang Xiangu and moved to stand against the wall — until Jin Liang came striding over. Only then did she say, “The grave robbers — hole dug through the wall. I was afraid they’d already escaped when I shouted, so I raised the alarm. Jin Gege, attend to the main business first.”

What else could be done? Jin Liang had meant well, and had also been thinking of Zheng Xi’s reputation — who wouldn’t say Zheng Xi was magnanimous? Even Zheng Xi had that same inclination, and had agreed to it. Now, putting them in the firewood shed had led to this, with space so cramped that even their shackles had been removed, leaving only ankle chains — and with that, they’d managed to dig through the firewood shed wall!

Jin Liang ordered the firewood shed surrounded and had the prisoners brought out one by one — every one of them was trussed up in a cangue and shoved back into the prisoner wagons. Then he brought Zhù Ying with him to report to Zheng Xi.

Sheng Ying next door had also been roused by the commotion and hurried over to ask what had happened. Zheng Xi said, “I’m in the middle of asking — Fifth Brother might as well listen along.”

Zhong Yi’s side also sent someone to ask what had happened. Zheng Xi sent word back: “A small matter, already dealt with.” He then ordered everyone else to carry on as before, no panic and no wandering about.

He said to Zhù Ying, “Continue.”

Zhù Ying said, “Woke up partway through the night hearing something wrong, so I went to check. Saw there were fewer people inside, and there was a hole at the base of the wall…”

Zheng Xi’s expression, rarely so, turned dark. He asked Jin Liang, “How many escaped?”

Jin Liang said, “Not one got away — the one who escaped was also caught and brought back!” The old Daoist Xu that Zhù Da kept thinking of had not participated, as he was elderly and had fallen ill from the rain, so feverish he was delirious. The escaping group had simply left him behind.

After the matter was clarified, Zheng Xi’s expression quickly returned to normal. He said, “Put them in cangues! Lock them in the prisoner wagons!”

No more soft-hearted treatment for these criminals!

Jin Liang said, “They’ve already been locked in the wagons.”

Zheng Xi said, “Have people do proper night rounds, and all disperse.” No one dared say another word. Through the sound of the rain, footsteps tapped away outside.

Suddenly a voice rang out: “My, my — deep of night, and such excitement!”

Zhou You always wanted to see Zheng Xi humiliated. The commotion Zhù Ying had raised by banging the pot had been genuinely loud, enough for many to pick up something of what had happened. Moreover, the prisoners had now been moved back into the wagons. Zhong Yi was not one who allowed others to witness embarrassment, knowing that people in awkward positions don’t want to be seen or known. Zhou You, even if he had already been in bed, still had to come and mock. Zhong Yi’s prohibition was effective on others, but not so effective on the one issue of watching Zheng Xi’s humiliation — unless Zhong Yi personally kept an eye on Zhou You.

Zhou You sauntered over, his voice thick with mockery.

Yet Zheng Xi was not someone who could be easily provoked. Zheng Xi said with a smile, “You can’t sleep either? I lay awake in the night thinking it over, and now I am certain — one must follow your example and keep the prisoners in the wagons. Showing excessive mercy is not the right approach.”

Zhou You said loudly, “Ha ha ha ha! So you’ve finally recognized your own failings! Why put on such false compassion to fish for a good reputation?! Scoundrels should be locked up and let the wind and rain beat down on them!”

Zhù Ying found him utterly beyond words. Watching Zhou You deliver his satisfied pronouncements and turn contentedly to leave, she felt a sort of involuntary admiration rising from deep within — truly a person of unfiltered temperament!

This “person of unfiltered temperament” shot a satisfied glance at her as he departed, and thought to himself: why does that young person look somewhat familiar? Not one of Zheng Seventh’s old hands, it seemed — how strange!

But if he asked Zheng Xi directly, Zheng Xi would certainly not answer. Zhou You kept a small splinter of doubt in his heart, still satisfied with himself as he walked away.

Jin Liang said loudly, “Everyone disperse!”

—