It was afternoon, and Ning Yi had not yet returned. The Su household was already in an uproar, plunged into a chaotic frenzy of shouting and outrage.

“How could such a thing happen, this is intolerable!”

Although Su Wenxing had said earlier that this matter shouldn’t be brought to his father, when a group of women came back crying and wailing, the first to be alarmed and affected were the elders of the Su family, Su Zhongkan among them. It wasn’t that they had good sources of information—Su Wenxing wasn’t stupid either, and the moment he saw the state everyone had been beaten to, and heard the course of events along with what the women had brought back, he knew this was something he couldn’t shoulder alone.

That Ning Yi would strike so heavily without any regard for consequences was truly beyond everyone’s expectations, but since he had already done it, it also showed his resolve. He had killed men in Hangzhou, had gone toe-to-toe with bandits like Fang La—if he truly lost his temper now, the only thing that could restrain him was the Su family’s household law.

The matter first had the group of wailing women crying their way to Su Zhongkan and Su Yunfang, and then the crowd surged into the front hall, alarming the two elders of the clan as well. Su Zhongkan knew his own son’s temperament, and had Su Wenxing dragged over first, questioning him sternly and severely about the whole affair from beginning to end. Su Wenxing then laid the matter out.

“This really has nothing to do with me. Who knows why brother-in-law would pin it on me—I don’t even know where it first spread from. But of course we were angry when we heard it, him keeping a woman outside, right when Second Sister just gave birth… what does that have to do with me? He beat sister-in-law until she’s nearly dead, Father, you saw it too… Father, you all need to think of something. Everyone in the family knows how formidable Second Brother-in-law is, and now he’s pinned this on me, what am I supposed to do…”

“Don’t call him Second Brother-in-law!” After Su Wenxing’s tearful outpouring, Su Zhongkan’s own temper flared up. “Is he going to eat you alive or something!”

More than a dozen wailing women returning home was already enough to make the whole household aware of the matter, and within moments the area around the main hall was packed with people. As for Ning Yi, who had always been treated favorably in the household despite his status as a matrilocal son-in-law, the onlookers couldn’t help feeling a certain schadenfreude about him getting into this kind of trouble, and the subsequent condemnation and uproar grew all the more severe for it.

On another front, Su Zhongkan didn’t believe for a moment that his son had no part in this, but in this particular matter, the one who had truly gone too far was indeed Ning Yi—keeping a woman outside, and after being discovered, going so far as to beat members of the household in a fit of madness. A grown man beating a woman half to death—a son-in-law like this was slapping the whole family in the face. Regardless of what small details might shift in the story, within moments he was roaring orders, gathering the household guards, and at the same time sending word to Su Boyong. Only when it came to how to handle Su Tan’er did he show any hesitation.

“As for Tan’er… she’s only just given birth, don’t any of you go alarming her. Wait until Eldest Brother arrives, and we’ll consider how to tell her then… And the rest of you, be quiet! The moment that beast comes back, bring him to me at once!”

Su Boyong did not appear for the time being, but the atmosphere turned grim and murderous within moments. Guards were stationed in the main hall, others posted at every gate. Su Zhongkan questioned everyone carefully about the whole affair, and the details—about Ning Yi keeping a famous courtesan and today’s beating—grew ever richer as people discussed and speculated, growing more righteously indignant by the moment…

…

“Alright, that’s enough for now.”

In a small building by the Qinhuai River, Ning Yi, having bathed, had changed his clothes and tied his hair back behind his head. Yun Zhu came over and, head lowered, helped fasten his sash.

“What a mess… things really did all come together at once. Yuanbao’er, are you alright?”

The earlier scuffle had, in the end, been stopped in time. Though both had been left thoroughly disheveled, neither Yun Zhu nor Jin’er had been injured or disfigured—a stroke of luck amid misfortune. Now, having changed clothes and tidied themselves up, they had more or less returned to a presentable state, though the shock to their nerves clearly remained. Jin’er still had some red marks on her face, and sat there with her jaw set, silent and furious, looking rather pitiable despite herself. Yun Zhu, on the other hand, looked considerably more haggard and thin than usual after changing into a fresh dress, though her face carried a certain anxiety.

“You, doing this… hitting people… what will you do when you go back… you were too rash…”

What worried her was how Ning Yi would explain himself to the family when he returned. Jin’er had already turned her head aside. “What rashness—those women, they… hmph…” She glared resentfully at Ning Yi, then turned her head away again.

In truth, even Jin’er herself probably wasn’t sure just what she was so angry at in that moment—those women, or the root cause of it all, Ning Yi, or perhaps herself, having been beaten so badly in the earlier chaos that she’d actually cried, when she’d always thought so well of herself and yet, at the crucial moment, hadn’t been able to protect Sister Yun Zhu.

Ning Yi shook his head.

“It’s fine. I’ll handle it. There won’t be a next time. Just trust me—though I admit this time really did catch me off guard…” He walked over and patted Jin’er’s shoulder. “It’s my fault, alright? I’ll head out now. You… stay with Yun Zhu.”

“Get lost.”

“Ha.”

“Don’t… go too far for our sake. We’re fine.” Yun Zhu said earnestly.

“Mm, I know my limits.”

The small building was still in a state of disarray, but there was no way Ning Yi could stay behind now to help them tidy up. Erniu, who had been injured, was thankfully not in serious danger; Kou’er and the others had also sustained minor injuries in the chaos. Ning Yi glanced around briefly, then turned and walked out. Wenren Buer had already arrived. “Made quite the mess, didn’t you?” This turn of events had genuinely caught even him off guard.

“Find a couple of people to look after things here, would you—don’t let anything else like this happen.”

“No problem there. You’re heading back now?”

“Can’t very well stay here, can I.” Ning Yi smiled faintly. “This kind of thing needs handling sooner rather than later.”

“Do you want… the Consort’s estate to send someone to go with you?”

Ning Yi shook his head. “No need. Family matters are best kept within one’s own hands to deal with as much as possible. As for other connections… I can lean on people if I need to, and I know how, but there’s no need to actually bring that out. Once you do, things get complicated.”

“You know this affair could go either way—big or small. How will you explain yourself when you go back?”

“Heh, is the Su family really more formidable than the Lou family?”

“But you’re a son-in-law who married into their household, after all.”

Ning Yi laughed. “Everyone assumes that marrying in means I ought to behave a certain way. To be honest, I’ve never taken it to heart—maybe that’s exactly why I’d downplayed my ties with them, and why nothing like this had happened until now… No matter. In this world, principle has never been able to beat leverage. They think my being a son-in-law is their leverage over me. Well, it’s about time I gave them a proper lesson in what real leverage looks like… I’d thought that after this trip back, once the old man finished sorting out the household, they’d give up on their schemes. Didn’t expect it would still come to this…”

Wenren Buer’s men led the horse over. Ning Yi sighed as he spoke, not without a measure of feeling. The Second and Third Branches of the Su family had stirred up trouble several times already, and after this trip back with Su Tan’er, things should truly have settled down—Su Wenxing and the others should have resigned themselves to reality. He hadn’t expected such complications to arise. Wenren Buer frowned. “What exactly are you planning to do?”

“If people end up dead, or too many die for it to be contained, come find me.” Ning Yi said, then shook his head as he mounted the horse. “But it shouldn’t come to that.”

“Hey!”

“Much obliged.”

…

As the hour of Shen drew to a close, the sun was gradually sinking westward. Evening was approaching, and yet this was the most brilliant and beautiful hour of the whole day, the sky like burnished amber, carrying a clear, luminous beauty.

In the main hall of the Su household, the interrogation continued, the atmosphere as stern and forbidding as a tribunal. After Su Wenxing had given his account, others were summoned for questioning, along with the women who had taken part that day. But truth be told, everyone was growing a little discouraged, for quite some time had passed—they had expected Ning Yi to rush back at once to face judgment, but it seemed he had actually stayed behind to bathe, or perhaps he’d been frightened and didn’t dare come back. Su Boyong, meanwhile, showed no sign of movement. As for Su Tan’er, it seemed no one dared disturb her for the time being—word had it that at the gate of her courtyard, Xiao Chan and Juan’er stood like guardian deities, blocking anyone who tried to approach, no matter who they were.

Su Boyong’s absence might well have had a calculating side to it—with the situation entirely one-sided, there was no way for him to come out and openly back Ning Yi, and in any case, by the standards of reason and propriety, he had no wish to back him either. Better to wait and see what Ning Yi could come up with to turn the tables, or what hidden circumstances he might reveal. If Ning Yi truly failed to return, the crowd’s momentum might well surge and then fade over time—but that was exactly what Su Wenxing was hoping for, because it would essentially seal Ning Yi’s guilt; no matter when he came back after that, there would be no turning the situation around.

But in the end, Ning Yi did come back.

Just as the hour of Shen gave way to the hour of You, Ning Yi appeared on the street outside the main gate of the Su estate, leading his horse. He had already changed clothes—no longer the somewhat conservative, low-key, and proper scholar’s robe that had been described earlier. Now he wore a white long robe, considerably more dashing, a style currently in fashion in the state of Wu—though rather than a scholar’s attire, it looked more like the garb of a wandering swordsman. The guards at the gate were alerted at once, and someone hurried off to report. Meanwhile, as a few of the guards were still anxiously wondering how they would get him over to the main hall, he had already handed his horse off to someone nearby. The guards and stewards responsible for escorting him in were, naturally, men of the Second Branch, and had originally meant to be stern and give this son-in-law no good face—but they found themselves overwhelmed by the composed authority he carried.

Had it been any of the guards from the First Branch who had gone with Ning Yi to Hangzhou, they likely wouldn’t have dared face him like this at such a moment.

Ning Yi, for his part, was quite simple about it: “Where’s Fifth Young Master? I have business with him.” The steward beside him blurted out reflexively, “He’s over in the main hall too…” and then very nearly wanted to slap his own mouth for that word “too.” Ning Yi nodded. “Then let’s head over.”

The distance from the main gate to the main hall wasn’t actually far, and from a distance, the crowd gathered there could already be seen. By this point, the murmuring among the crowd had already turned into hushed whispers. Su Zhongkan and the others glared out from within the hall with venomous eyes. Ning Yi wore no fierce expression at all, simply walking forward calmly, passing through the crowd. When he saw Su Wenzhen and Su Wenfang, he even nodded to them with a smile. As he crossed the threshold, he reached up to straighten his sleeves.

“You beast, you finally…”

“Where’s Wenxing?”

Su Zhongkan had, after all, weathered many things in his time. Though he didn’t understand why Ning Yi was acting this way, he could see that his composure had, in this moment, subdued the crowd—the accumulated pressure of everything Ning Yi had done in the Su household over the years. He was about to speak first, but Ning Yi had already spoken again, not even looking at him, still adjusting his sleeves.

“With so many relatives and elders gathered here today, how dare you run wild like this…”

“Su Wenxing?”

Ning Yi’s steps came to a halt before the first chair. He smiled as he looked around the room, and repeated himself. This time, Su Wenxing finally emerged from where he’d been hiding. “I—I’m right here. You think you can run wild in front of so many uncles and elders…” Though there was a note of bluster covering his inner cowardice, Su Wenxing did manage to steady his voice for that first line. Ning Yi nodded. “Good, then. Come over here?” He reached out and gripped the back of the chair beside him, dragging it toward the center of the hall.

“So what if I don’t come over! You madman…”

“Ning Yi, what exactly do you think you’re doing—kneel down this instant, in a place like this!”

“Sure, fine, no problem.” Ning Yi dragged the chair along; most of the onlookers probably assumed he meant to throw it at Su Wenxing, but that didn’t happen. He shifted the chair’s position a few times, then set it down in the center of the hall with a thud. That thud actually cut off the roaring from above, bringing a brief moment of silence to the hall. The chair sat at an angle, not facing forward. Ning Yi rested his hand on the back of it and patted it twice, lowering his head as if lost in thought, and then he spoke.

“Last year, right after we got to the bottom of the imperial merchant business, when the Wu family fell for our scheme and had no choice but to accept defeat, someone asked me a very stupid question…”

As he spoke, he slowly circled halfway around the chair, then sat down. Dozens of people watched this scene, as though it were a tribunal, or a man surrounded and gawked at by a great crowd—most people would never choose to sit down like that under such circumstances. But once Ning Yi began speaking of the Wu family affair, everyone pricked up their ears to listen. After all, this was the single greatest and most dangerous crisis the Su family had faced in recent years, and it was also—at least as far as most of them had witnessed—the clearest display of Ning Yi’s sharpness within the Su household.

Ning Yi sat there, looking around as though facing off against the entire world, his gaze having turned cold and stern. It paused on Su Wenxing’s face, and after a moment, a mocking smile crossed his lips.

“They asked me… if the Wu family banded together, willing to risk their whole family’s deaths rather than let our Su family take advantage of them, what would I do…”