Just as Jin’er was finding Wenren Buer outside the prison gate, Yun Zhu was fleeing through the rain-soaked courtyards of the Su residence.
When the wave of bandits struck, she hadn’t managed to get out of the Su estate after all, and had hidden with Xing’er among the rockery in one of the gardens. Later, when a group of men passed by, Xing’er apparently recognized one of them and, sensing danger, told Yun Zhu to stay hidden there for the time being while she went out to look for the young master and young lady and the others. But once she left, a long time passed without her returning, and the sounds carrying through the estate made it clear the place had already fallen into chaos.
The rain never let up. Hiding there, Yun Zhu watched as some Su family members ran through the garden, only to be caught and killed by black-clad men, while other black-clad men ran back and forth. The unrest kept intensifying, and guessing that Xing’er probably wasn’t coming back, Yun Zhu began to think she should try to escape and raise the alarm herself. She didn’t dare use an umbrella, running in bursts through the rain, retracing her original path outward. Fortunately, there were two Su family members fleeing ahead of her; but as they neared the outer perimeter, the two of them were killed first. She had been hiding behind them at the time, and terrified, fled at once, hiding herself in a patch of tall grass.
She crouched in the grass for a long while, soaked through and shivering, as the sounds of chaos within the Su estate only grew louder. Every so often she heard a distant boom, and she recognized the sound at once—it was Ning Yi’s matchlock. A shiver ran through her whole body, and she finally crawled out from the grass. She reached a courtyard where several bodies lay; she went into the kitchen to grab a rolling pin for self-defense, then, after some thought, switched it out for a kitchen cleaver instead, and set off following the direction of the sound.
She wasn’t familiar with the Su estate’s layout, and her path wound and doubled back as she made her way, hiding and dodging past several black-clad men, uncertain whether she was even heading the right way, or whether Ning Yi would still be where the gunshot had come from. But right now, this was all she could do. Just a few days earlier, she’d been surrounded by more than twenty women and had suffered no small psychological blow, leaving her already somewhat weakened physically; today, after meeting with Su Tan’er, she’d poured all her remaining strength and spirit into that encounter, and now, soaked through in the pouring rain, she felt chilled to the bone from head to toe. But there was still something in her heart she wanted to say to Ning Yi, and she had no way of knowing whether he’d been hurt in all this fighting…
As she rounded a few more courtyards this way, she suddenly heard the sounds of a fight coming from a courtyard up ahead—like a small-scale skirmish, shouts of battle, the occasional scream of pain. Yun Zhu cautiously circled around the courtyard and, to her surprise, found a small side door at the back. She slipped in through it and crept toward the front of the building, peering out—and saw four black-clad men surrounding a group of Su family members. Among this group were two retainers and several young men, protecting two women, fighting the four attackers together; two bodies of Su family members already lay on the ground.
The four black-clad men were highly skilled fighters, and the Su family members were clearly no match for them—wounded, they simply refused to yield, but before long, another of them fell. Off to the side, not yet joining the fight, stood another black-clad man who hadn’t bothered covering his face. After a moment, Nie Yunzhu recognized him—this was the man Xing’er had mentioned recognizing earlier. As the fight went on, another retainer went down, and the black-clad man stepped forward, saying, “Stop.”
The four black-clad men halted at once. Most of the Su family members were wounded, standing with weapons in hand only through sheer effort. The black-clad man held a folding fan and tapped it against his palm. “Didn’t expect I’d be back, did you? Tell me where that worthless son-in-law of yours is hiding! Where’s Ning Yi gone! And Su Tan’er—where is she?”
The moment he finished speaking, one of the women in the group suddenly cried out and rushed straight toward the black-clad man, only stopping when one of the men abruptly raised his blade. Weeping, she cried, “Xi Junyu, why are you doing this!”
It was only then that Yun Zhu learned the man’s name was Xi Junyu. She recognized the woman too—the pretty, quiet-tempered maid who stayed by Su Tan’er’s side, named Juan’er. The two clearly knew each other. Xi Junyu tapped his fan against his palm, his eyes turning vicious. “Juan’er. It’s been a while. Where are your young master and young lady?”
“Xi Junyu, why are you doing this!” The woman stood there weeping, repeating the same words. Xi Junyu let out a cold snort. “I worked myself to the bone for the Su family, and you ask me why I’m doing this?! There’s nothing more to say about it. I’m telling you—if I don’t find Su Tan’er and her foolish husband today, the whole Su family dies! Do you hear me? Over there, the main hall is about to fall—half of them are gathered there, but I know Ning Yi’s run off! Where’s he hiding… Listen to me carefully…”
Just as he finished speaking, Juan’er suddenly raised her tear-streaked face and said something that stunned everyone present—even Xi Junyu himself froze. She cried out through her sobs, “Do you know I’ve always liked you…”
“If…” Xi Junyu managed only two words before he couldn’t shout out whatever came next. His finger wavered in the air. “Er—you… don’t talk nonsense here…” Even as he said this, his expression had already grown complicated—clearly something he’d never once anticipated.
“Do you know I’ve always liked you…” Juan’er repeated through her tears, standing there.
Nie Yunzhu, watching from her hiding spot, froze slightly too. The line sounded both ordinary and strange at once—yet somehow, watching the scene unfold, she felt as if she’d heard something like it before, in some odd context…
“‘Do you know I’ve always liked you’—that line works best on men. No matter how fierce or vicious the man, hear that sentence out of nowhere and you’re bound to gain the upper hand…”
In her memory, that had been something Ning Yi once said, chatting with Jin’er on the steps in front of the small pavilion not long ago, shortly after he’d returned from Hangzhou. Jin’er had loved hearing about his time in Hangzhou, and every so often the two of them would come up with all sorts of ridiculous schemes for ambushing people together. Yun Zhu, by nature indifferent to such things, had only smiled at the time—but hearing this line now brought that memory rushing back regardless.
Yet as Juan’er stood before Xi Junyu now, crying out those very words, there was genuine, earnest feeling behind them. Xi Junyu, after a moment’s stunned silence, said, “Don’t you dare—” but before he could finish, Juan’er repeated it again through her tears: “Do you know I’ve always liked you…” Her voice had grown softer this time, but the sorrow in her sobbing had only deepened. She was only a maid, and this outburst drew an angry shout from behind: “Juan’er, you traitorous wretch!”
Juan’er didn’t waver at the voice. She stood there, weeping. “Do you remember, back when you worked at the shop, whenever the young lady needed you all to run errands, it was always me who brought you your meals… You were just a shop hand back then, and you worked so hard and so carefully—every time I brought you food, I’d always slip a little extra meat and vegetables onto your plate…”
“You—get out of my way…” Xi Junyu hesitated for a moment before shouting it out, but his expression had grown visibly conflicted. Had there really been extra food on his plate back then? He couldn’t quite remember, but hearing Juan’er say it now, it started to feel like it might have been true.
Juan’er stood there sobbing, shaking her head furiously.
“Later, when you became shopkeeper and were given more responsibility, I was so happy for you. And then one day, while you were working at the shop, I gave you a handkerchief—do you remember? Back then, when the family was looking to take in a son-in-law for the young lady, I knew you liked her, and I always hoped, in my heart, that you’d become the family’s son-in-law—that way I could… I could… But even though it didn’t work out that way, how could you go and do something like this…”
Juan’er sobbed loudly. She’d always been quiet by nature, delicate and pretty, and this uncontrollable crying only made the effect all the more striking. Xi Junyu looked visibly troubled, and even the four black-clad men beside him began to hesitate—could Brother Xi really have had something going with this girl? In truth, Xi Junyu had always thought highly of himself; the woman he’d truly wanted to marry had been Su Tan’er. He’d interacted with the maids around her, of course, but had never given any of them much thought. But now that he was no longer part of the Su household, looking back, it began to seem almost natural that he might have caught someone’s eye back then. If Juan’er didn’t secretly like him, who else would she be pining for—right?
Just as this hesitation hung in the air, a baby’s cry suddenly rang out with a “waah—” from nearby. Xi Junyu flinched violently. Off to the side, a door was suddenly thrown open, and Xiao Chan came rushing out clutching a basket with a baby inside. In truth, had Xiao Chan not heard the child crying and panicked into throwing open the door and dashing out, Xi Junyu might never have guessed that this was Ning Yi and Su Tan’er’s child. But the moment he saw her emerge, he began shouting furiously, “Catch her! Catch her! Catch the baby! Quick!”
The four black-clad men lunged into motion at once. Under the eaves nearby, several of the younger Su men suddenly snatched up weapons as well, some shouting, “Don’t you dare go near her!” others crying, “Run!” Among these young men, the leaders were Su Wending and Su Wenfang, who had gone with Ning Yi to Hangzhou and admired his exploits beyond words; after returning to Jiangning, they’d spent some time training themselves and were now able to put up something of a fight against these Liangshan men. But their skill was ultimately limited, and one of the black-clad men simply charged straight past them. Xiao Chan ran across the long stretch of eaves and out into the driving rain, then suddenly her feet slipped—she and the basket both went flying forward, though by sheer luck she also managed to dodge the black-clad man’s downward slash.
The basket with the baby inside flew out of her hands, sailing through the air. Xi Junyu shouted from behind, “Catch her, catch the baby!” In truth, his own urgency and excitement were getting the better of him—otherwise, he’d simply have ordered them to kill her and grab the child, and Xiao Chan would have been in mortal danger. He shouted while starting forward himself, but Juan’er stepped into his path. “Move!” he barked, and almost at the same instant, Juan’er thrust both hands forward, driving a dagger straight into his lower abdomen. Xi Junyu’s face went blank with shock, and for a moment he simply froze—then, in the next instant, he roared, “You bitch!” and slapped her hard, sending her flying to the ground.
Not far away, from the side of the building, a figure suddenly darted out from behind it, snatched up the bamboo basket, and ran for her life.
The one who had suddenly appeared from behind was, of course, Yun Zhu. With the dagger now lodged in him, the black-clad men all turned to look at Xi Junyu, but he only pressed a hand against the wound and shouted, “Catch her! Catch her! Catch the baby! Quick!” Having gone to such lengths in his thirst for revenge, nothing would make Su Tan’er more devastated and heartbroken than killing her child right in front of her. Even as he shouted, he pushed forward through his own injury to give chase, not even sparing a glance for Juan’er—partly because he had no weapon on him at the time.
At his shout, several black-clad men gave chase once more. The one in front drew his sheathed blade and hurled it at Yun Zhu; Xiao Chan managed to shove at his leg just as he threw, sending the sheath flying slightly off course—but it still struck the woman on the back of the head. She stumbled, then scrambled back up, clutching the basket, and kept running.
After that shove, Xiao Chan scrambled away in a panic. The four black-clad men needed only a few exchanges to break through Su Wending, Su Wenfang, and the others, separating them; one man took the lead, two flanked him, and the fourth stayed back to protect the injured Xi Junyu—the five of them cut through the courtyard and gave chase after the fleeing woman.
Outside the courtyard gate stretched a long corridor, the surrounding walls unusually deep, mud and water flooding everywhere, giving the whole place an eerie feel. The fleeing woman’s strength was giving out, and the gap between her and her pursuers closed quickly. She turned into a courtyard just off the corridor, and Xi Junyu’s group followed close behind.
Su Wending, Su Wenfang, and the others wanted to save Ning Yi’s child, but fear held them back—they only managed, on instinct, to make their way out through the courtyard gate, not daring to give chase right away, and some part of them even wanted to seize the chance to flee. It was at this moment that they saw Xi Junyu and the black-clad man beside him reappear from the gateway down the corridor. For a moment, they nearly turned and fled themselves.
But then they realized something was off. Xi Junyu and the others were staring into that courtyard—lightning flashed across the sky, and it was impossible to tell what they’d seen—but they were backing slowly out of it. Su Wending, Su Wenfang, and the others stood there with weapons raised, looking rather cowardly, but a moment later, Xi Junyu’s group glanced their way and then began retreating in an entirely different direction instead.
It was only then that Su Wending and Su Wenfang could faintly make out some sounds coming from beyond the high courtyard wall. With walls that tall and rain that heavy, the sound from farther off had a natural muffling effect. Hesitantly, they made their way toward it, and before long, they understood roughly what Xi Junyu’s group had just seen.
In the dim inner courtyard, through the curtain of rain, “Sick Tiger” Xue Yong lay on the ground, covered in blood, while a little farther off under the eaves, Bao Xu—the “Doom Star,” famously skilled and, in his cruelty and love of killing, arguably even worse than Li Kui among Liangshan’s ranks—lay sprawled in a wretched heap, being beaten like a dog by the one and only figure left standing in the courtyard, a man who looked like a scholar, wielding a club. As the woman ran past, the man turned from the shadows and looked their way; beside him, Bao Xu’s body was still twitching, seemingly trying to struggle upright. The scholar raised his club and brought it down hard on Bao Xu’s head, knocking him flat once more.
That was Ning Yi.
Though they had no idea what had happened, he had somehow single-handedly beaten down both Xue Yong and Bao Xu. Xi Junyu could scarcely have imagined that in a little over a year apart, this former matrilocal son-in-law had grown so fearsome… With no chieftain-level figure at his side right now, Xi Junyu swallowed hard and, without hesitation, chose to withdraw for the time being…
No matter—the real battle lay at the main hall. Pressing a hand to the wound on his stomach, he told himself as much…