Not long after noon, leaden clouds hung over Hongze Lake. Amid wind and rain, waves slapped against the shore. Through the blue-grey curtain of rain, the great ship carrying the birthday tribute convoy, along with the several vessels escorting it, appeared and disappeared in the hazy view from the bank.

At that same hour, Xuyi too was wrapped in a leaden-blue veil of rain. It wasn’t especially heavy, but it had been falling steadily since the night before, giving the air a feeling quite unlike summer. After nearly a full day of continuous rainfall, the streets of the county town had turned to mud and filth, though the people who lived there had long since grown used to such conditions and found them nothing too unbearable.

As the carriage pulled away from the docks, Ning Yi lifted the curtain to look outside. Lunchtime had already passed, and their destination now was the Western Garden, for a stroll to clear their minds. Carriages traveled ahead and behind; the one behind him most likely carried Zhuo Yunfeng. In his own carriage, Zhou Pei sat in a clumsy disguise as a boy, looking somewhat cautious yet unable to stop herself from chattering away at him.

Ning Yi didn’t feel there was much need to hide this matter from Zhou Pei — the girl in front of him was, after all, someone he trusted completely, and besides, his own standing wasn’t quite prominent enough; being able to borrow her authority as cover, with a little county princess standing on his side, was no bad thing. It was just that Zhou Pei had woken close to noon, and by the time news had trickled in afterward, he had already met with Wenren Buer, the Qi brothers, and even Su Wenyu — who was working alongside them — to discuss how things were developing.

Given that, Zhou Pei, staying nearby, had picked up hints and fragments from the conversations she overheard, and realized that Ning Yi meant to go to the Western Garden that afternoon. So she simply put together her disguise as a boy first and tagged along the whole way. Seeing that Ning Yi had nothing pressing at the moment, she chose now to speak up and ask about the things puzzling her.

“…So this has all already been arranged? I don’t even know how you all managed to persuade that Deputy Commander Chen. And another thing — the things I mentioned this morning, you’d already anticipated all of it? What kind of people are these kidnappers, anyway? Are they really after the birthday tribute convoy?”

She had been behaving like an obedient little secretary quietly tagging along, but now the questions came pouring out all at once. Ning Yi glanced back at Zhuo Yunfeng’s carriage and smiled.

“We still don’t know exactly how things stand, but we’ve done what could be done. These past two days I discussed it with Wenren and the others — if someone really did mean to target the fleet, what would be the most likely method. We worked out a few possibilities. You already mentioned it yourself this morning — the acrobats, opera performers, and tavern workers recruited at the docks are a mixed bag, and that’s the most likely place for someone to slip through the cracks. We ran what amounted to a fairly systematic check, partly to give our people some practice, and as it turned out, we really did find a few suspicious characters…”

The girl in the ridiculous scholar’s cap nodded eagerly as she listened, thoroughly enjoying this kind of intrigue. “So there really is someone with designs on the birthday tribute?”

Ning Yi shook his head. “Someone keeping watch on the ships doesn’t necessarily mean they’re after the tribute specifically. It could be kidnappers wanting an easier way to collect a ransom, or it could be a grudge against some heartless young master. Even without the birthday tribute aboard, with this many people traveling north, there’s still plenty of other valuables — pulling off a heist would still be quite the score. We worked out a few possible schemes — setting a fire at the docks to force everyone off the ships and then looting the cargo, or finding some way to trick people into abandoning a ship, that sort of thing. Whatever the method, someone would need to have scouted things out and cased the place first. But once we made sure anyone doing that would be caught, and once we told Deputy Commander Chen, he got scared too, and in the end he had no choice but to cooperate with us… and once he agreed to cooperate, the rest became manageable.”

“So when you put it that way, all that’s actually confirmed is just this little bit?” Zhou Pei thought it over and seemed rather disappointed.

Ning Yi laughed. “Confirming things is never that simple. Even tracing it back step by step wouldn’t be something you could manage in a day or two. But feigning weakness to draw them out, offering a little bait to see what bites — we’ve done what needed doing. Now it’s just a matter of waiting to see if there’s any result. Best case, no one takes the bait at all. If someone does, well, bad luck for them…”

To the little county princess, the idea of someone targeting the birthday tribute or the fleet seemed rather thrilling, but to Ning Yi it was an unwanted complication he’d rather have avoided. Zhou Pei had originally wondered whether his trip to the Western Garden was also meant to hunt for clues related to the kidnapping, but after asking a few more questions she realized her teacher genuinely didn’t think much of this matter — he really was just going there to relax. Thinking it over, she decided her teacher truly was someone destined for great things.

Ning Yi had done what he could about the matter, and there was no need to keep dwelling on what should be set aside, lest it distract him from more pressing business. Even so, as things stood, he still thought it unlikely that anything would actually happen to the official ships.

Yet dozens of li away, beneath the rain over Hongze Lake, a fierce clash was already underway.

…

Ning Yi didn’t learn of the battle on Hongze Lake until around four in the afternoon that day. By then he had already arrived at the Western Garden. Though the rain kept falling and filthy water ran everywhere through the small county town, this place — one of the finest pleasure houses in Xuyi — was, in its surroundings, hardly inferior to Jiangning or Hangzhou.

At a pleasure house like this, if all one wanted was to satisfy carnal desire, a mid-tier establishment could meet every need. Higher up the scale were the more refined pursuits — poetry, song, spiritual pleasures — costing ten or a hundred times what an ordinary place charged. Just as few people going to a place like Tianshangrenjian in later ages went purely to vent lust through prostitution, though a thousand years separated this era from that one, as long as one had money, whatever pleasures could be imagined were still available.

The Western Garden was exactly such a place. Behind it stood the county magistrate of Xuyi as patron, and in the past it had hosted all manner of traveling guests and prominent figures — this really was the one venue in the county worth showing off. The reigning beauty, Ji Lianhong, was skilled in song and dance and reportedly ranked among the great beauties even as far as Huai’an. But when it came to the caliber of guests arriving these past few days, she fell somewhat short.

After all, everyone traveling with this fleet was either the child of an official or a member of the third generation of some imperial branch. However skilled Ji Lianhong might be, she could handle one or two guests at most. Chatting and playing during the day, then using every trick she knew to please a guest at night — that she could manage. But entertaining this many people while keeping things at the level of mere social gatherings, without letting anyone get out of hand, was beyond what she could control.

Fortunately, this time Li Shishi happened to be passing through the Western Garden, and the county magistrate had begged and pleaded for her help. Once word got out that Li Shishi was there, everyone’s attention shifted at once. In the capital, she was known for moving smoothly among high officials and men of letters, and was famously chaste and refined. With her here, the many visitors all took on the air of cultured young gentlemen making friends and exchanging pleasantries, and no trouble broke out.

“…I thought you’d be quite busy. I didn’t expect you’d have so much free time.”

Rain poured down outside, water forming curtains along the eaves, nearly swallowing half the courtyard. The room was elegantly furnished — wooden shelves, antiques, potted landscapes, a folding screen, strings of pearls, and what looked like valuable instruments arranged about. An incense burner smoldered on one side, its faint blue smoke intoxicating to the senses. Ning Yi drank the tea that had been brought to him, glancing around the room, and remarked casually.

“Brother Ning happened to be heading north, and Shishi happened to be passing through as well — how could I not come see you first? Everything else can wait.”

Brewing tea across from him was none other than Li Shishi, the reigning beauty of the capital. A year had passed since they’d last met, and her bearing had grown even more striking. Dressed today in robes as white as lotus blossoms, her long hair loose about her shoulders, a deep crimson ornament in her hair, every movement she made was pleasing to the eye, flawless. She said with a smile, “When I returned to Jiangning last year, I thought — whenever Brother Ning comes to Bianjing, I must play the proper host. Afterward, talking with Brother Yu and Brother Chen Sifeng, we often mentioned it. Now that it’s finally happening, perhaps we might even travel north together — how wonderful.”

Li Shishi had always gotten along well with her childhood friends, though Yu Hezhong and Chen Sifeng might not necessarily think of Ning Yi — still, she spoke with genuine warmth. Ning Yi smiled and nodded. “I probably won’t be staying in the capital very long, but if there’s a chance, we must all gather.”

As the two chatted, Zhou Pei, sitting properly nearby sipping tea, rolled her eyes with interest. “Master, you and Miss Li already knew each other before?”

Ning Yi rapped her on the head. “No interrupting, hanger-on.”

“Oh…”

Zhou Pei ducked her head. Li Shishi, however, was warm and gracious, saying with a smile, “Brother Ning and I have known each other since childhood.” Only then did Zhou Pei nod. “Oh, I see.”

Earlier, when they’d arrived, Ning Yi had introduced Zhou Pei merely as an unruly little attendant, and Zhou Pei, finding this amusing, hadn’t objected. But to someone like Li Shishi, her clumsy disguise fooled no one. After a while, Zhou Pei got up to wander around the second floor — in truth to see what sort of guests had arrived in the other courtyards. Once the room held only the two of them, Li Shishi finally smiled and said, “That looks like quite a well-bred young lady. Is it really all right for Brother Ning to bring her to a place like this?”

“A student I’m teaching. She ran away from home, but it’s nothing serious.”

Li Shishi laughed for a while, pouring Ning Yi more tea, then asked softly, “Is Brother Ning traveling to the capital for some particular matter?”

“There are some things to attend to.” Ning Yi nodded with a smile. “After that, I’ll probably head over to Shandong for a look.”

“Oh? That region isn’t very peaceful these days…” Li Shishi gave a soft exclamation, but Ning Yi merely agreed with a simple “Indeed,” and said no more. In truth, Li Shishi was quite curious about the business that had brought him to the capital, since whatever ordinary people came to do in the capital, they generally had to go through various channels, and she could usually help — and was happy to. But since Ning Yi was being tight-lipped, she didn’t press further. In her heart she felt three parts annoyed and three parts admiring; had it been Yu Hezhong or Chen Sifeng sitting before her, they’d likely have been unable to keep anything from her. But she sometimes thought that a man who couldn’t keep a secret probably wasn’t cut out for great things either.

They chatted a while longer, catching up, and she learned that over the past year Ning Yi had gone to Hangzhou, and most likely had lived through some dangerous times of war. Li Shishi thought it over and frowned. “Just back from Hangzhou and already heading to Shandong? That area is… um, Brother Ning, you’re not thinking of getting into some business related to fighting, are you? That kind of thing… isn’t easy to manage, it’s not worth it…”

She was, after all, someone well-traveled and well-informed, hearing news of every kind from all sorts of people, and she went on to mention some interesting tidbits about the Shandong region, inevitably bringing up Liangshan. “I hear their reputation is actually decent — they say they act on Heaven’s behalf, though that may not really be true. But it does seem they mostly go after corrupt officials. To be honest, living in the capital, I’ve seen more than enough of the filthy things people with power and status get up to. Sometimes I think, having a few heroes like that in the world might not be such a bad thing…”

She gave a faint, wry smile, then waved her hand, speaking with a certain heroic air, and Ning Yi nodded along with a smile. He then heard her add, “But still, if you do go there, be careful. Actually, there are quite a few people in the capital who know their way around the martial world — it wouldn’t hurt to bring one or two along. The Fan Tower has connections like that too…”

Li Shishi’s warmth and sincerity weren’t put on, and Ning Yi nodded in thanks. They then talked of traveling together — once the business of the young lord here was settled, Li Shishi would likely head north with the fleet as well. As they spoke, the maid Chunmei appeared beneath the eaves outside the door, and Li Shishi rose just in time to walk over. Chunmei murmured something in her ear, glancing instinctively at Ning Yi as she did. Amid the sound of rain, Ning Yi caught what she said: “That Young Master Wang has come to call.”

Given Li Shishi’s fame, it was no surprise that people constantly came seeking an audience wherever she stayed. But she had earlier instructed Chunmei to politely turn away anyone who came, and yet Chunmei had still come to report this — clearly this “Young Master Wang” was no ordinary visitor. Li Shishi frowned slightly and said quietly, “Does he have some business?”

“Um… he said he wanted… to ask Miss for guidance on music…”

“Why would I want to see him? Yesterday when I played the konghou, he sang along with that piece, and Ji Lianhong’s expression already turned sour. He really has no sense of propriety… go turn him away.”

That exchange had a certain delicacy to it; though both women had kept their voices low, Ning Yi still heard clearly. He finished the tea in his cup and had already risen. “If there’s business to attend to, I won’t intrude. You two…” He paused, momentarily struck by a thought.

Li Shishi turned back and shook her head. “It’s nothing, Chunmei was just being careless about announcing visitors…” Before she finished speaking, she noticed Ning Yi’s gaze fixed on her, his expression complicated and thoughtful. After a moment he smiled and asked, “I hear… last night some young master sang along while Shishi played the konghou, and astonished the whole gathering. Is that true?”

At this question, Chunmei, who had been about to leave, also stopped in her tracks. Li Shishi smiled and frowned. “Brother Ning heard about that too?”

“Ha, a whole group came back in the middle of the night, making a great racket…”

“That’s the man outside. His manner and bearing really are quite exceptional. If Brother Ning is interested in making his acquaintance, I could introduce you. Though he’s rather favored by Miss Ji Lianhong.” Li Shishi pressed her lips together with a small laugh. “I hear that Young Master Wang is also heading to the capital this trip. He’s charming and eloquent, and several people on Brother Ning’s ships have already become friends with him and invited him to travel north together — I imagine there will be occasions to interact with him later… Well, Chunmei, go and invite him in.”

Chunmei was about to nod, but Ning Yi waved his hand. “No, don’t bother. I was just curious. I hear Shishi’s konghou skills are unmatched — I just didn’t expect anyone could sing along with it. That… Young Master Wang, does he really sing that well?”

“Though others’ praise of me is likely excessive, that Young Master Wang Xian… truly does sing very well.” Li Shishi nodded earnestly, then laughed. “Some other day when I have time, I’ll play for Brother Ning to hear.”

As she spoke, she waved her hand toward Chunmei, clearly signaling that there was no need to bring Young Master Wang in after all. Chunmei nodded and went out, her expression showing a trace of disappointment. At that same moment, Zhou Pei’s voice rang out from the courtyard: “Master, master…”

She came running the whole way, quite excited, and by the time she reached the doorway she said breathlessly, “They fought! They really fought! They actually fought!” Li Shishi thought at first that some quarrel had broken out outside over a romantic rivalry, but then she heard Zhou Pei continue, “At Hongze Lake — there really were pirates trying to seize the birthday tribute, over a thousand of them got tricked, and now they’re being routed and scattering in all directions. So impressive! Master, how did they even fight it? I… oh, it was that cousin of yours, Su Yanping, who sent word. Um, where did he go…”

Zhou Pei looked around behind her, but there was no sign of Su Yanping, and she glanced about excitedly…