Having settled the arrangements for lodging at Wenhui Tower, it was already time for dinner. Ning Yi ordered two tables of food, sending one along with a servant boy to the courtyard for Yun Zhu and the other women, while he himself sat with Lu Junyi and the others in the main hall, listening to the talk around them—all the recent happenings in Bian Liang, the defection of the Resentment Army, and so on.

Dinner hadn’t fully arrived yet when Qin Shaoyu came to find him. Ning Yi was somewhat taken aback by the self-introduction of this young man, half-soaked from the rain, and grew even more puzzled when Qin Shaoyu mentioned that Qin Siyuan himself was waiting outside for him.

The old fellow was treating him with far more deference than was really necessary. If word of this got out, it wouldn’t matter much for Qin Siyuan, but for Ning Yi himself, it had a whiff of being set up for a fall through excessive praise. Even if he could bear the weight of it, there was no reason to court that kind of vanity.

That was how he saw it in his own mind, of course having no way to guess that it was precisely those substandard essays from Hangzhou that had deepened Qin Siyuan’s regard for him. Whatever else was true, the old man remained, at heart, an orthodox Confucian—and to a Confucian, the transmission of the Way stood above all else, even above the succession of imperial power, though naturally such things were never spoken of openly. At the same time, the old man was also using this occasion to quietly discipline his rather unaccomplished nephew, Qin Shaoyu—something Ning Yi, of course, had even less way of knowing.

Puzzled, he followed Qin Shaoyu out. Meanwhile, Su Wenyu and Su Yanping, waiting for the food to arrive, could barely contain their excitement—that Ning Yi, a man without official rank, should have the sitting Right Chancellor himself come humbly to meet him upon arriving in Bian Liang was a staggering thing to imagine, let alone speak of. Even Lu Junyi found himself rather astonished. He had already come to hold Ning Yi in considerable regard, but thinking it over now, he still couldn’t quite place exactly where Ning Yi stood within the Right Chancellor’s circle—it seemed almost too much. Meanwhile, after seeing Ning Yi out, Qin Shaoyu came back in, cupping his hands in greeting, and sat down to keep the others company on Ning Yi’s behalf.

Outside Wenhui Tower, Ning Yi climbed into the waiting carriage and found the old man, now Right Chancellor, waiting for him. Compared to their meetings back in Jiangning, Qin Siyuan’s hair and beard had turned half-gray, making him look considerably older, though also carrying far more authority now. Ning Yi bowed properly in greeting. The old man, who had been reading a letter, laughed and waved a hand. “No need for such formality, no need. Liheng, sit. It’s been a long time. I heard you were seriously ill and injured more than once during your time in Hangzhou—you’re still young, best not to carry lasting injuries with you.”

“I’m quite well, actually—thank you for your concern, Chancellor.”

“Mm.” Qin Siyuan waved his hand. “Let’s keep things as they were before between us. Hearing you speak so formally makes it feel like we’ve grown apart. Let’s talk about family matters first—Yun Zhu has come along with you, I take it?”

“Ah.” Ning Yi smiled and nodded.

“So then, between the two of you, it’s already…”

Ning Yi smiled and nodded again. Qin Siyuan laughed in turn. “Well then, that makes us father- and son-in-law, in a manner of speaking. You should just…”

Qin Siyuan’s relationship with Ning Yi had always been different from the ordinary sort, and he now naturally moved to steer the conversation that way. Ning Yi, however, raised a hand, his expression turning serious. “About that matter—I think I may have been a bit presumptuous before. It was truly my fault. At the time…”

He gestured, and the old man across from him shook his head. “That girl Yun Zhu is a good child. When I agreed to take her as my adopted daughter, I gave it careful thought—though I certainly didn’t foresee where things would end up today. Taking her in as a daughter wasn’t something either side lost out on. It’s just that, for the time being, I’m afraid there’s no way to formalize her status properly… Though saying that does make me feel somewhat guilty.”

“Even if you wanted to formalize it, I wouldn’t dare let you, sir. At your position, Chancellor Qin, there are surely no shortage of people watching from behind, waiting for a chance to strike at you. If a matter like this became public, it wouldn’t shake the political situation much—but Yun Zhu, the one who’d really be pushed into the spotlight, would find herself in real trouble.”

Qin Siyuan considered this, set down the letter in his hand, and nodded. “Bring Yun Zhu along tomorrow when you come to the residence. Minhua and Yun Niang have both been asking after her. Even if we can’t formally announce this publicly, she should still come by often once she’s settled in Bian Liang. Honestly, ever since I took this position, the household has been in complete chaos, nothing but troublesome children to deal with. The one who came to fetch you tonight is one of them—a whole crowd of second-generation good-for-nothings. Minhua is getting on in years and can’t really manage them anymore, and Yun Niang isn’t in a position to discipline them either. Honestly, my old wife spends her days wishing she had a daughter of her own. Yun Zhu is sweet and sensible—having her around to keep my wife company would do her a world of good, too.”

Hearing him grumble about his own household’s children, Ning Yi could only rub his forehead and pretend not to hear. The old man then asked about the current state of the Su family, and Ning Yi gave a rough account of the family division. Qin Siyuan nodded. “I know your main purpose in coming north this time. Most of the manpower available near Liangshan has already been arranged. Come by tomorrow and we’ll discuss it and make a final decision… Manpower and resources may well fall short, honestly. But on other matters, as long as it concerns the capital region, I should be able to help with most of it.”

The old man was referring to Su Tan’er’s plans to bring her business to the capital, and Yun Zhu’s expansion of the Bamboo Registry—minor matters, which Ning Yi naturally understood. “I’ve worked out a few ideas—I’ll bring them for you to look over tomorrow. Also, I’m not sure how much of Squire Lu’s money can be recovered, but if managed properly it could be put to great use…”

“That Squire Lu is inside right now, I take it?” Qin Siyuan said. “Well, I won’t see him today. Bring him along tomorrow… Does he really possess such great ability?”

Already serving as the sitting chancellor, Qin Siyuan understood exactly how to win over different kinds of talent—how much flattery to offer, in what manner, to what degree. That he would ask Ning Yi directly like this was itself proof of the trust he placed in him.

Ning Yi smiled. “They say he’s the finest spearman in Hebei, an honest, upright man—no trouble at all leading troops into battle. He’s a disciple of Zhou Tong… by the way, that Iron-Armed Zhou Tong—is he really that formidable? I heard he was once the greatest master at the Imperial Boxing Hall. Does the court know where he is now?”

“Liheng, you’re still interested in that sort of thing, I see.” Seeing him perk up at the mention of martial arts, Qin Siyuan laughed heartily. “I met him a few times back when I was at the Ministry of Personnel, though I couldn’t really judge how skilled a fighter he truly was—everyone simply said he was formidable, said to be a match for a hundred men. He left the Imperial Boxing Hall before the Black Water Alliance—otherwise I might have thought to bring him in to help. As for where he went after leaving, I couldn’t say… he should be about my age by now. At this age, he probably can’t fight much anymore.”

The court had always tended to look down on such things, and Ning Yi understood this well enough himself. The two chatted a while longer about matters in Jiangning, and when Zhou Pei’s travelling north by ship came up, Qin Siyuan gave a rueful laugh. “Kang Mingyuan let her come along too—what nonsense…”

“Find her a match she actually likes, why don’t you. Isn’t there that Yu Shaoyuan who’s been doing well lately? The capital surely isn’t short of talented, good-looking young men. With Zhou Pei’s wit and talent, finding her a commandery consort shouldn’t be hard.”

“Ha ha, it’s a lively place, certainly—though in truth not so different from Jiangning. Since you’re here, Liheng, you should see a bit of it yourself. I’ll have Shaoyu take you all around these next few days. If you attend a poetry gathering, it might be just the thing to take some of the arrogance out of these young talents who think so highly of themselves.”

By the time the conversation reached this point, it was already growing late. They agreed to meet at the Qin residence the following afternoon, and Ning Yi got down from the carriage, going back in to relieve Qin Shaoyu. Su Wenyu and the others rushed to the window to watch the chancellor’s carriage disappear into the distance. Ning Yi gave them a few words of caution, telling them not to speak of this matter to anyone.

After dinner, the rain had gradually stopped. Ning Yi returned to his room, where Xiao Chan was sorting through the various clothes and everyday items they’d brought north with them, chatting with him now and then. Before long, Xiao Chan left the room, and shortly after, someone knocked lightly at the door. When Ning Yi opened it, he found Yun Zhu standing outside in a pale blue-green dress, still holding the pose of having just knocked, and she smiled at him.

“Do you have some time?”

“Of course.”

Yun Zhu lowered her head and was about to step through the doorway when Ning Yi glanced outside at the sky—still not too late, the stars bright and the sky clear and washed clean. “We’ve only just arrived in Bian Liang—why don’t we go out for a walk?”

It was clear Yun Zhu had come to find him because she had something to say, not for any romantic tryst, and when Ning Yi suggested this, she smiled and nodded, lifting her skirts to follow him out. But once he’d closed the door, she hesitated. “Should we ask Jin’er and the others to come too?”

“No need.” Ning Yi took her hand and pulled her along outside. Yun Zhu’s cheeks flushed slightly as he led her quickly down the corridor. But once they’d left the courtyard, she grew too self-conscious to be pulled along by the hand and, with a pleading look, asked him to let go, though she stayed close by his side.

She rarely went out ordinarily, having developed a relatively quiet, reserved temperament, but she was still a young woman at heart, and having her beloved beside her to explore somewhere new naturally filled her with quiet joy and excitement. They made their way out of Wenhui Tower’s main hall, and outside lay a fairly lively street, lined on both sides with all sorts of shops, lanterns stretching off into the distance. Since the rain had stopped some time ago, a few pushcart vendors had already hung out their lanterns again. The street was fairly crowded, a testament to the prosperity of Bian Liang, and Ning Yi and Yun Zhu made their way forward through the lantern light, carefully avoiding the puddles.

Though it was summer, when rain came and went quickly, there was still plenty of standing water on the roads. Whatever the era, ancient cities were, without exception, far dirtier and more chaotic than their modern counterparts. Shoes in this age were also poor at keeping out water, so the two of them walked slowly and carefully; still, Yun Zhu’s steps were noticeably lighter than his. Whenever a carriage passed, the two would step aside for a moment. The capital, for all its splendor, was actually considerably more open in its customs than Jiangning—ahead of them, two people walked hand in hand down the street, a sight Ning Yi hadn’t even seen in Hangzhou. Looking closer, he saw they were two young men in scholar’s robes, fair-skinned and fine-featured, walking arm in arm without a care for anyone watching.

Having lived in this world for several years now, Ning Yi knew this sort of thing was considered a mark of refined, unrestrained elegance among certain circles. He watched for a moment, then murmured quietly to Yun Zhu beside him, “I should have had you wear a scholar’s robe tonight.” Yun Zhu glanced at the pair, her pretty face flushing slightly, and gave a soft, teasing scoff. “That would hardly be proper.”

Her nature was, after all, quiet and reserved. The street on either side was mostly lined with roadside snack stalls and various little trinkets to browse, but given her temperament, Yun Zhu was not one to sit or stand by the roadside eating on the spot—to her mind, this wasn’t simply the etiquette of the pleasure houses, but rather the cultivated reserve she’d carried since her days as an official’s daughter. The two walked along, looking things over. Ning Yi hoped she might loosen up a little, find more small joys in things, but that kind of change would inevitably take time. Back in Jiangning, the two of them had always spent time together privately, where Yun Zhu would defer to him in everything—but in public, a woman keeping proper decorum and not drawing attention to herself carried, in this era, a meaning rooted largely in chastity and virtue: the notion that a woman’s more inviting side belonged only to one particular man, whether present or yet to come.

They walked on this way, stopping now and then, until at last, as a carriage passed by, someone behind them took the spot they’d meant to step into to avoid it. Ning Yi pulled Yun Zhu’s hand and drew her aside, and once the carriage had passed, he kept her hand tucked beneath his sleeve, not letting go. Yun Zhu tugged at it a couple of times, then lowered her head, a little embarrassed. “Liheng…”

“It’s fine.” Ning Yi mimicked her furtive glances around them, murmuring in her ear, “My sleeve’s wide enough—no one can see.”

Since he was determined to do this, there was little she could do about it; her brow furrowed slightly in mild distress, but in the end she gave in, indulgently. Having taken her hand somewhat awkwardly at first, Ning Yi shifted to a more natural grip, holding her slender hand properly in his. “If you’re worried about being seen, we’ll stick to the darker paths—shouldn’t be many people up ahead…”

With Ning Yi acting so playfully, Yun Zhu had little choice but to walk along beside him, deliberately choosing the dimmer stretches of the street. In truth, whatever reserve she felt in her heart could never quite outweigh the warmth she felt at moments like this. Women of this era, after all, rarely had a man willing to indulge in such playful moments with them, let alone one willing to treat them as an equal. After walking a while, Ning Yi said quietly, “Come to think of it, back in Jiangning, we used to run into each other often enough, but we never really went out walking like this…”

“We did, once,” Yun Zhu said. “When we bought the preserved eggs.”

“That hardly counts.”

“I—I think it counts.”

“Heh…”

At the next intersection, the street on both sides remained just as lively. Ning Yi bought a pretty little pouch and had Yun Zhu carry it, remarking that it looked less crowded up ahead, and chose a direction to keep walking. It was only then that Yun Zhu finally brought up the matter she’d wanted to discuss with him…