The sunset lit the scene, golden light falling through the gaps in the trees; there weren’t many people about on this stretch of road, and the sound had come from the alley branching off to one side. Along with the woman’s cries, that laughter reached their ears — lewd and vile enough to make one’s hair stand on end. Ning Yi and the others found it darkly amusing and, walking a few steps closer, looked over out of curiosity from beneath the trees at the mouth of the road.

Some twenty-odd meters down the road, a scene was indeed playing out of a spoiled young master harassing a woman from a good family. A young man, dressed in fine, showy clothes and behaving abominably, along with several household servants, was chasing after a woman wearing a headscarf and carrying a basket. The woman was dressed poorly, clearly not from money; a few of the servants were simply keeping their arms out to pen the fleeing woman within a certain range, letting the young master chase her about for sport, though their expressions showed some hesitation — largely, it seemed, because of a sword-bearing man in an official’s uniform standing off to one side, offering restraint.

The man in the official’s uniform, sword at his belt, also appeared to be one of this young master’s men, though of somewhat higher rank; he stood with hands clasped, offering a mild word of caution off to the side, which was why the other servants were showing some hesitation. But the young master didn’t take his objection seriously in the least, and kept up the chase with a laugh. “Don’t run… I mean you no harm… my little kitty will be so pitiful without me… it’ll starve out there, hee hee hee hee…”

He pushed aside the man who had been cautioning him, seized the woman’s sleeve, and tore off a strip of it; the woman screamed and flung her basket at him, then turned to run, only to be blocked again, growing more frantic by the moment. Watching this from a distance, Ning Yi and the others frowned; Xiao Chan, Yun Zhu, and Jin’er all knitted their brows as well, and Jin’er said quietly, “How can there be someone like this — aren’t we right under the Emperor’s own feet here…”

Qin Shaoyu looked over a few times too and said, “That’s Gao Mu’en, the young master of the Grand Marshal’s household. He’s the adopted son of Gao Qiu, the Grand Marshal — people in the capital call him the Flower-Chasing Demon…”

In truth, in most people’s eyes, being the adopted son of the Grand Marshal’s household and being the nephew of the Chancellor’s household might not have seemed so different in weight — but to be honest, Qin Shaoyu hadn’t really made a name for himself in the capital yet, and wasn’t exactly someone with much standing of his own. Hearing this young master’s identity, Jin’er and the others fell silent — none of them, whether Xiao Chan, Yun Zhu, or Jin’er, were ignorant of the kind of power that status and standing carried. In the capital, you could throw a brick almost anywhere and hit some scion of an imperial or noble house; if trouble came from stepping forward to intervene in something like this, in the end it would all fall on Liheng’s shoulders.

As they murmured quietly among themselves, over on the other side, the young master seemed to be resisting some suggestion that he give up and go to a pleasure house instead, and he leapt up impatiently, waving his hand.

“Lu Qian — get away from me, stop bothering me! I don’t want to go to a pleasure house! There’s nothing fun about it there! I’m sick of it! I want a woman from a good family! I! Want! A! Good! Family! Woman! Lu Qian, you all keep saying good family women are the best anyway — look at everyone, they all marry good family women, we all have the same tastes, great minds think alike, what’s the harm in a little fun, right! I’ve already put up with this for so long, since that business with Lin Chong you’ve all been so fussy about it, I’ve barely had any fun at all… Lu Qian, I know my father told you to keep an eye on me, but if you keep this up I’ll just kill myself in front of you — miss, my little kitty…”

This Lu Qian had cautioned him several times already, and seeing the young master truly getting angry now, could only finally back off. The young master continued rushing at the woman, and it was then that the servants assigned to block escape routes noticed Ning Yi and the others at the mouth of the road; one of them gripped his sword hilt and shouted, “What are you looking at, what! Get lost!” The young master glanced back too, then continued on toward the woman — but after a moment turned his head again, drawing a finger along his cheek as he looked in their direction.

Ning Yi’s group had already been debating whether to leave or do something, and now his brow furrowed; he reached out a hand. “Let’s go.” Beside him, Jin’er had already taken hold of Yun Zhu and Xiao Chan’s hands and was pulling them back out toward the road’s mouth. Qin Shaoyu was still trying to say something, but Ning Yi glanced at him. “Brother Qin, would you mind seeing them back?” Under that glance, Qin Shaoyu found himself nodding as if compelled. “Oh.”

Over there, the young master opened his mouth, walking toward them almost without thinking. “Beau—”

Before the word left his mouth, a burst of laughter cut him off, and in his field of view, the scholar who had been standing at the mouth of the road came striding over, clapping his hands. “A kindred spirit! Ha ha ha ha, brother, well said, truly well said — what a pleasure to meet you—”

The young master had taken several steps forward before he realized this man was heading straight for him; he had been about to blurt out “little kitty,” but by then the scholar had already closed the distance. Two of the servants tried to block his approach, but somehow, with a single step, the scholar simply passed straight through their outstretched hands, and before the young master’s eyes could even focus, the man had already seized his hand warmly. The scholar’s expression was earnest and enthusiastic, brimming with the joy of a chance encounter, and carried, faintly, something of the same air the young master himself had shown while chasing the woman moments before, which made him look, at a glance, like a kindred spirit. Perhaps it was for this reason that Lu Qian, sword-hand ready, drew close but never actually struck.

“Truly, truly well said — what use is a pleasure-house woman? As the saying goes, a single note can break the heart, and where in this world can one find a true friend — little brother, over there just now I spotted two women, but the instant I heard you speaking, I simply couldn’t help myself, I had to come over and meet you. What you said was simply brilliant — of course a good family woman is the most fun, right…”

“Ha ha ha ha, forgive me, I forgot to introduce myself. This one is Huyan Leifeng, just arrived from Qingzhou… a small place, brother wouldn’t know it. But little brother has traveled far and wide, and everywhere I go I see nothing but the most tediously conventional people — like this brother of yours here, glaring at me with his sword — what, why are you staring at me like that, you know you’re wrong and won’t even admit it! What’s his name? Is it Lu Qian? All he ever does is urge people to the pleasure houses — pleasure houses, hah, what’s fun about that? Give them a little money and they’ll do anything — I write them a couple of poems and they go soft as anything, all obedience, what’s the fun in that, right, of course you need one who’ll cry out and blush…”

“But honestly, you people in the capital aren’t bad at all! Not like our backwater little towns! The women there have no spirit and throw themselves at you! None of this good-family-woman business! Brother, let me tell you — I go to the pleasure house, tell the girl a dirty joke, and the woman there won’t even blush. I say, miss! I’m telling you a filthy joke precisely so you’ll blush, I’m trying to tease you, not asking you to tell me something even filthier! I tell people pleasure houses are no fun and they don’t believe me… I can’t take it, I really can’t — after traveling a thousand li, I’ve finally met someone with real vision like you, brother, I can’t take it, let’s cut a rooster’s head and burn yellow paper, let’s become sworn brothers, from now on your girls are mine, and my girls are still mine…”

The man’s warmth was overwhelming, his words coming impossibly fast; the young master, stunned at first, finally began struggling. “Who the hell are you! Get away! Get away, get away! Who the hell wants to be sworn brothers with you! My father is Gao Qiu!”

He wrenched himself free of the man’s grip and kicked out hard at him — the kick landed on empty air, since the man had already stepped back, but he acted as though it had connected. The scholar said, “Brother, you shouldn’t do that — your girl’s getting away—”

The woman who had been harassed earlier, seizing the moment while the servants’ attention was fixed on this scene, finally managed to break free and dash off. The young master looked back. “Fine, take her then, whoever wants her can have her!… What are you all looking at, over here! What the hell, a lunatic, disgusting, go die already… little kitty—”

He cursed at the scholar a few more times and then set off with his servants toward the mouth of the road. Lu Qian, hand still on his sword hilt, backed away a few steps, seemingly trying to fix the scholar’s face in his memory, but in the end followed after the young master.

Everyone ran all the way to the mouth of the road, but by then there was no sign of the woman anywhere. The young master shouted for everyone to search, then looked back — the scholar’s figure had already walked off down the far end of the road and vanished.

…

Because of this brush with the young master, everyone was a little worried about Ning Yi once they got back to the inn, and Qin Shaoyu regretted not having stayed to see how things turned out. Fortunately, Ning Yi returned safely not long after, and when he mentioned that Gao Mu’en fellow, he spoke of it lightly, almost dismissively. When Yun Zhu and Jin’er asked around, they learned that the woman had indeed gotten away safely; though Ning Yi insisted it hadn’t been his doing, only that he’d happened to disrupt things by chance, Qin Shaoyu still found himself thinking that Ning Yi truly lived up to his uncle’s high regard for him — the man seemed unfathomably deep.

Small as the matter was, Ning Yi later asked Qin Shaoyu about the young master all the same. In truth, in the capital, though this Gao Mu’en threw his weight around, he did — much like Bao Daoyi — have certain things he was wary of. He had a foul reputation out in the world, but he never dared touch anyone who genuinely looked to have real standing. In the capital, one might well run into Gao Mu’en, but Gao Mu’en might just as easily run into a titled lady of rank without realizing it. As for actual power, Gao Qiu enjoyed the emperor’s deep favor and was one of his most trusted men, his influence over the emperor arguably no less than Qin Siyuan’s own — but if the young master ever truly offended a few titled ladies, even Gao Qiu might not be able to protect him once the capital’s officials rose up in outrage.

So although Gao Mu’en’s history of bullying men and abusing women ran long, he couldn’t afford to act with complete abandon either — today, even if the group hadn’t left, so long as someone dropped the name of the Qin household, he likely wouldn’t have dared act too recklessly. Ever since the case involving the Imperial Guard drill instructor Lin Chong, the capital had already been in an uproar, and Grand Marshal Gao had asked this young master to rein himself in somewhat, even assigning his trusted subordinate Lu Qian to keep watch over him. Of course, more likely than not, this amounted to little more than “keep your eyes open a bit more” when it came to this sort of behavior. Gao Mu’en’s own judgment might have been lacking, but that Officer Lu was genuinely sharp — which was why he’d bothered cautioning him about going to the pleasure house at all, rather than letting him run wild in the streets looking for kittens.

All of this was more or less to be expected, but since it concerned Yun Zhu and the others, it was still worth looking into properly, if only for peace of mind.

Ning Yi’s conversation with Qin Shaoyu was one thing; that night, after Yun Zhu and Jin’er returned to their room, they too found themselves talking about what had happened at dusk. Truthfully, as women themselves, seeing something like that had made them want to step in on the woman’s behalf, though of course they couldn’t go causing trouble for Ning Yi. And yet, for all that he’d said nothing about it, once he’d sent them off, he had still quietly stepped in and resolved the matter anyway. In effect, that had amounted to saving the woman’s life.

“Still… what exactly was going on with Ning Yi today…”

As the night deepened, the two of them had already bathed; Yun Zhu was folding clothes off to the side while Jin’er sprawled bored on the bed, doing some idle stretching. She had already changed into her light, loose sleeping clothes, and lay on the large bed, reaching back with both hands to grip her bare feet, nearly curling herself into a circle — she had trained in dance since childhood, and bending herself into such improbable shapes cost her little effort.

Thinking of the matter, she asked the question aloud. Yun Zhu, folding a couple of garments off to the side, paused for a moment. “Hm?”

“It’s just… I keep feeling like he has some hidden motive… I don’t know why…”

She tipped her head back, her pale toes nearly touching her forehead, seeming to be thinking it over, her words carrying some hesitation, and then with a push of one hand, her body — nearly a perfect circle by then — rolled off toward the other side of the bed.

Yun Zhu, head lowered, said, “He might… be trying to match you up with Su Wenyu.”

Her body wasn’t truly a circle, of course; it swayed backward for a moment, then curled forward again the next. Her toes left her forehead, her legs swept through the air, and then she landed flat on the bed with a soft thud, stretched out like some beautiful serpent. Seeing her lying there in silence, Yun Zhu grew a little concerned. “Jin’er?”

No answer came. Yun Zhu went on, “Actually, if you…”

“What right does he have—” Before Yun Zhu could finish, Jin’er abruptly lifted her head and cried out, her face full of indignation. Once she’d said it, she lowered her head again and fell silent, and after a moment her body began rolling side to side, occasionally clenching a fist, apparently rather angry, until at last she rolled into a corner and wedged herself against the wall, sulking without moving.

She stayed like that until Yun Zhu, too, climbed onto the bed, reached over, and turned her around, pulling her into her arms. Only then did Jin’er finally mutter, “Sister Yun Zhu, are you worried I might like… him?”

“Do you like him?”

“I definitely… don’t like Su Wenyu…”

Yun Zhu smiled and slowly stroked her back; Jin’er hugged her and pressed her head into her arms.

“…I’m going to sleep,” she mumbled, and then, with some effort, drifted off to sleep…