The lamplight glowed orange, softening and lending an ambiguous warmth to the eaves of the courtyard as night set in. It was a summer night; the wind blew through the gateway, stirring the hanging lanterns one by one. Ning Yi turned to look at the woman standing there in the doorway, dressed in a long goose-yellow gown.

“What is it…”

This woman, who had accompanied Yun Zhu for so long, had a personality that carried a certain innocent liveliness, a romantic and easygoing side — but when it came to dealing with people, she was hardly someone to be taken lightly.

At the end of the day, Yuan Jin’er, too, had once been the reigning courtesan of the Jinfeng Tower.

Whatever sparring or bickering had passed between them before, whatever bouts of loud, scattered nonsense had occurred over the years, none of it had ever left behind any real ill will or sense of distance. This was a skill honed over a long time in that particular world — much as Ning Yi, in his dealings with people’s scheming and rivalries, could read most people’s true feelings accurately without even trying, and without thinking twice, could always find the right way to respond — setting aside, of course, matters that touched on real, personal emotional attachments close to him.

By comparison, Ning Yi’s skill had been forged over years of struggle in the business world, everything measured against self-interest, while Yuan Jin’er hadn’t reached that point. In this era, people were still willing to believe in the stories between reigning beauties and literary giants, between gifted scholars and lovely maidens; a woman capable of rising to the top of that particular world could not have a mindset as nakedly, purely mercenary as in later ages. If her disposition, character, and bearing had truly been lacking, she would never have been genuinely loved by others — many a courtesan, once truly heartbroken, gave up on herself entirely, and from there, whatever path remained to her would soon reach its end.

And so, for both Yun Zhu and Jin’er, there remained within them a good deal of genuine sincerity. Yun Zhu’s old sense of inferiority had also stemmed from that noble part deep within her, and Jin’er, influenced by this, had come to admire it deeply — which was why leaving the Jinfeng Tower had never been an act put on for show, for either of them. Of course, they had also, in that environment, picked up all sorts of ways of dealing with people. Throughout all that time, whatever attitudes Jin’er had shown toward Ning Yi or anyone else, she had, in truth, never once been genuinely sharp or cutting.

There was a proper measure to accepting people, a proper way to oppose them, a proper attitude for quarreling. When she left the Jinfeng Tower, her argument with Mother Yang had been fierce, yet Mother Yang bore her no lasting hatred for it either. Even when she rejected and pushed Su Wenyu away, she still let him feel the sincerity behind it. True fierceness and sharpness were never the same as one’s attitude toward people in general. All of this, Jin’er herself might not even fully understand — that disposition, that temperament, that character had simply become part of who she was; only someone as calculating as Ning Yi could see it so clearly.

And yet, right now, that haughty, icy look in her eyes was something Ning Yi had never seen on Yuan Jin’er before.

It belonged, in truth, to the realm of self-protection.

What was there that couldn’t be talked through properly? It was just introducing her to a boyfriend — it wasn’t as though he were forcing her into anything — was there really any need for this…

As he thought this, Yun Zhu beside him spoke up. “Jin’er, I—” But before she could finish, she was cut off.

“Sister Yun Zhu, I’ll speak to him myself.”

“Mm, I’ll make sure to explain everything to her properly.” Ning Yi patted Yun Zhu’s shoulder in reassurance. In the past, no matter how serious the matter, if he patted her shoulder like this, Yun Zhu would trust that he could smooth it over. But this time, she instinctively gripped the back of his hand instead, her eyes meeting his as though pleading with him not to mess things up, not to let things fall apart with Jin’er.

“Don’t worry.” Ning Yi smiled, feeling reasonably confident in himself. Besides, he and Jin’er were on fairly good terms as friends — a matter concerning Su Wenyu wouldn’t escalate to the point of hurting anyone. At worst… if she was this averse to it, he simply wouldn’t try to matchmake anymore.

“Let’s go. Where to?”

“Wherever… let’s go out front.”

“All right… I don’t think we need to make this feel like some kind of negotiation, do we…” Ning Yi scratched his head, making a joke of it. In the past, when bantering and bickering with Jin’er, she would usually give as good as she got — but this time she clearly wasn’t in the mood, walking ahead without saying a word. He glanced aside and saw a small face peeking out from behind another courtyard gate, watching them — it was Xiao Chan. Sneaky as she was being, there was a distinct look of gleeful schadenfreude in her eyes. Ning Yi pursed his lips, feeling somewhat helpless.

Jin’er remained silent the whole way, and Ning Yi didn’t press for conversation either. He followed her to the main building of the Wenhui Tower, where he had the attendant open up a quiet tearoom, which they used, more or less, as the venue for their “negotiation.” The tearoom was on the ground floor, near the riverbank. Once inside, Ning Yi closed the door and opened the window to let the breeze in, which made the room feel pleasantly cool. Jin’er stood there coldly, watching him finish these preparations, and only sat down at the small round table in the center of the room once Ning Yi said, “Sit down.”

“Sweetheart, I know you might be in a bad mood, but I’m feeling pretty wronged here too. Calling me out like this in front of my own woman — I’ve lost quite a bit of face. But that’s fine, we’re close enough that it doesn’t matter. Now, whatever you want to say, go ahead.”

Ning Yi sat down, spreading his hands with a smile. Jin’er, across from him, watched until he’d finished speaking, then said stiffly, “I don’t even know what I want to say right now.”

Ning Yi blinked, taken aback, then pursed his lips and thought for a moment. “All right.” He picked up one of the teacups from the tray on the table and set it upside down in the middle, then reached for a second, “I won’t beat around the bush, I’ll just say it plainly — I don’t quite understand what’s wrong with Su Wenyu… I know you turned him down, but since we’re all traveling together, running into each other constantly, him showing you a bit of attention at least gives you a chance to get to know him. If he ever tried anything out of line, I’d be the first one to have it out with him — but he hasn’t… so I really don’t understand why you’re reacting so strongly. Well, this is just how we people of the martial world negotiate…”

He stacked three cups below, two above, and one more on top, forming a little pyramid, spreading his hands with a smile, quite earnest and playful about it. But his expression didn’t hold for long, because she still refused to play along — the woman across the table kept looking at him, and there seemed to be a trace of hurt in her eyes. She glanced at the little pyramid of six teacups, sniffled, and said, “Negotiate?”

“Er… just a joke…” Sensing her mood was unstable, Ning Yi sighed and said this quietly.

“You think I came here to negotiate with you, Liheng?”

There was something plaintive in how she addressed him. Ning Yi looked at her for a moment, sensing the atmosphere was off, and lowered his voice as well, choosing his words carefully.

“All right, this matter… I admit I was the one egging it on behind the scenes. To be honest, Yuan Jin’er, we’ve known each other this long — you say you like Yun Zhu, and whether I believe that or not doesn’t really matter. Honestly, even if Yun Zhu and I are together, if you truly love her that way, women and women together and all that — I don’t mind at all. If it were a man, I definitely wouldn’t be so generous about it… but that said, Jin’er, we both know that’s just something you’re making up. To put it more bluntly — even if we stripped Yun Zhu bare and set her right in front of you, what would you actually do? Hold her while she slept? You two have done that before, plenty of times.”

“…You two are wonderful sisters, and I envy that, I’m genuinely glad for it. There are things I can share with Yun Zhu, and there are things only you can share with her. There are things she can tell me, and there will always be things she can only tell you. To have a sister and a friend like that for a lifetime — that’s a wonderful thing. I’m grateful to you for it, though you don’t need my gratitude… between the two of us, I don’t think there’s any comparing who’s closer to Yun Zhu. But there are still some things — though in my view they’re not absolutely, strictly necessary — if you did have them, maybe things would be even better… These are worldly concerns, I know, but Yuan Jin’er, I think of you as a friend, as family, and that’s why… that’s why I’m saying this…”

Ning Yi’s tone stayed low, and what he said was sincere — under normal circumstances, words like these should have moved her. The tearoom fell quiet. But for some reason, the beautiful woman sitting across from him just kept looking at him, something stirring in her eyes — perhaps she had been moved, there was a certain softness there, but some other, inexplicable part of her seemed, if anything, even more pained. That realization told Ning Yi that his little speech had not achieved the effect he’d hoped for.

Of course, when it came to facing a problem, people in this world responded in different ways. Some expressed gratitude for honest words; others reacted fiercely the moment a problem was raised, refusing to face it, avoiding treatment for the illness for fear of the diagnosis. And so, what came next required some care on Ning Yi’s part.

“Yuan Jin’er, you’re not exactly young anymore either… not that I think it’s a real problem, mind you — you could stay with Yun Zhu your whole life, that’s fine, I’d be happy to have you as a… little sister, family, friend, and even if you did marry someday, don’t think you’d escape us either… I just think — even though you once said you’d stay with Yun Zhu for life, and maybe you really do mean to — if there’s a chance, having a man you could love, having a family with him, might bring you something different, something waiting for you that you haven’t felt before… you might as well try. Even if most men in this world turn out to be scoundrels, or start out fine and turn into scoundrels later — if he treats you badly, you just divorce him. Yun Zhu and I can help with all that too… there will always be someone here waiting for you. If you really feel it won’t work, we’ll just keep things as they are. But if you find someone worth marrying, Yun Zhu and I will do everything we can to help — so you’re never bullied. That’s really all there is to it…”

After this long speech, Ning Yi even felt he’d rambled a bit incoherently. Across from him, in the lamplight, Yuan Jin’er — sitting upright, every inch the composed, commanding beauty — seemed to soften somewhat, as though momentarily letting down her guard. But the next moment, she raised her head again and sniffled. “You… you just think no one’s going to want to marry me, is that it?” Her voice came out a little hoarse.

“…Don’t twist my words.” Ning Yi rubbed his forehead and sighed.