On the morning of the fourth day of the fifth month, an ordinary morning, at the estate of Viscount Dong Xiaoyuan outside Bianliang, servants came and went, sweeping loudly. Though it made quite a commotion for a while, mixed with the master’s occasional protests, it wasn’t anything particularly out of the ordinary.

“What scholars — isn’t it just that Miss Shishi came back this time and saw others before seeing you all, and you’re saying it’s not aimed at her? This isn’t the first time either. You’re just jealous over a woman. Hey, did you even find out who’s staying next door before coming here? Don’t push too far and end up hitting a rock instead of a soft persimmon — this isn’t the first time this has happened, it’s not a good look, and doing it at my place, no less…”

In an age of peace and prosperity, most matters that came and went were nothing out of the ordinary, even in a great city like Bianliang. Having lived here a long time, one could generally understand what was going on just by watching. As the master of the estate, this viscount was not particularly prominent in Bianliang — after all, in the capital, princes and dukes walked the streets everywhere, and he was but a minor viscount, always treating others amiably. Having been dragged out from the city this time, a little inquiry was enough to make clear what had happened.

He hadn’t visited his estate in a long while, leaving only two or three servants to keep a minimal eye on it. Next door was property belonging to Fan Tower — nothing more than young men squabbling over some courtesan there again. Bianliang had plenty of young men of leisure, many pursuing careers as scholars, others born into wealthy families with no ambition beyond enjoying life, full of energy, with nothing better to do than chase dogs, race cocks, and fight over women. Two groups sparring over a woman, each trying to embarrass the other — this sort of thing happened dozens of times a day in Bianliang, nothing surprising about it. Dong Xiaoyuan originally hadn’t cared much either, but as he approached the estate and heard that Li Shishi herself was there today, he began to have second thoughts.

An ordinary woman would be one thing — watching the show would be enjoyable enough, and offending her wouldn’t matter much. But the capital’s handful of reigning beauties… why would he want to get involved in something like this? He wasn’t especially close with Li Shishi, though they’d crossed paths a few times, and he knew she had recently returned from out of town; before the Dragon Boat Festival, she’d surely have many visitors, and could only entertain a select few. Clearly his friends hadn’t managed to get close to her, so they’d come here to provoke her instead, hoping to embarrass her guests.

The friends who’d come to borrow the estate had some history with him, so he couldn’t refuse them outright, though he felt rather helpless about it. Whichever way this went, it wasn’t likely to be fun for him — if his friends ended up embarrassing her guests, Li Shishi might come to resent him; but if it went the other way, given how discerning courtesans of that caliber tended to be, and if it turned out she was entertaining someone like Zhou Bangyan, his side would end up looking the fool, and word would get around — could he even keep living in this house afterward?

Thinking this over left him rather gloomy. His friends had already opened up the estate and sent servants in to prepare, then went off to receive more guests. Dong Xiaoyuan gave up asking further, telling people to find out who was over there while also having his carriage prepared to make his own excuse to leave. After a while, a servant came back to report that the person Miss Shishi was entertaining was Yu Hezhong, Chen Sifeng, and a few other childhood friends.

“Yu Hezhong? Chen Sifeng? Sounds familiar, that’s…” He thought for a moment, then his shoulders slumped. He’d heard before that in her dealings with others, Miss Shishi treated a select few people specially — not because of their talent, but because they were old acquaintances. Wasn’t this even more troublesome now? If the other party had been Zhou Bangyan, that would just be scholars competing for Shishi’s favor, but going to embarrass these particular people was practically slapping Miss Shishi in the face directly…

…

While Dong Xiaoyuan fretted, time had rewound a little. White clouds drifted lazily, and shade slowly crept across the city of Bianliang.

At Prince Chong’s mansion, Zhou Pei sat on a stone bench beneath a tree, watching the line between light and shadow shift across the ground before her, spreading quickly over the space. Sunlight fell through the gaps in the branches, somewhat glaring.

She didn’t know what she’d been thinking about — from last night until this morning, she’d barely been able to close her eyes in peace. The fact that she’d fallen for someone, and that within a bit over a month she would have to choose someone else to marry, weighed on her. She had no idea how to choose. If she used her teacher as the standard, she’d probably never find anyone she liked, but if she let go of that standard… she couldn’t do that either.

Especially since she’d come to recognize Ning Yi as her standard for who she liked, she also grew ever more clearly aware that she was drifting away from her teacher, and would soon be drifting away rapidly. Perhaps from now on, it would be hard to see him again. After sinking into this dead-end train of thought, she emptied her mind, pretending she’d already grown used to this fact.

Then Zhuo Yunfeng came to find her. She forced herself to appear more energetic, and Zhuo Yunfeng, seemingly not noticing anything off about her, chatted with her for a bit, before finally — with some hesitation — raising a question.

“Do you know… where Ning Liheng went today?”

“…Teacher?” Zhou Pei’s mind went briefly blank, though it didn’t show on her face. “No, I don’t know.”

She paused, then finally asked, “Why do you ask?”

His voice dropped low, his expression still hesitant, but finally he tilted his head and took a breath: “He… I heard he went outside the city to see Li Shishi, and then…”

Sunlight speckled down through the gaps in the leaves as he told her, bit by bit, everything he’d heard…

…

“…Hezhong, you’ve already met this Brother Ning before — Shishi keeps saying such nice things about him — what’s he actually like?”

Under the sunlight, along a shaded path, Yu Hezhong and Chen Sifeng walked side by side, with Chen Sifeng curiously asking Yu Hezhong about him. Though they weren’t exactly close friends, they had crossed paths often enough in Bianliang, and were certainly far more familiar with each other than either was with Ning Yi. Some things weren’t appropriate to ask while Ning Yi himself was present — his status as a matrilocal son-in-law, his level of learning, whether he had any background — if the man’s status was low, asking to his face would seem overly rude, but curiosity remained nonetheless.

Yu Hezhong shook his head, somewhat conflicted. “Honestly, I’m not entirely sure myself — even back in Jiangning I never got a clear picture of him. But it’s true that he’s a matrilocal son-in-law.”

Once one carried that status, one was cut off from official rank and career prospects. Yu Hezhong now worked in the Ministry of Revenue — a minor clerk’s post, but with some prospects — while Chen Sifeng held even higher standing, having served for several years as an eighth-rank registrar at a county office near Bianliang, currently working toward a promotion. Given this, Ning Yi’s image in their eyes was somewhat like a poor country cousin — not really comparable to them — which, if anything, made him seem more approachable.

“But I heard from Shishi that he’s Jiangning’s First Talent — I’ve read those few poems myself, truly admirable. What’s the story there?”

“I’m not sure either. Judging purely from what I saw in Jiangning, this Brother Ning’s manner really is quite different from ordinary scholars. He doesn’t attend poetry gatherings, and as for his poetry… it’s a bit strange too. Locally there really is a story that his poems were chanted by a Daoist priest — I never looked into it deeply, so I can’t say. It’s just that, as you know, Shishi has always been kind to everyone, so whether what she says about Brother Ning is true or not is hard to verify… It’s not so much that it’s genuinely true, more that Shishi chooses to believe it’s true.”

Hearing this, Chen Sifeng laughed and shook his head — they both knew this well enough. Though Li Shishi wasn’t the type to overpraise someone to the point of ruin, she was always generous toward her friends. With people like Yu Hezhong and Chen Sifeng, if they had five parts talent, she’d probably praise it up to seven, while also being careful not to let them get too carried away and embarrass themselves. As for what she said about Ning Yi, it wasn’t so much that it was verified truth as that Li Shishi was willing to believe it was true.

Chen Sifeng smiled. “Well, none of that concerns us anyway. From what I can see of this Brother Ning, he seems fine to be friends with.”

Yu Hezhong nodded as well. “Honestly, ever since those few ci poems came out, in the year-plus since, I haven’t heard of any new poem from him at all… But whether it’s true or not, he doesn’t seem to have any intention of publicizing it himself. I’ve heard that merchant families will do all sorts of ridiculous things to save face, so I doubt this matter is so simple… You and I both saw Ning Yi as a child, remember — ha, he just read books all day back then. Looking at him now, his appearance and bearing really have changed a great deal… If it’s true, it wouldn’t be so strange after all…”

“Just so. I don’t think it’s necessarily fake either.”

Having grown somewhat fond of Ning Yi in their hearts, and wanting to be amicable, their conversation, once started, wasn’t unkind at all. The two of them had used the excuse of needing the privy to slip away for a private word, and since they had things to discuss quietly, they took a roundabout path toward the front. Nearing the main gate, they heard some commotion outside; going out to look, they saw the noise was coming from the neighboring estate, apparently also preparing to hold a gathering. Just as they were about to turn back, they noticed a well-dressed man standing by a carriage not far off, looking their way — a man in his mid-twenties, with a small tuft of beard at his chin, an amiable gaze and a rather composed bearing, holding a folding fan, smiling as he walked over.

“Brother Yu, Brother Chen, what a coincidence.”

This man wasn’t an official, but clearly from a wealthy family. Neither Yu Hezhong nor Chen Sifeng had much impression of him, but he introduced himself: “I’m Dong Xiaoyuan. We had the pleasure of meeting once, at the Double Ninth poetry gathering last year.”

He made no mention of his family background, but this was enough for Yu Hezhong and Chen Sifeng to know how to respond. After exchanging pleasantries, they asked whether he too would be joining the gathering next door. Dong Xiaoyuan shook his head. “Some people are coming to hold one, but it’s not something I’m hosting.” He lowered his voice. “May I ask, boldly — is Lady Shishi inside?”

Yu Hezhong was slightly taken aback, and Chen Sifeng frowned. When Yu Hezhong confirmed it, Dong Xiaoyuan’s expression turned grave, taking on the air of someone who understood everything. “I won’t hide it from you both — it seems Miss Shishi’s visit here to see her friends got leaked somehow, and for some reason, it’s been misunderstood…”

He roughly explained what had happened, then cupped his hands with a smile. “Actually, this isn’t really such a big deal. As long as everyone understands the situation, it should be fine… I have some business to attend to in the city, so I’ll take my leave. Please give Miss Shishi my regards.”

Yu Hezhong and Chen Sifeng exchanged a wry glance, cupped their hands in farewell, and watched Dong Xiaoyuan board his carriage and ride off into the distance.

This kind of thing wasn’t the first time either of them, or Shishi, had encountered — genuinely tiresome, but nothing to be too anxious about. Surely it would resolve itself before long…

…

That was what Yu Hezhong and Chen Sifeng believed, and Dong Xiaoyuan believed the same. Having delivered his warning, he rode his carriage back toward the city — regardless of how things turned out, he’d already done Li Shishi a favor, and perhaps the next time he ran into her at Fan Tower, he might get some special treatment. Thinking this, he hadn’t gone far when several carriages passed by him. Curious, he glanced over, then paused in surprise.

The scenery here was pleasant — several estates clustered together, houses dotted among them in the layout of a village, surrounded by woods. His friends were, naturally, out on the road greeting arrivals. Reaching the edge of the village woods, he stopped his carriage and greeted a friend standing in the shade of a tree, who looked at him with some surprise: “Xiaoyuan, where are you off to?”

“I should be asking you that. Who all did you invite?”

“Not entirely sure myself. Time was short, so we invited whoever we could — no telling who’ll actually show up. That was the third daughter of Marquis Huaiming who just passed by, I think… Coming up next is Princess Qing from Prince Chong’s mansion, Fang Wenyang, several elders from the Juanwen Society, oh, and Yu Shaoyuan, who’s been making a name for himself lately with ‘Ode to the Kingly Way,’ Ji Wanqing from the Listening Wildgoose Pavilion, and a few young ladies from Little Candle House and Fan Tower…”

“You even invited Ji Wanqing… What exactly are you all planning, inviting so many people?”

“Heh, I told you already — tomorrow’s the Dragon Boat Festival, and since the weather’s nice today, everyone thought they’d come out to enjoy themselves, take a spring stroll, compose some poetry — that’s all this is. Xiaoyuan, Master Xiaoyuan, how can you just leave? If you go now, we’ll have absolutely no face left. Stay and watch the show with us.”

“Don’t joke around… You’re not really just here for a spring outing, are you?”

At this point, Dong Xiaoyuan’s own thoughts had already grown quite tangled. He’d originally assumed this was just a case of rejected admirers making trouble for Li Shishi, but with so many people invited, the situation was clearly different. Among the famous courtesans of Bianliang, there really were rivalries — wanting to outdo one another wasn’t unusual — but every time there was a direct confrontation, at least in later retellings by the literati, it always became a grand affair. If this were simple jealousy, they wouldn’t have dragged Ji Wanqing into it.

Li Shishi of Fan Tower, Ji Wanqing of Listening Wildgoose Pavilion, Gong Tian’er of Little Candle House, Yin Hongxiu of Qinyuan — if these current top beauties were all gathered together, the scholars would find it impossible to please everyone at once. That they’d brought so many people together now meant either this really was just a spontaneous outing that happened to choose this location, or… it was Ji Wanqing setting out to give Li Shishi a show of dominance before the Dragon Boat Festival. Li Shishi’s side, for now, had no preparation at all, with only people like Yu Hezhong and Chen Sifeng by her side — this could really be trouble…

Thinking this over, he sighed inwardly — the matter had become more complicated. It wasn’t just jealousy after all, but a matter of gaining prestige at someone else’s expense. But with this complication came a certain fascination, so he stopped his carriage, deciding for now not to leave.

Might as well watch the show.

In the distance, more carriages were rolling this way…

…

The comings and goings of people are like gathering winds and converging clouds — even those caught up in it often don’t know what’s about to happen next.

At least at this moment, Ning Yi had absolutely no idea what would unfold on this ordinary afternoon, while beside him, Li Shishi had noticed something amiss from the very start, though she too couldn’t yet guess the full shape of the affair.

In her years in the capital, she had already seen a great many things. Though she wasn’t familiar with the viscount next door, the moment she saw the sudden cleaning activity begin, she vaguely sensed the affair might be directed at her. Within Fan Tower, her comings and goings weren’t exactly airtight secrets — this kind of rivalry wasn’t unprecedented either. It was only that she rather hoped it wouldn’t happen right now, because she knew Ning Yi seemed to dislike this sort of thing.

If it were an ordinary scholar, a bit of one-upmanship wouldn’t bother him, and even if it did, with her years of experience, she could make him enjoy it regardless. Ning Yi, she completely believed, had profound learning — during their meeting in Jiangning, even after being won over by his talent, Li Shishi had once imagined how astonishing it would be if he ever came to the capital and dazzled everyone with his talent. But after traveling north together, that thought had faded from her mind.

This man had come to the capital carrying a blood feud on his shoulders; he surely had much to attend to, and he had his reasons for disliking this sort of thing. Especially after witnessing how he’d dealt with the Mount Liang bandits, she felt she might not fully understand this man’s mettle and ambition — it belonged to something entirely different from the scholars and literati of Bianliang or Jiangning. So when something like this might be about to happen, she found herself troubled — after all, it would be best if such a thing simply didn’t happen at all.

Of course, for the moment, she had only guessed at this possibility; as to whether someone really was targeting them, she remained cautiously uncertain. Up in the pavilion, having taught Ning Yi how to fold paper, she casually chatted about whether Liheng would be leaving soon, then relayed to him some scattered news she’d heard about the dangerous situation in Shandong — this being the kind of topic she couldn’t very well bring up in front of Yu Hezhong and Chen Sifeng, since she guessed Ning Yi wouldn’t want to broadcast the fact that his family had been massacred.

Having chatted for a while, she found it a little odd that Yu Hezhong and Chen Sifeng hadn’t come back yet. Shishi led Ning Yi back inside to find ink and paper, then had someone in the courtyard go ask about the goings-on next door and check where Yu and Chen had gotten to. In any case, it was nearly noon — even if the other party truly meant them ill, everyone would still need to eat lunch before anything happened. As for her own side, she had plenty of ways to head things off.

By this time, Yu Hezhong and Chen Sifeng were on their way back. Most of the people in the courtyard had already noticed something was afoot, but whether it was Yu Hezhong, Chen Sifeng, or Li Shishi herself, all of them assumed the matter centered on Shishi. Yu Hezhong and Chen Sifeng didn’t find this particularly strange, only feeling that Ning Yi was rather innocently caught up in it, and that he’d likely be quite surprised when he found out. As for Ning Yi himself, he had only vaguely sensed that something might happen, but… it naturally had nothing to do with him. He’d been in the capital only a few days, hadn’t offended anyone, and shouldn’t be caught up in any trouble.

Being a reigning beauty in the capital sure doesn’t look easy… he thought to himself with a slight sigh, as he wrote out on paper the romantic poems he planned to use to court his women — the poem, of course, borrowed from elsewhere, and he found it a bit cheesy. He weighed in his mind whether to write two copies or three. In the end, he decided this one wasn’t suitable for Yuan Jin’er, and copied it out three times: one for Xiao Chan, one for Yun Zhu, and one to send back to Tan’er.

Shishi returned from outside, her mind still turning over the possibilities of the trouble ahead. Seeing Ning Yi just finishing his second sheet, she knocked gently on the door. Ning Yi glanced at her, then tapped a finger on one of the drafts. “Finished. As promised.” He picked up his brush to write the third, stroking his chin. “Should be passable, I think — is it too cheesy? They should like it…” That last line carried a hint of self-reassurance.

Shishi walked over and saw a six-line ci poem on the page — recognizable at a glance as a Huanxi Sha. She picked it up and, after a moment, read it softly aloud…

…

At the same moment, at Prince Chong’s mansion.

Zhuo Yunfeng had left, and Zhou Pei sat there in a daze, her mind blank, unsure how she felt.

What Zhuo Yunfeng had just said still turned over in her mind.

“…We know your teacher knows Miss Shishi. A couple days ago he went to see her, and they arranged to meet at the estate outside the city this morning. The news apparently leaked out from someone at Fan Tower — originally, it was just that someone wanted to question Li Shishi about why she made time to see other people but not them. But then some young ladies and gentlemen here found out your teacher’s name, and decided to invite people along to go embarrass Li Shishi and your teacher together. I only heard about it this morning myself — something about Jiangning talents seeking undeserved fame, wanting to put him in his place face to face. They even invited several elder statesmen of the literary world, calling it a spring outing, mainly to get them present, along with several of Bianliang’s most famous rising talents right now — the one making the biggest splash, Yu Shaoyuan. By this time, they’ve probably already arrived…”

I’ve ended up causing Teacher trouble after all…

The thought flashed through Zhou Pei’s mind.

From last night to this morning, she had actually been thinking about her teacher the whole time. In front of Ning Yi, she’d pretended to act perfectly normal, but once she’d left, her heart had suddenly felt hollow. She’d wanted to say something to Ning Yi, but there was nothing she could say — and yet, even knowing this, she still wanted to say something, anything at all.

Human thoughts were strange things, she told herself. From now on, there was probably no reason to see her teacher again — she might never see him again after this. This was a state she should accept. Yet even now, amid the chaotic thoughts and the guilt over having caused her teacher trouble, what rose up in her was, faintly, a trace of joy.

I still get to go see Teacher once more… The girl thought to herself, standing up from where she sat. Her face, which had been rather blank, broke unconsciously into a smile, and she started walking in one direction — only after two steps did she realize she’d gone the wrong way, turned around, and hurried toward the courtyard gate not far off…

I’ve caused Teacher trouble…

Outside Bianliang, the weather was fine, great white clouds casting cool shade along the official road leading toward the estate, with carriages and pedestrians moving quickly or slowly — scholars, literati, well-dressed young men, moving among the ordinary passersby, occasionally greeting acquaintances, or inviting one another up into their carriages.

Near Bianliang, such sights weren’t unusual. Yu Shaoyuan sat in a fine carriage, feeling the breeze pass by, as a woman’s soft laughter rang out beside him. He turned to look; the beautiful woman named Ji Wanqing was smiling back at him, her round fan fluttering lightly, her silk robes as lovely as a painting — she adored him, admired him… He liked this feeling. After twenty years of diligent study, this was the most gratifying period of his life so far — and, of course, there would be even more gratifying times ahead. Those who came to admire him wouldn’t be limited to this one beauty, Ji Wanqing.

Today wasn’t a day requiring particular vigilance — just an outing. Still, he couldn’t help but think of Li Shishi. In Bianliang, each woman had her own distinct charm; he had yet to meet Li Shishi — what would she be like? Had she read his old poems? Still, since Wanqing, her equal in renown, had already fallen for him, he would surely help her defeat Li Shishi in the end — and in doing so, Li Shishi would remember him deeply as well. Thinking this, his gaze remained calm and settled, looking toward the road ahead near the village entrance, which had already grown lively.