Inside the cabin of the pleasure boat, a little scuffle broke out, and soon two heads bumped together again, peering out from beside the window. The setting sun spilled across the crowd outside, and sure enough, Ning Yi’s figure could be made out among them, faint and indistinct. Yuan Jin’er had sharp eyes, and after a moment she sighed regretfully. “But it looks like his sour-faced wife came along too… Sister Yunzhu, have you ever seen her before?”

Walking alongside Ning Yi in the crowd was, naturally, Su Tan’er, with the three maids trailing behind. From this distance, Nie Yunzhu couldn’t make out the woman’s features clearly, but her mind called up the scene from the spring outing when she’d seen Su Tan’er sitting together with Ning Yi. She smiled and nodded. “I’ve met her. She’s hardly sour-faced — she and Liheng really do make a fine match…”

“Fine, maybe not so sour, but Sister Yunzhu, calling your sweetheart’s wife that— ah…” The loose-lipped girl once again suffered for it, and Yuan Jin’er, having been flicked on the forehead, pressed it against Yunzhu’s shoulder, wriggling like a worm, muttering, “Jin’er knows she was wrong, Brother Yunzhu, don’t hit so hard…”

Nie Yunzhu shoved her off in annoyance, her expression turning serious after a moment. “There’s nothing of that sort between Master Ning and me. Jin’er, don’t go saying such things carelessly — it wouldn’t be good if someone overheard.”

“Got it…”

Yuan Jin’er nodded and went back to watching the scene below. As the group drew closer, she finally said, “She really isn’t that sour-faced.” In truth, Su Tan’er was every bit as beautiful as Nie Yunzhu herself — the difference lay only in their respective bearing. Having long overseen business affairs, Su Tan’er carried an especially pronounced air of confidence. As they approached, a group of people came forward to greet them, and Yuan Jin’er sighed again. “Quite the social circle.”

Those coming forward were indeed prominent figures from the business world, and the remark about a wide social circle naturally referred to Su Tan’er. Among that group were people like Wu Qihao, Wu Qilong, and Puyang Yi — all major patrons of the courtesan pageant. Puyang Yi, being the wealthiest man in Jiangning, naturally backed his own house’s Qilan, but the others were all still up for grabs, which was exactly why each pleasure house courted them so eagerly. Seeing this crowd gather together made others green with envy.

“Still, it really is impressive.” Yuan Jin’er watched for a while, leaning on Yunzhu’s shoulder with a sigh. “Sister Yunzhu, look — those big bosses, even though they’re all greeting and chatting with Su Tan’er, they’re paying no small amount of attention to that Ning Liheng too. Puyang Yi keeps trying to get close to him — a matrilocal son-in-law usually doesn’t get that kind of standing…”

Being someone who moved through all sorts of social circles herself, Jin’er could read the scene clearly enough. Su Tan’er and these men were, after all, fellow merchants, so it was natural enough for the group to exchange greetings. A matrilocal husband standing off to the side would ordinarily have no standing of his own; even if acknowledged with a greeting, it would be out of deference to Su Tan’er — a wife’s effort to uphold her husband’s image, so that the husband had some standing only through her, otherwise remaining a mere accessory. But what was happening here looked genuinely different. Ning Yi stood there saying little, yet at ease, and hardly anyone seemed to be overlooking him. Puyang Yi in particular kept bringing up topics with him several times over — clearly more than a mere courtesy extended for Su Tan’er’s sake.

“Jiangning’s foremost talent… Sister Yunzhu, if he came and sat with us today, do you think I could win Courtesan of the Realm?”

Nie Yunzhu looked at her with a smile. “Wherever he chooses to sit is something for him and his wife to decide — that’s not something I can help with… Besides, didn’t you say you don’t even want the title? What are you going on about now…”

“Wanting it or not is one thing. Since he’s your— uh, your good friend, of course he ought to come sit with us and support me. If he came over, think how much face I’d gain — and if it turned into a jealous spat with that Cao Guan, even more face!”

“Vain.”

“Hehe…” Yuan Jin’er laughed, glanced over again, and suddenly leapt up. “Ah! Ah! How shameless! Sister Yunzhu, look, Qilan’s come out too! Shameless! Getting all friendly with your Ning— cough, your good friend! This is too shameless! No good, Sister Yunzhu, let’s go too, let’s go mess things up — we can’t let Ning Liheng end up sitting with her!”

Below, Qilan, dressed all in white, had already approached, and with Puyang Yi making the introductions, exchanged greetings with Su Tan’er and Ning Yi before the group fell into conversation. Yuan Jin’er was thoroughly put out by this, bouncing about, and seeing Nie Yunzhu unmoved and unwilling to go down and compete for attention, came stomping back over. “Look at them, laughing and chatting away — such hypocrites, both of them… Traitor, traitor…”

Nie Yunzhu laughed despite herself. “Who’s a traitor now?”

“Him, obviously! Since he’s your good friend, Sister Yunzhu, I naturally consider him one of us — and here he is chatting with the enemy, so of course he’s a traitor!”

She fumed a while longer, then glanced sideways at Nie Yunzhu’s expression as she watched the scene — a faint smile on her face, but something complicated in it too — and couldn’t help pursing her lips. “Brother Yunzhu, don’t be like this. Jin’er will always love Brother Yunzhu…”

Nie Yunzhu smiled at her, reaching out to tip up her chin. “All right then. Once Jin’er wins Courtesan of the Realm this time, I’ll buy out your contract myself, and we’ll make a fine story of it…”

“Mm-hm, please have pity on Jin’er, Brother Yunzhu…”

As she spoke, Yuan Jin’er’s eyes grew soft and inviting, and the distance between them slowly closed, paused, then closed further still — and then their lips met, both feeling the other’s softness.

Eyes widened, flicked about for a moment, and then the two sprang apart the next instant. Nie Yunzhu frowned, covering her mouth, while Yuan Jin’er made a few sputtering noises off to the side, her red lips glistening, her gaze scattered. “Sister Yunzhu, why didn’t you pull away…”

“You actually leaned in…”

“I thought you’d dodge…”

The two of them fluttered about in confusion for a moment before both broke into laughter. Yuan Jin’er sat by the bronze mirror to touch up her lip color, while Nie Yunzhu, dressed in her male disguise, wiped the color off with some tea water, glaring at Jin’er in annoyance. Yuan Jin’er put on a cheeky grin, then said quietly, “Sister Yunzhu, have you ever tried this with anyone else before?”

“No.”

“Let me tell you, let me tell you — a couple years back I met a young gentleman, said to be from Yangzhou, who looked just like a girl, though he definitely wasn’t one — shy and adorable. My heart was pounding so hard, I really wanted to just grab him and kiss him… Too bad he only came by once, then went off to the capital for the exams, and I never saw him again…”

“Did you like him?”

“Not really, we barely even talked. I just thought, just now… it was interesting. Why don’t we try again, Sister Yunzhu? I didn’t really feel anything that time…”

“Get away from me!”

Laughter and whispered chatter filled the cabin. Outside, the setting sun cast its last magnificent glow across the sky, and people from every corner of the city were streaming toward this place. Once night fell, the final night of the courtesan pageant finals would begin.

…

Among Jiangning’s four leading courtesans, Yuan Jin’er was lively, Feng Xiaojing dignified, the newly risen Luo Miaomiao often struck people as dazzling and colorful, while Lu Caicai, who had previously fallen short, was often likened to a secluded orchid — her pipa playing beautiful, though it sounded rather like the playing of someone with melancholia.

As for Qilan, she carried more of a scholarly, refined air, skilled in letters and possessing genuine literary accomplishment; it was said she sometimes entertained guests dressed as a feather-fan-and-headscarf-wearing scholar, which had earned her much acclaim.

Over the past six months, word had occasionally spread that Qilan had taken an interest in Ning Yi, something Su Tan’er had even teased him about. But whether this was actually true remained, in the eyes of the merchant community, a matter of some debate. Among the wealthy merchants, the Xue and Wu families were closest to the Su family, but although Xue Jin had tried to humiliate Ning Yi and been mocked in return, that hardly meant his interest in Ning Yi had grown as a result. The family currently showing the most interest in Ning Yi was probably the Puyang family, since Qilan was the top courtesan under their house. Whether the rumor had spread because the Puyang family deliberately wanted to draw closer to Ning Yi, or because it reflected Qilan’s own genuine intent, was genuinely hard to say.

With Su Tan’er present, Puyang Yi had Qilan come out to pay her respects, making a proper introduction to Ning Yi — though naturally no discussion of poetry or letters followed directly. The composed, gracious woman expressed her admiration for Ning Yi’s literary talent on one hand, while on the other, gave Su Tan’er plenty of face as well. Both sides were masters of social performance, and the exchange appeared cordial enough, though there was little substance to it. Before long, Ning Yi and Su Tan’er took their seats, choosing a spot near the front of the stage, in the section largely occupied by merchants.

“No surprises here — Qilan’s going to take the title this time.”

The sun sank lower, the lanterns gradually lighting up, and the crowd around them continued filing in amid a general clamor. Su Tan’er picked up a loquat from the table in front of her and peeled it, handing the peeled fruit to Ning Yi as a wife’s small duty. Ning Yi took it expressionlessly and bit into it.

“You’ve already given away the ending — where’s the suspense in that… sitting next to you really takes all the fun out of things…”

“The Puyang family’s been meaning to bring Qilan forward for a couple of years now, but they’ve always moved carefully, worried about accusations of buying the title with money, so they only let her take the rank of leading courtesan and held back there. By now they’ve built up more than enough momentum — there shouldn’t be much suspense left, and it’s time to let Qilan take the stage.” Ning Yi’s expression was rather sour as he said this, and to anyone listening it might have sounded a bit much, but Su Tan’er showed not the slightest displeasure — quite the opposite, she smiled happily and peeled another loquat to hand over. “It’s really just about showing off… Besides showing off to you, husband, who else does Tan’er have to show off to? You really ought to praise me a little.”

“Fine, fine, Tan’er, you’re the best, sharpest eye in the business.”

“Hehe… I’m pleased.”

Su Tan’er did seem genuinely pleased. After a while, other members of the Su family came over to greet the two of them — Wending, Wenfang, and others — before tactfully taking their leave. Xi Junyu came by as well, exchanging greetings with the couple before taking a seat at a round table slightly behind and to the side — securing a round table at such an event, with food to go with it, was itself something of a mark of status.

Old Qin and his two wives had already arrived as well, joined by Kang Xian and others, seated among the notable guests. Before long, night had fully fallen, and the whole venue was packed with people. As the leisurely strains of string and pipe music rose up, the crowd began to settle into quiet. Nearby, the waters of the Qinhuai River rippled gently, the night breeze pleasant, and as the prefectural official presiding over the pageant delivered his opening remarks and declared the contest begun, the music on the stage gradually faded away.

At the moment of deepest silence, a thunderous sound rang out, music surged, fireworks shot skyward from beneath the stage, and the newly risen Luo Miaomiao burst forth amid streamers of colored silk suddenly flying up from below, unfurling like a phoenix spreading its plumage — opening this year’s courtesan pageant in the most dazzling, magnificent fashion, against the backdrop of the bustling city night.

A fair distance from where Ning Yi and Su Tan’er sat, in the section belonging to Luo Miaomiao’s supporters, the crowd applauded vigorously. Amid the enthusiastic atmosphere, a man named Gu Yanzhen also applauded with a smile, though every so often he’d turn his head, and when no one was watching, cast a glance elsewhere. Then his gaze swept across the crowd, searching for wherever Nie Yunzhu might be…