The summer rain poured down with a rushing sound, carriages occasionally racing past, splashing water in all directions, pedestrians hurrying along the road. Seen from a distance, the shop at the intersection had several oil lamps arranged inside; though the light wasn’t especially bright, thanks to the care taken in its setup, seen now in the dim rainy day it carried a rather warm atmosphere, the kind that made passersby want to step inside and sit a while.

The curtain of rain divided that world like a screen. A man and a woman were talking inside the shop, with a servant following behind the man. Their conversation was muffled by the sound of rain and didn’t carry outside — only at one moment could one see the elegant, refined woman shake her head and bow apologetically. The conversation didn’t end there, but everything ends eventually; after a long while, they finally finished speaking. The young master in his ink-blue robe nodded politely, bid the woman farewell, opened his umbrella, and walked out into the rain with his scar-faced attendant.

Not until the shop’s light vanished from view behind him did he stop looking back. Amid the roar of rain all around, he rounded a street corner and finally spoke: “To Haiqing Ward.”

The evening downpour showed no sign of letting up. Haiqing Ward wasn’t far from here — in earlier years the area nearby had been a dock, with merchant ships anchored and cargo bustling through. Later a new dock was built, and this area gradually fell into decline. Now the ward was filthy and chaotic, a mix of every sort of person, considered the most complicated district in all of Jiangning — a stabbing or brawl broke out here every day or two, and ordinary households warned their children to stay away.

Chaotic as it was, the ward still had a certain liveliness to it. Various lower-class peddlers, wandering vagabonds, penniless foreign merchants, down-and-out scholars, streetwalkers picking up odd jobs, and gang members all tended to make their homes here. By the time Gu Yanzhen and Old Six arrived, the low-lying terrain meant the ward’s streets had already turned into pools of standing water in the downpour, though the shops and taverns lining both sides blazed with light. They walked some distance in and, stopping before what looked like the largest tavern, closed their umbrellas and went inside.

In the light of oil lamps and torches, all sorts of people were gathered in the tavern’s main hall — sinister-looking men of the martial world with weapons laid beside them, eating, drinking, and talking loudly; thugs chatting animatedly with their companions, occasionally teasing a woman passing by who was scouting for a wealthy patron; down-and-out scholars hunched over their food, slurping noisily; some people looking anxious, eating while glancing nervously left and right; someone drunk and vomiting; children running about causing a ruckus.

Someone with Gu Yanzhen’s bearing and refinement was clearly out of place in such a tavern, and the moment he entered he drew the attention of several people. But Old Six’s dark gaze, combined with the scar on his face, was enough to kill anyone’s interest in looking further. A lone sheep was easy prey — but a man accompanied like this usually had something to back him up. They went to a table toward the back of the tavern, paid a bit of loose silver to get the down-and-out scholar sitting there to clear off, and then had the waiter come clean up and bring fresh food and wine.

In the noisy surroundings, they still waited quietly. Once the food and wine arrived, Gu Yanzhen said, “Uncle Six, have a seat. It should still be a while yet…” Old Six sat down as told but didn’t touch the food. After a moment, Gu Yanzhen said, “Uncle Six, you have something to say?”

“Just thinking that with young master about to take up his post, a minor matter like this risks stirring up unnecessary trouble.”

“You supported it last time.”

“Only because last time was a major matter concerning young master’s future…”

“To me, Gu Yanzhen, they’re all minor matters, really.” Gu Yanzhen smiled, looking at Old Six. “The only difference is whether it’s done or not. Last time’s matter wasn’t necessarily so major either — just removing an obstacle. This time’s matter isn’t necessarily so minor either. I came back to Jiangning largely for this. Even if it isn’t perfect, there has to be an outcome.”

He paused. “Uncle Six, how many of my good friends do you suppose have ever set foot in Haiqing Ward?”

“…Probably not many.”

“Nothing but pedantic bookish scholars, laughable really. They think writing a few poems makes them the height of refinement, carrying on with women aboard pleasure boats, boasting grandly about affairs of state as if that alone could bring peace to the realm — all of them seeing a single leaf and missing the forest. Three years ago, traveling to the capital, we ran into bandits on the road. Every one of them, who moments before had been holding forth about saving the world and its people, panicked completely. A few managed to keep their composure in front of the bandits, but the instant a blade came down and they saw the wound, they wailed and begged on their knees.”

He raised one hand up to eye level. “These pure men of letters think the world’s truth lies here.” Then he pressed it down to the tabletop. “But they don’t know that so-called truth actually lies here. By comparison, what’s the point of those people mocking each other a little at the House of Letters and thinking they’ve gained some great advantage? The other day, learning of that man’s status as a matrilocal son-in-law, Shen Zishan thought exposing him and watching the spectacle counted as some great win for our side — but what does it actually accomplish? It’s like if my crops failed to yield anything this year, and I saw someone else’s crops fail too, and felt pleased about it — what would that actually accomplish? Wouldn’t I still be going hungry?”

“Ever since I was young, in doing things I’ve always made sure to be clear about what I actually want and what doesn’t matter to me. Whatever I set out to do, I will pursue the result at all costs — even if it can’t be perfect, I will never let go. If eighty percent is achievable, I’ll take eighty percent; if seventy, then seventy. If I become an official in the future, I’ll be the same way — working for the common people. If it can’t be perfect, does that mean I simply shouldn’t do it at all?”

He tapped the table. “The state of the realm today is chaotic and complex, the foundations of the Wu dynasty as precarious as a stack of eggs, and all these scholars do is preach principles of peace — to what use? Like the storytellers on the streets of the capital, telling of how so-and-so humiliated some arrogant Liao envoy, and the listeners click their tongues in delight — but if they actually met a Liao man, wouldn’t they just go around him? And isn’t our own dynasty still bullied by the Liao as it is? People like us ought to face things according to our true hearts, and know what it is we actually want…”

“Truthfully, it’s also that I’m still young, my self-cultivation still lacking. Coming back this time, I had too many preconceived thoughts and desires. I already knew that women of that trade are heartless, but I never expected Yunzhu to be just as vulgar a creature — it disappointed me. Give it a few more years and I wouldn’t let a mood like this get the better of me, but if I simply let go and left now, thinking back on it someday it would surely become a knot in my heart, a block I could never see past.” He closed his eyes briefly, and in his mind flashed that moment on the street when he’d been slapped, the stunned, blank shame of it, the onlookers’ silent mockery.

“One who bowed his head for a bit of rice and married into a merchant family, then writes a couple of poems and thinks himself some renowned scholar of the realm, probably even imagining himself uniquely unconventional and different from everyone else. Another runs some small business and thinks herself so lofty and untouched by the world, forgetting what she once was. All of them vulgar people, no better than ants. Uncle Six, in times like these, what kind of a ‘major matter’ is this really? Just a small thing, easily done in passing. Once I’m off to Leping, and later up north, this… will it amount to anything at all?”

As he finished speaking, he looked out toward the street — two figures were already approaching through the curtain of rain…

…

Haiqing Ward, the Welcoming Guest Tavern.

Amid the clamor of voices, in the sickly yellow lamplight, Old Six rose from his seat and stood at Gu Yanzhen’s side. Gu Yanzhen’s eyes flickered slightly, then settled back into cold composure. At the doorway, two figures in straw rain-capes entered, looking around the room; a few people’s eyes met theirs, and the conversation dimmed somewhat.

Those who spent much time here mostly recognized these two.

When the waiter went to greet them, he stood two heads shorter than the one in the lead, looking almost like a child beside him.

Both men were burly and tall, dressed not like martial men but more like fishermen. But the one in the lead stood over two meters, his whole body evenly built and solid, his gaze somewhat steady; the other had a face full of hard muscle, slightly shorter than the leader but built like an iron tower, dark-skinned, with small eyes full of belligerence. Men like this were the sort no one in the martial world wanted to provoke — even Old Six, following behind Gu Yanzhen, looked frail by comparison.

Scanning the tavern with his eyes, the leader shoved the waiter aside with a large hand and walked toward Gu Yanzhen and Old Six. Most people in the tavern paid them no mind, except for a few visiting martial men at the door who were talking loudly and turned to look the two over. The iron-tower of a man stopped and glared back at them; these wandering martial men didn’t back down either, and the two sides stared each other down for a moment before the martial men finally looked away.

The iron-tower man followed behind the leader, then seemed to notice something else in the tavern — he reached out and tapped the shoulder of the man a head taller than him, pointed to one side, and said a few words. The tall man nodded, and the iron-tower man walked off in that direction while the tall man came toward Gu Yanzhen, breaking into what looked like a hearty grin, slapping Gu Yanzhen on the shoulder.

“Young Master Gu, it’s really been a long time.”

His words were steady, his voice not loud enough for others nearby to hear. Gu Yanzhen’s body swayed from the blow; he gritted his teeth to steady himself and said flatly, “I have something for you to handle.”

“What kind of job this time?”

“About the same as last time.”

“There’s been an assassin around, and things have been tense the past few days.”

“It’ll be lifted by tomorrow.”

“Ha, so that’s how it is — you really are a young master…”

The big man sat down; his build looked completely disproportionate next to Gu Yanzhen’s. He smiled, eyes sweeping the room. Gu Yanzhen was looking that way too — at the side of the tavern, someone had kicked back his stool and was making a run for it. The iron-tower man closed the distance in a few strides and knocked him down with a stool.

“Running?” A second blow came down with a crash, shattering the stool. “Old Huang! It’s not good to borrow money and not pay it back!”

“My apologies, my brother is collecting a debt.” The big man picked up his wine cup and took a drink.

“Since when did you brothers start lending at interest too?”

“Is that something you should be asking?” Gu Yanzhen had asked that with a smile, but at the big man’s sharp glance he suddenly felt embarrassed. The big man patted his shoulder again. “Young master, know your place. Don’t go asking about things you shouldn’t… It’s not much money, and I don’t lend at interest. It’s just that if he never meant to pay me back, he shouldn’t have borrowed from me in the first place.”

At this moment Old Six gave Gu Yanzhen’s shoulder a light tap. Gu Yanzhen glanced toward the side of the tavern — two constables were passing by outside and had noticed the commotion inside.

“I’ll go upstairs,” he said. Once the big man nodded, he and Old Six headed toward the stairs, stopping at the top to look back.

The tavern was still filled with the sounds of kicking, cursing, and blows; the man being beaten kept begging for mercy and trying to flee. Such things were commonplace in Haiqing Ward. The two constables watched from the doorway for a while, apparently reluctant to get involved, but when they saw the beaten man spitting blood all over the floor, the lead constable finally stepped forward. “Stop! Yang Heng, are you trying to beat someone to death?”

The two constables stood a head shorter than the iron-tower man even combined might not match him, but they were the law, after all, and had to be given some face. The man on the ground, beaten half to death, gathered his strength and crawled behind the constables, spitting blood. “Second Master Yang, Second Master, I will pay you back, I will definitely pay you back, I’ve joined the Iron River Gang, my hall master is Master Tan, for his sake, give me two more days, I’ll definitely pay…”

“Master Tan? We brothers may not belong to any fancy gang, but even your gang leader has to show us respect when he sees us. And you bring up his name… is that supposed to mean something!”

As he spoke he grabbed a stool and hurled it again, then made to chase after the man further. The younger of the two constables suddenly stepped sideways to block him, drawing his saber halfway. “Stop right there!” But the blade was only half-drawn when the older constable pressed it back down. The hulking man called Yang Heng, seeing this, also stopped. “Constable Zheng, this little brother of yours — new to the job, is he?”

The older constable looked at him. “Keep this up and he’ll die!”

“Hmph.” Beating a man crippled was no great matter, but an outright death was something no one could account for. Yang Heng gave a cold snort and smile, then raised a hand. “Fine, I, Yang Heng, am a law-abiding man. Today, for Constable Zheng’s sake, I’ll consider the debt settled — I was in the right to begin with, and I won’t pursue it further. But you’d best keep your new little brother in line in the future. Drawing a blade so carelessly… what if someone got scared to death!?”

He reached out and silently tapped the young constable’s forehead with a finger.

Behind them, the badly injured man could only say, “I’ll pay you back, I’ll pay you back…” Yang Heng crouched down and looked at him. “No need to pay it back — consider it your medical fee! But remember from now on, there are two kinds of people in this world: hooligans and men who’ve thrown their lives away. You’re a hooligan. If you want to swindle money, go swindle it from your fellow hooligans — don’t go swindling it from us brothers!”

With that, he turned and walked back toward the tall man.

The young constable’s face had gone red with anger; the older one dragged him away. Under the curtain of rain, after being pulled a few steps, he finally turned to leave. “Constable, who are those people?”

The constable’s face darkened. “The Yang brothers, Yang Yi and Yang Heng. Don’t go provoking them if you can help it!”

“How can people like that be allowed to run so wild?”

“Those two… are truly men who’ve thrown their lives away.” The constable took a deep breath. “But they don’t usually cause serious trouble, and they know their limits, more or less. None of the gangs in Haiqing Ward dare cross them. Years back, Yang Yi charged alone into the Iron Sand Gang, dragged one of their hall masters’ intestines through the streets for three full circles, covered head to toe in blood — a truly ruthless man…”

“…Do they have deaths on their hands?”

“Everyone knows they must, but fights between gangs are a tangled mess no one wants to sort out, and there’s no evidence for the rest. They don’t do small-time trouble like others. This gambler who owed them money deserved what he got too — years ago he gambled away his own daughter, and this time he borrowed from these brothers. Serves him right. Back when Constable Lei was around, he once tried to deal with them — caught Yang Yi, but Yang Heng got away. Yang Yi sat in jail and never once confessed, no matter what. Yang Heng, outside, declared that if anything happened to his brother, he’d kill Constable Lei’s whole family. In the end… they let him go anyway. But they know how to behave — afterward they sent gifts to Constable Lei’s home to thank him. After that, no one wanted to provoke them lightly…”

After the older constable finished, the younger one was still somewhat stunned. The older one shook his head. “In short, if you’re really going to deal with them, you finish them off in one go. If you don’t have that chance, better to leave them be as much as possible, or you’ll have no end of trouble. Those brothers know their limits in most things — that’s what makes them truly dangerous. Haiqing Ward is full of small-time hoodlums… keep those in check, don’t let anything too conspicuous happen, and that’s enough…”

Lightning flashed across the sky as the two constables walked on ahead. Left behind in the tavern, the Yang brothers made their way up to the second floor, into a private room, to discuss business with Gu Yanzhen.

The ancient city of Jiangning, curtains of rain stretching on and on…