Sneaking, sneaking.

Yuan Jin'er crept along the building's long corridor¹, her eyes searching the opposite doorway for her target. When she spotted the figure heading downstairs, she broke into a short run. After a few passing girls gave her a puzzled look, she immediately straightened up, tucked away a strand of hair, and adopted a dignified walk—though her quick, small steps were still moving quite fast.

Sister Yunzhu had confidence in him, but she certainly didn't feel the same way. But no matter what, this Ning Yi was still connected to Zhu's²and counted as one of their own people. In tonight's affair, that Lü Xia had already decided to side with Xue Yan—there was no way they could win. It would be fine to just give up a little as a lesson, but if she just watched their side lose face like that, Sister Yunzhu would probably feel bad about it. That Ning Yi hadn't built his reputation easily, and she didn't want to see him lose face like this either.

Of course, she'd scare him first before anything else.

Secretly observing through the gaps in the corridor that offered views of the central garden, the two approached the intersecting path from different directions. Yuan Jin'er first hid outside a corner building, quietly listening to the footsteps coming from that direction. Songs from the main hall were also drifting over. At the same time, from another corridor converging toward this intersection, Liu Qingdi was also approaching quickly. When Ning Yi's figure appeared in his sight, he smiled and cupped his hands³: "Brother Ning, what a pleasure to meet you..."

"Mmph..."

"Eh..."

In front of Ning Yi, behind Liu Qingdi, Yuan Jin'er suddenly stepped out. It was originally a three-way intersection, and for a moment, all three wore different expressions. Liu Qingdi's expression was still normally pleased to meet someone, while Ning Yi suddenly saw people appear in front of him—two people at the same time—and was momentarily stunned, opening his mouth in surprise.

Yuan Jin'er had set out to scare someone, but now she was probably more frightened than anyone. She had launched herself out in a graceful, dance-like movement, a triumphant smile already forming as she planned to block Ning Yi's path. But who knew that just as she emerged, a man's back would suddenly appear right in front of her? Her eyes widened. Realizing it was Liu Qingdi, she slapped a hand over her mouth to stifle a soft "mmph," then smoothly spun around, lowered her head, covered her puffed cheeks, and whooshed away like a ghost.

Ning Yi watched the entire process unfold. His cheek twitched a few times—he wasn't sure whether to laugh or do something else. The scene of Yuan Jin'er jumping out with wide eyes was truly quite startling, but thinking back on it, it was actually pretty amusing. For a moment, his facial expression was complex and rich. Liu Qingdi had approached with a very enthusiastic attitude and cupped hands, but before he could finish his greeting, he looked down at himself somewhat uncertainly, checking around his body and wondering if there was something funny about his appearance.

"Brother Ning, today..."

"Heh... is this gentleman going to relieve himself?" Ning Yi looked toward where Yuan Jin'er had disappeared, thought for a moment, then smiled at the man before him and stepped back, gesturing toward the other end of the path: "My apologies."

Only then was Liu Qingdi truly stunned. His reason for coming out to greet him was simple—this Ning Liheng never participated in such social activities, and it was rare to encounter him tonight. He was naturally confident and just wanted to compete in poetry and literature to create some interesting conversation. Since the man was usually indifferent or eccentric in personality, it wouldn't matter if he came over to fan the flames and say a few mocking words. Who knew that after greeting him, he'd get such a strange reaction.

This Ning Yi was clearly thinking about something else, his expression odd and his attention elsewhere. It was like having cold water thrown on him. Liu Qingdi still wanted to restart his greeting, but the other man's kind, absent-minded expression seemed to say, "It's fine, you go ahead." A single sentence, gesture, and look left him completely unable to find an opening to continue the conversation. Finally, he gritted his teeth, forced a smile as he cupped his hands, and headed toward the restroom in irritation.

Actually, he didn't want to use the toilet at all...

After walking ten or so meters away, he looked back again. Ning Yi was still standing there thinking about things. Noticing his backward glance, he smiled and cupped his hands slightly. Liu Qingdi also smiled and cupped his hands in return, then walked away resentfully.

Watching this person's retreating figure, Ning Yi found it somewhat boring. From the attitude the man displayed when he appeared, Ning Yi knew exactly what this guy's purpose was. Honestly, writing a poem tonight wouldn't matter—after all, he should give some face to Li Pin and the Su family people. It wouldn't matter to deal with this person casually either. But seeing Yuan Jin'er pop out from over there, he was too lazy to chat here for ages. He'd heard that this Liu Qingdi was quite familiar with Yuan Jin'er in the past, so lingering here and letting him see Yuan Jin'er probably wouldn't be good for her either.

When he didn't want to chat, how could the other party say anything meaningful? A few friendly gestures of hint, and the other party felt bored enough to walk away on his own. Seeing that figure disappear, Ning Yi walked forward a few steps, passed the intersection, and went to check on Yuan Jin'er around the corner.

This was so embarrassing...

Nearby, Yuan Jin'er was leaning against the wall, reflecting on her tremendous loss of face...

"What's wrong?"

In the corner of the long corridor, a man and woman were sneakily talking there. Music drifted softly from the main hall, and sounds of toasts and conversation came from nearby. People occasionally passed by other intersections, glancing in their direction before leaving. Ning Yi posed the question to Yuan Jin'er, while Yuan Jin'er's originally somewhat annoyed expression transformed into slight resentment the moment he appeared.

Well, every time he saw her, she seemed to have some resentment anyway.

"Nothing much. What's wrong with wanting to scare you?"

"Oh... I was indeed startled just now." Ning Yi nodded with a smile, seeing Yuan Jin'er's expression of having to swallow her anger along with her broken teeth⁴. "I saw you guys from upstairs earlier. What did you come here for?"

"To sell preserved eggs, of course. I know Aunt Chen here."

"The very beautiful one?"

"Mm." Yuan Jin'er nodded, then frowned again. "I never intended to tell you who's beautiful! Hmph, if it weren't for Sister Yunzhu, I wouldn't have come to warn you... I'm warning you, don't take out any poetry to show off and act smug. If you want to write, write it next time—don't write it here!"

"Wow." Ning Yi thought for a moment and nodded. "So that girl Lü Xia and someone from the Xue family have already developed to that extent?"

Yuan Jin'er raised an eyebrow and looked at him, then her expression softened slightly: "Good that you can figure it out. Lü Xia will definitely give that toast to Xue Yan tonight. You guys can't compete no matter what. When the time comes, the better your poetry is, the more people will say you were putting your warm face against someone's cold butt⁵later. Hmph..." Then she looked at Ning Yi again. "Did you guys guess something too?"

"Heh, I was just discussing with Dexin upstairs that the Xue Jin suffered a big loss last time. Although Xue Yan is his elder brother, without certainty of victory, he wouldn't act so recklessly. But without your words, we might have really embarrassed ourselves..."

"Good that you understand." Jin'er's expression turned from cloudy to sunny, then she said, "Sister Yunzhu is here, so I came to notify you. Thank Sister Yunzhu properly tomorrow."

Ning Yi nodded with a smile: "Mm, by the way, you and that Liu Qingdi..."

As soon as this sentence came out, the almond eyes across from him glared: "Don't know him!"

The two chatted there for quite a while, with Yuan Jin'er even offering some suggestions like "Why don't you just hide outside and pretend you're not here." Only then did they part ways. The second round of performances in the main hall had actually been going on for a while already.

Yuan Jin'er made her way back to the previous room—Sister Yunzhu wasn't there. She wouldn't leave first, so she must have gone to find Aunt Chen. Yuan Jin'er left the room again, this time being careful about Liu Qingdi's location to avoid embarrassment. There were some women she knew in Smoke and Emerald Tower, and when they saw her and had nothing urgent, they inevitably greeted her with delight and chatted. During the process of asking for Aunt Chen's location, the beauty named Lü Xia in the main hall had also been on stage thinking for a long time. Then she was seen walking down from the stage, pouring herself a cup of wine nearby, then biting her lip in difficulty before lowering her head and walking toward the Xue family's table with a slightly shy expression.

She then offered that cup of wine to Xue Yan.

Some people in the main hall laughed while others cursed. At such moments, there were inevitably some who weren't happy. The Su family's second-floor private room⁶fell into slight silence—one could imagine what the atmosphere would be like.

Before this, both Liu Qingdi and Li Pin had composed poetry, and both sides had put out quite a bit of silver. However, Ning Yi ultimately didn't make a move. Yuan Jin'er shrugged slightly and headed toward Aunt Chen. Fortunately, she wasn't currently entertaining guests. After pushing open the door that should be a dressing room, she saw Aunt Chen, then glanced around at several busy women.

"Eh? Where's Sister Yunzhu?"

"Your Yunzhu?" Aunt Chen thought for a moment. "Haven't seen her."

"Oh..."

A moment later, she heard a somewhat familiar qin music⁷start playing.

At this time, Smoke and Emerald Tower's star performer Lü Xia had just finished her performance and chosen tonight's drinking companion. Although several other women would also make these choices, Lü Xia was the real focus after all. Though there would still be several more performances afterward, with this result out, the main hall had become quite noisy for a while. These next few performances were taking place in almost the worst atmosphere of the night. Everyone was either discussing the Xue family's wealth and power, talking about Liu Qingdi and Li Pin's talents, or naturally shaking their heads, mocking, or ridiculing the Su family's small defeat. It was under these circumstances that the qin music rose from the stage.

The noisy clamor continued, yet the qin music was ethereal and distant. At first, it drew no attention, weaving through the conversations like a gentle breeze. It wasn't aloof or out of place, simply a quiet accompaniment to the noise. Few people seemed to notice it at all. Yuan Jin'er, being the most sensitive to the instrument, still took several seconds to distinguish the sound. When she did, she frowned in disbelief.

"Sister Yunzhu..."

This low voice emerged as faint and barely audible as the qin music itself. Then Aunt Chen's expression began to change as well. Then, the qin music seemed to become somewhat clearer. In this qin music, the two went to the adjacent room. Yuan Jin'er reached out her hand, took a deep breath, then pushed toward the window that could overlook the main hall.

Actually, she had already seen that figure playing the qin⁸in her mind...

(End of Chapter)