Chapter 38: Night of the Fish and Dragon Dance (Part 3)

Flames from lanterns burned in clusters along the street, and under the old horse's corpse, blood had already pooled into a shallow puddle. The ground was a mess of blood, corpses, and scattered debris. When the black-clothed woman ran toward an adjacent street, the knife-wielding constables and bailiffs didn't dare stop her at all.

Ning Yi took a step, wanting to secretly follow, but only then discovered Xiao Chan was clinging to him for dear life—actually they only differed by about a head in height, but with Xiao Chan curled up hiding at his side, she seemed shorter. When Ning Yi looked over, Xiao Chan was also wrinkling her little face looking up at him. She'd been hugging Ning Yi and calling for him for ages, couldn't pull him away, looking about to cry. When their eyes met, her eyes and mouth suddenly went round, she froze for a second with an adorable expression, then suddenly lowered her head.

Ning Yi pursed his lips, then patted her shoulder: "Let's go."

"Oh." Xiao Chan quickly let go, and Ning Yi walked toward that side street. Xiao Chan followed a few steps, came to her senses, and shook her head: "No wait, Young Master, where are you going?"

"To watch the excitement..."

"No!"

Xiao Chan suddenly jumped up, grabbing Ning Yi's sleeve: "Don't, Young Master! That female thief is really dangerous! Young Master, let's go eat instead, Young Miss is still waiting for us..."

"It's fine, I'll just watch from far away..."

"Don't! That female thief already ran away..."

"It's not that easy... Uh, if she really did run away then I won't see anything anyway..."

With a thump, Xiao Chan hugged Ning Yi from behind, her arms locked tight, spilling her five-spice beans all over Ning Yi while her head shook desperately against Ning Yi's back: "No, Young Master, you can't go..."

Ning Yi stood there, speechless for a moment, then looked around: "Xiao Chan, hugging me like this, what will people think?"

Earlier the situation was chaotic, everyone was watching the fight, so Ning Yi protecting her at his side didn't draw much attention. Now hearing Ning Yi speak, Xiao Chan reacted, her body stiffening as she immediately let go as if shocked by electricity, but she still held tightly to his sleeve, her little face red. Ning Yi laughed, reaching out to ruffle Xiao Chan's head, instantly messing up her hair. Her bun cover fell off, half her hair falling into a ponytail. Xiao Chan's mouth flattened. Ning Yi stepped forward: "It's fine, it's fine, just want to see what's going on."

"Young Master... don't go..."

At this time more blue-shirted Ardent Wu Army men arrived from that end of the street, and the little girl held Ning Yi's sleeve, following step by step, looking anxious and about to cry. The cloth wrapped around her bun had also fallen off, she held it in her hand, unable to tie it back up, looking absolutely adorable.

That black-clothed woman had just fought covered in blood, and if she ran all the way, she'd definitely cause panic. However, the slightly chaotic scene only lasted through the next street. When Ning Yi and Xiao Chan reached another street, there were no more panicked pedestrians. Obviously the female thief had either entered nearby shops or residences, or quickly found a way to change her appearance. Though when passing a tea stall, they heard people also discussing the fight on Vermillion Bird Avenue just now.

"...I heard that female assassin tried to assassinate Captain Song Xian of the Ardent Wu Army at Flying Swallow Pavilion. Though she didn't succeed, she killed over a dozen people before leaving. Tsk tsk, rivers of blood... Just had a fight over on Vermillion Bird Avenue, now she's disappeared again. These high-flying martial artists, how could they possibly catch her..."

The Ardent Wu Army garrisoned the Jiangning area with a poor reputation, and ordinary people naturally didn't know who Captain Song Xian was, but how many officials were good people? Speaking of it in the marketplace, it naturally felt satisfying. But to say she could fly high and completely escape was impossible. Among the nearby crowds, occasionally those blue-shirted figures appeared—these should be the most elite of the Ardent Wu Army, not many in number, but still searching for traces of the female assassin. Ning Yi occasionally observed their search routes, casually following along.

Xiao Chan had relaxed by now, following beside Ning Yi occasionally jogging a few steps, fixing her fallen bun while pouting: "Young Master won't find her, Young Master won't find her, Young Master won't find her..."

The assassination at Flying Swallow Pavilion and the fight on Vermillion Bird Avenue were just minor episodes in this night, causing ripples only within a certain range, spreading only among certain levels of people, and even with the Ardent Wu Army's influence, they couldn't seal the city or roads to search on a day like the fifteenth of the first month. In this era when news basically spread by word of mouth, most people continued their activities and celebrations.

About one street away from Wuyi Lane, the Old Rain Tower was one of the largest restaurants operated by Jiangning's richest Pu family—five stories tall with a vast footprint, and though called a restaurant, you could find almost any entertainment you wanted here. After the Pu family started developing toward scholarly circles, part of their business also incorporated an elegant scholarly atmosphere. This building was their best-managed property.

The entire restaurant had a square courtyard structure with a spacious central courtyard, so there were no lighting issues. Inside were miniature rockeries and pavilions, rare trees and flowers, arranged small but extremely exquisite. If needed, these could be moved aside to build a temporary stage. Outside the restaurant walls enclosed more buildings and landscaped greenery that was pleasant to view from above. Throughout the restaurant were various scholarly calligraphy and paintings, precious screens, decorative porcelain, lacquerware, and so on.

The Pu family had spent big money on this building, and the reputation they'd built lived up to expectations. Those with money, family background, and who considered themselves cultured often took pride in hosting guests here. High officials like the prefect often chose to come here when entertaining outside their mansions. But naturally, having money was the hard requirement—poor scholars could only come when invited. This building represented the best combination of money and elegance.

Today the Pu family was hosting many talented scholars here, since after all, the weather hadn't warmed yet and the river wind was strong, so the six connected boats weren't practical. This gathering was actually similar to another Puyuan Poetry Gathering. Led by the Pu family's Puyang Yu, they'd invited many people according to Puyuan Poetry Gathering standards, though this time no one brought family members. Lady Qilan, one of Qinhuai's Four Beauties, accompanied them. These past two or three years, the famous courtesan Qilan had become something of a Pu family trademark.

The banquet atmosphere was more casual than the Mid-Autumn Puyuan Poetry Gathering, but everyone was still quite poetic. Besides the few talented scholars already connected to the Pu family and the likes of Xue Jin, today a rather famous person had come. This person was often mentioned alongside the strict and steady Cao Guan among Jiangning's younger generation, but had a free-spirited personality with often unconventional poetry, called having Tang dynasty style—Li Pin, the talented scholar who'd participated in the Mid-Autumn Lichuan Poetry Gathering.

Li Pin's fame exceeded those the Pu family could usually invite, but of course, they were all young people, so differences were hard to measure. When others spoke of the Pu family, at most they'd deduct points for the smell of money, seeming several levels below the talented scholars of Zhishui and Lichuan Poetry Gatherings. Everyone was actually quite surprised he'd come to this banquet, but actually being able to invite him wasn't mainly due to the Pu family's wealth—rather, this fellow had heard several of Ning Yi's stories at Yushan Academy before New Year's, so Su Chonghua knew him. But no one expected Su Chonghua's face to be worth so much—casual entertaining was one thing, but getting Li Pin to come on a day like the Lantern Festival made the Pu family feel very proud.

The other talented scholars originally thought Li Pin might steal their thunder, but fortunately Li Pin was low-key, only casually composing poems today. Though they were good poems, he didn't overshadow everyone's brilliance. In conversation he was also courteous, soon making people feel they'd become his friend rather than opponent, sharing in the glory. Qilan had professional social skills and naturally wouldn't favor just Li Pin. Compared to him and others, she was actually somewhat distant with this talented scholar. With her skillful maneuvering, she controlled the situation well. The scene was lively and harmonious.

Poems from Lichuan Poetry Gathering and other gatherings would continuously flow in for everyone to evaluate. The people here were also quite poetic. Though their poems couldn't match Lichuan's, with Li Pin occasionally teasing those Lichuan talented scholars, others felt those scholars weren't so special after all. The banquet toasted back and forth, occasionally playing drinking games, evaluating poems. Miss Qilan played qin and danced. When it was almost three-quarters past the hour of the pig, Puyang Yu went to talk with Li Pin, also chatting with Su Chonghua and Xue Jin who'd come over.

Before long, they talked about last year's Mid-Autumn Water Melody Prelude, then asked about Ning Yi—Puyang Yu spoke casually, but actually he'd long wanted to invite Ning Yi to this poetry gathering to add some color. Su Chonghua smiled and talked about some of Ning Yi's matters at the Su family, then mentioned Song Mao's test and praise before New Year's. Actually regarding Ning Yi, he'd previously had an indifferent attitude, but now was wary in his heart. Mainly he feared the other would steal his title as Yushan Academy headmaster. After all, the academy he'd managed for years without improvement—Ning Yi came and immediately taught a batch of good students. This was basically like slapping his face. Seeing Old Master Su's regard for Ning Yi, he naturally worried. But on the surface, he acted like discussing a junior with shared pride.

"Fake, right? I don't believe it." The Xue and Su families had always been at odds. Xue Jin no longer hid much at this point. "Before New Year's I heard that Water Melody Prelude came from a Taoist priest he heard chanting. Tch... he just stole it as his own..."

"Haha, Brother Xue bringing this up again." As Xue Jin's words fell, another voice came from the side—someone from the Wu family. Among Jiangning's three cloth merchants, the Xue and Su families had always been at odds, but the Wu family as the leader had good relations with both. The newcomer was the Wu family's second young master Wu Qihao, who knew both Su Tan'er and Xue Jin. When Su Tan'er visited the Wu family during New Year's, Ning Yi had met him once. He now smiled: "The Taoist priest story, not many would believe it if told."

Beside them Puyang Yu smiled: "I don't believe it either, but regarding this Brother Liheng, I've truly admired him for a long time. Headmaster Su, you must introduce us next time."

The topic then moved away from Ning Yi's name. Everyone chatted and laughed a while more. After Qilan performed a song and dance, Wu Qihao looked out the window for a while, then turned back smiling: "Brother Puyang, speaking of coincidences, the person we were just discussing seems to be wandering downstairs right now. Headmaster Su, Brother Li, Brother Xue, I only met Liheng once and can't be certain. Come take a look..."

His words could actually be heard by half the hall, and people immediately became interested and gathered over: "Who is Brother Wu so interested in?"

"Liheng? Could this person be..."

This discussion soon spread throughout the entire second floor gathering hall. By the inner windows, Wu Qihao and several others stood looking down, pointing: "Everyone look, seems to be that person. The girl beside him, isn't that Tan'er's maid Xiao Chan?"

In the courtyard below near the artificial hill, Ning Yi and Xiao Chan were wandering around somewhat bored, looking around among the lanterns...

(End of Chapter)

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