A small commotion broke out in the painted boat room. Before long, two heads pressed together again, looking out through the window. As the sunset spread across, there was indeed Ning Yi's figure among the crowd over there, vague and indistinct. Yuan Jin'er had good eyesight, but after a moment she sighed regretfully: "But his yellow-faced wife¹seems to have come too... Sister Yunzhu, have you met her before?"

Among the crowd over there, naturally accompanying Ning Yi was Su Tan'er, with three maids behind. Looking from afar, Nie Yunzhu couldn't clearly see the woman's appearance, but in her mind she recalled the scene from the spring outing when she'd seen Su Tan'er and Ning Yi sitting together. She smiled and nodded: "I've seen her. She's definitely not some yellow-faced wife—she matches Liheng very well..."

Coming to meet them was a group of business people. The comment about "wide connections" naturally referred to Su Tan'er. Among that group, people like Wu Qihao, Wu Qilong, and Puyang Yi were all major sponsors of this courtesan competition. Of course, Puyang Yi as Jiangning's richest man naturally supported Qilan under his establishment, but the others all had room for persuasion and were key targets for the various brothels to court. For a moment these people gathered together, making others envious.

"But he really is quite formidable." Yuan Jin'er watched for a while, then leaned on Yunzhu's shoulder and sighed. "Sister Yunzhu, look—those big bosses, though they seem to be greeting and talking with that Su Tan'er, their attention to that Ning Liheng isn't low at all. Puyang Yi keeps trying to get close to him too. An ordinary live-in son-in-law wouldn't have this kind of status..."

Being people who moved in various social circles, Yuan Jin'er could naturally see clearly at this point. Su Tan'er and those people were fellow merchants, so it was normal for the group to greet and chat. Generally when a live-in son-in-law stood beside them, he usually had no status. Even if someone paid attention and greeted him, it was aimed at Su Tan'er's attitude—that is, if the wife maintained her husband's image, the husband had image; otherwise he was just an accessory. But looking at the scene before them, it was indeed quite different. Ning Yi stood there, not saying much, but with his composed bearing, basically no one ignored him. Puyang Yi especially brought up topics with him several times—this obviously wasn't just a matter of giving Su Tan'er face.

"Jiangning's number one talented scholar... Sister Yunzhu, do you think if he sat on our side today, could I win the top courtesan title?"

Nie Yunzhu smiled at her: "Where he sits is something he discusses with his wife. I can't do anything about that... Besides, didn't you say you don't want to be top courtesan? What nonsense are you thinking now..."

"Wanting or not wanting is one thing. Since he's Sister Yunzhu's... um, your good friend, he should naturally come sit over here to support me. If he sat over here, I'd have so much face. If he got into a jealous fight with that Cao Guan, I'd have even more face..."

"Vanity."

"Hee..." Yuan Jin'er smiled, then looked again and suddenly jumped up: "Ah! Ah! Despicable! Sister Yunzhu, look—Qilan actually came out! Despicable! She's actually getting close to Sister Yunzhu's Ning... cough, your good friend! This is too despicable! No way, Sister Yunzhu, we should go out too and mess with her. We absolutely can't let Ning Liheng sit on her side!"

Below, Qilan in white clothes had already come over. Under Puyang Yi's introduction, she exchanged greetings with Su Tan'er and Ning Yi, then stood there chatting. Yuan Jin'er was extremely unhappy about this, bouncing up and down. Seeing Nie Yunzhu had no reaction and wasn't willing to go out with her to snatch people, she walked back: "Look at them chatting and laughing—two women being so fake... Traitor, traitor..."

Nie Yunzhu laughed in exasperation: "How is he a traitor now?"

"Of course he is! Since he's Sister Yunzhu's good friend, I naturally consider him one of us. Yet he's still talking with the enemy—of course he's a traitor!"

She threw another tantrum beside them, then turned to see Nie Yunzhu looking over there. Though she had a slight smile on her face, her expression was complex. She couldn't help pursing her lips: "Brother Yunzhu, don't be like this. Jin'er will always like Brother Yunzhu..."

Nie Yunzhu smiled and glanced at her, reaching out to hook her chin: "Alright, after Jin'er bravely wins the top courtesan title this time, this young master will redeem Jin'er and leave a beautiful story..."

"Mm-hmm, please cherish Jin'er, Brother Yunzhu..."

"You're actually leaning in..."

"I thought you would dodge..."

The two fell into confusion, then both laughed. Yuan Jin'er sat at the bronze mirror to touch up her lip color while Nie Yunzhu, dressed as a man, got some tea water to wipe off the color that had gotten on her, glaring at Yuan Jin'er in exasperation. Yuan Jin'er smiled shamelessly, then said quietly: "Sister Yunzhu, have you ever tried this with anyone else before?"

"No."

"Let me tell you, let me tell you—two years ago, I met a young master who was supposedly from Yangzhou. He looked like a girl but definitely wasn't, so shy and cute. My heart was going bang bang bang at the time. I really wanted to go 'wuah' and kiss him... Too bad he only came once, then went to the capital for the examinations and I never saw him again..."

"You liked him?"

"No way, we barely exchanged two sentences. I just felt... it was very interesting. How about Sister Yunzhu, let's try again? I didn't really feel anything just now..."

"Go away!"

The room filled with playful laughter and whispered secrets. The sunset cast its final magnificent afterglow in the sky outside. People from all over the city were surging toward here. When night fell, the final day's courtesan finals would begin.

Among Jiangning's four leading courtesans, Yuan Jin'er was lively, Feng Xiaojing dignified, the newly promoted Luo Miaomiao often gave people a colorful impression, while Lu Caicai who had previously failed to qualify was often called "quiet as an orchid"—she played the pipa very well but seemed like someone with depression. As for Qilan, what she gave people more was a scholarly aura. She excelled at literature and had considerable accomplishments herself. It was said that in the brothel she would occasionally receive guests dressed as a scholar with feather fan and silk cap, earning her praise.

Over the past half year, news that Qilan was very interested in Ning Yi had occasionally spread, and Su Tan'er had also teased Ning Yi about it. However, in merchants' eyes, whether this was actually true naturally remained to be discussed. Among these wealthy merchants, those with the closest relationship to the Su family were naturally the Xue and Wu families. But although Xue Jin had wanted to humiliate Ning Yi and been ridiculed instead, this actually wouldn't greatly increase their interest in him. Those currently quite interested in Ning Yi were probably the Puyang family. Qilan was the top courtesan of a brothel under the Pu family. When news spread, whether it was the Puyang family deliberately spreading word to get close to Ning Yi or Qilan's true feelings was really hard to say.

With Su Tan'er present now, Puyang Yi had Qilan come out to pay respects, formally introducing her to Ning Yi. Of course, they wouldn't directly discuss poetry and such. This graceful woman expressed her admiration for Ning Yi's literary talent on one hand, while on the other hand actually gave Su Tan'er plenty of face. Everyone was an expert at social occasions—they seemed to chat happily but there was actually no substance. Before long, Ning Yi and Su Tan'er took their seats, choosing a spot in front of the stage where basically merchants sat.

"Barring surprises, Qilan will win the top courtesan title this time."

As the sunset gradually faded and lights gradually lit up, the surrounding crowds were still entering, creating a din. Su Tan'er took a loquat from the table in front and peeled it, then handed it to Ning Yi, fulfilling her wifely duties. Ning Yi accepted it expressionlessly and took a bite.

"You say it right from the start—what suspense is left to watch... Sitting with someone like you is really boring..."

"The Puyang family has wanted to promote Qilan for the past two years, but they've taken steady steps, afraid people would say they're throwing money at it. So they only let Qilan become a leading courtesan and stopped there. Now the momentum is sufficient—there shouldn't be much suspense. It's time to let Qilan rise." Though Ning Yi's expression was unhappy and his words might sound excessive to others, Su Tan'er showed no displeasure at all. Instead she smiled happily and peeled another loquat to hand over. "I just want to show off... Besides showing off to you, husband, who else can Tan'er show off to? Husband should praise me."

"Alright, alright, Tan'er you're the most formidable, with the best judgment."

"Hee... happy."

Su Tan'er seemed genuinely happy. After a while, other Su family members also came to greet Su Tan'er and Ning Yi, like Wending and Wenfang, then tactfully left. Xi Junyu also came, greeted Su Tan'er and Ning Yi, then sat at a round table diagonally behind—being able to sit at a round table and eat at this venue was basically a symbol of certain status.

Master Qin had also arrived with his two wives, plus Kang Xian and others, sitting among the prominent figures over there. Before long, night completely fell and people had filled the entire venue. As the melodious sounds of silk and bamboo instruments arose, people began to quiet down. The nearby Qinhuai River waters rippled, the night breeze was pleasant. When the prefecture official in charge of hosting this courtesan competition said some ceremonial words and announced the start of the competition, the silk and bamboo music on stage also gradually stopped.

At the quietest moment, with a thunderous sound, music erupted. Fireworks shot skyward from below the stage. The newly promoted leading courtesan Luo Miaomiao flew up from below the stage along with several suddenly flying colored silks, like a colorful phoenix spreading its wings. In this prosperous city night, she opened the curtain on this courtesan competition in the most magnificent and grand manner.

In an area relatively far from Ning Yi and Su Tan'er where Luo Miaomiao's supporters gathered, everyone applauded vigorously. In the enthusiastic atmosphere, the man named Gu Yanzhen was also smiling and applauding, only occasionally turning his head when no one was paying attention to cast a glance this way. Then he would scan the surroundings, searching among the crowd for where Nie Yunzhu might be...