Chapter 59: Behind and Before
Captain Song Xian was by no means an incompetent man.
Ever since the assassination attempt during the Lantern Festival, Ning Yi had been paying some attention to this person. Though it was something of a long shot, and his current status couldn't get him much detailed intelligence, basic information was still obtainable if one put their mind to it.
Just as Lu Agui had told him before, this man had a flamboyant personality, bore grudges over the smallest slights, and was ruthless—but he was definitely not an incompetent fool. Compared to the Ardent Wu Army's Commander Chen Yong, Song Xian, who had mixed with the jianghu1 before, perhaps seemed more like a standard soldier. Otherwise, his superior wouldn't have entrusted him with the Ardent Wu Army's personal guard battalion.
The current dynasty valued civil over military affairs, and the Ardent Wu Army was garrison troops2 stationed in the wealthy Jiangning area with overall weak combat effectiveness. If there was anything worth mentioning, it would only be the few units centered around the personal guard battalion. Song Xian's position in the Ardent Wu Army could be described as second only to one person. Since the Lantern Festival assassination, he had heightened his vigilance and always brought numerous personal guards when going out. Now at this venue, Ning Yi could only follow from afar, watching the surrounding situation. Fortunately, with so many people around, no one could possibly notice he was tailing them.
Since he could follow like this, others could too. If someone else had designs on Song Xian, they might also be mingling in the crowd at this moment. He secretly watched for such situations, but there were indeed many people. On Lantern Festival night, he hadn't even clearly seen the assassin's appearance, so he couldn't get any useful intelligence now. Song Xian had brought about ten people, strolling and browsing, apparently not particularly enthusiastic about the performances. Only when they reached the riverside stage did they part the crowd and go to the front section reserved for high officials and nobles to sit down. He chatted with someone there while his accompanying guards maintained vigilance around them.
Ning Yi stood at the outer edge of the crowd surveying the surroundings, then began recalling the Lantern Festival events—some details, trying to figure out that woman's style of doing things. He then tried to put himself in her position and started thinking about what methods he would use if he wanted to kill Song Xian. Halfway through this thought, someone suddenly tapped his shoulder with a folding fan from behind.
"Hey, brother, being tall isn't everything. You're standing here blocking my view—what do you think we should do about this?"
Ning Yi was actually of medium height, not particularly tall, and the voice behind him sounded strange. After hearing it, he realized what was happening and turned around with a smile. The person challenging him with the folding fan wore black robes and was only a forehead shorter than him but much thinner. Looking up at him was Nie Yunzhu's delicate face trying to look serious. Up close, though dressed as a man, she didn't have much masculine bearing—instead appearing rather adorable.
"Brother, your reasoning is so sound, it's clearly my fault. Seeing how fierce and domineering you are, should I pay you some protection money?"
Nie Yunzhu struggled to keep a straight face and extended her hand: "Well said! Hand over all the flowers on you, and this lord will spare you once. Otherwise, watch out—I'll beat you until your human head becomes a pig's head!"
She had learned such phrases from the marketplace while often setting up her stall. Now exuding dominance, Ning Yi sighed and placed the flower and ticket from entering the venue into her hand. Only then did Nie Yunzhu burst out laughing: "Was Lady Nishang on stage singing so beautifully? You were listening so intently just now."
"Nishang?" Ning Yi turned to look, only then understanding she meant the girl singing on stage. "Heh, I was thinking about some things. When did you arrive?"
"I was wandering around and accidentally saw you—I've been standing behind you for quite a while."
The two walked together toward the nearby flower recording station. Nie Yunzhu also took out a flower from her bosom and dropped it into the large box along with Ning Yi's, then handed the receipts to the recorder: "Two flowers for Lady Yuan Jin'er of Golden Wind Tower."
"Lady Yuan Jin'er hasn't taken the stage yet."
"Give them anyway."
When she said this, the recorder noted it down. Ning Yi smiled: "You came to cheer for Lady Jin'er?"
"Sister Jin'er and I used to have a good relationship." Nie Yunzhu lowered her head, thinking before saying, "Actually, I helped with her song and dance performance this time."
They met every morning and chatted about everything, but she hadn't mentioned this before. Ning Yi was slightly puzzled: "Didn't you say you didn't want to get close to that place anymore?"
"Mama wanted Jin'er to continue holding the position of one of the four leading courtesans and asked if I could help a little. She said she'd help promote us later, so I thought about it and agreed. What I'm discussing with Mama now is business, different from before, so I'm not as averse to it. Mama is actually quite good in this regard." Nie Yunzhu paused, then continued as they walked aside, "Actually, thinking about it, I shouldn't have agreed. Jin'er has some fame now—whether growing bigger would be good or bad is hard to say. Jin'er's personality is also... cough, let's not talk about this..."
She shook her head and smiled: "Oh right, will Liheng go watch Jin'er's performance later?"
"One of the four leading courtesans, and you helped—of course I can't miss it."
"Heh, Jin'er actually told me she wanted to meet you—after all, you're Jiangning's most mysterious number one talent. I'll point you out to her from below the stage then... Oh right, didn't you say a little maid would come with you? I was wondering who it would be."
"She's eating at Literary Ink Building waiting for me—I came down halfway through." Ning Yi thought for a moment. "It's about time I should go back."
Nie Yunzhu smiled: "Let's go together then. I'm heading to Jin'er's side—it's the same direction anyway."
Chatting idly, the two made their way through the crowd back toward Literary Ink Building. Ning Yi looked back at Song Xian's direction, thinking that glimpse from before was perhaps an illusion.
At the same moment, beneath the eaves of a small building not far away that neither had noticed, Gu Yanzhen stood quietly, watching them leave.
From the time he spotted Nie Yunzhu in the crowd and followed her all the way here had taken quite a while. Throughout the process, Gu Yanzhen had been puzzled about who the usually indifferent Nie Yunzhu was looking for, but he truly hadn't expected to see what followed.
During the entire time, he saw Nie Yunzhu wandering aimlessly through the crowd. She hadn't arranged to meet anyone but clearly had expectations of finding someone. In such a venue, she didn't watch performances but leisurely searched among over three thousand people for someone she hadn't arranged to meet—truly strange. In the past few years, Gu Yanzhen had never seen this side of her.
Yunzhu back then was different from most pleasure quarter beauties. She preferred quietness and had extraordinary accomplishments in music, dance, poetry, and singing, but wasn't ostentatious. Compared to ordinary brothel women, she had a scholarly air about her—not pretended but genuine scholarly refinement. This was a woman with truly leisurely temperament. When with her, everyone felt a sense of tranquility. Gu Yanzhen didn't know when he had sensed this uniqueness, but in any case, he felt he could understand her distinctive mindset because they were the same kind of people.
After returning from the Eastern Capital and encountering Nie Yunzhu again that morning, he later learned she had redeemed herself but no longer associated with her previous acquaintances. Though initially disappointed, upon careful thought, he felt this was exactly how she should be—standing apart from the crowd, with confidence and pride hidden beneath her peaceful exterior. He liked this temperament and felt they had shared feelings in the past. He pursued her until receiving that slap, after which his feelings changed.
These past two months he had still been searching for the man behind Nie Yunzhu. Though appearing nonchalant on the surface, it had caused his break with Li Pin. Li Pin was truly not to be underestimated—he could see through his thoughts and absolutely wouldn't reveal anything, no matter what was said. This had slightly thrown him off balance, leading him to say some harsh words. Actually, over these two months of occasional inquiries, even he wasn't clear what he would do after finding the man behind it all.
He later concluded this person might be an old man with prestige—if so, there was nothing to be done. Until recently when he saw some of Nie Yunzhu's behavior.
All along the way, Nie Yunzhu dressed as a man maintained her bearing quite well—the image of an elegant young gentleman. Then she discovered the person she was looking for in the crowd. First, she peeked several times from the side at a distance, then walked behind that person, seeming to want to greet him but hesitating, waiting for him to turn and discover her. During this time, Gu Yanzhen saw Nie Yunzhu's expressions from the side—sometimes struggling, sometimes displeased, sometimes revealing a smile, sometimes raising her hand to hit him but stopping, frowning slightly annoyed at the person's oblivious daydreaming. In these changing expressions, all masculine bearing vanished, occasionally sighing, occasionally spreading her hands helplessly with a young girl's manner... These expressions he had never seen appear on her before. In the past at Golden Wind Tower during performances, he had seen her frown at being out of place with her surroundings, seen her reserved smile full of scholarly grace, but these current expressions...
That man never turned around, never saw the woman's complex cuteness behind him, until Nie Yunzhu finally helplessly raised her folding fan to tap his shoulder, switching to a deliberately serious smile. Then the two chatted and laughed all the way to the registration desk to offer flowers—those flowers were merely two—and then left... Gu Yanzhen couldn't describe what he felt. He just watched it all expressionlessly. After a long while, he punched the building pillar beside him.
Then with a "ha," he laughed.
Ning Yi and Nie Yunzhu only separated when they reached below Literary Ink Building. From the window above, Xiao Chan was leaning on the windowsill watching, then waved at him vigorously.
"Young Master, who was that gentleman in black walking with you?"
When he got upstairs, Su Wending and the others had already left. Li Pin and Xiao Chan were still waiting for him. Xiao Chan asked curiously. Ning Yi smiled: "Just someone dressed as a man—seeing she was pretty, I teased her a bit."
"Young Master is so bad!" Xiao Chan put a snack in her mouth, smiling brightly, clearly not believing this. Not long after, the three went down from Literary Ink Building to continue watching the upcoming performances in the crowd.
He could occasionally see Song Xian and Chen Yong's figures, along with the accompanying Ardent Wu Army personal guards. Ning Yi kept part of his attention alert, waiting for any possible incident to occur...