Chapter 66: See You Tomorrow, Bell
Ding-dong, ding-dong—the sound rang out in the early morning as Chan'er and Juan'er set out bowls and chopsticks on the table, served porridge and rice, then sat down beside them at Tan'er's instruction. In the morning light, a scene of a family of five sitting at the table eating breakfast.
Last night Su Tan'er had also returned quite late with Juan'er and Xing'er. After Chan'er had cried, she sat with Ning Yi in the pavilion chatting about her worries, wiping her tears and rambling on. The poor little girl had first worried that Ning Yi had left her behind to meet some vixen, then when she saw the clanging gongs outside, worried the Young Master might encounter some mishap. Later she worried again that if the Young Master went to meet some vixen without bringing her along, he'd have no money on him...
"If Young Master went there without money, those people would look down on him. Actually, those women who say they're so wonderful are all putting on an act—they're the most snobbish..."
The little girl sat in the pavilion wiping tears while earnestly worrying about him losing face without money. Ning Yi felt warm inside and comforted her with a few words. The two chatted idly in the starlight-drenched pavilion, and Xiao Chan finally let go of some of her concerns.
Su Tan'er had returned late yesterday and hadn't slept long. Though this wasn't the first time, she still looked somewhat listless at breakfast, having just washed her face and forced herself to be alert. Juan'er and Xing'er were about the same.
"When we returned to the city last night we were stopped. We saw the inspections leaving the city were strict—they said a court official was assassinated. Today's courtesan finals probably can't be held at White Egret Isle. We still don't know how they'll arrange it... The dragon boat races this morning..."
While drinking porridge, Su Tan'er routinely mentioned some matters. Ning Yi shook his head: "Go sleep this morning."
"Hm?" Su Tan'er looked up at him.
"You, and Juan'er and Xing'er too—sleep this morning. Leave the courtyard matters to Chan'er. The rest can wait until noon."
"Mm-hmm." Xiao Chan immediately puffed out her chest and nodded vigorously. "Leave it to Xiao Chan. Young Miss should rest more."
"Then I'll listen to my husband." Su Tan'er smiled and nodded. Juan'er and Xing'er over there also smiled happily: "Thank you, Young Master."
"It's just that my husband will probably have to watch the dragon boat races alone this morning..."
"I'm not watching dragon boats. I'm going to the academy."
"Aren't there no classes today?" Su Tan'er asked in confusion.
"With nothing else to do, I had some ideas yesterday. I'll go do some experiments today and return by noon."
Then they chatted about various idle matters. Su Tan'er asked about yesterday's competition and what happened in the city before she returned. In fact, besides insufficient sleep causing fatigue, Su Tan'er, Juan'er and Xing'er's moods were also somewhat low. It seemed their technical breakthrough had failed once again. But this kind of thing was normal—failing nine times out of ten, waiting for that final success was enough. It probably wasn't worth being too dejected over.
After breakfast, Su Tan'er, Juan'er and Xing'er went back to their rooms to sleep. Ning Yi said goodbye to Xiao Chan and left, driving the Imperial Son-in-law Estate's carriage toward the market. Today being Dragon Boat Festival proper, the streets were lively and festive. Many people gathered by the Qinhuai River to watch the dragon boat races, with the fragrance of zongzi leaves1 wafting from both sides of the street. However, there were also many guards on alert. The Jiangning Prefecture offices must be having quite a headache now—encountering such a festival made it difficult to take overly disruptive actions. They could only heighten vigilance and inspections, strictly controlling people entering and leaving the city, first trapping the assassin inside.
Turning toward the road to the academy, there were fewer pedestrians, though the sounds of firecrackers and gongs could still be heard. He greeted a nearby resident he knew on the road. After the carriage arrived at the rented courtyard gate, Ning Yi took a bundle down from the carriage. Going all the way into the courtyard and rooms, when he pushed open the inner room door, he found no one there. He went in to look, noting several small telltale signs. He noticed the window that had been closed last night was now open, then closed the door and withdrew.
About three or four meters above ground on the roof beam, the woman sat wrapped in the long robe, looking down as Ning Yi closed the door. She then turned and jumped down. The men's robe spread in the wind, revealing her bandage-wrapped body beneath. Her slender legs stretched in the air for an instant before she landed, pulling up the robe's hem to wrap around her body, still showing pale calves and bare feet. She tapped on a nearby rack with her sword.
Hearing the sound, Ning Yi waited a few seconds before pushing open the door again. With a "clang," the sword hilt blocked the door from inside. Through the opening, he passed the bundle in. When closing the door, he glimpsed the woman's white wrist receiving the bundle and her profile, vaguely cold as frost.
"Clothes to wear and food to eat. Lunch and dinner are already prepared too, though these probably aren't very nutritious. I'll figure out how to get something better. You're injured now—if you need any medicines, you can tell me too. Don't worry, I'll buy them separately so as not to arouse suspicion. In a bit you can give me your blood-stained clothes and anything else that might cause trouble. I'll handle them."
There was silence inside for a while: "You know how to handle them?"
"I have some understanding."
As he spoke, he went to get tools like chisels and hammers, and knocked a few times on the brick where the sword had left a gap last night. There was an immediate reaction from inside—probably she was changing clothes.
"What are you doing!"
"This is too obvious—one look and you can tell a sharp weapon stabbed it. Let me fix it up a bit."
He knocked and hammered to deform the gap, then blackened it with kerosene, polished it, blackened it again. After several rounds, he knocked on the door then entered the inner room to do the same on the opposite side. There was no one in the room. The blood-stained cloth strips torn off last night were bundled on the table.
On the roof beam, the woman sat in light green clothes and pants, watching as the man finished his work and seemed to check the blood-stained items on the table. These things included outer clothes as well as some intimate personal items. She felt a moment of irritation, but then heard the man say from below: "Sorry, I forgot to buy you shoes. I'll bring them tomorrow." Then he took the bundle and turned to leave.
The irritated feeling faded. The woman curled up her legs on the beam. The pants only reached her ankles at most, leaving her delicate feet still bare below. She subconsciously reached to cover the top of her feet, then let go and curled up on the beam.
The outer room had various experimental equipment, including a furnace Ning Yi had specially built with quite sufficient firepower, burning coal inside. Ning Yi threw the blood-stained cloth pieces and various small items in. Before long, they burned completely clean. While burning them, he casually mentioned a few things about the soldiers' inspections outside. After that, he fell silent and spoke no more.
He quietly did his experiments outside, mixing solutions or writing various messy symbols on the blackboard with loud taps. A porcelain bottle exploded once from heating, so he quickly cleaned up. Outside, sunlight shone down—not very hot. The wild flowers and grass in the courtyard swayed in the wind. The festive Dragon Boat sounds transmitted from afar without stopping. In this small courtyard, the quiet atmosphere became increasingly apparent. Lu Hongti sat on the bed hugging her sword, eating the meat buns Ning Yi had brought. Occasionally she would peer through the slightly enlarged gap with vague curiosity at the strange experiments on this side. The man's expression was focused as he occasionally recorded something in a notebook with a brush.
After some time passed, someone else pushed open the courtyard gate. The light, fragmentary footsteps weren't from an adult. She packed up her things and leaped onto the beam again, holding her breath and listening. A little girl's voice came from that side: "Young Master, I'm here!"
It was a little maid, sounding very happy.
"Be careful over there, there might be porcelain shards. Better not touch the water on the table either."
"Mm-hmm, got it..."
"Why did you come so early?"
"Sister Xing'er already woke up, so she let me come find Young Master. Oh right, Young Master, I bought two bells on the way. Look, should I hang them outside?"
"Go hang them."
"Mm."
The ding-ling sound was crisp and pleasant, occasionally transmitting over. The little girl seemed to have moved a chair outside to hang the bells under the eaves by the door.
"Young Master, when I came over I saw lots of soldiers on the street. Everyone was discussing yesterday's assassin, saying she was really formidable. Did you hear about it?"
"I heard."
"Hm? What did Young Master hear? I heard it was a female assassin. Isn't that like the female thief from Lantern Festival?"
"Indeed I heard it was a female assassin. When I came over I even heard someone claim they witnessed it last night, describing it vividly..." The man spoke casually. "They said that female assassin had formidable martial arts, was eight chi2 tall with an eight chi waist too, holding a golden wire ring saber. She killed all the way from Vermillion Bird Avenue to Changye Street—heaven and earth changed color, sun and moon lost their light. Captain Song Xian used Buddhist martial arts called Divine Palm of the Tathagata, which had already reached the realm of transformation. But that woman's heaven-shocking blade was even more formidable. The two exchanged one hundred and twenty moves without determining victory..."
The little girl laughed: "That's not true! Young Master is making things up again. Eight chi tall with an eight chi waist—wouldn't that be a square?"
"Waist measurement refers to the circumference, so it should be a cylinder shape. A cylindrical female assassin holding a golden wire ring saber—how formidable."
"What does a golden wire ring saber look like?"
"Uh, probably like what Guard Tang at home uses, with several rings on it that can jingle..."
"...Young Master, tell a story."
"How can there be stories to hear every day?"
"Oh..."
"Alright... Once upon a time, long long ago, there was a scholar named Ning Caichen. He failed the examinations and returned home, taking on a debt collection job for someone..."
Beams of light shot in through the tile roof. The woman hugged her sword, leaning against the beam and sitting there, watching these lights while listening to the sounds from outside. The little maid busied herself briefly among the courtyard's flowers and grass, picking a few wildflowers. The man conducted his strange experiments while telling an odd story. This morning was extraordinarily quiet.
When noon arrived, the two finally had to leave. They spoke about going to watch dragon boat races and going with family to see the courtesan competition. The flames outside were extinguished, and things were packed and put away one by one. The door opened, then closed.
"The bells are really pretty."
"I bought them."
"Alright, alright..." Their voices faded away, then the man's casual voice transmitted: "See you tomorrow, bells."
The little girl also turned back and said: "Bells, see you tomorrow."
The courtyard gate finally closed. The carriage left. The woman quietly walked out, looking at the pair of wind chimes hanging under the eaves. When the festive Dragon Boat sounds transmitted from afar, the woman thought about that bizarre story called "A Chinese Ghost Story." Compared to what storytellers told in teahouses, this story was much better.
He hadn't finished telling the ending yet...
At noon on the fifth day of the fifth month, Lu Hongti stood under those eaves eating cold meat buns, listening to the wind chime sounds and thinking faintly...