“Someone’s been killed! Murder!”
Kicked awake from his drunken stupor, the drunkard jolted up and shouted at the top of his lungs.
“What murder!” someone cursed back at him.
“With arrows – arrows! They shot… shot so many people dead…” The drunkard waved his arms about wildly, glancing around as he spoke. Then he stopped short. “Eh? Where is everyone?”
There were no bodies, no wounded – none of the blood he had imagined.
Yet on the clean, gleaming arch of Rainbow Bridge, a crowd had gathered at some point, all of them excitedly looking in the same direction and whispering among themselves.
What was going on? Had he just been hallucinating? No, that couldn’t be right – he had clearly seen people downstairs loosing arrows…
What exactly had happened?
The same question was echoing in the minds of many inside Young Master Gao’s private room.
“Why did you hit him?” the young lady asked.
“What do you mean, why?” Young Master Gao chuckled, gazing at the kneeling woman before him. His eyes drifted to Cheng Si-lang, who was lying in front of her. “What are you doing?” he couldn’t help but ask.
The strange young lady who had said she wanted to question someone wasn’t doing so in any ordinary way. After a maid ran in carrying a bundle, she had the unconscious Cheng Si-lang laid out before her, then began pricking and kneading his injured wrist – all while questioning him.
“I’m treating his wound,” Cheng Jiao-niang replied, lifting her head. “If you hit someone, you should at least have a reason.”
Young Master Gao gave a derisive snort.
He had just said that this Cheng fellow was a fool – now it seemed the sister was one too.
“This is Desheng Pavilion,” he said. “He tried to compete with me for the courtesan of the Music Bureau. Lost the contest, so he got beaten. Simple as that.”
Cheng Jiao-niang nodded.
“I see,” she said. “That makes sense – if you lose, naturally you should be beaten.”
Young Master Gao frowned, about to ask something more – when the young lady did something to Cheng Si-lang’s hand. Cheng Si-lang let out a cry of pain and suddenly came to.
“Fourth Young Master!” the maid exclaimed excitedly.
Cheng Si-lang blinked himself back to awareness, staring blankly at Cheng Jiao-niang for a moment before remembering what had happened. He immediately tried to rise.
“Sister,” he called, “I–”
“You’re all right now,” Cheng Jiao-niang said, taking his hand and lifting it for him to see.
His hand…
Those blows raining down on him hadn’t made him lose consciousness – what had was the searing agony and terror when his hand had been stomped and broken.
His hand!
Now the hand that was gently lifted before his eyes was wrapped in layer upon layer of white cloth, with a short wooden splint tied on each side.
“Don’t worry,” Cheng Jiao-niang said. “In three days, you’ll be able to move it. In a month, it’ll be as good as new.”
As good as new?
Cheng Si-lang looked at her in disbelief. He could still remember the sound of his bones shattering…
“Don’t worry, Young Master,” the maid said with a smile. “Back then, even when Li Dashao’s hand was cut clean off, my lady managed to reattach it. Yours is only a broken bone.”
Oh – right, right! Cheng Si-lang’s face lit up with excitement and relief.
“I knew it!”
Watching the few of them completely ignoring the rest, a man seated below Young Master Gao suddenly shouted, pointing at Cheng Jiao-niang as realization dawned.
“You’re that Lady Cheng!”
Reattaching severed hands, bringing the dead back to life – who else could manage such feats but the famed divine doctor, Lady Cheng?
And her surname was Cheng!
So it was her – the “fool from Jiang–zhou”!
Young Master Gao’s smile slowly faded, and he straightened in his seat.
So she really was from that fool’s family.
“Ah, so it’s Lady Cheng,” he said at last, putting on a smile again and cupping his hands in greeting. “Truly, I’ve long admired your name.”
Hearing the commotion on that side, Cheng Si-lang couldn’t help but look over – one glance, and he saw the dazed and distraught Lady Zhu. Then his eyes fell on that fat man, and in an instant, he understood everything. The world seemed to spin around him.
“Sister, this has nothing to do with you! Go, quickly, go!”
Overcome with shame, Cheng Si-lang covered his face with his sleeve and shouted.
So this was still Desheng Pavilion! And in front of this Young Master Gao!
He had actually let his sister come to a place like this – to face people like him!
As his cry echoed, hurried footsteps sounded outside the door, followed by a burst of shouting and the thud of blows.
“Fourteenth Young Master, are you all right?” someone called out loudly.
Though Young Master Gao hadn’t brought many attendants to the brothel, once trouble broke out, plenty of people came rushing in.
He smiled faintly, glancing around the hall where the Cheng family’s retainers now surrounded him, their bows and arrows trained in his direction.
“Stand down,” he said.
The sounds of scuffling outside the door immediately ceased.
“Lady Cheng,” Young Master Gao said, looking at her with a half-smile, “what is it you intend to do?”
“That depends on what you intend to do, Young Master Gao,” Cheng Jiao-niang replied. “Do you mean to keep fighting – or would you prefer to settle it another way?”
Young Master Gao froze for a moment.
“Settle what? Fight over what?” he asked.
“The courtesan, of course,” Cheng Jiao-niang said, her gaze shifting to the kneeling Lady Zhu beside them.
Compete for the courtesan?
At those words, everyone in the hall was stunned – even Lady Zhu lifted her head to look at her.
“Sister!” Cheng Si-lang cried, covering his face, nearly in tears. “No, that’s not it…”
He wasn’t—
He wasn’t…
Then what was he doing?
How could he even begin to explain?
Before he could speak, Young Master Gao, astonished, spoke up.
“Lady Cheng, what did you just say?” he asked.
“You and my brother were fighting for the courtesan, weren’t you?” Cheng Jiao-niang said. “Then go on – keep fighting.”
This time, everyone finally understood her words, and the hall erupted in commotion.
“Lady Cheng, surely you’re joking?” Young Master Gao said.
She must be saying it out of anger.
“It’s all my fault – all my fault…” Cheng Si-lang struggled to his feet as he cried out.
“No, it’s all my fault!”
Lady Zhu threw herself forward again, sobbing.
“It’s Zhu Heng’s fault – Zhu Heng begs forgiveness from Young Master Cheng and Lady Cheng!”
A sharp crack split the air. The crying and shouting in the room stopped at once.
Cheng Jiao-niang lowered her hand, looking at the shattered teacup on the floor.
“What’s all this crying and shouting for?” she said, frowning slightly. “If a man isn’t a bit rakish in his youth, it’s a life wasted. Visiting a brothel, competing for a courtesan – what’s the big deal? You, as the courtesan, should take pleasure in being desired. They, as the patrons, treat it as amusement. If you can afford to play, then play; if you can’t, then don’t. But to wail and carry on the moment something happens – how ridiculous!”
Is that so? It… almost made sense.
Everyone in the hall was taken aback by her words.
She was a courtesan – she ought to take delight in being sought after, not grow angry or resentful because of it.
Young Master Gao admired her, pursued her – she should have been glad, should have welcomed him with a smile. That was her duty.
And yet…
Lady Zhu’s face went pale. She held her breath as tears slipped silently down her cheeks.
She had indeed lost her composure – she could no longer “play the game.”
“Young Master Gao, are you still going to fight for this courtesan or not?” Cheng Jiao-niang ignored everyone else, fixing her gaze on him as she asked again.
Visiting brothels, bidding for courtesans – such things were normally frivolous, even debauched. Yet in that moment, seeing the young lady’s calm, steady expression and hearing her words, many in the hall unconsciously straightened their posture.
It suddenly felt as though this was not a matter of play at all – but something solemn and grave.
Yes – this matter was indeed grave and serious.
Young Master Gao looked at the girl before him and slowly let the smile fade from his face.
Yes, he was competing for the courtesan. And since she knew it was he who was involved – yet still dared to speak to him like that–
This was defiance.
She was openly challenging him.
This Lady Cheng had finally come out in the open, daring to challenge the Gao family itself!
Though it was his first time meeting her, she was hardly unfamiliar to him. His father often spoke of her, and the world beyond was full of rumors – how she had a master of great skill, how she had learned strange and ingenious arts, famed among the common folk and feared in the court.
His father had said that this girl’s intellect and courage were rare in all the world. If she could not be used by the Gao family, then she must be removed.
But unless absolutely necessary, the Gao family was not to move against her themselves. First, because they had far greater plans underway – and while this troublesome little lady was an annoyance, she did not yet threaten their foundations. One must always distinguish priorities, his father had said.
And second…
“Though the ignorant talk of the common folk can’t be trusted, that girl truly carries misfortune with her,” Attendant Scholar Gao had once said, stroking his beard in thought. “Just look at all those who’ve crossed her path – none of them met a good end.”
Like Secretariat Editor Liu, like Jiang Wenyuan, like Feng Lin.
The others didn’t matter much – they had little to do with the Gao family, and even less with him, the Fourteenth Young Master. But Jiang Wenyuan…
Jiang Wenyuan had been not only his father’s key ally in both military and political affairs, but also his own trusted partner in private dealings. Since Jiang’s downfall, it felt as if a piece of his own flesh had been torn away.
And now this Lady Cheng – not only did she not stay out of his way, she had the gall to come provoke him herself.
Did she really think she could walk the world unhindered?
The Gao family’s decision not to touch her didn’t mean they couldn’t touch her.
Had she, at this moment, come forward to admit fault, offer an apology, speak a few soft words – they could have laughed it off and let the matter pass, even granting her a token of courtesy for appearance’s sake.
But to his surprise, this little lady was this brazen!
Compete for the courtesan! She actually wanted to compete with him!
“So, Lady Cheng means to compete, then?” he drawled.
“Of course,” Cheng Jiao-niang replied. “A thing once begun should be brought to an end – since it’s started, there must be a result.”
…
“What are they going to do?”
Madam Mo, her heart pounding and thoughts in disarray, jumped in fright when the usher came to report.
“They’re going to continue fighting for the courtesan,” the usher said.
Still fighting?
Madam Mo was momentarily stunned.
“…Lady Cheng also said,” the usher went on, “that earlier Young Master Gao had more men, and her brother suffered a loss. Now that she’s brought her own people, she’s asking whether Young Master Gao wishes to keep fighting – or settle it another way…”
It was the sort of rare spectacle one hardly ever saw. The usher’s eyebrows danced as he spoke, unable to hide his excitement.
A sister bringing her men to help her brother fight over a courtesan – why, it was the sort of thing no one would believe even if you told them!
“What ‘fighting for the courtesan’!” Madam Mo raised her hand and slapped the usher so hard his hat went askew. “Are you an idiot? There’s no courtesan contest anymore – this is clearly the Gao family and the Cheng family going head-to-head!”
At odds! They had finally clashed!
Kneeling nearby, Chun Ling, who had been sobbing into the floor, lifted her head slightly; a faint smile flickered across her lips – then she bowed again, weeping all the harder.
“My poor mistress…”
How would they compete now? Continue fighting?
Lady Zhu sat in the hall, her expression blank as she looked at the people before her.
Fighting for the courtesan!
Suddenly, she laughed – her eyes glittering with tears.
Yes, “if a man isn’t a bit rakish in his youth, it’s a life wasted.” What did it matter? They competed for charm, for pride – it had nothing to do with her.
She was nothing more than an object.
“No need to fight,” she said suddenly.
Everyone in the room turned to look at her.
“This was meant to be a matter of elegance and amusement – how unfortunate that it’s come to blows.”
“Besides,” Lady Zhu continued, “though I am an official courtesan of the Music Bureau, this isn’t an official banquet or entertainment hosted by the government, so there’s no need to compare rank or status here. Tonight is merely an evening of pleasure – and courtesans trade in pleasure. For a courtesan, it all comes down to money: the higher bidder wins.”
She smiled faintly as she finished, first looking at Young Master Gao, then at Lady Cheng.
“So, whoever offers the higher price, Zhu Heng will accompany that one.”
Young Master Gao looked toward Cheng Jiao-niang, and Cheng Jiao-niang met his gaze.
“Very well,” Young Master Gao said with a slight smile.
“Very well,” Cheng Jiao-niang echoed, also smiling faintly.
