The spring rain pattered softly against the window. It was March, and the Qinhuai River was beginning to swell. (Search: \[Complete God Station]) to read high-quality literature for free. The rain came suddenly, and a duck struggled awkwardly in the water. The maid, Kou'er, hurried outside to gather the laundry. Yuan Jin'er stood on the riverside terrace, poking the water with a tree branch, then turned to watch the pleasure boats passing on the river.

The windows of the pleasure boats were open, and inside were feasts and music. The girls and talented men, startled by the rain, ran to the windows to peer out, some teasing and embracing each other. Yuan Jin'er leaned against the railing, watching the scene. After a moment, Yunzhu also came out to watch the rain. The wind stirred the hair of the two women on the terrace, and the gazes of some talented men on the boats were drawn to them, attracting the hostile stares of several women.

Yuan Jin'er held down her hair, pouted, and snorted softly, pulling Yunzhu back into the room. They only opened the side window to watch the rain.

This was Yunzhu's room. Needlework and some clothing were laid out on the bed, indicating that Yunzhu had been mending before going out. These were old clothes for the adopted children. Some were torn, and Yunzhu, having nothing to do, was repairing them. Jin'er had no skill in needlework, not because of her personality, but because she hadn't learned. Courtesans needed to learn singing, dancing, and various techniques to please men. If they sewed clothes for guests at night, it was a sign of a desire to redeem themselves and marry. The madams didn't forbid learning, but they didn't deliberately teach it. Yunzhu's skills were from her days as a lady of an official's family.

"I was going to go to Qingyuan to see what was happening, but it's raining. So boring."

Yuan Jin'er knelt and sprawled on a chair, swinging back and forth listlessly.

"If you're bored, come and mend clothes with me."

"I can't."

Yuan Jin'er shook her head and laughed, shamelessly. Yunzhu smiled, leaning against the bed and picking up her needlework. Dressed simply and gracefully, she resembled a painting of a beautiful lady as she leaned against the bed. Jin'er watched for a while, then grew bored again. She drank tea, rolled around, hopped about, strummed the zither a few times, but was not proficient. Then she picked up the pipa, sat by the window, and began to play a light melody.

"The mighty Yangtze River flows eastward, its waves sweeping away heroes. Right and wrong, success and failure, all turn to nothing... The green hills remain, how many times has the setting sun reddened them..."

Although Yunzhu excelled in music, Jin'er's singing was melodious and refreshing when she sang casually. Yunzhu raised an eyebrow and glanced at her. Jin'er sang half a verse and stopped at "white-haired fishermen on the reefs," then hummed more freely. After humming, she looked at Yunzhu with the pipa in her arms. "Sister Yunzhu, aren't you bored?"

"What's boring?" Yunzhu bit off the thread and picked up another piece of clothing.

"It's boring to be so quiet all day. Sister Yunzhu, you always seem so content..."

"If you're bored, we can play Shuanglu. We can call Kou'er in too," Yunzhu said with a smile.

"Playing that all day isn't much fun." Jin'er shook her head, put down the pipa, walked to the bed, and straightened a mended piece of clothing for Yunzhu. Then she stretched out her arms, lay on the bed, and asked after a moment, "Sister Yunzhu, what was it like when you were a lady of an official's family?"

"Reading 'The Book of Filial Piety for Women,' doing needlework, playing Shuanglu with people, hide-and-seek and things like that," Yunzhu paused. "Actually, it's not much different from now, but I was younger then, and everything seemed interesting."

"Did you ever want to get married?"

"How old was I then?" Yunzhu rolled her eyes at her. "But later I did. I didn't really know what it meant, but I understood it was like my parents, being with someone...for the rest of my life. But boys were boring then. I thought maybe marriage was just finding a boy and talking to him all day, and that would be fun."

"Just talking all day."

"Just talking," Yunzhu laughed, then lowered her eyes. "Later, I...hoped someone would rescue me. Who knows what marriage is like? I just heard people say that marriage is a very happy thing. So I desperately learned to play the zither and sing, but after seeing more things, I didn't think those things were so happy anymore...Anyway, whatever I thought at any time, it always seemed like a few simple things, so I don't think I'm bored now."

"Uh..." Jin'er pillowed her arms, gazing wistfully at the mosquito net above. Yunzhu smiled. "You just want to go to Qingyuan and see what those scholars are saying, right? I don't usually see you so bored."

"Hehe." Jin'er grinned.

They were talking about something that happened at Qingyuan yesterday. Yunzhu and Jin'er were there and accidentally stumbled upon a group of scholars flattering each other, writing poetry, etc. This was common, of course. But when they praised each other to a certain extent, they started talking about Ning Yi, saying that Ning Liheng was just a coward with no real talent, that he hadn't produced any new poems recently and was running out of inspiration, not as good as so-and-so. So while they were composing poems, Yunzhu went to the next courtyard and played and sang "Linjiang Xian. The mighty Yangtze River flows eastward."

This was naturally a good poem, but Ning Yi hadn't shown it to the public, only told Yunzhu in the form of a song. She intentionally let the people next door hear it. After she finished singing, the place was silent. When the scholars asked who wrote it, Yunzhu had someone from Qingyuan tell them it was Ning Yi's work, and then she pulled Jin'er away.

She wasn't usually one to show off, but when it came to Ning Yi, she occasionally reacted this way. Jin'er wanted to hide there and see the expressions on the scholars' faces, and she clung to a pillar and refused to leave, but Yunzhu finally dragged her away.

Jin'er herself was playful, loved to cause a stir, and loved to join in the fun. She didn't get to enjoy the feeling of "playing dumb to fool someone" yesterday, and this morning she planned to tell Ning Yi about it when he came, but he probably had something to do and didn't come this morning. So she thought about going to Qingyuan during the day to see if the story had spread, but then it started raining heavily, which was really depressing. After laughing, she blinked her eyes. "Sister Yunzhu, do you think he didn't come this morning because his wife at home had her baby?"

"Ah..." Yunzhu accidentally pricked her finger with a needle, put it in her mouth and sucked on it, then playfully hit Jin'er, who was watching with interest.

"Sister Yunzhu, you care too."

"Of course I care," Yunzhu replied softly.

"Men are so annoying." Jin'er turned her gaze to the top of the mosquito net and said slowly, "He hasn't even mentioned marrying you, why do you still like him..." This wasn't a question; they had discussed similar things many times before. They weren't feminists, and it would be difficult for Ning Yi to marry her, but they always had some hope.

Yunzhu was quiet for a while. "Jin'er, you know Liheng is good at everything, right?"

"Yeah, I admit that."

"But he's not good at this at all."

Jin'er's eyes widened, and she suddenly turned over, lying on her stomach, twisting her hands together, and looking at Yunzhu. "Sister Yunzhu, you guys did *that*?"

Yunzhu pursed her lips and lightly kicked her. "I didn't say that! I mean...it's not a problem for those scholars you and I know to keep a woman outside, right?"

"Hehe, yeah."

"He's annoyed, doesn't know what to do, and is conflicted. Although he doesn't show it on the surface..."

"Uh...it seems a little bit." Jin'er thought for a moment. "Tch, men, so useless."

"I like it very much." After a long while, Yunzhu stopped her needlework, lowered her head, smiled, and said softly, "He probably doesn't even realize it himself, but I like it very much. For those things he's good at, I just think it's expected, and it doesn't matter if he's not good at them. But it's this thing he's not good at at all that I really like, Jin'er."

She blinked her eyes. "Liheng is always so calm, but...maybe it's because he's been in Jinfeng Tower for too long. Only this thing, I saw it a long time ago, maybe he saw it too, but even if he did, there's nothing he can do. I think, to be able to see him like this, not to mention I'm now the reformed Nie Yunzhu, even if I were still the lady of an official's family, no matter what happens next, I'd accept it..."

After she said this, she continued to sew, lowering her head. The rain was still falling. Jin'er lay there and watched her for a long time, finally sighing. "You..."

The spring rain submerged this small building, and the entire city of Jiangning, in a watery mist. In the Su residence, in the courtyard where Ning Yi and his wife lived, there had been chaos for half the morning, because Su Tan'er had stomach pains in the morning and thought she was going into labor. After the midwife arrived, she discovered it was a false alarm, but the real birth was probably just a day or two away. They retained the midwife to stay in the house, and Ning Yi was in the room comforting his wife. At the same time, a strange rumor was spreading among a few specific people in the second and third branches of the Su family, a rumor about Ning Yi having an affair with a reformed courtesan. The source of the information was temporarily unknown.

"Is it true?"

"I don't know..."

"If this is true..."

"It could be big or small, think carefully..."

"The last chance to break the deadlock, right..."

The small-scale rumors in the darkness did not disturb Ning Yi and the rest of the main branch for the time being. And also in this afternoon, in the increasingly heavy rain, at one end of Jiangning City, a battle was taking place in several courtyards in the city, covered by the rain.

Where there are people, there is the Jianghu. These courtyards belonged to a large gang in Jiangning City, whose leader was named Cheng Lie. The gang's name differed by only one word from the once-famous Badao Meng (霸刀盟) of Tiannan Martial World, called "Baidao Meng" (百刀盟) - Hundred Blade Alliance.

But the strength was obviously much weaker.

Now, the courtyards of the Hundred Blade Alliance were filled with corpses and blood. A dozen men in black raincoats had broken in, some carrying bundles, looking like travelers. Cheng Lie's best generals had all died in the previous battle. Now, he was covered in blood, holding a broken long saber, leaning against a pillar in the main hall, watching the approaching, burly man wielding a pair of axes. "Who...who are you..."

"Heh, after you die, remember this grandpa's name...This grandpa is called Li Kui! Whoever dares to touch my brother will pay with their life!"

The giant ax crashed down!

Outside the gate, on the side of the street, with a *snap*, a plaque with the three characters "Baidao Meng" (百刀盟) fell to the ground in the rain. Xi Junyu looked back, chatted with a man next to him, then turned back to see a carriage coming from the other side of the street. Several people got out of the car, all wearing black raincoats that both shielded them from the rain and concealed their identities. The man in the lead was tall and wore a bamboo hat, with a long spear on his back. Although his face under the hat was handsome, he seemed to be hiding a sorrow.

Xi Junyu cupped his hands. "So, the brothers have arrived. Brother Lin, you're from Tokyo, what do you think of Jiangning? I know this place well. Later, this little brother will find a good restaurant to welcome the brothers and wash away the dust."

The men cupped their hands. The man in the lead nodded and "Mm"ed, then turned to look at the courtyard next door. Although the courtyard gate was closed and it was raining heavily, he could still hear what was happening inside.

"Brother Xi, we're here in Jiangning for serious business. I have nothing to say about your personal vendetta, but remember not to interfere with the main task."

"Of course, of course, thank you, Brother Lin, for your teachings..."

"It's nothing." The other party reached out and patted him on the shoulder, then walked past him.

Xi Junyu breathed a sigh of relief. Although everyone had been calling each other brothers for some time now, he still had an inexplicable fear and respect for certain people, such as the Military Advisor, and the one in front of him, the former...

Eight Hundred Thousand Imperial Guards Instructor! (To be continued.) Vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)

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