Chapter 108 — The Wei Family

Zishang heard Young Master Min laugh and say, "Brother Jieyuan, you misunderstand. My younger cousin here isn't arrogant—he 'devotes his heart solely to the books of the sages and shuts his ears to all beyond the window.' He simply doesn't understand the ways of the world. Never mind that this is your first meeting—even if you had known each other for years and been apart for a while, he would promptly forget what you look like. My cousin has made no end of jokes at his own expense over this; everyone in our family is used to it. Spend time with him and you'll see—he's never been able to recognize people since he was small..."

Thank goodness it was Young Master Min they had run into. Had it been Young Master Yu, far from explaining anything on the young master's behalf, he would have been doing well if he hadn't stirred others up to make trouble for him.

Zishang hurried after Ji Yong and out the main gate. He was just about to put in a good word for Young Master Min when he saw a black-lacquered carriage draped in blue cloth draw up before them.

Out of the carriage stepped Ji Yong's father, Ji Qi.

He was in his forties, wearing the scarlet official robe of the fourth rank, embroidered with a cloud-and-wild-goose insignia. He was handsome, mild of expression, and appeared quite refined.

Ji Qi smiled at his son. "Jianming, where are you off to?"

Ji Yong did not so much as blink. "I'm going to Yubao Pavilion to see if there are any decent inkstones."

"Do you have enough money?"

Ji Yong paid him no heed at all and climbed straight into the carriage.

Zishang hurried to answer for him: "Enough, quite enough!"

Ji Qi did not think much of it; he nodded and told them to "be careful."

Zishang nodded again and again, hastily bowed to Ji Qi, and climbed into the carriage.

Ji Qi watched their carriage roll out of Daqiao Alley before he went back inside the gate.

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The Jining Marquis's estate stood in Yuming Ward in the west of the city, where the Yan'an Marquis's estate, the Changxing Marquis's estate, and the Xingzhen State Defender's estate had all been established; most of the founding nobles of the previous dynasty had built their mansions there. The people of the capital had nicknamed the place "Wealth and Honor Ward."

At the gate of the Jining Marquis's estate, Ji Yong ran into Chen Yanzhou, who was just coming out of it.

He was quite surprised.

Chen Yanzhou was even more surprised, and stepped forward to bow to Ji Yong.

Ji Yong said, "What are you doing here? Where is the Fourth Miss?"

Chen Yanzhou smiled. "The Fourth Miss is in Zhending. She sent me to the Jining Marquis's estate on an errand."

Ji Yong's brows knit tight; he drew Chen Yanzhou aside and said, "What errand did the Fourth Miss send you on?"

Chen Yanzhou smiled and said nothing.

Looking at the delight written across his eyes and brows, Ji Yong felt a faint, uneasy sense of something amiss.

He gave a cold snort. "Don't imagine I can't find out. Telling me would only save me some trouble."

Chen Yanzhou said with a smile, "When entrusted by another, one must be loyal to the task. I beg Young Master Ji not to make things difficult for me."

Ji Yong clicked his tongue in a cold laugh. "I never thought Zhang Kai, the Fujian provincial governor, would be so spineless—while his own aide turns out to be a man of loyalty and courage."

Zhang Kai, the Fujian provincial governor, had abandoned the city and fled when the Japanese pirates attacked Fuzhou; he was beheaded by Jiang Meisun, the Fujian commander and Duke of Dingguo, and his head hung on the walls of Fuzhou for three days as a public warning. The whole court and the whole country knew of it.

Chen Yanzhou's expression changed drastically, turning cold and severe in an instant. "Then I must trouble Master Ji, the provincial graduate, to go and inquire for himself." With that, he flicked his sleeves and climbed into a carriage nearby, which rattled away.

Zishang watched the dark-faced Ji Yong with a sinking heart, muttering uneasily to himself.

The young master has never in all his life been ignored like that—he must be furious, surely?

Who knows how the young master will deal with this old fellow Chen?

Still, this old fellow Chen seems to be one of the Dou family's Fourth Miss's people, and that Fourth Miss is formidable too—she played deaf and dumb and beat that Pang Kunbai half to death. If the young master makes trouble for her man, who knows whether she will come looking to settle accounts with him?

The young master's temper is fierce enough, but every time he meets the Dou family's Fourth Miss it is like fire meeting water; no matter how fiercely your flames burn, a word or two from her drenches him to the bone and leaves him gasping for a long while.

If the Dou family's Fourth Miss and the young master fall out, will it splash onto a small fry like me?

Zishang was stewing over this in misery when he heard Ji Yong grind out through clenched teeth, "We're going back."

The young master is not going to the Jining Marquis's estate after all?

He was taken aback for a moment, then hurried to help Ji Yong into the carriage.

That evening, when Zixi returned from gathering information for Ji Yong, Ji Yong was in his room, stamping with fury.

"That woman—can't she just keep to herself for once? I said I would help her, and of course I would see the thing done properly and completely. What is she doing stealing the show herself!" When he had finished cursing, he slumped weakly into the grand master's chair, looked up at the blue-green scrolling-vine pattern painted on the ceiling, and grinned. "And yet—so clever, so capable..." At that he leapt up and asked Zishang, "Which restaurant in the capital is the best? I want to invite He Yu for a drink!"

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To all you readers: here is the catch-up chapter I owe you from yesterday.

ps: Begging for pink votes...~~~~(_

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