Chapter 55

Chapter 55

The next day, night fell over Huaijiang.

The long street along the riverside road was bustling and prosperous, with many elegant establishments lining both sides. Xuzhou had long been famous for the saying, “paper leaps into the world as a landscape painting,” and had always been a place scholars and poets yearned for.

A small covered boat cut through the emerald river waves and drew up beside the bank.

The boatman lowered the gangplank, setting it against the shore.

A middle-aged man in a dark green robe patterned with linked lozenges stood at the bow. He looked to be in his forties, with a slightly plump build and a smiling face. Several deep creases folded at the corners of his eyes.

“Lord Xie, this way, please.”

The attendant beside him extended a hand in invitation.

Xie Qiu glanced at the prefect of Xuzhou. His shrewd eyes flickered slightly, the corners of his mouth curved in a smile, and he gave a nod.

The party slowly disembarked.

Countless lights blazed along the river, reflected on the water like flowing gold.

Beneath the clamor and splendor, undercurrents stirred above the high towers and sweeping eaves.

Sheng Zhaoning sat on a rooftop. Moonlight draped her in a layer of silver, and the hem of her black robes billowed in the wind, rippling in waves like spilled ink.

Her gaze passed over the surging crowd and locked straight onto Xie Qiu.

In the darkness, killing intent bared itself completely.

–

Inside Baoyue Tower, the graceful strains of strings and flutes drifted into the ear. The fragrance of tea and wine mingled with the cloying scent of rouge and powder, forming an air of decadent luxury.

On the stage, a lone zither melody rang out.

The famed courtesan singer of Xuzhou was unlike the other girls in the tower, who dressed in revealing clothes. She was covered properly in a pale blue-green gauze dress, her fair wrists like frost, her face as gentle as water. Without gaudy ornaments to adorn her, her bearing seemed all the more clear and pure, like a lotus, with a subtle fragrance stirring in the air.

“Lord Xie, this is the most famous songstress in Xuzhou, Bai Bi,” the prefect introduced with a smile.

Xie Qiu smiled without speaking. He lifted his wine cup and took a small sip, offering no reply.

Watching his reaction, the prefect’s eyes flickered twice before he spoke again. “Bai Bi lives up to her name-white jade without flaw, untouched by dust. She has been in Baoyue Tower for three years, and remains a virgin still.”

He deliberately emphasized the final words, his eyes never leaving Xie Qiu’s face. Sure enough, once he finished, Xie Qiu’s expression shifted, and a trace of interest colored his gaze.

“Since she is such an otherworldly, pure person, I imagine she is unwilling to be defiled,” Xie Qiu said, setting down his cup.

A hint of disdain slipped into the prefect’s voice. “She stepped into a place of worldly pleasures to earn money from romance and desire, yet still dreams of keeping herself unstained by the mortal world. Where under heaven is there such a good bargain?”

Xie Qiu laughed twice, his words and tone making his agreement unmistakable. “Prefect Zhang has a unique insight. Very well said.”

With that, Zhang Wen naturally understood his meaning.

The two raised their cups and drank together with smiles.

Knowing the matter was as good as settled, Zhang Wen said, “Lord Xie is inspecting Huainan on behalf of the Emperor. Your service has been arduous and meritorious. When you return to the capital, I hope you will put in a few good words for this humble official before His Majesty. I would be endlessly grateful!”

As his words fell, the men beside him carried a chest over and set it before Xie Qiu.

The lid was lifted just enough to reveal a gap, and yellow and white gleamed within.

The smile in Xie Qiu’s eyes deepened.

“Prefect Zhang is honest in office and devoted to public duty, highly virtuous and respected. The people all praise you. Once I return to the capital, I will naturally report the truth to His Majesty.”

Zhang Wen was overjoyed. He immediately rose and toasted him with another cup of wine.

“Many thanks for your trouble, my lord!”

Xie Qiu unhurriedly raised his cup in return and drank.

Amid the passing of cups, the night grew deeper.

After several rounds of wine, Zhang Wen saw that the time was ripe. He turned and murmured a few instructions to a subordinate. Once the man received his orders, he went directly to the steward of Baoyue Tower, then headed for Bai Bi’s room.

No one noticed the pair of pitch-black eyes at the second-floor railing, deep as thick ink, flashing with a sharp light in the darkness.

…

Inside the private room, a faint fragrance stirred.

Bai Bi had been drugged and lay asleep, impossible to wake.

After a few cups of warm wine, Xie Qiu had not lost his senses, but he was somewhat drunk. His cheeks were flushed, his gaze sluggish, and his steps swayed faintly as he was led all the way to the second floor.

“Lord Xie, please have a good rest.”

Zhang Wen saw him to the door, his eyes full of a sly, suggestive smile.

Xie Qiu narrowed his eyes and pointed at him with one finger, looking as if he understood perfectly.

The two men looked at each other and burst out laughing.

The wooden door opened, then closed again.

A figure stepped into the room.

Inside, drugging incense curled upward in hazy wisps. Red gauze curtains half hid and half revealed the bed, where the candlelight cast a faint, slender silhouette through the veil.

Xie Qiu’s steps were unsteady. Suppressing the wicked heat surging up inside him, he staggered toward the bed.

“We share shallow wine before the crowd; by lamplight, soft jade fills my arms.”

The sound of footsteps drew closer and closer.

Bai Bi’s mind was muddled. All she felt was a wave of heat through her body, her mouth dry and parched. Through her blurred vision and the gauze curtain, she saw that figure approaching little by little beneath the dim yellow light.

“A glance back, a fall into my embrace-what could be more fitting? Ah, ah, ah…”

The footsteps continued.

Bai Bi’s awareness gradually cleared, and panic rose in her heart. She struggled to prop herself up, staring at the man’s shadow outside the curtain with terror in her eyes as she kept retreating backward.

“Who are you…?”

Clutching her chest, Bai Bi gasped for breath.

Before she could finish, the red curtain was yanked aside. The incense scattered, and a lecherous face crashed into her terrified gaze, the predatory gleam in his eyes enough to make one’s skin crawl.

Xie Qiu thrust his head inside and took a slow sniff of the fragrance lingering in the curtain, savoring the traces of the beauty within.

“She lightly pushes her lover away; then comes a trembling cry, a startled flush rising red.”

In this place where no one was watching, he stripped away his disguise and revealed his true, hideous face-vicious, obscene, and ugly.

“Beauty, here I come.”

With a savage grin, Xie Qiu lunged toward the bed.

“Ah-!” Bai Bi fought desperately against the man pressing down on her, nausea and terror churning through her in waves.

“Let go! Let me go! I’m a courtesan who only entertains guests-I don’t sell my body!”

“Only entertains guests?” Xie Qiu’s eyes filled with mockery. Pinching the beauty’s snow-white wrist in his hand, he sneered. “Your Lord Prefect already sold you to me. Why are you still pretending to be so pure?”

The prefect?

Zhang Wen’s face flashed through Bai Bi’s mind, and a violent surge of fury and despair swallowed her whole.

“No. You can’t force me!”

She struggled weakly, tears falling nonstop, repeating the same cry over and over. “I only entertain guests. I only entertain guests…”

Xie Qiu was irritated by the noise and slapped her hard across the face.

“Ah!”

The heavy blow struck Bai Bi. Her fair, tender face instantly swelled red, a streak of blood seeping from the corner of her mouth. Darkness swam before her eyes, the sharp taste of iron spreading through her mouth, and she no longer had the strength to struggle.

Her clothes were torn away layer by layer. Tears streamed down Bai Bi’s face as she closed her eyes in despair.

Then a hot, sticky splash suddenly hit her face.

The world around her went utterly still.

Xie Qiu’s hands were still on her body, but he himself had frozen in place, rigid and motionless.

Only then did the thick stench of blood reach her.

Enduring the warm, reeking stickiness clinging to her face, Bai Bi trembled and opened her eyes.

The man who had been pressing down on her now stared with his eyes bulging wide, his entire body stiff. The terror on his face had not yet faded, but a sharp sword had already pierced straight through his heart.

His neck turned stiffly, his eyes fixed on the person holding the sword.

“Who… are you?” Xie Qiu choked out in broken gasps.

The candles had long since been extinguished. Beneath the window, only the pallid moonlight mingled with the lamps of the long street outside, casting a faint glow into the room.

The man withdrew his sword without a ripple of emotion, and blood immediately gushed out.

Xie Qiu collapsed stiffly to the floor, clinging to his final breath and refusing to close his eyes.

The man walked forward slowly. The tip of his shoe stopped before Xie Qiu. Then he lifted one foot and stepped on Xie Qiu’s face, grinding down hard, a cold and terrifying aura radiating from his entire body.

The greasy face beneath his foot was nearly crushed to pulp.

He moved his toe away, crouched down, and, just before Xie Qiu breathed his last, said each word clearly.

“Son of a farming household from Suzhou-Zhou Wei.”