Chen Ping'an and Ning Yao parted ways near the Twelve-Arch Pavilion. Chen Ping'an headed toward Ni Ping Alley, knocked on a door, and called out, "Song Jixin, are you home?"
In the kitchen, a young girl hiccupped as she scooped a ladle of water from a gourd. After taking a sip, she felt much refreshed. Setting the ladle aside, she strolled out of the kitchen, then trotted over to open the gate. Though puzzled, she still replied formally, "My young master isn't home. Chen Ping'an, why are you knocking today? Didn't you always just chat with us from your own courtyard?"
Standing beyond the courtyard wall, Chen Ping'an replied, "There's something I need to discuss."
As she opened the door, Zhi Gui teased, "Well, if it isn't a rare guest."
She glanced at Chen Ping'an's face and asked, "Looking for my young master? If it's not urgent, I can pass on a message. But if it is, you'll have to try your luck at the Supervisory Office. You've seen it yourself—he's on quite good terms with the new Inspector, Lord Song."
Seeing Chen Ping'an rooted to the spot, she rolled her eyes and said, "Well don't just stand there! Come in, unless my house is some dragon's lair or tiger's den. Do you think I'll charge you a silver tael for a drink of water?"
She covered her mouth and giggled. "Then again, knowing you, the latter probably does sound scarier."
Chen Ping'an forced a smile. "Actually, I came to speak with you. I only called for Song Jixin so he wouldn't get the wrong idea."
Zhi Gui offered a knowing smile. "Then go on. What is it? I'll say this up front—neighbor or not, friendship aside, I'm just a humble maid under someone else's roof here in Ni Ping Alley. I'm not strong, nor clever, and I can't help with much. But if it's money you need, and it can be solved with silver, then you might just be in luck. I may have a little trick up my sleeve."
Chen Ping'an gave a bitter smile. "It's not about money. I'll be straight with you. Liu Xianyang was severely beaten by someone at the covered bridge. The old shopkeeper from the Yang family's store went to check on him but couldn't do anything."
Zhi Gui looked blank. "Why haven't I heard about this? Who did Liu Xianyang cross this time?"
Chen Ping'an sighed. "A stranger. He's from a place called Zhengyang Mountain."
She ventured, "So you want to pull some strings? Find him a good burial plot? That's doable. I could have my young master mention it to the Inspector, then have someone from the office talk to Old Wei in Peach Leaf Alley. As long as you're not asking to claim a peak in some imperial-forbidden area, it shouldn't be too hard."
Chen Ping'an's already dark face turned even darker. Zhi Gui must've noticed she'd misread him. She bared her white teeth in a habitual grin and leaned back against the Spring Festival couplets on the wall, tilting her head with a sly smile. "Chen Ping'an, are you here to collect on a life-saving debt? But I'm just a maid. Even the old shopkeeper couldn't help—what could I possibly do?"
After a long inner struggle, Chen Ping'an said quietly, "Wang Zhu, I know you're no ordinary person. That snowy day when I saw you outside my house, I knew you were different. You were also the first to realize the snake gallstone was unusual. Looking back now, the way you looked at us neighbors wasn't so different from how those out-of-towners look at us now."
The girl grinned. "There is a difference."
But what she didn't say was that it wasn't just mortals she looked down on—she had the same contempt for immortals. These were truths she considered self-evident, though others might see them as arrogance or defiance.
Chen Ping'an asked, "I came to ask you—can Liu Xianyang be saved? I already used one of the Sophora leaves. It barely kept him alive, but it worked. So I want to know—do you have any more? Especially extras?"
The girl pointed at her nose. "Are you asking whether I have any Sophora leaves? Or if my young master, Song Jixin, does? I'm just a maid, remember—no parents, no backing."
Chen Ping'an stared her down. "Even if Song Jixin had them, he wouldn't give them to me. I'm asking you, Wang Zhu. If you have one, would you lend it to me? If not, do you know of any other way to save Liu Xianyang?"
The girl, always called Wang Zhu by him, rubbed her chin with one hand, gently patted her belly with the other, and shook her head. "None left. Truly. If you'd come earlier, maybe there'd have been a few. As for other methods? Don't be silly. I'm no deity. How would I know the secrets of raising the dead or regenerating flesh from bone? Don't make things hard for me, Chen Ping'an. I thought you were different. Thought you weren't the type to demand repayment for saving a life."
Chen Ping'an pressed on. "Truly none left? Even if I can't do it, can't you just tell me what might work?"
Zhi Gui shook her head firmly. "I told you. I don't have any!"
Chen Ping'an smiled faintly. "I understand."
Without another word, the boy turned and walked away, his slender figure quickly vanishing into the depths of Ni Ping Alley.
The girl stood in the narrow alleyway outside her home, watching him disappear with a complicated expression, equal parts frustration and sorrow. She muttered angrily, "So you just wasted that Sophora leaf? Then go die with Liu Xianyang. Better to pass on early and be reborn. Maybe, if you're lucky, the two of you can still be brothers in your next life. Beats those poor souls who don't even get a next life."
Returning to the courtyard, she hiccupped again as she stepped over the threshold and scoffed, "Too full."
Then, without warning, she darted forward and stomped down hard. Slowly squatting, she glared at a horned, earth-colored lizard beneath her foot and scolded, "If you borrow and repay, it's easy to borrow again. But if you little beasts ever dare to default, I'll skin you alive and boil you all in one pot!"
The four-legged lizard squirmed desperately beneath her foot, letting out pitiful hisses, as though begging for mercy.
After leaving Ni Ping Alley, Chen Ping'an ran all the way to the school, only to be told by an old man sweeping the grounds that Mr. Qi had left the day before with three out-of-town guests, heading deep into the mountains to explore. They wouldn't be back for at least three days.
Disappointed, Chen Ping'an turned to go. Then the old man suddenly remembered something and called out, "Oh, right! Before leaving, Mr. Qi told me that if someone from Ni Ping Alley came looking for him, I was to tell that boy: 'The truth has already been spoken. Whether I'm here or not won't change the outcome.'"
The boy seemed to have expected this. His eyes dimmed, like stagnant water without a ripple. Yet he still bowed deeply and said, "Thank you, sir."
The old man hurriedly stepped aside and waved his hand. "I dare not accept the title of 'sir.'"
Watching the boy slowly walk away, the old man thought he might have seen the child wipe his eyes. Shaking his head softly, he recalled the two other promising young scholars—Song Jixin and Zhao Yao—whose lives were on vastly different trajectories. Some ride the winds of spring; others weather storm after storm.
Chen Ping'an returned to Ni Ping Alley, retrieved the last pouch of copper coins hidden in a clay jar, then took three coin pouches and headed to Fulu Street. He approached the Kiln Works' Supervisory Office. At the gate, when he gave his name, the porter looked utterly confused—why would Song Jixin's neighbor be looking for both him and the Inspector?
Chen Ping'an quietly slipped him a well-prepared copper coin of high purity. Without a word, the gatekeeper glanced down, weighed it in his hand, rubbed it between two fingers, and immediately understood…