Entangled Love GL - Chapter 17
The Yunyun Hall was located on the busiest street in the capital, a place bustling for all twelve shichen (24 hours) of the day. Here, there were intoxicating delicacies and fine wine, music and dance, and even more intoxicating beauties. The Yunyun Hall had been open for three years, but its reputation and influence seemed to have lasted thirty or three hundred years. No one in the capital did not know about it, and everyone felt as if it had always been there. In three years, its business flourished and prospered, attracting countless wealthy men and a finite number of curious women.
This day, the autumn wind was clear and bright, the sky was high, and the clouds were pale. It was nearly noon, and many guests in the main hall of the Yunyun Hall were eating—breakfast. Of course, the guests were enjoying not only the food and wine, but also the decadent string music filling the hall, and the warm, jade-like fragrance by their side.
Suddenly, the main hall fell silent. A very young girl walked in from outside the perpetually open main door: red clothing, a long sword, her glances radiant. It was not normally surprising for a woman to enter the Hall. Guests would glance once or twice and then pay no more attention, but this girl’s identity was unusual. Sharp-eyed guests had already recognized her; she was Yang Mei, the new Pavilion Master of the Pavilion, with her Bl00d Dance and Cold Light. The Yunyun Hall was located in the territory governed by the Howling Tiger Hall. The Howling Tiger Hall and the Pavilion were both listed among the Four Overlords of the capital; although they had no great enmity, they were not friendly either. It was rumored that the Yunyun Hall had the current Emperor’s third son, Prince Xuan, as its backer, while the Pavilion consistently supported the Crown Prince and was wary of Prince Xuan. While it wasn’t unheard of for people from the Pavilion to come here to seek pleasure, would the Pavilion Master, and a girl at that, walk in so openly just to look around if she didn’t have serious business?
Someone immediately stepped forward, smiling widely, seemingly without any alertness: “A distinguished guest has arrived! I failed to welcome you, I failed to welcome you!”
Yang Mei curved her smiling eyes: “I’m here to find Lady Yun. Please inform her.”
Lady Yun was the proprietress of the Yunyun Hall, and the number one great beauty. She always smiled very charmingly, and anything she said made people feel entirely comfortable. However, no one knew when she would appear, and no one was so brazen as to make a move on her: she had never said anything, but rumors suggested she was Prince Xuan’s woman.
Lady Yun arrived quickly, wearing a long dress of water-red layered gauze, covered by a small jacket embroidered with pale gold flowers. She looked at Yang Mei with a smile: “Miss Yang, what brings you to my place?”
Yang Mei was already seated in a small hall behind the main hall. She quickly greeted Lady Yun with a smile and said, “I apologize for my abrupt visit, Lady Yun. Please don’t take offense. This is truly an unexpected matter, and I’ve come to ask for a favor.”
“Oh?” Lady Yun’s eyes shifted, “Is there anything I can do to help?”
The two had long been famous but were meeting for the first time. Lady Yun subtly assessed Yang Mei, and Yang Mei subtly assessed Lady Yun. In Lady Yun’s eyes, Yang Mei was a girl in the full bloom of youth, with red lips and white teeth, very bright and beautiful. When she smiled, she was three parts charming and seven parts candid, like a simple, guileless younger sister. In front of Yang Mei was a woman of twenty-five or six, with slender, willow-leaf eyebrows, beautiful peach-blossom eyes, and an extremely delicate face. Beyond her looks, she possessed a mature charm that was captivating. She was also extremely adept at using expressions; one smile was seductive, and the next became elegant and pleasing.
Facing such a beauty, Yang Mei’s heart skipped a beat and she felt a little upset. She quickly refocused her mind and presented a small box: “As this is my first visit, here are twelve gold and jeweled hairpins to express my sincere regard. Please accept them, Lady Yun.”
Lady Yun took the box and opened it to look. The twelve hairpins were exquisite and unique, shimmering with radiance: “Miss Yang is so polite, but I wonder if I can be of assistance?”
“Lady Yun, just grant me a convenience. I need to borrow the Floating Fish Platform for one shichen [two hours].”
“May I know the time?”
“Noon today.”
“What a pity,” Lady Yun showed a very regretful smile, “If it were any other time, let alone one shichen, you could borrow it for two or three shichen, Miss Yang, but noon today has already been reserved by someone.”
The Floating Fish Platform was a scene in the back garden of the Yunyun Hall. The back garden of the Yunyun Hall was only open to guests on the fifteenth day of every month; outsiders could not normally enter.
Yang Mei was not surprised. She only asked, “Who made the reservation?”
“It’s a guest staying here. I shouldn’t say much more about others.” Lady Yun smiled with a slight apology, and anyone facing such a smile would be unable to help but sympathize with her.
Yang Mei nodded. After pondering for a moment, she took out a red letterhead: “Lady Yun, please have a look at this.”
A rouge-colored peach blossom was painted on the letter. Lady Yun stared when she saw it. She then read the two short lines of text: Temporarily borrowing a bamboo slip for viewing. Will return it in person at noon tomorrow at the Floating Fish Platform of the Yunyun Hall.
“Lady Yun, is your guest the Peach Blossom Thief?”
In recent years, an elegant thief had emerged in the jianghu (martial arts world). They specialized in stealing precious objects cherished by others, yet they were not greedy. Within two days, they would definitely invite the victim to a gathering and return the stolen item. If the victim did not attend in person, the item would still be returned to its original location, but it would inevitably be damaged. This thief had many friends and many enemies. The letter left behind was always marked with a peach blossom painted in rouge. The jianghu called her the Peach Blossom Thief. Half a month ago, the first Peach Blossom Thief case occurred in the capital, followed by several others in quick succession. The authorities were currently investigating. Yang Mei knew about these things, and Lady Yun knew about them too.
Lady Yun hesitated, slowly saying, “This guest of mine arrived here half a month ago. She was extremely generous, reserving an upper-floor room and securing the company of one of my sisters. The next day, however, she secretly ran to the Quiet Garden in the back, where she met…” Lady Yun glanced at Yang Mei, “a friend of mine, and then simply took off her male attire, resumed her girl’s appearance, and refused to leave the Quiet Garden.”
Yang Mei’s expression was complex, and she thought, inappropriately: Is the friend she hinted at Duan Min? And Duan Min, since leaving the Pavilion, hasn’t stepped out of the Yunyun Hall once in four months, staying with her every day, and has even revealed everything about herself? Lady Yun naturally didn’t know her thoughts and added: “But I don’t know if she is the Peach Blossom Thief.”
Yang Mei sighed softly: “I cannot not go to the appointment at the Floating Fish Platform at noon today. Whether Lady Yun’s guest is or is not her, I only hope you can accommodate me and let me go in and take a look.”
Lady Yun smiled gently: “If Miss Yang insists on going over, I cannot stop you. How can I refuse this easy favor?”
The Floating Fish Platform was a scene located by the winding lake on the north side of the back garden. Layers of wooden planks curved over the winding lake, covering a little less than half of the lake surface. Between the wooden planks was a water pavilion. The pavilion had hanging curtains, which, when raised, allowed ventilation on all eight sides, and when lowered, separated the inside from the outside. On the fifteenth night of every month, only the most generous guests of the Yunyun Hall could enjoy this platform of romance. Ordinarily, even the most generous guests could not set foot here. There was only another kind of guest here—the guests of the Quiet Garden.
The Quiet Garden currently had only two residents, and the Floating Fish Platform had only two people at this moment.
The girl in green casually strummed the strings, producing unmelodious notes one by one, and asked, “Why did you ask me to come here?”
The girl in apricot-yellow clothing smiled playfully as she leaned on the railing to feed the fish: “I have an appointment with someone today. She’ll be here right away. Just wait a little longer. It’s bound to be interesting!”
The girl in green shook her head: “Things you find interesting, I always find uninteresting.”
The girl in apricot-yellow clothing suddenly turned around and cried out in surprise: “Oh dear, Min-jie, we’ve only known each other for half a month, and you already have that old married couple feeling?”
At this moment, the girl in green, Duan Min, finally saw what she was holding in her hand and said with a look of disgust, “Do you have to feed the fish this way!”
The girl in apricot-yellow clothing was surprised: “You are also afraid of earthworms? These are earth dragons, they are medicine! I thought since you know medicine, you wouldn’t be afraid.” Saying this, she threw all the earthworms in her hand into the lake, and then squatted down to wash her hands in the lake water, “Now there’s no need to be afraid. They are not easy for me to dig up this season.”
Duan Min’s face looked unpleasant. She played the strings without moderation for a moment, and a wail emerged from the instrument. Just as the wail ended, someone stepped out from the bamboo forest, approached the winding lake, and stepped onto the wooden planks.
Leading the way was Lady Yun. A slightly more lively spirit showed in Lady Yun’s smile as she said, “Ah Min, you really should learn the zither properly. My ‘Mysterious Zhen’ will soon fall apart if you continue to abuse it like this!”
Following behind was Yang Mei. Yang Mei did not say a word, her gaze fixed on the people in the water pavilion, her expression absent-minded.