Chen Wenzong stood by the desk, holding the Xuan paper and silently reciting lines of poetry about autumn, as serene as jade. For some reason, a hint of regret and pity arose in his heart. His regret was that, apart from “Withered vine, old tree, evening crows,” all the other poems consisted of only single lines. While a single line of poetry was undoubtedly exquisite, it always lacked a complete artistic conception and could not be considered a complete work.

Just as Chen Wenzong was about to put down the Xuan paper, he picked it up again… It was precisely these incomplete and regrettable lines that made him intensely curious. He examined the calligraphy of the poems: the handwriting was delicate and elegant, certainly not written by the Prince. Chen Wenzong recalled that when the maid previously drew back the curtain, it was Princess Baili who was holding the brush. Could it be that the princess had written them? Next time he saw her, he must ask what the complete poems were like. The eldest legitimate son of the Chen family in Luocheng was so captivated by the poems that he completely forgot his younger brother, Chen Ji, had also been present at the banquet.

“Brother, what’s wrong? Why are you standing there motionless?” Chen Wenxiao asked.

“Hmm, I’m looking at poems,” Chen Wenzong replied, regaining his composure.

At this moment, Lin Chaojing also got up and strolled over, curious to see what Chen Wenzong was holding. “Are those poems written by the Prince? When I was at Donglin Academy, I advised him not to cause trouble there, but he just wouldn’t listen.” As he spoke, when Lin Chaojing clearly saw the nine lines of poetry in Chen Wenzong’s hand, he also froze.

More and more people gathered around the desk. Princess Baili had brought a total of three pages of Xuan paper, and these three pages circulated among different people.

Two maids walked up, smiling, and announced, “Gentlemen, our young mistress has arrived!” Liu Hangshou was seen slowly ascending the wooden staircase. She appeared to be eighteen or nineteen years old. Her looks were not strikingly beautiful; in fact, compared to the elaborately dressed women in Red-Robe Alley, she seemed rather ordinary. Yet, her eyes, as they moved, possessed a vibrant charm.

When Liu Su reached the top of the stairs, she saw all the scholars gathered around a single desk, with no one paying attention to her. The maid wanted to speak up again to get everyone’s attention, but Liu Su smiled and stopped her. She tiptoed gently closer and, with a beaming smile, asked a scholar, “What are you all looking at?”

“Oh, we’re looking at poems.” Only when a fragrant breeze wafted past did the scholar react.

Liu Su looked at the poems on the Xuan paper and asked curiously, “Oh, which young master wrote these?”

“The Prince of Jingwang Manor wrote them, but he’s already left.”

“Left?” Liu Su went to the window, leaned on the sill, and looked down at the embroidered building. She saw the Prince and his group laughing, chatting, and playfully pushing each other as they exited. The scene downstairs was much more interesting than what was happening upstairs. Liu Su smiled and said, “They’re so lively! I almost wish I could have kept them for a drink, or gone drinking with them.”

The maid was momentarily stunned. “Mistress, what should we do now? Should I go invite them back?”

Liu Su smiled. “No need. Interesting people are best observed from a distance; they become less interesting up close. Let’s go. We still have to deal with those boring men.”

“Should we find others to fill the three empty private rooms then?”

“Of course, making money is the same no matter who it’s from.”

The Prince emerged from the embroidered building, clearly having been provoked, yet he swaggered out like a general who had just won a battle. Someone at the entrance, seeing him emerge, asked curiously, “Didn’t the Prince just go into the embroidered building? Why is he out so soon?”

The Prince laughed openly, “I can’t write poems, so I came out!”

“Did you see Liu Hangshou?”

“Didn’t see her. Good thing I didn’t spend any money, or it would have been a huge loss!”

At this moment, along the bluestone path of White-Robe Alley, every house hung beautifully shaped lanterns—some like carp, some like buildings, all exquisite and charming. The street was bustling with scholars and refined gentlemen, knowledgeable in everything from astronomy to geography. The Prince and his group walked casually down this small road, appearing completely out of place.

Once they were far from the embroidered building, the Prince whispered to Baili, “I did the right thing today, didn’t I?” Baili smiled and said, “That’s right! You’re truly my brother; a person should be so decisive.”

“Heh heh,” the Prince smugly straightened his clothes. “They look down on us, but we look down on them too! Since we can’t beat them in poetry, we just won’t compete anymore!”

Baili’s eyes curved with a smile. “Exactly, what’s the point of endless comparisons?”

Liu Quxing added, “Did you see Lin Chaojing’s show-off just now? He looked like a peacock fanning its tail.”

She Dengke grumbled, “You haven’t learned much of Master’s medical skills, but you’ve certainly mastered the art of disparaging others.”

Everyone burst into laughter, and the recent unpleasantness was completely swept away.

At this moment, Liang Gou’er asked, “Prince, where are we going now? Red-Robe Alley, Jin Fang, or somewhere else?”

The Prince waved his hand and said, “Not Red-Robe Alley first. The young monk should have finished his chanting by now. We’ll pick him up, and then go to Jin Fang together! How can we leave him out of such a joyful occasion? We’ve brought out the one with a limp; what’s one more monk?”

“…Then, when we return to the manor, can you just leave me at the medical hall? Don’t worry about whether I live or die; I don’t want Chen Ji to go drinking.”

“No!”

“Let’s go back to the manor to pick up the young monk; not one person less!”

“Pick up the young monk!”

Chen Ji watched, wide-eyed, as this group of lunatics, arm in arm and laughing heartily, impulsively decided to walk for over half an hour back to the manor to pick up the young monk, and then walk another half hour back to East Market. It was as if, when everyone was young, they could be recklessly wild and waste time without a care. As long as you gracefully stood in your youth, if you fell asleep, the world would forgive you. At some point, you would be convinced by worldly views that this was wrong. But when you look back in your twilight years, you suddenly realize there’s no inherent right or wrong, success or failure in this world. The days when you and your friends stood on tables singing loudly until dawn, or smiled foolishly at the girl you liked, those were truly the good times. Because you can never go back.

Chen Ji asked, “Princess Baili, are your brother and his friends usually this crazy?”

Princess Baili smiled faintly. “They’re usually even crazier than this. The year before last, during the Lantern Festival, when we returned to Luocheng, he got drunk and insisted on going to Tuoluo Temple to strike the bell. He and a few of his dubious friends secretly scaled the wall in the middle of the night. The sound of the bell woke up hundreds of nearby residents, and Father hung him from a beam and beat him for an entire day.”

“Why did he want to strike the bell?”

“He said he wanted to awaken those who couldn’t be woken…”

“He certainly woke up quite a few.” Chen Ji looked on with solemn respect.

“I’m with him now because I’m worried he’ll do something outrageous like that again.”

“Are you feeling sorry for your brother getting beaten?” Baili shook her head. “Last time, my father beat him for a whole day and collapsed from exhaustion, only recovering after half a month. Father is already busy and tired; it wouldn’t be good if he were angered by him again.”

Chen Ji: “Such deep father-daughter affection.”

By the time everyone had picked up the young monk and returned to East Market, it was late at night. Red-Robe Alley was still brightly lit, with two rows of red lanterns hung from one end of the street to the other, like fireworks that would never fade. As Liang Gou’er carried the bamboo chair past the buildings, a courtesan from an upstairs window waved her handkerchief, giggling. “Isn’t that Brother Gou’er? Which patron are you accompanying for drinks tonight? Don’t go to Jin Fang looking for Miss Yan’er; you can’t outdrink her. Come drink with me; I’ll be down after two cups!”

Liang Gou’er laughed and cursed, “I won’t drink with you; I’m afraid you’ll drain my Yang energy!”

The courtesan upstairs began to curse, “Liang Gou’er, the wine you buy is enough for that Yan’er to open another Jin Fang! You’ve been tricked and still won’t listen. What she drinks with you isn’t wine at all; it’s water!”

Liang Gou’er continued to carry the bamboo chair forward, laughing as he responded, “I’m happy to!”

At this moment, a dazzlingly beautiful woman came out from Jin Fang to greet them. “Brother Gou’er, you’re here!”

Liang Gou’er laughed heartily. “Miss Yan’er, don’t bother with other guests today. Call the other girls to attend to them. Good, for our table, don’t neglect my new friends.”

Yan’er glanced at the Prince’s silver-threaded python-patterned robe and immediately responded with a smile, “Alright!” She led everyone up to the second floor, arranging a very spacious private room. Dishes and drinks were brought out like a flowing banquet, with no duplicates.

In a short while, a group of courtesans rushed in, bringing with them a fragrant breeze. Baili glanced at them and pointed to Chen Ji. “He doesn’t need company; he’s injured.”

At this point, one of the courtesans tried to sit on the Prince’s lap. The Prince looked at Baili and chuckled awkwardly, “Oh no, no, drinking is enough.”

Just then, a guest outside was heard saying, “Have you heard? That good-for-nothing Prince of Jingwang Manor wrote twelve lines of poetry in the embroidered building.”

“Oh, how were they?”

“Haha, do you know Lin Chaojing, the one most likely to compete with Chen Wenzong for the top scholar position this year? He said the Prince’s writing was utter nonsense. Every poem was only half a line, none of them complete. Who knows where he picked them up, or if he even bought them.”

“What did others say?”

“Everyone else said the same thing, that the Prince’s talent only extends to piecing together half-lines of poetry.”

“He’s a good-for-nothing Prince, after all.”

The private room where the Prince was sitting was quiet. He drank a large bowl of wine, exhaled a breath of alcohol, and asked, “Miss, let me ask you, how do you find the line ‘In autumn, the frontier scenery changes, geese from Hengyang depart without a trace’?”

The courtesan smiled and said, “My dear brother, I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

The Prince scratched his head and asked again, “‘After a new rain in the empty mountains, the weather turns autumn in the evening,’ is this line well-written?” The courtesan refilled his wine, smiling, “Prince, please don’t trouble me. If you want to attract girls with poetry, you should go to White-Robe Alley. Here in Red-Robe Alley, it’s better to just fill your cup first. We don’t cater to scholars!”

The Prince paused, then burst into laughter. “This place is good, it’s really good! I don’t care for those scholars either!”

The courtesan covered her mouth and chuckled. “There are also middle-aged scholars who secretly like to come to Red-Robe Alley. Before bed, they’ll quietly take sea dog pills for impotence with their wine, asking me to wait and not rush. Before the medicine takes effect, he’ll talk to me about Han history, about classical texts, from astronomy to geography. At those times, I really admire him. But once the medicine kicks in, I’ll ask him where Sirius is, and he’ll say, ‘Don’t ask, just take off your clothes quickly.'”

The young monk’s face flushed crimson. He listened while chanting sutras, and chanted sutras while listening.

The Prince recalled what the other guests had just said. It turned out the poetry he had longed for wasn’t as important as he’d imagined. “When I first arrived at Donglin Academy, I saw Chen Wenzong and Lin Chaojing reciting poems and composing couplets. I was terribly envious in my heart, wondering why they could be so graceful and romantic, and why I couldn’t. I wondered if, by writing good poems, like the excellent line ‘If life were only like the first encounter, what would autumn wind sorrow for a painted fan,’ I could stand alongside them. Today, I suddenly understood that I and they are fundamentally from two different worlds; there’s no need to force it.”

The Prince raised his large bowl and, from a distance, lifted it towards Chen Ji. “Sorry, your poems were humiliated along with mine.”

Chen Ji smiled and comforted him, “It’s fine, you paid for them.”

The more the Prince drank, the more talkative he became. “And the masters at the academy, they constantly demand that we be self-reliant, yet they bring their own concubines into the academy! Ah, the Donglin Party members.”

Baili frowned and gave the Prince’s waist a hard pinch. “Brother, mind what you say.”

“Haha, no more talk, no more talk! Drink, drink!”

That night, the Prince drank an unknown amount of wine. Chen Ji, who hadn’t intended to drink, also unwittingly became dizzy and disoriented. Secret Intelligence Department, Military Intelligence Department, Luotian Sect, fighting techniques, sword-seed pathways—everything was cast aside, leaving only the sweet wine of Red-Robe Alley. Chen Ji forgot why he had drunk so much. He only remembered that in his haze, someone shouted, “Let’s go, to the Drum Tower to watch the sunrise!” So, a group of people carried him out the door.

Before leaving, Liang Gou’er took Yan’er’s hand and asked, “Are you coming to watch the sunrise?”

Miss Yan’er smiled and said, “There’s still business at Jin Fang.”

Liang Gou’er asked again, “Are you coming?”

Miss Yan’er replied, “Yes.” They sprinted through the night to the Luocheng Drum Tower. Baili slipped a silver peanut to the soldier guarding the tower, who then let them pass. Arriving at the top of the Drum Tower, a cool autumn breeze blew, and Chen Ji opened his eyes.

He saw the Prince sitting forlornly on the railing, looking as if he might fall off at any moment if the wind blew. The Prince asked loudly, “Liu Quxing, what do you want to do in the future?”

“I want to inherit my master’s legacy and become an imperial physician!”

“Good, from now on, you’ll be my Imperial Physician of Jingwang Manor!”

The Prince then asked loudly, “Liang Mao’er, what do you want to do in the future?”

Liang Mao’er thought for a moment. “I want to acquire a few acres of land.”

“I’ll give it to you tomorrow!”

The Prince then asked, “Chen Ji, what do you want to do in the future?”

Chen Ji mumbled, “I really don’t know. Just survive, I guess.”

Everyone burst into laughter. “What kind of idea is ‘just survive’?”

“Prince, what do *you* want to do in the future?” Liang Mao’er looked up and asked.

“I want to be a great knight-errant!” The Prince laughed and said, “I’ve just realized that reading those classical texts is useless. From now on, I’ll read whatever page the wind turns to, and tear out any page that’s hard to read! Beat the drum!” With that, he picked up a drumstick, ready to strike the huge drum upstairs. However, Baili held him back. “Brother, have you really thought this through? If you strike that drum once, the soldiers guarding the Drum Tower downstairs will be exiled to the army!” The Prince sheepishly let go. “Then I won’t strike it.”

Chen Ji looked to the other side. Liang Gou’er was gazing dreamily at the sky, while Miss Yan’er leaned gently against him, lost in thought. Liang Gou’er put his arm around her. “Liuxian, where have you been all these years?”

Yan’er clutched Liang Gou’er’s lapel, as if trying to hold onto the warmth of this wanderer. She whispered, “I’ve returned.”

“It’s good you’re back, it’s good you’re back.”

As his voice fell, someone shouted, “The sun is out!” Chen Ji looked up and saw a red sun slowly rising at the edge of the world. Clouds drifted by, and the reddish light gradually bathed everyone. Around him was a group of drunkards acting foolishly, yet even the morning sun in autumn was so gentle.

Baili looked at Chen Ji. “What are you thinking about?”

Chen Ji smiled and said, “I want that cloud in the sky to stop moving.”