Chapter 50

Only then did Ning Chang'an understand what Lin Ying truly meant by changing his appearance beyond recognition.

Lin Ying said coolly, "Sit down. Tilt your face up. Raise your head."

Ning Chang'an did as she instructed. With a focused expression, Lin Ying gradually applied the Human Skin Mask to Ning Chang'an's face from bottom to top. Then she gently pressed it with a powder puff as though giving him a massage, until the mask adhered seamlessly to his face. Only then did she stop. After studying him for a while longer, she took out a brush, an eyebrow pencil, tweezers, and more than a dozen other inexplicable creams and powders, beginning to work freely upon Ning Chang'an's new "face."

The transformation took a full two hours. By the time it was finally complete, it was already breakfast time in the early morning. Ning Chang'an picked up a mirror and was startled even himself. The person in the mirror was utterly unfamiliar: his face was covered in wrinkled, chicken-skin folds; his hair was streaked with white; a messy tuft of beard hung from his chin; and two sparse eyebrows drooped over his face. Yet it did not look fake in the slightest. He truly looked like an old steward. Ning Chang'an immediately thought of Old Man Mu, unable to decide whether to laugh or cry.

Lin Ying asked smugly, "Well?"

Ning Chang'an praised her sincerely. "It's truly masterful... but your eyes seem a little off. They don't look like an old man's eyes?" He was not yet twenty, and his eyes brimmed with youthful vigor, carrying none of life's weathered traces. Naturally, they did not resemble an old man's eyes.

Lin Ying's eyes lit up. "Is that so?" Her hand suddenly flicked, and a cloud of smoky powder shot straight at Ning Chang'an's eyes. He had no time to evade it, and the powder immediately entered his eyes. A sharp pain flared within them. How could he possibly open them? Great tears streamed down his face.

Ning Chang'an said, both alarmed and furious, "You?!"

Lin Ying replied unhurriedly, "Don't panic. It'll be better in three to five days. Open your eyes and take another look. Doesn't it resemble them now?" Only after his tears stopped did Ning Chang'an slowly open his eyes. In the mirror, he saw a pair of utterly unfamiliar eyes—clouded and dull, dim and lifeless, yet with an occasional sharp glint flashing through them. Were these not precisely the eyes of a typical old man in his twilight years?!

At noon, a carriage slowly departed from Lin Manor. Driving it was Ning Chang'an, disguised as Laifu, Lin Manor's mysterious old steward.

The wind stirred the small salt-and-pepper beard on Ning Chang'an's chin. Bent at the waist and hunched over, he drove with an intent expression, perfectly imitating a stout old man without revealing the slightest flaw.

Dressed with the dignified elegance of a young lady from a great family, Lin Ying sat upright inside the curtained carriage.

The carriage traveled steadily from the north of the city to the east, neither hurried nor slow, until it stopped before an extraordinarily vast and magnificent estate. It was not the residence of some retired high official, but a royal residence—the Wuchang Villa, named for the meaning of civil refinement and martial prosperity.

Ning Chang'an stopped the carriage in the small square before the estate, which exuded a rich royal air. He descended without hurry, lifted the curtain, and only then did Lin Ying gracefully alight. Servants had long been waiting at the entrance to Wuchang Villa. The instant they saw Lin Ying step down, they warmly came forward to greet her. Lin Ying's expression remained cool as ever as she casually handed an invitation card to the young steward.

The steward bent slightly at the waist and accepted the invitation with both hands. At a glance, he broke into a generous smile. "So it is the eldest young lady of Lin Manor. Please, please enter!" Turning around, he called in a long voice toward the inner courtyard, "Miss Lin Ying of Lin Manor has arrived..." The final word dragged on for a long, long time.

After calling out, the steward made an inviting gesture and led mistress and servant into the estate. Lin Ying walked straight ahead, while Ning Chang'an said to the steward, "Young fellow, please see to it that my young lady's carriage is properly settled."

The steward smiled. "Certainly, no problem at all!" Another servant emerged from the side and drove the carriage toward the stables through a side gate.

The two had only just crossed the entrance to Wuchang Villa when a hearty laugh rang out from behind the dragon-and-phoenix auspicious screen wall in the inner courtyard. "Welcome, welcome! Hahaha, Miss Lin has honored us with her presence. What an exceptional fortune!"

The voice arrived before the man did. From behind the screen wall emerged a graceful young nobleman, dressed in a dragon-embroidered brocade imperial python robe, black boots upon his feet, precious jade at his waist, and a folding fan in his hand.

Ning Chang'an's heart stirred. Because of the distinction between master and servant, he did not lift his head to look. Yet merely from hearing that voice, he already knew who this person was without seeing his appearance. Was this not Young Master Tang, the man who had proposed marriage to Liu Ruyan?!

Lin Ying dipped slightly in a respectful curtsey. "This common girl, Lin Ying, pays her respects to Your Highness the Third Prince!"

Young Master Tang turned out to be the Third Prince of the Great Gan Dynasty, an elder brother of the current Crown Prince, named Tang Yinzheng. Yin carried the meaning of descendants and progeny; the name Yinzheng conveyed the meaning of a son of the righteous path. It was far from ordinary.

Tang Yinzheng waved a hand. "Miss Lin Ying, there is no need for such courtesy. Come, please enter. Mm, how has your esteemed father been lately? Is he at home?"

As she walked, Lin Ying remained half a step behind Tang Yinzheng. "My father has always roamed the world, free and unrestrained. As his daughter, I have not seen him for seven or eight months now. To be honest with Your Highness, I do not know how he has been lately either."

Tang Yinzheng nodded. "Is that so! I have lived in the imperial capital for a long time and rarely come to Yongan Prefecture. To have missed the chance to meet such an eminent man is truly a most profound regret!"

Lin Ying said, "If fate wills it, we will meet eventually. My father is merely an ordinary man. He is not worth such concern from Your Highness the Third Prince."

Tang Yinzheng shook his head. "Some people are born different. With the fortune they carry upon them, no one can afford to underestimate them in the least. Though I am a prince, I deeply admire your esteemed father as well. It is only natural that I should keep him in my thoughts."

Lin Ying smiled faintly. The three had already reached a grand hall called Warm Spring Hall. Dragons and phoenixes were carved on the upturned eaves on all four sides, while dragon mouths on the roof ridge held bright pearls between their jaws. The corridor pillars were lofty, and the gates immense. Within the hall, the decorations were luxurious, every detail carefully crafted with a uniquely ingenious touch. At this moment, Warm Spring Hall was already filled with distinguished guests. Young masters and young ladies from most of Yongan Prefecture's estates had gathered here. Everywhere one looked, refined young gentlemen raised cups together, while noble ladies spoke softly and laughed in pleasant conversation. The scene was exceedingly lively and harmonious.

Because Tang Yinzheng had personally come to receive Lin Ying, many young masters and young ladies cast her several extra glances as she entered Warm Spring Hall. Even Ning Chang'an, the old steward Laifu, was intensely scrutinized a few times by some of them.

Ning Chang'an more or less understood now. Lin Manor was an exceedingly obscure presence throughout Yongan Prefecture. Its reputation was not prominent, nor were its foundations apparent; most people likely knew nothing of its true background. Yet from the brief exchange between Tang Yinzheng and Lin Ying, Ning Chang'an concluded that Lin Ying's father must be a figure capable of shaking heaven and earth. Otherwise, Lin Ying would not have been worth Tang Yinzheng personally coming outside to greet her.

Once inside Warm Spring Hall, Lin Ying took her seat, while Ning Chang'an was directed elsewhere—a place specially reserved for the accompanying servants of these young masters and ladies.

That place adjoined Warm Spring Hall. It was a side hall of Warm Spring Hall, likewise filled with banquet tables for the servants to enjoy.

Ning Chang'an knew no one there, so he found himself a table in a corner and sat down. He picked up a wine jug and slowly poured himself a cup. Raising it to his nose, he sniffed it and found that the wine was not bad. Given Tang Yinzheng's status, even the food and drink prepared for so-called servants could not possibly be too poor. Ning Chang'an brought the cup to his lips and was about to drink when the steward's drawn-out voice suddenly carried in from the doorway: "Young Master Ning Chang'an of Ning Manor, Young Master Ning Chun'an, and Miss Ning Weiwei have arrived!"

Ning Chang'an's expression instantly stiffened. The cup of wine at his lips somehow failed to go down smoothly.

The three words "Ning Chang'an" struck his ears like a bolt from the blue.

Someone was impersonating me, actually trying to take my place and seize what should have belonged to me! Whose scheme was this? So cunning, so hateful!

Thoughts raced through Ning Chang'an's mind. He drained the wine in his cup in one gulp, then slowly filled it again. Though stormy waves surged endlessly in his heart, not a trace showed on his face. He remained the image of a frail, aged old man. Besides, he sat off in a corner, seeming out of place and inconspicuous, so no one paid him any attention.

The table held a fairly lavish spread. While pondering matters inwardly, Ning Chang'an slowly drank and ate. He had the impulsive urge to rush out and see this "Young Master Ning Chang'an," but he suppressed the thought, merely drinking cup after cup at an unhurried pace. Several tables in the distance had already gathered together. Young and old alike were playing drinking games and finger-guessing games, cups and goblets flashing back and forth in a boisterous scene.

As for Warm Spring Hall, who knew what was happening there? But in a city like Yongan Prefecture, famed for its strict hierarchy of families, a gathering of this scale was difficult to see even once in several years. If Tang Yinzheng had not personally arranged it, many young masters and ladies likely would never have had the chance to drink at the same table in their entire lives.

Meanwhile, in this side hall, everyone drank with blazing enthusiasm, and the atmosphere grew increasingly heated.

There were not many people like Ning Chang'an who drank alone in silence—only four or five at most. The young servants especially held nothing back at the wine tables, shouting with particular vigor, as though losing a drinking contest would mean disgracing their own young masters and ladies. Every one of them exerted all their strength, seemingly unafraid that they might be unable to drive carriages or run errands after returning, only to be scolded by their masters.

After several rounds of wine, the drinking contests and finger-guessing games had passed their most fervent stage. The group from several tables, now merged into one, seemed tired of drinking amongst themselves. They lowered their heads and muttered together for a while. Then a young man with a face full of acne, dressed in a blue cloth robe and a flat-topped cloth cap, suddenly stood. Holding a white porcelain cup brimming with wine in one hand, he looked across at Ning Chang'an and called, "Brother, what's the point of drinking alone in silence? Come over and have a couple of drinks with us!" There were several groups in the side hall that kept to themselves, but Ning Chang'an was the only one sitting entirely alone.

Ning Chang'an had been absorbed in his thoughts when someone suddenly called out to him. Listening carefully, he realized he was being invited to drink with them. He was unwilling and did not want to draw attention, but reality had a way of refusing to go as one wished. Ning Chang'an immediately shook his head and declined tactfully. "This old man is used to being alone and cannot bear too much clamor. I'd best not go over and cause trouble for you all, lest I chill everyone's spirits!"