Young Master Xu said, "I truly owe him my life. How could I be the sort of person who fails to repay a kindness? You needn't trouble yourself; just help me pass a message to the Prefect of Cheng."
Old Qin finally stopped and turned around. "Young Master, do you truly think the Exalted One is blind?"
Young Master Xu shuddered from head to toe. Old Qin shook his head. "Clinging to one another for survival is not as good as forgetting one another in the rivers and lakes. Even if you're repaying a kindness, your favor is too great; he couldn't bear it. He might well be crushed to pieces beneath its weight. Surely that's not what you want to see."
Young Master Xu's pale hand struck the railing. The blood jade, carved by master craftsmen after years of painstaking labor, shattered in an instant. "I hate that I wasn't born into an ordinary family!"
A trace of pity crossed Old Qin's face. "Rest assured, Young Master. I'll look after him. Even if the Exalted One punishes me, when the time is right, I'll repay this debt of gratitude on your behalf."
"Thank you!"
Young Master Xu clasped his hands in a deep salute.
Old Qin sighed again and hurried away. Just as he was about to pass through the sea of flowers, his voice rang out once more. "The marriage negotiations will be happening soon. Since you've returned to women's clothing, keep wearing it from now on. This is also... the Exalted One's will."
Xu Yi wandered around the city, spending several hours going back and forth between taverns, brothels, and theaters.
At last, he stopped at a tavern called Pengkelai. He entered the main hall, ordered twenty catties of cooked meat and two jars of old