Shuzhou City lay beneath a shroud of dark clouds, and nightfall came earlier than usual.
The hour of the Rooster had not yet passed, but the sky had already dimmed.
Outside the shops lining both sides of Kanning Street, lanterns glowing with a warm, pearly light had been lit one after another.
Some lanterns were plain and spotless white, while others bore characters such as "Medicine," "Books," or "Cloth."
At any rate, they lit the road for passing pedestrians.
Chen Yi held an oil-paper umbrella and walked unhurriedly along the edge of the bluestone road, so as not to obstruct the carriages passing by.
The endless drizzle pattered softly against the umbrella's surface.
Mingling with the chirping of cicadas, the rumble of wheels over the road, and the laughter, chatter, and clamor of nearby pedestrians.
Noisy, yet full of the warmth of mortal life.
Yet none of it entered Chen Yi's ears. Even his eyes seemed to have become half-automated mechanisms.
Only when he encountered an obstacle did they prompt him to turn left or right around it.
All his attention remained in Fengchun Tower.
Again and again, he replayed those sounds that had lasted no more than three breaths.
There had been Xiao Dongchen, Chen Yunfan, the Cui Family's young lady, and voices from the main hall and the private rooms upstairs.
Most were half-finished sentences or meaningless filler words.
Things like, "...like Lord Liu..." and "...a wife as fierce as a tiger, nothing like Brother Fang's concubine..."
Nothing like what?
Chen Yi subconsciously filled in several descriptions: beauty that could topple kingdoms, soft and supple, or sweet and charming.
Scattered fragments, pieced together bit by bit.
The remaining meaningful words were mostly less valuable than the Cui Family young lady's interest in Ma Liangcai.
After Chen Yi noted