As darkness fell, the fine rain that had been drifting down for so long instead grew heavier.
The rain splashed against the ground with a rushing patter, drowning out the city's other noises.
Yet even the rain could not interrupt the nightlife of the city's wealthy. Restaurants, guild halls, brothels, gambling dens, even opium parlors—none of them ever lacked bustle.
A little past eight, a sedan chair emerged from the rear courtyard of Fragrant Courtyard. A sedan bearer stood at either end, both dressed in straw rain capes. Beside them were a saber-wielding guard in a straw cape and a steward in a raincoat.
To fully demonstrate respect and attention toward their customers, let alone rain—even if knives were falling from the sky, management would still have to show up. Service, too, had a legacy stretching back thousands of years. Those who did business with the rich knew how to give their customers a good experience, so they could take more silver from their pockets...
The sedan bearers carried the chair steadily; that was their trade. Inside the cramped compartment, the slight Liansheng rose and fell gently with it.
At that moment, she thought of Zhao Erhu, the childhood sweetheart who had foolishly said he would come save her. She had been the one to tell him the date she would be sent away. She did not know what had possessed her. After all these years of training, she had seen so much splendor already. Zhao Erhu, reeking of the countryside from head to toe, was not worthy of her.
Yet that sincere, foolish country boy had somehow touched the softest part of her heart. It was not that she was deeply in love with Zhao Erhu. She simply liked that kind of foolishness...
There was an alley that one