"Come, come, drink..."
"You certainly can hold your liquor, Young Master Chen~..."
Paulownia Street blazed with dazzling lights. Everywhere, cups passed back and forth amid the endless warbling of sweet feminine voices.
Behind the buildings, however, a ghostly black shadow slipped through the darkness between the houses, reaching the dark alley behind Golden Screen Tower in mere moments.
Wearing a Bamboo Hat and night clothes, Ye Jingtang leaned against the wall and listened. After spending a long while distinguishing the conversations within the hubbub, he caught an exchange:
"When it comes to luck, His Highness the Heir has me beaten. Mine hardly counts..."
"Oh my~ Don't be so modest, Young Master Xu. You won quite a bit of silver from His Highness today. Unless you host another gathering tomorrow, His Highness certainly won't let you off..."
"Naturally..."
The voices came from a window on the eastern side of the main building's second floor. Ye Jingtang sprang up, scaling the building like a gecko crawling up a wall, and hung upside down beneath the projecting eaves, preparing to slip inside.
Just then, however, a slight disturbance arose in the distance.
Ye Jingtang frowned and concealed himself silently beneath the eaves, watching the courtyard behind the wall out of the corner of his eye.
The courtyard housed Golden Screen Tower's stables and carriage shed. Quite a few fine horses and several large carriages stood there, along with a handful of attendants who were dozing in chairs in the stillness of the night.
A wall separated the main building from the stables. Horses and carriages entered and left beside the main building, heading onto Paulownia Street out front; distinguished guests also boarded and alighted at the side entrance.
At that moment, an old man with a goatee emerged from the main