Drifting clouds suddenly veiled the bright moonlight, plunging the riverbank into darkness as several low rumbles of thunder sounded.
Rumble...
Wearing his bamboo hat, Ye Jingtang slowly paced outside the harbor. The sweetness of his time with Heroine Luo gradually scattered on the night wind, and all manner of tangled worries rose in his mind:
Dumdum has treated me with every courtesy. Whether for the greater good of the realm or my own small obligations, I can only try to bring the Sky-Pacifying Sect into the fold. But how am I supposed to persuade Xue Baijin to surrender...?
I stole her wife, and now I want her to surrender. Doesn't that make me the villain...?
And then there's Third Madam. Xue Baijin is a woman, but I can't tell Third Madam that. How am I supposed to explain this...?
I stole her woman, then claimed the Sky-Pacifying Sect wouldn't move against the Red Flower House. It'd be a miracle if Third Madam believed me...
Ye Jingtang raised his eyes. In the distance, light still shone through a second-floor window of the ferry.
The mature beauty sat with her back to him at the second-floor window. Though he could not see her very clearly, he could still sense from afar the resentment and sorrow radiating from deep within her.
"Ah..."
Ye Jingtang rubbed his forehead. After a brief silence, he put on a calm, gentle air and walked toward the ferry.
But just as he entered the harbor, a figure stepped out of the shadows:
"Jingtang."
Thinking Third Madam had been lying in wait for him, Ye Jingtang jumped. But when he looked over, he saw that it was Song Chi, the second-in-command responsible for making the rounds.
Dressed in a brocade robe, Song Chi approached with a rather grave expression: