The young gentleman's surname was Li. His father was the prefect of Dayuan City, which made him as good as the city's imperial prince.
His upbringing had been strict, so he had few disreputable companions, but there were still plenty of social engagements he could not avoid.
The previous night, a friend had invited him to a banquet.
Knowing he would never dare set foot in a brothel within the city, that friend had chosen a place beside a stream outside it.
There were several establishments there whose food and girls were both very expensive.
Young Master Li had never encountered such a scene. He sat on pins and needles throughout the banquet, and after being plied with a few cups of wine, he could sit still no longer. He slipped out on the pretext of relieving himself.
The establishment lay deep in the mountains. In the darkness of night, he lost his way in his panic and followed the stream to this pool full of lotuses.
Not daring to wander any farther, he sat on the hillside hugging his knees and endured an entire night.
When his friend and the people at the establishment discovered he was missing, they were naturally very anxious, but they searched toward the outside of the mountains, never imagining he was upstream.
After sitting there for half the night, Young Master Li's body had long since gone stiff. When dawn broke, he was so eager to look at the lotuses that he lost his footing and fell straight into the water, nearly drowning.
Fortunately, two people had been beside the water at the time.
Jing Jiu naturally would not have asked about any of this. Young Master Li had told them everything himself.
Young Master Li followed them all the way back to the