Listening to Songs at the Pleasure House

The water in the bath slowly cooled.

Liu Ruyan's hands stopped on Chen Fan's shoulders. She forgot to move, and her body trembled slightly.

"Y-young master..."

Chen Fan opened his eyes and stood up in the water. Droplets slid down his body, which was not muscular but well-proportioned.

He did not look at the steward kneeling on the floor, nor did he pay any attention to Liu Ruyan, whose pretty face had gone pale with fright.

Take my dog's life?

Rid the people of a scourge?

Those eight words echoed in his head, and he found them absurd.

Oh, he was Zhao Long now. That made sense, then.

These bandits had quite the ideals.

"I see."

Chen Fan took the large bath towel from Liu Ruyan, casually dried himself off, then put on his outer robe.

He moved at an unhurried pace, as though the steward had just told him dinner was ready, not that someone wanted to kill him.

The steward and Liu Ruyan stared at him in bewilderment.

Th-that's his reaction?

"Young master! Those bandits are vicious! I hear every one of them is a desperado!" The steward was so anxious he was nearly kowtowing.

"Oh." Chen Fan tied his belt. "And what of it?"

He turned and walked out of the room.

Being a bandit didn't seem so bad either.

Why bother about it? Even if the bandits really did kill him, he wouldn't mind. He would simply take on another identity and start another life.

The atmosphere in Zhao De's study was so oppressive one could wring water from it.

The Qinghe County magistrate paced back and forth in his study, his face, which bore a strong resemblance to Zhao Long's, full of agitation and fury.

"You unfilial son! You unfilial son!"

The moment Chen Fan stepped through the door, Zhao De's roar hit him head-on.

Zhao De seized a fine blue-and-white porcelain vase and smashed it at Chen Fan's feet.

"Crash!"

Porcelain shards flew everywhere.

Chen Fan stopped in his tracks without dodging.

"Look at what you've done! Now look, they've come to our doorstep! They want your life!" Zhao De pointed a finger at his nose, his hand trembling.

He was truly furious, and truly afraid.

This was his only son.

"Just a gang of mountain bandits. Father, why get so angry?" Chen Fan's answer was perfectly calm.

That attitude only poured oil on the fire.

"Mountain bandits? What do you know?" Zhao De's chest heaved with anger. "The leader of that gang on Black Wind Mountain is called 'Black Wind Baleful Intent.' He used to be a squad leader in the imperial army, and only took to banditry after committing an offense! He's got real skills! You think those useless rice buckets at the county yamen can deal with him?"

"You've put a knife to your own neck!"

The more Zhao De spoke, the more frightened he became. He rushed up to Chen Fan and gripped his shoulders tightly.

"I don't care! Starting today, you're not to set foot outside the county town! You'd better stay inside the residence gates as much as possible too!"

"I've already sent someone to the county commandant to have him mobilize all the county soldiers and prepare to wipe out Black Wind Mountain!"

"Until then, you'll stay put and behave yourself! Do you hear me?!"

Chen Fan looked at his "father's" face, twisted with fear and anger, and nodded obediently.

"I'll do as you say, Father."

In any case, he hadn't planned to go out.

Zhao De looked at his son's obedient manner. It was like punching a wad of cotton; he had nowhere to vent his pent-up fury, and in the end it all turned into a weary sigh.

"Get out! Go back to your courtyard! I don't want to see you!"

Chen Fan bowed, then turned and left without the slightest hesitation.

Over the following days, the atmosphere throughout Qinghe County grew tense.

Inspections at the city gates became several times stricter.

The county soldiers donned helmets and armor, and their patrols through the town grew more frequent.

In the streets and alleys, the townspeople talked among themselves, all saying that the bandits of Black Wind Mountain were coming to kill Young Master Zhao.

Some gloated over his misfortune, while others were terrified.

Chen Fan, at the center of the storm, lived a life of unprecedented ease.

His father had forbidden him to go out, which suited him perfectly.

The Drunken Immortal Tower.

In a private room on the third floor of Qinghe County's largest restaurant, a lavish spread of food and wine filled the table.

Chen Fan sat in the seat of honor, lazily holding up his wine cup.

A gang of his fair-weather friends sat around him, every one of them wearing a worried frown, in no mood to eat or drink.

"Brother Zhao, what are we going to do? That Black Wind Baleful Intent is a devil who kills without blinking!" a fat man said, looking deeply worried.

"That's right, Brother Zhao. Why don't you... go somewhere else and hide?"

"Hide?" Chen Fan laughed and drained his cup. "My father is the county magistrate, and I'm his son. If I hide, where would that leave my father's face? Where would that leave the Zhao family's face?"

He slammed his cup down on the table.

"What are you afraid of? If the heavens fall, my father will hold them up!"

"Come on, drink!"

The group looked at his bold, sky-reaching spirit, then exchanged glances.

Brother Zhao... seems different from before.

If he'd run into something like this before, he'd probably have wet his pants in fright by now.

How can he act as though nothing's happened now?

His mood proved infectious, and the others gradually loosened up. The private room filled once more with the clamor of raised cups and shared drinks.

Chen Fan leaned back in his chair and watched them, his heart utterly undisturbed.

That night, he returned to the Listening to the Waves Pavilion.

Chen Fan did not go to Liu Ruyan's or Su Qingyu's room. Instead, he went straight to his principal wife Lin Wan'er's door and pushed it open.

Lin Wan'er was sitting under a lamp reading. When she saw him enter, she merely raised her eyes, too indifferent even to move.

A month had passed since he'd seen her, and she was still as icy as ever.

"I hear you're going to die."

She spoke without the slightest trace of concern; instead, there was a hint of satisfaction in her voice.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but I won't be dying just yet." Chen Fan walked over and pulled the book from her hands.

"You..." Lin Wan'er frowned.

"Everyone outside is talking about it. Aren't you worried that your husband will have his head chopped off by bandits?" Chen Fan bent down and brought his face close to hers.

Lin Wan'er turned her head away, avoiding his breath.

"That would be your retribution."

"Retribution?" Chen Fan laughed. He gripped her chin, forcing her to look at him. "Even if there is retribution, it'll have to wait until I'm tired of playing with you."

He scooped Lin Wan'er up around the waist and carried her toward the bed.

"Let go of me! Zhao Long, you beast!"

"Shh." Chen Fan tossed her onto the bed. "Keep your voice down. The guards my father sent to protect me are all outside."

"If you shout too loudly and they hear you, that wouldn't be good."

Lin Wan'er stopped struggling at once.

Her body went rigid. Only tears slipped silently from the corners of her eyes.

Chen Fan bent over her.

Outside the window, moonlight flowed like water.

On the city walls, torches blazed as the county soldiers watched the distant darkness tensely.

In the Zhao residence's bedchamber, only stifled gasps remained.

The next day, Chen Fan went to a pleasure house in the south of town.

He booked the finest venue and listened to the most popular girl sing a sensual tune, waving a folding fan in his hand, every bit the dissolute young master.

The madam kept him company, smiling until the wrinkles on her face blossomed like flowers.

"Young Master Zhao, it's been such a long time since you last came."

"I've been busy lately," Chen Fan replied casually.

He had been quite busy.

Busy enjoying life.

A singing girl in a pale green dress sat before the stage with a pipa in her arms, her slender fingers plucking its strings.

She sang a song called "Immortal by the River."

"The rolling Yangtze flows eastward, its waves washing heroes away. Right and wrong, success and failure, all turn to nothing in the blink of an eye..."

Her song rose and fell, tinged with a hint of desolation.

As Chen Fan listened, he found himself somewhat lost in thought.

Yes, right and wrong, success and failure, all turned to nothing in the blink of an eye.

Hadn't all his striving in his previous life likewise come to nothing in the blink of an eye?

In this life, he could be a wastrel and experience life, then take on another identity and start over after death.

That was true freedom.

He raised his cup and drained it in one gulp.