Chapter 34: One Twist After Another

The arrival of Commander Jin brought a swift resolution to the dispute in Pear Blossom Alley. It would be inaccurate to say the true master had appeared; rather, it was the "true father" figure. Commander Jin’s presence served as undeniable proof that the drunkard had been lying. No matter how loudly the man cried injustice, insisting that it was indeed the Qiu woman who had invited him there, no one believed him anymore.

Amidst the trembling apprehension of the Qiu siblings, the drunkard was taken away by Commander Jin, who happened to be patrolling with his men after a recent transfer from the West City Military Garrison. The others were released without charges. The residents of Pear Blossom Alley were given a stern lecture, and after promising submissively never to obstruct the law again, they dispersed.

By then, the midnight curfew had struck, and the sound of the street-clearing whips echoed through the city. No one was permitted to wander the streets; anyone caught would be treated as a thief. An Chunfeng returned to her courtyard and shut the gate, thinking to herself that she had been fortunate. Although Commander Jin appeared cold and heartless, he was a sensible man who did not, like Constable Xin, throw everyone into prison indiscriminately without asking questions. He had not made things difficult for her, merely asking a few perfunctory questions about when and where she had moved, then releasing her after checking her household registration and the leasing contract from the agency. With the testimony of her neighbors, she hadn't been overly worried about her safety, but she certainly had no desire to suffer such an ordeal for no reason. This night had truly been full of twists and turns.

As the city gates closed, the vast capital fell into immediate silence, as if a behemoth had drifted into a deep sleep. Only the brothels and pleasure quarters remained full of singing and dancing, bathed in drunken luxury, with the competition at the Hundred Flowers Pavilion reaching its climax. Amidst loud cheers, countless "acacia coins"—tokens representing silver—were tossed at the feet of Xingniang, who was spinning wildly in her suspender dress. Had An Chunfeng seen it, she surely would have been shocked; the lace-trimmed undergarments visible beneath the fluttering skirt offered less coverage than a thong, making the effect even more provocative. No wonder several men, their blood boiling with desire, were already suffering from nosebleeds.

Unlike the noisy revelry in the North City, several households in the city were currently enduring agony. At the Tang residence in Shun'an Ward, Madam Liu was pacing restlessly, checking the doorway every few moments. When she finally heard footsteps approaching, she rushed forward, only to ask anxiously upon seeing her second son, drenched in sweat, return: "Erlang, did you find Yuexi?"

Tang Erlang threw himself toward the table and grabbed a teapot, gulping down the contents. Only after his parched throat was moistened did he say in a hoarse voice, "We didn't find her. Father and I have already searched the road from Yue Lake to Shun'an Ward twice, and we asked all the merchants along the way. None of them saw my sister..." Before he could finish, Madam Liu’s eyes rolled back, and she collapsed in a dead faint.

Tang Yuexi had gone missing, and with her, her maid, Yuanyang. The Tang family had only realized something was wrong at the hour of the Pig (9:00 PM to 11:00 PM). According to tradition, the Moon Worship ceremony began at the height of the Dog hour (8:30 PM), when the moon hung over the willow trees—the perfect time for the ritual. By the time the ceremony ended and the young ladies returned home, it should have been well before the hour of the Pig.

When Tang Yuexi failed to return, Madam Liu initially assumed the carriage had to drop off Sun Ruyi first. She had even felt secretly pleased, thinking it a good thing for her daughter to associate more with the Sun family, and that a late return was no matter. However, as time slipped away, she grew increasingly uneasy. She had no choice but to find Tang Pinshan, who had already retired with Concubine Ping, to report that their daughter had not yet returned home.

The moment Tang Pinshan saw that it was already the height of the hour of the Pig, with only half an hour left before the city gates closed, he felt a sudden dread. Too preoccupied to scold the woman who only cared about climbing the social ladder, he hurriedly left with his second son, who had also been dragged from his bed. By the time they finished searching, it was already time for the curfew. Tang Erlang hurried back to send word to the household, while Tang Pinshan remained at the Sun residence, waiting for the Sun family’s servants to search within the ward.

Madam Liu did not remain unconscious for long; as soon as she was helped onto the couch, she came to, weeping until she was breathless. Tang Yuexi was the apple of her eye; if anything happened to her, she would not want to live either. Ignoring the fact that the city gates were closed, she insisted that Tang Erlang go to the Sun residence immediately to demand her daughter back. In her view, it was Sun Ruyi who had taken her daughter away, and now that she was missing, Sun Ruyi could not escape responsibility.

Tang Erlang was also deeply frustrated. He had accompanied Tang Pinshan to the Sun residence to inquire, but Sun Ruyi had not appeared, sending only a maid to answer. The story was that while offering "clever cakes" at the Yue Lake Pavilion, his sister had gotten into a dispute with some young ladies from the households of princes, marquises, and the Vice Minister of the Ministry of War. She had left in a fit of pique without telling anyone, nearly causing the young ladies and the rest of the party to miss the Moon Worship ceremony.

In this way, not only was Sun Ruyi blameless, but Tang Yuexi was portrayed as ill-mannered, having offended even the noble ladies of the princes' and marquises' estates. Initially, Master Sun had urged people to search, but upon hearing that Tang Yuexi had displeased the eldest daughter of the Count of Guang'an's household, he became lax, leaving Tang Pinshan to sit in the hall while he retired to bed.

While the main courtyard of the Tang house was collapsing in despair, the adjacent courtyard was entirely unaware. Madam Qin was resting in bed, and Qin Mu had finished his calligraphy and gone to sleep early. It was not until the next day, when Concubine Ping and the serving woman bringing their meals arrived, that they learned something had happened in the house.

Upon hearing the news, Madam Qin’s mouth fell open in shock, unable to close for a long time. Stimulated by the news, she suddenly felt full of vigor, her illness largely forgotten, and she kept insisting on going to the main courtyard to comfort Madam Liu. Concubine Ping could not refuse her and had to take her along.

When Qin Mu heard the news, he remained stunned for a long while. He did not remember if this had happened to his nominal younger aunt in his previous life. He only remembered that the aunt, Yuexi, had married a man of poor character—a low-ranking official who was fond of drink and gambling, and who beat her every time he was drunk. After she married, she would come to visit and weep every time, and his stepmother, Sun, would offer some old clothes and money to "console" her, only to laugh heartily once she had left.

Qin Mu clenched his fists. He hadn't known what had happened back then, but now he knew: she must have been abducted and humiliated. The thought that Sun would later find joy in his aunt’s misfortune made him sick. Although this aunt was not a good person either, she had never done anything to harm him or his mother. Before she married, she had always greeted him with a smile and had even given him lucky money once. After he left the household, he had harbored such deep hatred for the Tang family that he never saw Tang Yuexi again and did not know what became of her, though he doubted she had lived a happy life.

In this life, he was here, no longer an ignorant child. He would not let his aunt marry that low-ranking official; he would ensure she married better than Sun and lived a better life. Although Tang Yushu was his biological father, Qin Mu heartlessly imagined how wonderful it would be if Sun could marry a beggar instead.

Feeling a dark sense of satisfaction, Qin Mu began to rack his brain for news from his past life. Finally, he recalled a rumor he had once heard: one year during the Qixi Festival, thieves had used a theater troupe to abduct people. Because it involved the daughters of several official families, it had been covered up at the time and only mentioned years later. Could it be now?

A theater troupe... but which one? He had no idea. What should he do? If he spoke out, who would believe the words of a child? Moreover, he did not want to tell the Tang family; he would rather Madam Liu die of sheer rage.