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Waking up in the early morning, after a brief exercise session, he performed a set of Tai Chi. The breeze swept across the deck, and the Grand Canal's banks were outlined in the dawn's light, azure skies and clouds, with the white-yellow glow of sunrise. From the villages along the waterway, the sounds of roosters crowing and dogs barking gradually emerged. Peasant women carrying wooden buckets drew water from the river's edge on the bluestone, glancing up at the boats passing on the river, a sight they were accustomed to, before turning and returning to their work.

Lights had already come on within the painted boat, and the people inside began to wake up one after another. Xiao Chan, carrying a washbasin, walked past and thought that the son-in-law of the Su family looked very graceful when doing Tai Chi, of course, there would be different opinions about this.

"Is that the Su family's son-in-law practicing martial arts?"

Cupping his fist in greeting, Lin Tingzhi, a Hangzhou talent traveling with Lou Shuwan, walked over from the side. Dressed in Confucian robes, under the morning sun, he appeared handsome and refined. Ning Yi glanced at him and smiled. "Just some fancy footwork to strengthen the body." He transitioned from the "Needle at Sea Bottom" stance to "Flashing Through the Arms".

Lin Tingzhi smiled as well. Seeing him focused on his practice, he stopped talking. Turning around, he saw Lou Shuwan looking down from behind a window on the second floor of the painted boat. She had probably just woken up and applied a light layer of powder. She was tilting her head, inserting a pearl hairpin into her coiled hair. Lin Tingzhi gave her a knowing smile, but her face didn't respond with a smile. It just became slightly gentler before she disappeared from view in the window.

Knowing her personality, Lin Tingzhi didn't find it dull. He opened his fan and waved it, looking back at Ning Yi who was still practicing martial arts, and walked toward the ship's cabin. At this time, seeing the pretty Juan'er coming out, he smiled and cupped his fist again. Juan'er bowed slightly in greeting, and then went out to do her own things with a flat expression.

"Brother-in-law seems to be practicing martial arts down there."

In the room on the second floor, Lou Shuwan leaned over at the dressing table, playing with her hair, while talking to Su Tan'er, who was getting up by the bed. Su Tan'er looked at the window, and then smiled. "He just likes those things."

The painted boat had departed from the Changzhou wharf yesterday morning. Traveling against the wind, it was a bit slower, but it had already passed Wuxi yesterday. It had passed Suzhou in the early hours of today and was now on the waterway from Suzhou to Jiaxing. According to Ning Yi and Su Tan'er's original plan, they should have stayed in Wuxi or Suzhou for a while, and then gone to Taihu Lake for a few days. Now the itinerary was naturally changed, mainly to deliver some goods for Lou Shuwan.

Su Tan'er and Lou Shuwan didn't have a deep friendship originally, they had just met in their girlhood. Both of them had the character of female entrepreneurs, and their impression of each other was still deep. At this time, meeting an old acquaintance in a foreign land, there was a feeling of sisterly affection. In the past two days, the two of them had basically left everyone else aside to talk together, and naturally stayed together at night, chatting about this and that, without holding anything back.

In fact, once on this ship, Lou Shuwan's only real conversation partner was Su Tan'er. The identities of the two women were similar, and Ning Yi was an adopted husband. So Lou Shuwan naturally couldn't think too highly of him. With outsiders present, she couldn't show affection with Lin Tingzhi. As for Ning Yi, she now knew the general situation: a scholar, an adopted husband, without fame – although Su Tan'er said he had no plans to pursue fame, Lou Shuwan naturally understood what she meant. Which scholar didn't want to pursue fame? It was just that he lacked talent, plus his adopted husband status, so he couldn't go down that path anymore.

Lou Shuwan herself was already married. When talking to Su Tan'er, Su Tan'er learned that her husband was also an adopted husband, with decent talent. But she only mentioned it briefly, and the impression she gave was similar to Ning Yi's. Lou Shuwan occasionally mentioned her husband, and although she said good things, Su Tan'er could naturally hear that she didn't really think much of him. She treated herself as a sister with a common experience, occasionally sighing to express an attitude of "It's all the same, you understand," and didn't say much more.

In fact, like the original Su Tan'er, choosing a man to be an adopted husband was also a last resort. The men who came to be adopted husbands were nothing more than that. According to the values of the times, they always made people feel that they lacked integrity. Lou Shuwan was naturally aware of this, but after getting married, she couldn't help but imagine how good it would be if her husband was the most outstanding.

Moreover, her husband was usually enthusiastic about literary gatherings and poetry meetings. Ning Yi, on the ship – or rather, in the attitude shown by everyone on the ship – was just approachable, but liked to tell stories of roaming knights and immortals, and liked to practice martial arts. He seemed even less motivated. Lou Shuwan expressed understanding of Su Tan'er's difficulties and didn't talk much about this aspect. After all, Jiangning and Hangzhou were thousands of miles apart, and Lou Shuwan wasn't very enthusiastic about poetry and prose. She didn't know Ning Yi's reputation, so Su Tan'er couldn't say much about how great her husband was, otherwise it would seem like she was bragging. She wanted to learn more about the Hangzhou area from Lou Shuwan, so she couldn't mention this aspect too much.

Mentioning Ning Yi's martial arts practice, Su Tan'er smiled happily and interestingly, without any reservations. Lou Shuwan thought it was mostly a forced smile. After all, if her husband also liked to practice martial arts, she would have to force a smile as well. She didn't expose it.

After that, after getting up, Su Tan'er first went to Ning Yi's room to take a look, and then went downstairs to eat breakfast with everyone. At this time, she naturally sat with Ning Yi and chatted about some scattered idle talk. After breakfast, Lou Shuwan pulled

Su Tan'er to the bow of the boat to bask in the sun. In the middle of this, Lou Shuwan discussed matters with a housekeeper from her family, and Su Tan'er pulled Xiao Chan aside to say something. Xiao Chan blushed and shook her head, replied, and then went to do her own business.

After a while, Lou Shuwan hadn't come yet, and someone leaned over from behind. Su Tan'er only felt a warmth on her body. The person hugged her and leaned down, smiling on his face, it was Ning Yi.

"Petty." he said.

Su Tan'er also smiled warmly: "No."

"Yes."

The two joked like this because Xiao Chan had slept in Ning Yi's room last night.

These past two days, Su Tan'er had been with Lou Shuwan. Yesterday evening, when Lou Shuwan left, Ning Yi chatted and laughed with his wife, and even joked that he was going to "sleep alone in an empty room." Su Tan'er knew that he didn't care, but in the evening, she called Xiao Chan over and pushed her into Ning Yi's room, smiling, "Husband, sleep with Xiao Chan, I don't mind."

Although she said this, she couldn't help but eavesdrop several times when passing by Ning Yi's room afterwards. This morning, she couldn't help but go to see Ning Yi's bed. Only after calling Xiao Chan after breakfast to ask tactfully did she learn that although Ning Yi and Xiao Chan had slept together last night, they had only hugged and chatted, and had not done anything more.

Giving Xiao Chan to Ning Yi as a concubine was a decision that had been made long ago, and it was bound to happen sooner or later. Su Tan'er had already prepared herself in her heart, but when she heard what Xiao Chan said this morning, she still felt a warmth for no reason. At this time, Ning Yi hugged her, and although someone might see it later, she just felt even warmer in her heart.

"Jealousy is one of the seven reasons for divorce, could it be that your concubine has done something wrong, and her husband wants to divorce me?"

It was really difficult to climb to the sky for an adopted husband to divorce his wife. However, after the relationship between the two deepened, Su Tan'er became accustomed to showing this kind of well-behaved appearance in front of him. Of course, there was no need to make too many jokes about status. Ning Yi didn't answer and smiled for a while.

"This is not good for Xiao Chan. I also told her last night that after we get to Hangzhou and settle down a little, we will formally marry her. By then… Well, this matter has been around for a while, it's normal for you to be a little concerned in your heart. It's me who's a little sorry for her."

Su Tan'er held his hand, shook her head, and smiled after a moment of silence: "Husband is worse than an animal."

The story of animals and being worse than animals was told by Ning Yi when he was joking before. At this time, Su Tan'er used it to tease him. Ning Yi let go of her with a "Tsk" sound, and then reached out and rubbed Su Tan'er's hair, seeming a little upset, and walked away. Su Tan'er covered her messed-up bangs with both hands, and just smiled.

This was just a small interlude during the journey. Afterwards, the painted boat continued south. According to the scheduled plan, it would arrive in Hangzhou tomorrow morning. However, some things that happened later caused everyone to stay in Jiaxing for one night.

That was just a small interlude.

*********************

Evening, near the West Pavilion of Jiaxing.

Ancient trees were lush, willows hung low. On the Grand Canal waterway, a gorgeous painted boat moved slowly. When the golden light poured down, ethereal music drifted out from between the painted boats.

Since ancient times, the Jiangnan area has been crisscrossed by waterways, and Jiaxing is also a city built along the water. Among them, the brothels naturally have many painted boats. This is the boat of a local brothel. Today, it is not a tour of Nanhu Lake. A group of talented scholars gathered, letting the painted boat travel along the Grand Canal, with music and dance, and poetry and prose.

Going on a spring outing by boat is generally in the morning, while visiting brothels is generally in the evening. This gathering started in the afternoon, so it can't be considered the golden time for doing such things. But at this time, the sun was setting, and the scenery along the Grand Canal was also full of golden colors, pleasing to the eye. Several talented scholars looked outside from the window, and occasionally the inspiration for poetry was stimulated. They pointed out the mountains and rivers, and mourned the past. The boat traveled for a while, crossed paths with several cargo ships, and then another painted boat came from upstream, gradually approaching. Suddenly, someone on one side whispered.

"Hey, come and see, come and see..."

"What?"

"Look at that."

The person who suddenly discovered a treasure was naturally one of the talented scholars, fanning his fan with a look of longing on his face. Everyone looked in the direction he pointed, and saw that there were also several people moving on the painted boat that was sailing. On the deck at the front of the boat, a woman in a white dress holding a round fan was standing there, looking at the nearby scenery. The wind blew from the front, fluttering the lotus-like skirt. The woman reached out to stroke the strands of hair by her ear, and the sunlight poured down, covering the figure with a circle of magnificent gold.

Next to the woman, there was also a maid-like woman talking. The two talked and laughed. As the two boats approached, the woman's appearance became clearer and clearer, and the sound of whispers rang out.

"Wow, which family's young lady is this?"

"That boat doesn't look like it's from here. It's probably from the Suzhou area."

"Is she a family member of an official?"

"Hey, hey, hey, you're being rude by looking like this."

Everyone pointed, and as they got closer, the woman could see the crowd on this painted boat, and frowned slightly. Unlike the women of ordinary families, this woman was beautiful, but when her eyebrows were twisted, combined with her standing posture, she naturally had a cold aura. After looking at the scenery a few more times, the woman turned and walked towards the cabin, and the maid also glanced at it and followed behind. On that painted boat, someone touched his nose, and someone else laughed.

"Insulting beauty."

"What are you doing looking like this? Don't forget that Miss Qing'er is here."

"It seems that I can't compare to that girl."

"What are you saying? In my eyes, Miss Qing'er is much more beautiful..."

In such talk, someone suddenly said: "Ah, Lin Tingzhi."

"Who?"

"Look, isn't that Lin Tingzhi, Lin Yong Lin Tingzhi..."

Jiaxing and Hangzhou are not far apart, connected by waterways. It only takes from morning till night to arrive, so the connection between literati is considered close. One or two of them recognized Lin Tingzhi, who was showing himself from the window over there, and that Miss Qing'er also recognized him: "Oh, it's really Young Master Lin."

"This Lin Tingzhi is a famous social butterfly. How could he be on that boat?"

"Is that so? I heard he has a lot of poetic talent..."

"Probably just spreading rumors. How can Jiangnan talents not talk about romance? That Lin Tingzhi looks handsome, like me..."

"Isn't he in Hangzhou?"

"That girl seems to be a married woman. Could she be a woman who was picked up by Lin Tingzhi?"

There was another burst of discussion. The two painted boats had already passed each other at this time. Everyone was talking about that Lin Tingzhi. Suddenly, someone whispered: "Ah, Lou Shuwan..."

At this time, another beautiful figure appeared on the deck at the back of that painted boat. Everyone looked over. The person who said the name was originally a scholar from Hangzhou, with a somewhat complicated expression. Someone next to him listened and asked: "Brother Chen, do you also know the people over there?"

"Brother Chen is originally from Hangzhou, so it's no wonder."

The people around said, and that man named Chen looked at Lou Shuwan, then looked in the direction where Lin Tingzhi was just now, and raised his chin: "That woman I know, she's called Lou Shuwan, she's the pearl in the palm of the Hangzhou... Lou family, Lou Jinlin..."

Saying that, a talented scholar leaned out of the window: "Boatman, hurry up and follow them, follow that boat!"

"Haha, that's right, so fated, we should say hello."

Brother Chen said: "But that Lou Shuwan is already married..." But everyone was already clamoring at this time, and his voice was small, so no one could hear him clearly. Brother Chen's expression was also a bit complicated, as if he wanted everyone not to shout, but in the end he didn't say much.

"Lin Tingzhi! Brother Lin!"

"Brother Lin."

In the light and shadow of the setting sun, with the calls from front to back, the two painted boats gradually docked together. The talented scholars on the other boat cupped their fists in greeting: "Brother Lin, long time no see."

"Brother Lin, we had a brief encounter at the poetry meeting in Nanhu Lake. I wonder if you remember."

"Brother Lin, where are you coming from? If you have time, why not come over for a meeting."

Calling friends, it was extremely enthusiastic.

Lin Tingzhi came out of the boat. Originally, he was a little surprised, but at this time, in the greeting voices, he turned his head to look at Ning Yi, Su Tan'er, Lou Shuwan and others. After a moment, he naturally cupped his fists: "Brother Wen, Brother Du, it's really been a long time..."

In the sunlight, in Confucian robes and scarf, standing tall with his hands cupped in greeting, for a moment, he really had a bit of the aura of "Don't worry about not having acquaintances on the road ahead, who in the world doesn't know you."

Lou Shuwan hadn't been very enthusiastic with him along the way. Since meeting the couple Su Tan'er and Ning Yi, she hadn't paid much attention to him. He had something in mind, and originally felt that things were normal, so he wasn't too concerned. In fact, if he didn't have such a carefree mood, he wouldn't be able to wander among the flowers. However, others didn't know who he was, and the feeling of not being valued was still unpleasant. At this time, this sudden situation became the most uplifting moment for him.

"Sorry, sorry, I have important matters with a few friends and I'm about to return to Hangzhou. I'm afraid I don't have time today..."

While cupping his hands and smiling, he said so, with great care, making excuses...

************

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