"Well, I just saw someone I used to know..."

As the sun set, in a riverside room, the woman's brush paused slightly, then continued moving.

Years ago, she had placed some children she was supporting in that alley to learn music and singing, fostering them there for two years. Therefore, Li Yun had some impression of the area. Now, hearing her mention an acquaintance and thinking of Yu Hezhong, she frowned and asked, "Someone you used to know? Who?"

"Someone who lived in the middle of the alley, always reading books. His father was a pedantic scholar who often argued with his family. I remember his surname was Ning..."

"Oh," Li Mama replied, recalling, "That child wasn't much of a scholar. He was scolded all day long, scolded until he became dull. When we left, I remember his father had passed away. Does he still live there? How did you recognize him?"

"I didn't really recognize him. He's very different from before, but I saw him sitting in front of the courtyard gate, holding a book. I went up and asked, and then I found out it was him." The woman looked at the painting on the paper, sketching and outlining, having completely depicted the alley as it appeared that day. Her painting style was elegant and fresh, yet leaned towards realism. Compared to the more conceptual style of traditional Chinese painting, her skills might not be considered masterful. Perhaps she hadn't received instruction from a great master and had mostly relied on her own talent to slowly comprehend. But the level of detail was enough to prove she was quite talented.

However, although the alley was refreshing and orderly, one of the figures in the painting was somewhat blurry, ultimately just a few random strokes, making it impossible to tell if it was an adult or a child. "Listening to him speak, he's completely different from the child who used to just sit in front of the door reading. But when I try to think about it, I can't put my finger on exactly what's different. Maybe I was mistaken. Yu-dage did most of the talking today; he didn't say much..."

Li Mama listened with some concern, "Shishi, you're not... harboring some old feelings, are you..."

The woman smiled and shook her head, "I knew so many people as a child, there aren't really that many deep feelings. Meeting someone you used to know in a different place is just fate. There's no need to go out of my way to find him... And I heard he's married into a wealthy merchant family here. I'm friendly with Yu-dage, and Yu-dage is happy with that. If I were to associate with him, it would only cause trouble for him for no reason. I saw him once today, and I probably won't see him again."

"That's good..." Li Mama patted her chest. "Don't associate with people who are beneath you. As for that Yu Hezhong, since we've already run into him, Mama will just consider herself unlucky. I won't give him the cold shoulder on ordinary days, but if he keeps coming around, our Fan Lou will turn into a charity... That Ning boy is married in... Heh, I knew that kid was useless before. What was his name again?"

"I don't know. When we met today, I only said my surname was Wang, and I didn't want to reveal my full name, so he didn't say his either. Later, Yu-dage came over, and we weren't introduced."

"It's better not to know. By the way, the news of your arrival in Jiangning has been causing quite a stir lately. Someone must be fueling the flames behind the scenes, but there are always some people you can't refuse. I think we should set aside a couple of times for a banquet so they can see the style of the capital. You can have the rest of the time free, and Mama will accompany you for walks to relax." Li Mama smiled, then frowned. "Hmph, if there really are those who are trying to take advantage of you to gain fame, don't be polite to them. Make them regret it."

"That would offend people. Then they'll say I'm arrogant..." Li Shishi tilted her head and thought for a moment. "And Jiangning is a big place; I might not be better than them."

"You always want to do everything perfectly, even when it comes to competitions, you still want to please everyone..."

"It was the same in Bianjing."

"They know they can't compare to you, so they're nice to you in hopes of getting something in return. The women in Jiangning don't appreciate it. I saw Yang Xiuhong today. She said that only half of Jiangning's Four Leading Courtesans are around this year, and Qi Lan and Luo Miaomiao are terrible. Tsk, Yang Xiuhong is having a hard time. Last year, the top courtesan under her actually ran away. It would be one thing if she redeemed herself to get married, but she was dragged off to open a tavern. There was another woman with exceptional talent in music and art who also redeemed herself and left. Now the two of them have opened a restaurant together, which makes her furious. Those two women don't know how hard life is. They refuse to marry home as young mistresses with doting gentlemen, and instead run around showing their faces..."

After seeing her sisters at Jinfeng Lou and hearing Yang Xiuhong's words, Li Yun immediately thought of her own daughters. She quickly began to nag, hoping to prevent Shishi from leaving one day without a good future... Shishi, who was listening on the side, found it interesting. "Those two sisters are admirable."

"There's nothing admirable about it, Shishi, you must never do that..." Chitter chatter, chitter chatter.

Shishi nodded and said, "Mm, I won't."

"Mama knows you. Oh, right, I heard that your Zhou-dage came to look for you today, but you weren't here. Why don't you go out with him tomorrow if you're in a good mood? Maybe see if your Zhou-dage has any new poems, so that... he can overpower everyone and beat down all those arrogant talents in Jiangning!"

Her tone sounded quite resentful. Shishi smiled. "What's wrong, Mama? Why are you so angry?"

"I'm not angry. It's just that Shishi, you came here to rest and relax for a while. Those cutthroats spread the news, and the scholars in Jiangning don't think about anything. They're saying that Shishi, you're here to show off to the people of Jiangning, and that if you come, they'll ignore you and only write poems for Qi Lan and Luo Miaomiao. Tch, as if anyone cares. If the Great Talent Zhou hadn't come with you, Shishi, you would have really been bullied. They're even spreading rumors that the Number One Talent will write a poem for Qi Lan to overshadow you. Although we'll only meet them once or twice this time, we shouldn't have a competitive mindset, but we still have to prepare well."

"Who is the Number One Talent?"

"There's no such thing as Number One in literature. Everyone has different opinions. Some say it's Cao Guan, and Li Pin writes very good poems too, but he's not in Jiangning right now. You've met someone named Gu Yanzhen before, but he's also not in Jiangning..."

The woman nodded. "I think I've met him. Two years ago, when I was still young."

Li Mama thought for a moment. "There's also... some say it's Ning Liheng, who wrote *Shui Diao Ge Tou* and *Qing Yu An*, but I asked Yang Xiuhong about him today. He doesn't write many lyrics for Jiangning's literary circles and doesn't participate in literary gatherings. He's very mysterious, so it's hard to say if he'll make a move..."

Jiangning is quite far from Bianjing, after all. The lyrics for *Shui Diao Ge Tou*, *Qing Yu An*, and *Ding Feng Bo* have been passed down to Bianjing, but the other information has become vague through word of mouth. Li Shishi has sung these lyrics and heard some rumors, but she still can't form a clear picture of what this person is like. At this moment, she looked up slightly and smiled, "I heard that he doesn't usually write lyrics or participate in literary gatherings. If he could write a new song for Shishi, so that everyone could see good poetry, that would be a good thing..."

She spoke nonchalantly about those competitions earlier, but when she mentioned the author of those lyrics, a slight hint of pride and confidence was revealed in her smiling words. Immediately, it seemed that she only had anticipation for poetry.

Li Mama knew her daughter's personality. She usually seemed indifferent, partly because she truly had that kind of mentality, and partly because she had a natural arrogance that had been cultivated over a long period. She hoped that Ning Liheng would not get involved, but verbally she only urged her daughter to contact Zhou Bangyan, the Great Talent Zhou, to get a good poem to ensure some security for this trip.

She knew her daughter's abilities. When it came to improvising on the spot, purity, elegance, grace, and loveliness were all she needed. She wouldn't mess things up, no matter how difficult the customer was. But her personality was somewhat lukewarm. For example, if she asked her to ask Zhou Bangyan for a poem tomorrow, she wouldn't feel it was necessary. If Zhou Bangyan came to find her, she would just receive him. She would have to keep nagging her and nagging her and nagging her. If she nagged her enough times, she would do things that she felt were irrelevant.

Her daughter has always been like this. As long as it's something that the people around her sincerely want her to do for her own good, she will do it, even if she feels it's irrelevant.

So, although some of her words occasionally seemed a bit strange, Li Mama still really liked this daughter. That's called being well-behaved...

Amid Li Mama's nagging, lights were lit in the small courtyard room and in the nearby streets. Small boats with warm yellow lights glided past the window on the river. On the other side of the city, in the Su family's residence, a small family banquet was held in the courtyard where Ning Yi lived, mainly to entertain Qin Shaohe, who had come to visit Ning Yi.

The eldest son of the Qin family was already nearly forty years old. His square face looked handsome and upright, but he also had a gentle and humorous side. However, his main characteristic was his upright and virtuous demeanor, much like his father. Qin Siyuan was over sixty years old and had experienced some changes. He was no longer in the officialdom and was mostly humorous when interacting with Ning Yi, but if it had been twenty years ago, Qin Siyuan would probably have had the same appearance and style.

Qin Shaohe had learned about this younger brother's abilities from his father's letters. Later, when the floods occurred, he, being a talented person himself, first obtained the disaster relief strategies his father had sent him. After making some adaptations to suit the local conditions, he achieved remarkable results, making the most outstanding contributions in last year's disaster relief efforts. He and his brother, Qin Shaoqian, had always faced more difficult promotions than others because of their father's implication, but this time, with his achievements, the higher-ups had no choice but to promote him to prefect. He was grateful for Ning Yi's help, and now Ning Yi had saved his father's life. After asking his father about some things, he visited the Su residence twice but did not reveal his prefect status, treating Ning Yi as an equal. As soon as he saw Ning Yi, he first expressed his gratitude.

At this time, the two were eating dinner in the hall. Su Tan'er only came out to greet them a few times, then went back inside, leaving Chan'er to serve them. She knew Qin Shaohe's identity to some extent. Ning Yi was not back in the afternoon, and the other party was only visiting privately, so she had no way to ask her father or grandfather to receive him. After greeting him, she asked Xing'er to serve him, while Juan'er went out to find someone. She was a little uneasy, but when Ning Yi came back, she showed her face again and talked to him for a while, and then things became more normal. Now, she was calmly looking at the account books in the room, listening to the sounds of chatting and laughter coming from over there, feeling a little excited and a little vain.

That's a prefect!

The highest-ranking official the Su family had ever contacted was a prefect. Every year when Song Mao came, the family took it extremely seriously. But she also knew that Song Mao was close to the second branch of the family. Although he would provide some care in business, there was not much she could rely on. But now, because of her husband, she also had a prefect behind her.

Uh, it should be her... she and her husband behind them, right?

Although her husband had mentioned it to her a few days ago, he had only said, "I heard he's also a prefect." His tone was casual. At that time, she had just been stunned. She had always known that Elder Qin, whom they had visited, was a powerful figure. She had gone there during the Lunar New Year, and at that time, she thought her husband was very capable, interacting with this old man as a literary friend. She didn't have much real feeling about it. At that time, she also felt that it was not easy for her husband to have such a relationship, and she shouldn't think too much, so that this friendship between gentlemen would not be tainted by money. But when the other party actually came to visit her home this afternoon, it really made her feel the significance of the whole thing.

Su Tan'er was usually familiar with the world, and she had opportunities to deal with high-ranking officials, but those were ultimately just pure exchanges of interests, and there was not much intimacy. In general, it was difficult for others to understand the Su family's longing and desire for officials and power. Merchants were ultimately not considered mainstream in this world. Su Yu spent so much effort in running Yushan Academy, and it was ultimately a product of this desire. In the past, Su Tan'er couldn't rely on Song Mao, so she only felt that he was a slightly closer umbrella for the entire Su family, but today, Qin Shaohe's attitude when he came to visit made her know that this was very different from a normal exchange of interests.

Although he did not take out his official status today, it was this attitude, coupled with the life-saving grace, that represented that they would become friends in the future. If they got along well, maybe their descendants could also have contact.

In the past, no matter how the business went or which relationship they had opened up, or which high-ranking official they had met, she only felt that she was a merchant. At most, she could lead the Su family to become big merchants. Now, the feeling in her heart was suddenly different. She sat calmly at the table looking at the account books, but her heart could not calm down. Juan'er and Xing'er next to her also vaguely knew the other party's identity. At this time, they whispered, "Miss, that Lord Qin is the prefect of Jiangzhou. The master is chatting with him very happily."

"Mm." Su Tan'er nodded lightly.

"If others knew that the prefect came to visit our home like this, and the master has a life-saving grace to his family, wouldn't others be envious to death? At least the people from the second branch..."

"Don't gossip," Su Tan'er glanced at them lightly. "Don't make a fuss. The master and Prefect Qin are gentlemen making friends, not involving interests. If you brag about it outside, it will only tarnish their friendship, do you understand?"

"Understood."

"However," Su Tan'er put the end of the brush to her lips, thought for a moment, "it's okay to reveal a little bit to the second branch, but it has to be measured, so that people can't say we're bragging."

"Got it!" The two maids looked at each other and smiled. Showing off with measure, they were the best at it.