Chapter 6: Jiangzuo (6)

“Grandpa, just sell this book to him, okay?” The young girl nestled beside the middle-aged man, cooing sweetly. Though young, she possessed a knack for winning people over—her bright eyes and faint dimples made it impossible for the middle-aged man to resist her.
He shook his head with a wry smile and said, “A’jiao, that book is a rare copy I collected years ago. I only allow book lovers to borrow it from the shop.”
After a pause, he spread his hands and added, “You know the rules of this shop. Please don’t make things difficult for me.”
He had traveled all over the Jianghuai region to obtain this copy of *The Ancient Mirror Record* from an old teacher at a private school. For such a rare book from an earlier dynasty, surely even someone with a basic knowledge of literature wouldn’t trade it for money?
Hearing this, A’jiao immediately pouted and said, “Grandpa, this young man is different from them. In my opinion, he’s destined for this book!”
Seeing her usual trick fail, A’jiao grew determined to help Li Kuo get the book.
“He stopped briefly outside the shop, hesitated for a moment before entering. It’s clear he came here by chance.”
The bookshop owner nodded, acknowledging A’jiao’s judgment. In fact, as soon as Li Kuo entered, he recognized his status from his attire. The noble sons in Jianghuai, especially in Jiangdu, favored splendid clothes and elaborate hairstyles. But this man wore a plain robe and a blackwood hairpin—extremely understated. His demeanor was also highly refined; he surely wasn’t from a humble family. The only explanation was that he came from outside the Jianghuai region.
A young man from outside would naturally not be familiar with an ordinary small bookshop. It made sense that he happened to come by.
“Those wealthy young masters buy books just to show off their knowledge and talent. If your rare copy fell into their hands, it would likely be lost among countless books forever! But this young man is different. He took a liking to *The Ancient Mirror Record* at first sight—clearly destined for it. He’s gentle and refined, a true gentleman worthy of this book. Don’t you always say that having one true friend is enough in life? Now that you’ve met someone worth knowing, why are you so reluctant to part with the book?”
Li Kuo was surprised by how eloquent and persuasive this little girl was. He was momentarily stunned.
“Ahem!”

The bookshop owner cleared his throat a few times and said, “That’s how it is, but how can you be sure he’s my bosom friend? If anyone in the world could become a bosom friend just by meeting once, wouldn’t there be countless bosom friends everywhere?” He spoke calmly and effortlessly, without the slightest pretense, which made his words convincing. “Grandpa, I don’t care. I just want you to sell this book to him.” Seeing that reasoning didn’t work on her grandpa, A’jiao simply started to act stubbornly. Anyway, she was determined about this matter today—after all, she found that man extremely attractive… A’jiao took the chance to steal a glance at Li Kuo before quickly lowering her head. “What should I say about you, my child?” The bookshop owner nodded at A’jiao and sighed helplessly. “A gentleman doesn’t take away what others cherish. Since this book is so important to you, I dare not ask for it.” Seeing the awkward atmosphere, Li Kuo quickly stepped in to defuse the situation. He had come to this bookshop casually; although he was quite interested in that book, it was after all someone else’s cherished possession, and it would be wrong for him to take it. “You have great magnanimity, sir,” the bookshop owner said with a slight nod in approval. “Actually, these rules are just to deceive oneself. I already know the contents of ‘The Ancient Mirror Record’ by heart, so keeping it hidden isn’t of much use.” He examined Li Kuo carefully and was secretly impressed by the fact that the latter showed no reaction to his words. “So, if you really like this book, I’ll give it to you.” Though overjoyed, Li Kuo kept his composure and bowed to the bookshop owner. “This is your cherished possession. How dare I accept it…” “Ah, books are meant to be read by others. To be honest, no one has borrowed this book yet; even a layer of greenish dust has formed on it. If you hadn’t come, who knows how much longer it would have remained unused. If you like it, just take it. Don’t worry about anything.” The bookshop owner waved his hand lightly and said, “Just make sure to let me know next time you come. I need to hide those rare books so you won’t snatch them all just because you’re fated to find them.” Such joking words immediately dispelled the slight awkwardness. Realizing that further refusal would be pretentious, Li Kuo bowed and said, “In that case, I’d better obey. I just don’t know your name, sir. I’d like to visit you again in the future to learn from you.” “My name is Yang Xu. My courtesy name is Gaoming. If you have time in the future, feel free to come to the shop anytime to exchange poems and essays.” Yang Xu handed ‘The Ancient Mirror Record’ to Li Kuo, his expression full of admiration… The night was deep, with the moon hanging upside down in the sky.

The western part of Yangzhou City was unusually quiet at this moment. In a villa nestled beside Slender West Lake, a man was playing the zither. Dressed in white, his melodies were melodious, giving him an air of otherworldly elegance.

“Have you taken care of everything I asked you to?”
A shadow appeared in the space in front of the zither, and the man in white spoke calmly. He never raised his eyes to look at the person before him, as if everything was within his expectations.
“Everything is taken care of. It’s just that the military commander is quite troublesome; it seems money can’t buy his way.”
The man in black, five steps away, moved slightly and replied respectfully.
“Can’t buy him?”
The sound of the zither stopped abruptly. The man in white was slightly surprised. “There are still people in this world who can’t be bought with money? Are you sure?”
“Sir, this man won’t bend under pressure. A while ago, I already made my stance clear to him through Old Chen, but he showed no sign of relenting.”
Clearly thinking that his master was blaming him for failing to complete the task, the man in black hurriedly added, “As for the goods, they’ve all been stored in the warehouse. The remaining batch has also been distributed to the surrounding counties. Even if he has connections everywhere, he won’t be able to find out.”
“Hmm. If there’s no other choice, we can eliminate him.”
The man in white’s voice softened slightly. “It’s said this man has some grudges against the Prince of Gaoyou. If we take advantage of that, we might be able to squeeze out a little more profit from this year’s salt trade.”
“Sir, regarding the Prince of Gaoyou…”
Seemingly knowing what the man in black wanted to say, the man in white waved his hand. “He’ll get his share as usual. Just stop sending him money for now. Record it in the ledger and discuss it later when the situation settles.”
“As ordered!”
“Alright, I’m tired. You may go.”
The sound of the zither resumed as the man in white gave his orders calmly.
There are always such people in the world who refuse to play by the rules. Such people have only one choice.
The man in white’s lips curled into a cold smile.……

Compared to the tranquility of the western part, the eastern part of Yangzhou was much livelier.
Unlike the street layout in the capital Chang’an, Yangzhou didn’t have separate markets and allowed night markets to exist.
The main function of the eastern part was commerce, with countless stalls scattered throughout. The four main streets, arranged in a grid pattern, were filled with shops of all kinds. Bright lights lined the streets, showing how bustling it was. The interconnected streets allowed buyers to compare goods thoroughly and select the best ones. Along the streets, there were also many taverns offering tea and drinks. If one got tired, they could stop and relax to the charming songs of singing women.

Clearly, the gentlemen and ladies of Yangzhou Prefecture would not waste their precious time on feasting and drinking. On the streets illuminated by lanterns as bright as day, pedestrians crowded back and forth in an endless stream.

At the edge of Jingzi Street stood a solitary mansion. With its flying eaves and intricate brackets, the house truly embodied luxury. Outside the red gates stood an old locust tree—thick enough for five people to hold arms around it. It had stood there since the mansion was built, barely blocking the view outside the red gates. The mansion’s owner must have thought the tree provided shade, as he never had it cut down. However, this meant many of its branches stretched into the courtyard, which was rather inconvenient.

“Brother Kuo, why did you drag me out this late? I still need to go to the camp early tomorrow to urge the soldiers to train; I should rest early.” Zhang Yanji yawned as Li Kuo pulled him out of the mansion, his face full of fatigue.

“Stop complaining!” Li Kuo snapped at him. “If you really could focus on training the new recruits, that would be fine. But who stays in the mansion until late just because it’s already daylight?”

Zhang Yanji’s face turned red with embarrassment as he quickly waved his hands. “Brother Kuo, I’m just too tired…”

“Stop talking and put on the mask.” Li Kuo had no interest in chatting with Zhang Yanji and tossed him a hook.

Zhang Yanji shrugged, knowing further talk was pointless, so he tied the black mask over his face and gave Li Kuo a thumbs-up.

“No matter what happens, don’t make a sound.”

Li Kuo nodded and swung the hook forcefully, securing it around a branch of the old locust tree. After pulling hard and confirming it held, he said to Zhang Yanji, “Go up first!”

“Mm!”

Zhang Yanji imitated Li Kuo’s actions, hanging the hook on a branch, then climbed up the high wall. Seeing his friend already on the branch, Li Kuo took a deep breath and leaped up using the rope. The two exchanged a glance before gently landing inside the courtyard.