Chapter 369: Board the Boat

Pan Yun said seriously: "I'm not boasting—I've truly seen the Mo Jing."

Wang Cong's heart froze—could his young uncle's past life not even have been in Yuan, or Tang and Song, but in the Warring States period of the Qin dynasty?

The hand holding the bowl trembled slightly as someone called out: "Vendor, how much for this bowl?"

Wang Cong's hand steadied instantly; he turned and shouted: "Top-quality celadon porcelain, thirty wen each, two hundred and ninety-nine wen for a set—no haggling!"

Wang Cong shoved the bowl into Pan Yun's hands and temporarily forgot about the Mo Jing.

To make Wang Cong feel her depth of knowledge and recognize her prowess, Pan Yun decided to begin copying the Mo Jing tonight.

Pfft, how hard is it to copy from a book?

The silk shop's lanterns lit up, casting light on the porcelain and making it look even more beautiful.

Everyone who came to admire the lanterns or silk couldn't help but stop by the porcelain stall.

On the table sat vases, porcelain inkwashes, porcelain brush holders, various tea sets, bowls, plates, and even small porcelain bottles no bigger than a palm, in all colors.

Pan Yun and the others used them to store pills; what others used them for, she didn't know—but many liked them, especially young boys and girls.

Seeing such tiny porcelain bottles made people unable to walk away.

The porcelain on the table sold at an astonishing speed.

Since most buyers were young, they didn't haggle at all—just picked what they wanted and paid.

Wang Cong was so delighted he completely forgot about the Mo Jing, telling Pan Yun to open all the boxes on the cart and restock.

Pan Yun had strong arms and steady hands—perfect for this task.

Everyone was scrambled around by Wang Cong's orders—even Pan Xiaohei was placed on the table and instructed: "Xiaohei, watch closely—if anyone takes something without paying, call me."

Pan Xiaohei, grateful for how well he treated it, agreed.

To its credit, it actually spotted a few thieves; after it alerted him, Wang Cong caught them in time and made them pay.

Though none ultimately paid, at least nothing was stolen.

By Hai hour, the crowd around the stall had thinned; even the silk shop's foot traffic dropped, as everyone headed off to the lantern displays and food and game stalls.

Wang Cong figured no more items would sell, so he said: "Pack everything up—we'll go have some fun too."

Pan Yun stood up immediately: "Good, let's stroll the streets and take a boat ride."

The group quickly packed all the porcelain into boxes, rolled up the tablecloth, dragged the table to the wall, and drove off.

Their inn wasn't far; they soon stabled the cart and dashed straight onto the main street.

Wang Cong declared generously: "Tonight's on me—tell me what you want to eat or buy."

The four cheered and, once on the street, looked up at the lanterns lining both sides.

Many stalls specialized in lanterns; some shops, like the silk shop, held riddle games and offered lanterns with purchases.

Besides that, wealthy and powerful families also liked to host riddle games and give away lanterns.

Adhering to the principle of frugality, the five didn't buy anything—they squeezed under the lantern mountains, guessing riddles. If they guessed right, they took the lantern; if not, they moved on to the next. Absolutely no money spent.

After trying several stalls without success, Tao Yanbai said: "Let's find a pharmacy to guess at? The remaining lantern riddles are too hard."

It was already Hai hour—the easy lantern riddles had all been solved.

Wang Cong nodded: "Given our level of education, we can't solve these. Let's try the pharmacy."

They searched on—and finally found one.

But the pharmacy's lantern mountain was small; they mainly sold jujubes, rock sugar, and skin ointments.

What could they do? Their shop's nature was special—they couldn't offer "buy one herb, get one free," could they?

That would be so inauspicious.

Though small, each lantern at the pharmacy was beautiful.

The most beautiful were the lotus lanterns.

Tao Yanbai glanced at the riddles and guessed three lotus lanterns at once, intending to give all three to Pan Yun.

Seeing Miao Zhen immediately refused: "I'll guess for myself!"

She pointed to a rabbit-shaped lantern: "The cuckoo's cry ends with the azalea's blood—this is Xue Jie flower."

The pharmacy Shopkeeper, standing at the door, chuckled: "Young Lady guessed correctly."

He ordered his assistant to take down the lantern, then studied the five carefully, stroking his beard: "So you're Daoist Priests—what temple are you from?"

Wang Cong bowed: "We are from Sanqing Temple on Mount Sanqing."

The Shopkeeper bowed back: "Ah, disciples of the Ancestor of Alchemy—no wonder you guess right every time."

Wang Cong blushed: "Forgive us—we only came here because the other lantern riddles were too hard." The Shopkeeper burst into laughter, stroking his beard: "What's wrong with that? Riddles are made to be guessed. For these lanterns to be taken by you Daoist Priests is a blessing for the lanterns—and for my Huichun Hall."

The Shopkeeper invited them to keep guessing.

Wang Cong didn't hesitate—he looked up at the remaining lanterns and pointed to three palace-style ones: "A river of spring water flows eastward—that's the sea; the third nine days—that's Tian Dong; bowing head, thinking of home—that's Huai Shu Di."

The Shopkeeper laughed heartily, nodding repeatedly: "Excellent, excellent—take down these three lanterns too."

They had more than enough lanterns left over; Pan Yun held two and said: "Let's find Xiao Hong and Sister Hong Yan and give them each a lantern."

Everyone agreed, and bought a pile of snacks before boarding a boat.

Tonight, the river was packed with painted pleasure boats—every few paces, one floated by; every few paces, another; some even linked two or three together, drifting slowly with the current.

Pan Yun's small boat passed by; they looked up and felt the double-decked pleasure boats were incredibly expensive and overwhelmingly imposing.

The boatman, seeing them stare longingly, lowered his voice: "Young Masters, are you thinking of boarding one?"

Tao Yanbai's eyes widened; he immediately shook his head.

Wang Cong flatly refused: "No! Don't guess wrong!"

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But Pan Yun and Seeing Miao Zhen's eyes lit up instantly; they turned sharply toward the boatman.

Pan Yun stood and moved to the front, lowering her voice to ask: "Boatman, do you have connections?"

The boatman: "... Young Lady, I was asking these two Young Masters."

Pan Yun: "They have no money. I'm the one with money."

The boatman, his face twisted with difficulty, said: "But this whole stretch of boats is full of Misses. The painted pleasure boats for young male companions are on a different waterway — quite a distance from here."

Pan Yun fell silent for a moment. There were even pleasure boats for young male companions?

She shook her head, rattling out the rubbish in her brain, and pointed at a flower boat ahead. "You've got it wrong, boatman. I'm paying to take my two martial nephews out for fun. Can you let us board that flower boat?"

The boatman glanced over. "Well..."

Pan Yun fished out a silver ingot and set it on the deck.

The boatman immediately said: "Of course, that's fine. Young Lady, wait just a moment."

He swiftly scooped up the silver ingot and stuffed it into his shirt, then steered toward that flower boat, probing as he went: "Why does Young Lady choose that particular flower boat?"

Pan Yun: "Because that flower boat looks beautiful — there must be beauties on board."

Most importantly, Xiao Hong and Hong Yan were up there. And right now, black qi was creeping along the top of the flower boat — clearly something major was about to happen. She felt that if a few people didn't die tonight, it would be a waste of all that thick, heavy black qi.

Wang Cong had been about to stop her, but when he turned his head to look at the flower boat, his heart skipped a beat.

That uncomfortable feeling made him pause. He glanced at his little martial aunt, then fell silent.

A painted pleasure boat — not just anyone could board whenever they wanted, especially one on Lantern Festival night.

You had to reserve a spot in advance.

To get an exception, you'd have to throw around a lot of money.

But Pan Yun and her group were tightfisted, so they weren't willing to do that.

If the boatman could squeeze them onto the boat, that would be for the best.

The boatman quickly approached the painted pleasure boat, steering straight to the shaded spot on the other side. He took out a whistle and blew twice, and soon a head popped out from the top of the painted boat.

The boatman stood at the prow and exchanged a few words with him, then placed a string of copper coins in the basket he lowered down.

Once the person above received the copper coins, he tossed down a rope-woven ladder.

The boatman then said: "Don't be afraid, this ladder is very sturdy. Climb up. Once you're on board, don't wander around — a Miss will come take you in. Stay in a corner and watch the fun. It's one tael of silver per person."

"If you want to hire a Miss to keep you company, each Miss costs at least two taels of silver," the boatman said. "Food and drinks cost money too. Count the money on you carefully — don't overspend and get held back."

Pan Yun agreed in one breath, grabbed the soft ladder, and was about to climb up. The boatman grabbed her, his face blank with confusion. "What are you going up there for?"

Pan Yun: "All five of us are going up."

The boatman: "... No, you're all young ladies. I only told them above there were two people. You girls going to tour a flower boat is too dangerous — what if someone up there doesn't watch where they're looking..."

Pan Yun said: "Don't worry, I'm not afraid. I can see the people up there are all very friendly — they won't bully me."

With that, she pushed the boatman's hand away and went clattering up the ladder.

Seeing Miao Zhen and Miao He followed right behind her.

The boatman: "..."

(End of chapter)