Chapter 178 — A Night's Lodging
Purple Streets of Chang'an · Page 1 of 4
"Ji Jianming!" Gu Yu grumbled. "We ran into him, and Wang Dahai wanted to cozy up to him again. Surely we can't have us drinking at the same table as those stewards? It just so happens that the Young Master He traveling with Ji Jianming knows Zhao Zishu well, so we all went to Nanchan Temple Alley."
Wang Yu, courtesy name Dahai.
Song Yan was somewhat surprised.
Since the people accompanying Ji Jianming were well acquainted with Zhao Zishu, Ji Jianming clearly knew Zhao Zishu's true background. Ordinary men seeking pleasure went to brothels and houses of ill repute; he had done the opposite and gone to Zhao Zishu's establishment.
What exactly did he mean by it?
Did he think that because Zhao Zishu was an actor, no amount of carousing mattered?
But did he realize that if word got out that Wei Fan favored men, it would wound Dou Yi as well?
Song Yan mused, "What sort of man is Ji Jianming?"
"Very clever," said Gu Yu. "Amusing in conversation, learned and versatile, takes a joke well, and knows how to enjoy himself..."
In Song Yan's mind slowly took shape the image of a carefree young lord, successful early in life on the strength of wide reading.
Men like that usually did not conduct their affairs with much care.
He could not help asking, "Did Wang Dahai go too?"
Of that whole group, only Wang Yu was steady, prudent, and mindful of the larger picture.
"He went!" said Gu Yu. "Not only did Wang Dahai go, he's quite familiar with Zhao Zishu. The moment Zhao Zishu laid eyes on Wang Dahai, he called two pretty maids to wait on him—so Zhao Zishu clearly knows what Wang Dahai likes." He teased Wang Yu. "By now Wang Dahai is probably so besotted he can't tell east from west!" He went on, "That Zhao Zishu seems a shrewd one too—knows that business must be all-inclusive. Now anyone who goes there can play however he pleases! Still, I don't much care for the style of the place. It's plainly a flesh trade, yet he apes the scholarly households of Jiangnan, decking out the courtyard with pavilions and terraces, winding paths to secluded spots, even plum, orchid, bamboo, and chrysanthemum laid about—everything and everywhere straining after refinement and quiet elegance, till it's just like my own back garden. I ask you: I go there for pleasure. And what do I get? It's like sitting at home, looking at the same scenery, with the same people beside me. Deadly dull. If not for Wang Dahai's sake, I'd certainly never have gone..."
Gu Yu had patronized nearly every famous pleasure house, tavern, and teahouse in the capital.
Song Yan listened silently to his prattle, his expression gradually turning grave.
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At that moment, in Beichan Temple Alley, the music had ceased. Zhao Zishu sat attending in the waterside pavilion.
Watching Ji Yong and Wei Fan raise their cups and drink with abandon, Wang Yu smiled and shook his head. To He Yu beside him he said with a laugh, "I'm only five or six years older than you all, yet I dare not drink as you do... Truly, time spares no man!"
He Yu drank little, but his capacity was shallow; his head was already swimming. At these words he chuckled foolishly, and one could not tell whether he had understood a word Wang Yu said.