Lu Ying, a noble lady from a prestigious family, was unaccustomed to the ways of the common folk. The covert lookout she set up was immediately spotted by Wang Daxia, who was well-versed in street life.
However, Lu Ying was straightforward by nature and quick to correct her mistakes. She didn’t mind Wang Daxia’s earlier teasing about "that brainless one," nor was she swayed by his flattery. She focused solely on solving the problem and asked, "Indeed, I overlooked the details. What do you suggest we replace the tea stall with?"
With such an open-minded superior, Wang Daxia didn’t hold back. "Since the tea stall is already set up, changing it twice in one day would arouse suspicion. Instead, bring in a few carts of watermelons. Sell both large bowls of tea and melons. In this hot weather, watermelons attract customers morning, noon, and night—they quench thirst and relieve the heat."
Lu Ying ordered her subordinates, "Buy several carts of watermelons and start selling them."
Wang Daxia added, "Remember to get watermelons from Daxing. We folks in Wanping prefer melons from Daxing."
Lu Ying said, "Do as he says." After a moment’s thought, she asked Wang Daxia, "What’s the difference between Wanping and Daxing watermelons?"
"Just tap them," Wang Daxia said, curling his hand and knocking the air with his knuckles. "Then ask, 'Hey, are you from Wanping or Daxing?'"
Lu Ying was taken aback but soon realized Wang Daxia was teasing her. She kicked an oar toward him and said, "Go row your dragon boat!"
Wang Daxia chuckled, shouldered the oar, and left.
Lu Ying went to pay her respects to Lu Bing. His facial expressions had mostly recovered, and he could walk freely. After more than half a month of rest, his complexion had even regained some color. Gazing at himself in the mirror, he remarked, "Tonight, we’ll return home together. If I stay at the office any longer, the family might grow suspicious. But my complexion is too healthy—if I say I’ve been too busy with work to go home, Li Yiren is bound to overthink it."
Lu Bing had lost four wives in succession. The "Yiren" he referred to was Li Shi, the birth mother of Lu Ying and her four sisters. Although Li Shi was a concubine, she held a fifth-rank honorary title. In the Ming Dynasty, fifth-rank titled women were called "Yiren," so she was commonly addressed as Li Yiren.
Li Yiren was also the biological niece of Lu Bing’s stepmother, Li Taifuren. When she entered the Lu residence, she did so as a highly regarded concubine.
Lu Bing’s birth mother had been the Jiajing Emperor’s wet nurse and passed away early. Although Li Taifuren was his stepmother, she raised Lu Bing with great care, nurturing his talents and helping him attain the military jinshi degree. Lu Bing held deep respect for his stepmother. Having lost wives and with his eldest and second sons dying young, Li Taifuren brought her niece Li Shi into the household for the sake of continuing the family line.
Li Shi gave birth to five daughters in a row, all of whom survived—a remarkable feat. In recognition, Lu Bing secured a fifth-rank Yiren title for her.
Lu Ying said, "I’ll tell Li Yiren that I’ve been ensuring you eat on time and abstain from alcohol, which is why your health has improved. This Dragon Boat Festival, you’re not even allowed realgar wine—we’ll all drink fruit syrup with you."
Grateful for his daughter’s cover, Lu Bing smiled. "That’s the plan. We’ll go home together tonight. Tomorrow is the Dragon Boat Festival—no duties."
Seeing her father in good health lifted Lu Ying’s spirits. After finishing her official tasks, she recalled how Wang Daxia had instantly identified the flaw in the tea stall and recognized her own shortcomings. Changing into plain clothes, she went to inspect the tea stall personally.
The stall was piled high with watermelons, and more customers were sitting down to eat melon than to drink tea. Meanwhile, snacks like peanuts and sunflower seeds remained unsold.
In the summer heat, only wealthy households with ice stores indulged in such heat-inducing snacks. Ordinary people avoided them entirely.Lu Ying found a seat and ordered two slices of watermelon. While paying, she quietly instructed her disguised melon-vendor subordinate, "Remove all the peanuts and melon seeds."
As she ate the watermelon, Lu Ying remained acutely aware of her surroundings, observing the bustling market atmosphere. The world of ordinary commoners was entirely different from the environment she had grown up in—they toiled for daily meals, fretted over matters she considered trivial, and yet poured their full effort into everything...
Even those who had climbed to positions like her father's, or even the emperor himself, had their own sorrows and unattainable desires. Was this what Buddhist scriptures referred to as "all living beings suffer," and only by renouncing worldly attachments could one escape this sea of suffering?
While lost in thought, a familiar figure approached to buy watermelon—it was Ding Wu.
Upon seeing Lu Ying, Ding Wu was momentarily startled, then realized the Embroidered Uniform Guard was monitoring him. As an exile awaiting repatriation to his place of banishment, he was under constant surveillance.
Ding Wu selected a watermelon and, using rest as an excuse, sat beside Lu Ying. He whispered, "I've been helping Banxia make medicinal pills at home all day. Aside from buying food, I won't go anywhere else."
Lu Ying replied, "You visited the bathhouse last night." Her words were characteristically direct. The Embroidered Uniform Guard had been tracking his movements and knew his schedule precisely.
Ding Wu choked back his words. His visit to the bathhouse had been pretext—during dinner, he had noticed the neighbor's son clearly harboring "ulterior motives" toward Banxia, so he went to gather information about Wang Daxia.
But he couldn't explain this reason to Lu Ying. Ding Wu said, "I won't go to the bathhouse tonight." He would wash at home.
Lu Ying stated, "An exile like you, going to the bathhouse to investigate my subordinate? Don't do such things again. Focus on returning to Tieling peacefully. Wang Daxia is under my command—though he may be unreliable at times, he's not a bad person."
Lu Ying was protective of her subordinates. Even when her own father complained about Wang Daxia's shortcomings, she would gently rebut him, let alone an exile like Ding Wu.
Ding Wu nodded silently, picked up his watermelon, and took his leave.
Returning home, he found Wei Caiwei preparing Safflower Angelica Powder for women with irregular menstruation. Ding Wu cut the watermelon and said, "Take a break and have some watermelon."
As Wei Caiwei ate the watermelon, Ding Wu recounted his encounter with Lu Ying at the melon stall in Sweetwater Lane. "...I didn't expect them to follow me even when I go for a bath."
Unaware that Lu Ying was a woman, Wei Caiwei remarked, "Commander Lu is always strict and methodical in her speech and actions—sometimes she can be inflexible. But she's decent overall. When I posed as a widow to practice medicine, she didn't expose me."
Ding Wu gazed at the spirit tablet on the incense altar inscribed with "Spirit Tablet of the Deceased Husband Wang Erlang" and asked, "Did you have to write 'Wang Erlang'? Isn't this too coincidental? Won't Young Master Wang object when he learns the truth?"
With his departure scheduled for the day after tomorrow, Ding Wu remained uneasy about this neighbor who eyed his "Banxia sister" like a "big wolf dog" waiting to pounce.
"The character 'Er' is the simplest to write—I just wrote it without thinking," Wei Caiwei explained. "He hasn't asked me to change the name on the spirit tablet, so he probably doesn't mind."
Ding Wu still felt apprehensive. "Is he truly unbothered, or is he plotting something?""Stop overthinking and have some watermelon." Wei Caiwei stuffed a slice of watermelon into Ding Wu's mouth. "I'm the belle of Tieling's Ivory Mountain. You've seen plenty of admirers back in Tieling. It's not my fault I'm beautiful and capable of earning money. It's perfectly normal for the young man next door to want an extra glance, but he's the son of a Qianhu officer while I'm just a female physician among the matchmakers and healers. Like you, I choose to remain unmarried without thoughts of matrimony. We both know what we want - not trapped by worldly conventions, not following the crowd into marriage and children. Why is it that when Wang Daxia appears, Brother Ding, you stop trusting me?"
Ding Wu's mouth was full of watermelon juice. "Worry makes one irrational. I was wrong."
Wei Caiwei had passed another test. She thought to herself: Wang Daxia, please behave yourself and stop arousing Ding Wu's suspicions.
The two had been busy all day, even their three meals were bought by Ding Wu braving the summer heat, leaving no time for cooking.
Wang Dxia returned home in the evening, hoping to join them for dinner. But since they hadn't cooked that day and had already finished the food Ding Wu bought, they were sitting in the courtyard enjoying the cool air and chatting.
Wang Daxia invited them again, "Tomorrow's Dragon Boat Festival. The twenty-four guards of the capital will be racing dragon boats on the moat. You must come watch me take first place."
Remembering Lu Ying's warning, Ding Wu said, "I'm not going."
Since Ding Wu would be leaving the day after tomorrow, Wei Caiwei naturally wouldn't go either. She said, "The Embroidered Uniform Guard has been winning first place every year recently. With you joining them this year, I know you'll win first place even without me watching."
Wang Daxia was disappointed. "But we agreed yesterday! Why the change of heart?"
Because yesterday they didn't know Lu Ying had set up a tea stall to monitor Ding Wu. Even going to the nearest bathhouse was inappropriate, let alone watching dragon boat races at the crowded moat.
Tomorrow would likely be packed with people.
Ding Wu, being reasonable, explained, "As someone awaiting repatriation from exile, it's not appropriate for me to move around."
Wang Daxia, eager to impress Wei Caiwei and show off his championship-winning prowess, saw this as a rare opportunity not to be missed. He said, "You're exiled, not imprisoned. No need to restrict yourself."
Wei Caiwei said, "You're from the Embroidered Uniform Guard. You know exactly what's happening with that tea stall in Sweetwater Lane. One shouldn't fasten shoes in a melon patch nor adjust hat under a plum tree. Brother Ding staying indoors is to avoid suspicion and not cause trouble for the Embroidered Uniform Guard. How can you blame him for restricting himself?"
Him, him, him! Always him!
Wang Daxia stamped his foot and actually ran off in a huff!
With this kind of temperament... Ding Wu finally felt truly relieved. Such a rash young man - Sister Banxia wouldn't like him.
Wang Daxia didn't return to his home next door, but instead ran to the watermelon stall at the entrance of Sweetwater Lane - due to the high number of watermelon customers, Lu Ying had abandoned selling tea and switched to selling watermelons.
Wang Daxia approached Lu Ying, "Does the Embroidered Uniform Guard forbid Ding Wu from going out?"
Lu Ying said, "There's no prohibition."
Wang Daxia complained, "With this surveillance, Ding Wu dares not go out. If Ding Wu doesn't go out, Doctor Wei won't go out either. Then no one will watch me row in the dragon boat race tomorrow."
Lu Ying pointed at herself, "Am I not someone? Isn't my father someone?"
After all, it was a competition among the capital's twenty-four guards, concerning honor. The commanders of each guard would still find time to make an appearance.Wang Daxia said, "There's a section of the moat with a canopy set up for the families of nobles and officials to watch the dragon boat race. Could Commander Lu secure two spots for them? I'll take care of their transportation. That should avoid any issues, right?"
Lu Ying hesitated, thinking it better to avoid unnecessary trouble.
Wang Daxia continued to plead, "I've trained hard for over ten days just to win in front of acquaintances and earn some respect. Look at how unsettled I am—what if it affects my performance and we fall behind? The Embroidered Uniform Guard has always taken first place. We absolutely must not lose our reputation this year."
With his silver tongue, Wang Daxia finally appealed to Lu Ying's sense of honor. "Nonsense! We must come first this year. I'll arrange the spots, and you handle their transportation."
Overjoyed, Wang Daxia exclaimed, "Commander Lu is so considerate of her subordinates! I will serve you faithfully, even through fire and water, without hesitation!"
"No one's asking you to brave fire. Just focus on rowing the dragon boat well first."
Wang Daxia scampered off cheerfully to deliver the good news. "...It's settled then. I'll come pick you up by carriage first thing tomorrow morning."
Seeing that it was Lu Ying's arrangement, Ding Wu did not refuse.
Dragon Boat Festival.
The banks of the moat were packed with crowds. The twenty-four guards of the capital first divided into six groups for preliminary heats, competing four against four to select the top team from each group. Finally, six dragon boats would advance to the finals.
Wei Caiwei and Ding Wu did not have to jostle with the common folk. They sat in a viewing stand by the riverbank, sheltered from the scorching sun by a canopy.
The weather was exceptionally hot that day; even under the canopy, sweat poured incessantly. Several vendors pushing carts sold chilled bowls, and customers flocked to them eagerly.
Ding Wu got up to buy some chilled bowls, but by the time the dragon boat race began, Wei Caiwei still hadn't seen him return.
Author's Note: Apologies for being 12 minutes late today. Making it up to everyone with 100 red envelopes—first come, first served!
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