After a night filled with the thunderous crackle of firecrackers, the dawn of the first day of the Lunar New Year arrived in Castleton. Every street and alley teemed with people—some walking, some on horseback, others in carriages—all busy paying visits and exchanging New Year's greetings.
Among them, Lena Sanders and her three companions neither had anyone to visit nor anyone who would come visiting.
Early that morning, Lena distributed red envelopes to Darren Chang, Harris Ma, and Jack Golden, then shared with them a breakfast of dumplings. Dressed in four sets of brand-new clothes, they stepped out together, heading straight toward Liang Gate.
On New Year's Day, one must appear renewed from head to toe—this was a principle Darren held firmly to. Lena did not care much either way, so she let him have his way.
Jack, on the other hand, was adamant that the dumplings for New Year's morning had to be vegetarian—filled with egg and chives, the most traditional kind. Lena had no objection to that either.
As for the red envelopes, Harris Ma insisted that the New Year was not truly celebrated unless one received a lucky token. Again, Lena yielded without fuss. Acting as their "elder," she handed each of the three a small gold nugget for luck.
Thus, amidst the jubilant air of the city, the four made their way toward the outer gate of Liang.
From the first to the third day of the New Year, the gambling grounds beyond the gates were open.
They had also been opened for three days during the Winter Solstice, but at that time Lena and Jack had been away in Riverford City. Darren and Harris had been too occupied—guarding against anyone probing into their affairs, and scheming how to gain a little extra advantage—to even notice.
Lena had heard countless tales of the legendary guanpu games, yet had never witnessed them herself.
In Riverford City, gambling of any kind was strictly forbidden. General Wu loathed it; in any place under his rule, the very word "gamble" could not be uttered.
Now, at last, she intended to see for herself what all the talk was about.
———
On New Year's Eve, Gavin Shea—as always—spent the night in the palace: first sharing the reunion dinner with His Majesty, then keeping vigil through the night at Brightpeace Palace with Gu Jin.
The grand New Year's court assembly on the first day occupied the entire day from dawn till dusk.
The next morning, the Second Prince went on behalf of His Majesty to offer incense and prayers at Xiangguo Temple, while Gavin accompanied the envoys from Southland to the imperial hunting grounds outside the city for a banquet and archery.
The third day happened to be Lichun—the Beginning of Spring.
As the nominal Prefect of the capital, the Second Prince was to preside over the ritual of whipping the Spring Ox to encourage farming and bless the coming year. Gavin, dressed in peasant garb, was to accompany and assist him, keeping busy until well past midnight.
Not until the fourth day did Gavin finally have a moment's respite. Seated in his courtyard with William Chen and Simon Wen, he sipped leisurely at his tea while flipping through a thin stack of greeting cards.
Though he sent out only a few each year, the ones addressed to him arrived in such numbers that they could fill a basket. Yet those that made it past William Chen's filtering hands to reach him personally were few indeed.
"No card from Miss Li?" Gavin asked after a moment's search.
"She didn't send one," William replied with a wry smile. "Not that she wasn't in the city—she just never got around to it. On the morning of New Year's Day, she and her three men went straight beyond Liang Gate to the guanpu games and didn't return until after dark.
"On the second day they went beyond Fengqiu Gate, and yesterday to Song Gate—didn't leave until the drums struck midnight when the games ended. I thought knocking on her door in the middle of the night just to deliver a greeting card would be rather improper, so…"
By custom, New Year's cards were not to be sent after the third day. Thus, the card His Highness had carefully written never reached her hands.
Gavin's expression darkened slightly. For someone of his standing, having a card undelivered was a first.
Simon Wen, catching his look, said to William with a faint smile, "Miss Li must be quite fond of gambling, then?"
"They say she didn't play a single round—just stood and watched while her three men played. And none of them had much luck; they lost far more than they won."
"Not a single game? She merely watched?" Gavin asked in surprise, unable to comprehend such restraint.
"Yes. Apparently she watched with great focus," William said, spreading his hands, still puzzled himself. "Three whole days—just watching."
Gavin arched an eyebrow, then after a pause, tossed the stack of cards onto the low table and looked squarely at William.
"I heard Harris Ma copied out the old account books of one of the brokerages—had the brokers themselves do the copying, in fact?"
William nodded, his expression complicated. "Yes."
The audacity of Miss Li's subordinates left him half admiring, half alarmed.
As for the Marquis of Yongping's household—just as His Highness had said—they were both foolish and ruthless. Those two brokerages had suffered dearly: one lost thirty to forty thousand taels of silver, the other had its entire set of old ledgers transcribed clean out of its hands.
"That Jack Golden," Gavin mused, drawing out his words, "he's no simple man either. And with three such people utterly obedient to her—treating her like some deity—it tells us much about how Miss Li conducts herself…"
He trailed off, glancing from William to Simon, then continued,
"From now on, when dealing with Miss Li, be cautious. Show no discourtesy.
"And pull our men back—just keep a general sense of what she's doing. There's no need to watch her every move. I suspect that anything she doesn't want us to see, we couldn't see anyway."
"Understood. And the Marquis of Yongping's side?" William asked.
Gavin regarded him keenly. "Whom are you worried about—Miss Li, or the Marquis?"
Simon chuckled quietly.
William looked somewhat embarrassed. "Neither… I just—perhaps I'm being overly cautious."
"Before the Marquis knelt outside my residence, that Miss Li wouldn't even dare drink a cup of wine in Castleton. And why? Because she feared my tree wasn't yet thick enough to lean upon.
"If the Marquis dares to press her with official power, she'll simply raise my banner higher and press back twice as hard.
"Don't worry."
Gavin cast him a sidelong glance. Those two words—don't worry—carried a weight of layered meaning.
Simon's brows lifted slightly, though his eyes flicked sideways toward Gavin with an unreadable smile.
William could only offer a weary smile of his own and lower his gaze in silence.