Nian-ger hung his head, looking guilty. Seeing his expression, Yan Xiaoyu had a hunch. That evening, when he asked him about it, Nian-ger hemmed and hawed, trying to keep it a secret.

Yan Xiaoyu wasn’t in the least bit anxious. Nian-ger was a straight-shooter with no hidden motives; getting him to spill the beans would be a piece of cake.

Lying in bed with his feet propped up, he remained calm and composed: “You told Miss Fu about another man, ruining Yan Yonghe’s plans. Do you think Yan Yonghe will let you off the hook once he finds out?”

“Scholar Yan wouldn’t know!”

No sooner had Nian-ger spoken than he realized he’d let the cat out of the bag. Yan Xiaoyu raised an eyebrow smugly: “Didn’t you say you hadn’t arranged a match for anyone?”

Nian-ger shot him a resentful glance, then decided to just come clean: “I did arrange a match for Miss Fu, but nothing’s been finalized yet—it might not even work out!”

“Who did you propose to her? How did you go about it? Tell me.” Seeing Nian-ger’s hesitant expression, Yan Xiaoyu pressed on, “I was just bluffing you earlier, but what I said makes sense. Your Yu family has produced several village chiefs and has some influence in the surrounding villages. You aren’t afraid of Yan Yonghe now, but things will be different once he passes the provincial examination. A provincial scholar can secure an official post. Yan Yonghe has connections and money. As long as he passes the provincial exams, there’s an eighty to ninety percent chance he’ll land a position at the county yamen. Even if it’s just a low-level clerk, it wouldn’t be hard for him to arrange something for you.”

Nian-ger grew anxious at this. After hesitating for a moment, he added, “I told her about the magistrate’s fifth son.”

“Who?!” Yan Xiaoyu’s feet, which had been dangling idly, came to a sudden stop. He sat bolt upright on the bed. “The magistrate’s fifth son? How do you even know him? And he actually asked you to arrange a match?!”

Yan Xiaoyu hadn’t expected Nian-ger to be capable of such a feat. For a moment, a thousand thoughts raced through his mind; after all, wasn’t the Fifth Young Master also studying at the county school? Perhaps he’d come at the Yuye Pavilion and met Nian-ger there?

To his surprise, Nian-ger looked completely innocent: “I don’t know him. He didn’t ask me to arrange a match for him.” 

“……” Yan Xiaoyu’s expression was complicated. “You can actually force a match on someone?”

“No, I just thought he and Miss Fu were a good match, so I helped set them up.”

Nian-ger recounted the entire story to Yan Xiaoyu exactly as it had happened.

It turned out that Secretary Fu had arranged for his daughter to court Yan Yonghe. Although Miss Fu had a favorable impression of Yan Yonghe—finding him quite handsome and well-educated—she still felt a lingering unease. 

During their last visit to the Yuye Pavilion, she had asked Nian-ger about Yan Yonghe’s background. In a moment of impulse, Nian-ger had told Miss Fu about Old Master Yan’s harsh treatment of his second son and how Yan Yonghe and his family were leeching off Yan Xingmao. He also urged her to give up on Yan Yonghe and ask him to arrange a match instead.

But Miss Fu said that her father, the legal advisor, was rather picky; if Nian-ger were to help arrange a match, he would have to find someone even more outstanding than Yan Yonghe for her father to agree.

Like his father, Yan Yonghe was a shrewd schemer. He was no slouch in looks and had a solid education. Though he didn’t have a great reputation in Xiling Village, he had no trouble fooling outsiders and was considered a prominent figure at the county school.

Finding someone more outstanding than him wouldn’t be easy.

Mr. Fu had told his daughter that among the promising young scholars at the county academy, Yan Shaoxuan was the most outstanding, followed by Yan Yonghe. The others were either lacking in scholarship, too old, or not quite as handsome… In short, even among the candidates who had passed the provincial examination, he could not find anyone more to his liking than Yan Yonghe.

After spending a great deal of effort without finding a suitable candidate, Nian-ger finally took a different approach and set his sights on the county magistrate’s fifth son.

Though it sounded far-fetched, he had his reasons: “Young Master Zhong may be uneducated and fond of cockfighting and cuju, but he’s never harmed anyone and isn’t a bad person—he’s certainly better than Yan Yonghe. He has a simple nature and isn’t cunning; it won’t be hard for Miss Fu to keep him in check, and once they’re married, she won’t be mistreated. No matter how picky Mr. Fu is, he surely wouldn’t look down on the magistrate’s son. So I think Young Master Zhong and Miss Fu are a perfect match.”

“Impressive—you truly live up to your reputation as Xiling Village’s top matchmaker!” Yan Xiaoyu clapped for him with a straight face. “But—provided Miss Fu and Mr. Fu are willing—what about Master Zhong agrees?”

Nian-ger’s tail was practically wagging with pride: “I’ve been secretly following Young Master Zhong for a few days, scouring all his favorite haunts. I also helped Miss Fu find a feisty rooster. She’s been disguised as a man to spar with him in cockfights. She’s already caught his eye. Once they become friends and swear brotherhood, Miss Fu can reveal her true identity—and Young Master Zhong will surely fall for her!”

“That’s how it goes in the storybooks: a girl disguised as a boy unexpectedly meets a handsome, wealthy young master. They hit it off and became sworn brothers. When her true identity is revealed, their brotherly bond turns into love!”

Nian-ger spoke with absolute certainty, and when he got excited, he rolled around on the bamboo cot, making it creak: “Miss Fu has a real knack for cockfighting. I can tell Young Master Zhong really admires her. They’ll surely become friends and swear brotherhood before long!”

“… You’re something else.” Having had his preconceptions shattered time and again by Nian-ger, Yan Xiaoyu couldn’t help but concede. “If that’s the case, then why did you say there’s not a shred of truth to it?”

Hearing this, Nian-ger’s face, which had been beaming just moments ago, immediately fell: “Ah, Miss Fu is still on the fence. She prefers someone with a good education. If Scholar Yan passes the exams this time, I’m afraid she’ll lean more toward him.”

“Besides, as you just said, Brother Xiaoyu, if Scholar Yan finds out I’m the one who ruined his match, he certainly won’t let me off the hook.” Nian-ger lay on the bamboo couch, looking at Yan Xiaoyu with deep concern. “Should I have gotten involved in this at all? I’m so afraid I’ll drag my parents down with me.”

Yan Xiaoyu’s expression grew a bit more serious: “You’re such a reckless fool—why did you get involved in the first place?”

“Brother Yu, Miss Fu asked me, and I couldn’t just stand by and watch her walk into a trap,” Nian-ger said in a subdued voice. “I hadn’t thought that far ahead. I just assumed that as long as we both kept it a secret, Scholar Yan wouldn’t know I’d messed up his match.” 

Yan Xiaoyu sighed: “Just be more careful from now on. I know you can’t bear to see those young gers and women suffer, but the prerequisite for helping others is protecting yourself. Your parents have always disapproved of you being a matchmaker; I’m sure they had similar concerns.”

Nian-ger possessed a simple sense of justice; he always stood up to defend the women and fulangs in the village who were bullied by their husbands. He was innocent and kind-hearted, and Yan Xiaoyu both admired and respected him—which was one of the reasons he took such special care of him.

Yan Xiaoyu had been wanting to say these words to him for a long time.

In Xiling Village, with Niu Fugui and Yu Chunying looking out for him, and since there were no truly vicious people in the village, Nian-ger’s behavior posed no problem. But once he ventured outside the village, if he continued to act so recklessly, he was very likely to bring trouble upon himself.

Yan Xiaoyu had always been a bit worried, so every time Nian-ger came to the Yuye Pavilion, he would have A-Chai and the others keep an eye on him. Nian-ger nodded, then looked at Yan Xiaoyu with pleading eyes: “I know. I’ll definitely be more careful from now on. But what should we do about this situation?” 

Yan Xiaoyu rested his head on his arm, gazing at the gauze curtain hanging from the bed canopy, and suddenly asked, “Can we trust Miss Fu?”

“You can count on her! She has a heart of gold. She once argued with her father over the land tax, and there are quite a few beggars hanging around her because she has her servants hand out food to them.”

“Alright then.” Yan Xiaoyu suddenly smiled. “Since we’ve already started, we might as well see it through. Do everything in your power to derail Yan Yonghe’s marriage—it’ll count as saving this girl’s life.”

Before Nian-ger could ask any further, Yan Xiaoyu offered a plan for him.

“You mentioned that Miss Fu hasn’t given up on Yan Yonghe yet. So you need to fan the flames a bit more. Tell her about how Old Master Yan, Yan Xingsheng, He Cuiqing, and Yan Yonghe once tried to marry his sister off to an old man as a concubine for money. I’m sure that will make her give up on him for good.”

The mistreatment of Yan Xiaoyu could be blamed on Old Master Yan and Yan Xingsheng, but He Cuiqing’s current plight could very well be Miss Fu’s future. Moreover, Yan Yonghe could not escape responsibility for what happened to Yan Yongfang. Taken together, these revelations would be enough to expose Yan Yonghe’s true nature—and Miss Fu would have no choice but to be afraid.

Nian-ger’s eyes lit up, and he nodded repeatedly. “All right, I’ll go talk to Miss Fu tomorrow!” Yan Xiaoyu waved her hand. “No, you’d better not see Miss Fu anymore.”

“Before Yan Yonghe realizes you’ve been seeing Miss Fu, you’d better cut ties with her now. That way, you’ll avoid him lashing out in desperation and taking revenge on you both later.”

Nian-ger looked puzzled. “But how am I supposed to convince Miss Fu?”

“Find someone else to pass the message for you—preferably someone with no connection to us, but who can naturally appear near Miss Fu.”

Nian-gerer frowned in distress. “Where are we supposed to find someone like that on such short notice?”

Yan Xiaoyu was thinking about this too. He was quick on his feet, and it didn’t take him long to come up with an idea: “Xiao Jiu—who better than Xiao Jiu to handle this?!”

Xiao Jiu is a beggar, and Miss Fu is known to give alms to the poor. It would be perfectly natural for Xiao Jiu to go beg near her house. Nian-ger could write down what he wanted to say on a note, give it to Xiao Jiu, and then have Xiao Jiu deliver it to Miss Fu.

Just a few days ago, Jiang Xiaowu had come to ask Yan Xiaoyu if there was any work Xiao Jiu could help with. He’d even apologized to Yan Xiaoyu on Xiao Jiu’s behalf for what had happened before; he mentioned that Xiao Jiu loved the food he cooked, so he wouldn’t need to be paid for his work—just a meal would suffice.

If they ask Xiao Jiu for help this time, he shouldn’t refuse.

According to Jiang Xiaowu, Xiao Jiu is on good terms with other street urchins in the county and is quite skilled at gathering information; he had also played a part in keeping an eye on Qian Hong last time. If Xiao Jiu were truly enlisted to help, he could be asked to find out the preferences of Miss Fu and Young Master Zhong, which would make it easier for Nian-ger to bring them together.

However, Jiang Xiaowu and Xiao Jiu would have to keep their future interactions discreet. If Yan Yonghe’s marriage fell through, he might well turn his attention to Yan Xiaoyu and Nian-ger.

Nian-ger didn’t know Xiao Jiu, so he asked about him in a hurry. After hearing what Yan Xiaoyu had to say, he agreed that the man would be a good match. “Let’s go with Xiao Jiu, then. Xiaoyu, could you talk to Xiao Wu for me tomorrow and see if Xiao Jiu’s willing to do it?” 

“Sure.”

Yan Xiaoyu agreed without hesitation.

As long as it could cause trouble for Yan Yonghe, he was more than happy to do it.

Although Yan Yonghe and Qian Hong have been unusually well-behaved lately, old habits die hard, and Yan Xiaoyu and the others have made vigilance second nature. Who would have thought that this provincial examination would not only determine Yan Shaoxuan’s future but also Yan Yonghe’s marriage prospects?

Now, the only hope is that Yan Erlang passes the provincial examination, while Yan Yonghe fails.