Chen Wu Shi had never seen such a talkative little girl before. This clever thing seemed to have eight larks’ tongues in her mouth, spouting reasoning after reasoning without pause—most of which she couldn’t even understand.

“Grandmother! This mountain beside us is called Baiquan Mountain. Baiquan Mountain splits into north and south, and since ancient times there’s been only one road running through the middle to Yandu—passing through Qingfeng City for fifty li before entering the eastern gate of Yandu.

“As for which roads the troops take through the remaining south, west, and north gates, we don’t know, and it’s none of our business. But right now, you’re saying the army should follow orders and move out? That makes no sense at all!”

The old madam retorted without thinking: “What’s no sense about it?”

Qiqian’er shook her sallow-haired head. “It just doesn’t add up! Things have already changed—the dynasty itself has changed hands. If you say the army’s about to move, then which route are they taking, and where are they headed? If they go forward, they’ll end up right at the gates of Yandu.”

The old madam craned her neck at Qiqian’er and blinked.

Qiqian’er craned her neck back and blinked too.

“Grandmother, I saw that the banners up ahead bear the character ‘Tan,’ but the flags flying over the breached city carry the character ‘Li’ with a flying-tiger emblem. If that’s the case, then any move by the ‘Tan’ banner would mean marching into Qingfeng City to seize military credit—that’s a serious matter in any army camp. So tell me, is our family with the central army, or the vanguard?”

This was men’s talk, and the old madam didn’t understand it, so she just gave a cough and said nothing.

Qiqian’er went on: “According to what the history books say, a change of dynasty is an extraordinary time. The troops entering Yandu now should be the new Emperor’s own guard… and the new Emperor’s surname is Li, while our family serves under the surname Tan. If that’s so, then we absolutely cannot move. Do you understand? This is a serious taboo!”

This left the old madam even more baffled. Her whole mind was gripped by a handful of terrifying words: since ancient times, history books, the Emperor, the imperial guard! And—the change of dynasty.

Having lost her bearings, she asked as if seeking guidance: “Then—then where should we go?”

Qiqian’er spread her hands. “How would I know? If there are still remnants of the former dynasty, troops would have to be sent to wipe them out. And if they’re marching to hunt them down, they’d need to move fast—on horseback. They certainly wouldn’t bring along a camp of the sick and wounded, or womenfolk like us. Right?”

The old madam asked, as if seeking confirmation: “Right, right?”

Qiqian’er nodded. “That’s right! We can’t move.”

The old madam trembled. “Really—really?”

“Mm! Really! That’s just how it must be.” Here Qiqian’er even scolded her a little: “You need to watch what you say from now on. Things are different now—rebels, even! We’re not counted as rebels anymore. It’s a new dynasty now, and those from the former dynasty are the remnants—they’re the rebels! Don’t you dare go around talking nonsense. It could cost you your head!”

Oh dear, heads rolling again—the old madam’s face went pale, and she said, a little embarrassed: “I just said it without thinking.”

She was someone who argued by bluster, but faced with real logic like this, she felt she was in the wrong from the start.

The old madam had no great learning, but she had her share of small cunning. By now she’d worked out that the Chen family’s ancestors for eight generations must have burned high incense, because they had truly welcomed home a living ancestor. From now on, she wouldn’t be able to push this sparse-haired little thing around anymore.

What to do?

Enshrine her! She must be enshrined!

At this thought, the old madam grew even more gentle and asked for guidance: “Then—then, girl, good girl, you are family after all. What should our family do from now on?”

Qiqian’er put on a perfectly innocent face. “Mm, I don’t really know either. Going by what’s written in the books, whenever a new dynasty is freshly established, the Emperor generally has to take stock of the people…”

The old madam nearly choked on her own spit, coughing several times before she managed to ask: “What’s ‘taking stock of the people’?”

Qiqian’er explained: “It just means reckoning up and calculating—how much silver, how much land each household has.”

This the old madam understood.

She slapped her thigh proudly. “That I know! Our commander has always been dirt poor!”

Hearing this, Qiqian’er burst out laughing.

“Exactly. If even the Emperor is dirt poor now, then moving the whole army out costs grain and silver—bringing us along too? Impossible!”

The old madam nodded in flattering agreement. “That’s right, that’s right! Your Choutou hasn’t sent anything home in three months—says they can’t even pay out the soldiers’ wages over there. The generals leading the troops have all had to figure out their own way to feed their men! But you mustn’t repeat this outside, understand?”

And yet the old madam did have some understanding of army matters—what she said wasn’t wrong at all.

If the former dynasty hadn’t been so impoverished, a natural disaster wouldn’t have thrown the country into chaos; and if the country hadn’t fallen into chaos, it wouldn’t have come to a poor new Emperor ascending the throne.

Qiqian’er nodded: “I don’t know anyone—who would I even tell? That’s why the new Emperor has to take stock of the people first, and only after that stabilize the government and settle the people’s hearts.

“You wouldn’t know this, but Qingfeng City was wrecked by Heaven itself—smashed to craters everywhere. And the wells in the city, their veins were disturbed and ran dry. You’re old and experienced—don’t people follow the water?”

The old madam nodded. “That’s right—even marching troops have to camp near water. Never mind people, even livestock need to drink.”

Exactly—that was just the answer she wanted.

Qiqian’er crouched down, stroking the old madam’s hand affectionately as she said: “That’s exactly it, Grandmother. Think about it—however things move, they won’t send us to a place with no water source… So even if you wanted to leave now, you couldn’t.”

The old madam grew a little flustered. She looked left and right, unable to believe she was really going to put down roots in this village.

Why did her heart feel so unsettled?

“Really—really not leaving?”

Qiqian’er nodded. “If I’ve reasoned correctly, then no, we’re not leaving. I’m from these parts myself—let me tell you, of the two water veins near Qingfeng City, that one’s cut off, and the one left is right here on our side…”

Before she’d even finished speaking, the old madam sprang to her feet. She scrambled up to the top of the wall to look left and right, then trotted back and asked Qiqian’er: “Really?”

Qiqian’er nodded firmly. “Really!”

In that instant, it truly felt as if Heaven itself had opened its eyes. Golden light seemed to burst from the crown of Chen Wu Shi’s head—she was certain her family was bound for great fortune, and that nothing less would make up for all the suffering she’d endured over the years.

Chen Wu Shi looked at scrawny little Qiqian’er and felt nothing but love—love beyond measure. She thought: this sallow hair, all golden—how could it be so pretty?

Her body trembled slightly. She made a few small sounds, then steadied herself against the stone table before thinking: everyone says my fate is too hard, that I’ve cursed my children and grandchildren to death—nonsense. It was simply that the Chen family didn’t have enough fortune to welcome this girl, so several lives had to be sacrificed to pave her road to glory.

If not for her—hmph!—this girl could never have come.

Just look, just listen! What this girl was saying—these were men’s words, grand and reasoned men’s words!

Such a fine little girl, and she’d gotten her practically for nothing—what virtue had the Chen family accumulated to marry her in? If not for her, could they ever have brought home such a lovely little thing?

With this thought, the old madam took the fire-striker from her waist, lit her pipe against the flint, and puffed away with a satisfied smile, her mind already beginning to scheme.

Well, since they weren’t moving, tomorrow she’d have to take a stroll around the village and do some calculating…

Qiqian’er said nothing, just stood quietly and waited.

She waited until the old madam lifted her jacket and dug out several pieces of dried taro from the innermost layer of her stomach-wrap, handing them all over with great affection.

Mm, that was more like it.

Chen Wu Shi’s face was full of encouragement, worried Qiqian’er wouldn’t eat: “Girl, you must be hungry—eat this to fill your stomach. Tonight, tonight… there’ll be something even better, girl… what did you say your name was?”

Qiqian’er took the dried taro with both hands, thanked her, and only then answered: “Grandmother, I’m the seventh child in my family. My full name is Huo Qiqian—you can just call me Qiqian’er.”

Every mouthful of food this old madam had was scraped together by scrimping between her own teeth—she had to accept the kindness and eat sincerely.

These days, food was life itself.

Seeing her accept it, the old madam felt pleased, and pulled her close even more affectionately, chattering on: “Tell me, Qian’er… how do you know all this—what you were just saying about the Emperor, the water veins, and so on? Could it be that your father was actually some kind of top scholar?”

Having said this, she caught hold of Qiqian’er’s claw-like, callus-covered hand again and studied it over and over. “But… but that doesn’t seem right either?”

Qiqian’er withdrew her hand, cupping the dried taro in both palms and taking a bite—she was rather hungry—and as she ate, she casually exposed Wang Shi’s deceitful lie: “You’ve been listening to Madam’s nonsense. My father, a scholar? A top-ranked examination graduate, even! No matter which dynasty, top scholars are limited in number—don’t you dare go around saying that tomorrow, or you’ll be a laughingstock! My father… heh, I never even called him father. He used to manage an imperial estate for the former dynasty’s royal family.”

“What!”

The old madam was so startled she nearly wet herself.

Qiqian’er naturally knew what she was afraid of, and quickly took hold of her. “Don’t be afraid, it’s nothing! My father’s dead anyway! Even if he weren’t, he was just someone who ran errands and did hard labor. Never mind that the Emperor’s just taken the throne and has no time for such trivial matters—even if there were a reckoning, would it ever reach him? My father—well, Lord Huo, as they called him—wasn’t even an official!”

Startled and shaken, the old madam’s hands trembled slightly.

Qiqian’er explained, emphasizing her words: “Think about it—if the landlord in your village committed some crime in the city, the county magistrate would only order the arrest of the landlord’s own blood relatives; at worst, a whole circle of relatives and friends. There’d be no reason to round up the tenant farmers too—that would just waste grain feeding them.”

The old madam understood this logic, but she still turned it over carefully in her mind. Thinking it through—mm, that was true—if the landlord got into trouble, what did that have to do with the tenant farmers?

Qiqian’er turned her face to look at her: “Besides, I’m not even on his family’s genealogy record—they couldn’t trace me even if they tried. And that Madam, you’ve seen her yourself—do I look anything like her daughter? My mother, she…” Qiqian’er looked down at her own hands. “My mother was sold off by Madam long ago. She didn’t want to go, so the moment she left the estate, she threw herself into the river and died.”

When Qiqian’er mentioned the river, the old madam’s heart ached in waves. She thought of the women of the Chen family, and of those pale bodies lying sprawled along the old riverbed…

It was never easy for any of them.

She thumped her own chest a few times, sniffed, and picked up her own piece of dried taro to take a few bites. Chewing hard, she said fiercely: “Those were all wicked people, wicked people!” Then she turned, tears in her eyes, and smiled at Qiqian’er: “Wicked people get what’s coming to them! Girl, I’ll be good to you from now on! From now on, the two of us, mother and daughter, won’t bother with anyone else—just the two of us getting along, all right?”

She patted the back of Qiqian’er’s hand again and again, until it nearly softened Qiqian’er’s heart.

Why did I used to hate her so much, Qiqian’er wondered, unable to make sense of it—why did I hate her! She felt like crying, and in the end, the tears did fall.

In her ear she could hear the old madam’s gentle murmuring: “I feel for you, all right? I’m alone too now. From now on we’ll be fine—as long as I have a mouthful, I’ll never let you go without. You—look at you, such a poor suffering girl, life’s been so hard for you, and yet you’re so capable? Look how clever you are—who did you learn all this from?”

Indeed, who had she learned it from? From a lifetime of blood and tears, from a whole life of refusing to accept her fate.

Qiqian’er withdrew her hand and rubbed her eyes. “Well—do you know what sort of people usually worked on the imperial estates?”

Naturally, the old madam did not know.

“On the imperial estates…” Qiqian’er looked at the spirit wall before her, staring at the brick carving of the Eight Immortals crossing the sea, and said: “In the past, there were always unlucky noble families in the capital who’d fallen out of favor… When the head of such a family had their fortune reversed, their property seized, and were sent into exile, the older stewards and accountants in the household who couldn’t be sold off elsewhere would be dispatched to the imperial estates to do hard labor. Ever since I was old enough to understand things, I did chores alongside them. Whatever little skill and knowledge I have… I learned from them too.”

The old madam thought it over carefully, and believed her.

She nodded in admiration. “No wonder, being near the imperial city—you learned well, you learned well! People really ought to pick up more skills to fall back on. Speaking of which, take that thunder-struck one in our family—oh! The one you just saw, that’s the woman your Fourth Uncle later… later bought.”

She held up four fingers.

Qiqian’er’s hand, holding the taro, loosened for a moment, then tightened again. She said lightly, smiling: “Bought, was she?”

The old madam nodded firmly. “Of course! Really bought! She was an unlucky one too, born with a pretty face but stuck with a husband who couldn’t hold up the household. Later… she ran into someone forceful, who found some excuse to lock up her first husband. As it happened, the Chen family’s ancestors hadn’t built up enough merit, and that unlucky Fourth Uncle of yours, that year, went along with others to storm the government office, and there in the prison he met that unlucky wretch.

“That wretch wanted out, so he begged your Fourth Uncle, saying he had a pretty wife at home, and if your Fourth Uncle would save him, he’d give her over to… aiya! It was wrong from the start, I always said, a person shouldn’t take advantage of someone else’s misfortune like that. And sure enough, we got what was coming to us—that woman was never truly of one mind with us from the start, and who knows, in her heart she probably hates us.”

The old madam had never mentioned this before.

The old madam pursed her lips. “Hmph, later that man led your Fourth Uncle to her home, and your Fourth Uncle took a liking to her at first sight. Seeing that her family was broken and ruined—two of her three children by her first husband had already starved to death—your Fourth Uncle, well, what had he ever seen of the world? He was a fool too. He gave them two hundred catties of millet and even repaired their house before he brought her back. Tell me, if that’s not buying her, what is it?”

Qiqian’er picked up the taro and bit off a large chunk in one go.

The old madam went on: “She’s a detestable person, full of scheming, but her embroidery work… you haven’t seen it. When she embroiders a bird, even the feathers look alive.” The old madam made a circle with her hands to show the size. “About this big. In peaceful times, it could sell for several hundred coins at a city embroidery shop! Her cutting and tailoring’s good too—she can cut a robe without drawing lines, purely by eye, and finish it in a day!

“I wasn’t happy about it at the time, but then I thought—with her skill, Old Four would eventually have children, and if they learned it too, at least it’d be something to fall back on at their in-laws’ home. Having a skill or not, that makes all the difference! Don’t you agree, girl?”

Qiqian’er nodded.

Seeing that her expression was rather flat, the old madam quickly added: “Don’t you pay her any mind—she’s nothing compared to you. That woman… she’s a thief who feeds things outward. Her children from her first husband live off what she pilfers from our family and sends over there! Whatever nice things Old Four brings home, she secretly sends off to that side—otherwise I wouldn’t be so angry. Aiya! The ancestors didn’t accumulate enough virtue—your Fourth Uncle’s done for.”

Having said this, the old madam thumped her own chest a few more times.

Qiqian’er didn’t want to talk about Qiao Shi—even one extra glance at her turned her stomach.

Now, she found herself feeling that the old madam wasn’t so bad after all. Whatever good fortune the Chen family had, it was because their ancestral graves had sent up lucky smoke to invite her here. And if things went badly for the Chen family, it would simply be retribution for the ancestors not accumulating enough virtue, the collapse of the family grave-mound…

Whatever the case, this old madam had an honest heart, and saw further than most old women.

It was just a pity that not one of her children or grandchildren ever thought of her kindness.

Feeling a pang in her heart, she changed the subject and asked the old madam: “I see. But Grandmother, I don’t suppose you know—my, my husband, what rank of general is he? If he’s fifth rank, perhaps we really could make it all the way to the capital.”

Oh my, this little girl, so shameless—calling him “husband.” A man was just a man.

The old madam wanted to laugh but felt embarrassed too, lowering her head. After a good while, half a bowl of tobacco puffed away, she finally looked up as if resolving herself and said: “Ha! What do I know about that! He serves in the army—whenever he goes out, everyone outside respectfully calls him ‘General, General’… right?”

Qiqian’er tugged at the corner of her mouth and nodded. “…Is that so, Grandmother? If he’s not a general, then what exactly is his official rank? There must be some proper name for it, surely?”

The old madam choked on her own smoke, coughing for a long while, and hacked up a thick gob of phlegm from the back of her throat, spitting it fiercely onto the ground as she said, rather shamelessly: “General is general, and if he’s not, he’s not! What, if he’s not a general, are you unwilling now?”

Qiqian’er jerked her head back quickly to dodge the spray of spittle. “What are you imagining now? We already have the marriage contract—even if he were missing an arm or a leg, would I dare not marry him? I won’t get into it too deeply with you, let’s keep it simple. Just take this courtyard we’re living in…”

She stood up, pulled the old madam out the door, and pointed at the two square stone drums carved with bats at the courtyard gate, then pointed at the four door-stops at the main gate. “Do you know what these are?”

Chen Wu Shi curled her lip disdainfully. “Aren’t these just door drums? The landlord in our village has these too, just not as fancy.”

Hearing this, Qiqian’er didn’t laugh at her—after all, she herself hadn’t gained such understanding until she was past forty.

She pointed at the steps before them and explained to the old madam: “Grandmother, there are some things you need to keep in mind from now on. No matter whether it’s the old dynasty or the new, no matter which Emperor sits on the throne, the rules of court and the laws and military orders change from generation to generation—but there’s one single thing that no Emperor, whoever he may be, ever dares to overstep.”

The old madam didn’t understand this either.

Qiqian’er knew she didn’t understand, but patiently explained anyway: “Grandmother, this unchangeable thing is called ritual propriety—it’s the dignity, the face, of officials throughout the realm! Ritual propriety is the set of rules laid down by the sages of old. Within these rules it’s written that the Emperor may only have one principal consort, one Crown Prince. The Emperor cannot marry two principal consorts, cannot establish two Crown Princes. Do you understand now?”

The old madam did not understand!

And rather unconvinced, she said: “I don’t know anything about what you’re saying! What does that have to do with these door drums?”

Qiqian’er raised an eyebrow and pointed at the steps ahead. “Ritual propriety dictates that any residence occupied by a court official follows a strict system of rules. Wherever the main gate has a proper lintel, like this courtyard, with its two square door drums—that marks it as the residence of a civil official. Even if your grandson is a general, he still couldn’t set up door drums like these at his own gate.”

Seeing this, the old madam looked left and right, then gave the door drum a swift kick.