“Miss, this is an invitation sent to you by the Qi estate.”

“Which Qi estate?”

Heng Zhi lowered her head to look at the calling card in her hand and replied, “The current master is Qi Lun, grandson of the former Duke of Li. This invitation was sent by his eldest legitimate grandson’s wife.”

Song Wan took the calling card and carefully recalled this person in her mind. After a long while, she said, “No wonder I found the name familiar. I met her before I came of age.”

“If this servant hasn’t misremembered, she’s a concubine-born miss from Prince Zhongjing’s estate, isn’t she?”

Song Wan’s elegant brows furrowed slightly as she acknowledged with a sound.

Heng Zhi said, “The Qi estate can be considered of noble birth, but after the old Duke passed away, no outstanding descendants emerged in the clan, so it declined generation after generation. Now the eldest legitimate grandson has actually formed a marriage alliance with a concubine-born daughter from Prince Zhongjing’s estate—it truly invites sighs.”

Hearing this, Heng Wu leaned over, “She sent an invitation today—could it be because some days ago Miss let word out that she wanted to arrange marriage matters for several young masters and misses in the estate?”

“It should be so.”

Song Wan smiled, “Though the Qi estate has high birth, it’s truly not worthy of consideration now. Though Second Young Master is concubine-born, he’s still not a match the Qi estate can aspire to. Help me find an excuse to decline this invitation.”

“This servant remembers the Qi estate has a legitimate-born miss who just came of age this year…”

Nanny Zhao was tidying Song Wan’s clothing in the inner room. Hearing Heng Wu speak thus, she said, “A legitimate-born miss won’t do either. Even if her character is excellent, Miss cannot arrange this match for Second Young Master.”

“Why not?”

Heng Wu didn’t understand, “Don’t they say men marry down and women marry up? Previously, the Miss Sun that Miss favored—her father is merely a fifth-rank Grand Secretary of the Eastern Pavilion, which is far inferior to this Qi estate.”

Hearing this, Song Wan propped her chin and laughed, “Silly Heng Wu, this is naturally different.”

“Though Master Sun is only fifth rank, Miss Sun’s legitimate elder brother obtained his jinshi degree before reaching the age of capping, and Miss Sun’s legitimate maternal uncle currently serves in the Ministry of War.”

“While the Grand Secretary of the Eastern Pavilion has a low official rank, he belongs to the Grand Secretariat and is a proper close minister to the sovereign. Miss Sun’s private tutor was the Meishan Recluse from the Wang family of Taicang Prefecture, indicating the Sun and Wang families also have relations.”

Song Wan blinked, “This Wang family…”

“Oh my, Miss, this servant just can’t follow all this. It makes this servant’s head spin round and round.”

Nanny Zhao, holding a sun-softened quilt, laughed, “Even though this old woman doesn’t understand these things, I know the Qi estate’s miss cannot be proposed for Second Young Master.”

“Why not? Is there something improper about the Qi estate’s miss?”

Nanny Zhao patted her back, “What nonsense are you saying? Is the good name of an unmarried young lady something you can slander like this?”

“You can’t even understand such simple matters—wasted on such a tall, foolish body. Go ask your elder sister.”

Having been scolded by Nanny Zhao, Heng Wu went off grumbling to ask Heng Zhi about the reason.

Heng Zhi answered with a smile, “The Sun family has low status but wields real power, while the Qi estate only has an illustrious birth with no substance. If Miss chose such a family for Second Young Master, outsiders would either say our mistress has short-sighted judgment or vicious intentions, trampling on Second Young Master.”

“Ah…”

“No wonder Miss has been poring over various families’ registers these past days. She’s been thinking this deeply.”

Seeing the darkness under Song Wan’s eyes growing increasingly pronounced, Heng Wu couldn’t help feeling resentful, “In this servant’s opinion, Miss shouldn’t care so much. The young master treats Miss terribly—why should Miss suffer and toil, planning for the marquis estate?”

“Bah! You little hoof, after a few days without a beating, your hide has grown thick.”

Hearing these words, Nanny Zhao became so angry her hair practically stood on end. Seeing Song Wan’s smile fade considerably, she quickly grabbed the carrying pole from the room to strike Heng Wu.

Heng Wu was chased in circles around the room.

As Nanny Zhao pursued, she said, “Spouting nonsense all day—I’ll tear that mouth of yours to pieces.”

“What? Which of this servant’s words was wrong?”

“The young master is inhuman, but there are still Madam and Old Madam in the estate. Even setting these aside, if Miss truly threw up her hands and ignored everything, could she hand the authority of household management to that little harlot?”

“Why are your eyes so shallow? You only see these trivial gains and losses before you. Don’t you think that if Miss managed nothing and only sought her own peace, could she stay uninvolved when the marquis estate falls into chaos? Haven’t you heard that saying… something about a nest… something about eggs?”

“When the nest is overturned, how can any eggs remain whole?”

Song Wan covered her lips and laughed, completing the sentence from behind the table.

“Right, right, right, that’s the one.”

“Since Miss has married into the marquis estate, it’s a case of shared glory and shared loss. Do you think I don’t feel sorry for Miss? But have you heard me say anything?”

As she spoke, Nanny Zhao’s eyes also reddened.

Song Wan was nursed by her at her breast. When she was as small as a palm, she was protected and raised in her arms. Now, having finally attended to her until she had this celestial appearance, who would have wanted her to marry someone like Jiang Xingjian? If they had known earlier that Jiang Xingjian was like this, it would have been better to let her miss remain a widow.

Who could say which life was more torturous?

The more Nanny Zhao thought about it, the angrier she became. She thought of how Song Wan maintained the bearing of the estate’s mistress before others, but behind closed doors laughed carelessly like an ungrown girl who hadn’t yet learned better, covering her mouth to giggle—it pained her terribly.

Her miss had been widowed at twelve, confined to Longxiang Studio for six years. When it came down to it, she was still a foolish child who hadn’t experienced the ways between men and women.

Heng Wu only saw that as Nanny Zhao was chasing, she suddenly flopped onto the embroidered couch with a thud and buried her head in the quilt.

Song Wan and Heng Zhi were startled and hurried forward to check. Heng Wu behind them giggled foolishly, until low sobbing came from the room, and only then did she anxiously close her mouth.

“Good Nanny, I won’t speak nonsense anymore.”

“Which married woman doesn’t have to restrain herself and act cautiously, treading carefully at every step? A woman of the household lives her whole life for a good reputation and a virtuous name. Watching Miss toil day after day, who wouldn’t feel sorry? In our estate, this old servant wouldn’t even let Miss touch a drop of water.”

“Much less use that abacus until her fingernails break.”

Nanny Zhao held Song Wan’s delicate fingers, her heart aching so much she sobbed continuously.

Her miss, except for touching needles and thread a few times learning women’s handiwork in childhood, had never done rough work. Now, working the abacus daily, the edges of her nails had cracked into fine bloody splits.

“If Madam knew from the underworld, who knows how much it would pain her…”

With Nanny Zhao gripping her hand tightly, Song Wan’s heart also gave rise to some bitterness, though not because of Jiang Xingjian, but for those who cared for her.

Thinking it over, she snuggled into Nanny Zhao’s embrace as she had when small, murmuring coquettishly, “What words are these, Nanny? I’m already quite relaxed at the marquis estate. What’s so difficult about managing the household and keeping accounts? Which clan wife doesn’t come through this way?”

“What this old servant speaks of isn’t the matter of managing the household. This old servant speaks of Miss’s future.”

Song Wan sighed inwardly but said with a smile, “Husband and I were childhood friends. With that childhood affection, he won’t always be like this. After a few days, who knows—perhaps he’ll remember my good points.”

Heng Zhi and Heng Wu also felt sorrowful. As several people were feeling emotional, they saw Lv Zhu walk in holding an estate disbursement voucher. Just entering the room, she said angrily, “Miss, the young master has gone mad! He actually allocated two thousand taels to Concubine Lin at the Embroidered Smoke Pavilion to open a shop. Does he not know how hard Miss worked to save this silver for the marquis estate? Now he’s allocated it all to that creature—this is truly outrageous oppression.”

“What? Has the young master lost his mind?”

Nanny Zhao suddenly stood up, making Song Wan’s head spin.

Song Wan supported her head and said helplessly, “Mind your words… mind your words…”