After Jiang Suxin drank the snow lotus and white fungus soup, she smiled and said, “Sanniang, how is this sweet soup made? It’s so much more fragrant than the usual ones I’ve had.”
Qiu Sanniang sat across from her and replied with a laugh, “You’d have to ask Bai He. In the small kitchen, she’s in charge—I can’t say anything about it.”
Bai He was standing to the side. Hearing Qiu Sanniang mention her, she quickly lowered her head and replied to Jiang Suxin, “Fourth Madam, this servant added some osmanthus vanilla powder I made myself before the New Year.”
“Osmanthus vanilla powder? I’ve never heard of it, but this fragrance is truly memorable.” Jiang Suxin took the handkerchief Baozhu handed her and lightly dabbed her lips. “If you remember the recipe, I’d like to ask for a portion.”
“What’s difficult about that?” Qiu Sanniang turned her head and instructed, “Bai He, send it to Fourth Madam tomorrow.”
Bai He acknowledged, and she and Lu Ju cleared the table clean before withdrawing outside.
“Baozhu, you go down as well. Let us have a good talk.” Jiang Suxin sent her senior maid outside.
From the moment Jiang Suxin entered this room, Qiu Sanniang knew she must have come with a purpose—one doesn’t visit the temple without a reason. But she always waited for others to make the first move. She instructed Bai He to prepare soup and refreshments, and while slowly eating, she observed Jiang Suxin’s expression, trying to discern some clues. Jiang Suxin was one of Zhang Shi’s people. Although she was ordinarily quite polite to her and showed her favors, Qiu Sanniang wasn’t naive enough to confide in her. Different paths meant no common plans. Even though Qiu Si couldn’t be called a considerate husband, Jiang Suxin was the type of woman who regarded her husband as heaven and wholeheartedly plotted for him.
“It’s a pity I don’t know how to play chess, otherwise I could have a match with you—better than you playing left hand against right hand, which must be quite boring.” Jiang Suxin used her hand to fiddle with the dish of white stones, her gauze silk sleeves hanging loosely, letting the gold bracelet from the silk nest rest in circles around her wrist.
“It’s fine. I’m used to it.” Qiu Sanniang could show off to her younger sister, but she was extremely careful not to reveal even a hint of idle wealth, because she knew clearly that compared to Seventh Miss’s petty narrow-mindedness, Jiang Suxin’s capability exceeded it by far more than just a point or two. “Father loves chess. I learned some rudiments following him—it’s a way of showing filial piety.”
“Master indeed plays excellent chess. Without you, Sanniang, I’m afraid no one else in this household could accompany Master to satisfy his chess cravings.” Jiang Suxin was one of the few people who could still care about Master Qiu’s interests.
“Now, he can barely even pick up the chess pieces.” Mentioning her father, Qiu Sanniang’s brow furrowed slightly.
“If you ask me, the prescription should have been changed long ago. Although it’s more expensive, it’s not like our family can’t afford it. A while back, my natal family brother sent over two hundred-year-old ginseng roots. I thought of using them to nourish Master’s health. However, the physician said old ginseng is too potent—we must wait for Master’s body to stabilize before slicing it to add to the medicine. So for now it’s stored away. These past few days I’ve noticed Master seems much better. I should ask the physician if it can be used now.” Jiang Suxin’s natal family mother still managed the inner household and doted extremely on her eldest daughter, frequently having people send various good things over.
“Then I must thank you.” Qiu Sanniang was truly filial and bowed her head in gratitude for her father’s sake.
“What need is there for thanks? We’re all one family.” Jiang Suxin came over and grasped Qiu Sanniang’s hand. “Don’t worry. Even after you marry out, if others can’t manage, I’ll always look after him.”
These words, even to a heart of iron and stone, would soften one’s nature.
Qiu Sanniang’s voice caught slightly as she grasped Jiang Suxin’s hand in return. “Fourth Brother marrying you is the Qiu family’s good fortune.”
Jiang Suxin’s eyes reddened. “Seeing you like this reminds me of myself. Before I married, how could I not grieve and shed tears over the future difficulty of showing filial piety to my parents? Yet everyone else treated me as an outsider. Ah, back then I truly wished I could just stay home for the rest of my life.”
In her bones, Qiu Sanniang was suspicious. Having seen too much cunning and hypocrisy among merchants, seeing Jiang Suxin so distressed actually made her calm down instead.
Thus, she quickly replaced sorrow with a smile and said, “Marriage is still nowhere in sight. What are we being sad about here?”
“It’s my fault. I meant to comfort you, but instead ended up feeling bad myself.” Jiang Suxin’s expression also changed quickly, her face already serene.
Qiu Sanniang thought to herself: she almost fooled me into thinking she truly cared about my interests.
“Actually, I came today because I have something I want to discuss with you.” Jiang Suxin’s roundabout tactics worked on Zhang Shi but not on Qiu Sanniang. Because Qiu Sanniang simply didn’t ask her purpose for coming, she had to bring it up herself.
“If it’s about mansion affairs, I’m afraid I can’t help you. As you know, I’m no longer managing the household. Asking me would be like a blind person lighting a lamp—a waste of effort.” Not only did she not ask about the purpose, there was even some intention of dismissing her. This was Qiu Sanniang’s strategy of retreating to advance.
Both were experts at scheming, but ultimately it was Jiang Suxin asking a favor of Qiu Sanniang, so naturally Jiang Suxin lost the initiative first.
“How could I not know? Those trivial household matters aren’t worth mentioning. When you were managing things, everything was already well-ordered. I just picked up what was ready-made to manage—how could I come and trouble you further?” Jiang Suxin spoke unhurriedly.
Qiu Sanniang smiled. Jiang Suxin was very good at speaking—putting to the torch the rules she had worked hard to establish and using Zhang Shi’s words as directives. However, since it wasn’t about those household matters, she was quite curious about why Jiang Suxin had come.
“I want to ask you for someone for your Fourth Brother.” After pulling conversation for quite a while, Jiang Suxin began getting to the point.
Asking her for someone for Qiu Si? Having grown up in this chaotic mansion, Qiu Sanniang almost immediately understood the meaning. But wanting to be certain, she asked a question.
“You mean Fourth Brother has taken a liking to a maid in my household?” If so, which unlucky one would it be? It couldn’t be—
“I won’t hide it from you. I first noticed he had thoughts, so I paid special attention. As it happens, Ai Lian is also with child, so I thought to take another caring person for him. It’s rare that he likes someone from the mansion—much better than some dubious woman from outside. Those few maids of yours are very clever, especially the two senior ones. They truly have appearance and temperament—even I like them very much.” She didn’t say which one.
“Those few maids of mine are just passable.” Qiu Sanniang half-deflected, casting a glance at the backs of Bai He and Lu Ju outside the curtain. “I wonder which one caught Fourth Brother’s eye?” Xiao Yi was absolutely impossible. As for those two elegant ones outside, Qiu Si had seen them long ago. For Jiang Suxin to only come asking today, it seemed impossible to be them. Only that one remained—she could be considered a fresh face.
“I see you’re so clever—not only can you speak well, but you handle matters properly and thoroughly, with such a good temperament. And as for appearance, if she were elevated to be a mistress, who would think she was once a maid?” Jiang Suxin had seen clearly the beautiful countenance beneath the pretense of humility.
“I guess that would be Bai He.” Qiu Sanniang deliberately refused to comply with the other’s wishes. “Of the four, she’s the most steady, teaching the inexperienced ones hand by hand. Moreover, when matters are entrusted to her, I don’t have to worry at all. As for appearance, she truly surpasses more than half the maids in our mansion.”
“It’s not Bai He—it’s Mo Zi.” Jiang Suxin said it.
Qiu Sanniang laughed aloud.