“It was beeswax.” Yan Qing smiled lightly. “The forsythia is in bloom, and bees come looking for nectar. What bees love most is beeswax — rubbing it onto the inside of a garment can draw bees from three or four li away.”

Yan Qing had originally planned only to give Yan Qin a lesson. She hadn’t anticipated that Yan Qin, in her eagerness to attract Shi Ting’s attention, would run to the bridge to dance — and happen to stand in the very spot where the forsythia was blooming most thickly. By now, her dress was surely crawling with bees.

“Miss, you are absolutely brilliant!” Jing Zhi and Murong couldn’t help but clap their hands in delight. “The master saw that dress just now — when he gets back he’ll definitely have someone look into things. She made a fool of herself in front of Director Shi and got found out in front of the master. She’ll have to be shut away for several days at least.”

Jing Zhi’s guess proved correct. For the two days that followed, Yan Qin was nowhere to be seen in the Yan household. Madam Yan told everyone that Fifth Miss had caught a cold and was recuperating in her room — but one of the maidservants spotted Madam Yan personally leading a group of people, carrying food and drink, toward the Citang at the back of the estate. As for who was being held there, it needed no explanation.

On the third day of Fifth Miss Yan’s confinement in the Citang, Jing Zhi came in from outside holding a telegram.

“Miss, the telegraph office delivered this — it’s addressed to you.”

Yan Qing was in the side room she had newly set up, working with her collection of Chinese and Western medicines. She had purchased these herbs from memory and from records in ancient Chinese medical texts, hoping to find her own way to heal her disabled legs.

When Jing Zhi came in, out of breath, Yan Qing was heating a silver needle over an alcohol lamp. Hearing her hurried breathing, she set the needle down. “What is it?”

“Miss, it’s a telegram from your uncle.” Jing Zhi handed over a small slip of paper.

Yan Qing wiped her hands before taking it.

It was her first time seeing a telegram in person. In her own era, it would have been a museum exhibit.

The telegram bore two lines of inked text: *To my dear niece Qing Qing — as though meeting face to face. It has already been a year since we last parted, and I miss you greatly. If you have leisure time, I hope you will come to Taishan for a visit! Your uncle: Wen Xu.*

Telegrams were charged by the character, so no one ever wrote at length — brevity was the rule.

Yan Qing thought carefully about this uncle. He was the elder brother of San Yitai, Wen Wan — Master Yan’s third concubine. He did business in Taishan County. The siblings had lost both parents in their youth and had grown up under the care of their grandparents. After the two elders passed away, it was Wen Xu who had taken Wen Wan under his wing, working to make ends meet and putting her through school to learn her skills.

Wen Wan had later married Master Yan and become a much-favored member of the household, but she had not forgotten her brother, who had depended on her as much as she on him. She had given Wen Xu a sum of money to start a business. Wen Xu had a sharp mind and a talent for commerce, and before long his ventures were thriving.

Regrettably, the siblings were fated for separation. Wen Wan had died by hanging while still young, and from that day they were parted forever between the living and the dead.

Wen Xu was very fond of Yan Qing, and would occasionally send her something good to eat or play with. The previous spring, he had even arranged to have Yan Qing come stay with him in Taishan County for a while.

Yan Qing folded the telegram. “Is Uncle’s birthday coming up?”

Jing Zhi flipped through the almanac. “It really is — at the end of this month.”

“Since Uncle took the trouble to send a telegram himself, I should go.” Yan Qing said: “Go to the train station and buy three tickets for the 29th to Taishan County. I’ll go speak with Father.”

At the news that they were going to Taishan County, Jing Zhi was beside herself with excitement. Though Taishan fell under the jurisdiction of Shun Cheng, it was a place of lush mountains and clear waters, and its seafood in particular was a wonder unto itself.

They had not yet set out, and Jing Zhi was already looking forward to it.

—