“I’m not really acquainted with them.” Third Aunt said. “But the private tutor they have engaged is the nephew of a student of my father’s — a man named Zhao, quite an accomplished scholar, which is why we made the arrangement. As for the Tang family themselves, they are arrogant and difficult to deal with. Master Zhao only went there in the first place out of consideration for his friend’s feelings. He’s been planning to resign his post when the year is out. I heard that the annual tuition is fifteen taels of silver, plus one set of clothing for each of the four seasons, and a personal attendant. I’ve been thinking of discussing it with my husband — that sort of cost is well within what we could manage. We could invite him to our home to teach Kai Ge and Yu Ge exclusively.”

Madam was quite astonished: “Fifteen taels of silver for tuition, a set of clothing for each season, and a personal attendant. That is rather…” She paused in thought, then said: “Third sister-in-law, this is an excellent idea. If that is what it takes, it would be far better to have him come to our home. Everything else can be done more simply, but the children’s education cannot be neglected. And besides, we have not yet divided the household — this expense should come from the common accounts!”

Third Aunt was startled, and quickly said: “Oh, that really cannot be…”

Madam had already taken Third Aunt’s hand: “We are one family — no need for such formality between us.” She continued: “Since Master Zhao is thinking of resigning, he is presumably dissatisfied with his current employers. I think we should raise the tuition to twenty taels per year, two sets of clothing for each season, and a personal attendant. I see there is a small courtyard in the outer quarters — we could set that aside especially for the tutor to use.”

Third Aunt still wished to demur, but Madam had already smiled: “I am the elder sister-in-law — you must listen to me.”

With the Liu family’s fall from favor, Third Aunt had become more acutely sensitive to the ways of the world than ever before. What Madam was offering was not particularly costly, and it was nothing Third Master could not have afforded himself — yet Madam’s words moved Third Aunt deeply.

She clasped Madam’s hand, her eyes growing slightly damp at the corners, and nodded gravely.

Madam then looked with a smile at the three of them — Fifth Miss, Shiniang, and Shiyiniang — sitting quietly in a circle before them: “It can’t be very interesting for you to sit here listening to us elders going on about household matters. Your third aunt has two pear trees behind her rooms — they should be in blossom just now. Have the Nannies take you for a walk around the courtyard. Better than sitting here feeling uncomfortable.”

Third Aunt, catching the drift, understood that Madam wished to send the daughters away so she could speak privately. She helped along: “Sitting beneath the pear blossom trees with tea would be even more pleasant!” Then she called her own trusted Nanny to take the young ladies for a turn in the rear courtyard.

The three of them understood, curtsied to Madam and Third Aunt, and followed the Nanny out to the courtyard.

Madam let out a long sigh and looked at Third Aunt with a rueful smile: “All three of them are coming up at once. It never stops being a worry.”

Third Aunt shot a glance at the maids around her, and they withdrew without a sound.

She smiled: “When they become mothers themselves, they will naturally come to understand all the trouble you’ve gone to on their behalf.”

“God willing.” Madam replied languidly. Then she straightened up and asked Third Aunt: “Speaking of which — do you happen to know any eligible young men of the right age? Fifth Miss and Shiniang are not getting any younger. You know how it is — they are both concubine-born. We may have someone in mind, but that doesn’t mean the other party has us in mind. It’s enough to worry me to death.”

So that was what this was about!

Third Aunt thought of the whispers she had overheard during the mourning period in Yuhang… and could not help but smile: “If it were as it used to be, I could ask my mother and she would always be able to find a few suitable candidates. But as things stand now…” Her face filled with apology.

“Look at me — getting carried away and touching on your own grief.” Madam reproached herself.

“It is nothing to do with elder sister-in-law.” Third Aunt’s eyes reddened at the corner: “It is simply that I have not come to terms with it myself.”

Madam offered a few words of comfort to Third Aunt, then sighed and circled back to what she had been saying: “I don’t dare ask for too much — only that the young man be of upright character and from a respectable family.”

Third Aunt, seeing how much it weighed on her, could only say: “Don’t worry, elder sister-in-law. I will keep an eye out for you.”

Madam nodded, and seemed about to say more, when a little maid came in to announce: “The two young masters have returned from school!”

Third Aunt’s face broke into a full smile: “Come in quickly — your First Aunt-in-law is here.”

Madam saw what this meant, and knew that what she had come hoping to accomplish had fallen through for now.

—

When they emerged from Third Aunt’s, Madam’s expression was somewhat dazed.

Luo Zhensheng noticed.

Once they were home, he had a private word with his mother: “…Why did you suddenly decide to go to Huguo Temple today? And then go to all the trouble of visiting Third Uncle’s house as well?”

Master Luo had gone out early that morning and had not yet returned. On top of that, her hopes at Third Aunt’s had come to nothing, leaving her feeling put out. She too wanted someone to talk to, and told her son the whole matter in full: “…If things are settled for Eleventh Sister, then Fifth Miss and Shiniang will need to be married off quickly. I could tell that Madam Jiang seemed quite pleased — but there’s still one without a match. What then?”

Luo Zhensheng had vaguely heard his wife mention something of the sort before, and had dismissed it at the time as women’s nonsense. Now, hearing it directly from his mother’s own lips, his expression grew serious: “Mother — Elder Sister is still very much alive. How can you… that would break her heart!”

“What do you know?” Madam, seeing her usually obedient son talking back to her, thought to herself: should something happen to her daughter, her grandson would still have this uncle to lean on. It wouldn’t do for her son to develop a rift over this matter. Then she thought: perhaps this matter might even make her son appreciate just how difficult life could be. She decided to hold nothing back: “When a person is gone, they are forgotten; when a lamp is snuffed, all light fades. No matter how much the Marquis may cherish the memory, he sees a new face smile at him every day — even iron can be bent into a gentle curve in time. By then, who knows what trouble might arise. If I don’t plan ahead now, am I supposed to wait until something goes wrong for Zhun Ge before I start scheming? Don’t forget — he has his grandmother above him and his father below him. No matter how close we are, we are still the maternal family. Even with the best intentions, we might find our reach falls short.”

“The Marquis is not that sort of man!” Luo Zhensheng told his mother about Xu Lingyi quietly visiting the Director of Studies at the Imperial Academy: “He could easily have made a show of it in front of me. Yet he said nothing to me at all. If the Director hadn’t mentioned it in passing, I might never have known.”

“Who would know the Marquis better than your elder sister herself!” Madam was unmoved: “I’ve been busy running about this whole time and haven’t had a proper chance to talk with you. I notice you’ve changed considerably since we were in Yuhang — has something happened?”

Luo Zhensheng was caught off guard. He hadn’t expected his mother to ask him this, nor could he quite make out what she meant by it.

“Is it that after entering the Imperial Academy, you suddenly realized you had been nothing more than a frog in a well?” Madam did not wait for her son to answer, and gave a cold short laugh. “There is still much for you to learn. The Marquis going to the Imperial Academy to put in a good word for you — if you were that Director of Studies, wouldn’t you also make use of such a favor?”

Luo Zhensheng’s face went slightly pale. He thought back to when he had first entered the Imperial Academy, keeping himself modest and careful. Whenever anyone asked about his family, he would give vague and evasive answers — and ended up the subject of ridicule. Later, when he had inadvertently let slip his connection to the Yongping Marquis’s household, everyone had grown suddenly warm and close toward him… an experience that had given him a deep and bitter taste of the ways of the world.

Madam saw that her son had gone quiet, and knew her words had hit their mark. She lowered her voice and spoke slowly and deliberately: “The Marquis — though a man of unparalleled talent — is soft-eared, and when faced with difficulties, timid, irresolute, and indecisive. I need say no more than this. When your elder sister first married into that household, she wanted to establish a separate residence and live apart. The Marquis agreed to her face, plain and clear — but the moment he stood before the Dowager Madam, he changed his mind at once. Your elder sister complained, and he changed his mind again, saying he would speak to the Dowager Madam in a few days. Back and forth he went, with no firm resolve. Later, when he inherited the title, it only brought your elder sister more grief.

The Marquis is the Empress’s brother — by dynastic law, he ought to have been given a title of nobility. But the Marquis feared the Emperor’s suspicion, and insisted on submitting a memorial to decline. Tell me, what was there to be afraid of? Is he the only National Uncle in this dynasty? Or has every National Uncle who ever received a title of nobility met with a bad end? Everyone else was unafraid — yet he alone was afraid! Your elder sister argued with him no end over that.”

Madam grew agitated.

“Later, when the northern rebellion was put down, the Emperor brought up the matter of conferring a title on the Marquis once again.

By that time, Yu Ge had already begun his studies, and everyone praised his intelligence. And yet Zhun Ge was still small, and suffered from chronic illness. Among the relatives, there was talk that ‘the whole family would one day depend on Yu Ge,’ and some muddleheaded souls even went so far as to flock to Concubine Qin’s side to curry favor. Your elder sister then decided she wanted to formally transfer Yu Ge into the Second Household. But for one thing, that required the Dowager Madam’s and Second Mistress’s consent; for another, it required the approval of the clan — which posed considerable difficulty. And just as she was fretting over all this, she learned that the Marquis had received another title of nobility — and she was overjoyed. She thought: this title can be passed to Yu Ge; for one, it would resolve the danger hanging over Zhun Ge; for another, it would give your elder sister face in the eyes of others. And who would have imagined — the Marquis declined this one too. Not only did he decline, but he said nothing to your elder sister about it beforehand. She heard of it afterward from someone else’s mouth. This infuriated your elder sister so thoroughly… she developed the illness of coughing blood that she has carried ever since.”

As she spoke, Madam could not help but shed tears.

“The Marquis gave not a single thought to your elder sister’s wellbeing. A title conferred for being the Empress’s kin is tied only to the person who holds it — when they are gone, it is gone. But a title earned through military merit is a hereditary title — passed down through generations. Think about it: even with her here, he treated her like this. What if she were no longer here — what hope would Zhun Ge have of a decent future? Don’t forget: no matter how many children in the Xu household call you uncle, only Zhun Ge carries your elder sister’s blood — only he and you are bound by flesh and bone that can never be severed!”

Luo Zhensheng listened, perplexed: “But I have heard that when the Marquis was pacifying the Miao tribespeople, the Miao presented him with rich silks and beautiful women as a false gesture of submission, and the Marquis was utterly unmoved. He struck decisively, immediately taking off the head of the Miao chieftain and turning the feigned submission into a genuine defeat — which led to seven battles and seven victories, and the full pacification of the Miao tribespeople… How then can you say he is ‘soft-eared, timid, irresolute, and indecisive’? Might you have heard it wrong?”

“What do you know?” Madam gave a cold short laugh: “In those days, the late Marquis spent every last resource in support of the Emperor’s claim to the throne. How else do you think the Wen family of Yangzhou ever came to be connected to the Marquis’s household? Afterward, when the Emperor ascended the throne, he was determined to bring glory to the Empress. Over the protests of several Grand Academicians, he appointed the Marquis — who had never commanded troops or fought a battle in his life — as Commander-in-Chief for the pacification of the southern tribes. The men of the Ministry of War could all see what the Emperor intended. They knew that for this campaign, provisions and manpower would be furnished without limit. They knew that to win would mean becoming a high minister or a titled lord — there would be no escaping such rewards. And so, at the time, many a renowned and decorated general took posts as junior commanders beneath the Marquis. If he still couldn’t win a war like that, he truly would be beyond saving!”

Luo Zhensheng was at a loss for words.

With so many celebrated generals serving under his command — simply getting them all to follow orders must have been no easy feat in itself, surely?

But if he said that, his mother would not understand…

—