Having heard Third Mistress Qiao’s words, whatever small measure of sympathy Shi’yiniang had felt for Qiao Lianfang vanished entirely.
She smiled: “You see, the New Year is nearly upon us. For the sake of Qiao Yiniang’s illness, every physician in the Imperial Medical Office has examined her, and when asked what ails her, they all say merely that her constitution is weak, prescribing nothing but tonics. Perhaps it would be worth trying a different physician? The household has its rules — those who fall ill are to recuperate in a separate quiet room. I imagine your household has similar rules.” She lowered her voice: “You have more years and experience than I do. Could it be that Qiao Yiniang’s father, missing his daughter, has come to see her… and latched on to her?” She sat up straight again. “I think perhaps a different approach is needed. She could go to a temple to recuperate in quiet for a time. In the presence of the Buddha, the illness might just lift. What do you think, Third Mistress Qiao?”
However seasoned Third Mistress Qiao was, Shi’yiniang’s words — gentle in surface yet iron in substance — had still shaken her deeply.
To suggest that Lianfang’s father had latched on to her… was she not implying the place was haunted?
She looked at this young girl before her who had not yet come of age, a flash of resentment crossing her eyes — yet she could not find a single word of rebuttal.
Shi’yiniang looked at her coolly: “Qiao Yiniang was raised by your own hand. You are the most fitting person to speak these words to her. Shall we bring in a different physician to take another look — or shall we continue with the prescriptions the current physician has given? Go and ask Qiao Yiniang what she prefers.” With that, she lifted her teacup.
Third Mistress Qiao was so furious her lips trembled, yet she had no choice but to rise and take her leave, following a junior maid to Qiao Lianfang’s quarters.
Qiao Lianfang had already received word the moment Third Mistress Qiao arrived and was standing at the door to meet her. Seeing her mother, she rushed forward: “Mother, you’re finally here.” With those words, tears began to well up in her eyes.
All of Third Mistress Qiao’s burning anger melted away at the sight.
This was the child she had carried for ten months and nurtured from this size to the graceful young woman standing before her now…
She took her daughter’s hand, the corners of her eyes growing damp as she looked her up and down: “Are you alright?”
Two rosy flushes bloomed on Qiao Lianfang’s cheeks.
Third Mistress Qiao quickly pulled her inside: “This is no place for talking!”
Qiao Lianfang nodded and followed her mother meekly into the room.
The two settled onto the large kang by the window. Xiuyuan, who had come in carrying tea, placed the cups before them and could not suppress the delight on her face as she told Third Mistress Qiao: “Madam, the Marquis stayed with our young mistress two nights running, and still treats her just as fondly as before.” She could not help letting a note of satisfaction show.
Third Mistress Qiao’s eyes lit up.
Qiao Lianfang blushed and scolded her: “Must you talk so much? Get out and stand guard at the door — my mother and I have more to discuss.”
Xiuyuan retreated with a smile.
Third Mistress Qiao could barely contain her eagerness: “How many nights has the Marquis stayed with Qin Yiniang and Wen Yiniang?”
Qiao Lianfang kept her head down, fiddling with the hem of her garment, her face flushed so deeply it seemed blood might drip from it: “One night each.”
Third Mistress Qiao let out a long breath and clasped her hands together toward the west in reverence: “Amitabha! That is well, that is very well!” Then she looked at her daughter and said quietly: “The words I told you to say — did you say them to the Marquis?”
Qiao Lianfang gave a barely audible murmur: “I said what you told me… that this was heartache… The Marquis, the Marquis treated me just as warmly as before!”
Third Mistress Qiao smiled: “And don’t go throwing tantrums anymore. A man who must say and do things contrary to his heart when out in the world comes home exhausted. He wants nothing more than to see a smiling face. You are fortunate to have the Marquis — if he were the sort who had no tenderness for a woman’s feelings, all that weeping and wailing of yours would have sent him walking out the door at once, let alone any talk of affection.” Her tone took on a note of melancholy. “This place is no different from the Qiao household. Our every move is watched. And yet you have no chance to see the Dowager Madam — if anything were to go wrong, there would not even be anyone to speak on your behalf. You must be ten times more careful and give no one any cause to seize on a mistake.”
Qiao Lianfang nodded earnestly and proposed to her mother: “Mother, should we try to win over Weizi or Yaohang from the Dowager Madam’s side…”
“No need,” Third Mistress Qiao shook her head. “The Xu household is stricter than the Qiao household. What works in one may not work in the other. And besides, we don’t have the spare money for it.”
Qiao Lianfang said, “Wait a moment,” went into the inner room, opened a chest, and produced two fifty-tael ingots of silver for Third Mistress Qiao: “Take these and use them as you need.”
Third Mistress Qiao’s expression changed dramatically: “You’ve been asking the Marquis for things?”
“No, no,” Qiao Lianfang hurried to explain. “I’ve kept your words in my heart. I never asked the Marquis for anything. Last time he came, my pearl hair circlet happened to come apart, and several of the junior maids were crawling on the floor looking for the pearls. The Marquis only said, ‘Have it restrung,’ and the very next day Steward Bai sent over a hundred taels of silver. I exchanged fifty taels for ingots and was just about to have someone take them to you…”
“Outrageous!” Third Mistress Qiao’s face went iron cold. “Since the Marquis gave you that gift, the proper thing to do was follow his words and buy yourself a beautiful new hair circlet to wear when you thank him for his generosity. What possessed you to exchange the money for silver ingots?”
“Mother,” Qiao Lianfang rushed to defend herself, “I looked into it — a good hair circlet would only cost thirty-some taels. I already receive five taels a month in allowance, and my food and clothing are all provided by the household, so there really isn’t much I need to spend on…”
“Nonsense!” Third Mistress Qiao’s expression grew even sterner. “Are you telling me you have no maids or matrons to tip, no need to keep yourself properly groomed and turned out? The Marquis is your everything — without him, a thousand or ten thousand taels amount to nothing. The example of Wen Xianglian is right before your eyes, and still you haven’t a grain of sense.”
Tears circled Qiao Lianfang’s eyes: “Mother has been living so frugally at home…”
Third Mistress Qiao cut her off: “I am a widow. Would it be proper for me to dress in bright colors and deck myself in jewels from head to toe? Besides, as long as I keep faithful to your father’s memory, the Qiao family must show me respect. They’re counting on me to earn a chastity memorial arch for the family.” She took out her handkerchief and dabbed at her daughter’s eyes: “My dear child, you are no longer in my arms where you can come to me with anything. There are times when you must think things through on your own. My words remain the same as always — while Luo Shi’yiniang is still young, you must keep the Marquis spending his nights in your room.”
“I… I’ll listen to you…” Qiao Lianfang murmured, her whole face scarlet with embarrassment.
Third Mistress Qiao gave a small nod and lowered her voice: “Look at how well-timed things are now. Nothing like what it was during First Madam’s time, when your monthly cycles would always fall on the nights you were to attend the Marquis. You must find a way to bear a son. Money and influence are all empty things — only a son will secure your future and give you a true foothold.”
Qiao Lianfang seemed to want to speak, but stopped herself.
Third Mistress Qiao could not help but sigh at the sight of her.
She had never expected her daughter to have fallen into such a situation, and there were things she had never told her. Now it seemed there was no choice but to say them.
Third Mistress Qiao deliberated for a moment, then said quietly: “Luo Shi’yiniang is fourteen this year — only thirteen by full count. Never mind that she’s too young to conceive easily; even if she did, whether the pregnancy would hold is another matter. That, I believe, is the main reason the Luo family chose her for this match.”
Qiao Lianfang’s eyes widened in shock: “Mother…”
Third Mistress Qiao gave her daughter a firm nod: “So you must keep your eyes open. Don’t think that everything happens by chance, or by a temporary stroke of bad luck…” She sighed: “You…”
The words rose to her lips and were swallowed back down.
If she herself had not been so ambitious back then, she could have simply married Lianfang to her own nephew — poor, perhaps, but at least a proper marriage with a wife’s standing, spared all this suffering… But such words were too late to say now and would only unsettle everyone’s heart.
She composed herself and helped her daughter think through the situation: “Qin Yiniang is getting on in years, and Wen Yiniang has never been in the Marquis’s favor. Of all who have his affection, only you. And Luo Shi’yiniang — I can see she is sharp.” She then recounted to Qiao Lianfang, word for word, what Shi’yiniang had said to her earlier: “A clever woman has her own ways. She will certainly not cross the Marquis. So she endures the small things. You must not go too far either — know when enough is enough. When I leave, go to her and apologize. Ask to change physicians, and promise to be fully recovered before the eighth day of the twelfth month. She will not trouble you over it. From now on, do whatever Qin Yiniang does. When it is time to pay your respects, pay them. When it is time to be meek and deferential, be meek and deferential. When it is time to be charming and obliging, be charming and obliging…”
Shi’yiniang had actually dared to threaten her… and now she had to go apologize to Shi’yiniang, be meek and deferential, be charming and obliging… Qiao Lianfang listened with her lips pressed tightly together, a flash of resentment glinting in her eyes.
Third Mistress Qiao, still in the middle of reproving her daughter, noticed her expression and could not help shaking her head: “Lianfang, are you thinking that even if Luo Shi’yiniang is displeased with you, as long as the Marquis is here, she has no way to do anything to you?”
Qiao Lianfang said nothing — which was itself an answer.
“What if Shi’yiniang were to arrange an exceptionally beautiful bed-chamber attendant for the Marquis?” Third Mistress Qiao asked lightly.
“Impossible.” Qiao Lianfang answered without hesitation. “What woman would willingly arrange a bed-chamber attendant for her own husband — and a beautiful one at that?”
Third Mistress Qiao felt a headache at her daughter’s stubborn obtuseness, but still made the effort to press on: “What if she truly did? Take Dongqing, for instance, or Hupo — what if Shi’yiniang, in order to manage you and win the Marquis’s favor, took both of them as bed-chamber attendants? What would you do then?”
“She wouldn’t, she wouldn’t…” Qiao Lianfang’s expression turned panicked.
“And what if, precisely to manage you, she truly did?” Third Mistress Qiao pressed relentlessly.
Qiao Lianfang was suddenly at a loss for words.
Third Mistress Qiao said, resigned: “Luo Shi’yiniang is young and her body is not yet fully grown — the Marquis naturally finds it less comfortable with her than with you. The only means available to her for dealing with you is to arrange a strikingly beautiful bed-chamber attendant for the Marquis. Once the Marquis has somewhere else to go, and she then finds a fault with you — do you really think the Marquis would make trouble with his own wife on your behalf? Lianfang, if you cannot see through this, there is nothing more I can do. You might as well consider that I never gave birth to you, and I never had a mother like you. We shall each go our own way.” With those words, she rose to leave.
At the thought that her mother, who had always been her pillar of support, was suddenly about to leave — and had spoken such cold and final words — Qiao Lianfang panicked at once and rushed forward to hold her back: “Mother, I’ll listen to you, I’ll listen to you — I’ll do everything you say!”
—