“Young miss, it is nearly time.”

Hua Zhi opened her eyes. Seeing only five modest bundles in the room, she looked toward the four maidservants with a questioning expression.

Ying Chun guided her toward the door, explaining quietly as they walked. “The larger things were brought out first.”

Hua Zhi asked nothing more and walked directly to her mother’s courtyard. She had only just reached the entrance when Hua Bailin came out from inside.

“Elder sister.” He hurried over to her in a few quick strides, looking up at her with eyes full of uncertainty. The unease in his gaze caused Hua Zhi a pang of tenderness. Bailin was the legitimate son of the first branch, raised in every comfort. Given what had happened today, the fact that he had not broken down weeping as other children might have already spoke well of him. He had likely spent the time consoling their mother through her tears, too. On any ordinary day she would have praised him warmly and told him not to grow up too quickly. But now, she could not.

Hua Zhi ruffled his hair. “You cannot panic, and you cannot fall apart. You are now the eldest male of the Hua Family. If you panic and fall apart, what will become of your younger brothers? I am going to be very busy going forward. I am leaving you in charge of looking after the younger ones. The Hua Family’s future will one day rest on all of your shoulders. Do you understand?”

Hua Bailin sniffed and nodded firmly. “I will do as elder sister says.”

“Come. Time is nearly up.”

Bad news travels fast. In the brief span of time that had passed, word of the Hua Family’s fall from grace had already spread through the entire city. Onlookers had gathered at the entrance of the lane, saying whatever they pleased. But the Hua Family had never been a household that drew people’s resentment, and so while there was some private murmuring, no one shouted out anything cruel once the family actually emerged.

The horses had all been led away. The carriages, however, were put to use — held on either side by servants and stacked high with belongings.

One carriage stood apart from the rest. It was carried by four people rather than two, and surrounded on all sides by maidservants and female attendants. Inside, pressed close together, sat the five unmarried young ladies of the Hua Family — the youngest barely three years old. Even in this moment, the Old Madam had not forgotten to protect the reputations of her granddaughters.

The boys of the Hua Family under ten years of age numbered seven in all, one of them still being carried in arms. The wives and concubines of the various branches all wore face veils, and the whole procession followed behind the carriages together. The madams, who had never before been subjected to such open and undisguised scrutiny, walked with reddened faces and bowed heads, wishing fervently that each step would bring them to their destination.

By contrast, the Hua matriarch carried herself with remarkable composure. She refused a supporting arm, gripped her walking staff, and walked tall and upright at the front of the procession, entirely alone — as though by sheer force of will she would carve a path forward for her family.

Even those who had been murmuring fell silent at the sight of her. They watched in quiet attention as the long procession passed before them, grew distant, receded from view — and watched as the gates of the Hua household closed and were sealed with the official paper of confiscation.

Having been watched by onlookers the entire way, everyone had held together through sheer force of will alone. Once they arrived at the house in the south of the city — doors flung open, everything inside in disarray — they sat down and could not rise again.

Hua Zhi had no strength left either. She was, in the end, a sheltered young lady who had rarely ventured beyond the household’s inner gates; her physical endurance was accordingly limited. But she could not afford to delay.

She opened her own small bundle and asked for Fu Dong’s as well, then counted through the banknotes and gold inside them. Under the startled looks of everyone around her, she said, “I heard the commotion and had them hide some things away at once. It was fortunate they were never found.”

Everyone nodded with understanding. They too had all been caught off guard, but none of them were the sort to keep all their money in plain view. Each branch had held back something, more or less — only not as much as Hua Zhi.

“Mother, Second Aunt, Third Aunt, Fourth Aunt — I need you each to take some people and sew a few garments. They must be thick. The kind where you cannot immediately feel by touch alone that something is hidden inside. Do you understand what I mean?”

The women exchanged glances and nodded.

“Start immediately. Call as many hands as you can to share the work. You have at most one hour.”

They set to it at once. Having something to do steadied them, and the panic began to ease.

“Fu Dong, find a few sheets of oilpaper and wrap the banknotes tightly. They will need to be sewn inside the garments. Sort out the silver pieces as well — every one of them is to be sewn into the hems.”

“Yes.”

“Bao Xia, go to Chu Family Medical Hall and find Doctor Chu. Purchase some medicinal pills and ointments from him. Work out with him exactly what to buy — but make especially sure to get a good amount of frostbite ointment.”

“Yes.”

Hua Zhi turned to look at her grandmother. “Grandmother, please write Grandfather a letter. You know him better than anyone — you know how to reach him. We cannot let him lose his spirit.”

The Old Madam fixed her with a searching gaze. “Who do you intend to send?”

“I will go myself. I would not trust anyone else to carry it. The Hua men must know that we are all right, that we are here, and that we are waiting for them to come home. Steward Xu — I will need a horse.”

“The eldest young miss need not worry. This servant will see to it.”

Hua Bailin grabbed his elder sister’s hand. “Elder sister, let me go. My riding is better than yours.”

“I need to go myself.” Hua Zhi offered no further explanation. “You take care of the family here.”

Hua Bailin had clung to his elder sister since childhood. He had listened to countless stories she had told him, secretly read through the personal journals she had written, watched her and her four senior maidservants prepare all manner of wonderful things to eat, and been taught things by her that no one else had thought to teach him. He had also glimpsed the side of her she did not show to others — the unhurried, entirely at ease version of herself, so different from the composed demeanor she presented in company. He trusted his elder sister, who handled every matter with effortless command, and believed every word she said.

And so he asked the fear that weighed heaviest in his heart: “Elder sister — will Father… will he be able to come back?”

“He will. All the men of the Hua Family will come back.”

The certainty in those words settled something in Hua Bailin’s heart and gave strength to everyone else who heard them. The Old Madam had Nanny Su help her to her feet. “I am going to write that letter now.”

The Hua Family had, just now, incurred the Emperor’s wrath. Hua Zhi did not dare go further than was safe. When others said they too wished to write letters, she turned them all down. Sending along clothing and practical items was something the Emperor, even if informed, could hardly take issue with. Too many letters would draw unwanted attention, and she was also afraid that the women, in their distress, might write something they should not — something that could fall into the wrong hands. That would be a catastrophe from which the Hua Family, in its current fragility, could not recover. They could not afford even the smallest disturbance now.

The hour passed quickly. Steward Xu stood waiting at the back gate, horse in hand.

The First Madam watched her eldest daughter, dressed in neat, practical clothes, her mouth opening and closing — yet not a single word would come out.

Tell her not to go? How could she say that? Her husband had left in such haste he had taken nothing with him — no change of clothes, much less anything heavy for the cold. He was wearing nothing but that thin summer garment, and she feared he would fall ill before he even reached his destination.

But to let her go — Zhi’er had learned to ride only on their own family estate. She had rarely gone out alone under ordinary circumstances, let alone set out on a long road. What if she took a wrong turn, or encountered someone with ill intentions…

Hua Zhi had no time to comfort her mother. She directed the others in dividing and distributing the bundles, spreading the weight evenly so that none of them were too heavy.

She slung several bundles across her own back, secured the rest on the horse, and swung herself into the saddle. She looked down at the many pairs of eyes gazing up at her with heartfelt devotion. “Wait for me to return. Bailin — you are the eldest in the family now. Watch over the elders and the younger ones.”

“I will, elder sister.”

The First Madam at last could hold back no longer and stepped forward. “Zhi’er…”

“Mother, I will be back as soon as I can. Rest easy — nothing will go wrong.”