Bao Xia fetched water and wiped the chest carefully clean, then wrapped it in a clean cloth. Nian Qiu, ever meticulous, worried that someone might notice and take interest, so she found another chest of roughly the same size, filled it with books from the study, and had it loaded onto the carriage. When loading, she let it drop — books tumbled out across the ground — so that anyone making inquiries would assume both chests held nothing but books.

Hua Zhi was silent for the entire journey to the estate.

The bright sunshine that had blazed when they set out seemed to match her mood, gradually giving way to darkening clouds. Bao Xia grew a little anxious. The residence and the estate were in different directions — it would take at least an hour to get there, and she could only hope they wouldn’t run into the rain.

Seeing that her Young Miss was still not in lighter spirits, she lifted the curtain and called out: “Walk a little faster.”

Her voice brought Hua Zhi back to herself. She looked up at the sky, and her longing for her family deepened. She hoped the weather was better where they were — not too much sun, no rain, and may none of them fall ill, not even the half-brothers she had rarely exchanged a word with in ordinary times. Let them all be safe and sound.

It was only with the family’s misfortune that she truly felt, in her bones, that a family was a whole. Good fortune was shared; so was hardship. There was resentment, of course — but hatred, no. Because they were, at the root of it, one.

In times like these, even the illness or death of the most overlooked concubine-born son would be a blow the Hua Family could barely withstand. The family would be missing a piece of itself, never to be whole again. But if the Hua Family’s people could grit their teeth and hold on through this — she believed that when the Hua Family rose again, it would be more united than any other family in the land.

As long as they could get through this.

Others might allow themselves to be weak. As the one managing the Hua Family’s affairs, she could not.

Hua Zhi lowered her gaze and let her hand rest quietly on the wooden chest beside her. If she truly missed them, she should be finding ways to solve problems — not worrying and grieving to no purpose. That was of no help to the present circumstances.

The clouds gathered thicker and heavier, but before the rain came, the group finally arrived at the estate.

The estate’s manager was the son of the Old Madam’s wet nurse. Out of fondness for old ties, the Old Madam had, after the wet nurse grew old, brought her entire family to this estate — both honoring the bond between them and giving that whole family a good place to land.

Which also meant that certain things here had the Old Madam’s tacit approval.

Before the family’s misfortune, Hua Zhi would have turned a blind eye to this as well. But now she could not — especially not after witnessing what was happening at the front gate with her own eyes.

“Steward Chen, plenty of people saw my sister being taken away by your son. I am not a man who understands fine points of principle, but my family has farmed the Hua Family’s land and eaten the Hua Family’s rice for all these years. I have no choice but to go and recognize the Hua Family’s door. Everyone says the Hua Family has strict rules — I intend to go and ask whether the Hua Family’s rules reach as far as this estate.”

The man speaking wore plain laborer’s clothes, his trouser legs tied unevenly, mud still on his feet, face red and neck flushed. Had it not been for the people around him holding him back, Hua Zhi rather thought he might have charged forward and beaten Steward Chen on the spot.

People like him were rare in this world of rigid hierarchy. Those who managed them were themselves only servants — yet those at the bottom seldom dared to go against them, let alone have the nerve to go over their heads and appeal directly to the masters above.

Hua Zhi’s mood lightened, just slightly. In other people’s eyes, someone like him was a troublemaker. In her eyes, with the right guidance, he could be put to great use.

“Miss, let me go over and—”

Hua Zhi shook her head. “Watch.”

Bao Xia, who was nothing if not direct, was so angry her nose had practically gone crooked. The Hua Family was in the middle of a crisis, and the people beneath them were not thinking about how to help their masters through it — instead they were causing trouble for them. And after eating the Hua Family’s rice all these years!

Steward Chen — whose belly was large enough to rival a woman at full term — stood with his hands clasped behind his back, nose in the air, in full posture of a landed patriarch. “Nonsense. Liu Jiang, the Hua Family has been nothing but good to you. Do not try to pin this on my son — for all you know, your sister ran off with someone herself and you are blaming it on Chong.”

Liu Jiang’s fists clenched. “In that case, I will go right now and ask the Hua Family’s Old Madam to come and settle this matter.”

“You dare!” Steward Chen’s shrill voice was sharp enough to set teeth on edge. He shot a glance to the side, and a few burly men immediately closed in around Liu Jiang.

Liu Jiang’s face took on the reckless look of a man who had decided to stake everything. “Chen Jin — unless you beat me to death here today, I will drag myself there if I have to, even on my hands and knees, and let them see what kind of dog it is they have guarding their gate.”

Chen Jin’s face turned purple with rage. Guard dog — he was being called a guard dog — and at that, all pretense of dignity deserted him. “Beat him! If he dies, it’s on me — beat him!”

“Who are you going to beat?” Hua Zhi came forward through the crowd surrounding her, eyes resting on Chen Jin with a mild, unhurried calm. “On your account? Your very life is bound to the Hua Family — and you think you can take on someone else’s life as well?”

Chen Jin had met the Hua Family’s eldest Young Miss before. Three years ago she had come to stay at the estate for half a month, and the bearing she carried herself with had made a lasting impression on him. Naturally, he was not the only one who remembered her.

But at this moment he would have given anything never to have met her. If only the Young Miss had never come here before — if only none of the people around them recognized her — then whatever he chose to do, who would be the wiser?

As it happened, Liu Jiang was among those who had seen Hua Zhi before. Back then, when the Young Miss had wanted to walk around the surrounding area, the one who had served as guide was his younger sister. He shoved through the people surrounding him and threw himself on the ground before Hua Zhi. “I beg the Young Miss to save my sister!”

“Are you certain it was his son who took her?”

“Certain. My younger sister was out cutting pig grass when Chen Chong took her away — the people nearby all saw it. Otherwise I would not have had the nerve to come and demand an accounting from Steward Chen.”

“If you are certain, then that is enough.” Hua Zhi glanced at the five servants she had brought. “Wu Da — take the men and go search inside.”

“Yes.” After Xu Ying had stayed behind at the residence to handle matters there, Wu Da had taken charge, and now he led the others toward the main gate.

“Young Miss—” Chen Jin, sweating heavily, moved to block the gate. His own household knew what was in it — if a search was conducted, everything would be turned inside out.

Hua Zhi walked straight toward him. Chen Jin could not bring himself to block the Young Miss’s path and backed away step by step, until the threshold caught his feet and sent him tumbling flat on his back. Hua Zhi walked past without even glancing at him.

The estate was a two-courtyard compound. The inner courtyard served as lodgings when Hua Family members came to stay; the Chen family occupied the front courtyard. Wu Da and the others had worked as household guards at the main residence and had some experience in this sort of thing. A brief assessment of the layout and they headed for the eastern rooms — one kick sent the locked door flying open. The room was empty.

Wu Da pricked up his ears and caught the sound of movement in the room next door. On his way over, he reached out from beneath the corridor eaves and took hold of a large bamboo broom that was used for sweeping the yard. He signaled to the others with a look, then drove his foot hard into the door. The group rushed inside.

The scene in the room was not a pleasant one. A short, heavyset man was stripped down to his underclothes, his round, pale belly exposed — a sight altogether revolting.

In the corner of the room, a young girl with disheveled hair and torn clothing held a sharp shard of porcelain to her own throat. Though her whole body was shaking, her hand was braced by the other one and had not dropped.