Minglan was escorted home, where Nanny Cui stood smiling at the entrance, cradling the chubby Tuan Ge’er. Nanny Fang stepped forward and whispered a few words in her ear, and Nanny Cui’s expression instantly changed. She shot Minglan a few indignant glares, and once Nanny Fang had departed, hurriedly handed Tuan Ge’er off to Cuiwei and personally attended to Minglan’s change of clothes, bath, and rest.

Reclining easily on the soft, smooth silk bedding, Minglan let out a contented groan — there truly was no place like home. It felt as though she had been transported back to age six or seven, sprawled out in a lopsided starfish position, letting Nanny Cui trim her nails while peppering her with questions about whether anything was amiss.

Minglan had always enjoyed excellent health. Years of consistent exercise, proper diet, and healthy living habits had served her well, and thanks to the long-departed Wei Yiniang, her figure was said to possess what was legendarily called a “fertile constitution” — though slender and delicate in appearance, her waist was a waist and her hips were hips, proportioned just right, making her, by all accounts, an exceptionally fine candidate for bearing children.

This time she was simply exhausted — tired in body and in spirit. Now that everything had been resolved, with her capable elder brother handling the aftermath, she naturally set her mind at ease and had intended to rest for a couple of days, eating and drinking and sleeping, returning to her former blissful existence of carefree indulgence. Who could have known she would turn out to be with child?

Earlier, when the gatekeeper reported that Minglan had returned, Nanny Cui had already instructed the little maids to retrieve the large watermelon and white peaches that had been chilled in the well, sliced and arranged in white porcelain bowls shaped like lotus petals. She had just seen Nanny Fang off and turned back to the room in time to see Minglan reaching for a silver skewer to spear a piece of fruit. Nanny Cui snatched the fruit platter away in an instant, glaring fiercely: “Watermelon is cold in nature and peaches are sweet and heating — you are forbidden from eating either!”

She turned to toss the fruit away, but Xiaotao rushed forward, barely containing her glee, and grabbed it: “Nanny, rest assured — I will take care of every last bit of this so the Madam won’t be tempted!”

Minglan watched Xiaotao skip merrily out the door, swallowing her cravings with great difficulty. Turning around, she caught sight of Tuan Ge’er toddling slowly along the embroidered wall panel — plump, pink little feet padding across the slippery lake-green bedding — and her frustration surged all over again.

She had not seen her son in several days; how could she not have missed him? Yet the wretched little thing, upon seeing his own mother after the separation, displayed neither the tearful sorrow of a precociously emotional child weeping dramatically on reunion, nor any sign of having forgotten her entirely and become shy.

Young Master Gu continued to thrive in fine, flourishing health, his body still adorned with its pleasing abundance of baby fat — including on his toes and finger joints. He waved his little chubby hand at Minglan with a cheerful grin — exactly the gesture Minglan had taught him for greeting guests — then turned around and flopped belly-down onto the bed, carrying on with his wooden puzzle blocks as though nothing at all had happened.

For a solid half-afternoon, Minglan diligently worked on bonding with her son, coaxing him to roll this way and that, encouraging him to stand on one leg against the wall. Tuan Ge’er was thoroughly delighted, and finally let out an indistinct utterance: “…Baa… baa…”

I’m more like a pig myself! Minglan deflated. They had been apart only four or five days, and he had been clearly saying “Mama” and “Papa” before. Nanny Cui sat to one side, watching the mother and son pair with eagle-eyed vigilance, ready to intervene should Tuan Ge’er tumble onto Minglan.

Before the sky had even darkened, Gu Tingye swept in like a gust of wind. He rushed all the way to the bedside before abruptly slowing himself down, settling carefully beside Minglan and taking her hand. He seemed to have a thousand things to say, yet in the end managed only one sentence: “…What would you like to eat?”

Minglan inwardly rolled her eyes. Just a few days ago he had been as melancholy as though the Emperor had docked his annual salary — even dragging her out for a stroll by the lake with the brooding air of a tortured poet. And now look at him, his joy practically bubbling out through his eyes, impossible to conceal.

Nanny Cui smiled softly, scooped up Tuan Ge’er, and slipped out.

Minglan seized his wrist, gave it a light bite on the back of his hand, and murmured: “I want to eat your flesh!”

Gu Tingye burst out laughing: “What could be easier? I’ll carve some off for Madam right this instant!”

Minglan hurriedly tugged at his sleeve, laughing and exasperated at once: “Don’t you dare move! That hide of yours is so thick and tough, even if you stewed it for a hundred days, no one could bite through it!”

Gu Tingye settled back down beside her, burying his face in the curve of her neck. After a long silence, he said quietly: “…The past — all of it was my fault.” He lifted his head, urgent yet incoherent: “…It wasn’t intentional… Man Niang should have long been… I wasn’t inattentive toward you… it really was…” He went in circles for some time without arriving at anything coherent.

Minglan watched him with quiet amusement — the face that usually radiated such commanding authority was now drenched in anxious sweat. She said coolly: “Go on, say it. You were going to say something — go ahead, say it…” Gu Tingye fell silent with a defeated slump and lay down beside her. Minglan gently stroked his damp hair. “If you can’t say it clearly, don’t say it. We’re just living our days together — why does everything need to be laid out like a courtroom hearing?”

Gu Tingye suddenly sat up, and in measured, deliberate words, said with grave seriousness: “In the future, if anyone ever dares to threaten you and the children again — never mind Man Niang — even if it were the King of Heaven himself, I would leave them without a whole corpse.” The last few words carried a bone-chilling edge.

Minglan looked into his eyes for a long moment, then reached up to wrap her arms around his neck and whispered: “I believe you.”

Why dwell on so much? What mattered was now, and the future.

He was good to her — attentive and devoted, loving toward the children, caring for the family, doing everything in his power to keep them safe and at peace. That was more than enough. They were such vastly different people, and yet both of them wished for the same thing: quiet years, and a love that would last.

……

The household staff, having been away for several days, only knew that the matriarch of the Sheng Family had fallen gravely ill and that the Madam had gone to tend to her.

The next day, Shao Shi arrived with her two daughters to congratulate Minglan on the new pregnancy. Qiu Yiniang suppressed the bitterness in her heart and offered all the appropriate pleasantries — but Minglan, quite unlike her usual gracious and temperate self, was coolly indifferent toward her.

Each time Qiu Yiniang attempted conversation, she was met with silence. Left thoroughly humiliated, she had no choice but to stand quietly to one side.

While the adults conversed, Xian Jie’er stole curious glances at Minglan’s abdomen, cheeks flushed too red to dare ask — just how exactly does a baby come out? Rong Jie’er stood serenely nearby, until she felt a tug at the hem of her skirt. She looked down to find Tuan Ge’er reaching one chubby arm out from the foot of the bed toward her, his large head tilted back, gazing up at her with endearing pudginess.

Rong Jie’er felt a rush of fondness and was about to reach out and pat his head, when she recalled the warnings Qiu Yiniang and her own mother had drummed into her: never draw close to your father’s legitimate children; if something were to happen — some bump or bruise — you would never be able to clear your name. She withdrew her hand halfway, and looked at Tuan Ge’er with regret.

And yet — how remarkably alike they looked. She could not stop herself from stealing glances — both had thick brows and bright wide eyes, full cheeks and high foreheads, straight noses and upturned corners of the mouth. They resembled each other even more than her own full brother Chang Ge’er.

Leaving Jiaxi Residence, Shao Shi led Xian Jie’er back to her own courtyard. Qiu Yiniang and Rong Jie’er returned together to their rooms, where Qiu Yiniang immediately gave way to distress: “What has come over the Madam? If I have done something wrong, she need only say so and I will apologize properly — why does she have to be so cold and distant about it…”

Rong Jie’er stopped walking. Seeing no one around, she said: “Does Yiniang truly not know what she did wrong?”

The girl’s eyes were bright and sharp. Qiu Yiniang felt a guilty stab and faltered: “I… I…” Was it so terrible, sending a few late-night snacks over to the Marquis during those days he had been staying alone in the study?

Rong Jie’er, nearly eleven years old now, was tall and slender with an upright bearing; standing beside Qiu Yiniang, she was nearly the same height. She smiled politely: “Yiniang has lived in this household for so many years — how can you have so little sense of the situation? Playing dumb while knowing full well what you’ve done only makes you more disagreeable to others.”

She knew perfectly well what the Madam meant — that there was never any intention of sharing her husband — yet she had pressed on anyway, feigning innocence and trying to make herself look good. If it worked, so much the better; if it failed, she would pretend ignorance. That trick had worn threadbare — even more threadbare than the stock comic villain in the moral tales Master Xue used to teach.

If it were not for the fact that Qiu Yiniang had, on the whole, been attentive in looking after her, she would not have bothered to warn her at all.

“The Madam, though kind and generous, is no pushover. Yiniang would do well not to be too clever for her own good.”

Playing the dutiful, flattering concubine day after day, and the moment the husband and wife had the slightest quarrel, rushing to ingratiate yourself with the man — and then turning around wanting to act as if nothing had happened? Did she think the mistress of the house was blind?

Master Xue had long since said it: the world was full of those who were cleverly malicious, but also of those who wore a foolish face while harboring scheming minds. One must not be taken in by a few sweet words or a few tears. A woman who spent her days within the inner courtyards, with limited exposure to the world, needed all the more to cultivate a discerning eye.

With that, Rong Jie’er turned and walked away, leaving Qiu Yiniang standing alone in stunned silence.

……

Joyous tidings came in pairs; within a few days, Ruomei had been found to be several months along herself. Old Gongsun was overjoyed and called everyone together to drink in celebration, ending up being carried back to his room. Minglan sent Xiaotao in her place to offer congratulations and dispatched several fine pregnancy tonics, with instructions for Ruomei to take good care of herself. Ruomei was thoroughly delighted — not knowing that at this very moment, a letter of critical importance was sitting in Minglan’s hands.

Gongsun Meng had written to say that his elder brother’s wedding had concluded, and the new sister-in-law was everything dutiful and proper. However, because their mother was anxious about the young bride’s inexperience, she had pleaded with the aunt to remain another half-year to teach the new daughter-in-law how to manage the household and conduct herself. The aunt had agreed. Given how far they were and how long the journey, Gongsun Meng would also stay on for a time before escorting the aunt back to the capital, so the couple could be reunited.

Tucked inside his letter was another — written in Madame Gongsun’s own hand to Minglan. It read: if, by the time this letter arrived, the Ruomei Yiniang was already with child, please conceal this letter from her to spare her unnecessary worry that might harm the baby. In any case, the old gentleman was a great man of temples and mountains, wholly indifferent to domestic affairs — he need only be informed five days in advance that his wife was coming.

Minglan counted on her fingers: by the time Madame Gongsun arrived in the capital, Ruomei would already have delivered and been through her confinement. The timing would not interfere with anything.

Reading between the lines of the letter, she sensed a steely resolve, and shook her head with a sigh before carefully setting it aside. This Madame Gongsun was not only meticulous in mind but keenly perceptive of human nature. Those little maneuvers of Ruomei’s would likely prove no match for her.

Once the child was born, all manner of unpleasantness would surely follow in succession. But that was the path Ruomei had chosen for herself — the consequences were hers to bear.

Scarcely done reflecting on the direction Ruomei’s life was taking, Minglan was quickly met with the consequences of her own choices — Hualan arrived, bringing Rulan and Yun’er along with her.

In truth, from the day Kang Wang Shi had been sent to the house of penitence and her confidants had been dealt with thoroughly by the Sheng matriarch, there was no longer any need to keep matters concealed. Changbai had first informed Hualan, then sent someone to notify Rulan, who had just returned from the countryside, and next word was sent to Changwu and Yun’er, who lived somewhat farther away. As for Molan — there was no need for that, naturally. (Besides, the Changfeng household did not know the details either.)

When Hai Shi relayed the events in careful terms, Hualan clearly could not take it all in — she stood there dazed as a wooden chicken. She had been gone barely seven or eight days; how had the world turned upside down so completely? If she had only visited her maternal home more often, would any of this have happened? Could the old matriarch and her birth mother have been spared this ordeal?

Rulan was frightened senseless on the spot. She had grown up imagining the most wicked of schemes, none more vicious than wishing Molan would accidentally step in a pile of dog dung. Poisoning someone to death? The very idea had never once crossed her mind in her most daring dreams — and yet her own birth mother had apparently done exactly that. No, no — it was that wretched aunt of hers!

The most devastated was Yun’er. Upon hearing that her mother had instigated her aunt to administer poison with the intent to kill the most revered elder of her husband’s family, she fainted dead away. When the smelling salts finally brought her back, she learned that her mother had already been committed to that dark, sunless place from which there was no return — and she fainted again.

Changwu hurried first to check on the great-aunt, and only when he confirmed the old lady was safe and unharmed did he let out a breath of relief. As for his mother-in-law — if he were being unfilial about it — the world would be a calmer place if that woman disappeared sooner rather than later.

Once Hualan had recovered her senses, she stormed into Wang Shi’s room like a whirlwind, giving her birth mother a thorough tongue-lashing: “…How many times have I told you that Aunt harbors nothing but ill will toward you? And you believed her enough to do something like this? Just look at the disaster you’ve brought upon yourself! Honestly, I cannot understand it — when she stole your intended son-in-law back then, why did you let it go so easily?”

Wang Shi sobbed: “I was furious at first, but later I saw that Rulan had not made a bad match — her husband is considerate and their days together are peaceful and happy. But Yuan’er’s life with You Ge’er has been like fire and water from the start, punishment after punishment raining down. Your aunt was forever telling me about the miseries Yuan’er suffered, and over time, my anger dissolved. I even began to think it was fortunate Rulan hadn’t married into that family.”

Rulan’s face turned crimson and she burst out loudly: “Elder Sister! Mother! What are you two going on about?! Why bring that up now?!”

What on earth was happening? She had finally begun to gain some sense — and now her birth mother had lost all of hers.

Hualan said with deep anguish: “Mother, it was all your aunt’s doing — first she helped your anger dissipate, then slowly talked you into her trap. You know what your aunt is like; none of us children ever had much to do with her, and it was not because we looked down on the Kang family for being weak. It was because your aunt herself…” She ran out of words for a moment. “Changbai said it right — she is nothing but a scourge! Anyone who gets close to her ends up ruined!”

That last line nearly caused the newly-arrived Yun’er to faint a third time. Changwu supported his wife as they came to offer Wang Shi their apologies. Wang Shi gnashed her teeth with fury and said coldly: “Having a sister like that is the burden of my past life’s sins. I cannot rightly call you my niece!”

Yun’er wept on her knees; Changwu had no choice but to kneel beside her.

Hualan quickly went to help them up, saying to her mother: “Mother, look at yourself! This has nothing to do with Yun’er. Even if you refuse to recognize her as a niece, you must still recognize her as a nephew’s wife!” The words carried a pointed edge; Yun’er understood well enough but dared not respond, and could only stay bowed to the floor in tears.

Seeing matters as they stood, the two Lan sisters could not squeeze any further concessions out of Wang Shi. Instead, they turned their efforts toward comforting the ailing matriarch and tending to their father Sheng Hong’s “wounded spirit” — for he was deeply aggrieved to have chosen so poorly in a wife, considering it a great misfortune upon the family.

Yun’er petitioned the Bureau of Household Affairs and wept and pleaded, asking only for a single meeting with her mother. The result — was no result, of course.

Changwu privately hoped that the bureau officials would uphold strict and impartial justice.

Yun’er wept at length, then went to consult her father and brothers. She learned that the inner household was now managed by Jin Yiniang, that her father’s face went cold as ice at any mention of her mother, and that her brothers were lost in helpless anguish. Fortunately, the sister-in-law’s dowry was substantial, and the little that remained of her mother’s own dowry had been reclaimed by the old grandmother. Combined with Kang Jin’s official salary, even if Kang father turned hostile, they could still manage independently.

She considered appealing to the Wang family, but her grandmother was insensible with illness, her uncle was occupied at the sickbed, and her aunt wore an expression of cold contempt, putting her off with excuses at every turn. At last, with no other avenue left, Yun’er carried the faint and hopeless desire to the Sheng family’s door.

Since Sheng Hong was still consumed by his grief, Yun’er could only seek out Changbai. She did not know what exactly she was asking for — to have her mother released? To have her mother’s madness forgiven? As a daughter, she had no good choice to make.

As it happened, she arrived to find Hualan and Rulan already there pleading on their mother’s behalf. They cared little about where Kang Aunt had been confined — their concern was that Wang Shi might not be made to suffer too greatly. The result of that audience — there was one this time:

Both sisters received a comprehensive dressing-down from Changbai, head to toe. Not only did they secure no reduction in their mother’s sentence, but their own conduct within their respective households was issued an advance warning, and they were compelled to sit through four separate quotations from the classical sages.

If he dealt thus with his own sisters, one could imagine how little gentleness remained for the daughter of the chief offender. Changbai stated plainly: “If you have come as the daughter of the Kang woman, there is nothing to discuss — please leave. If you have come as the wife of my elder cousin, then we are still family.”

Yun’er was weeping bitterly. Before she could speak, Changbai added: “I have already written to inform my uncle and aunt in Yuyang of the full particulars of this matter.”

Changwu, who had been quietly consoling his wife beside her, went blank. Yun’er was equally stunned — but she had, at least, stopped crying.

It was not until they had returned home that husband and wife finally pieced together the meaning beneath Changbai’s words:

Dear esteemed sister-in-law Kang Shi — do you wish to be divorced? Do you wish to be separated from your children? Then make the correct choice. Your irredeemably wicked and unsalvageable mother, or your own happy and flourishing family?

“But she is still my mother!” Yun’er cried out in anguish.

Changwu said solemnly: “When your mother committed such a cruel and vicious act, she ought to have considered the consequences it would bring upon her children.”

He then stated his position clearly and firmly: as a son-in-law, he understood he was expected to make efforts on behalf of his mother-in-law — but the old Sheng matriarch was a supreme benefactress to the first house, and so, if his wife insisted on continuing to press the matter, he would have no choice but to set one side aside.

Two days of tumultuous upheaval followed. Yun’er cried until her eyes ran dry, unable to produce another half-drop of tears. Against Changbai’s immovable wall, both Lan sisters were utterly at a loss. Wang Shi gradually quieted and began to accept reality.

Only at that point did the two sisters think to come to Minglan.

It was not that they were slow-witted — rather, in Hai Shi’s account of events, she had deliberately understated Minglan’s role and presence in the affair. It was as though Sheng Hong and his son had been the ones fighting on the front lines throughout, and Minglan had merely looked on in outrage. Sheng Hong, naturally, would not take the initiative to correct this impression — having his mother poisoned while he himself had been entirely useless was hardly something he wished to clarify. Nanny Fang and the others would not speak out of turn either.

Rulan, having heard Cuiping’s account of things, accepted it at face value and only knew that Minglan had been furiously angry, with deep hatred toward Kang Wang Shi. It was only now that Hualan grew uneasy — knowing well how deeply her younger sister loved their grandmother, and given that Minglan apparently harbored bone-deep hatred for the chief offender, how did she feel toward the accessory, Wang Shi? That was precisely why Hualan had brought Rulan and Yun’er along to Ningyuan Marquis’s estate.

The moment Minglan saw Yun’er, she frowned. She had genuinely liked this gentle and kind-hearted sister-in-law and had considered her good timber from a bad tree — but now, at the mere sight of her, she was reminded of Kang Wang Shi, and that hatred refused to subside. She said directly: “The two branches of our family have always been close. Elder Sister-in-law is welcome here anytime, but I must ask that she absolutely refrain from mentioning a single word about her esteemed mother.”

Faced with Minglan’s expression, as cold as winter frost, Yun’er lowered her tear-streaked face in shame and did not dare say anything more. She understood that her mother’s crimes were grave, and that she, as a daughter, had done what duty required. She could ask for nothing beyond that.

Meanwhile, Rulan impatiently launched into her case regarding Wang Shi, saying repeatedly that their mother had been too harshly punished. At this, Minglan smiled: “Fifth Elder Sister ought to go speak with Elder Brother about it — he is the one who decided all of this, single-handedly. Not even Father managed to say a word.”

That was the plain truth.

At the mention of Changbai, Rulan instantly went quiet, then immediately rekindled with hope: “Then perhaps… have your husband speak to Elder Brother? The Marquis holds great rank and authority — Elder Brother would surely not refuse him entirely.”

Minglan paused in thought, then said: “Fifth Elder Sister should first go and speak with the old matriarch. After all, it was she who was poisoned to within a breath of her life, clinging between life and death. Fifth Elder Sister can ask her directly — how does she currently feel about the one who wished for her to never recover?”

Rulan was utterly extinguished. She did not have the face for that.

Having heard all of this, Hualan understood her youngest sister’s position: she did indeed harbor a deep grudge against Wang Shi, though not to the point of vicious hatred — all of it rooted in her love for the old matriarch.

Well, so be it. She could only send their mother back to the old home to reflect and repent.

And if she were honest with herself — she was actually in quiet agreement with Changbai.

First, their mother had genuinely erred and deserved to be punished; otherwise, the suffering the old matriarch had endured would have been entirely in vain. Second, by separating the two of them for some years and then allowing for tearful reconciliation and contrition, there was at least the possibility of setting aside past grievances — far better than a surface of civility masking years of festering resentment.

Having come to peace with this, Hualan ceased belaboring the matter and turned instead to smiling inquiries about Minglan’s pregnancy, drawing Rulan into conversation as well, laughing and chatting and filling the room with warm domesticity — she understood, at her age and with her experience, the strength that family solidarity provided. She would not allow her aunt’s foolish wickedness to crack the bonds between them and cause this family to splinter apart.

Of course, for all outward purposes, a unified account had to be maintained: the old Sheng matriarch had suddenly taken ill (such things happen with the elderly), falling unconscious for days on end; her daughter-in-law Wang Shi had knelt in tearful vow before the Buddha, pledging that if her mother-in-law recovered, she would retreat to the family temple to live on a vegetarian diet and recite scriptures for several years (and all who heard this said: what a fine daughter-in-law). But as the old matriarch’s underlying ailment had not fully cleared, she had gone with the eldest grandson to seek out a famed reclusive physician.