Since it was the prefect’s order, Captain Zhao did not dare show any carelessness. He personally prepared the carriage for them, appointed two capable soldiers, and as he helped them board, delivered a stream of reminders without end: “These are the honored relatives of the Yong’an Marquis’s household — on the road, not the slightest negligence is permitted. They must be delivered safely to Duke Shuguo’s residence. You are only permitted to return and report your mission once you have seen the Madam personally receive them.”

The two soldiers were made to feel as though they were marching off to war by his manner. They stood rigidly at attention, their expressions grave. “Yes — we will not fail in our mission.”

Captain Zhao told them to be off, be off. “Look after them well on the road. If anything goes wrong, come back and bring your heads with you when you report.”

How one could come back and report after bringing one’s head was a question only fellow soldiers could parse — rough soldiers had their own way of expressing things. The two men roared their assent, took their positions one on each side of the carriage, and prepared to depart. From inside the carriage, Yun Pan lifted the curtain and thanked Captain Zhao, then asked: “I wasn’t able to find out clearly earlier who the Commissioner is. Please tell me, Captain, so that I may repay the kindness and not mistake the person in the future.”

Captain Zhao wiped the rainwater from his face, tilted his large head back, and said: “That is the Duke of Weiguo, who holds the prefectship of Youzhou from a distance. This time, with the great disaster in Youzhou, he was appointed as the Relief Commissioner.”

Only then did Yun Pan understand. No wonder his official dress had been so impressive — unlike that of an ordinary official — for he truly carried a ducal title. That also explained why he had not required many words from her before readily agreeing to send her to the capital. The Founding Marquis of Yong’an or Duke Shuguo — both were people he knew. A man of that standing would not easily refuse to do someone a courtesy. All in all, her luck today had been good — she had happened upon a Duke. Had it been only some minor official on an errand, he might well have sent her straight back to the marquis’s residence without a word.

On the road, Qin Dan also marveled: “After all, he is a Duke — not the least bit troublesome. But since he is the Youzhou prefect, how is it that we’ve never encountered him before?”

Yun Pan smiled. “He holds it from a distance — why would he come to Youzhou when there’s nothing pressing? Besides, we are women of the inner chambers. Where would we go to meet those officials? There are so many dukes, marquises, earls, and viscounts in the court — aside from those our household has dealings with, we hear the rest mentioned and promptly forget.”

She had recovered her stored savings and, with no small measure of suspense, had obtained the assistance of the authorities. So far, everything had gone reasonably well. But Yun Pan could not feel entirely at ease — she did not know what kind of reception awaited her at her aunt’s. Every family had its own difficulties. Should it prove inconvenient for her aunt to take them in, she would still need to find another way to settle herself.

Her heart was still unsettled. The carriage hurried through the rainy night, darkness pressing in on all sides. Only the lantern swaying from the carriage frame cast light over a short stretch of road ahead.

A hundred li — for a girl of the inner chambers, this was truly the farthest she had ever traveled in her life. Yun Pan and Qin Dan leaned against each other and dozed for a while, then from time to time opened their eyes to look outside. The night always seemed to go on without end. But the farther from Youzhou they got, the lighter the rain became, and further still, the stars and moon broke through the clouds above. This earthquake seemed not to have reached the capital — the occasional house they passed along the roadside showed no sign of damage.

The carriage did not stop for even a moment. The two soldiers took turns driving in shifts. Not long after dawn, they passed through the eastern gate of the capital.

The bustling flow of the capital was altogether different from Youzhou. Youzhou was already quite prosperous, but the wealth of the capital could perhaps equal five Youzhous. Through the city ran a wide canal, and along both banks the wharves lined up one after another, filled with merchant vessels. Goods were being loaded and unloaded everywhere — workers went barefoot up the gangplanks, their rhythmic work chants rising and falling with an easy cadence, just like those depicted in the painting “Riverside Scene at the Qingming Festival.”

“Oh, my lady, look quickly!” Qin Dan lifted the curtain and pointed outside. “The market street of the capital is so lively!”

The most magnificent sight of all was the string of wine houses and teahouses that seemed to reach to the sky. It was said the capital had seventy-two such establishments, each linked to the next in a glittering chain, open for business throughout the night. Looking upward, colorfully draped ladies in fine clothing walked across the elevated galleries between the upper floors. On the high buildings, crimson lanterns swayed in the breeze like the bright floral ornaments on ladies’ foreheads.

“Horse bells and bamboo mats, come…” A peddler crouched on the ground calling out his wares. “Sturdy and cool, the finest in the capital, come…”

Looking further ahead, makeshift shops extending into the street were selling reed mats, seasonal fruits, pearl ornaments, paintings and calligraphy, and more — truly livelier than the market streets of Youzhou.

Pressed close to the window to look, the scenery came fast and without pause, and if one set aside the present circumstances, it was quite a pleasant journey.

Finally, the soldier driving the carriage spoke: “Young lady, just ahead is Duke Shuguo’s residence.”

Yun Pan looked along the riverbank and saw a grand gatehouse at the mouth of the alley, bearing the inscription “East Elm Grove Lane.” The carriage moved onto the fine, smooth surface of blue-stone paving and, after about the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, stopped before an imposing gate. This was Yun Pan’s second visit to her aunt’s home. She had been here once as a child with A’Niang, but it was so long ago that she could no longer remember it clearly.

Qin Dan jumped down from the carriage and reached back with a footstool to help Yun Pan descend. The two soldiers went straight to the gate to announce their arrival, asking the gateman to inform the Duke’s wife.

In a great household, news must travel through one relay after another and takes considerable time. Yun Pan waited anxiously, her mind churning with all kinds of worry — afraid her aunt might find it awkward, afraid her aunt might not be at home. Just as she was beginning to fret, she saw several maidservants emerge from within, surrounding a noble lady dressed in a violet-gold-brocaded collarless jacket. Yun Pan had only seen her aunt once, at the great mourning for A’Niang the previous year, but she recognized her at a glance — her aunt’s brows and eyes held six or seven parts resemblance to A’Niang.

Her aunt stretched out both hands toward her from a distance: “Baba,^② my child!”

Yun Pan felt her nose begin to sting. Seeing her aunt was like seeing a shadow of A’Niang. A year had passed since A’Niang was gone, yet her longing had not diminished in the slightest. How many times she had woken in the night weeping — even now that the mourning period was over, she could not accept the reality of A’Niang having passed from this world.

Yet her aunt was not A’Niang, after all, and propriety came first. Yun Pan first paid her respects with a curtsey, then let herself be pulled into her aunt’s embrace. Her aunt’s collar carried the scent of green cassia blossoms; that soft fragrance blossomed warmer where it met body heat. The fear and grief within her suddenly dissolved. She choked back her tears and, nestled in that warmth and fragrance, softly called out: “Aunt.”

Such a soft call, yet it struck right into the heart. Madam Ming held her close and felt her chest ache. Had her younger sister not thrown herself headlong into marrying Jiang Heng all those years ago, it would never have ended like this — perhaps she would still be alive and well today.

No matter what, the child had come, and it was like finding another kind of solace. Baba had her mother’s height and looks and every manner and gesture — Madam Ming looked and looked again, moved both by her longing for her younger sister and by genuine heartbreak for the only flesh and blood she had left behind.

Without even asking how she had come to arrive alone with only one maid, she first instructed the servants to reward the two soldiers who had driven the carriage, and then affectionately took Yun Pan’s hand and said: “Such a long road — you must have traveled all night. Come home with your aunt and rest properly before we talk.”

In truth there was no need to ask. The situation made it plain. A proper young lady from a noble and distinguished household — not sent carefully escorted by her family on a visit to relatives, but arriving with only two long-distance soldiers as escort. What family would be so careless?

Indeed, once Yun Pan had explained going out to the banquet, encountering the earthquake, returning home to find her death announced and servants blocking the gate, Madam Ming’s suspicions were confirmed.

“That muddled fool Jiang Heng — letting a low-born creature run wild in his own house! Just because the proper wife is gone, that little creature thinks her day has finally come, and he allows her to torment his own legitimate daughter!” Madam Ming cursed without restraint. “That wretched, worthless scoundrel — he was nothing but a courier official of the Hall of Foreign Affairs, spending his days bowing and scraping and smiling at everyone. In eight hundred lifetimes he could not have caught the eye of our great Princess’s household. Now look at him — coaxed the county princess into marrying down to him, and got himself a Founding Marquis’s title for nothing. Then the moment she was inside the door, he turned around and took in Liu Shi. Men’s mouths — you simply cannot trust them. Even his own legitimate daughter he cannot protect — he is a walking corpse, his eyes rotted through to the point of oozing pus, unable to see that creature for what she is! And now he wants to elevate his concubine to the position of principal wife — I say he has swallowed a bull’s gallbladder and thinks he can fly to heaven! Let him try — if he dares raise that concubine, I’ll dare to beat the complaint drum at the palace gate and file an imperial appeal. I want to see what becomes of that food-stipend noble title of his once it’s stripped away — whether that foul, debased wretch of his will still be around to wait on him!”

That long and sweeping torrent of curses let out all the pent-up resentment of more than a decade.

Madam Ming had never thought well of that Jiang Heng, but there had been nothing she could do about it. Her younger sister had been ready to die rather than not marry him, and in the end the family had reluctantly accepted the match. As the old saying goes — one who does not heed the words of the wise reaps regret in plain sight. A marriage the whole family had misgivings about could never come to a good end. Her sister had misplaced her trust and enjoyed no more than three years of contentment before Jiang Heng brought a new woman through the door. After that, he produced one illegitimate child after another in quick succession, while her sister had only Baba to hold onto, and gradually withered away to her end.

All those blessings, wasted on a faithless man. Though Madam Ming raged within, each of them had their own household by now — she could not manage affairs at another family’s gate. Now that the child had come, however, that gave her grounds to speak. She wiped Yun Pan’s tears and consoled her with great effort: “Good child — you thought of your aunt and came to find her. Your aunt will naturally stand up for you. A ducal household such as ours keeps plenty of idle people on the rolls — can we not feed one close kin? Stay here at your aunt’s with ease. Once your uncle returns, we will put our heads together and then properly deal with Jiang Heng and that wicked woman.”

Yun Pan was still somewhat hesitant and said with uncertainty: “I know my aunt loves me. But I fear my coming here will bring my aunt trouble. If it is inconvenient for my aunt, it will be my fault, Baba’s fault…”

But she was not allowed to finish. Madam Ming embraced her tenderly, her gaze lingering over and over on that delicate face, and said warmly: “You have been sensible since you were small. Your A’Niang told me — it was only because she had you that the years she lived had some comfort. Your A’Niang had only you — and when she left, she left you in the marquis’s residence to suffer endlessly. Had I known it would come to this, I should have brought you to the ducal household last year. At any rate, your father would only have been too glad to be rid of you — he certainly would not have stood in the way. I blame myself even now: if I had been more decisive, you would not have had to endure all that filth at so young an age.”

Seeing Yun Pan weep again, she held her hand and wiped her tears once more. “There, there — no more tears. Now that you are at your aunt’s side, no one will dare bully you again. I imagine the residence has already become their domain — you, alone inside it, had no footing there for the long term. Here is better. The household has your elder and younger cousins, and they will all treat you kindly.” She turned her head and called out to the maidservants: “Go and see what my daughter is doing and ask her to come here to meet her cousin. And the eldest young master — he should be done at the Bureau by now. Send a lad to wait for him at the gate, and bring him straight to the garden when he arrives.”

The maidservants answered yes and withdrew to pass along the message.

Yun Pan, not being close to those cousins, felt uncertain at heart — worried their temperaments would not be compatible and that she might be disliked.

Madam Ming noticed her unease and said with a smile: “Don’t worry — they are easy to get along with. You will see for yourself. I have two children. Your elder cousin Mei Fen is the younger of the two, and above her is your elder cousin Xiang Xu, who currently serves as a secretary at the Imperial Academy of Learning. Beyond them, there are two others born of the concubines in the garden courtyard — they are of no particular consequence. If you encounter them, there is no need to bother with them.”

While they were still talking, someone outside the corridor announced that the young mistress had arrived.

Yun Pan rose quickly to receive her. A girl came through the door wearing a pale jade short-sleeved jacket and a silk yellow-ochre wraparound skirt. She was about the same height as Yun Pan, though a little timid — her eyes shifted slightly at the sight of an unfamiliar face, but she pressed her lips together into a smile, revealing two faint, shallow dimples at the corners of her mouth.

Madam Ming beckoned: “Mei’er, come here. Have you not been wanting to meet your aunt’s cousin? The person has arrived — show your cousin some hospitality and look after her.”

Mei Fen came forward shyly, her face flushed as she looked Yun Pan over. Yun Pan greeted her with a bow and called out: “A’Jie.” She hurried to return the bow, and after holding back for a long moment, managed to squeeze out a single sentence: “Now that you’ve come, you must stay for at least a few days.”