Guests had arrived, so naturally tea and refreshments had to be offered. Liu Yinniang glanced at the five sesame seed cakes piled up on the plate and looked tactfully away with a smile.

Mistress Peng was very gracious — she had a matron bring cool damp cloths so the guest could wipe her face, and said gently: “In this heat, how tiring it must have been, traveling all this way… What brings you to my humble household today?”

Liu Yinniang took the cloth, gave her cheeks a brief dabbing, returned it, then turned squarely and asked with a grave expression: “Has Second Sister heard about the affairs in our household?”

Mistress Peng’s husband served in the capital, and the upheaval at the Kaiguo Marquis household had spread until it was known throughout the streets and alleys — he would naturally have mentioned it to her when he came home.

“It is all connected to Si Si, I suppose.” Mistress Peng said. “We heard at first that the earthquake collapsed the roof and she was crushed to death inside the room, but then how was it said later that the person who died was not her — that there had been a mistake? And now the Empress Dowager has brokered a match, and she is promised to Duke Weiguo, and the wedding will be very soon, will it not?”

Of course she chose only the pleasant things to say; what people were saying behind their backs about the concubine of the marquis household was not something one would want to dwell on. Mistress Peng, in consideration of Liu Yinniang’s past generosity, left her face intact, and on this occasion Liu Yinniang had come all this long way to Guan Kou — it was surely connected to Si Si’s affairs as well.

Liu Yinniang, as was to be expected, made one round of defending herself, swearing up and down that it was a serving woman who had stolen the young mistress’s clothes and put them on while she was away.

“That day the weather changed — the sky was already dim and dark — and there was the business of sending water and food to the rear courtyard, so I had not been watching the front. She had been sent out early that morning to attend the Fanhua banquet, and when the earthquake struck and they said she was caught under a roof beam, I was quite bewildered — I had no idea when she had returned. You should have seen it,” she said, pressing her hand to her heart with a sigh: “it was pouring with rain, the person was crushed beyond all recognition — I was so frightened my soul nearly flew out of my body. Identifying someone by their clothes when I could barely even bring myself to look closely — and it is this one small slip that has led to everything as it stands now. The Master blames me and blames me and does not know how to stop, and to whom can I go with my grievances? It is always hard to be a concubine mother, and especially so with our young mistress — she is the very image of the former Lady in her nature, that imperious way of holding herself above others. She seized on this and immediately made her way to Duke Shuguo’s residence. I personally went to the Duke’s door, both to apologize and to admit my fault — I nearly got driven out by Madam Ming, and I have truly endured enough suffering and humiliation for this young mistress’s sake. Never in my life have I stooped so low.”

Mistress Peng said whatever would please: “The child is a little too stubborn, to be sure. It was not such a great matter — talking it through would have resolved it. Why make such a scene among family? The people outside will gossip about anything — you know how they are. They can take a sesame seed and talk it up into a watermelon. They always love to watch other people’s excitement and stir up trouble.”

She paused and asked: “And how is Si Si now? Has the date for the wedding been set?”

Perhaps Peng Sheng’s sources of information were not that swift — after all, a minor seventh-grade official would hardly be among the first to know the movements of the marquises and dukes. Liu Yinniang said: “It is set for the sixth. It is a matter of just these few days.”

Mistress Peng was somewhat taken aback. “That leaves only five or six days! So soon?”

Liu Yinniang curled the corners of her lips into a smile. “The original match for Duke Weiguo was Duke Shuguo’s legitimate daughter — but that young mistress has an illness, so the betrothal was dissolved, and this good fortune fell to our young mistress instead. And there is another thing — you will probably think it perfectly mad when you hear it. The young mistress is not being married from Youzhou — the wedding is to be held at Duke Shuguo’s residence. When the time comes, your older brother will be going to their residence alone to send his daughter off. The three younger children — not a single one of them can be brought along.”

“How can such a thing happen?” Mistress Peng exclaimed. “We are the Jiang family’s relatives — it would not be proper to go and offer congratulations at the Xiang household’s door. What is to be done about this? Should we go or not?”

Liu Yinniang fell silent. She drank a mouthful of tea and said after a long pause: “Now that she has climbed to a high branch, which of us in the Jiang family has any standing in her eyes? Even her own father is merely someone she grudgingly allows to attend so people cannot say she is unfilial or disloyal. As for Duke Shuguo’s door — I expect you will not be able to go, and there is no need to press a warm face against that cold indifference. As for Si Si herself — right now she is under Madam Ming’s influence, putting on a little display to show her power over me. Once she marries into Duke Weiguo’s household, I want to see whether she truly means to cut all ties with her family.”

Mistress Peng thought it over and said: “In that case, we might as well wait until she has settled in as mistress of her own household, and then your older brother’s two sisters can send their share of the wedding gift.”

Liu Yinniang smiled: “She will not recognize her own family, yet the aunts still regard her as one of theirs and are even thinking of sending a gift to make up for missing the ceremony.”

Mistress Peng heard this and smiled awkwardly in response — not that there was no private calculation behind it. The niece had, after all, married into Duke Weiguo’s household. That was a genuine and undeniable member of the imperial clan. Si Si would in the future be the wife of a duke. In the whole Jiang family, no one had risen as high as she.

When one’s own days were difficult, one naturally hoped that close kin might do well. As the saying went, the broth grows rich when the meat grows fat — having one more well-placed household to call on was always to one’s advantage.

But Liu Yinniang’s words put a damper on those thoughts: “As I see it, our young mistress has never been close to you all since childhood — after all, she is the County Princess’s daughter, and nothing like Xue Pan and Yu Pan, who are happy to show warmth toward their aunts. Our young mistress is above all that — she does not associate with ordinary people. The banquets she attends — the Fanhua banquet, the Golden Pheasant banquet — not to speak of me in my position, even Second Sister and the other sister-in-law, proper wives both of you, could not easily gain entry to those kinds of gatherings. She has grown accustomed to moving among the gentry — how could she look upon people like us from the common run? Come the day Second Sister uses the name of aunt to call on her, once or twice would be fine, but by the third visit she would likely find you a bother and send you away with a cold reception.”

Mistress Peng immediately felt embarrassed; she thought to herself that she had, in truth, never shown any real care for the girl. If she were suddenly to become a frequent visitor, the ulterior motive would be all too obvious. If it were a more timid girl, one might attach oneself as one pleased; but Yun Pan was different — she had always looked down on these poorer relatives, and it was not unlikely to be just as Liu Yinniang said.

“But I do have an idea.” Liu Yinniang had Liu Yinniang had read Mistress Peng through and through, and smiled: “The grand households are beyond people like us. So let us do this one deal, and not look for anything further. Do you know how much trousseau your brother has prepared for her?”

Mistress Peng shook her head. “It must be a great deal, I should think.”

Liu Yinniang gave a derisive sound. “One thousand taels in silver, plus goods worth a few hundred taels.”

Mistress Peng was startled. “So much! That alone could keep an ordinary household going for twenty years.”

Liu Yinniang fanned herself; the breeze stirred the locks of hair that fell at her temple. She leaned against the armrest of her round-backed chair and said: “We scrimp and save to fill that gap, yet it is like carrying a stone uphill. Before the County Princess died, she transferred all the assets in her hands to the girl — the household’s income has shrunk by six or seven tenths, all of it going into her pockets. This winter we have to move to the capital and establish a new residence, and we are still two thousand taels short — your brother is already at the point of selling ancestral properties. I have been thinking: I will never get through the doors of that duke’s residence, but Second Sister can use the standing of being an aunt to speak a word or two with her. Just say that her father’s funds are strained and ask her to help tide things over, with the promise to repay when the money comes.”

Mistress Peng looked troubled. “I am afraid she will not be willing to part with her money.”

“If she won’t, then go to Duke Weiguo — surely he cannot just stand by and do nothing when his own father-in-law is short of funds to build his new residence!”

Seeing the startled look on Mistress Peng’s face, Liu Yinniang knew she had been frightened, and laughed. “Naturally I don’t mean for you to actually approach Duke Weiguo — only to use that as a threat to scare her. She is a new bride just arrived in her husband’s household, and what she fears most is any friction between herself and her husband. To keep him from being disturbed, she will give you whatever you ask.”

But Mistress Peng was no fool either, and said with a pinched expression: “This is nothing but playing the villain — and you have the nerve to ask me to do it…”

“Who is playing the villain? We are merely borrowing a little silver from her to tide things over.” Liu Yinniang smiled again. “I was thinking we would ask to borrow three thousand taels. Second Sister has gone to the trouble of this errand — she should at least get two hundred taels for her effort. The two boys, Wei Feng and Wei Han, are grown now and need to study; there are also the two girls, Yu Ye and Jin Bo — buying a little rouge and powder, a handkerchief, a bed-rabbit hat, all of that costs money. Two hundred taels should keep you going comfortably for three to five years — it is hardly anything to her, like a hair from nine oxen. So why would you not be glad to do it?”

Truly, running a household requires money at every turn, and only once you have managed one do you understand the difficulty.

Mistress Peng had loved to take small advantages since she was a girl, and after marrying Peng Sheng, had assumed the family was well-placed, only to find it an empty shell. Having lived a pinched life for so long, she had grown all the more calculating with passing years. Two hundred taels — that was equivalent to more than ten years of Peng Sheng’s salary.

Thinking on it this way, she could no longer afford to hold back. After all, she and that girl were not close — after doing this one thing, she could simply treat it as though this relative had never existed.

At Duke Shuguo’s residence, preparations for the wedding were in full and festive swing. Madam Ming said over dinner with a laugh: “This is the first time we have organized a wedding for a younger member of the family, and our hands are quite unpracticed — there are bound to be things we have missed. But now that we have been through this once, next time we will know exactly what to do.” As she spoke, she ladled a spoonful of vegetables into Duke Shuguo’s bowl. “The last time I attended a banquet at Counselor Han’s household, the Counselor’s wife mentioned to me the eldest granddaughter of the Privy Council Commissioner — I found the young lady very composed; her deportment was graceful and dignified, and she would suit our Xu quite well.”

In an instant, every pair of eyes at the dinner table turned toward Xiang Xu, who had been somewhat lost in thought. Hearing himself suddenly mentioned, he couldn’t help but start.

Duke Shuguo, when it came to the marriage arrangements of his children, generally did not involve himself too deeply — if someone described who was whose legitimate daughter and who was whose eldest granddaughter to him, he would be muddled and confused regardless. He simply left everything to his wife’s judgment, which spared him the effort, and so when Madam Ming said the girl was suitable, he nodded along: “Privy Council Commissioner Ji’s granddaughter? Very good, very good…”

Madam Ming glanced at him. “And then there is Nian Zi, the daughter of the Participating Advisor — I find I like her rather more in my heart. That child is well-favored, and her temperament is spirited and warm.”

“The Participating Advisor? Yu Fu Qing?” Duke Shuguo thought for a moment. “Is his family not connected to ours by kinship already?”

“Closer kin — what could be better?” Madam Ming said, more to herself. “One knows the family through and through… I have always felt that children from families one knows are far more reassuring.”

What a pity — she had set her heart on Si Si originally, and then Mei Fen had complicated things unexpectedly. Madam Ming could not say so aloud, but the regret lingered nonetheless. Looking at Xiang Xu, she noticed he had been speaking even less lately. By nature a gentle, restrained person, whatever was in his heart he had no outlet for — he had simply buried himself deeper in his books, tuning out everything around him.

“Xu?” Madam Ming called his name.

Xiang Xu looked up and said yes.

“That Nian Zi — do you remember her?” Madam Ming asked tentatively. “She is the daughter of Mother’s cousin’s side — you met her twice when you were small.”

Xiang Xu tried to recall, and had some faint impression, but too many years had passed for the face to be clear, and with Si Si standing before him like a brilliant gem, no other young woman could seem to move him.

He shook his head. “I cannot quite remember.”

To have fixed one’s eyes on someone, and then find that one’s thoughts have narrowed to a single track, unable to truly see anyone else — this was something anyone who had been through it would recognize.

Madam Ming gave a quiet sigh and, finding this subject could go no further with Xiang Xu, called out to Si Si: “Tell your brother about the Nian Zi you met — what kind of person she is.”

Yun Pan was very fond of Nian Zi, and so she set down her chopsticks and said: “She is a warm-hearted person. That day I followed Aunt to the banquet and, knowing no one there, felt rather ill at ease. Then Nian Zi’s older sister arrived — she was the one who led me around to make acquaintances, looking out for me at every turn, until I gradually felt at home among those people.” She smiled and gestured above her head with her hand: “Nian Zi’s older sister is this tall — a slender, willowy figure — with none of the delicate airs of a girl raised in the inner chambers. She is full of life and energy, like a small sun. Standing beside her, you find yourself lit up too — truly, I have never met a young woman so easy to love and feel close to.”

These words carried a modest measure of embellishment, for Yun Pan knew that Aunt hoped she would say as much.

Because of Mei Fen’s dissolved betrothal, Xiang Xu’s marriage prospects had been somewhat affected. If Aunt wished to arrange a match within the family — within a familiar and close-knit circle — there would at least be a degree of tolerance and understanding for having a younger sister who refused to marry. That Aunt had raised the subject with Xiang Xu today meant she and the Participating Advisor’s wife had already spoken frankly, and at least both families were open to the match. Xiang Xu was a scholarly, deferential person, deferring to his parents on matters of marriage — so speaking well of Nian Zi in advance might help him form a favorable impression of her beforehand. A favorable impression, in truth, was of the greatest importance; for a considerable time, it would shape one’s judgment.

Xiang Xu, hearing her speak this way, seemed to take a small interest — though not in Nian Zi herself, but in how Yun Pan was describing things.

When he looked toward Yun Pan, his eyes held a warmth and an animation, and even the smallest gesture she made seemed to delight him.

Madam Ming suppressed a quiet sigh inwardly, relieved at least that Xiang Xu was a man of propriety and would never do anything to overstep.

He only smiled faintly, listening as Yun Pan described Nian Zi’s nature and appearance to him, and in due course asked a simple question: “You stayed together throughout the banquet?”

Yun Pan said yes, entirely without any guile or ulterior motive, and said sincerely to Madam Ming: “If only Nian Zi’s older sister could come — then A’Jie would no longer be lonely.”

Mei Fen had never been averse to girls her own age, and now that Si Si was about to marry and leave, she had begun to feel the first stirrings of that parting sorrow — yet hearing that there might be another younger sister to come, she immediately felt drawn to the idea: “I would very much like to meet her as well.”

Madam Ming said happily: “By the time Si Si is married, Nian Zi will certainly be there. You will all have a chance to get acquainted — brothers and sisters together. You are cousins, after all; it is only that so little contact over the years has made you strangers.”

After that she gave a few instructions — with the wedding just ahead, she told Yun Pan not to sleep on the cool lounge chair, not to drink cool tea, and even when napping, to cover her belly with a small blanket — attending to each detail with the same careful concern her own mother had shown her as a child.

Yun Pan agreed to everything, and after the meal she bid farewell along with Mei Fen, walking out along the covered corridor to look outdoors. A crescent moon hung in the sky above a rushing rush of clouds, and she marveled inwardly at how quickly time had passed — in a blink it was already the first of the month.

“The clouds are moving so fast — I wonder if it will rain tomorrow,” Mei Fen said, following her gaze upward and speaking off the cuff.

Yun Pan said: “Perhaps it will. Aunt had someone look at the celestial signs, and they said the sixth should be a fine and clear day.”

Mei Fen immediately teased her: “You truly are someone about to be married — your whole heart is set on the sixth.”

Yun Pan’s face flushed red, and she murmured: “If it rains during a banquet, the guests will have so much trouble coming and going.”

“And the mud will ruin the bride’s embroidered shoes.”

There being no one else around, Mei Fen was quite lively and animated; the two sisters laughed and jostled each other as they walked. Yun Pan accompanied her as always back to Zi Lan Garden, saw her in through the door, and then turned and made her way back to her own small courtyard.

She had walked only a few steps when she suddenly heard someone call her name — Si Si — from behind. She turned around: Xiang Xu was standing before a trellis of wisteria, the lantern at the courtyard gate casting light across half his face. He extended his hand toward her and said: “This is for you.”

Yun Pan and Qin Dan exchanged a glance — it was a little strange — but she did not reach out to take it, only asked: “Big Brother, what is it?”

Xiang Xu opened the little box; inside was an eyebrow pencil painted with green and blue landscape scenery. He said with some awkwardness: “The last time I went to that dried flower shop, the shop attendant pressed it on me very hard, saying it was the finest eyebrow pencil available. You are about to be married, and I had nothing else to give you — so I bought it.”

Yun Pan laughed: “Big Brother, you still remembered that?”

Xiang Xu fell silent and said nothing.

But still she did not reach out to take it. Her voice was gentle as she said: “My cousin has prepared a great many powders and rouges for me, and there are several eyebrow pencils as well — the dressing case is already nearly full. Big Brother should keep this one for yourself. When you meet Nian Zi’s older sister later, you can give it to her.” With that, she took Qin Dan’s hand and turned back toward Yi Peng Xue.

She had walked quite a distance; Xiang Xu was still standing before the wisteria trellis. Yun Pan did not look back.

Qin Dan guided her back into the courtyard, then motioned for the serving women to close the gate.

In truth, there are things that need not always be spoken aloud — what must be understood, the heart has long since understood. She did not possess that abundant wellspring of feeling, nor did she wish to invite unnecessary complications. Things as they were now were very good — quietly counting the days as they grew nearer one by one, and then on that day, moving from this duke’s residence to another.

When she thought about it, both were much the same kind of life, lived in much the same way. The greatest difference, perhaps, was a change in identity — and with it, boundless new possibilities, and the freedom to do many things that a girl still unmarried in her family home could not conveniently do.