These words left Jiang Heng dizzy. What did she mean, it had nothing to do with him? And who was this Xiang Zhufen?

He recalled that Xiang Junjie’s household had only two sons and two daughters. Where had this sudden third daughter come from — and from the look of things, she was very much connected to him.

Jiang Heng furrowed his brow. “Jing Qing, you have always been a straightforward man. Why are you so evasive today? Failing to send word ahead before visiting your estate — that was my oversight, and I will call on Elder Sister and Brother-in-law in person to apologize. There is no need to keep me in suspense like this. My Si Si is gone. I have lost a beloved daughter, and who can know the grief of that! You speak of deregistering a household, of a household with fewer members — what exactly are you trying to say?”

To his surprise, Duke Shuguo shot him a cool glance. “Did my words pierce the Marquis of Yong’an’s lung? If the Marquis has the energy to take offense, he would be better served going home and asking his concubine just what she has been hiding from her master. Marquis, a man should reserve his affections for where they are warranted. To neglect a legitimate wife and daughter while endlessly indulging a concubine invites ridicule. A concubine is nothing but a plaything — a side dish, nothing more. Who serves hot pickled cucumbers as the main course to honored guests? Yet you have covered your eyes and ears and allowed yourself to be toyed with by a woman of the inner quarters. I say this to you only because my little sister-in-law married you. Were it anyone else, I would not even bother to glance your way.”

Duke Shuguo, when he held his tongue, held it well. But once he began to scold, he could draw on three days and three nights of military-drill invective without repeating himself.

The colleagues who had been walking back together after court dispersed saw that a quarrel had broken out and found themselves in no hurry to leave. In the vast square between the two palace gate towers, officials gathered in twos and threes, ears straining, every one of them sensing there was much hidden beneath the surface, all of them eager to see how Jiang Heng would respond.

As for Jiang Heng, his face had been thoroughly scorched. The tips of his ears burned hot. To be lectured like this at his age — it was insufferable. Now that the County Princess was gone, the two men were brothers-in-law in name, but in plain terms they were nothing more than court colleagues. He did not serve under Duke Shuguo, so why should he be subjected to this mockery?

Yet regardless of how one felt, face still had to be maintained. He drew a deep breath and said, “The affairs of Jiang’s household — I would not dare trouble the Duke to concern himself with them…”

But before he could finish, Duke Shuguo cut him off. The fierce, battle-hardened bearing of a veteran general returned in an instant; spittle nearly flew into Jiang Heng’s face as the Duke stabbed a finger at his nose and unleashed a torrent of abuse. “You filthy, muddle-headed fool! You have held office at court and you cannot even tell whether the girl lying in your family’s coffin is your own daughter! Entrusting government affairs to a man like you — just wait for things to fall apart! I think you were hoping your wife would die and your daughter would die too, so you could install your concubine in their place — a pair of shameless wretches spending your scandalous days in Youzhou! That woman told you the dead one was Si Si, and you swallowed it whole without a single doubt. I ask you: did you look at the face beneath the funeral paper? Are you blind as a dog, or did you simply choose to play along? If you cannot give an accounting today, we will go before the Shangguan Family and let them judge!”

Jiang Heng’s mind erupted with a thunderous roar, and he nearly fainted from the shock. This sudden news left him without a thought, and he could only stand there, eyes blank and staring, asking over and over: “What did you say? What did you say?”

Duke Shuguo suddenly felt that speaking to such a fool was beneath his own dignity. When the County Princess had been alive, he had never found him quite this addled. Now that the mistress of the house was gone and the concubine held sway, she had turned a man into a bleary-eyed, gloomy, unlucky-faced wreck. He had been talking at him here for half the morning, and the man wore the expression of someone who had not yet woken up. It made his teeth itch with exasperation.

He flicked his sleeve and turned to leave — but Jiang Heng stepped into his path.

“Brother-in-law, are you saying Si Si is still alive? That she is at your estate?” He was thrown into a panic. “Then… then… then who was buried at home?” He thought again, and it did not add up. “Si Si has never traveled far from home. How would she end up at your estate? Brother-in-law, are you joking with me? Or perhaps there has been some mistake…”

Duke Shuguo’s eyebrows shot straight up. “You think we are like you, unable even to recognize a person? Go home and ask your beloved concubine why she replaced the gatekeeper the day of the earthquake and had Si Si forcibly barred from entering her own home. Fortunately, Si Si sought help from Duke Weiguo, and arrived safely in the capital. Had she encountered anyone with ill intentions, things would have gone exactly as your beloved concubine had wished.”

To lend his words proof, Duke Shuguo cast his eyes through the crowd and happened to spot Duke Weiguo emerging from the palace gates at that very moment. He called out, “Ji Fu, come and tell the Marquis of Yong’an how you came to encounter his legitimate daughter that day and how you saw her safely to the capital.”

All eyes turned to Duke Weiguo. A man of noble refinement, drawn into this kind of affair, was somewhat out of place. Yet because of his single statement, what had been a tangled mess suddenly became credible and clear.

He stood as composed and steady as ever. Beneath the blazing sun, his scarlet official robes made his features appear all the more elegant and temperate. He stood before the orderly stone wall of the gate tower, hands folded, and said plainly: “That day I was carrying out relief orders. Toward evening, soldiers brought two women to our encampment. One of them claimed to be the Marquis of Yong’an’s daughter and wished to travel to Duke Shuguo’s estate. Seeing that night was falling and that it would be inconvenient for them to travel alone, I assigned two attendants to escort them to the capital.”

Jiang Heng finally fell silent, unable to comprehend how this entire farce had come about. He racked his brains for a long while, then gestured helplessly. “But… but I was also in the capital. Why did she not come to find me…”

Duke Weiguo pressed his lips together in a slight smile. “I also found it curious — the Marquis was right here in the capital, so why did your daughter choose to go to Duke Shuguo’s estate instead.”

Jiang Heng’s expression at last became deeply uncomfortable. Was that not a softly worded emphasis of his failure as a father?

Ask all across Youzhou and there would likely not be a person who did not know the Marquis of Yong’an’s household had fallen into disorder. After all, this kind of confusion between legitimate and illegitimate was something people found contemptible. Duke Weiguo had agreed to send the girl to the capital not only because of his betrothal connection to Duke Shuguo’s household, but also because he had heard of the state of the Marquis of Yong’an’s affairs — that had to be it.

This one question had left him unable to get down from where he had climbed. Yes, the girl being alive was good news, but a young woman creating such a commotion had made her father a laughingstock. The joy vanished in an instant, replaced by irritation and resentment toward her.

Jiang Heng hurriedly cupped his hands toward Duke Weiguo and Duke Shuguo. “My daughter has been unruly and caused a great deal of trouble for you both. I offer my apologies here and now. Since she is at Jing Qing’s estate, I will go and bring her home at once. I would not dare to trouble Elder Sister and Brother-in-law any further.”

Duke Shuguo, however, was not appeased. Cold-eyed and stern-browed, he said: “Bringing the person home is easy enough. But who knows what that concubine of yours will do to harm her next time? As her father, you take no regard for your legitimate daughter’s life or reputation. We, as her uncle and aunt by marriage, are the ones who feel for her. Never mind talk of fetching anyone — the first proper matter is to deal with that troublemaker.”

Now this touched upon the question of whether to spare the concubine’s position or her life. He wanted the child back, but to dispose of Liu Shi for it left him in a dilemma.

Looking around at colleagues who were gleefully taking in the spectacle, Jiang Heng softened his tone and lowered his voice. “Brother-in-law, let us discuss this privately. With so many eyes upon us, talking about inner-household matters in public truly loses all dignity.”

“The Marquis of Yong’an still knows what dignity is?” Duke Shuguo gave a cold laugh. “Spare me the nonsense. One sentence: deal with that concubine, then come to my estate to collect the person. If you still cannot bear to do it, then Si Si’s household registration will be changed, and from now on she will carry our Xiang surname.”

Duke Shuguo, true to his military origins, wasted not a moment in getting things done. Having delivered his ultimatum, he turned and boarded his own carriage without giving Jiang Heng another chance to ramble on, ordering his servant to drive east toward Yulin Lane.

A fine piece of theater, and yet it ended without any clear resolution — which left the officials, whose court careers had grown somewhat dull, feeling a little deflated. In any case, the matter had unfolded before them all, and they now had a new item of interest to follow over tea and meals. Each of them composed an expression of varying bewilderment, sympathy, or knowing masculine understanding, smiled with awkward but unfailing politeness, and went off to find their own carriages.

Duke Weiguo was also preparing to leave. He had just turned to go when the helpless Jiang Heng called after him.

“Duke Wei…” He clasped his hands together, a look of complicated grievance working across his face. “Since my daughter identified herself by name, why did the Duke not send someone to return her to the estate? With an official escort, the gatekeepers would not have dared to stop her.”

Duke Weiguo was a mild-tempered man — perhaps because of his frail constitution, he carried none of the hostility of his other two kinsmen.

Jiang Heng’s reproachful tone did not anger him. He only smiled faintly. “Your household had determined that your daughter was dead. If I had forced her return and anything had gone wrong, I would have had no way to account to the Marquis. I had assumed that once your daughter arrived at Duke Shuguo’s estate, she would naturally seek out the Marquis herself. I never expected…” He paused slightly, then continued at a measured pace, “You should also consider — it was fortunate that I happened to be sent to Youzhou that day. Had there been no official escort, even if your daughter encountered no ill-doers, spending a night away and returning to the marquis’s estate afterward would have been enough to ruin her reputation entirely.”

He finished speaking, gave a slight nod, and stepped past him. But those two words, laden with quiet meaning, gave Jiang Heng genuine pause.

A girl — the slightest misstep meant utter ruin. Now that he thought about it, it had indeed been terrifyingly close. A child found alive after being thought lost was the greatest comfort a father could have after a fright like that. Yet disposing of Liu Shi posed a difficulty — after all, she had entered the household and given him three children, and when he recalled the years they had shared, he found he could not simply let go. Still, today he had lost face before so many colleagues, and the rage it kindled was real. If she had truly harbored such a vicious heart, he would have the resolve to cleanse his house.

Thinking this, he felt a burning urge to strike her down on the spot. He called sharply to his manservant: “Bring me a fast horse. I must return to Youzhou immediately.”

Riding saved considerably more time than a carriage. A carriage would take a full day to return; on horseback, he could be there in half a day.

Meanwhile, back at the Marquis of Yong’an’s estate in Youzhou, Liu Yanqiao was directing the gardeners to move flower pots. The feeling of being mistress of everything in the house was something she had never experienced before — truly an unprecedented, whole-body sense of freedom.

“Move that crabapple over to the base of the corridor.” She pointed with the handle of her folding fan. “The sun is fierce — don’t let it wither.”

She was in the middle of all this when the gatekeeper’s wife came in to report that the master had returned to the estate. Liu Yanqiao gave a slight start. When she calculated the timing, the hours did not quite add up. She knew in her heart that this matter could no longer be suppressed, so she instructed the gatekeeper’s wife to pass word to Chen Xiang to attend her in welcoming the master at the front hall.

Exactly as she had anticipated, Jiang Heng’s expression when he walked through the door was displeased. The long journey, jolting on horseback, had left his eyes reddened from the wind, and when he widened them in a glare, her heart skipped several beats.

But she still had to go forward and attend to him, stiffening herself to do so. She offered him a cool damp towel and said, “Master, you have had a tiring journey. I thought you would not be back until evening — we had planned a light midday meal of simple rice porridge…” And even as she spoke, she directed the household servants: “Go and serve the master a bowl right away. You have ridden through dust and wind — you must be hungry too. Have something to tide you over.”

But Jiang Heng gave a contemptuous snort and shoved her aside.

Liu Yanqiao stumbled back, her face going white. “Master, what is the matter? Have I done something wrong to make you angry?”

Jiang Heng was furious. Pointing at her, he said: “You are the one behind all of this! I ask you — Si Si is clearly still alive. Why did you insist she was dead? Who was it that was buried and sent out in a coffin? What exactly happened the day of the earthquake? Give me a full account of it, and do not leave anything out!”

Liu Yanqiao’s eyes went wide with surprise. “The young mistress is still alive? Amitabha, the young mistress is truly still alive?” After the initial shock of joy, she shifted to another expression entirely, murmuring to herself: “But that day, the fallen beam clearly had her pinned beneath it — how could there be any mistake… Master, did you truly see the young mistress yourself, or is this based on someone else’s gossip? I arranged the funeral rites personally, and I was the one who sent her off.”

Jiang Heng said through gritted teeth: “Today, after court was dismissed, Duke Shuguo told me with his own mouth that Si Si is at his estate. Could he be wrong?”

Liu Yanqiao froze. “Youzhou is over a hundred li from the capital… how did the young mistress get herself to Duke Shuguo’s estate?”

This had genuinely caught her off guard. The people she had sent out to search for Yun Pan’s whereabouts had inquired at all four city gates and found no one who had seen them leave. She had always assumed Yun Pan was trapped somewhere inside the city, unable to get out — that was why she had not returned for so long. She had never imagined she would end up at Duke Shuguo’s estate.

By any ordinary reckoning, a sheltered young woman of good family whose farthest outing had been to Quanqing Temple outside the city walls could not possibly have traveled over a hundred li on her own to seek refuge with an aunt she was not even particularly close to. Yet that girl Yun Pan had apparently managed exactly that feat. It seemed she had badly underestimated her.