Before she even reached the door, the sound of weeping shook the ceiling of the main hall — Madam He’s voice carrying out from within, a long torrent of accusations, insisting that Mei Fen had been the ruin of He Xiao, that without her he would never have come to such an end.

“He Xiao and I are born of the same mother — what closer bond is there in this world? And yet my brother, instead of looking out for Zhongrou on my behalf, stood by and let Mei Fen drive her cousin to his death. What kind of maternal uncle acts like that!” Madam He slapped the table — crack after crack. “What did Zhongrou do wrong? He is guilty only of loving Mei Fen — and that is apparently a crime deserving of death. We arranged match after match for him at home, but he turned them all away. I told him not to come to the capital, and he would not listen — and what has become of him? He has died at Mei Fen’s hands!”

Madam Ming, who was not one to be trifled with, let out a sharp sound of contempt: “Leaving him aside, Heaven itself should have struck him down with a bolt of lightning! The wicked things he did — and now he has drowned himself outside the city. He got exactly what he deserved. What has any of this to do with our Mei Fen? You come here to hurl accusations at us — have you no shame?”

A couple deep in the throes of extreme grief is very difficult to reason with. He Xiao’s father, though he held the hereditary title of an Inaugural Viscount, it was a rank so minor as to be nearly negligible. In Luoyang, he also held a nominal seventh-rank court position, a civil titular post with no actual authority whatsoever.

Once a person has nothing left to lose, they can make a spectacle of themselves without limit — as though the death of their son had granted them an imperial mandate, and the entire world owed them a head.

They sat planted in the upper seats. He Xiao’s father’s voice was even louder than his wife’s, and he declared at full volume: “I have nothing to say to you, a mere woman of the inner quarters. Let Xiang Jujie come out. Today, even if it means mutual ruin, we will have our reckoning.”

Yun Pan walked in. Seeing their brazen arrogance, she supported Madam Ming by the arm and said quietly: “Aunt, if there is no reasoning with them, shall we summon the house guards?”

Madam Ming pressed her hand, and was just about to speak when Madam He overheard these words. She leapt to her feet and let loose a stream of abuse: “And who are you, some insignificant woman, to meddle in this household’s affairs!”

Nanny Yao, standing nearby, felt a fire ignite from the top of her head straight down, and scolded sharply: “You shameless creature! How dare you insult the wife of Duke Weiguo!”

Madam He was visibly rattled for just a moment — but things had already come this far, and there was no pulling back now. She slapped her thighs and wailed: “No matter how grand your titles, my son is dead. I have come here today to seek justice, and you cannot report me to the authorities!”

To report them to the authorities was, of course, out of the question. After all, both households held noble ranks, and they were also relatives. If the matter were truly taken to court, both sides would lose face. He Xiao had been steeped in sin and was dead now — yet his parents had committed no actual offense. Even if they were being entirely unreasonable, there was ultimately nothing one could do to them.

Even Madam Ming, formidable as she was, could only admit defeat when confronted with this sister-in-law of hers. She had always known the woman’s temperament was contrary — but she had never imagined she could be so thoroughly shameless. “Your son died well — one less pestilence in this world. We ought to be clapping our hands in celebration!” Unfortunately her voice was no match for the other woman’s in volume, and was simply drowned out.

Unable to make herself heard, and furious about it, she was forced to endure He Xiao’s parents continuing to shout and clamor, demanding repeatedly that Mei Fen be handed over.

Madam He’s viciousness sent a chill down the spine. She smiled coldly and said: “Since she was betrothed to our Zhongrou, and Zhongrou is gone, she is a widow before marriage. She will come back to Luoyang with us, wear mourning for Zhongrou, and spend her life keeping vigil before his ancestral tablet. She shall not be permitted to take a single step outside.”

Madam Ming erupted with fury: “What a pair of wretches — they raise a son who deserves death, and still they haven’t done enough harm, wanting to send this rascal before the judges of the underworld. Just you wait — in the next life you’ll be ground up on the millstone, turned to powder and scattered on the northwest wind, and you’ll get exactly what you wished for—”

While she was in the midst of cursing them to full effect, Xiang Xu returned from outside. His appearance momentarily brought both sides to a halt.

Madam Ming, fearing these foul people would pollute Xiang Xu’s ears with their filth, kept waving him inside — but Madam He reached out and grabbed hold of him. “Xu’er, you’ve come at just the right moment. You have taken up an office at court now — I cannot get through to your mother. Please, come and judge for us.”

Xiang Xu, a man of learning, had no great fondness for this aunt of his — but out of consideration for the fact that she and his father were born of the same mother, he was still willing to offer a few words of comfort. He said only: “Aunt, please compose yourself. Whatever you wish to say, we can discuss it calmly. All this crying and shouting — people outside can hear it. It reflects poorly on everyone.”

Madam He said: “My son is dead and half my heart has died with him. What do I care about appearances? Better to make a scene — since we cannot go on living, let no one else have any peace either.”

Xiang Xu, hearing that He Xiao had died, was taken aback — but seeing that this aunt of his was so entirely unreasonable, he felt a measure of displeasure as well. He furrowed his brow and said: “Aunt, there is no need to speak this way. Everything has its causes and conditions. In the end, we are all one family — is there nothing that cannot be worked out?”

He Xiao’s father said that was right. “We ought to work something out — we have come all this way from Luoyang precisely because we want a proper explanation. Your mother is a woman of the inner quarters and there is nothing to be gained by speaking with her. Since you are the eldest son of the family, speaking with you amounts to the same thing.”

Madam Ming spat with great spirit: “Indeed — when the beam is crooked, the rafters are bent. The father talks of looking down on women, and the son was exactly the same. Your own mother is a woman — and women? Women can lift their foot and tower above your head. Coming before me and putting on the airs of a great man — who do you think you are?”

Madam He was about to start shrieking again, but Xiang Xu held her back. “Aunt and Uncle, if you have come all this way with a particular request, you may as well state it plainly. All this verbal sparring — even if Father were to return, he would not give you the time of day.”

Madam He said very well. “Since you put it that way, let us speak plainly. We have come for one thing only: to take Mei Fen back to Luoyang, to keep mourning for Zhongrou.”

Xiang Xu frowned further. “My younger sister is perfectly well at home, and furthermore the betrothal documents were returned to Zhongrou long ago — the two of them have had nothing to do with each other since. On what grounds, precisely, does Aunt demand that she mourn for Zhongrou?”

The He family couple had come precisely to create utter havoc — there was no reasoning to be had from them. They spoke brazenly: “A betrothal is entered at the command of the parents. Even to dissolve the engagement, the parents’ consent must be obtained. We are far away in Luoyang and received no word of this. Now that Zhongrou is gone and cannot speak for himself, you think you can deny this marriage — but it cannot be done. If need be, we will go to the courts and beat the drum of petition, let all of the capital come and judge the matter. Don’t think that because you are a Duke’s household you can bully the dead.”

They had inverted black and white entirely, and even a mild-mannered person like Xiang Xu was now moved to anger. He said coldly: “Aunt had best not do anything that would leave Zhongrou no peace in the afterlife. There is a saying that all debts are cleared at death — given everything he did in life, it could have been left aside at this point. Yet you insist on dragging up old accounts, so that he becomes a laughingstock even in death.”

The He couple had just suffered the loss of their only son, and there was now nothing left that could give them pause. Two months of anguish could only be repaid with a human life — they wanted Mei Fen to atone, whether by widowhood or something worse. They had come determined to see mutual destruction if necessary, and dignity was the least of their concerns. What was face worth compared to a human life?

“Save your breath — hand Mei Fen over! I know you all mock Zhongrou behind his back, yet how did he ever harm you? Since you are family, you should have protected him — yet not only did you break the engagement, you conspired with the servants in his household to frame him…” As she spoke, Madam He began to wail again. “Zhongrou, my son — you died so wrongfully. Soaking in the river outside the city for five or six days before anyone pulled you out. Yet these people here are still living comfortably — only my son is gone… Heaven is blind, every last one of you should be slaves in the underworld, repaying the debt you owe my son!”

The more they railed, the more energized they became. With voices this loud, a ring of onlookers had already gathered outside the main gate.

Xiang Xu was a scholar faced with ruffians — driven to furious exasperation, he cried out: “The only reason He Xiao came to this end is because of you! You were lax in discipline and cultivated his vicious heart. The things he did — if spoken aloud — would shame even you to death. I urge Uncle and Aunt to stop this at once and return to Luoyang. Have some regard for your dignity, or you will cut off the path for your other children.”

But none of this could move He Xiao’s parents in the slightest. They were set on making the greatest possible scene, insisting with absolute conviction that Mei Fen belonged to the He family.

Just as the uproar reached its peak, a young military officer arrived at the gate outside. With a wave of his hand, he ordered his soldiers to form a human wall in front of the Duke’s residence, driving away the crowd that had gathered. He himself placed his hand on his sword hilt and led the rest of his men inside, surrounding the front hall on all sides. He then turned and cupped his fists in a salute to Madam Ming, saying: “Wan Jun has come late — please forgive me, Aunt.”

Madam Ming, who had been both furious and helpless, felt a wave of relief wash over her at the sight of Zhao Zhongyan’s arrival.

In truth, dealing with these two scoundrels was not difficult in itself — one only had to order the house guards and servants to bind them. But what to do with them once they were bound was the real problem.

They were relatives, and He Xiao’s father still held a noble title — regardless of the size of his fief, to arbitrarily bind him would not hold up under the law. Duke Shuguo was not home, Xiang Xu was a scholar, and a junior flouting a senior was already three parts in the wrong even when justified. What was needed was an outsider who could step in under the guise of mediating a dispute — and so Zhao Zhongyan had arrived at exactly the right moment, saving them from an acutely difficult situation.

But Madam He was not about to accept this, and sneered: “Splendid — another reinforcement. Coming here to bully us with superior numbers, are you?”

Zhao Zhongyan turned and looked at her, with the direct manner of a battle-hardened military man who had no interest in accommodating her feelings. He raised his fist in salute and said: “I have been commissioned by His Majesty to oversee the security of the capital. Coming past the Duke’s residence and seeing someone making trouble, I naturally entered to ascertain the situation.”

Yet even with armed soldiers before them, He Xiao’s parents remained entirely undeterred. Madam He said with contempt: “Then the General is free to leave. The two of us are close relatives — I am the older sister of Duke Shuguo himself, born of the same mother. As the saying goes, even an honest official cannot adjudicate a family matter. How much less can an outsider like you.”

Zhao Zhongyan was not the least bit rattled. He drew out a long sound of acknowledgment. “Ah — so these are the honored parents of He Zhongrou, the celebrated talent from Luoyang. My respects.”

This maneuver of turning the other party’s words back against them put He Xiao’s parents in an awkward position. Everyone in the capital knew of He Xiao’s disgrace — to invoke the title of “celebrated talent from Luoyang” now was surely not without a hint of mockery. But what of it? The man was already dead, and the dead command deference — that was a rule handed down from antiquity.

He Xiao’s father pulled a long face and said: “This is a family matter. We need not trouble the General. The General is no doubt busy with official duties — please do your inspections elsewhere and leave this matter alone.”

Zhao Zhongyan assumed an air of perfect composure and said with a smile: “I am in no hurry at all. When a family matter involves a human life, it ceases to be merely a family matter. The two of you are making a great clamor — does that mean you have evidence proving that He Xiao’s death is connected to the Duke Shuguo household?”

This question struck He Xiao’s parents dumb. According to the report brought back by the two servants, they had encountered bandits on the road that night. With the dead unable to speak and those assailants long gone, to whom could they appeal for redress?

Madam He found this interfering man thoroughly irritating. She turned away and said: “We did not come to discuss a criminal case. We came to discuss a marriage. Duke Shuguo’s legitimate daughter was betrothed to my son. My son may be gone, but the surviving fiancée cannot simply stay hidden in her parents’ home. I have made it plain enough — so long as Mei Fen comes away with us, we will not pursue anything else.”

Madam Ming, confronted with such a shameless relative, had already said a great many unpleasant things — yet the woman remained impervious, absolutely set on finding Mei Fen. Even she was at a loss for what to do.

It was Zhao Zhongyan who resolved the impasse. “The marriage contract — if you want to take someone away, you must at least produce some proof. Otherwise, if you were to go before the palace gates and announce that His Majesty had promised you a princess, would the Emperor actually hand one over?”

He Xiao’s parents exchanged a glance. The six rites had only reached the stage of presenting the betrothal gifts — there was naturally no formal marriage contract to produce. But they had come solely to vent their fury and demand satisfaction. What need had they of proof? They replied impatiently: “The rites have been observed — with or without a marriage contract, Mei Fen is our He family’s daughter-in-law. Unless we ourselves renounce her, she must come back to Luoyang with us.”

“Yet surely the moment your son’s true nature was exposed, it was universally acknowledged that the match between the two families had come to nothing — that is something all of the capital knows.” Zhao Zhongyan said. “Your son, under the false reputation of a celebrated talent, fraudulently obtained this match. How else would a minor Inaugural Viscount’s household have managed to form a marriage alliance with a Duke’s family?”

Only then did Madam He realize that this officer who had allegedly been passing by had come specifically to take sides against them.

“You…” she planted her fists on her hips and said, “What sort of heavenly soldier or general are you, sticking your nose into our affairs?”

Zhao Zhongyan grinned. “As it happens, what you call your family affair is very much my concern. I have already presented the betrothal gifts — I am soon to take Mei Niang as my wife. Do you not think my opinion is worth considering, when you propose to seize my future wife to keep vigil for your son?”

This was truly a case of flooding the Dragon King’s own temple. He Xiao’s parents stared at one another in speechless consternation. Yun Pan, watching from the sidelines, could not help but find it rather amusing.

This whole farce had been impossible to untangle from the start — the He family’s demand to take someone away was pure spite and could never actually be carried out. But seeing Zhao Zhongyan’s conduct today — coming forward in such a moment — was proof enough of his character. He was worthy of trust.

What followed, of course, was Madam He’s most ferocious bout of wailing yet. With one sweep of her sleeve she sent every object on the table crashing to the ground, crying: “So a daughter is promised to two households at once — is there still law and order in this world! Now that my son is gone they think the dead cannot defend themselves!” She then pointed directly at Madam Ming and ground her teeth: “Ming Yueqing — you vile, disreputable woman — you gave birth to a snake-hearted little strumpet who killed my son and now wants to shame him in death…”

Her words were vile beyond endurance. Madam Ming had suffered enough. She pulled off her shoe and hurled it straight at her: “You foul, short-lived, wretched old creature — see how I fly this shoe at your head! You raise such a fine son with your own hands and still have the face to come here causing trouble? Heaven and earth cannot contain you — today let this woman here show you what she is made of!” She turned to order the concubines and servant women standing at attendance: “There’s someone who’s come to our door of her own accord — if we don’t deal with her, we’re letting this scoundrel off too easily. I’ll answer for any lawsuit — beat them soundly for me!”

The great battle finally erupted in magnificent fashion. The men could not decently raise their hands, so the battle was conducted entirely by the women of the household.

The He family had brought people of their own, of course — but fighting on someone else’s territory was hardly advantageous, and when they tried to join the fray, they were held back by the soldiers Zhao Zhongyan had brought with him. The outcome was easily predicted: fists and slaps were applied liberally, He Xiao’s parents had their clothing torn and their hair pulled out in handfuls.

When Duke Shuguo arrived home to find a full-scale brawl in progress, he stopped dead in his tracks, jaw dropped open in astonishment. Seeing that matters had escalated beyond all control, he bellowed for them to stop — and only then did the great battle come to a halt.

Madam Ming knew that her sister-in-law was the sort to cry injustice before one could be blamed, and that Duke Shuguo, out of sibling sentiment, would not truly do anything to her. So she made the first move herself and burst into tears, clutching at Duke Shuguo and saying: “You’ve come home just in time — had you been half a moment later, this pair of scoundrels would have torn our household apart! Their son is dead, and they want to drag our Mei’er back to keep mourning for him — I refused to allow it, and they spent half a day hurling abuse at me, even managing to offend Zhao Zhongyan. It was not enough that the He family did such harm to our Mei’er — now that she has finally found her footing and a good match, and is beginning to flourish, they come to make trouble again. What debt do we owe them from a past life, that they come after us without end?”

Duke Shuguo was initially somewhat taken aback — he had not truly expected He Xiao to die. But upon reflection, a creature of that kind had it coming to him, and it was a mercy they hadn’t had him cut to pieces. He knew his sister well enough: acid on the outside and cold at heart, she would wring three measures of reason from thin air even when she had none. He Xiao, in certain respects, was remarkably like her.

Because of everything He Xiao had done to Mei Fen, he had long since gone entirely cold toward this branch of the family. He turned to face Madam He directly and asked: “Sister, do you truly intend to take Mei Fen away to keep mourning?”

Madam He had been beaten to a disheveled, bedraggled state, all her spite still stuck in her throat with nowhere to go. She cried out at full volume: “Is Zhongrou not your own nephew? Mei Fen was betrothed to him — it is only right and proper that she should mourn for him.”

Duke Shuguo summoned all his force and spat with magnificent vehemence: “A nephew is nothing — Mei Fen is my own flesh and blood! Look who I side with! Your wretched son died as he deserved — a black-hearted creature from the day he was born, who grew up into a fraud and impostor, capable of every sort of filth. Do you want to meet the witnesses to what your son did? If you did, you would be too ashamed to keep living! And now you come here to cause trouble, thinking we are easy to bully.” He turned to order his household: “Bind these two scoundrels and take them to the magistrate! If you have grievances, bring them before the prefect — if I need to appear in court, I will not evade it. But if you have any designs on my Mei Fen, I tell you now: not in this lifetime!”

With Duke Shuguo taking charge, it truly became a family matter to be resolved within the family. In an instant the house guards surged forward, stuffed cloth in their mouths, and bound them from head to foot, wrapped up as tight as silkworm cocoons. Then, with some carrying their heads and others their feet, the whole retinue swept out in a grand procession and conveyed them to the magistrate’s office in the capital.

Onlookers who did not know the full story came out to gawk, wondering who these people were. Those who knew the details ground out a few words through clenched teeth: “The parents of He Sanlang, the celebrated talent from Luoyang — unwilling to accept the verdict of heaven, they came to Duke Shuguo’s residence to demand justice.”

But the moment any connection to He Sanlang was invoked, even a righteous claim became indefensible. Ordinary people thought so; the presiding officials at the magistrate’s office thought so even more firmly.

The Duke Shuguo household finally settled into calm. Madam Ming felt deeply apologetic toward Zhao Zhongyan, and sighed, saying: “Saddled with such wretched relatives — I have let Zhongyan see us at our worst.”

Zhao Zhongyan waved it off with great magnanimity. “If anything, it is Mei Niang who has been wronged by all of this.” He paused, then said with a shameless grin: “She has a timid nature — I’ll go inside and look in on her. We wouldn’t want her to be frightened.”