The Elder Madam, for her part, had not yet gone senile. After being dressed down by her daughter-in-law in this manner, she nearly made herself ill with fury, clutching her chest and saying: “Well, well — I indulged my grandson, and now it seems that indulgence has turned into a fault. What a black-hearted creature you are. When you came to dig into my private savings, I was a treasure beyond compare in your eyes. When you saw useful maidservants beside me, you wanted those too. Now the money is gone, the girls are gone, and at the first little setback with the boy, you speak to me like this — openly defying your elders. You are from a Prefect’s family — did your own household never teach you a shred of propriety and decorum?”

The Geng family’s mistress heard this and felt the waves of resentment rise in her heart. She dared not challenge the other woman directly head-on, but she could certainly send a few barbed remarks back: “Please do not say such things, Old Madam — do not let people misunderstand that I, as his own mother, went and took a maidservant from your chambers to give to my son as a bedchamber maid. What a thing to be laughed at over. I said so at the time — the young master was not yet married, putting someone into his rooms was inappropriate. I said so over and over, and you would not listen. Now the situation is this: Xu Xiangning’s belly is large, the young master’s perfectly good match is gone — but I suppose this finally satisfies mother, so what else is there to say? Better for all of us to go our separate ways and sleep soundly.”

The Elder Madam was the kind who would sooner fall over than give up her dignity. Hearing her daughter-in-law speak like this, she flew into a rage and declared in a high voice: “The boy was so young when he went to train in the military, rising before the rooster’s crow — and did you as his mother get up every single morning to see him off? I had someone by his side, so that no matter what, there was a person attending to everything for him. When you enjoyed the benefits of that in peace, why did you never say a word? You have been a daughter-in-law for decades — what storms and floods have you not seen? To be thrown into such a panic over a thing this small, so much for being the household’s mistress! What is the Li family — just a dukedom. Our third son is a fine talent — do you think he’ll be left unclaimed?”

Geng the Military Commissioner felt his head was on the verge of splitting. He pressed his forehead and murmured: “Stop, please. Settle down. At this point, discussing how to handle this matter is what actually matters.”

The Geng family’s mistress gave her verdict in a single sentence: “Send for a physician, have the child in that woman’s belly aborted, then call in a slave trader to take her away. Perhaps the Commandery Princess’s anger will subside and she might change her mind.”

But this was met with opposition from everyone except the two daughters-in-law — most especially the Elder Madam, who said with fury: “You truly have a cruel heart — that isn’t your grandchild, so you can do something like that so easily?”

At this the wife of the second son began to speak tentatively: “What mother suggests may not be entirely without merit. The scene outside today was so large — who knows what people are saying about our family behind our backs now. A son not yet married and already with an illegitimate child on the way — this talk is simply not dignified. We would originally have welcomed the Commandery Princess, and now to welcome the daughter of a minor official, that may also prove difficult…”

Xu Xiangning clutched at Geng Fangzhi, weeping: “Third young master… no, this cannot happen…”

Geng Fangzhi was not willing to go this far either, and frowned. “Second sister-in-law, please don’t go along with mother on this. In the end, it is a life — how can we just say it should not exist and it will not?”

The second daughter-in-law hearing this turned away and exchanged a look with the first daughter-in-law.

It was said that when there was too great a difference in standing among sisters-in-law, one would always be made to feel the pressure from above. But they also had no desire to be on equal footing with a girl of maidservant origins. To say that the abortion was cruel was one thing, but at this point it was the best way to salvage their reputation. The gossiping mouths of the capital would not be convinced to praise the Geng family for their warmth and good intentions in keeping a little illegitimate child around — they would continue to talk behind their backs just as cheerfully as before, and not only would the third son be humiliated, the two of them would also have difficulty showing their faces outside. But there was nothing to be done. Since the party directly concerned refused, no one could forcibly compel an abortion. The two daughters-in-law stepped aside and washed their hands of the whole wretched affair.

The Elder Madam, being an old noble lady, had in her younger days received a court title as a Commandery Lady herself and had good friends among women of similar standing from her youth. So she began to rack her brains, calculating: “The Grand Scholar of the Guanwen Hall has a second daughter — I saw her once. A quiet, steady girl with a fine reputation for filial piety toward elders… The Grand Scholar’s wife and I are friends of fifty-some years, friends from our girlhood days. I’ll send someone to ask if their family has any intention of forming an alliance by marriage.”

But could someone really go arranging a new match right after a catastrophe of this magnitude, and expect the other family to agree?

The Geng family’s mistress hesitated for a moment. “The Grand Scholar of the Guanwen Hall is no ordinary family…”

“Never mind which kind — daughters grow up and must be married off eventually. I’ve seen clearly now that when choosing a daughter-in-law, one absolutely cannot choose one of those sharp-tongued, quick-to-argue types…” She glanced sideways at the Geng family’s mistress. “Truly a docile, unassuming girl is better — at the very least she won’t argue back at her elders, and she’ll know her proper place.”

The Geng family’s mistress, hearing this, gave a humorless smile. “Old Madam has fine plans — celebrate when you’ve actually secured the match.”

The Elder Madam, from her youth, had always been the sort to act on impulse. She was desperately in need of a new marriage to recover the dignity she had lost, so she went and found her godchild — the wife of the Commander of the Imperial Dragon Guard — and had her act as go-between for the two families.

The Commander’s wife was in an awkward position, but a goddaughter was not the same as a niece or a nephew, with whom one might speak a few words of plain truth. A godparent relationship was the most ambiguous of all — not close enough to count as family, not distant enough to dismiss entirely, and one could not easily go against the Elder Madam’s wishes. So she steeled herself and made the trip to the Grand Scholar’s household.

The result was exactly as expected: she was given a thorough dressing-down by the Grand Scholar’s wife, who had nothing else to say but that she felt personally insulted.

“What a fine thing — to treat us as if we were some struggling family fallen on hard times. That grandson of hers with his grand reputation — any daughter sent to that household would be sent straight into a pit of fire. I’ve seen that grandson of hers. He’s not particularly outstanding in looks, and his official post is nothing remarkable. Originally, securing the Commandery Princess Kaiyang was his family burning incense for good fortune — how could he not know how to cherish that? Now the Commandery Princess has broken off the engagement, and the very first person they think of is me — how very flattering of them!” The Grand Scholar’s wife’s face had gone very long. She said coldly: “Please go back and pass a word along to the Lady Geng: my granddaughter would sooner enter a Daoist convent and take holy vows than marry into that household. You are a guest who has come today, and a guest deserves courtesy — I will hold my tongue. If it were someone else who had come, they would have been chased out with sticks long ago.”

The Commander’s wife crept out of the Grand Scholar’s household in dejection. These words were hardly any different from being chased out with sticks.

She returned to the Geng household and said with an uncomfortable expression: “Godmother, I think the young master’s marriage cannot be rushed — perhaps let things rest for a while.”

The Elder Madam asked: “What is it — their family is unwilling?”

The Commander’s wife gave an awkward smile. “It’s not exactly that — their second daughter is already promised to someone else, and the younger sisters below are all still too young, with none the right age to match with the young master.”

The Elder Madam heard this and changed direction, beginning all over again: “The eighth daughter of the Commandery Duke of Lin’an…”

The Commander’s wife broke out in a cold sweat down her back, and hurriedly set down her glazed teacup: “Godmother, my daughter-in-law is due to deliver in the next few days — I truly cannot leave her side for even a moment. I was barely brave enough to come out today, terrified something might happen while I was away. She is having her first child — she’s easily frightened and doesn’t know how to manage anything. I need to be there beside her for my own peace of mind. I have failed you in today’s errand, Godmother, and have let you down. In the future… in the future, once the child is born, I’ll bring the red eggs to offer Godmother my congratulations…” As she spoke she backed away, took her leave without waiting for the Elder Madam to say a word, and her figure was already out in the covered corridor.

The Geng family’s mistress had also come to hear the news. Hearing this outcome in the end, she laughed a cold, unsurprised laugh.

With the son now like this, what did it matter whether the old woman was pleased or not? The Geng family’s mistress said coolly: “What is there still to think about, Old Madam — no respectable daughter of any good family in this city will marry the third son, and you still haven’t seen that?”

The Elder Madam had still been clinging to a shred of hope, unable to believe they had truly reached a dead end. Now, with this blunt assessment, her heart sank all at once. She suddenly realized that the marriage of the third young master had genuinely become a problem, and that her precious grandson, in others’ eyes, was no precious thing at all.

What was to be done — was it truly the case that they could find no suitable daughter-in-law in all of the capital? The Elder Madam felt she could not accept it, and sat there in a daze of worry.

The Geng family’s mistress raised her head and sighed at the ceiling, then said: “Old Madam, it seems to me the only recourse is to go and seek out the Princess Consort of Liang again.”

The Elder Madam had been full of spirit before this, thinking: is it really that without the Li family’s girl there are no women left in the world? Could it truly be that because their family broke off the engagement, her grandson would never marry? But after the series of setbacks, she had gradually come to see reality — it seemed that going back to eat humble pie was the only option.

She sighed deeply. “What can be done? Must we truly go to the Weiguo Duke’s household?”

The Geng family’s mistress looked at her without expression. “If Old Madam were to go in person, perhaps the Princess Consort would still give some face to an elder of your standing.”

She was simply urging the old woman forward, pushing her out front to take the blow.

Who had brought all of this about, after all — that person should be the one to resolve it. When word had come that Xu Xiangning was with child, the Geng family’s mistress had said to cut their losses, abort the child, sell the woman off, and put the matter to rest completely. But who had listened to her? Everyone had wanted to have it both ways, without any regard for the risk of offending the Weiguo Duke’s household if the matter came to light, as though they alone were the cleverest people in the world. And now here they were — everything had come apart at the seams. Xu Xiangning, leveraging the child in her belly, was making a clamor for a proper name and a legitimate standing, with barely any pretense of hiding that she wanted to be the proper wife of the household.

To have brought such a disruptive creature into the family — this was intolerable! The Geng family’s mistress had been anxious and troubled for two days, so much so that her gums ached with a deep throbbing pain. But there was nothing to be done — she still had to worry over this useless son of hers.

With no other way out, the Elder Madam had no choice but to sacrifice her face and make a trip to the Weiguo Duke’s household. Before leaving, the Geng family’s mistress said one more time: “Still better to deal with Xu Xiangning first — if they are willing to reconsider, we’ll have something to show them.”

But the Elder Madam did not make losing deals. “What if we can’t persuade them — then we’ll have given up a child for nothing. Wouldn’t that be an enormous loss?”

The Geng family’s mistress had nothing left to say. She had no idea what approach would even make sense when they got there — all of it was in the hands of fate. She herself would say nothing further. It would all depend on the old woman’s performance. If they could mend things, all the better. If they couldn’t, at least using someone else’s hand to knock that old woman down a peg was its own kind of satisfaction.

So the next morning early, they took their gifts and called at the gate of the Weiguo Duke’s household.

The one who came out to receive them was the Duchess — a young woman of status who carried herself with an effortless authority that required no display of displeasure. Seeing them arrive, she showed no sign of distress, and after exchanging courtesies said: “Today the Princess Consort and the Commandery Princess have gone to burn incense at the temple and are not at home. If the Elder Madam and the Madam have something to say, you may speak to me, and I will pass it along when the Princess Consort returns.”

But a message relayed at second hand, with no certainty of a follow-up — the Elder Madam hesitated and said: “The purpose of our visit is to see the senior member of your esteemed household. If the Princess Consort is not at home, then we ask to see your household’s Elder Madam. We hope the Duchess would be so kind as to pass word in for us.”

Yun Pan understood that she could deflect once, but not a second time. These two had come back only after exhausting every other avenue, and would not have returned otherwise. So she said with some apparent difficulty: “Our grandmother is advanced in years and keeps to a quiet life of rest — she does not generally involve herself in household affairs. I can pass word in for the two of you, but whether she will receive visitors — that depends on grandmother’s own wishes.”

The Geng family’s mistress quickly said: “Yes, thank you for your trouble, Duchess — please do say a few good words on our behalf.”

In her heart she had ever more contempt for her own mother-in-law, thinking: just look at the Elder Madam of this household — a proper elder of proper bearing. That household’s Elder Lady has her own dignity and knows her place, unlike that creature back home who must always meddle in everything, managing what she cannot manage and making a wreck of everything she touches, bringing one heap of trouble after another and making everyone around her look ridiculous.

Yun Pan gave a faint smile. “Then the two of you please wait here for a moment.” She departed with her maidservants toward Mao Garden.

Upon finding the Elder Madam, she reported the matter of the Geng household’s ladies coming to call, saying: “If grandmother does not wish to see them, I can go and send them away.”

But the Elder Madam said: “Of course I’ll see them — why wouldn’t I? I haven’t yet been satisfied. Since they’ve come to our door of their own accord, we shouldn’t waste such a fine opportunity.”

Yun Pan acknowledged this, and turned to instruct Nanny Yao: “Go and invite them in.”

Nanny Yao took the order and went out, and before long she led the Geng household ladies inside.

The Elder Madam Geng and Grandmother Hu were of about the same age, and though both held the title of Elder Madam now, Grandmother Hu had formerly been the most favored Imperial Noble Consort of the late Emperor’s era. By the proper conventions of an imperial household, she should rightly be addressed as Empress Dowager Noble Consort — her standing was on an entirely different level. When the Geng household ladies saw Grandmother Hu, their confidence visibly shrank before they had even begun, and they stepped forward cautiously to pay their respects.

Grandmother Hu smiled. “What a pleasant surprise — Old Lady Geng has found the leisure to come and visit me today?”

The Elder Madam Geng was full of embarrassment, and gave a stiff smile. “I have long been remiss in paying you a visit, and have been thinking of you constantly. I thought — my old aching legs have been rather less troublesome today with the clear weather, and so I’ve come to pay my respects.” She shifted slightly in her armchair and said softly: “Elder Madam — we have been acquainted since our younger years, and in an instant, thirty-some years have passed. Now we are brought together again by the marriage of our grandchildren’s generation — truly it is a matter of fate. A few days ago I heard that your household had called off the engagement, and I was so ill at the time that I nearly failed to catch my breath… Elder Madam, you know how it is — I love this youngest grandson of mine most dearly. I had been looking forward with all my heart to his marriage to the Commandery Princess, and then for this to happen so suddenly — is it not as good as taking my life?”

Grandmother Hu was also skilled in the art of polite conversation. She sighed and said: “Please do not speak of taking your life — when I heard my granddaughter would be entering a household with an illegitimate child already there before the wedding, I very nearly frightened the soul right out of my own body. Think of it — our good Commandery Princess, born of imperial blood, the kind of match others could only dream of forming — and your household…” She let the words hang and shook her head. “Well, it is done. Young people these days are all very willful. Since your third son cannot give up that bedchamber maid, let him cherish her and make a proper life together. I have not yet offered my congratulations to the Old Lady — before another three to five months pass, another wife and mother will have been added to the family.”

This exchange left both the Geng household ladies red in the face.

The Geng family’s mistress, gathering her courage, spoke up: “Elder Madam — the third young master was young and foolish, and all the fault lies with him. Our household has also discussed the matter thoroughly, and this bedchamber maid cannot be kept. The medicine was administered yesterday, and the child has been aborted. We ask that the Elder Madam and the Princess Consort set aside their anger, and consider whether, out of respect for our longstanding friendship, this arrangement might be reconsidered.”

Grandmother Hu said: “Oh my — four months gone, and the pregnancy aborted. That means the bedchamber maid’s life must also be forfeit? What a terrible sin — how could you bring yourselves to do that? Two lives, after all is said and done.”

The Elder Madam Geng saw there was a crack of softening, and pressed: “Elder Madam — we have truly shown our resolve to act decisively, and we ask that you see our sincerity.”

But Grandmother Hu waved her hand continuously. “Slowly, slowly… I dare not look at this sincerity of yours — two lives, no matter how you look at it, and they are your own family’s bloodline at that. You’ve handled it in this manner — truly this has given me a fright.”

The Elder Madam Geng and the Geng family’s mistress immediately looked at each other in private bewilderment, wondering quietly how this too could be wrong. After a moment’s deliberation, the Elder Madam said: “Elder Madam misunderstands — that bedchamber maid is still alive. She has merely suffered some injury to her constitution, and for now cannot be dealt with, but in two more days we will call in a slave trader to sell her off. If doing this can cause your household to set aside your anger, then everything done for this purpose is worthwhile.”

Grandmother Hu said nothing, and turned her head to look at Yun Pan. “Granddaughter-in-law — look at the household management skills of others, and learn this much: do not always be so generous and forgiving. When the time calls for a hard heart, decisiveness is needed too.”

Yun Pan smiled and gave a slight bow. “Our household has not had such matters that cut so deeply, but grandmother’s instruction is taken to heart.”

The two of them, grandmother and granddaughter-in-law, exchanged their remarks like a well-practiced pair, making it even harder for the Geng household ladies to save face. The Elder Madam Geng, seeing no softening from the other side, could only open up further conditions. “Elder Madam — I understand now that our household was at fault from the start. Only dealing with the bedchamber maid cannot satisfy you. My thought is this: once the Commandery Princess has entered the household, I will quietly divide half of the estates and land in my own hands and give them to the Commandery Princess as her personal property. The other half I will leave for the three granddaughters-in-law to share equally after my passing — and the Commandery Princess will certainly not be shortchanged.”

The Geng family’s mistress added: “And if the Elder Madam worries that the Commandery Princess might find it difficult to live with the elders under one roof, I can also have another household property prepared and freshened up, so that the young couple may live separately — everything shall be arranged to the Commandery Princess’s comfort.”

Grandmother Hu listened, and again smiled at Yun Pan. “What a generous spirit!”

She then turned back to the Elder Madam Geng and said in counsel: “With parents still living, it is simply not the way of things for a married couple not to serve their parents-in-law and to set up their own separate household. If such a thing got out, it would reflect on our Li family as having failed to instruct their daughter properly. Old Lady — I already know the purpose of your visit today. But a child’s marriage is a matter that will shape their entire life — I, as a grandmother, have no right to make decisions on their behalf. My own thinking is: things having reached this point, it is best simply to let it go. There are fine young ladies everywhere under Heaven — our Commandery Princess is not the only one. The Commandery Princess was raised and cherished from infancy, and a girl raised this way will not tolerate even a grain of sand in her eye. In the future, if the young master were perhaps to take a concubine or keep an outside woman — there would inevitably be scenes and upheaval. To spare everyone that future misery, it is better for each of us to preserve our peace here and now: your family’s young master gets what he wished for, and our Commandery Princess suffers no injustice. Is that not perfectly agreeable to everyone?”

Grandmother Hu’s manner of speaking left not a single crude word, yet every sentence landed like a blade in the heart.

Indeed — a young man who kept a bedchamber maid before the wedding could only mean more concubines and kept women later. Already no longer upright, was there hope of him doing upright things in the future? The Commandery Princess’s breaking off the engagement now was saving her own life — sparing her from being slowly suffocated by the Geng household’s treatment. Grandmother Hu had stopped just short of saying outright that they were no fitting match. The Geng household ladies were not fools, of course, and could hear perfectly well what was being said.

Yet the Elder Madam Geng was still not ready to give up, and ventured: “Elder Madam — might you not reconsider? After all, a girl who has been betrothed and then had her engagement broken off — it will be difficult to make a better match in the future…”

But the words had barely left her mouth before she realized she had slapped herself in the face.

The Duchess across from her smiled serenely and said in a gentle voice: “That is not necessarily so. The way things are in this world, betrothals are broken off all the time. The shoe is on one’s own foot — one knows best whether it fits.”

Grandmother Hu lowered her eyelids and added a word of counsel to the Elder Madam Geng: “Children and grandchildren will have their own fortunes. At my age, I no longer concern myself with the children’s affairs. Old Lady, why not follow my example — sit at your leisure and play a few rounds of cards with your maidservants and nannies? Such things as arranging women for one’s grandson — it is truly better left undone. If word were to get out, it does not reflect well on one’s own character either, you understand.”

The Elder Madam Geng was left with her dignity stripped bare by these words. She had been scolded and had no grounds for rebuttal. She stood up, managed a stiff courtesy, and said with a drawn face: “It seems we have made a pointless trip and disturbed the Elder Madam’s peace. I beg your pardon. The hour grows late — with that, we will take our leave.”

Grandmother Hu stretched out her hands on the armrests and rose to see them out. “Do come by and visit when you have leisure — we should not let thirty-odd years of acquaintance go to waste.”

These parting words left the Elder Madam Geng without an inch of ground to stand on. She gave a perfunctory half-bow, and then walked out of Mao Garden at a brisk pace.