Chou Wen’s expression looked as though someone had landed a hard punch directly into his stomach.

Su Deng prodded him. Chou Wen came back to himself, gave Su Deng a nod, and Su Deng returned him a strained smile. Looking to the other side, Zhù Ying and Shanque’s father-in-law remained exactly as before, and Su Mingluan and the other onlookers all wore the warm expression of people who had just witnessed “someone finding a dropped parcel on the road and returning it to its owner.”

The group had again gotten into talk about the Public Compact. Shanque’s father-in-law felt that Zhù Ying was a person of her word and raised no further questions. The Governor’s Residence hosted a banquet, and Zhù Ying was in good spirits with all of them.

Shanque’s father-in-law made his own position clear: “My Lord has indeed proven she is true to her word and returned the sheep — but that fodder was quite expensive. I cannot let My Lord take a loss.”

Zhù Ying said cordially: “His own uncle came to fetch him — this was my congratulatory gift for a family reunion. Bringing money into it would be tasteless. Am I the one short of a little or are you? This is nothing worth mentioning.”

Su Mingluan said: “If you two keep trading courtesies like this, the rest of us are going to doze off.” Quite naturally she turned the conversation, and they moved on to the subject of their cooperation. The present priority was the tribal school; Su Mingluan also said she wanted to go and see the tribal school, among other things.

Outside the Governor’s Residence, a new commotion was springing up. Shitou’s origins had dragged out the case of Huang Shi’er, and Huang Shi’er’s household affairs had grown more and more fantastical in the retelling — at some unknown point, a narrative about “lack of virtue bringing the inability to produce sons” and “rightful punishment through broken family and scattered kin” had been invented. It served as a cautionary tale.

Amidst all the excitement, one day came to an end. Shanque’s father-in-law was quite satisfied. He intended to rest briefly and then return the following day. The night before he departed, he went to his son-in-law’s lodgings to see his grandson one more time.

A’Fa was still small, but perhaps due to the constant group brawls at home, the child looked remarkably unflappable. Shanque’s father-in-law said: “Grandfather is leaving tomorrow — it’ll be another two months before we see each other again.”

A’Fa counted on his fingers and said: “We’ve gone longer without seeing each other before.”

Shanque’s father-in-law choked on his words.

Lang Kunwu laughed and shook his head helplessly: “Go on!” A single syllable sent his son away so he could talk with his father-in-law. He had caught something in the way Shanque’s father-in-law had said “seven years,” and a faint expectation had stirred in him — he also wanted to understand Zhù Ying’s attitude. He was not opposed to what his father-in-law had done; his only concern was whether doing so might have looked improper.

Now that Shanque’s father-in-law had tested Zhù Ying’s attitude, Lang Kunwu was also reassured, and he said to his father-in-law: “Weren’t you a little too presumptuous with Adoptive Father?”

Shanque’s father-in-law curled his lip and asked: “So why didn’t you stop me?”

Lang Kunwu rubbed his nose. Shanque’s father-in-law said: “The Asu family trusts her, and we must follow suit — otherwise they’ll team up against us. But if we just go along with everything she says without question, we might as well have a proper fight with them outright, and only listen to her after we’ve lost. Better that than losing without having even fought.”

Lang Kunwu’s thoughts had been seen through; he rubbed his nose again.

Shanque’s father-in-law said: “Fight a battle, lose — that means I lacked the ability. Give in without a fight — that means I lacked the brains! She’s better than other officials, but other officials — what are they? Better-looking than an ugly wife doesn’t make her a beautiful one. I need to see clearly for myself.”

Lang Kunwu said: “And now — do you see clearly?”

Shanque’s father-in-law said: “I can make out the features.”

Lang Kunwu burst out laughing: “At last not just a shadow.”

Father-in-law and son-in-law both laughed. Shanque’s father-in-law watched his grandson playing in the outer room and sighed: “The Asu family has genuinely improved. That woman — she’s a woman, she could choose to manage nothing at all, yet she dares to try everything. The Asu family was never originally hers, so if she ruins it, she doesn’t feel the loss. We are different — what’s in our hands is our own. There are only so many people in the mountains. Don’t just look at the fact that people come to your side too — the Asu family gains more! She gets a piece of gold, you get a needle. If something is too beneficial to the Asu family’s interests, you must think more carefully!”

Lang Kunwu nodded.

Shanque’s father-in-law continued: “None of you know what happened back in the day. Back then too, many people saw that the soldiers from the lowlands were strong and wealthy, and could not be defeated in battle, and said it would be better to submit to their command. Ha! And what came of it? Better to stay cautious. That stone-built city she’s constructing — all those people there, no one knows what she intends! In any case, we must first guard our own stockades! Don’t let people all run away. And as for building roads — don’t agree too readily either. You were far too eager helping her build that stone city! She said it was for a market — and now look at it! People have started farming there!”

Lang Kunwu said: “Lowlanders all love farmland — that’s their granary and money chest.”

“Wanting a granary is one thing. Wanting our slaves to run away is another — that cannot happen! Have all the people in your stockade given their handprints yet?”

Lang Kunwu said: “The main stockade is done; the small scattered stockades in the mountains are slow.”

“Get it done quickly. She keeps her word — so let us go by the Public Compact. As long as we can avoid turning against each other, let’s avoid it.” Shanque’s father-in-law spoke with sound judgment.

Father-in-law and son-in-law talked for a good while before Shanque’s father-in-law went to rest.

That night, many people were occupied with things of their own.

Shanque’s father-in-law had already lain down, but affairs in the back residence of the Governor’s mansion had not yet concluded.

Zhù Ying was in the front chatting happily with Shanque’s father-in-law and the others, while Zhù Da and the others in the back residence did not know quite what to feel.

Zhang Xiangu said: “Ah — his own uncle came to fetch him. They’re family. Stop calling him an ungrateful wretch all the time! You can’t stop him from going home — be reasonable.”

Zhù Da said furiously: “Am I the one who was blocking him from going home? After raising him all these years, who leaves without a word to anyone?” He slapped his own face. “If I’m ever this good to an ungrateful wretch again, I have no shame!”

Zhang Xiangu said in a low voice: “Keep your voice down! Third Child is still in the front talking with guests — this matter is important to her, don’t go ruining her affairs.”

Zhù Da stopped cursing. He stormed about the room in fury, and in the end, worked up by his anger, he grabbed a small hoe and began hacking at the ground. He had no idea how to hoe properly — soil flew in all directions, and in no time the hoe struck his foot. He hopped back into the room cradling his foot. Zhang Xiangu took his shoe off and scolded: “A perfectly good pair of shoes and you’ve ruined them again! All this dirt!”

“Just brush them off! I don’t need anyone polishing shoes at this hour!”

Zhang Xiangu also said with a touch of pique: “Now that he’s gone, Third Child can worry a little less. He’s going back to his own family — his own kin will dote on him. And I still have my own child to dote on!”

Zhù Da’s temper eased a little: “Right, it’s not worth it!”

Even so, his anger hadn’t entirely dissolved. He ate little at dinner and drank half a pot of wine. Zhù Ying was outside entertaining guests; Zhù Zhe was also outside accompanying Su Mingluan and the others; even Huajie was outside at the banquet. The household was rather sparse for dinner that night. The old couple ate alone in their own room.

In the kitchen, the female servants had gathered around a table.

Jiang Shi picked up her chopsticks, then said: “Oh, I nearly forgot — what about Chuizi’s dinner today?”

Du Dajie said: “I had Qiao’er save him a meal — he’s not leaving, is he?”

Jiang Shi said: “The order was only to pack Shitou’s things, not his. Ah — where’s the food? Let me bring it to him — he’s been a sensible child.”

Lin Guafu brought over a basin of rice and said: “Do you think Shitou will ever come back?”

Qiao’er walked over with a dish in each hand — one plate of yellow egg scramble and one of vegetable — and set them both on the table: “You still hope he’d come back? Of all of them, he ate the most. With him gone, when I’m tossing food in the wok I feel like I could do it with two less liangs of arm, my wrist doesn’t ache anymore.”

Lin Guafu scolded playfully: “Such a sharp mouth on a young girl — be careful, when your dowry is all saved up you won’t find a family to marry into.”

Qiao’er brought out a food box and said: “As long as there’s a dowry, who can’t be married off? As long as I’ve had eyes on this yamen — going all the way back to when it was still a prefectural office — the women dragged to court for trouble: good-natured women were either dead, half-dead, or vanished without a trace; the sharp-tongued and loud ones all got away and did just fine. A woman who makes people afraid of her is no bad thing — she won’t be mistreated wherever she goes.”

Lin Guafu pointed at her, wagging her finger repeatedly, and they all laughed. Qiao’er finished packing the food box; Jiang Shi took it, and Du Dajie scooped some extra dishes into her bowl as the others’ chopsticks flew.

Jiang Shi came back quickly, sat down at the table, and sighed. Qiao’er asked: “What’s wrong?”

“Chuizi is a bit pitiful — I looked at that room and half the things are gone. It looks so empty.”

Qiao’er said: “He has three rooms all to himself now — how nice! He never has to worry about that treasure again!”

Jiang Shi said: “The Old Master and Old Mistress are heartbroken. And Shitou too — raised for so many years, it would be no different if he’d been born to them. Left without kowtowing once, just rode off on a big mule like he’d won some great victory. All those years of benefiting from this household — does he think we were rebels and traitors?”

Qiao’er said: “Give a man a cup and he’ll be grateful; give him a barrel and he’ll be resentful. Do you think everyone is like us? The master is generous and kind, so we know to repay the kindness and serve with all our heart. He, on the other hand, thought the master was soft and could be squeezed for more benefits. Served him right.”

Lin Guafu said: “There’s that mouth of yours again — how can you know it went that way?”

Qiao’er chose to swallow the next sentence she’d been about to say — hadn’t the hard lives those women had lived before My Lord took them in come from exactly that? Give someone a slap and they’d think you were greeting them a little too hard, and give them an even louder slap the next time around.

Du Dajie, being with her female companions, spoke a bit more than usual: “The master’s affairs are not for us to discuss.”

Zhao Shi also said, rarely: “That’s right — everyone’s hearts are heavy.”

Du Dajie said: “Let’s eat quickly and see what needs attending to. My Lord and Mistress will be back soon — have the hot water ready.”

The household rule was that no one was to be pressed to serve at mealtimes. If there were no outside guests, the female servants were also not required to stand in attendance — they could eat at a relatively comfortable pace, and had grown accustomed to chatting a little over meals to relieve the weariness of labor.

Tonight was unusual — they all ate faster. When they were done, Jiang Shi went to collect the food box. Going to the front wing room, she found Chuizi’s meal only half eaten. He was never a child who wasted food, so Jiang Shi said: “Not to your taste?”

“No, that’s not it.” Chuizi’s bowl might as well have weighed a thousand jin — he had no heart to eat.

Jiang Shi didn’t know how to comfort him, so she said: “If you eat enough, you’ll have the strength to deal with things — won’t you?”

Chuizi shoveled in the rice determinedly, but ate no faster than before. Jiang Shi sighed: “If you can’t eat any more, stop. I’ll take this away and keep it warm by the stove. Come and eat if you’re hungry before the gate is locked.”

Jiang Shi collected the food box and left. Chuizi sat in his room in a daze, gripped by a fear. He kept thinking of what Xiao Wu had said to him: “Heard from Doctor Chou that Dun County’s county magistrate even asked about you! You two weren’t in on it together, were you? Tsk — quite the scheming pair for such a young age.”

Uncle Wu was a slippery, cunning man, but well-informed — if he said there was something to it, there likely was. Chuizi could not even explain clearly to Xiao Wu that Shitou’s outburst that day had not been instigated by him. Everyone knew Shitou was blunt and guileless, and in daily life it was Chuizi who handled most things. But truly — it had not been him! He was no fool!

Shitou had an uncle who had come looking; Chuizi had no one. His early memories were already rather hazy, but he remembered his mother saying before she died: “The mountains are no good, and the lowlands are no good — what will you do?” The lowlands meant the Huang family. As for the mountains — those couldn’t have been any better either. And so wherever he was, he tried hard to be sensible, preferring to exhaust himself rather than go back. In the past two years he had seen enough of things in the mountains to know they compared unfavorably. It was not merely food and clothing and shelter — just recently something had occurred: the mountain people had only just barely stopped using people for sacrifice. He felt that Doctor Chou was right about this — if Chou’s own family members had been taken for sacrifice to heaven, then people like Chuizi wouldn’t even rate as a proper dish at the gods’ table, merely a pickled radish on the side. For that reason alone, he believed that Doctor Chou’s every mention of My Lord with a reverent expression was sincere, not feigned.

The Dun County magistrate had chatted with him two sentences, asked about his past, and he had said he didn’t remember. And then nothing further had come of it.

Chuizi was deeply regretful. Through all of it, no matter what Shitou was like, they had not separated. So why had he — just because Shitou was going to the tribal school and his lessons no longer needed looking after — gone off on his own to study and not kept watching Shitou long enough to prevent him from saying those words?

That same evening he had sought out My Lord and said he did not want to go back to the mountains; that he had not incited Shitou; and that if Shitou had been that obedient, he would have gotten Shitou’s lessons in order long ago. My Lord had only said: “Understood.”

Classes had been cancelled due to affairs in the prefecture, and Zhù Zhe had not come to study either. Chuizi’s heart these past days was like something being fried in hot oil. He frequently dreamed of dark rooms and being starved. Chuizi knew what “guilt by association” was! And the Shitou sharing his room still wore that sulky face of his, as though someone had borrowed a cup of his rice and returned it as chaff.

Old Master’s words — “ungrateful wretch” — drifted in his ears. Chuizi speculated about his own fate. In this matter, he truly had no control. If he were to be sent back to the mountain stockade — could he even escape? Chuizi calculated his own savings. There wasn’t much — and he didn’t even know what…

Finally, the banquet in the front ended. Chuizi heard voices and the sound of movement, and Hou Wu’s call: “My Lord has returned!”

Chuizi came out of his room, pressing himself against the courtyard gate. He didn’t know what he was waiting for.

The footsteps outside seemed to be coming toward him. Chuizi pressed his ear more tightly against the gate to hear more clearly. Suddenly the footsteps seemed to stop just outside his door. Before he could react, the door was pushed inward! Chuizi gave a start and jumped back — stumbled — was caught by a large hand!

Chuizi’s cry of alarm lodged in his throat. Hou Wu said: “What a careless child — come with me to the study.” He let go of him.

Chuizi made a determined effort to calm himself and asked: “Is — is there something the matter?”

Hou Wu said: “My Lord has words to say.”

Chuizi grew even more tense. Hou Wu raised a lantern and looked at him, saying: “What’s that face? Missing Shitou?”

Chuizi shook his head. Hou Wu sighed: “Come along.”

The front hall was brightly lit. Chuizi arrived and saw that on the left and right sat the Old Master and Old Mistress, and Zhū Dajie. Zhù Zhe, with a maidservant he didn’t recognize, stood to the left in the middle of the hall, with Du Dajie and the other female servants behind her. To the right stood Ding Gui and the other male servants. Chuizi reflexively placed himself at the end of the male servants’ line.

Zhù Ying beckoned him to move forward. Chuizi, head bowed, didn’t see it, and was dragged forward again by Hou Wu.

Zhù Ying said: “The household has not been itself these past few days.”

Zhù Da couldn’t help himself: “It’s that ungrateful little — “

“I am speaking about this household. He is no longer of this household.” Zhù Ying’s tone remained utterly calm, not a trace of anger, and it sent a chill through those who heard it.

Zhù Da held his tongue.

Zhù Ying continued: “This household — it is time for it to have some proper rules.”

That single sentence made everyone even more uneasy. The old couple were fine — they had no fear of “rules.” Zhù Zhe felt she had not managed her maidservant well and flushed slightly. Huajie worried about Zhù Ying. Zhù Ying was not someone who much liked “rules” — outwardly gentle, but inwardly defying convention at every turn. Hearing Zhù Ying use the word “rules,” Huajie was very worried that Zhù Ying had been too deeply wounded by the Shitou affair. She herself was already very upset. She could not imagine what it would feel like for Zhù Ying, who was always so busy — who had planned so much and arranged so carefully for Shitou — only to have it come to this end.

The attendants and servants were cursing Shitou’s ancestors eight hundred generations back: You brought about the disease, and we have to take the medicine? In ordinary times we’ve been living so well here! My Lord, I would never be an ungrateful wretch! My Lord, see my loyalty!

Zhang Xiangu said: “You — you say it.”

Zhù Ying said: “Let us first recognize who everyone is and establish our standing.”

Zhù Da liked the sound of this: “Yes!”

Zhù Ying glanced at him, and he fell quiet again.

Zhù Ying pointed to her parents and Huajie and said: “The heads of this household are three people. Elder Sister is not on the household register, but she is my elder sister — she is family. Addresses must be made clearly.”

“Yes.” Ding Gui spoke first; the others quickly followed.

Zhù Ying then pointed to Zhù Zhe: “Little sister, though of a different surname, is a relative of this household.”

Zhù Zhe immediately said: “Though I have a different surname, Grandfather is my A’Ma’s adoptive father — while I am here, I listen to Grandfather.”

Zhù Ying gave a nod: “Good.”

She said nothing about Chuizi, and no one else dared mention it — all wondering what was to come. Huajie said: “And now?”

Zhù Ying said: “Each in their proper post. Let us first assign responsibilities. The affairs of the front — Hou Wu, you keep a close eye on things. The back of the house — Du Dajie, you look after things. The two of you are the male and female stewards, respectively. The accounts of the front and back — you will each assist in managing them, reporting together to the Old Mistress and Elder Sister for review. In future, if any new people come to the household, you will explain the rules to them.”

Hou Wu had long planned to end his days in the Zhù household. Aside from his own mouth not doing him any favors, he had always been reliable in his work. Ding Gui and the others could not strictly be called Zhù Ying’s personal servants — they were primarily filling a clerical role and were not well-suited to meddling in household affairs. Du Dajie had been with the Zhù household the longest — seniority was hers — and she had signed a contract of sale, having worked alongside Huajie for many years. So she was made keeper of the inner residence.

Both immediately acknowledged the charge.

Then came the specific rules. Zhù Ying laid out a number in succession — the broad strokes of any large household were more or less the same.

“First: strict curfew.”

Essentially the first rule of any establishment was the curfew and prohibition against wandering about the residence. The Zhù household already had this rule. Back in the capital, no outsiders had been allowed in, either — the male servant Cao Chang and Hou Wu had been at the front courtyard, and Huajie had personally checked the locks every day.

Zhù Ying repeated this rule, but with an added line: “Anyone not of this household is not to be admitted. Those who have left — however familiar they were before — are not to be admitted. Let half a toe step across the threshold and the person who opened the door leaves along with them. I will prosecute them for colluding with dangerous elements.”

The second rule: no treachery, no prying into the household’s affairs, no revealing so much as a single word spoken within these walls — and among themselves, no asking about matters outside one’s own responsibilities. Papers from the study, unless she ordered them sent out, were not to leave the premises — not a single sheet.

The third rule: no gossip, no speaking out of turn in inappropriate situations, no disparaging guests and such like.

What occasion this rule was directed at was perfectly clear to everyone, and they renewed their internal cursing of Shitou. Only Hou Wu felt a pang — it was true that he would sometimes inadvertently slight guests, and he had spoken ill of the master behind her back…

The fourth rule: whatever duties had been assigned were to be fulfilled completely; no slacking off and no passing work to others.

The fifth rule: no smuggling contraband and no stealing — which included embezzlement, unauthorized use of household property, falsifying accounts in collusion with outsiders, and the like.

The sixth rule: no bullying by means of one’s position. This included but was not limited to accepting bribes while posing as servants of the Governor’s Residence, interfering in yamen affairs, exploiting the master’s power for personal intimidation, forcibly seizing others’ property, coercive buying or selling, and harassment of men or women. She did not arrange marriages for her servants, and she did not permit the harassment of women.

The seventh rule…

The eighth rule…

The ninth rule…

Once the articles were laid out came the penalties and rewards. Rules without penalties and rewards were just scraps of paper — anyone could disregard them. Generally speaking, rewards were rather material in nature — money, goods, or days off. Punishments were simpler: docking wages, corporal punishment. For graver offenses, dismissal.

Zhù Ying formalized the “household rules” and then said: “Wu, Qi, Xiang, and Hu are guests here, so they need not do household chores. You are all to treat them courteously. Hou Wu and Du Dajie, inform each of them shortly.” She then pointed to the four from Ding Gui’s group, saying they were currently doubling as household attendants and needed to abide by these rules as well.

Zhù Zhe said: “I will follow Grandfather’s example — in my quarters, I follow Grandfather’s rules.” Though she thought Grandfather’s measures weren’t quite stern enough, they did seem thorough on the whole.

Zhù Ying gave a nod.

She had arrangements for her parents too, which she would speak of privately with them later.

Finally, her gaze fell on Chuizi.

Chuizi felt he could barely breathe.

Zhù Ying said: “Back when you and Shitou had nowhere to go, I took you in. Now I ask you one final time: do you stay or do you go? If you stay — keep my rules, continue as my student. If you go — I will treat you as I treated Shitou: give you a status and send you off properly.”

Chuizi said: “I am not leaving!”

Zhù Ying said: “Listen well. Everyone else is now an outsider to this household — including Shitou. Can you do that?”

Chuizi hesitated for a moment, then nodded firmly.

Only then did Zhù Ying say to everyone: “Zhù Lian is my student.”

Then she said: “Everyone has been tired these past days. Rest early.”

Throughout it all, Zhù Ying’s tone remained even and unhurried, not the slightest sign of anger, not even the faintest trace of annoyance — and those who heard it felt a chill in their hearts.

Only then did everyone slowly disperse.

Hou Wu scooped up Zhù Lian once more and sent him back to the wing room. Once there he said: “What remarkable luck you have! There will likely never again be a chance for someone of servant origins to be raised as a student by My Lord.” He glanced around the wing room and said quietly: “Your first birth didn’t go well. Don’t squander the second chance Heaven has given you. Our Lord — what a rare person she is. Those who left will come to regret it.”

Zhù Lian nodded with a touch of exhaustion: “I know, Uncle Hou.”

Hou Wu said: “Get some rest.”

Zhù Lian said: “Yes.”

Hou Wu pulled the door shut behind him. In Zhù Lian’s heart it was as though a great burst of fireworks had gone off — both light and full of relief. He buried his face in his palms and laughed to himself twice, then lifted his face, intending to compose himself — and realized his palms were wet with sweat. He went to wash his hands, then discovered there was no water. He had to run out to fetch some.

On the other side of the courtyard, Hou Wu went to notify Wu and Qi, and had barely come out of the small courtyard before he spotted Xiao Wu and Ding Gui walking arm in arm, with Xiao Wu asking Ding Gui what had happened. Hou Wu called to Xiao Wu: “Always so clever, you — stop pulling him! Come here, I have words for you.”

Look at Qi Tai — no matter how much commotion surrounded him, he never even glanced in this direction. No wonder he couldn’t make it in the capital.

Hou Wu finished with Xiao Wu, who said: “Truly wasn’t Chuizi who put him up to it? Shitou was like a simpleton…”

Hou Wu said: “So many unnecessary worries — does My Lord understand less than you?”

Xiao Wu made a face at Hou Wu, who raised his hand as if to box his ears: “How old are you?” The two of them, bickering and jostling, went off to Qi Tai’s quarters.

Meanwhile, Du Dajie had relayed the matter to Xiang and Hu as well. Both said they understood, offered no comment, and inwardly were in complete agreement.

Du Dajie and Hou Wu then went about their tasks, making the rounds of the residence and setting the gate watchmen for the night before returning to their rooms.

Hou Wu did not go to sleep right away. He first went to look in on the male servants — and, as expected, found them gathered with Xiao Wu talking. Hou Wu scattered them with a scolding: “Said no gossiping and here you all are conspiring together?”

Xiao Wu laughed: “Old Hou, you’ve developed quite the official manner.”

“You’re a proper official yourself — talk like that and I’d definitely have a proper word with you, if you weren’t a guest.” Hou Wu and Xiao Wu were old acquaintances, and he spoke a little less ceremoniously to him. He dragged Xiao Wu aside and said in a low voice: “My Lord just said no gossiping — rein in that cleverness of yours.”

“Who do you take me for? I was telling them about things My Lord did back in the day, getting them all to behave.”

“You’ve told that story eight hundred times already and still haven’t finished?”

The two drifted away, their voices fading.

Du Dajie also did not go to sleep right away, because Huajie had not yet come back to her room.

Huajie, Zhù Da, and Zhang Xiangu all worried about Zhù Ying. They went to Zhù Ying’s room. Zhù Ying had changed her clothes and was looking at a sheet of paper. Seeing them enter, she said: “Something the matter?”

The three of them looked left and right, finding her looking nothing at all like a person whose household had just lost an ungrateful wretch. Zhang Xiangu said: “Third Child — if you’re upset, you can let it out.”

“What? Upset about what?”

“Shi — Shi — Shitou…”

Zhù Ying gave a light laugh: “Just for that? Have we nothing better to do?”

Huajie said: “You…”

Zhù Ying said: “As it happens, now that you’re here, I have something to say to you.”

She asked the three to sit. First she spoke to Zhù Da and Zhang Xiangu: “Behind closed doors — let me speak about our own family’s affairs. It was I who placed Shitou with Father and Mother — that was handled poorly on my part. From now on, anyone who comes to this household — what kind of person they are, what their standing is — I will say it clearly beforehand. Lang Kunwu’s A’Fa is going to be staying with us in a few days…”

Zhù Da cut in: “He absolutely will NOT be raised like Shitou!”

“He is also my student. See him first, and see the servants he’s brought. He is only five years old, with a nursemaid looking after him, and two young male attendants who are also small. He can barely string a sentence together yet and is still learning to speak. I’ve arranged for Chou Wen to come every day for a while to teach him language. As for the household, everyone just needs to talk to him a bit now and then — that’s all.”

Zhang Xiangu looked a little anxious: “But we can’t quite speak his language!”

The old couple was slow to pick up languages. Their local dialect still leaned toward the Fulu County accent, and they had not really learned any of the tribal languages. Because they had come to know the Asu family early, and because Chuizi and Shitou were from the Liji people, they had more contact with those two groups and understood a little of their everyday speech.

Zhù Ying said: “It’s fine — he doesn’t speak our language well either. He’s still small. Just keep it simple.”

“Oh, alright.”

She spoke a little more about household matters. Zhang Xiangu said: “You really are alright?”

Zhù Ying said: “What’s gotten into everyone today? How many things have I been through?”

“Those were all outside the household.”

“It’s all the same,” Zhù Ying said. “Everyone has been through a lot today. Get some rest.”

Huajie in the end couldn’t help herself and came back. Before she could speak, Zhù Ying said: “There’s a puddle in the road — you step in it, it splashes a little mud on your shoe. I’m not the type to plop down in the puddle, abandon everything, and wail and curse. Shake off the dirt, wipe down the shoe, carry on. I’ll keep going to somewhere good, eating what I should eat, playing what I should play.”

Huajie burst out laughing: “That’s so like you.”

“Speaking of which — in a few days when everyone’s gone, come with me somewhere?”

“Where?”

“The foundling home.”

“You’re thinking of…?”

Zhù Ying pointed to the paper she had just been reading. Huajie picked it up — it was the account she herself had compiled earlier, the one tallying Shitou’s expenses. A copy had been burned in the hall; this was a second copy in Zhù Ying’s own handwriting, with every figure exactly matching.

Zhù Ying then pointed to another sheet of paper. Huajie picked it up and said: “What is this?”

“The foundling home’s accounts.”

The capital had foundling homes, and of course Wuzhou City had one too — though it was a more modest affair, since Wuzhou was poor and had a smaller population than the capital. Places like this were customarily overseen by the government, with an official budget, supplemented if charitable contributions came in. Though many people preferred to donate to temples for the accumulation of merit.

Huajie’s face flashed with a look of reluctance. The foundling home spent less than two guan per child per month — and that figure included the wages of the women who cared for them.

Zhù Ying said: “I can’t raise children. I need to try a different approach.”

“How?”

“The way I’ve done it before — raising a child the way I raised Shitou is too costly. The new approach I have in mind is actually something I’ve done before.” Zhù Ying decided to change her method. She was no nursemaid — no need to test herself on that. Either way she was spending money; she would cast a wider net, make a selection, put things through a sieve, and find the seeds of talent.

Like the literacy stelae — those who could sing, and who could work out how to recognize characters from the songs — those were the ones who could push through the crack in the wall, the ones who had a chance to emerge. Perhaps in ten years, one person would have learned to read this way. And with further effort, that person might stand out in some respect. Perhaps.

It would simply require a great deal of time. People needed time to grow up.

Huajie said: “What can I do?”

Zhù Ying said: “Let’s go take a look first.”

“Alright.”

“No more worrying?” Zhù Ying teased her. Huajie wrinkled her nose at her and turned and walked away.

Zhù Ying could not go to the foundling home the next day — she still had to see Shanque’s father-in-law off.

Shanque’s father-in-law was quite satisfied this time and did not presume too much; his manner was very friendly, and both host and guest put the matter of Shitou entirely behind them.

Lin Feng, Shanque’s father-in-law’s son, had also been brought out from the tribal school. This boy seemed to have settled in well at the school. The student dormitory was not as comfortable as home — no personal servants, though the school had orderlies for sweeping and the like. Lin Feng found it quite fresh and novel, and had just made new friends he was excited about. He told his father: “Father, the school is great — and the doctor-teacher is someone I know!”

What he didn’t say was that he had already made an appointment with the Asu family’s people for a bout — he’d go back and start the moment he returned.

Shanque’s father-in-law left in good spirits.

Then Xi Jin and the others departed in turn, with Lang Kunwu last. He had come to see his son settled, a plan that had been paused due to the awkwardness; now that his father-in-law had also gone, he brought his son to the Governor’s Residence and personally entrusted him.

Zhù Ying asked with a smile: “The child’s mother didn’t come to see him off herself — can she bear it?”

Lang Kunwu rubbed the back of his neck: “The moment it’s mentioned she cries — better she not see him off, so I came alone.”

“School lets out for the New Year holiday and he will be sent home. I’ll have Chou Wen come every day to teach him reading and writing — once his language is fluent, formal lessons will begin.”

Lang Kunwu said: “Him?”

Zhù Ying said: “Have him come to the residence to teach.”

“Alright.” Lang Kunwu said, “One more thing.”

“What is it?”

Lang Kunwu said: “A’Fa doesn’t yet have a properly written name. I’d ask Adoptive Father to give him one.”

Lang Kunwu was very satisfied with his own name and so entrusted his son’s name to Zhù Ying as well. Zhù Ying said: “A’Fa… Hmm. Let him be called Lang Rui.”

Lang Kunwu said: “Perfect! That is the name!” He then called his son forward and had him bow respectfully to Zhù Ying.

Zhù Ying said: “Come here!”

Lang Rui’s clothing had been altered in style — still modeled on lowland children’s dress, but with the mountain people’s characteristic motifs in the embroidery and details. For such a small child, his bow was quite presentable, clearly someone had practiced with him beforehand. Zhù Ying said: “Very good. I’ll take you to see your room in a moment.”

She placed Lang Rui in the back residence, in a small courtyard adjacent to Zhù Zhe’s — the two of them became neighbors. Lang Kunwu said: “They’re living so close together — is that…”

Zhù Ying said: “They will have to deal with each other sooner or later.”

Lang Kunwu thought for a moment, nodded, and then had people bring in his son’s luggage. Lang Rui was prepared to stay for a full month, and yet nothing had been left behind — bedding, furnishings, even a small bow and arrows, everything present. Though Lang Rui’s mother had not come in person, she had arranged a nursemaid, two young male attendants, and one adult male servant for her son. Each of them carried their own bundle.

Zhù Ying said: “The child and the nursemaid may reside in the back residence.” The adult male servant was installed in the front alongside Xiao Liu and the others. That male servant and Su Mingluan’s male servant came face to face — and exchanged a loaded glance, both looking rather as though they also had an interest in some physical exchange.

Zhù Ying said with a smile: “There is plenty of room — you are welcome to spar openly, but no private brawling.”

Once Lang Rui was settled, Lang Kunwu took his leave. Zhù Ying went first to check on Lang Rui’s quarters and saw personally that the nursemaid had him all arranged. While the nursemaid was making the bed, Zhù Ying talked with Lang Rui. In a short while she gathered that the boy had already picked up some of the language, though he had learned almost no written characters. Lang Rui was not particularly exceptional in intellect, but he was a growing child with a reasonably quick mind.

Having gauged the measure of him, Zhù Ying gave orders: this child too was family, and the entire household was to treat him courteously. If Su and Lang came into conflict, she was to be informed.

With Lang Rui settled, Su Mingluan and her group departed.

After the five county magistrates and others had left in succession, Zhù Ying finally had some free time. She invited Huajie to accompany her to the foundling home.