Zhù Qingjun received Zhù Ying’s assignment and felt a heaviness in her heart. Her current glory, authority, and standing all derived largely from her military achievements. But now she was hearing that more warfare might be coming — and not limited to Annan — which made it truly difficult to feel happy.

The brutality of war was beyond what most people could imagine. Annan’s “Western Campaign,” even accounting for Chief Pusheng’s ordering of slaves into death formations ahead of the main force, was still — in terms of the harm to ordinary people, the complexity of the situation, and the test it put on human nature — nothing at all compared to war between nation-states. The first difference alone was scale. Once the scale is large enough, every kind of person appears.

Annan’s Western Campaign had remained within limits they could control. At the very least there had been no killing of innocents to exaggerate merit figures, no cannibalism during sieges, none of what came after. If pulled into a larger war, given Annan’s current situation, it would be very difficult to control the broader picture. In other words: no way to restrain others.

Not taking part and merely watching from the sidelines — that was only outrage. Taking part without the power to change anything — that sense of helplessness already made Zhù Qingjun furious just thinking about it.

She said nothing further. She had plenty to deal with in Pu’an Prefecture and the farming settlements. Every day’s work done early, every bit added to the effort, meant a greater margin for maneuvering later. She quickly went back to her room, packed her things, and went to bid farewell to Huajie.

Huajie had her own independent courtyard at the military headquarters, and lived a bit more spaciously than before. Now that Zhang Xiangu was gone, the room’s furnishings had taken on a simpler, more subdued quality. The room was full of voices — Xiao Jiang, Zhou Wei, and others had all come to offer comfort. Of all those here, the one who had been closest to Zhang Xiangu other than Zhù Ying was undoubtedly Huajie.

Sister Du was busy pouring tea for the guests. Huajie said: “I’m fine.”

Seeing that they still wanted to offer more comfort, she quickly shifted to another topic: “Godmother is gone. Little Zhù said that aside from a few everyday items that went in with her, the rest — the decorative pieces, bolts of silk, jewelry, and the like — should be distributed among everyone.”

Xiao Jiang said: “Distributed? You two keep them — as a remembrance. The Madam gave everything of herself her whole life, as if she felt no pain at all. Don’t distribute them. You set aside what she left you. Otherwise who knows when you might think of her — and then would you have to go to someone else’s home just to see something that reminds you of her?

In this matter, just listen to me. Keep the Grand Madam’s rooms just as they are. Keep the furnishings too — and dust them every day. When you miss her, go sit in the room for a while. It gives the heart somewhere to anchor.”

Huajie managed a faint smile: “I’ve already kept some. That room, I’ll look after myself. But certain things — the bolts of silk that came from the capital — if they sit too long, they’ll rot. Take them. Oh — call Qingjun, Danqing, and the others over. I’ll hand things out to everyone myself. Set one share aside for Little Zhe. And every girl who was raised in the Zhù household — there’ll be something for each of them.”

Xiao Jiang relented: “Very well, then.”

Sister Du went out the door and sent several apprentices in different directions to round people up. Zhù Qingjun was intercepted on the road and brought to Huajie’s room. Before long, Lu Danqing, Witch Ren, Jiang Zhen, Jiang Bao, Xiang An, and others had all gathered. Zhù Qingye, Qingxue, and the rest also had their share.

Zhù Qingjun received quite a generous portion. She politely declined most of it and took only a single bracelet: “I’ll just take this one — that’s enough for me.”

Xiao Jiang said: “Take what you’re given and put it away properly.”

Huajie said: “They’ve all got something.”

Although everyone had something, what each person received was different. Huajie had already wrapped each share and labeled it — this one is yours, that one is hers. One small parcel per person, and no one could see what anyone else had received. The younger ones got a little less; Zhù Qingjun’s and Su Zhe’s bundles were larger.

Huajie also gave an extra share of silk to Xiao Jiang. Xiao Jiang said: “Colors this bright — I couldn’t wear them.”

“The New Year is coming. To make a couple of fresh outfits for the children — isn’t that just right? You won’t wear them, but they’re young and vibrant — bright colors suit them beautifully. Who doesn’t love a little beauty? Qingjun too — hurry up and take yours.”

They sorted through everything slowly, one item at a time. The last to be set aside were Su Zhe’s and Qi Niangzi’s shares. Huajie said: “Drop Qi Niangzi’s off when the time comes. As for Little Zhe — wait for her to come back herself.”

Lu Danqing said: “No telling when she’ll be back from this trip.” Su Zhe had been managing the headquarters’ day-to-day affairs for some time now. At the moment Zhù Ying seemed to have withdrawn from managing things, affected by her mother’s death. With Su Zhe also away, the headquarters was even busier than before. Lu Danqing’s role was more military, yet she was now inevitably being pulled into handling some of the administrative work. She desperately hoped Su Zhe would come back soon and take over!

Witch Ren asked curiously: “You didn’t go back with her — won’t you end up taking the blame?”

“I’m not going to watch them bicker. They should be grateful they got away without me. When a family loses a parent, how many of them don’t end up in a quarrel? Some even come to blows! I’m worried they won’t give Little Zhe the respect she’s due, and that’ll set off another whole round of commotion.” The lot of them looked like they didn’t have much sense and probably couldn’t read a room.

Xiang An firmly steered the conversation away from other people’s family troubles and back to the matter at hand: “Her child is back in the home village — better to stay a few more days. A mother and son together properly — I say, she should just bring the child back here with her. Far better.”

Xiao Jiang said: “Her household — they have their own arrangements.”

Zhù Qingjun listened to them talk about Su Zhe for a while, heard nothing of particular interest, stood up, and took her leave. Huajie said: “Be careful on the road — ah, you’re not even bringing two people with you. Times are different now. In and out, keep a few attendants with you, you hear?”

Zhù Qingjun gave a vague sound of acknowledgment and did not refuse outright. Manpower in Annan was not particularly plentiful right now. Those she used to keep close were mostly of military background. Now was the time to learn from Zhù Ying’s example and start keeping some sharp, eager young people around her — let them learn by doing.

Thinking through her next arrangements, Zhù Qingjun did not know that after she left, Huajie was still fretting about her: “That child — so solitary.”

Xiao Jiang said: “She’s had her own mind since she was small. You really don’t need to worry about her — she won’t be lonely.”

Xiang An said: “She’s not young anymore. If she doesn’t have to miss out on life’s important things, it’s better she doesn’t. Little Zhe already has her own child. Marriage or not, it doesn’t matter much — but having your own child saves a lot of regret. And someday…” As she said this, she looked around at the younger girls in the room.

Zhù Qingye said: “If you want a child, you might as well go out and adopt one.”

As soon as she said it, she regretted the words, and the corner of her eye darted quickly toward Xiao Jiang, then she made a deliberate effort to sit up very straight and proper. Xiao Jiang didn’t think much of it. It was Zhou Wei who nodded and said: “That’s not a bad idea. I’ve been thinking about adopting a little girl myself. You can see what kind of child she is before you take her — find one that feels right to you — and spare yourself the trouble of everything that comes before. I never had the time before, but now that things have quieted down, I could manage a child.”

Huajie said disapprovingly: “The moment a child exists, somewhere a mother has suffered for it. The suffering you’ve been spared — someone else bore it for you. Don’t speak of it so lightly.”

Zhou Wei shrank back a little but persisted: “Outside, there are so many who don’t raise them…”

“Even so — ten months of carrying and bearing — how can you blame them? And it may well not be that they chose not to raise the child.” She said softly.

Those words left every woman in the room silent. The reasons for abandoned infants were too many. To abandon rather than drown outright — at the very least, one could say the heart wasn’t fully hardened.

Huajie said: “All right — everyone go on now.”

Looking at the parcel set aside for Su Zhe, Huajie’s mind was on her as well. She wondered how Su Zhe was faring, and felt even more concern for Su Sheng, who had gone back to attend his father’s funeral.

——

Su Sheng was silent the entire way. At a relay station, Su Mingluan called him to her and asked what he planned to do once he was home. He only said: “I’m going back to attend the funeral. The family has the others there — they don’t need me to manage anything. When it’s done, I go back to the Northern Pass.”

Su Mingluan looked at this nephew of hers and found him quite decent. She asked: “I’m asking about the division of the family property.”

Su Sheng didn’t seem to care: “Whatever they give me, I’ll take. Whatever amount, I’ll accept.”

“Is that all?”

“Mm. That’s all. Auntie — I’m not coming back. You know as well as I do what someone like me stands to inherit in a village setting. What’s the point of bringing it up now?”

Su Mingluan said: “What I gave your father was no small amount!”

“People as capable as you, and fathers as fortunate as mine, aren’t exactly common. I can’t compare to him. My elder brother even less so compared to you. Just guard against those several of them coming to blows — you don’t need to worry about me.”

Su Mingluan shook her head. Su Sheng simply wouldn’t engage on the subject. She could only say: “Fine — once we arrive, don’t stray too far from me.”

“Yes.”

Su Mingluan’s plans were much the same as Zhù Ying’s: let Su Zhe handle the mediation, the witnessing, the presiding over affairs. Su Mingluan herself was there mainly to hold things steady, to prevent any actual violence — that would be far too unsightly.

When they reached the great village, the funeral rites were already halfway done. The nephews came to pay respects to their aunt and family head. Su Mingluan said: “I’ll go and see your mother.” And left the rest to Su Zhe.

When the arguing broke out outside, Su Mingluan paid it no mind. She and her sister-in-law sat together, both pretending to hear nothing. She was feigning deafness; her sister-in-law was genuinely deaf though not mute. The two of them sat together, talking of Zhang Xiangu’s death and lamenting how Su Feihu had died too young. The quarreling outside never stopped, until dinnertime when food finally stopped their mouths, and quiet returned.

That evening, Su Zhe came to Su Mingluan’s room with a stern expression: “Mother!”

“Couldn’t hold yourself together?”

Su Zhe shook her head, and her expression eased a little: “They’re just too stupid. What they did — it’s embarrassing.”

“What happened? Did a fight break out?”

“If only. That would have been simpler.”

As it turned out, the brothers who had stayed behind in the home village had banded together and were trying to exclude Su Sheng, using his long absence in Xizhou as grounds to deny him any share of the family property. By custom, inheritance was never equally divided — the eldest son received the largest share and took over the family holdings; other brothers received very little, often only enough to sustain their own households, and within a few generations their descendants could easily find themselves just ordinary members of the village. Even this meager share, they were not willing to give to Su Sheng. Su Sheng himself didn’t care, but Su Zhe could not allow “someone who had come out of our headquarters” to be treated with contempt. Su Sheng wouldn’t fight for it, but Su Zhe still had to oversee the proceedings.

Su Mingluan said: “That’s the right thinking. What do you plan to do?”

“What’s owed must be given — whether Su Sheng wants it or not, he has to take it! Saying he’s never coming back? Ha!” Su Zhe gave a heavy, cold laugh. “Not coming back — just let it sit there and feed the rats before it goes to him.”

Su Mingluan gave a faint nod: “Even so… Sheng — come in.”

Su Sheng came in with his head hanging and said: “Don’t bother on my account. I’m here to see Mother off. When Father is buried, I’ll go back. The Jiyuan gentry are crafty — I’m not easy leaving the Northern Pass unwatched.”

Mother and daughter both tried to persuade him further. Su Sheng shook his head: “Having something in hand — a few rooms, some cattle and sheep — I’d have to keep a part of my mind on it. Better to give everything to the Northern Pass.”

Su Mingluan bowed her head and thought for a moment: “This way then — you can’t take nothing. It goes against the rules. The house you can’t carry away — have them convert it to something portable instead. You’re setting up a home in Xizhou; that takes money.”

Su Sheng agreed with indifference: “Fine.”

In the end it was Su Mingluan mother and daughter who were fighting on Su Sheng’s behalf, while his brothers pressed hard to lowball the valuation of his share. A livable family compound, because it was in the village, was priced at nowhere near enough to buy an equivalent property in Xizhou — that money might buy two rooms at most. The eldest brother wasn’t even the most aggressive; the most relentless was the man who had married the girl that Su Sheng had once been matched with for betrothal discussions. He shouted louder than the eldest, absolutely determined that Su Sheng should never come back.

The sight of it stirred Su Zhe to genuine anger. She said with a cold smile: “Uncle — aren’t you about to go to your father-in-law’s home? For the matters here in the village — let those who are staying to look after things discuss it.”

And that sent this particular cousin packing.

After much back-and-forth, with Su Zhe fighting on Su Sheng’s behalf but Su Sheng himself unwilling to fight, Su Zhe could only pry out a small strongbox of raw gold from his elder brother’s hands for Su Sheng. After that, there was no longer any place for him in that home.

Su Sheng was not angry. He bid farewell to his mother and his aunt and returned to Xizhou City.

Su Mingluan and Su Zhe then went back to Asu County. When Su Zhe had given birth, after consideration she had chosen not to deliver in Xizhou, where conditions were better — she had gone home with the pregnancy and given birth in the village, then rested there in the village compound. Once recovered, she left the child in Su Mingluan’s care and returned to Xizhou alone.

Mother and son did not meet often. The child, seeing her, did not recognize her. He stretched out his small hands toward Su Mingluan and called out: “Grandma.” He looked at Su Zhe with a gaze full of curiosity.

Su Zhe felt a pang in her heart, but quickly put on a smile. Su Mingluan held the child and soothed him slowly. Gradually, the two of them warmed to each other. The little one broke into a happy smile, and Su Zhe found herself smiling along with him without thinking.

Children couldn’t sit still for long. Before much time had passed, he was wriggling to get down. Su Zhe set him on the ground and said to Su Mingluan: “I want to have another one. No — two. Three, even.”

“Are you out of your mind?”

“There aren’t enough. My cousin’s sons quarreled because there wasn’t enough family property. In our family —” Su Zhe watched her son’s unsteady little back as he toddled away and said — “and this one is a son who has a father. Not safe enough.”

“Everyone above and below has watched you give birth to him in the village. He carries the surname Su — he’s one of our people. Who could take him away and change his name?”

Su Zhe said: “It’s still not right. A boy child — in Annan’s headquarters, girls do better. I’ve noticed Grandma seems very fond of Qingjun — she was raised by her auntie, and has no one else to weigh on her, and she has her military achievements. And she carries the Zhù surname…”

Su Mingluan’s brow creased slightly: “Are you saying — this is too difficult! I sent you to Grandma to be raised because it was for our family’s sake — that was the understanding. You’re thinking so far ahead, but what about the family? Without our family’s strength, and without you having battle achievements like Qingjun, you couldn’t hold your position in Annan.”

“What about my children?” Su Zhe asked.

“That’s a matter for the future. First things first — our own village, our own family.”

Su Zhe said: “All right — I won’t worry about that for now. But I can’t not think about the children. One is too thin a thread.”

“Fine,” Su Mingluan agreed without objection. “Are you planning to stay with Chonghua’s boy? Is he really that good?”

“Very well-behaved, sensible,” Su Zhe said honestly. “For a man — not arrogant, not making a nuisance of himself by acting without thinking. And besides — he carries the Zhù surname. Just hearing it feels familiar.”

Su Mingluan smiled: “Do as you like. Stay a few more days, then go back. The headquarters will certainly have a lot going on — don’t let important things slip. When you’re back, look in on Sheng more often. He has no other family close by now.”

“Yes!”

——

Su Zhe stayed at the village compound for a little over half a month. When she left, the child wept until he was like a little person made entirely of tears. Su Zhe steeled herself and still did not take the child along. She covered the child’s eyes with her hand and said to Su Mingluan: “Find a good teacher, and have him properly start his lessons.”

“Do you think I need telling?”

Su Zhe laughed, turned, and walked away without looking back.

She rode hard all the way and arrived at the military headquarters to find Su Sheng still there — Zhù Ying had held him back to rest. Su Zhe felt a measure of relief. She returned to her own document office and picked up the affairs of state again.

As it happened, when she had left, the imperial court had named a Crown Prince. And now that she had returned, another edict had arrived: the Emperor had named a new Empress.

The new Empress was surnamed Mu — a grandniece of Empress Dowager Mu, a generation removed from the Emperor. Su Zhe dug through the corners of her memory and managed to retrieve a faint silhouette: a little girl, very quiet. And then nothing more.

Little girls grow up too…

“If she goes on to bear a son, things will get lively indeed. And even if she can’t — it’s already quite lively enough.” Su Zhe murmured to herself.