Xiang Lan, being a considerate person, felt it wouldn’t be proper to dine at the same table with her superiors. She planned to find an excuse to leave after seeing everyone seated. When everyone had taken their seats and several servants and young maids brought hot water for washing hands, she stepped forward to take Young Master Hui’s hand, saying, “I’ll take the young master to his wet nurse for his meal.” She started to leave.
Lin Dong Qi, being quick-witted, understood Xiang Lan’s intention and quickly rose to grab her arm, saying with a smile, “Just sit down and eat with us. The maids can take Young Master Hui.”
Xiang Lan hesitated, “This…”
Lin Dong Wan also stood up, simultaneously sending the old mama to take Young Master Hui away, and said with a smile, “Yes, yes, come sit quickly. We’re all family here, no need to be so formal.” Together with Lin Dong Qi, they pulled Xiang Lan back to her seat.
Lin Dong Qi teased, “You eat at the same table as Big Brother every day, your standards must be high now. Don’t tell me you look down on us sisters?”
Xiang Lan, knowing Lin Dong Qi was helping her save face, felt warmth in her heart and smiled, “How could that be possible?”
Lin Dong Wan personally poured Xiang Lan a cup of fruit drink, pushed it in front of her, and said with a smile, “Have a drink first to whet your appetite.” She then arranged for young maids to bring hot water for Xiang Lan to wash her hands. Ling Qing stepped forward to remove Xiang Lan’s bracelets, holding them with a handkerchief and helped her put them back on after she washed her hands. Lin Dong Wan repeatedly praised Xiang Lan’s bracelets: “The jade quality is excellent, and the patterns on the gold bracelet are beautiful. Where were they made? Was it Wan Bao Lou or Cui Zhu Zhai? I should have a pair made in the same style someday.”
Madam Tan sat to the side, wearing a smile, slowly wiping her hands clean while secretly feeling surprised. When she first married into the Lin family, she naturally tried her best to please everyone. With no elders present, the Lin sisters, Dong Wan, and Dong Qi, were the ones she worked hardest to befriend. The former had married into the Lu family, and though the Lu family’s influence was declining, they still maintained their dignity as an established family. Moreover, Lin Dong Wan was Lin Jin Xuan’s biological daughter, and whenever she returned to visit Madam Yin, Lin Jin Xuan treated her with great affection. The latter, being the legitimate daughter of a noble family, had married the promising second son of the Marquis of Zhenguo, and had an excellent reputation among the noble ladies in the capital. With such a noble birth, beautiful appearance, widespread virtue, and a prestigious marriage, she was exactly the kind of person Madam Tan aspired to be. Due to her admiration, she was very eager to befriend Lin Dong Qi.
However, the two sisters maintained a lukewarm attitude toward her. Madam Tan had assumed it was because she was new and they weren’t yet familiar with each other. Yet surprisingly, today on Lin Dong Wan’s first meeting with Xiang Lan, she showed such enthusiasm and warmth, her words filled with eagerness to please.
After everyone washed their hands, three or four maids brought in large lacquered boxes. Xiao Juan and Xue Ning transferred the dishes from the boxes to the table, which soon displayed an array of plates, mostly light and vegetarian dishes.
The meal proceeded in silence, with only the sound of chopsticks and bowls clinking.
After the meal, maids and servants cleared the table and served fragrant tea for rinsing mouths. Everyone moved to the eastern room, where maids set out snacks and fruits. They chatted casually, mostly about trivial matters, with Lin Dong Wan’s clever tongue accounting for seventy percent of the conversation: which family’s garden was well-built, which opera troupe performed well, which couple wasn’t getting along, who had recently taken a concubine, which second and third wives were quarreling. Though these trivial matters were originally uninteresting, she told them vividly and dramatically.
As Xiang Lan listened to Lin Dong Wan’s stories, she occasionally recognized familiar family names, but after more than ten years, there was a strong sense of how things had changed. Watching Lin Dong Wan speak with such animation, Xiang Lan thought that if she had a storyteller’s wooden block to strike against the table with a “bang bang,” she would make a proper female storyteller.
While the room was filled with lively conversation, Lin Jin Lou walked in from outside, only to find it quiet. The masters were chatting among themselves, while the maids had dispersed – some went to eat, some to take afternoon naps, some to chat and joke in the curtained rooms. Only Hua Shan remained, sitting on a small stool by the door, doing needlework.
Seeing no one in the room, Lin Jin Lou turned to leave. Hearing laughter from the eastern room, he walked over. He had been drinking earlier and had gotten a stain on his clothes, so he’d come back to change. He had intended to call for Xiang Lan, but hearing the laughter at the door, he changed his mind, thinking that Xiang Lan was usually lonely and that it was good for her to have people of similar age to talk with. If he went in, the others would inevitably feel uncomfortable and lose their cheerfulness. When Hua Shan saw Lin Jin Lou approach, she hurriedly stood up and was about to lift the curtain, but seeing Lin Jin Lou wave his hand, she obediently closed her mouth and stood aside.
Lin Jin Lou listened carefully to what was happening inside.
At the moment, Lin Dong Wan was telling a story about the Dai family. The Dai family’s ancestors had once served as second-rank officials in the court, and several generations had produced talented individuals. However, they were implicated in the Crown Prince’s affair, which damaged their fortunes, and they lay low for over ten years. It wasn’t until three years ago that the Emperor finally showed them favor again, promoting Master Dai Qing to the Hanlin Academy, where he was highly valued by Cabinet Elder Zhao Jin. As the saying goes, “promotion, wealth, and wife’s death come together” – just as Dai Qing’s fortunes turned, his original wife died. After a year, he married a new wife, and the family began to flourish again.
Xiang Lan took a sip of tea and glanced up briefly to see Lin Dong Qi listening intently as Lin Dong Wan continued: “…but that pregnancy happened during the mourning period for the Dai family’s mistress. It was already five months along, conceived with a maid that Third Master Dai had taken right under Third Madam Dai’s nose. The maid was clever too, first making excuses to hide at home for several months. Her belly was much bigger than others, likely carrying twins. When it became too obvious to hide, the maid’s mother brought her back to the Dai family. Third Madam Dai wanted to give her a bowl of abortion medicine, but who knew the maid would rely on her status as the Old Madam’s favored maid and go to the Old Madam for protection while pregnant. You all know Third Madam Dai’s temperament – she nearly burst with anger, lifted her skirts, and chased the maid to the Old Madam’s rooms. Right in front of the Old Madam, she scratched that maid’s face all over. Oh my! There was even talk of gouging out her eyes, tsk tsk tsk, it gives one goosebumps!”
Lin Dong Qi was startled and rubbed her arms, saying, “Elder Sister, please stop, it’s frightening. What happened afterward?”
“What happened? What else could happen? The Dai family’s Old Madam fainted on the spot, and the maid was so frightened she fell and miscarried. Master Dai said he would severely punish his third daughter-in-law, but Third Madam Dai showed her cleverness there. Knowing her father-in-law had recently married again and was still in the honeymoon phase, she turned around and curried favor with her new mother-in-law. Once that pillow talk took effect, the matter was handled lightly, and within days she was back to her domineering ways. Now all the maids in the Dai household have been thoroughly subdued by her.”
Lin Dong Wan paused to take a sip of tea to moisten her throat, then continued, “That maid was sent to the countryside. I heard she was originally a perfectly pretty girl, but now her face is ruined. Who knows what will become of her? Third Master Dai just sent forty taels of silver and never concerned himself with her again.”
Madam Tan snorted, “Amitabha Buddha, she deserved it! That maid brought this karma upon herself. The Dai family wasn’t in the right either – how could they take a maid during the mourning period for their mother? It’s a complete disgrace to the Dai family’s reputation. Even if Third Madam Dai went too far, it was the Dai family’s indulgence that allowed it. How could a maid, even one serving the Old Madam, freely climb into her master’s bed and steal another woman’s husband?”
Lin Jin Lou found these womanly matters extremely tedious and was about to leave, but then he heard Xiang Lan say, “Third Master Dai is no good person. That girl was just a servant maid – what could she do when her master forced himself on her? Poor girl, her life is ruined and she lost two children, while that man continues to live freely and happily.”
Hearing these words, Lin Jin Lou put down the foot he had raised to leave.
Madam Tan coldly smiled, “As they say, ‘Flies don’t land on eggs without cracks.’ It takes two hands to clap in this world. If that maid hadn’t been willing, how could Third Master Dai have succeeded? Besides, she was the Old Madam’s maid, enjoying more favor than other maids – could Third Master Dai have possibly forced himself on her? I heard that Third Master Dai is as handsome as Pan An, quite the romantic figure. With such status and looks, he must have stirred that maid’s impure thoughts.”
Xiang Lan also smiled coldly, “By that logic, should all men of status and good looks expect maids to actively climb into their masters’ beds?”
Madam Tan raised her voice, “If that maid was truly forced if she was so virtuous and resistant, she should have simply slit her throat! If she got pregnant, she should have taken medicine to end it immediately. Why secretly hide away, only to return with a swollen belly to disgust everyone? Such a cowardly yet pretentious little slut – Third Madam Dai beat her quite satisfyingly!”
Xiang Lan spoke slowly, “If she was forced by her master, losing her virtue was already pitiful enough. She could no longer hope for a respectable marriage. This wasn’t her fault, to begin with, so why must others force her hand and demand her life? If she doesn’t die, perhaps she has parents to support – just because she cherishes life, does that make her wrong in every way? When she became pregnant, the child was connected to her by blood – how could she bear to abort it? She must have struggled for a long time, and in the end, couldn’t bring herself to be so cruel. Only when her family discovered it did she return to the Dai household.”
Lin Dong Wan didn’t know the background, but Lin Dong Qi knew something of the relationship between Xiang Lan and Lin Jin Lou and realized the earlier words had touched Xiang Lan’s raw nerve. Seeing Madam Tan’s flushed face still wanting to argue, she smiled and changed the subject, “Alright, alright, these are other people’s affairs, why should we discuss them?” Taking Xiang Lan’s hand, she said, “I remember you were best at drawing patterns. Do you have any new ones recently? Quick, draw me a landscape – I want to make a cloak and embroider it on it.”
Xiang Lan gracefully followed the change in topic, smiling, “I just arrived in the capital yesterday, all my finished drawings are in Jinling. I’ll draw several for Second Young Lady tomorrow – just tell me what kind you want.”
Lin Dong Wan joined in, “Me too, me too! I didn’t know you had this talent – now I know where to go when I need patterns. I want ones with butterflies and peonies, draw two for me.”
Lin Dong Qi added with a smile, “Take your time drawing, there’s no rush.”
Xiang Lan smiled in agreement, glancing at Madam Tan from the corner of her eye.