Qing Lan was taking a light rest on her bed, with delicately embroidered curtains hanging down from the peony-carved bedframe. A wisp of calming Su He incense burned in the lotus-shaped censer. Chun Ling walked softly to the cabinet, opened its doors, and spoke quietly to Xiang Lan: “From now on, you’ll be in charge of Lady’s clothes and needlework. This cabinet contains all the seasonal clothes – jackets and coats on the top shelf, vests in the middle, and skirts on the bottom. The autumn and winter clothes are stored in the camphor wood chest.” She opened the chest and pointed out each item, explaining which were fur-lined, which were brocade, which were for daily wear, which were for receiving guests, and which were for paying respects to Madam and Lady, along with various high-quality fabrics.
Xiang Lan nodded and memorized everything.
Chun Ling took out a large tray from the cabinet with two stacks of clothes, saying, “These are clothes Lady Lan is gifting. They were made last year. Though slightly used, they’ve been washed clean – one set each for Xiao Juan and Yin Die.”
Xiang Lan examined the clothes – one set was silver-white satin with cold blue trim, and another was cinnamon-colored with embroidered details. They still looked new, made from excellent material, and being plain-colored, were suitable to wear during Old Lady Zeng’s mourning period.
Soon after, Chun Ling brought out another tray with two porcelain dishes containing jewelry, one set each for Juan and Die. “These are also gifts from Lady Lan. She said the colorful flowers and ornaments should be worn after the mourning period.” Xiang Lan saw that one dish contained two red velvet palace flowers, two blue velvet palace flowers, a gilt silver hairpin, a crystal-inlaid silver hairpin, a pair of silver bracelets, a pair of jade bracelets, and a pair of jade earrings. The other dish had similar items, though the hairpins and earrings were of different styles.
Chun Ling smiled softly and said, “You’re the second rank, so naturally your gifts are different. Lady has prepared special things just for you.” She then brought out an ivory-colored vest with dark blue winter plum brocade trim, a dark blue gold-threaded brocade jacket with crossed collar, both almost new, along with four gauze flowers, two old silver hairpins, a small gold hairpin with agate inlay, a pair of jade bracelets, a pair of extremely fine ivory bracelets, and a pair of coral earrings.
Chun Ling thought to herself, “I heard Xiang Lan’s family is ordinary, and she served under Lady Cao Li Huan, so she probably hasn’t seen such fine things. Seeing Lady’s generous gifts, her eyes must be popping out.” However, she noticed Xiang Lan merely looked at and touched the fabric of the clothes, and though smiling, showed no particular excitement, saying, “Lady is truly kind. When she wakes up, I must properly thank her for these gifts.”
Chun Ling was startled, then smiled, “You’re also clever and sensible. I’m sixteen, probably older than you, so let me be presumptuous and call myself your elder sister. We sisters should get along well from now on.”
Xiang Lan smiled and agreed. After exchanging a few pleasant words, they carried the trays back to their room and distributed the items to Xiao Juan and Yin Die. Xiao Juan was overjoyed and immediately put on the bracelets. Xiang Lan sat on her bed examining her share, carefully folding the clothes and inspecting each piece of jewelry, thinking to herself: “Mother has never had any jewelry. I’ll save these pieces to give to her to wear – she’ll surely be delighted. It’s a pity the clothes are too small, otherwise, I could take them back for her to wear too. Since entering the household, I’ve only visited home once. I should ask for leave to visit when I get the chance. Father and Mother will be happy to know I’ve been promoted to second rank…” She continued thinking, “Lady Lan is truly generous, giving so many things upon first meeting. She must be easy to get along with.”
Yin Die was also sitting on her bed examining her newly received gifts. Seeing that Chun Ling had left, she scoffed, “What’s so special about these? My sister serves Young Lady Ling and receives genuine gold and silver, pearls, and jade. Not only are her clothes made of fine material, but even the embroidery patterns are fresh and new. Don’t be so easily impressed by these few trinkets. Last time my sister received a gold ring from Young Lady Qian with a gemstone as big as a soybean – she just glanced at it and gave it to me to wear for fun. Compared to that ring, today’s gifts are nothing but scrap metal.” She went to look at Xiao Juan’s gifts and felt dissatisfied, noting that Xiang Lan’s clothes were better than hers, the palace flowers newer, the crystal on the hairpins more transparent, and the jade earrings more lustrous.
When she moved to Xiang Lan’s side and saw the hairpins and accessories laid out on her bed, her eyes widened as she exclaimed, “Why did you receive so many things?!” Jealousy arose within her. Assuming Xiang Lan was vulnerable and easy to bully due to her gentle nature and lack of connections, Yin Die said, “I like your coral earrings. Since you don’t have pierced ears anyway, just give them to me.”
Xiang Lan was stunned. Xiao Juan jumped down from her bed saying, “Fine then, trade your silver bracelets and jade earrings with Xiang Lan.”
Yin Die responded unhappily, “I’m talking to Xiang Lan, what’s it to you?”
Xiao Juan sat down beside Xiang Lan, swinging her feet, “You’re so shameless, asking for other people’s things right away. I can’t stand it, so I’ll say what I want. What are you going to do about it?”
“You…”
Xiang Lan tugged at Xiao Juan’s sleeve and glanced at Yin Die, saying, “I plan to give these earrings to my mother to wear. Since your sister receives so much genuine gold and silver jewelry from Young Lady Ling, you should ask her for something better to wear and play with.” She then packed away her clothes and jewelry, pulled out a chest from under the bed, locked everything away, and asked Xiao Juan, “Didn’t Chun Ling ask you to embroider handkerchiefs earlier? Would you like me to help you draw the patterns?”
Yin Die stomped her foot and said, “How petty! Keep them if you want, I don’t care anyway.” She sat back on her bed in a huff.
Just then, Chun Ling entered. Yin Die’s eyes darted around as she complained, “Sister Chun Ling, what is Xiang Lan doing? Did you forget to assign her tasks? Also, why did she receive more things than us?”
Chun Ling gave Yin Die a look and replied coolly, “Xiang Lan is the second rank, of course, it’s different from you two. She’ll be managing Lady’s clothes and needlework from now on. You can show her your sachets when you make them.”
Yin Die was dumbfounded, secretly regretting her miscalculation. She had thought Xiang Lan was an easy target, but who knew she outranked her? It would be troublesome if Xiang Lan decided to make things difficult for her in the future, so she resolved to try to win her over from now on. When Xiao Juan heard about Xiang Lan’s promotion to the second rank, she felt slightly uncomfortable but was still happy for her, giving her a knowing wink. Xiang Lan smiled back, secretly winking in return.
When they were alone, Xiao Juan quietly asked Xiang Lan, “How did you end up in Lady Lan’s service… I heard Young Lady Huan was driven out by Madam, is that true? Why was Young Lady Huan driven out?”
Seeing Xiao Juan’s eager expression and blinking big eyes, Xiang Lan laughed and poked her forehead, saying, “You’re so slow with embroidering the handkerchief, but you become so energetic when it comes to gossip.”
Xiao Juan playfully hugged Xiang Lan’s arm, “Please tell me, please tell me.” She raised three fingers and swore, “I absolutely won’t tell anyone else.”
Unable to resist her persistence, Xiang Lan had to say, “I’m not clear about the exact reason, but she angered Old Lady and Madam, so she was sent home. Let’s not mention this matter too much in the future, to avoid it reaching Madam’s ears.”
Xiao Juan was unsatisfied with this answer and continued to press, shaking Xiang Lan’s arm. Xiang Lan quickly changed the subject, “I came here because Lady Lan needed someone after Young Lady Huan left. What about you? You were originally in First Madam’s quarters, how did you end up serving here?”
Xiao Juan counted on her fingers, “Three of Lady’s original maids – one fell ill and was sent home to avoid spreading the sickness. Another fell on the stairs and went home to recover. The third one’s father died, and she went home to observe mourning. Since Lady Lan is with their child, the masters are concerned about the ill fortune of death, so the maid isn’t allowed to return. The east wing was short-staffed, and although several maids were eyeing the position, it wasn’t supposed to be my turn. But surprisingly, after Young Master briefly inquired about it, I was chosen to come here.” She continued happily, “This must be fate, living together from now on. Nothing could be better. If only Sister Ting Lan could come too.” She glanced at Yin Die’s bed and sighed, “Who knew we’d have to live with this troublemaker.”
Xiang Lan sat at the table, helping Xiao Juan carefully draw patterns, saying, “Just ignore her in the future, and don’t create any discord. It would look bad for both sides.”
Xiao Juan pouted, “She goes out of her way to cause trouble, it’s impossible to avoid her. She used to serve Young Lady Chun Yan, who was already difficult enough, but Yin Die is a hundred times worse. Living with her will be quite a trial.”
Just then, Yin Die entered the room, and Xiao Juan fell silent.
That evening, Xiang Lan finished washing up early and drew her bed curtains to rest, while Xiao Juan and Yin Die were still removing their makeup. Xiang Lan took out the purse Madam Qin had given her and, in the dim candlelight filtering through the curtains, emptied its contents into her palm. She found four gold ingots, a pair of gold Winter Sweet flowers, and a gold ring with jade inlay.
Xiang Lan examined each item, feeling quite emotional. In her previous life at the Shen family, during festivals, the mistress of the house would gather scattered gold and silver to be melted down and crafted into various gold and silver ingots – Ruyi-shaped, peony-shaped, begonia-shaped, scholar’s brush-shaped, and others engraved with auspicious words like fortune, prosperity, longevity, and joy. Large and small, they filled several large trays with their golden and silver brilliance, making quite a sight. She would give them as gifts or rewards, though at the time, Xiang Lan hadn’t thought much of it.
Now she understood the hardships of life and increasingly realized the importance of cherishing one’s blessings.
Xiang Lan carefully returned everything to the purse and put it away safely. She pulled up her soft, diamond-patterned quilt and suddenly felt that life was becoming bright again. Breathing in the fresh fragrance from the sachet by her pillow, she drifted off into a sweet sleep.