Lian Jie’er had long forbidden her to associate with Liu Jiaojiao, and yet no one had known that she had been hiding it, carrying on contact with Liu Jiaojiao in secret.

Lin Shi had taken great care to contain the entire Earl’s Manor, and had kept watch over the scoundrel scholar—but in her thoroughness, she had missed one detail: there was an outsider who knew about all of this.

If Liu Jiaojiao were to let word get out, all that effort would be undone in an instant, and Lin Shi would be left with nowhere to turn.

“What else do you know?” Lin Shi pressed urgently, hoping Lan Jie’er would come to her senses quickly. “Think of your elder sister, think of the little niece who has just been born—there may still be time to remedy this.”

Lan Jie’er’s eyes slowly turned to her stepmother. The empty void in her gaze gradually recovered some light. Her voice still trembled, but she managed at last to speak clearly: “…That poetry collection was sent by her. That wretch was introduced to me by her, with her acting as intermediary. That night, it was also Liu Jiaojiao who helped summon him, and told me how to unbolt the rear door of the theater garden from the inside… I was a fool—I thought she was doing me good, I believed it with my whole heart…”

By now, if she still could not see that she had been led into a trap, she would truly be beyond all help.

If the white-faced scholar was a beast in human form, then this “close friend of the boudoir,” Liu Jiaojiao, was no better—she was a smiling-faced venomous scorpion. She had learned every last poisonous and scheming trick from the rear courtyard of the Liu household and turned it against someone else, with a heart as cunning and malicious as could be.

“What a vicious little creature—to have taken in every scheming and poisonous trick from the inner courtyard of the Liu household and turned them against someone else, with such calculated malice!” Lin Shi broke out in furious denunciation.

“You had better learn a lesson from all this.” Lin Shi said, already walking out as she spoke, on her way to the Liu household to deal with the unfinished mess.

……

The Liu family had once held a peerage, but through successive generations of inheritance, it had long since diminished beyond even the rank of earl—today all that remained was an empty shell of a residence, the plaque above the gate already taken down.

With sons who were unambitious and a thin, meager estate, the household had become a laughingstock throughout the capital for the scandal of a favored concubine displacing the principal wife.

By the time Lin Shi hurried to the Liu household and had someone announce her arrival, she learned that Liu Jiaojiao had already gone to Fanyuan Gardens for the chrysanthemum-viewing party being held that day. Lin Shi’s heart sank with a dull, alarming thud, and she had an ominous feeling that something had already gone wrong. With no time to return home and freshen up, she went directly to Fanyuan Gardens.

……

The autumn sky was clear and vast above Fanyuan Gardens, where chrysanthemums bloomed in full abundance.

Just like the Six Arts competition in early summer, this chrysanthemum-viewing gathering at Fanyuan had drawn the young masters and misses of many illustrious households—particularly those who had not yet been betrothed.

Lin Shi had barely come through the gate when, before she could find Liu Jiaojiao, she was intercepted by a group of curious noble matrons who asked whether it was true that a vicious servant had attacked someone in the Earl’s Manor, and whether the servant had been caught and dealt with.

Lin Shi’s mind was elsewhere, and she wanted to deflect and brush the question aside—but they pressed her with question after question, leaving her no choice but to reply: “The matter has been investigated. It turned out to be two of Lan Jie’er’s personal maidservants. I suppose the fault is partly mine for being too indulgent with them—I had been giving them an extra half-string of copper coins each month, and this month when the payment was cut off, they harbored resentment and attacked her. They’ve already been dragged to the magistrate’s office to be beaten to death with a rod. How kind of everyone to concern yourselves.”

They also asked whether Lan Jie’er was recovering.

“She only twisted her foot—a few more days of rest and she will be well enough to go out.”

In truth, those women had no real concern for the “servant attacking her mistress” affair—they were merely suspicious of why the Pei household had abruptly “sealed the manor to conduct a search,” and were deliberately probing Lin Shi. After all, if there were not some compromising secret to hide, why would anyone seal a household at the drop of a hat?

With difficulty, Lin Shi managed to extricate herself. Up ahead, she could see a commotion—it appeared that some young ladies had gotten into a quarrel.

As luck would have it, the person at the center of it was Liu Jiaojiao.

It turned out that Liu Jiaojiao had run into You Si—the fourth young miss of Marquis Shengchang’s household—at Fanyuan Gardens. The two had long been at odds, and You Si took the opportunity to sneer at her: “Now that Cold Dew has passed, the weather has already turned cold—how is it, Liu Jie’er, that you haven’t had a new autumn outfit made, and came in the same dress you wore to the Six Arts competition back in early summer? Or perhaps Sister is aiming to be like this autumn chrysanthemum—the colder it gets, the more beautifully it blooms, fragile and chilled and pitiable?”

Liu Jiaojiao was furious but had no words with which to counter, and could only swallow that mouthful of anger, letting it lodge in her chest.

Nearby, a young woman who seemed rather well-informed tried to smooth things over by flattering Liu Jiaojiao: “Word is, Sister is going to become the young mistress of General Situ’s household?” Though she kept her voice low, it was still audible to those standing nearby.

Liu Jiaojiao’s expression brightened a little, and a shy smile appeared as she said: “I’m only a girl—what would I know of such things? I leave it all to my father’s arrangement.” This was tantamount to confirmation.

Within the household of General Situ, the only eligible bachelor was Situ Yang the Second.

Situ Yang’s name as a worthless playboy was widely known, and no family of standing would consent to send a daughter there—yet for the Liu household, whose fortunes were steadily waning, such a match was something they eagerly sought and considered a stroke of good fortune.

You Si, never one to pass up an opportunity to make things worse, spoke up brazenly: “Everyone in the capital knows that Situ Yang has been utterly captivated by the second young miss of the Jingchuan Earl’s Manor, ever since the Six Arts competition… Even if this is a match that nobody else would want, I rather doubt it would fall to Liu Jie’er.” A single remark that managed to offend three households at once.

If the earlier comment was a jab, these words were a knife thrust straight into Liu Jiaojiao’s heart.

Liu Jiaojiao stared daggers at her, as though she wanted to tear You Si apart with her bare hands.

The bystanders were at a loss for words and unsure how to mediate.

Lin Shi came running to the front of the crowd. She had already sensed that things were going badly—but before she could intervene, Liu Jiaojiao had already swallowed her anger, composed herself, and said in a deceptively soft and honeyed voice: “My dear Lan Jie’er is like a celestial beauty, naturally drawing the admiration and fond attentions of young men—why, even that up-and-coming scholar Wu Lang was utterly captivated by her charm and loveliness, writing her heaven knows how many passionate and adoring letters… Oh, have I perhaps said something I shouldn’t have?”

Those words, once spoken, carried to every ear around them.

The surroundings went so quiet that even the faint rustle of fabric could be heard clearly. Added to this was the fact that the Earl’s Manor had quite genuinely sealed its gates just recently, forbidding servants from entering or leaving—and following Liu Jiaojiao’s words to their natural conclusion, everyone present let their imaginations run.

Those nearby were already somewhere between fifty and sixty percent convinced.

As for the onlookers—they were there to watch the excitement and enjoy the spectacle. They were not on particularly close terms with the Jingchuan Earl’s Manor, and they would not risk making themselves unwelcome by speaking up for the Pei family.

Lin Shi stood in the autumn wind—desolate, helpless, with nowhere to turn—and she had arrived too late, by one step. But she immediately masked her expression, lest anyone catch a trace of alarm that might confirm Lan Jie’er’s secret tryst as fact.

Lin Shi threw all caution to the wind, blazing with fury, and lunged at Liu Jiaojiao like a woman who had lost all composure—clawing at her and scratching at her, screaming: “You vicious, malicious little creature—how dare you stand here spreading slander and defaming a decent girl—you were born to this, crawled out of the same filthy nest—I’ll make you pay for slandering Lan Jie’er, for slandering the Pei family…”

It was wholly undignified.

But what else could she do?

This, and only this, might still have a chance of protecting a young woman’s good name… even if it meant sacrificing her own decorum and dignity.

Liu Jiaojiao, having been raised on spite and malice from childhood, would not stop. Her mouth kept going: “There is not a word of falsehood in what I have said. On the night of Cold Dew, in the garden behind your very own theater, Second Miss Lan threw her own handkerchief to a white-robed young man—if that is not a secret tryst, then what is? If you did a thing, you needn’t be afraid of people seeing it…”

“Are you speaking of this handkerchief?” A resounding voice rang out from beyond the crowd, carrying a trace of unruly boldness—it was Situ Yang.

He was dressed in a long robe of deep black with subtle patterning, with a red silk sash at his waist. His upright, tall figure lent him a powerfully martial bearing. His black hair was bundled somewhat loosely, giving him an air of studied carelessness.

Situ Yang walked slowly into the circle of onlookers, holding aloft a honey-pink handkerchief embroidered with a spray of orchids.

Among the young misses who were more familiar with Pei Ruolan, all recognized this as Lan Jie’er’s handkerchief without question.

Without doubt.

The scene now became very interesting to observe. The entire confrontation had originated on account of Situ Yang—and now, here was Liu Jiaojiao, proclaiming over and over that a handkerchief had been given as a private keepsake in a secret tryst, while that very handkerchief had turned up in Situ Yang’s hands.

Even Liu Jiaojiao was left dumbstruck and standing there in a daze. She had not personally witnessed Pei Ruolan and Wu Lang’s meeting that night, but she had most certainly brought the man there and seen him into the theater garden—there could not possibly be any mistake.

Situ Yang raised his chin and looked around with calm superiority: “I, Situ Yang, and Miss Lan are deeply drawn to each other. The general’s household will be calling on the family to formally propose marriage before long. In such circumstances, for Miss Lan to toss me a handkerchief is, whatever the rules and proprieties may say, something I—though I am a coarse man—can still recognize as entirely proper… As for Liu Miss, where exactly did you acquire such skills—peeping at other people’s affairs, and then spreading rumors and slandering others—what exactly is it you are trying to achieve?”

“There was no scholar—there was no secret tryst…” Situ Yang continued. “There is simply no need to destroy someone’s reputation.”

Situ Yang had still shown a small measure of consideration, and had not let slip the words “I would never marry you no matter whom I chose.”

At this, the Liu family’s mistress—once a favored concubine, now raised to the position of principal wife—came forward in embarrassment and kept insisting it was all a misunderstanding, hoping to take advantage of the commotion to drag Liu Jiaojiao away.

“Stop right there.” Lin Shi straightened her clothing and said: “You defame someone’s reputation and think you can simply walk away? When a person has no mother to teach her, she has no sense of propriety.” A single sentence that struck a blow at Liu Jiaojiao and at that former concubine alike.

Liu Jiaojiao had already been publicly humiliated by Situ Yang; she had lost all face. She hastily performed a shallow bow of apology to Lin Shi and turned to leave.

“Since when has anything in this world come so cheaply?” Lin Shi said with stern authority. “Tomorrow before noon, your Liu household will send a formal carriage of eight bearers carrying a letter of apology, complete a full circuit of the capital, and then come to our door to offer your amends. Otherwise, the Earl’s Manor will take this matter all the way to the Ministry of Justice and the Court of Revision, and we will not rest until it is settled.”

……

The following day, the Liu household compelled Liu Jiaojiao to make the journey with an eight-bearer carriage, coming to beg forgiveness. Lan Jie’er, wounded to the depths of her being, refused absolutely to see her.

Lan Jie’er spoke to her only from behind the closed door: “We were supposed to be kindred spirits—why did you do something so vicious?”

“Kindred spirits? What a laugh.” Liu Jiaojiao gave a loud, unbounded laugh. “Morning and night, did you ever once have to stand at attention? In the dead of winter and sweltering summer, did you ever once go without proper clothing? At all the festivals and seasonal occasions, did you ever once have an empty purse? I suspect Lan Miss does not even know how to write the character for ‘pitiable’—so what ‘kindred spirits’ do you mean to speak of?”

“You liked a man of letters—your stepmother went looking for scholarly young men for you, among those at the Imperial Academy, among your brother-in-law’s colleagues. You wanted to marry into a family of military distinction—your grandmother took you in and out of various households, sizing up candidate after candidate on your behalf…”

“Situ Yang’s reputation may not be great, but he was the best match I could possibly reach for—and even that was already humbling myself enough. To think I would then have to be overshadowed by a fool like you—how could I be resigned to that?”

“The formal apology gift has now been delivered. I wish Miss Lan sharp eyes and a clear heart from now on—and I also wish Miss Lan and Situ Yang to remain side by side to the end of their days, never to part.”

It turned out that a knife offered by an outsider would spare no feelings—and the pain of it was real enough to leave its mark. Lan Jie’er huddled alone in a corner of her bed, thinking of the day her elder sister was married—the dim slant of fading light through the room in summer, the desolation of it… She had thought it was the wedding palanquin that carried her sister away. But in truth, it was she herself who had pushed her sister away.

Her stepmother, to protect the name of the Pei family, had brawled with a stranger in the middle of Fanyuan Gardens—her face clawed and scratched—and had been unable to step outside for a long time. And here she herself sat, safe and unharmed inside this room, listening to someone deliver an apology… And yet the question she had put to Liu Jiaojiao was still such a foolish one.

Kindred spirits?

Liu Jiaojiao was right. She didn’t know the first thing about suffering. She was not pitiable—she had only been wallowing in self-pity.

Lan Jie’er felt she no longer recognized the person looking back at her from the mirror.

……

A month later, the affairs of the Earl’s Manor had gradually settled, and little mention was made of the matter. Lian Jie’er had emerged from her confinement as well.

Lan Jie’er went out for the first time since the incident to pay a visit to her elder sister.

“Has the injured leg healed completely?” Lian Jie’er asked in a flat, even tone.

“Yes, yes—all healed, all healed.” Lan Jie’er’s voice had gone soft, all the bright, sharp edge it once had was gone.

“It may look healed on the surface, but the tendons and bones beneath the skin may still be torn—rest well, and if nothing calls you out, don’t go venturing outside.”

“Yes, I’ll do as Elder Sister says.”

Lan Jie’er stared blankly at the floor, not knowing what to say next. All those endless streams of chatter she once had with her elder sister—now she could not get a single word out in half a day.

The small figure on the bed woke from its contented sleep, waving its little hands about—remarkably adorable.

“Let Little Auntie hold Xing’er.” Lan Jie’er said, reaching out her arms.

But Lian Jie’er moved first and picked up little Xing’er herself, saying to her younger sister: “The baby is still very small and not yet used to strangers—let me hold her.”