The ladies below had already begun gathering up their skirts, waiting for the banquet to end so they could take their leave — and who could have expected the Empress to suddenly produce this manner of “praise.”

For a moment, it was not only the Pei family ladies who were stunned; the other ladies were equally so. The Pei family ladies were working out how to respond; the other ladies were weighing the significance of what lay behind these words.

At first hearing, it seemed as though the Empress favored Pei Ruozhu — commending her ability and saying she had secured a measure of good renown for the Empress herself. But on closer reflection: the Empress was saying she had only received the credit, while the cotton weaving workshops were in fact in Pei Ruozhu’s hands to manage. How could the ladies not be startled?

When the cotton weaving workshops were first established, no one had paid them much attention — they seemed merely a small workshop making clothes for the poor, unlikely to amount to anything.

Silk and satin were the goods of real worth.

Several years on — when that “small workshop” had supplied winter clothing for a million frontier soldiers, had given rise to the “Northern Cotton Streets” in the various prefectures of the Northern Metropolitan Region, and had penetrated even into the circles of the noble and wealthy — the world had belatedly realized: thin profits, accumulated in great quantities, made this no small workshop at all.

Yet the cotton weaving workshops had always been operating under the Empress’s banner, and people had taken for granted that this was an imperial enterprise, not daring to and not able to lay claim to any part of it.

Who would have known that this choice morsel had been in the Pei family’s exclusive possession all along.

Yang Shiyue heard these words, and cold sweat broke out in her palms, soaking through her handkerchief. Having followed her husband south, she knew more about various matters: she knew that the Huaiwan Prince had been recruiting advisors in Raozhou Prefecture, and had some vague knowledge of where the embezzled silver from Quanzhou Prefecture had flowed. The Empress’s tactic — making it seem as though the Pei family was hiding something valuable, probing cautiously to see how they would react — was plainly directed, through Third Elder Sister, at her husband and Second Elder Brother.

If they replied to the Empress with “we have only done the labor of dogs and horses, sharing the burdens of Her Highness,” and pushed the credit to the Empress — the credit itself was of no consequence, but the concern was that the Eastern Palace would grow wary and vigilant, and begin watching the Pei family closely. And if the Emperor further formed the impression that the Pei family was meddling in matters of imperial succession, trust between sovereign and subject would fracture — and should he take it further and apportion blame, that would be even more troublesome.

Yet if they did not show deference to the Empress — if they did not hand the credit to her — then before everyone assembled, they would in effect be acknowledging that the cotton weaving workshops were held firmly in the hands of the Pei family. Setting aside what it would mean to have outsiders coveting this profitable concern, the Pei family would face relentless attacks from civil officials at court — which alone would be more than enough trouble to contend with.

And all of this at the particular moment when her husband bore the weighty responsibility of the capital evaluation.

It could ruin the entire undertaking and throw the capital evaluation into disarray.

Whatever the case, they had already been placed at a disadvantage today. There was no point in dreaming of turning defeat into victory; the only aim now was to minimize the damage.

Yang Shiyue had her suspicions, but dared not act rashly. She was sitting right beside her mother-in-law and Third Elder Sister, yet she could not warn them — and even less could she rush to answer the Empress’s words before the others.

The words, under the guise of “praising” Pei Ruozhu, had been deliberately preceded by praise of Lin Shi before drawing the statement out of her — plainly the Empress had set her sights on Lin Shi and wanted Lin Shi to be the one to take up her words.

Going after the softest target first.

Lin Shi, though she was not deeply familiar with the affairs of court, was not truly simple-minded either. When she felt the cold sweat in her daughter-in-law’s palm, she had already made up her mind.

Lin Shi took Yang Shiyue by the left hand and Pei Ruozhu by the right, her face full of delighted warmth, and said cheerfully: “Today we have received such praise from Her Highness the Empress — both of you come quickly with me to step forward and express our gratitude.”

After leading her daughter and daughter-in-law forward to pay their respects, Lin Shi said: “It is thanks to the Empress’s guidance in former days that Ruozhu has her accomplishments today.” With this one sentence, she pointed to the past relationship between the Empress and Pei Ruozhu — that of mistress and attendant.

Former mistress and attendant, now pressing each other too hard.

And with this, she also gave Yang Shiyue and Pei Ruozhu the opening to speak.

Yang Shiyue, carrying one more layer of suspicion in her mind, rushed to speak before Third Elder Sister could: “Her Highness the Empress is the mother of all under heaven. She herself wore cotton garments, personally taught the ways of cotton planting and weaving, and women throughout the realm have followed out of gratitude — which is how we have come to the scene today of weaving sounds from south to north, with all under heaven no longer fearing the cold of winter.”

Compared to the merit that belonged to all under heaven under the Empress’s guidance, what was the Pei family’s small cotton weaving workshop worth mentioning?

And where was it said that the cotton weaving workshops were the only place across all under heaven where cotton was planted and woven?

Pei Ruozhu had already formed her plan; hearing Yang Shiyue’s words made her meaning still clearer. She said: “The cotton cloth produced by the cotton weaving workshops, serviceable for keeping the frontier soldiers warm against the cold, amounts to less than one part in ten of all the cotton cloth under heaven. Her Highness’s lavish praise leaves this subject deeply unworthy.”

What they meant was: the weaving workshops managed by the Nanping Earldom were primarily producing winter garments for the frontier armies.

They were doing work for the court, nothing more.

The two of them, one echoing the other with perfect understanding of each other’s intent, both pushed the credit for cotton cloth to the Empress while at the same time drawing a line between the weaving workshops and everything else.

The Empress’s basic purpose had been accomplished, and she did not concern herself further with their precise wording. She made a brief acknowledgment, then began praising other ladies — first the Xu family, then the Yang family, then the Chen family — specifically choosing the in-law connections of the Pei family to praise.

This too was worth pondering.

The Pei family ladies did their best to navigate the situation, but they could not cure the underlying problem — who knew what the assembled ladies would think when they returned home, and how they would speculate and how they would pass the stories along?

The imperial banquet over, they emerged from the palace to find that the sky had already grown dark.

The Pei family Old Madam had been deeply uneasy throughout, and kept asking whether the events of today would affect her two grandsons. The three women dared not let anything show and kept reassuring the Old Madam, gradually calming her nerves.

When they boarded their carriages, Yang Shiyue slipped into Third Elder Sister’s carriage.

“I knew long ago what manner of person she was; today’s move does not surprise me. Fortunately, the various prefectures of the Northern Metropolitan Region have all built up their industries, and the cotton streets are established.” Pei Ruozhu said.

The lamp hanging from the carriage top swayed with every turn of the wheels, its soft light falling across her face. Her expression was complex — there was anger, and there was regret, and there was a shade of shame; her brows were slightly drawn together, and yet beneath it all was a look of firm resolve.

She clasped Yang Shiyue’s hand and said: “I have dragged Elder Brother and you into this.”

In those early years, after Pei Ruozhu had served as the reading companion for the princess who then married out, the Empress had kept her on without releasing her, treating her as a chess piece to be put to use. It was only when the Emperor granted a special dispensation that the Empress bestowed upon her a phoenix coronet, golden hairpins, and a hundred acres of official manor land, and sent Pei Ruozhu out of the palace with every pomp — all for the sake of preserving her own reputation for virtue. From this, it was clear what manner of person the Empress was: one who thought only of herself.

Knowing this as she did, yet for the sake of promoting cotton weaving as quickly as possible and bringing benefit to women throughout the realm, Pei Ruozhu had had no choice but to borrow the Empress’s name — which had led to the predicament of today.

“We are one family — Third Elder Sister should not speak this way; it only creates a distance between us,” Yang Shiyue said. She lowered her voice and asked: “Third Elder Sister — when you set up the ‘cotton streets’ — was it to guard against the Empress?”

Pei Ruozhu nodded: “If the purchasing, the production, and the selling were all held in one person’s hands, and that person were to fall — all the effort of those earlier years would end up making things easy for someone else.”

In other words, it could all be swept away in one stroke.

“Now that the streets are there — the farmers plant cotton, the weaving women weave it, the vendors sell it — there is a source and there is an outlet. Even if I were to dissolve the weaving workshops tomorrow, those women who make their living by weaving would still have somewhere to go. One great workshop may fall, but a thousand and ten thousand small workshops can be built in its place — that is the only lasting plan.” Pei Ruozhu explained.

Yang Shiyue heard this and her face showed undisguised admiration. She thought to herself: no wonder, on the day they returned from “Capital Cotton Street,” her husband had praised Third Elder Sister repeatedly for her meticulous foresight and for having moved first to seize the advantage.

A commercial street does not come into being easily — which showed precisely this: from the very beginning, from the time she first built the weaving workshops, Third Elder Sister had already been preparing her way of retreat.

She had never merely wanted to build a business. She had been laying a path.

…

Everyone returned to the Earl’s Manor, and Pei Shaohuai came out from inside the manor to meet them.

The Old Madam’s worry had not yet subsided; without removing the heavy formal cap from her head, she took hold of Shaohuai’s wrist and kept murmuring about what had happened that day, and asked Shaohuai: “My grandson, your grandmother is old and muddled — I cannot make sense of all these twists and turns. You only need tell your grandmother one honest thing: will this harm your official affairs?”

Pei Shaohuai led his grandmother inside, his face perfectly easy and smiling, and replied: “Your grandson is an upright and proper scholar — nothing of this sort can affect me. Grandmother, you must be tired after today — I have had the kitchen prepare the glutinous rice dumplings you love. Why not eat a bowl first, and then rest?”

“Very good, very good.” With one word from Shaohuai, the Old Madam’s anxious heart was put at ease.

Three sentences from her grandson were worth ten from anyone else.

After attending to the Old Madam, Pei Shaohuai went to find his mother and Yang Shiyue, and asked: “Near the end of the work day, the Xiao Eunuch came to pass me a message saying that Mother had been made things difficult for in the Empress’s palace, so I hurried back here… what exactly happened?”

Yang Shiyue brewed a cup of jujube tea for Lin Shi, said a word of acknowledgment, and recounted the events of the day in full.

Pei Shaohuai remained composed and steady throughout — which put Lin Shi considerably more at ease. She said: “Huai’er, when it comes to matters touching on the imperial family, you must be careful.”

Pei Shaohuai smiled and reassured her: “Your son knows what is important. It was only a probe from the Empress, Mother — there is no need to worry. The waters of this court grow clear, then murky, then clear again — there has never been a shortage of those who stir them up. Mother takes this far too much to heart.”

He then changed the subject and asked Yang Shiyue: “Shiyue — where did we put that box of rouge and powder we bought for Mother the other day when we went out to the street?”

Yang Shiyue caught his drift immediately and played along: “I nearly forgot about that — I’ll have someone go and fetch it.”

“Mother need only see to keeping the household happy and celebrating the new year — everything else has me and Shaojin to handle,” Pei Shaohuai said.

That night, once Pei Shaohuai and his wife had retired and settled in bed, they turned at last to the substance of the matter.

“Has my lord worked out what this signifies?”

Pei Shaohuai lay with his hand pillowed beneath his head, gazing up at the canopy of the bed. “This is indeed a well-chosen moment to muddy the waters and plant seeds of doubt — the Empress knows how to time these things… yet there is one point I cannot work out: for the Empress to make her move at this moment — though she has achieved her purpose, has she not also revealed her own hand?”

Likely at greater cost than gain.

The Emperor’s resolve to establish the eldest legitimate son as heir was unshakeable. As long as the Crown Prince made no grave error and did not fall from his position, no matter how much effort the Empress exerted from the side, or how exceptionally brilliant the Huaiwan Prince might prove himself — it would be to no avail.

The Empress’s former strategy had been well-judged: keeping her head down, scheming in the shadows.

Yet from her conduct today, it looked as though someone had been advising her behind the scenes — leading her to take a wrong turn without her even realizing it.

If that was not the case, then there was only one other possibility: the Huaiwan Prince was about to make his next move. The Empress no longer needed to conceal herself.

Pei Shaohuai had always felt that whatever could be reasoned through was manageable; it was what could not be reasoned through that posed a thousand dangers — devouring a person without leaving a trace.

“Let us rest first.” Pei Shaohuai decided to set the matter aside for now. He pulled Yang Shiyue closer, and said warmly: “My lady was so quick-witted today — you have worked hard, my lady.”

…

On the other side of the city, Pei Ruozhu returned to the Nanping Earldom.

She first drank a cup of warm tea to settle her emotions, then turned to Qiao Yunsheng in a voice quite calm and said: “Yunsheng, the cotton weaving workshops — I fear they cannot be preserved.”

Qiao Yunsheng, hearing this, carried the small young lord out to the doorway, called for the nurse to take him somewhere else to play, and then said: “My lady has made up her mind?”

“I have. Keep only the one here in the capital — weaving winter garments for the frontier soldiers each year — and as for the workshops in the other prefectures, dismantle them as we had previously planned. Let them go.” Pei Ruozhu said.

Both husband and wife had anticipated this day — only they had not anticipated it would come so soon.

Pei Ruozhu said: “When I was fifteen, I suffered an injustice that frightened me so badly I fell gravely ill. It was thanks to my two brothers that a fire was lit and the one who had wronged me was sent away. Now the time has come for me to repay that debt of love and loyalty.”