The Old Madam, hearing this, looked at her son’s averted face and understood that matters were not going smoothly. She pressed him: “Did you not say earlier that you had your eye on the younger son of the Yongshun Earl’s family?”
Intermarriage between noble households was, of course, the most common of arrangements.
“It seems that last month, he became engaged to the daughter of a circuit prefect of Zhenjiang.” Pei Bingyuan shook his head, his tone weary with resignation. “Mother also knows what the Yongshun Earl’s residence looks like at present — and what our own household looks like……”
Pei Bingyuan could not bring himself to say more.
The Pei family was no longer a house where a hundred families would come seeking a daughter’s hand.
The infant Pei Shaohuai understood clearly — although his grandfather Pei Pu had inherited the title of Earl of Jingchuan, he held no official post whatsoever at court. His father Pei Bingyuan had passed the district examination at sixteen and become a Maocai, giving the family hope — but every subsequent attempt had come to nothing, and to this day he had not advanced a single step further.
Moreover, the family’s holdings were not particularly substantial, barely sufficient to maintain the dignity of an Earl’s household.
In such circumstances, finding a suitable husband for Pei Ruolian among the noble families was no simple matter.
There were, in fact, some noble households that had come seeking to marry Pei Ruolian — but their hidden intentions were less than wholesome, and the family could not in good conscience allow Pei Ruolian to be thrown into such a fire.
Then came Pei Bingyuan’s voice again: “Mother, I am afraid it is no longer possible to arrange a match for Lian’er within the noble families of the capital.”
The room fell silent for a long moment.
The Old Madam at last accepted this reality, and let out a soft, resigned sigh. “Lian Jie’er lost her mother when she was very young — as the eldest daughter of the family, she has always been so understanding. She has never once come before me to speak of her sorrows. When it comes to her marriage, she must not be made to suffer…… Even if the family is not of the nobility, it ought to be a family of upright scholarly standing — one that will only move upward in time.”
This was, in its way, a lowering of standards.
“Your son understands.” Pei Bingyuan replied. “I will make further inquiries, and if something suitable comes to light, I will give advance word.”
When Pei Shaohuai heard all of this, it finally came back to him — the words in the original novel that “Pei Ruolian married exceedingly well” did not mean she had married into a family of great wealth and high rank. It meant she had chosen the right family: a modest starting point, but a household harmonious within, a marriage of mutual respect, and a father-in-law and husband whose official careers advanced steadily upward — like a bamboo shoot after rain, rising joint by joint.
For such a fortunate outcome, Pei Shaohuai thought, there was no need for him to intervene in anything. Simply let it unfold naturally — that would be quite enough.
……
After Pei Bingyuan departed, the hour came for Pei Shaohuai’s usual afternoon nap.
“My dear little grandson, let grandmother carry you inside to sleep.”
On any ordinary day, Pei Shaohuai, with his energy not yet fully built up, would simply close his eyes obediently and rest. But today he had a different plan.
He had seen it plainly — the Old Madam intended to take him away from Lin Shi’s side and keep him with her, to raise him herself. On one hand, the Old Madam genuinely doted on Pei Shaohuai, seeing him as the hope of restoring the Earl’s residence to its former glory. On the other hand, the Old Madam looked down on Lin Shi’s origins, believing her incapable of raising Pei Shaohuai properly.
In the original novel, it was precisely from this point that the Jingchuan Earl’s residence began to lose its peace — all because the Old Madam had taken Pei Shaohuai from Lin Shi’s side.
In the novel, Lin Shi spent her days consumed with thoughts of how to reclaim her son. Her mind gradually turned in darker directions, and with servants constantly whispering provocations in her ears, her once-gentle nature grew slowly twisted, her methods increasingly ruthless. One day it all came to light, and she was repudiated.
The child had been the very thread that led her into a dead end.
As for the Old Madam — in her desire to keep her grandson by her side, her focus shifted entirely away from his upbringing. Her love curdled into indulgence; every wish Pei Shaohuai expressed was granted without question, until he came to believe the family possessed limitless wealth to squander. He grew up competing with the children of other marquis households, and became a thorough-going wastrel.
The so-called “grandparent’s affection” had only become a means of binding the grandson to her side.
……
Pei Shaohuai naturally could not allow things to unfold this way. All he wanted was to study quietly and sit the imperial examinations in peace.
He calculated the situation:
A mother who, robbed of her son, would swiftly descend into a darker version of herself.
A grandmother whose energy was still vigorous and who was determined to keep the Earl’s residence firmly in her own hands.
A father who paid no attention to any of it, absorbed entirely in his books.
All the pressure would be channeled directly onto him.
……
Having sorted his thoughts through, Pei Shaohuai formed his plan.
The Old Madam, as was her custom, placed the infant on the bed and tucked the coverlet around him, gently stroking him to coax him to sleep.
What she did not expect was this — “cough, cough — waaah——” The infant suddenly burst into loud crying, great round teardrops rolling down his cheeks, thrashing and fussing on the bed and refusing to settle.
“Oh dear, oh dear — my Huai Ge’er — what has come over you?”
The Old Madam hastened to scoop him up and soothe him; the infant’s crying quieted somewhat, but did not stop.
Nanny Zhou came over to help examine and attend to things — and found that everything was perfectly in order.
No matter how they coaxed him or tried to amuse him, the infant simply cried — a truly pitiable sight.
“My Lady, could it be that young Master Huai has been frightened by something?” Nanny Zhou ventured in a low voice.
The Old Madam’s expression briefly tightened, but she collected herself at once. “What nonsense are you talking? In broad daylight, in a household as upright as ours — how could he have been frightened by anything?”
The infant cried on pitifully, until at last his voice began to grow hoarse. The Old Madam’s heart ached for him, and she finally said: “Send him back to Zhaolu Courtyard for now and see what the matter is.”
With that, she carried the baby herself as they made their way toward Zhaolu Courtyard.
……
Lin Shi heard the infant’s cries from a distance and hurried out to meet them: “Mother, what has happened to Huai Ge’er?”
“He finished eating and has been crying ever since.” The Old Madam placed the infant back into Lin Shi’s arms.
Strangely — the moment the infant was in Lin Shi’s embrace, he quickly settled. He held his two small fists in front of him, drooped his eyelids, and seemed utterly exhausted. That small face, still wet with teardrops yet now gone quiet and docile, was truly heartbreaking to see.
Lin Shi carried the infant back to his cradle. He gave a little stretch, turned himself over, and sank into a deep sleep.
The secret behind all of this was known only to Pei Shaohuai himself — every last bit of it had been deliberate. To vie openly for him, Lin Shi at her current standing was no match for the Old Madam. But if Pei Shaohuai himself chose Lin Shi, the Old Madam — out of love for her grandson — would have no choice but to yield.
It prevented the two women from tearing into each other over one small infant, thereby keeping the household in disorder.
“Mother need not worry — Huai Ge’er was most likely just throwing a momentary tantrum and crying persistently. You have had quite a tiring time.” Lin Shi offered a reassuring word to the Old Madam.
The Old Madam gazed at the infant sleeping soundly in his cradle, looked him over carefully once more, and only then set down her lingering worry. She instructed: “Keep close watch over him — he must not be left unattended for even a moment.”
“Your daughter-in-law understands.”
……
Pei Shaohuai took care to gauge the degree of his crying with some precision. He knew that crying too frequently would hurt the Old Madam’s feelings; not crying at all would fail to make his preference clear.
In the days that followed, the Old Madam still had people bring the infant to her — and Pei Shaohuai had no choice but to employ the same stratagem again.
During mealtimes, he was well-behaved and pleasant — even laughing and nestling happily in his grandmother’s arms, all sweetness and affection. But the moment the Old Madam tried to coax him to sleep, or if too many hours had passed without his being sent back, he would cry inconsolably.
Only when he was returned to Zhaolu Courtyard, to his own little cradle, would he settle peacefully and sleep.
The Old Madam sensed something was amiss. After considerable effort, she had an Imperial Physician summoned from the palace to have a look.
The physician offered his reassurance: “It is nothing at all — young Master Huai has simply grown a little older and developed his own temperament. He has begun to recognize his room and his bed. There is no need for great concern.”
“Is there any remedy for this?”
The physician smiled: “This is not a matter of any real consequence — what remedy would be needed?”
……
With this difficulty so neatly resolved, Lin Shi, though relieved, felt a pang of guilt that the infant had cried at such length over so many days.
For since Huai Ge’er had come into this world, there had never been a time he had cried himself so hoarse.
Each of the child’s cries had cut into her heart like a knife.
Nanny Shen said cheerfully: “After all, he is Madam’s own flesh and blood — our young Master Huai has known since the very beginning to side with you, Madam. When young Master Huai grows up, Madam need only wait for all the blessings that will come.”
Little did she know that these words earned her a thorough scolding from Lin Shi.
Lin Shi said: “Nanny Shen, you are a woman who has managed affairs before — you must mind your tongue going forward. What you just said — I heard you, I know you meant it kindly, that you are on my side…… But someone unreasonable who overheard those words and took them the wrong way, thinking I had deliberately taught Huai Ge’er to cry and make trouble — that would not do a single bit of good for me or for Huai Ge’er.”
Nanny Shen’s face reddened, and she admitted her fault: “This old servant spoke out of turn — I had not thought that far ahead.”
Lin Shi offered her a graceful way down, saying: “Nanny Shen was only speaking too quickly for a moment — a small lapse is only natural. We still have many things ahead that we must face together. Let us not grow estranged over this.”
……
So long as the Old Madam was no longer bent on taking Huai Ge’er away, Lin Shi was not an unreasonable woman.
That a grandmother should dote on her grandchild — this was entirely as it should be.
She thought the matter over for a long while, and at last came to a decision.
That morning, she brought both Ying Jie’er and Huai Ge’er along when she went to pay her respects to the Old Madam. The two women, mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, chatted together at considerable length.
Lin Shi feigned a difficulty, deliberately saying: “I wonder, Mother, whether you might have a moment of leisure — there is a small matter in which I would ask your help.”
“Just speak plainly.” The Old Madam replied.
Lin Shi drew Ying Jie’er forward and began, with a smile, to explain: “Ying Jie’er is at that age when even dogs find her trying — she’s like a muddy little monkey, not still for a single moment, and at mealtimes she is simply unruly. I feel that a girl cannot go without proper manners from an early age — she really must be properly corrected…… But as Mother also knows, now that I have Huai Ge’er to attend to, I can manage one thing only at the cost of neglecting another — I simply do not have six hands. One moment’s inattention, and something slips.”
She continued: “What if we did this: each day at midday and again in the evening, I will have Huai Ge’er brought to you, and ask you to keep an eye on things — so that I might have a free moment to teach Ying Jie’er the proper manners for the dinner table…… I wonder if Mother would be willing to do your daughter-in-law this kindness?”
The Old Madam had yielded one step; Lin Shi honoured her a full measure in return, putting forth this proposal on her own initiative.
The Old Madam, upon hearing it, could not conceal her delight: “What do you mean, ‘help’? Looking after the grandchildren — isn’t that exactly what these old bones of mine are here for? You need only have Huai Ge’er sent over each day — I guarantee he will be fed until he is round and rosy, and once he has eaten, he will be sent right back to you.”
In this way, the friction between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law was resolved — and their affection for one another had even deepened a little.
The one who had brought it all about — Xiao Pei — was thoroughly pleased with the outcome.
Not a drop more of fake crying and screaming would be required of him.