After the affair at the marquis’s estate was settled, the Ye sisters departed the banquet entirely. Even Yanyan, who had been outside in the garden quietly pilfering hawthorns from the Cui family’s mountain-ash tree with Tao Li’er, was taken away. The ladies who heard Cui Jingyu’s handling of the matter were surprised, but inwardly pleased.
Whatever chain of events had forced Cui Jingyu into making that decision, as far as they were concerned, it was a mutual ruin. The Ye sisters were a minor matter — Ye Qinglan was twenty-four, an age that offered no hope in the eyes of the world, and Ye Lingbo was plain and not endearing in manner, no competition whatsoever. To have the Lu sisters removed in exchange was a windfall the ladies had not dared even dream of.
With the Lu family and the Cui family severed, Lu Wanyang would no longer be among Cui Jingyu’s prospects. For the young misses of the capital’s prominent households, this was not merely the loss of a formidable rival — it was as though the top candidate had destroyed his own prospects, and now everyone had a chance at first place.
So the evening banquet became, in effect, a celebration for the ladies. What a pity that the one who had done the deed — Ye Lingbo — had already gone home; otherwise the ladies would have dearly liked to raise a glass to her.
It was a pity that Marquis Cui’s expression was too grim. The ladies dared not be too openly pleased and could only speculate that perhaps the Ye sisters’ words had been too cutting, forcing Cui Jingyu to sever ties with the Lu family as a show of impartiality. That was why the Marquis had worn that icy expression all evening, sitting at the head of the table during the night’s performance — a grand opera, The Battle of Panjia River, actually an allusion to the Battle of Mingsha River, personally bestowed by the Emperor, which no one could decline to watch — drinking cup after cup of wine. The men’s and women’s sections were separated by the water pavilion, and even from a distance, the ladies could see Marquis Cui at the head table, cold as ice, raising glass after glass.
To say something not entirely respectable — the darker and more brooding he looked, the better he appeared, like a great dark wolf glimpsed far off in a snowstorm, unsettling to the heart. Truly, people carry a hundred different kinds of presence, each with its own appeal.
What a pity the young general in the blue robe who had matched him at mounted archery that afternoon was not there. If he and Wei Yushan had all been seated together, it would have made a truly fine sight.
Speaking of Wei Yushan — for some reason, he seemed distracted and had left the banquet early.
Back at Lingbo’s side, there was no banquet to attend that evening, yet she was busier than if she had been attending one.
On the road, Shen Biwei had said nothing. With the Ye family and the Cui marquis’s estate severing ties, she wasn’t going to the evening banquet either and had personally seen the Ye sisters home. Once the door was shut behind them, she immediately interrogated Ye Lingbo: “You explain yourself to me — clearly, completely. What happened? Why did it get so big? Was this on purpose?”
Ye Lingbo only made a silencing gesture. The two of them were in the inner room changing, while Qinglan was in the outer room. Lingbo tiptoed to the door, peeked through, and — unexpectedly — found Qinglan standing before the mirror in a daze. Qinglan caught sight of her and asked, “Lingbo, how are you feeling? Come here, let me have a look at you — are you actually hurt?”
“Aih, I’m completely fine.” Lingbo spun around breezily. “Honestly, I wasn’t even struck. Chen Mengliu only wanted to frighten me. I didn’t come out of it poorly at all. It’s just that I deliberately made it into a bigger scene to make things difficult for her.”
“Oh. Good then.” Qinglan was still a bit dazed. She came over and checked her properly, and finding that Lingbo was neither hurt nor chilled, felt somewhat reassured.
“Alright, don’t worry about me — you go change first.” Lingbo looked at her with warmth, took her sleeve between her fingers. “You dressed so lightly — didn’t even change your boots, or put on a snow cap. Mind you don’t catch a chill.”
“I was in a bit of a rush and went out hastily.” Qinglan touched her hair, a little self-conscious. “I wasn’t too disheveled, was I?”
“Not at all — even without putting herself together, my sister is like a celestial descending from heaven,” Lingbo said.
The teasing drew a faint smile from Qinglan, but the smile didn’t reach her eyes. Clearly the “severance” with Cui Jingyu had taken a great deal out of her, leaving her in a daze even now.
So Lingbo let her be and had Chun Ming and Jinghe attend her while she changed. Then she and Shen Biwei withdrew back to the inner room. Shen Biwei had watched that entire exchange and had already pieced together a rough picture.
“Ye Lingbo, you’ve been scheming against your sister again.” She immediately toppled Lingbo onto the sleeping couch. “You’d better tell me the truth — are you going to confess, or should I bring out the instruments of persuasion?”
“Alright, alright, stop making a scene. Confess what?” Ye Lingbo said with disdain — though she was, after all, only nineteen, still with a girl’s heart. She had just pulled off such a brilliant stroke, and even outmaneuvered Lu Wanyang. How could she resist showing off? She immediately leaned close and whispered the whole story to Shen Biwei, who listened with repeated exclamations of admiration.
“To think you managed to get hold of the floor plan of their estate, and calculated Chen Mengliu’s temperament so precisely…” Shen Biwei marveled. “They say winning a battle requires the right time, the right terrain, and the right people. You already had the terrain and the people — no wonder they couldn’t beat you.”
“Nonsense — it’s because I’m a righteous force, and the Lu family and Chen Mengliu and Yang Qiaozhen have all committed too many wrongs. If they hadn’t meant to harm me, how would they have fallen into my trap? The way I see it, I had justice on my side — naturally I was victorious all the way through.” Ye Lingbo laughed.
Shen Biwei was laughing too hard to answer her.
“Stop that — and you still have the nerve to call yourself a righteous force? Where’s the righteousness? Every step was a calculation, one ring inside another. Good thing you’re not a bad person at heart. If you truly were wicked, you’d probably be far more vicious than the Lu sisters.”
“Hmph, I can’t be bothered talking to you.” Lingbo would only hear praise; the moment she heard criticism, she turned her face away.
Shen Biwei was unperturbed. She lay down herself, pillowing her head on her arm, staring up at the lanterns hanging from the ceiling of the Ye family’s warm pavilion, and said thoughtfully, “Actually, for all the effort you put into that scheme, I’m not sure what you were going for. You say it was to drive away the Lu sisters — but now Sister Qinglan has severed ties with Cui Jingyu too. Isn’t that both sides losing?”
“What do you know.” Ye Lingbo immediately rolled over to instruct her. “Think about it — of all the young misses in the capital, who could compare to Qinglan? Only Lu Wanyang. And the Lu sisters knew it too — that’s why their whole aim was to secure Cui Jingyu. Now that Cui Jingyu has severed ties with them, do they still have the nerve to keep pressing? As for Qinglan and Cui Jingyu — they’re a pair of fateful enemies from a past life. What is this severance? They broke off the engagement four years ago — how is that different from severance? As long as the feeling isn’t gone and the thread isn’t cut, there will be opportunities to turn things around. And once they reconcile, will anyone actually come forward to blame them for not honoring a ‘severance’?”
“All very well in theory, but they’re in this state right now — can’t even exchange three sentences. How would they ever turn things around?” Shen Biwei said.
“Which is exactly why I say you don’t understand love. Look at the operas — do the people who say the most have the deepest feelings? If the feeling is real, even a glance is enough. All we need to do is keep arranging chances for them to be together. Cui’s estate and our family have severed ties — but they haven’t severed ties with your family. Have Sister Han hold a little gathering sometime, invite them both — neither will refuse to go, and once they’re there, can they really just turn and run?” Lingbo was, in truth, speaking from no experience of love herself — otherwise she wouldn’t have been so at a loss about how to advise A’Cuo. But in front of Shen Biwei, she held forth with great conviction.
Shen Biwei sat bolt upright.
“Ha! I knew it — you and my sister-in-law have been cooking something up together! You’re trying to retie the red thread, aren’t you?”
Ye Lingbo sat up and clapped her hand over Shen Biwei’s mouth.
“Keep your voice down — Sister Qinglan can’t hear.” She pressed on her in a low, urgent warning. “And I’m telling you, this whole scheme is mine alone. No one is allowed to interfere. I didn’t even let Sister Han get involved…”
Shen Biwei just lay there laughing lazily.
“Didn’t let her get involved, but you did use her to send me away, didn’t you…”
She had hit the mark. Lingbo laughed despite herself and made to pinch her. Shen Biwei was unconcerned. With one hand she caught both of Lingbo’s, and Lingbo couldn’t overpower her. So she could only issue a warning: “I’m angry now.”
“And you have the nerve to be angry? You ran circles around me and around Sister Qinglan both, and now I’m going to go tell her, and then we’ll see if she doesn’t give you a good scolding.”
“You wouldn’t dare.” Lingbo knew she was just teasing, and immediately softened her tone again. “Stop making trouble. You know how important this is to me. If you’re not going to help, the least you can do is not get in the way…”
“You do something devious, and you want me not just to stand aside but to help you play Sister Qinglan?” Shen Biwei asked.
Ye Lingbo raised an eyebrow.
“Fine, put it that way if you like. So nothing is done. Then what? It will only be the same as these last four years. Qinglan, a tiger fallen to the plains getting baited by dogs. She’s twenty-four now — what about at thirty-four? Forty-four? Even if we can protect her, all her talent and capability will come to nothing. Don’t you think that’s a waste?”
“Sister Qinglan lives by a gentleman’s virtue. She doesn’t care about any of that. A sword grows sharp through hardship; plum blossoms bloom more beautifully after bitter cold — she raised you on those sayings. Why do you feel entitled to make her choices for her?” Shen Biwei frowned.
“I am going to make them for her.” Lingbo was equally stubborn, and in the snow-reflected light her face carried a particular glow of fierce conviction. “What gentleman’s virtue — those rules were made for men to follow. Never mind that those at the top of the court today are no gentlemen either. Even if one is a gentleman — what then? Jiang Taigong rose to prominence at eighty. Qinglan is twenty-four and people already mock her for not being married. In this world, the path left for women is so narrow, so treacherous. If Qinglan lives her whole life as a gentleman, who will reward her with a fulfilled and happy ending? Why should Lu Wanyang and Lu Wenyin be able to scheme and plot their way to wealth and name, while Qinglan deserves only to be pitied? I intend to turn that around. Never mind love — just speaking practically. When Cui Jingyu was from a declining family, who noticed him? It was Qinglan who accepted the engagement. Now that he’s made Marquis, everyone in the capital is fighting over him, and Qinglan has become the one blamed for breaking off the engagement? Where is the fairness in that?”
Shen Biwei listened, and laughed.
So what if he’s made Marquis? She was the only surviving descendant of a Duke in the capital. Her father, Administrator Shen, held a second-rank post and led the civil officials. When Lingbo said these things, others might hear it as crude scheming. She only found it funny.
“But doesn’t it all come back to that one thing?” She reminded Lingbo. “They ended the engagement. No matter how you plan, you can’t get around that fact…”
Lingbo frowned with frustration.
“Do you think I don’t know? I’m just taking it one step at a time — first clear out the external threats, then look for an opportunity. It’s just that Qinglan won’t breathe a word about it, and we were all young then, knew nothing, only knew that the engagement had been broken. I wonder…” Her eyes lit up: “Would Yang Niangzi know the reason? Or perhaps the old lady’s side of the family knows? I have a feeling that if we can find out why the engagement was broken, that knot between the two of them could finally be untied…”
She was still deep in her scheming when a stir broke out outside. Xiao Liu’er, who had been keeping watch at the door, called out “Young miss cousin,” which was her way of giving warning. Sure enough, A’Cuo came rushing in a moment later.
“Sister Lingbo, how are you? Are you hurt? Was it Lu Wenyin who bullied you?” She ran in, anxious and urgent. The moment she saw Lingbo and Shen Biwei curled up on the couch, she came flying over to check. Yang Niangzi followed behind her, smiling, and explained to Lingbo: “Liu Ji brought the news back. The eldest young miss, worrying that the young miss cousin would be anxious, told the young miss cousin to follow me to learn about taking stock of the New Year goods and managing the kitchen — she diverted her away. She only just found out, and came running straight over…”
Lingbo naturally smiled and reassured A’Cuo, told her she was all right, and gave her a rough account of what had happened. But A’Cuo always took things heavily. Her expression darkened at once; she was probably developing a renewed hatred for the Lu sisters. Fortunately Qinglan came in just then, and Yang Niangzi called for the evening meal to be brought. The subject changed of its own accord.
A’Cuo had a heavy heart, and Qinglan was still in a daze over the severance with Cui Jingyu. So once Lingbo had seen Shen Biwei off — along with two pointed warning looks — she came back and faked a mild chill. Not too convincingly — with how protectively Qinglan guarded her cubs, if she were actually ill, Qinglan would blame Cui Jingyu again. But enough to give them something to fuss over, so they could bustle around her without having to think of anything else.
Of them all, Yanyan was the most simple-hearted and actually believed it. She even brought out her treasured Langmei fruit to give to Lingbo, and was thoroughly obedient and good-natured about it, which made even Lingbo laugh. “Now you know how to be kind to your sister — you’re usually such a handful.”
After all the commotion, by evening Lingbo was genuinely tired. A’Cuo and Yanyan were competing to stay the night and both refused to leave her bed. Lingbo could not play favorites, so she coaxed them both to sleep, then got up intending to find something to read before bed — and found Qinglan sitting in the outer warm pavilion, embroidering a piece of silk.
One glance told Lingbo it was fabric being made into clothes for her. Her looks being what they were, clothes were always a challenge — not too bright, not too plain, colors carefully chosen. She was nothing like Qinglan, who could wear almost anything except what was too vivid. Lingbo suited pale colors best; the West-Lake green Qinglan had in her hands right now, for instance, was just right. The embroidery too had to be precisely right — white thread was too flat, silver thread too bright. Qinglan had split silver thread fine and was embroidering a cracked-ice plum blossom pattern — the most elegant effect, and the most taxing on the eyes.
“Why are you up?” Qinglan asked. “You should rest quietly when you’ve caught a chill. I’ve had Yang Niangzi put ginger broth on the stove. Drink some and then sleep.”
Lingbo felt a twinge of guilt. However firmly she defended herself in front of Shen Biwei, in front of Qinglan she always felt a little uneasy. However fixed her resolve to keep tying that red thread, she didn’t truly know what lay ahead. It was only an instinctive conviction that she could not let go of Cui Jingyu like this.
Without quite meaning to, she walked over to Qinglan’s side and leaned her head against her shoulder. Qinglan took it for sleepiness and touched her forehead gently. “What’s the matter?”
Lingbo said nothing. She simply reached up and put her arms around her. Qinglan, patient as ever, let herself be held. Then she heard Lingbo’s muffled voice ask: “Sister, no matter what I do — you’ll forgive me, won’t you?”
It was no wonder Cui Jingyu was frustrated with her. Qinglan had a blind spot — Lingbo had already grown into someone capable of outmaneuvering the entire Lu household and leaving them without a word of complaint, yet in Qinglan’s eyes, she was still the gentle, harmless little sister who needed protecting.
“Why do you suddenly say that?” She laughed softly and stroked Lingbo’s hair, smoothing it into place.
“Never mind why — just answer me first.”
Qinglan took her for feeling unwell and being soft and clingy, and said with a smile, “Of course. As long as it’s nothing terribly, dreadfully wrong, I will always forgive you.”
“And if it is terribly, dreadfully wrong?” Lingbo pressed.
Qinglan thought for a moment, and smiled again.
“Then it would be up to me to bear the consequences, wouldn’t it? After all, I’m the one who raised Lingbo to be who she is, am I not?” She teased: “Besides, my Lingbo isn’t the sort to do anything truly terrible. At worst you’re a little competitive and proud. What trouble could you possibly cause? Don’t worry — I’m here for everything.”
Lingbo buried her face in her shoulder. Wave after wave of feeling washed through her. But her heart grew iron-hard, like it had swallowed a great stone.
Let the scheming come. Let it be ungentlemanly. This Qinglan — such a Qinglan — deserved the very best the world had to offer. So Lingbo would spend herself entirely, down to her last resource, if it meant retying that thread.
The most accomplished young miss in the capital deserved the finest prize of the Flower Selection Banquet — Cui Jingyu himself. No one deserved more than Qinglan the radiant, fulfilled, happy ending of the story, the one wrapped in flowers and light.