“Mother, when can we go home?” The little girl lay in her blankets, clutching them as she asked.

Li Zhenzhen stroked her head and said: “Soon.”

The little girl was her daughter with Huo Jiu, whose nickname was Nan’nan.

Li Zhenzhen was not particularly attractive in appearance, but Huo Jiu was a handsome man. When their daughter was born and took after Huo Jiu in looks, Li Zhenzhen let out a great sigh of relief.

Nan’nan asked again: “And where is Father? Where has Father gone?”

Li Zhenzhen’s eyes dimmed. She coaxed the child: “Father has gone to do important things.”

Nan’nan asked: “When will he come back?”

Li Zhenzhen had no answer to give.

Since the day of the upheaval, Li Zhenzhen had not seen Huo Jiu again. But a single sentence spoken by the man assigned to guard her had made it clear — her husband had betrayed her and sided with Li Erlang.

Li Zhenzhen did not know how much Huo Jiu had been involved in Li Ming’s death. She only knew that Huo Jiu deserved to die.

Li Zhenzhen gritted her teeth fiercely and swallowed every curse she might have hurled at him. She coaxed and soothed her daughter gently until she finally got her to sleep.

But Li Zhenzhen had no intention of sleeping herself, nor could she have slept.

She went to sit in the outer room. This courtyard was the inner chamber from her unmarried days — Li Ming had had only her as a daughter, and though she had been wed, this place had been left entirely unchanged for her to stay in when she came home. She had moved freely between her father’s household and her husband’s, as casually as if dropping in on a neighbor.

On the table sat a sewing basket with needlework inside — a child’s garment, unfinished.

It had been started by a beloved maid of hers, meant as a gift for Nan’nan. She had barely begun it. This maid had been a house-born servant who could not yet walk steadily when she followed Li Zhenzhen to the Huo household, and had grown to the age of sixteen in her presence, blossoming into a genuine beauty — nimble-handed and sweet-natured, and very dear to Li Zhenzhen’s heart.

Li Zhenzhen had in fact known that Huo Jiu wanted this maid, but he had not had the courage to ask for her, and so Li Zhenzhen had pretended not to notice.

After the upheaval, a few days later, Huo Jiu had her summoned away to serve him, and she had never been allowed to return. Thinking of how he had once coveted her beloved maid and yet had been too craven to say so — Li Zhenzhen wanted to sneer coldly.

Since the upheaval, more than two months had passed. There had once been the sound of killing that shook the entire estate, and the soldiers guarding her courtyard gate had been rotated out for a new group. Her maid had gone to ask — they were only told these were men of Li’s army.

But Li Erlang’s men were also men of Li’s army. Li Silang’s men were also men of Li’s army. Every soldier in Hexi bore the name of Li’s army.

And yet not one person had come to see her — to tell her what had actually happened. Who had won, who had been killed? And now, what was the situation?

Each of the twelve tigers had his own forces, each had taken his side. The situation was impossible to predict, and Li Zhenzhen had no way of knowing who would emerge victorious in the end, or how the eventual winner would deal with her.

But Li Zhenzhen knew that these men had more pressing matters to attend to right now. By comparison, she was just a small woman of no great consequence.

She had been important once — because she was Li Ming’s daughter. Now that her father was gone, she was no longer important.

Li Zhenzhen did not make a scene or a fuss. She picked up the unfinished child’s garment from the basket and continued to sew. These days, she had been passing her time exactly this way — stitch by quiet stitch.

Only the maid’s opening stitches were fine and close. Her own, by contrast, were clumsy and lopsided, uneven and crooked.

But then a sudden sound broke the stillness that had prevailed in the courtyard for more than two months.

Li Zhenzhen’s needle stopped. Who could this be?

She heard a familiar voice ask: “Is Elder Sister asleep?”

Shiyi Lang!

Li Gu walked into the room and saw Li Zhenzhen’s back — she sat at the table, head lowered, working at her needlework.

This elder sister of his, the eldest daughter of the Hexi Military Governor’s household — when had she ever applied herself so earnestly to needlework? She was someone who couldn’t even sew a proper sachet.

He called to her softly: “Elder Sister.”

Li Zhenzhen did not turn around. She only said: “You’ve come.”

Li Gu walked to the table and asked: “Where is Nan’nan?”

Li Zhenzhen said: “Asleep.”

Li Gu sat down at the table.

Li Zhenzhen kept her head low over the needlework, as though he did not exist.

The room fell into complete silence.

“Elder Sister,” Li Gu spoke at last after a long silence. “Father is gone.”

Li Zhenzhen had long since known this terrible news, and yet she had not been permitted to leave this courtyard even one step, not to see her father one last time. Hearing Li Gu confirm it now, she bit down hard, and tears fell onto the small garment, blossoming into dark spots.

“And Fourth Brother?” she asked.

Li Gu said: “Dead.”

Li Zhenzhen’s needle lurched, and blood welled from her fingertip. She brought it to her lips and clenched down hard, her mouth filled with the sweet iron taste of blood.

After a moment, she finally asked: “Li Er and Huo Jiu?”

Li Gu said: “Both have been put to death.”

Li Zhenzhen finally turned to look at this adopted younger brother of hers.

His face was young and handsome — but his eyes were shot through with red, dark shadows lay beneath them, and his brow bore unmistakable exhaustion.

Li Zhenzhen said: “I want to know the full truth.”

Li Gu looked at her for a moment, then told her: “Huo Jiu killed Father.”

Those words struck Li Zhenzhen like a hammer blow to the chest.

Li Gu said: “The Huo family had long been in collusion with Li Erlang — only Li Erlang could never quite bring himself to commit. Huo Jiu seized the opportunity and killed Father.”

Huo Jiu had been such a devoted son-in-law and husband, through and through — had anyone accused him of killing his father-in-law, no one would have believed it. The world would have assumed it was Li Erlang’s wolfish ambition that had killed Li Ming.

“With no way back, Li Erlang had no choice but to follow that one path to its end.”

“He had not intended to kill Fourth Brother. But Fourth Brother could not control his temper, and in an exchange of words, he insulted Li Erlang’s widowed mother. Li Erlang flew into a rage and struck him dead in the heat of the moment.”

“This affair was orchestrated from behind the scenes by the Huo and Wang families. The Southern Tower branch of the Li clan was also involved.”

“Third Brother, Sixth Brother, Ninth Brother, and Twelfth Brother all followed Li Erlang. Eldest Brother stood apart from it all, from start to finish.”

Li Zhenzhen’s teeth were on the verge of shattering. With blood still in her mouth, she asked: “Where are all these people now?”

Li Gu looked at her and said: “All of them have been killed.”

“Third Brother, Sixth Brother, Ninth Brother, and Twelfth Brother have all been executed.”

“Hexi is free of the Huo and Wang clans.”

“The Southern Tower branch has been wiped out entirely.”

“Li Erlang and Huo Jiu — death by dismemberment.”

“Father and Fourth Brother… may they rest in peace.”

Li Zhenzhen wept and laughed at the same time, slapping the table and crying out: “Excellent! Excellent! Excellent! Well done, Shiyi Lang! Well done!”

Li Gu watched her grief-stricken, frantic manner and was about to speak — when his gaze suddenly shifted past her to the inner room’s latticed door.

“Mother…” Nan’nan rubbed her eyes, murmuring drowsily, “Why is it so noisy…”

Li Zhenzhen did not want her daughter to see her tear-streaked face, and covered it with her sleeve: “It is nothing — go back to sleep!”

But Li Gu had already risen to his feet and walked over quickly, crouching down before the small girl. He asked: “Why is Nan’nan still not asleep?”

The little girl had been confined to this courtyard for over two months. Though she did not fully understand what had happened, she had sensed the tension in the air and the servants’ neglect, and had been frightened all the while. Seeing Li Gu now, she was both startled and overjoyed: “Uncle Shiyi!”

Li Gu patted her head: “Nan’nan has grown taller.”

Nan’nan asked: “Uncle Shiyi, why are your eyes so red?”

Li Gu said: “I have not slept in many days. I am tired.”

Nan’nan said: “Then you must go to sleep quickly.”

Li Gu said: “Little ones sleep first. Then the adults can sleep.”

Nan’nan said: “Then I will go to sleep now, and Uncle must also sleep quickly — tomorrow we can play together.”

Li Gu said: “Very well.”

Nan’nan went back to the inner room. Li Gu latched the latticed door and returned to the table.

Li Zhenzhen had already dried her face and was composed once more.

She asked: “What do you need me to do?”

Li Zhenzhen understood perfectly well — Li Gu had not come tonight simply to check on her.

He had come to announce her fate.

This fate required no agreement from her. He had already arranged it.

Li Gu raised his eyes to look at her.

This elder sister of his — the expression on her face bore both the grief of loss and the fierce satisfaction of vengeance fulfilled. It made her already plain features appear even more distorted.

She should not have looked this way. In the past, though she had been sharp-tongued and imperious, she had been a woman who could laugh freely and scold freely.

These women — none of them could decide their own fate.

Li Gu said: “Three days from now, Elder Sister and I will be wed.”

Li Zhenzhen looked at him and said: “Very well.”

Li Gu said: “Also wedding at the same time will be legitimate daughters of the Deng and Cui clans — equal wives, with no precedence among them.”

The Huo and Wang families were gone. The Deng and Cui clans were now the two greatest noble families in Hexi.

These great families had always held their noses high, looking down on upstarts like their own. Just two months ago, Li Zhenzhen had nearly worn her legs out trying to find a decent match for Li Gu. Even a girl from a second-tier family — an offshoot branch of modest means — had been obtained through Huo Jiu’s fourth sister-in-law’s family connections, and that girl’s relatives had still been disgruntled, feeling that Shiyi Lang’s origins were too low and that marrying into her family would be beneath her clan’s dignity.

Now, Hexi’s premier noble families were rushing to wed their legitimate daughters to Li Shiyi as equal wives.

Li Zhenzhen’s lips twitched and she said: “Very well.”

Li Gu looked at Li Zhenzhen and asked: “For Father and Fourth Brother, would you like heirs adopted?”

Without an heir to perform sacrifices after one’s death, there would be no one to offer incense — what was called “the family line extinguished.”

The Li family was not small in number, but Li Ming had not had a son of his own until middle age. In the years before that, because he was without a son yet held great power, certain members of the extended clan had inevitably entertained thoughts they ought not to have entertained.

A great deal of sordid business had occurred in between. The Li Dalang, Li Erlang, and Li Sanlang whom Li Ming had ultimately selected were not close relatives at all — they were distant kinsmen, connected by three or even five degrees of separation.

There had been no such thing as the Southern Tower branch of the Li clan before.

What was called “the Southern Tower” referred to the village where Li Erlang’s mother, Fang Shi, had her maiden home. After Li Erlang’s father died, his family’s property and fields were seized by their clansmen. His widowed mother took him back to her natal family and lived at their mercy.

When word reached her that Li Ming was searching the clan for a bright and capable young boy to take in and raise, she steeled herself and sent her son over, securing for Li Erlang this chance at a future.

Over the years, as Li Erlang’s power grew, even though the main family had long since restored the seized property and forced his uncle to kneel and offer groveling apologies to mother and son, he had no desire to draw close to the main family. He regarded Southern Tower as his true home.

Some of the Li clansmen who were connected to him by three or five degrees of kinship gradually gathered around him, and Southern Tower grew from a small village into an extensive settlement of connected clan households — giving rise to what was later called the Southern Tower branch of the Li clan.

Because the Southern Tower branch had been caught up in all of this, Li Gu had wiped them out entirely, leaving every other branch of the Li clan trembling with fear, no longer daring to entertain untoward thoughts.

Li Zhenzhen said: “Adopted heirs be damned.”

The root cause of today’s catastrophe, traced back to its source, was that Li Ming had been so long without a son, compelling him to take in Li Dalang, Li Erlang, and Li Sanlang to be groomed as potential heirs.

She said: “Nan’nan will take the surname Li from now on. When she grows up, we will bring in a husband for her to marry into our family. Father’s bloodline will not be severed.”

She said nothing of Fourth Brother, Li Qi.

Li Qi was not of the same mother as her. Had Li Qi been able to stand on his own, Li Erlang would not have grown so ambitious, and the Huo family — who had already married into her family — would not have felt the arrangement insufficient, and thus felt the need to make a further investment in Li Erlang’s future.

Li Gu said: “Very well.”

He raised his eyes and looked at Li Zhenzhen for a moment, then said: “From here on, I will treat you with the courtesy due a proper wife and regard you as my elder sister. Nan’nan is my niece, the same as if she were my own.”

Li Zhenzhen had nothing left now. Her appearance was not remarkable, and she harbored no illusion of marital harmony with Li Gu. What she sought at this moment was only that she and Nan’nan might find a secure footing in the world, and not be trampled underfoot by others.

For it was well known that when one falls from a height, those who once looked up at you and fawned over you are often the very ones most eager to kick you on the way down.

Li Zhenzhen said: “As long as you remember what you said today and look after Nan’nan, I, Li Zhenzhen, will do whatever you ask.”

Li Gu said: “Then the inner household — I entrust it to Elder Sister from now on.”

Li Zhenzhen said: “Very well.”

The tension finally left Li Gu’s shoulders. He let out a long, quiet breath. He reached for the teapot on the table — but found it empty.

“Elder Sister, give me some water,” he said, holding his cup. His voice was hoarse. “I am desperately thirsty.”

Since Li Ming’s death, Li Zhenzhen had been placed under a soft confinement. The personal maid who attended her had died, another had been taken away, and the household servants had grown slack and disrespectful toward her. How else would it be that the pot in the eldest daughter’s own room held no water?

Li Zhenzhen rose and went to the outer door.

Li Gu was the only person who had come to this courtyard in over two months with any real authority. The servants had already stirred when they heard movement inside, and were huddled in their outer garments, peeking through the doors and windows of the main room.

Seeing Li Zhenzhen emerge, the quickest of them hurried out the door to meet her, asking obsequiously: “What does the eldest young mistress need?”

Li Zhenzhen looked at them coldly and said: “Shiyi Lang wants water.”

“We will heat it at once, at once!” They scrambled off to the kitchen.

Li Zhenzhen stood wrapped in her outer robe in the courtyard, looking up at the sky. The deep autumn of Hexi carried a considerable chill. But the sky was extraordinarily clear, and the river of stars blazed brilliantly.

When she was small, sitting on her father’s shoulders, she had felt that she could reach the stars with a single outstretched hand. Now, looking up at them, she felt how high that sky truly was — utterly beyond her reach.

When the servant brought the hot water, Li Zhenzhen took it without a word and turned back inside.

The servants did not dare follow. They stood behind her, watching uneasily.

Li Zhenzhen returned to the main room — and to her surprise, found Li Gu slumped over the table with his eyes closed. He had fallen asleep.

His arm was resting on top of the small garment.

Li Zhenzhen set down the water kettle gently, and carefully drew the small garment out from under him. To her surprise, she found that the unfinished garment she had been unable to complete was now finished — the last few stitches had been sewn. Those final stitches, while not as fine as the careful work at the beginning, were neat and even, consistent in width, and far better than her own crooked, lopsided ones.

Li Zhenzhen recalled the time when Li Gu had first come to the Li household — he had been only twelve years old, and already taller than her by a full head and more. That slender boy had seemed capable of everything: he could chop firewood and cook, he could handle a spear or a blade, and even when his clothes tore, he could mend them himself.

Later, Li Zhenzhen had thrown out all those patched and re-patched worn garments of his, dressed him from head to toe in clean, fresh clothes, kept him in hot meals and warm soup, and looked after him in every way. After that, whenever that young man saw her, he would lower his head and call her “Elder Sister” without being told.

Li Zhenzhen looked at him for a long moment, then went to the inner room and brought out a thin blanket, which she draped over him. Li Gu’s brow furrowed slightly, but he did not open his eyes.

Everyone who lives must have some worth. Those without worth have no foundation upon which to stand in this world — they can only drift with the current and be trampled by others.

Li Zhenzhen’s mind was clear now, and she had come to a resolution.

If she wanted Nan’nan to have something to rely on in the future, from this day forward she would have to be the kind of woman in whose presence Li Shiyi Lang could sleep soundly.