Xiang Xiu cast a nervous glance back at the room, then had no choice but to follow Shi Ting.

They came to a small side room. Shi Ting sat down, his gaze not directed at her. “Speak. What exactly happened?”

Xiang Xiu dared not conceal anything now. “The Wang Manor is holding a celebration, and the First Madam came to Second Mistress to ask for the gift register.”

“Isn’t the gift register kept by Third Mistress?”

The Shi family’s gift register was a ledger of social obligations — it recorded every red or white occasion and the amounts given by each household. When someone else’s family held an event, one would consult the register to know what amount to return. If someone had once given a hundred silver yuan, one could not return with only fifty.

For a great household like the Shi family, matters of face and social reputation were paramount. Any misstep in such obligations — giving too much was tolerable, but giving too little would invite mockery on all sides.

“The register was originally with Third Mistress, but with the new year approaching and the inner household affairs growing numerous and complicated, First Madam had Third Mistress take on other duties and transferred the register into Second Mistress’s care. Yesterday, when Wang Adjutant’s son held his one-month celebration, First Madam asked Second Mistress to find the register and look up how much the Shi family should gift to the Wang family. But… but the register couldn’t be found.”

Shi Ting’s brow furrowed. “It couldn’t be found?”

The register contained a record of every large and small social obligation the Shi family had maintained over nearly ten years. If it were lost, how would the family determine the appropriate gift amounts going forward — how would they know whether they were giving too much or too little? That ledger, which might appear insignificant, was in fact bound up with matters of reputation and human relationships. Once lost, the consequences were no trivial matter.

“Second Mistress had always kept the gift register in the cabinet. The cabinet was even locked. There’s simply no knowing how it came to be missing.”

“How many keys are there?”

“Two keys — one with Second Mistress, and one with me.”

As Xiang Xiu spoke, Shi Ting’s gaze cut toward her like a blade. She was so startled that she dropped to her knees on the spot. “Seventh Young Master, even if I were given a hundred times my courage, I would never betray Second Mistress. When I was first in this household, I was just a kitchen girl tending the fire. I offended the kitchen steward and was being punished and scolded, and the steward was even going to sell me off. If Second Mistress hadn’t intervened on my behalf and kept me by her side, where would Xiang Xiu be today? Second Mistress saved my life. I would sooner die than betray her.”

Seeing her trembling on her knees, Shi Ting slowly withdrew his gaze, and his expression gradually returned to its composed neutrality.

He had once heard Luo Huaimeng speak of how fiercely loyal Xiang Xiu was to her. Someone had once tried to bribe her with an enormous sum — and she had refused. But this was something Luo Huaimeng had discovered herself; Xiang Xiu had never brought it up to her directly.

“You may rise.” Shi Ting said evenly. “Who else knew that you kept a spare key?”

“All the maids in the room knew.” Xiang Xiu did not dare stand. “I always keep the key on my person. I’ve never lost it.”

“And when you sleep?”

Xiang Xiu’s face colored slightly. “When I sleep, naturally I take it off. But I always put it somewhere secure, and I’ve never told anyone where.”

There were seven or eight maids in Luo Huaimeng’s courtyard, along with several servants. Bribing one of them to secretly copy a key was not at all difficult.

“And then?” Shi Ting steadied his composure.

“Then First Madam flew into a rage and ordered Second Mistress to go outside and kneel. She had barely been kneeling for any time at all when it began to snow. What started as light snow grew heavier and heavier. I tried to help Second Mistress up, but First Madam’s people slapped me twice across the face, saying that without First Madam’s order, no one was to let Second Mistress rise.”

In the Shi Mansion, Madam Shi held firm control over the inner household. The Marshal rarely involved himself in matters between the mistresses and concubines. In daily life, Madam Shi treated the two concubines with considerable courtesy — but when the time came to punish, she had every right to do so. Third Mistress Du Linghua was favored, and Madam Shi dared not vent her anger on her. But this Second Mistress, having once been her own maidservant, was someone Madam Shi not only disciplined with the authority of a household mistress, but still regarded deep down as a servant she could beat and scold at will.

And Luo Huaimeng bore everything submissively, showing Madam Shi nothing but deference — perhaps because the nature formed in years of servitude did not change simply by becoming a concubine.

“So Mother just… knelt there the entire time?”

Xiang Xiu’s eyes reddened. “Second Mistress knelt in the snow for three full hours. The snow had risen past her knees. Even so, First Madam would not give the order to let her return. It was only when Second Mistress collapsed from her old illness that First Madam had her carried back. She called a doctor in haphazardly, had a few doses of medicine prescribed, and considered it done.”

“And the Marshal?”

“The Marshal’s health has improved these past few days, and he has been staying at the Blue Brick Building. He hasn’t been back in quite some time.”

The Blue Brick Building was what the Marshal’s administrative office building was commonly called — it had been built from gray stone and red brick, hence the name.

Xiang Xiu stole a glance at Shi Ting. His face held no expression, but his eyes were like a deep, still pool — unreadable.

“This register — there’s only the one copy?”

Xiang Xiu nodded.

“I understand. You may go. Take good care of Mother.”

Xiang Xiu quickly bowed her head. “Yes.”

After Xiang Xiu left, Shi Ting poured himself a cup of tea. He did not bring it to his lips, however — he simply held it.

On the surface, Madam Shi had punished Second Mistress over the missing register.

But how was it that the register had gone missing at precisely this moment, and not before or after?

What Madam Shi truly wished to scheme against was Shi Ting.

She had deliberately forced Second Mistress to kneel in the snow until her old illness flared — knowing that when Shi Ting returned to Shun Cheng and saw his mother gravely ill, he would be sure to investigate the matter. If Shi Ting could not swallow this grievance and went to confront Madam Shi, she would then use the occasion to charge him with insubordination toward the household mistress and saddle him with a reputation for being disrespectful and unfilial. In this age when filial piety was held above all other virtues, a woman’s honor rested on her name and a man’s on his reputation for filial duty.

Shi Ting had returned from Taishan having successfully completed the Marshal’s assignment and made a new ally in Li Yongqi. Word of this had surely already reached the Shi Mansion. If Shi Ting were allowed to go on accumulating such glory unchecked, Shi Qian and Shi Guang’s positions would be increasingly precarious. Madam Shi could not interfere in military and political matters, but within this inner household, she still held complete command.

Madam Shi waited in her own courtyard. Toward evening, a maid came to report that Seventh Young Master had come.

Madam Shi seemed to have expected it. She instructed the maid: “Tell him I’ve retired for the night.”

The maid acknowledged and turned to leave.

Madam Shi had not actually retired. She had only used that as a pretext to deliberately bar Shi Ting from her door. She could well imagine what Shi Ting’s reaction would be — unable to give vent to his fury, turned away at her gate — and whether his next move would be to come and pound at the door.

But there was no pounding. Instead, the maid came back in.

“First Madam, Seventh Young Master heard that you had retired, asked a few questions about your health, and then asked me to pass these along to you.”

What the maid carried must have been gifts that Shi Ting had brought back from Taishan.

Madam Shi’s brow creased. “He showed no signs of displeasure?”

“None at all.” The maid shook her head. “Just as usual.”

Shi Ting was always reserved, rarely showing warmth toward anyone, his expression cool toward all. The entire Shi household had grown accustomed to it.

Madam Shi reclined on her daybed, turning a strand of prayer beads between her fingers. “He really can keep a lid on himself. No matter — even if he doesn’t come to make a scene now, when the Marshal returns and learns of the lost register, he’ll deal with Luo Huaimeng. Luo Huaimeng is Shi Ting’s mother, and it wouldn’t be strange if the Marshal’s anger spilled over onto Shi Ting as well.”

Whatever path things took, she was determined to make this mother and son suffer.

—

The following day, Yan Qing was in her room playing with Erdan when Jing Zhi came in. “Miss, Di Huai is back.”

Di Huai entered and bowed. “Miss, I have looked into the matter you asked me about.”

Yan Qing’s expression grew serious. She set Erdan back in its new little nest.

Di Huai said: “Second Mistress of the Shi household lost the gift register and was punished by First Madam. Her old illness flared and she is still confined to bed.”

That Luo Huaimeng had long suffered from heart disease was something Yan Qing already knew. Shi Ting had often come to the Yan Mansion for medicine, and she had asked her father about it. Her father said that Luo Huaimeng’s illness was a long-standing condition with no cure, but with consistent medication it could be kept from flaring.

“First Madam is simply too much. Knowing perfectly well that Director Shi’s mother has an illness, she still made her kneel in the snow. If something were to happen to her, would Director Shi not fight her to the death?”

“That may well be her intention.” Yan Qing took a sip of tea, her gaze distant and thoughtful. “Punishing Second Mistress was to vent her anger — the true purpose is to provoke Shi Ting. This time he went to Taishan and not only completed the task the Marshal assigned, but cleared Li Yongqi’s son of wrongdoing. The Marshal will certainly commend him when he hears of it. How could Madam Shi stand by and do nothing while he received such special regard from the Marshal? Shi Ting has always been filial, which is precisely why Madam Shi chose to strike at him through Second Mistress. Just consider this — if the Marshal returns to find him at open war with Madam Shi, would the Marshal be pleased? That good impression from the Taishan mission would likely be overshadowed, because it was Second Mistress who committed an error first. The gift register is no small thing within the inner household — it is bound up with the face of the entire Shi family.”

Jing Zhi and Di Huai listened with growing concern. “Then what is to be done?”

“Did Shi Ting not confront Madam Shi?” Yan Qing did not answer the question directly, but turned instead to ask Di Huai.

Di Huai nodded. “Word is that Director Shi not only refrained from confronting First Madam — he went personally to pay his respects to her. It was just that First Madam was said to be resting and did not receive him.”

Yan Qing smiled faintly. She knew Shi Ting had always been able to hold himself steady. Whatever the other side had anticipated, he was not one to have missed it.

What mattered most right now was not trading blows with Madam Shi in anger, but finding a way to remedy the matter of Second Mistress losing the gift register. Otherwise, when the Marshal returned and held someone accountable, it would be more than Second Mistress could bear.