That evening, Old Madam Guo and Zhou Shaojin slept on the lacquered canopy bed in the inner chamber. Separated by a screen was the daybed where Song Sen slept.

Song Sen’s wet nurse sat before the bed coaxing him to sleep.

However, he tossed and turned restlessly, clinging to the screen and peering inside.

Old Madam Guo frowned.

Zhou Shaojin said gently, “Let me go coax him. You should rest early—tomorrow morning Old Madam Zong will be coming to pay her respects to you!”

Old Madam Guo had been prone to worry and poor sleep since her youth. How could she possibly feel sleepy now? She sighed and said, “Don’t mind him, just rest yourself. If he cries and fusses, his wet nurse will naturally take care of him.”

Though these words made sense, if Song Sen started crying and making a fuss, it would be Old Madam Guo who couldn’t sleep well.

Zhou Shaojin smiled and said, “I’ll just go take a look and come right back. This child seemed fine earlier but suddenly became difficult during dinner. Perhaps he just needs to be handled the right way. If the child is obedient, that’s one thing, but if he’s not, I won’t indulge him either.”

Otherwise, wouldn’t she be failing Old Madam Guo’s protective intentions?

Old Madam Guo didn’t approve.

Biyu, who was keeping night watch, gave Zhou Shaojin a meaningful look.

Zhou Shaojin pretended to drink tea and walked over.

Biyu whispered quietly, “If you can coax that child, please do! Old Madam has always had trouble sleeping.”

Zhou Shaojin understood. After drinking her tea, she tucked in the corners of Old Madam Guo’s quilt and insisted on going to check on Song Sen.

Old Madam Guo couldn’t forcibly stop her and had to let her go.

Seeing Zhou Shaojin approach, Song Sen was so delighted he scratched his ears and cheeks, pulling Zhou Shaojin’s hand and saying, “Sister, you’re so beautiful! Do you have a younger sister? Could you let your sister come home with me? I’ll treat her really well!”

Zhou Shaojin smiled and patted his head, saying, “I don’t have a younger sister, only an older sister.”

Song Sen was very disappointed and said, “I have many older sisters too, but not one is as beautiful as Sister Zhou. Are you going back to Jinling tomorrow? I still have to go to Haining with my grandfather. Sister, will you ever go to the capital? My family lives beside Di’anmen, fifth house from the east on the fourth alley. Sister, if you go to the capital, you can come find me to play. If you encounter any difficulties, you can also come find me.”

Zhou Shaojin smiled and agreed, “Alright,” then said, “Hurry and sleep now! Tomorrow you still have to return to the city!”

Song Sen nodded obediently, as docile as a little girl, without any trace of his earlier unreasonable rudeness.

Song Sen’s wet nurse said quietly, “Normally Fifth Young Master is very obedient. He just likes Second Cousin Miss too much.”

Zhou Shaojin merely smiled without speaking.

The room grew quiet.

Just when Zhou Shaojin thought Song Sen had fallen asleep and was preparing to leave, Song Sen suddenly opened his eyes again and called out “Sister” to Zhou Shaojin.

Zhou Shaojin smiled and said, “What is it?”

Song Sen said, “Sister, are you betrothed to anyone?”

Zhou Shaojin’s face reddened slightly as she said, “Little children shouldn’t speak carelessly.”

“I’m not speaking carelessly,” Song Sen pouted, saying unhappily. “My eldest brother is about to marry a sister-in-law. My father wants him to marry the niece of the late First Madam, but my brother is unwilling. He came to ask my mother, but she didn’t dare speak to my father. Sister Zhou, my brother is also very handsome. My third cousin really wants to marry my eldest brother, but I don’t like her. When no one’s around, she always has a stern face, looking like everyone owes her money. I told my mother, and she didn’t want her to marry my eldest brother anymore. You should marry my brother! Then you could come back to the capital with me. My mother is very kind. Our family has no girls. My mother often says she wants to give me a younger sister. I don’t want a sister, I want Sister Zhou…”

Zhou Shaojin didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. She patted him gently and said, “Alright, alright. Go to sleep now! We can talk about these things later.”

Song Sen climbed out from under the quilt dissatisfied, his small face tense, and said, “Sister Zhou, will you come back to the capital with me or not?”

“I cannot go back to the capital with you,” Zhou Shaojin said. Seeing the child was fixated on this matter, she spoke seriously with him, “I have parents and family, so naturally I should be with them. As for going to your home, I grew up in Jinling, all my relatives are in Jinling, and I have no plans to go to the capital. I appreciate your kind intentions.”

Adults always think children are young and usually don’t take their questions seriously—either being dismissive or perfunctory. Very few people spoke to Song Sen the way Zhou Shaojin did, treating him like an adult.

Though Song Sen felt sad hearing this, he also felt her words made sense and couldn’t throw a tantrum.

“Really can’t go?” he asked, unwilling to give up.

“Really can’t go!” Zhou Shaojin said very seriously. “Think about it—if someone liked you and felt they could provide you with fine clothes and precious food, so they took you away from your mother’s side and made it so you could hardly ever see your parents and brothers again, would you go with that person for the sake of fine clothes and precious food?”

“Of course not,” Song Sen said without hesitation.

“You wouldn’t either!” Zhou Shaojin smiled. “No matter how good your family is, if it means being far from my parents and sister, I wouldn’t think it was good!”

Song Sen fell silent.

Zhou Shaojin smiled and tucked him back into the quilt: “Go to sleep quickly! Stop thinking such wild thoughts. If you miss me, you can have your grandfather take you to Jinling to see me!”

“Yes, yes!” Song Sen’s face lit up. He extended his finger to make a pinky promise with Zhou Shaojin, “…mustn’t go back on it for a hundred years.”

“Alright!” Zhou Shaojin made the pinky promise with Song Sen.

Song Sen fell asleep peacefully.

Behind the screen, Old Madam Guo heard their whispered conversation and couldn’t help smiling with relief. She turned on her side and smiled as she fell asleep.

The next morning, Madam Song was so mortified by her son’s shameful behavior that she tossed and turned like a pancake all night without sleeping. As soon as day broke, she got dressed and paced around her room. She finally waited until the morning glow colored the sky red before heading to Old Madam Guo’s quarters with dark circles under her eyes.

Everyone in the main hall had already washed and dressed. Old Madam Guo wore a lake-colored silk jacket embroidered with yellow wisteria and four-season peace patterns. Her graying hair was neatly coiled at the back of her head. She looked refreshed and was having her morning meal. Song Sen wore a dark brocade red straight robe with a cloth belt of the same color around his waist, from which hung two or three pouches. Like a little adult, he sat on an embroidered stool below Old Madam Guo’s seat, being fed breakfast by Zhou Shaojin.

Seeing his mother, he swallowed the food in his mouth before jumping down from the stool and respectfully bowing to his mother and wishing her good morning.

Madam Song was somewhat stunned.

Her usually obedient and sensible son had suddenly acted as if possessed, crying and making a fuss, insisting on sleeping with Zhou Shaojin whom he’d only met once. She’d worried all night long, and now seeing her son again, he seemed to have had a calming spell cast on him and had suddenly returned to his original self.

Had she been bewitched, or had her son been possessed by something?

She opened her mouth wide and stammered, “You, you’re better?” After speaking, her eyes reddened and she hugged her son tightly, choking up as she said, “Brother Sen, are you alright now? You frightened Mother so much yesterday…”

“Mother, I’m fine,” Song Sen said, showing a happy yet somewhat proud smile. “Sister Zhou promised me that if she goes to the capital, she’ll come find me to play, and if I have time, I can also go to Jinling with Grandfather to see Sister Zhou.”

Madam Song’s face flushed bright red.

Even now, her son was still bothering Miss Zhou.

“Old Madam, Second Cousin Miss,” she said, lowering her head in embarrassment. “Children don’t understand propriety. Please don’t take it to heart.”

Old Madam Guo chuckled and said, “You yourself said he’s a child—how could we hold it against him? Haven’t you had breakfast yet? The kitchen made soup dumplings this morning. They taste quite good. Have some too!”

Only then did Madam Song realize she was hungry. She thanked them somewhat embarrassedly and sat down to have breakfast with Old Madam Guo.

Not long after breakfast, Cheng Chi, Song Min, and the others returned.

Old Madam Guo quickly urged Nanny Lu to go inquire.

However, Zhou Shaojin uncharacteristically stopped Nanny Lu, saying, “Nanny, also ask whether Fourth Master and Old Master Song have had breakfast. If they haven’t, please tell the kitchen.”

Nanny Lu looked toward Old Madam Guo.

Old Madam Guo nodded and said, “Second girl is very thoughtful. Remember to first ask whether Si Lang and Old Master Song have had breakfast.”

Nanny Lu respectfully smiled and agreed, then went to the outer courtyard.

Before long, she returned and reported, “Fourth Master and Old Master Song and the others have already had breakfast. Fourth Master said that he and Old Master Song have matters to attend to this morning. After lunch, Old Master Song will return to the city. He asks that you keep Madam Song company for a while.”

In other words, this Song Sen would be lingering at their home for half the day!

Zhou Shaojin was a bit afraid of this child’s persistence.

She asked, “Do you know what Fourth Master and Old Master Song are going to do?”

Nanny Lu smiled and said, “Fourth Master hired a boat. He said he and Old Master Song are going to the middle of the Qiantang River to measure some water depth, which will take half a day.”

This must certainly be her father-in-law’s idea.

At this moment, Madam Song wished she could disappear.

However, Zhou Shaojin breathed a sigh of relief and said, “Just nearby, that’s good…” She had originally wanted to have Nanny Lu run an errand, but thinking of how she had somewhat overstepped by having Nanny Lu relay a message to Cheng Chi in her urgency earlier, she decided to have Chun Wan run errands for her instead.

Old Madam Guo was thinking along the same lines as Zhou Shaojin.

She invited Madam Song to meet the Zong family womenfolk together with her.

How could Madam Song have the face to continue staying here? She quickly said, “I didn’t sleep all night yesterday, fearing Brother Sen would cause you trouble. I won’t accompany you around the courtyard. I’ll take Brother Sen back and have a talk with him.”

Old Madam Guo didn’t insist, and Song Sen didn’t cry and fuss like yesterday either. After paying his respects to Old Madam Guo and Zhou Shaojin, he followed Madam Song back to the guest wing room.

At the beginning of the hour of the Snake, the Zong family members arrived as agreed.

Zhou Shaojin quietly instructed Chun Wan, “Have the kitchen prepare some tea and refreshments to send to Uncle Chi and Old Master Song. I see that Old Master Song is someone who loves tea. They’ll be on the boat all morning, so they’ll certainly drink tea together.”

Chun Wan went to the kitchen. There happened to be dishes and snacks prepared in advance for entertaining the Zong family womenfolk. Chun Wan packed some to be sent to the Qiantang River bank, then went to report back to Zhou Shaojin.

Old Madam Zong had brought seven or eight women with her—some in their early thirties, some twenty-four or twenty-five, and two young ladies, one eighteen years old and one fifteen. Moreover, each had prepared very expensive meeting gifts for her. Zhou Shaojin was busy trying to remember everyone. Hearing this, she only managed to spare a moment to say “Mm” and quickly put the matter out of her mind.