Madam Feng became animated and nodded to the Second Mistress, saying: “Third Madam Cao isn’t a formal matchmaker. We’ll discuss this when they send someone to make a proper proposal. However, I should consult with Third Son about this matter. You go back and check the accounts first.” Her tone had softened considerably.

The Second Mistress sighed with relief and withdrew. At this moment, a young maid came to announce that Gu Lan had arrived to pay her respects.

When Gu Lan entered, her expression was extremely displeased. Jin Chao thought to herself that Gu Lan, now serving the Second Mistress, surely knew about Third Madam Cao’s visit. Having gone to such lengths to avoid marrying Mu Zhizhai, only to find herself being maneuvered toward this marriage again, how could she not be resentful? She was probably grinding her teeth in secret.

Both Madam Feng and the Second Mistress wanted Gu Lan to marry, regardless of who the groom might be, as long as it benefited the Gu family. And given Gu Lan’s personality, she certainly wouldn’t accept her fate passively. Jin Chao wondered what she would do.

With Gu Lan’s arrival, Jin Chao was relieved of her duties. Madam Feng directed Gu Lan to do this and that, not only serving tea, pouring water, massaging shoulders and legs, but even sending her to trim flower branches—such a trivial task. Gu Lan was utterly helpless but could only comply. Seeing Jin Chao idle nearby, Madam Feng smiled and said: “If you feel bored, go for a walk in the courtyard. Just return before lunch.”

By comparison, Madam Feng was quite gentle with her.

Jin Chao bowed and left through the covered corridor. By now, autumn was deepening; the cicadas had fallen silent, the lotus withered, and the distant woods were tinged with layers of red and yellow.

Jin Chao saw Gu Lan trimming the stems of crabapple blossoms. Mu Jin stood beside her but dared not help. In Shi’an, Gu Lan had been pampered since childhood, even more favored than Jin Chao, the eldest daughter. How could she be familiar with such tasks? Her slender, fair fingers tangled with the flower branches, and she accidentally pricked her hand on a crabapple thorn.

She cried out in pain and withdrew her hand, only to see Gu Jin Chao standing at the other end of the corridor watching her.

Gu Lan concealed her hand in her sleeve and smiled: “Why has Elder Sister come out… Could it be to laugh at me?”

Jin Chao slowly walked over and said gently: “What are you saying, Lan-er? Grandmother merely asked me to walk around. She said the East Side Compound has beautiful scenery… How could Elder Sister laugh at Second Sister?”

Gu Lan’s smile faded, and she replied calmly: “Elder Sister, my current situation is all thanks to you. Rest assured, I’ll remember your kindness firmly… and will certainly repay it someday.” Her voice lowered as she curtsied.

Jin Chao found it amusing: “Second Sister has such a habit of blaming everything on me. Did I ask you to come out and trim flower branches?”

Gu Lan said coldly: “If you hadn’t harmed my mother… I wouldn’t have fallen to this state!”

Jin Chao looked at her for a long while: “Lan-er, who harmed whom—you know clearly in your heart.” Gu Lan was always like this, forever believing herself right and that others owed her. Jin Chao felt sad for her with such a disposition.

After Jin Chao left with Qing Pu, Mu Jin said to Gu Lan: “Young Lady, what… shall we do in the future?”

Gu Lan recalled the series of events since moving to the ancestral home, and her fingers trembled with anger. She gritted her teeth and whispered: “They’re all just taking advantage because I have no support! Gu Jin Chao is also kicking me when I’m down!”

Mu Jin listened sadly, knowing the young lady’s difficult situation.

Gu Lan remembered the cold looks she received from the Second Mistress. Unlike Madam Feng, who made her do various tasks, Zhou Shi did the complete opposite. When Gu Lan sat with her, she had servants brew tea. Gu Lan drank that tea until it lost its color, and the day passed.

She returned to Yi Xiang Courtyard with a belly full of tea. Gu Xi had come to find Gu Yi, and the two sisters were chatting intimately, making the room lively. She sat alone in her room looking at two young maids who had just started wearing their hair up, with no one to vent her frustrations on!

Now… now the Mu family wanted to interfere again. Were there no other women in the world for him to marry? Why keep fixating on her? Thinking of this, Gu Lan understood how truly unworthy this Mu Zhizhai must be, and her heart grew colder!

She definitely couldn’t marry him. If she did, she would be ruined!

Gu Lan returned to Yi Xiang Courtyard only in the evening and again heard lively sounds coming from the west wing. She entered the east chamber alone, thinking of her mother who remained in Shi’an, having gone mad. She wondered if the people Jin Chao sent would treat her mother badly, and whether she had satin padded jackets to wear now that autumn had arrived… After dwelling on these thoughts, grief welled up in her heart. She hid under her quilt, crying softly, afraid the maids outside might hear.

Almost all her original maids had been sent away by Jin Chao, with only Mu Jin remaining. She couldn’t let them see her looking wrong now. Those maids already barely respected her; if they saw her like this, they would be even less inclined to obey her. After crying, Gu Lan wiped her tears and went to the study to write a letter to her maternal grandmother, Madam Song. Since her father had driven her grandmother away, she had been secretly corresponding with her.

Now that Concubine Song was in trouble, Madam Song couldn’t legitimately interfere in Gu’s family affairs, especially since her father had been so discourteous to her. Though Madam Song cherished her daughter and granddaughter, she had no way to help except to secretly send things to Gu Lan.

To whom could she speak of such grievances except her maternal grandmother?

In this letter, she particularly emphasized how the Gu family looked down on her, and how Madam Feng intended to have her marry Mu Zhizhai. When her grandmother heard this… surely she wouldn’t stand idly by!

After writing the letter, Gu Lan brought over a candlestick to seal it with wax.

She called Mu Jin in and whispered to her: “…Just like before, bribe the workers who come and go from the Gu household to take the letter to the Song family.”

Mu Jin hid the envelope in her bodice and told her, “Earlier, the Second Young Lady’s maid came to say you should meet her at the hour of Xu. Please remember.” She took a bag of copper coins and hurriedly left like a thief.

Gu Lan was reluctant to meet Gu Lian. The last time she went, Gu Lian showed her an entire box of exquisite ornamental forehead patches—emerald, gold, silver, pearl… all extremely delicate. Gu Lian told her they were brought back from Jiangnan by Yao Wenxiu. Though her tone wasn’t boastful when mentioning Yao Wenxiu, the pride in her heart couldn’t be concealed.

Thinking of this made Gu Lan’s chest uncomfortable. Both were young ladies of the Gu family, yet Gu Lian was adored by all and had a fiancé with a good family background, exceptional scholarship, and looks! While she was doomed to be bullied by everyone, fated to marry an ignorant fool?

That’s not how things should be!

Gu Lan gazed at her beautiful, elegant face in the bronze mirror and pressed her lips together. With no one to help her, she had to help herself!

When Jin Chao returned to Yan Xiu Hall, Yu Zhu was playing shuttlecock with Xiu Qu. Seeing her return, the two young maids hurriedly curtsied. Yu Zhu then said: “You went to the East Side Compound. We did needlework for a while, then thought of playing shuttlecock to exercise…”

Cai Fu and Bai Yun, still doing needlework under the porch, also stood up and bowed with a smile: “Indeed, we’ve been working for nearly half an hour!”

Autumn had arrived, and they were making hand warmer covers, fur hood covers, and cotton jackets for the maids. Now that mourning attire differed from before, many items needed to be remade.

When Jin Chao returned to the Gu family, she brought six maids she regularly used, plus Cao Ying, who tended to flowers and plants in the back room.

Hearing this, Yu Zhu pouted: “Sister Cai Fu is exposing my shortcomings. What if the Young Lady stops liking me…”

Everyone laughed. The maids in Jin Chao’s household were all steady and sensible. The older maids were particularly fond of Yu Zhu and Xiu Qu, especially the quiet Xiu Qu. They always saved the best food and clothes for her, and Jin Chao frequently rewarded Xiu Qu. But she always shared everything with everyone, never stingy.

Jin Chao smiled: “Autumn is precisely the time for more activity.” She let them continue playing shuttlecock while she entered the study. Mama Xu was waiting in the study to show her the accounts sent from Cao Ziheng in Gu Jing Hutong. There were important matters requiring her decision, and she needed to review them before acting. Cao Ziheng had not only prepared last month’s accounts but also reviewed previous years’ accounts, drafting a general development plan for Jin Chao.

Jin Chao found it extremely insightful and showed it to Mama Xu: “…He’s a perceptive person. Proceed according to his suggestions.”

According to the ledger, last month’s income was eight hundred taels of silver, with more expected in the coming months. She would earn over ten thousand taels of silver annually from her mother’s assets! Yet when Madam Feng calculated the Gu family accounts today, income was just over six hundred taels, while expenses exceeded seven hundred.

Jin Chao looked at the account book for a long time without speaking. Though her mother was gone, the possessions her mother left still protected her well. As long as she had these assets, she had support within the ancestral home.

Typically, legitimate daughters of the Gu family had one maidservant, one first-class maid, and two second-class maids. Jin Chao, however, had two maidservants, and her maids received higher monthly allowances than those in the ancestral home. Their food and daily needs were also better, all paid from Jin Chao’s private accounts. She didn’t ask Madam Feng, and Madam Feng didn’t interfere.

After a while, Mama Tong came in to speak with Jin Chao.

“…Over at Yi Xiang Courtyard, Mu Jin secretly went to the side door of the back courtyard. I couldn’t see clearly, but she seemed to pass something outside…”

Jin Chao acknowledged with a sound but had no interest in Gu Lan’s affairs. Who could Gu Lan be sending things to besides the Song family? But now that Concubine Song was in trouble, Madam Song couldn’t easily interfere in Gu family matters. Gu Lan was simply out of options.

Jin Chao gazed out the window. Night was just falling, a faint crescent moon hung in the sky, and the blue lion lanterns under the eaves had just been lit, their light dim.

She murmured: “Tomorrow is Cold Dew…” The time when wild geese arrive and chrysanthemums bloom yellow.

Mama Tong, formerly a peasant, was sensitive to solar terms and smiled, saying, “In the countryside, this would be the time for sowing wheat, picking flowers, and threshing beans.”

Jin Chao remained silent.

Tomorrow would be the thirteenth day of the ninth month, precisely the solar term of Cold Dew. The Emperor would pass away in the first quarter of the Si hour. The Chanxing Marquis would break into the Forbidden Palace at night and be beheaded, the Chanxing Marquis Estate would decline overnight, and the Fifth Aunt’s humiliation would begin. These events would then come in rapid succession…

She wondered if Ye Xian could change these matters.

Jin Chao sighed. She had helped as much as she could, but the rest was beyond her control.