The old women searched the outer courtyard without results and returned to report to Madam Feng, also mentioning how they had accidentally entered the chamber where Official Chen was resting. Madam Feng listened anxiously, immediately asking if Official Chen had been angry. The old woman replied, “…Official Chen didn’t come out, so this servant doesn’t know.”

Madam Feng lay back on the couch and gazed silently at the water clock placed on the long table.

The next day, when Third Master Chen was leaving the residence, Madam Feng went early to bid him farewell.

“…I deeply apologize for disturbing you last night, sir!” Gu Deyuan smiled and cupped his hands.

Chen’s guards stood at the four corners of the screen wall. Gu Deyuan, Gu Dezhao, and Gu Dexiu had all come to see him off, each dressed in their official robes.

Third Master Chen wore a gray-blue straight robe with a black Hangzhou silk cape. He adjusted his sleeves and asked coolly, “Is the security in your Gu household so lax that even thieves can break in?”

Gu Deyuan was startled, then quickly smiled, “…Yes, a thief did break in! Fortunately, there was no loss of valuables.”

“Has the person been caught?” Third Master Chen continued.

Gu Deyuan found it strange that Official Chen would be so concerned about this matter. He could only say “already caught” to avoid letting Chen think the Gu family was incompetent and couldn’t even subdue a thief.

Third Master Chen said nothing more, but after entering his sedan chair, his expression darkened.

Regardless of why Gu Jinchao had entered his room, she must not be living well in the Gu household. Among these Gu family members, Gu Deyuan was adept at false cordiality, showing different faces in public and private. Gu Dezhao was too weak and habitually adhered to convention in everything. Madam Feng had even tried to enter his resting chamber last night, showing she was accustomed to being pampered in the mansion and somewhat ignorant of proper boundaries.

He recalled words he had overheard—Gu Jinchao was over sixteen but still not betrothed. Her family had almost promised her to the son of a fallen imperial merchant, a man who had beaten his maid to death…

Third Master Chen stared expressionlessly at the fine blue curtain of his sedan chair.

He protected her like this… yet others dared to bully her so casually.

When Gu Jinchao heard that Third Master Chen had left, she breathed a sigh of relief.

She put down the silk stocking she had been embroidering and gazed absently at the slender flower buds just emerging on the weeping silk crabapple outside the window.

She hadn’t considered Chen Yanxun’s words, nor did she dare to…

In her previous life, they had little interaction. Five years after she married, Chen Yanxun died in Sichuan due to bandit troubles. When she heard the news, she felt no sorrow, only relief. And in the remaining ten-plus years of her life, she never thought of Chen Yanxun again. The man had died silently as if he had never appeared in her life…

After her rebirth, Jinchao no longer fixated on Chen Xuanqing and seemed to begin truly seeing the Third Master, but she still didn’t understand him.

If it was merely pity because he had saved her, how could she explain those words he had spoken?

Gu Jinchao felt troubled. Could it be that she would still be entangled with Third Master Chen? She felt she was harming him.

Perhaps he had just said those things casually…

Gu Jinchao could only think this way; thinking more about it would be useless.

Gu Jinchao called Caifu in to put away the baskets and needlework. Soon, Madam Feng would have them accompany Gu Lian to offer incense at Baoxiang Temple. Due to her delayed marriage, Gu Lian had been in low spirits lately, and Madam Feng asked them all to be accommodating and comfort her.

Half a month later, the imperial edict arrived. The new Vice Minister of Revenue wasn’t selected from the Revenue Department but was transferred from the position of Changde Prefecture Governor in Huguang. When the news reached the Gu family, Madam Feng was quite disappointed, though she also felt relieved. She found Gu Dezhao and spoke with him at length.

Soon it was time for the Eleventh Miss’s hundredth-day celebration, and even more people came to the mansion than before. The Eleventh Miss’s name was also decided, using the character “Tang” chosen by Grand Secretary Gao from the Hanlin Academy. At the celebration, Gu Jinchao gave the Eleventh Miss a pair of golden rattles. The child, just out of swaddling clothes, was carried by her wet nurse, wanting to touch and grab everything, very lively.

The ladies who hadn’t seen the child before gathered around to praise her, saying she was fair with a rosy complexion, with a delicate little face that resembled the Fifth Madam greatly.

Gu Jinchao sat drinking tea for a while, then saw Madam Feng call Gu Lan over to talk.

Madam Feng was appreciating newly bloomed crabapple flowers in the flower hall, while Jinchao sat in the corridor, able to see the scene in the hall.

Next to Madam Feng sat an unfamiliar woman wearing a dark purple embroidered jacket and a green-trimmed patterned horse-face skirt. She wore a bright red bloodstone bracelet on her wrist and a pearl headband from the South Sea, inlaid with emerald ornaments. She appeared to be around forty, with a pair of slender phoenix eyes.

Madam Feng said to Gu Lan, “…This is Madam Guo from Baoding.”

Gu Jinchao’s heart skipped at these words. She put down her teacup. Madam Guo from Anxiang… she knew this person! She was a famous matchmaker in the Northern Metropolitan Region. Her husband was the Assistant Magistrate of Baoding Prefecture, both her parents were alive, and she had a pair of children. She was often invited to serve as a person of complete good fortune.

Gu Lan, however, had never heard of this person and smiled as she greeted Madam Guo.

Madam Guo smiled but looked Gu Lan over from head to toe, making Gu Lan uncomfortable.

Just as she was about to say something, Madam Feng said, “…I see the kitchen has just made red bean and yam cakes. Go bring me a plate.”

After a moment’s hesitation, Gu Lan could only agree and leave. Madam Feng then began speaking quietly with Madam Guo.

“…Miss Lan is very gentle, well-versed in ‘Female Instructions’ and ‘Female Precepts,’ and her appearance is quite good. Madam Guo, please consider if there’s anyone suitable for our Miss Lan. Now that Miss Lian is engaged to Young Master Yao, I’m concerned about her two elder sisters…”

After a moment, Madam Guo said, “She is indeed not bad, but unfortunately, she’s of concubine birth. Strangely, no one has proposed to your Third Miss Gu yet… I heard she previously lived in Shi’an with your family’s Fourth Master, not raised by the Old Madam, right?”

Madam Feng smiled, “There have been proposals, but I thought they weren’t suitable, which is why it’s been delayed until today. It’s almost been a year since the Fourth House returned to the Gu family, and this child’s character is still quite good. In the future, with her sister’s influence, she won’t do too poorly.”

Madam Guo just smiled without answering, and instead raised her teacup to drink.

Madam Feng was trying to arrange a marriage for Gu Lan…

Last time, the Mu family had invited someone to arrange a marriage for Mu Zhidi, but it fell through because of Madam Song’s interference. Within a few months, Mu Zhidi married the fourth miss from the concubine of the Anyang Marquis. That fourth miss was past seventeen and difficult to marry off, so she didn’t choose too carefully and married Mu Zhidi.

In her previous life, Mu Zhidi had also married the Fourth Miss born to the concubine of the Anyang Marquis.

Gu Jinchao wondered silently what kind of family Madam Feng could arrange for Gu Lan…

But Madam Guo began speaking again: “All the young ladies of your Gu family are born beautiful. I remember your Second Miss hasn’t married yet. I’ve heard about your Second Miss—she’s very pretty… She hasn’t been betrothed, has she?”

How did they start talking about her? Gu Jinchao glanced at the flower hall; Madam Feng and Madam Guo had their backs to her as they looked at the crabapple flowers.

Madam Feng recalled Madam Wang who had come to propose to Gu Jinchao and shook her head, “This girl indeed hasn’t been betrothed, but her father is looking after it, so there’s no need to worry too much…” Gu Jinchao’s marriage was something Gu Dezhao had spoken about, and Madam Feng didn’t feel she should interfere.

Madam Guo stopped asking about Gu Jinchao and said, “Regarding your family’s Third Miss, let me think carefully when I return, and I’ll speak to you when I have suitable candidates.”

Madam Feng thanked her profusely and had Fuling present a box of South Sea pearls to Madam Guo.

When it was time for the banquet, Madam Feng invited the ladies to the west wing.

Jinchao still had two months before her mourning period ended, so she returned to Yanxiu Hall to practice calligraphy. In the afternoon, Ye Xian finally arrived with his guards.

The ladies had gathered to play cards, and only a few maids remained in the Fifth Madam’s chambers when he walked straight in. The Fifth Madam pulled her brother aside to talk: “How can you be so busy… arriving so late for your niece’s hundredth-day celebration!”

Ye Xian looked at his niece, who was moving her hands and feet and cooing in her small bed, and frowned, “…She’s still drooling.”

The Fifth Madam laughed at him: “She’s still a child!” She asked the wet nurse to bring the child over, wanting Ye Xian to hold his niece.

Ye Xian tried to dodge but couldn’t, grunting, “I don’t want to hold her!”

Yet his hands had no choice but to receive this incredibly soft child, holding her with a stiff posture. Seeing that the child was still cooing and looking around, not appearing uncomfortable, Ye Xian finally relaxed. He felt dealing with this child was much harder than those obscure case files.

After a moment, he handed the child back to the wet nurse and told the Fifth Madam, “I’m going to talk with Gu Jinxian for a while.”

The Fifth Madam’s expression changed, and she said softly, “It’s fine if you go find Brother Xian, but please don’t go see Gu Jinchao again…”

Ye Xian just smiled without saying anything, and after leaving the Fifth Madam’s courtyard, headed toward Yanxiu Hall.

The Fifth Madam was so angry that tears welled up in her eyes: “Such a temperament, it’s truly infuriating…”

Gu Jinchao exhaled lightly, put down her brush, and carefully examined the ink bamboo painting she had drawn… She had practiced for half a month but still couldn’t capture the vigor of the bamboo! She asked Caifu to find the ink bamboo painting that Third Master Chen had given her. After looking at it for a while, she felt discouraged: “It’s so far from comparable…”

Her calligraphy was passable, but her painting skills were much inferior. Jinchao wanted to develop the skill of painting ink bamboo and had specifically transplanted several clusters of black bamboo outside the window of her study. After practicing for several days, her paintings still looked malformed. She decided to first copy the works of famous artists, but after searching, she found none suitable, so she began copying the ink bamboo painting that Third Master Chen had given her.

Third Master Chen was, after all, a two-level imperial examination graduate, and the imperially appointed second-place scholar. In his year, only Yuan Zhongru had placed above him.

In Third Master Chen’s painting, several slender bamboo stalks were arranged at varying heights, standing tall and graceful. The brushwork was strong yet smooth, the bamboo stalks painted in light ink, contrasting beautifully with the darker leaves, creating a delightful effect. Looking at her work, the composition had some merit, but the bamboo stalks still lacked strength.

His ink bamboo was truly elegant—how had he developed such skill?

As Gu Jinchao was lost in thought, Qingpu came in to announce that the Hereditary Prince of Marquis Changxing had arrived.

Jinchao asked Caifu to put away the paintings and instructed Qingpu, “Ask the Prince to wait in the flower hall.”

Qingpu replied, “This servant already invited him, but the Prince said he just had a few words to say and would leave immediately, so you needn’t prepare tea for him.”

Gu Jinchao’s mouth twitched as she said, “…Tell him to go to the flower hall. Even if he doesn’t want to drink my tea, he shouldn’t stand in the courtyard in the cold wind!”

Qingpu went off, suppressing a smile.