In front of Song Miaohua’s residence, Lingyan Pavilion, there was a hot spring. During winter, the lake surface near the spring emits bursts of vapor, hence the name Lingyan Pavilion, meaning “Approaching Mist Pavilion.”

Corridors were built all around Lingyan Pavilion, with numerous stone jars planted with water lilies. Even in the cold winter, they still bloomed with delicate light purple flowers.

Gu Lan, accompanied by her two maids, walked through the corridor and saw her mother standing by the lake. Wisps of vapor drifted up as she silently gazed at the water’s surface, not even turning when the maid beside her reported matters.

Seeing the faint crescent moon hanging in the sky, Gu Lan felt uneasy. She quickened her steps to Song Miaohua’s side, taking her hand and urging her to step back. Although being enveloped by the water vapor was warm, once clothing became damp, the wind could make it very cold.

“Mother…” Gu Lan sat on the stool brought by a maid and said to her, “Aren’t you worried? I heard from the maids below that Gu Jinchao wants to find a concubine for Father, and Father has agreed!” She suddenly realized, “That person Gu Jinchao brought back that day… must be the concubine!”

Song Miaohua sighed and said: “I know.”

She knew from the moment Gu Dezhao walked out of Jing’an Residence. Later, people from the household management office, the attendants’ office, and the stables all came to report to her about the betrothal gifts, maids, and courtyard arrangements that Gu Jinchao had already instructed servants to prepare.

She had been very shocked at the time. She had been waiting to see Gu Jinchao make a fool of herself, but who would have thought… Gu Dezhao agreed to take another concubine!

After the shock came anxiety. She walked several rounds along the corridor without calming down, feeling as anxious as Gu Lan. She knew that what she relied on now was Gu Dezhao’s favor. Although she was the legitimate daughter of the Deputy Director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, her family had four legitimate daughters in total. If she lost favor in the Gu family, she wouldn’t fare well in the Song family either!

She had thought that after being exclusively favored for over a year, she might become pregnant, but there was no sign of it. She had tried many medicines without improvement. When she gave birth to Lan’er years ago, it was a difficult delivery, and she hadn’t recovered properly, leaving her with a chronic condition that made it difficult to conceive again.

She had recently found a good remedy and had been taking it for three months, thinking there might still be a chance…

Why did the master agree to take another concubine?

After pacing in circles, Concubine Song almost wanted to rush into Jing’an Residence to see what kind of exceptional beauty had enticed Gu Dezhao to take her as a concubine regardless of the consequences. But now Jing’an Residence was guarded, and no one could enter. These guards were brought by Lady Ji from the Ji family and were utterly loyal to her.

She grew increasingly anxious but eventually calmed down. The calmer she was, the more advantageous it would be for her. Nothing could be done now; she could only wait until the master took this concubine. Standing in front of the corridor looking at the water lilies, Song Miaohua had already made up her mind.

Lady Ji couldn’t defeat her after competing for more than ten years. How could adding some unknown concubine who appeared from nowhere defeat her?

Gu Lan also knew she couldn’t intervene in this matter. Her anxiety was useless, so she stopped urging and instead helped warm her mother’s ice-cold hands. She suddenly remembered that whenever things became critical, her mother’s hands would turn ice-cold, but the more critical the situation, the calmer her mother became.

“I will go see your father… you don’t need to worry about this. Just take good care of your brother,” Concubine Song instructed her.

Gu Lan was still concerned: “Are you going now?”

Song Miaohua’s tone was cold: “What’s the rush? Let’s sleep first, and go tomorrow morning. It’s not too late.”

The next day, Song Miaohua looked at the faint dark circles under her eyes in the dressing mirror and instructed Qiaowei to do her makeup: “No rouge or powder. Just arrange my hair and use a pair of green jade hairpins.”

When she went to serve Gu Dezhao’s breakfast, she deliberately brought up the matter of taking a concubine.

“I heard from Madam Zhao that the master wishes to bring in another sister…” she smiled faintly while serving dishes to Gu Dezhao, “Why didn’t you mention it to me first? I didn’t even know what the eldest young miss had arranged until the steward came to tell me…”

Gu Dezhao lowered his head to drink his porridge and said flatly: “It’s just another concubine, so let Chao’er handle it. She will need to manage a household after she marries. I didn’t tell you because you already labor day and night for the family’s affairs, and I didn’t want you to be too exhausted.”

“That’s good too. The household hasn’t added any children for eight years, and it’s this concubine’s fault…”

Gu Dezhao looked up to see Song Miaohua’s still flower-like, jade-like face. Time flew, but particularly favored the beautiful. It was only unfortunate that there were faint dark circles under her eyes. Was she sad because of his matter? Or was it because she was overworked for the household?

He couldn’t help but hold Song Miaohua’s hand, comforting her: “You’ve become quite haggard these days. Pinxiu, don’t worry. I remember all the years you’ve worked hard. Even if there’s another concubine, how could she compare to you…”

Song Miaohua continued: “You must consider your descendants, and I’m happy about that. But I was thinking, since your mentor, Lord Lin, is about to be promoted, shouldn’t we wait a while before taking a concubine…”

Gu Dezhao shook his head: “Court affairs are unpredictable. Recently, His Majesty has been unwell and hasn’t attended morning court for many days. Government affairs are being overseen by Grand Secretary Zhang and Supervising Secretary Chen of the Chancellery. This matter of taking a concubine won’t interfere; just keep it simple and low-key.”

Song Miaohua’s heart tightened. Gu Dezhao indeed wouldn’t change his mind.

She smiled and no longer mentioned the concubine matter, but curiously asked: “How did Supervising Secretary Chen of the Chancellery come to manage court affairs? Isn’t he supposed to assist the Crown Prince?”

Gu Dezhao smiled: “The Crown Prince is only eleven this year, about the same age as Jinrong, and he’s timid and fearful. How could he handle these matters? Though they say the Crown Prince is overseeing affairs, the real power is in Secretary Chen’s hands. Secretary Chen is truly capable, of handling everything in an orderly manner. Grand Secretary Zhang values him highly. I think when a position for a Grand Councilor becomes vacant, he’s very likely to become the Assistant Grand Secretary.”

Concubine Song was a woman of the inner quarters, so Gu Dezhao dared to tell her these things, knowing she didn’t understand them and wouldn’t speak of them outside.

…Meanwhile, Jinchao was at Jing’an Residence, surrounded by managers from the outer courtyards and matrons from the inner courtyards. She had them note down places that were broken or worn out.

The decaying small pond at Jing’an Residence had been filled in and newly planted with evergreens, plum trees, and pinks. Along the bluestone path, they brought in cockscomb and poppies from the greenhouse, arranging everything to be lush and vibrantly colorful. Jinchao also had people apply cyan-blue paint to the eaves and brackets, and black lacquer to the windows and columns. A more exquisite Japanese gold-painted screen was placed in the room.

She also had people bring in Longquan large vases and Xiang kiln wide-mouthed vases for the hall, instructing people to cut red plum branches to place in the vases.

“On the twenty-fifth, cut red window paper and paste ‘double happiness’ characters around Jing’an Residence,” Jinchao told Madam Xu. “Although it’s not a formal concubine-taking ceremony, it should still look festive.”

Madam Tong smiled: “Young miss truly cares for Miss Luo. You’ve taken great pains to decorate Jing’an Residence so beautifully.”

Jinchao just smiled. She had always considered herself rather selfish. In this matter of taking a concubine, she had never considered how Luo Su might feel or think about it. This was because Luo Su had no choice in the matter, nor did she.

But she was just a fifteen or sixteen-year-old girl, and this was her only chance to “marry.” Even if she couldn’t have a grand wedding following the proper betrothal procedures, she should at least have a new bridal chamber.

Lady Ji was still worried that Jinchao wouldn’t handle these matters well and asked daily about her preparations and whether Miss Luo was doing well. Jinchao would smile and reassure her that it was merely taking a concubine. She had single-handedly arranged the grand wedding of the Tenth Young Master of the Chen family in the past, and everything had proceeded smoothly without mishap.

On the twenty-fifth, a red sedan chair carried Luo Su from Qinglian Lane into the mansion. Several tables of food and wine were set up, inviting the concubines, young ladies, stewards, and prominent matrons of the household to the feast. Mother was even carried out to see the proceedings, with Jinchao following by her side.

Spring was approaching, and the weather had warmed somewhat. Faint sunshine fell on her mother’s sickly face, making her appear very peaceful.

Father wore a reddish-brown long robe. Seeing Mother come out, he strode to her side: “…You’re so ill, why did you come out?”

Lady Ji smiled faintly and said: “I just wanted to see. Our household rarely has such a joyous occasion.”

Gu Dezhao frowned, seeming to want to say something. Jinchao, fearing he might say something inappropriate, quickly said: “Mother has been alone for a long time and simply enjoys the festive atmosphere.” Then she lowered her head and asked, “Should we go back now?”

Lady Ji no longer looked at Gu Dezhao and nodded.

The plum blossoms in Xiexiao Garden had already withered, but the locust trees were beginning to sprout new buds. Today the weather was warm, and the icicles on the eaves were melting. Lady Ji had someone bring over a small embroidery frame and personally guided her daughter’s needlework. Seeing her lifelike embroidery of bird-of-paradise flowers, she appeared very pleased: “If you could embroider dark colors with silver thread, it would be even better…”

Jinchao smiled wryly. Her embroidery skills now surpassed even master embroiderers. Her mother’s needlework was only considered good among ladies in the inner chambers and could no longer teach her anything. However, to please her mother, she deliberately embroidered more clumsily to allow her mother to give more guidance.

Lady Ji suddenly said: “Your father loves bird-of-paradise flowers the most, saying they are pure and elegant. In the past, I used to embroider this pattern on the socks and shoes I made for him.” Her lips carried a faint smile. “Your Concubine Yun also liked them, but her embroidery wasn’t very good. When her child was about to be born, she asked me to embroider several baby items for her with this pattern—swaddling clothes, small pillows, little clothes…”

Rarely hearing her mother mention past events, Jinchao asked her: “Was Concubine Yun good to you?”

Lady Ji nodded: “Concubine Yun had a gentle temperament. She loved children. When you were just born, she would hold you and not want to let go. When you cried restlessly at night, she was always the first to get up and comfort you. I was the one who didn’t want to get out of bed…”

Lady Ji sighed with regret: “Thinking about it now, if it weren’t for that maid, how could she have died…”

The Death of Concubine Yun?

It was the first time she heard her mother mention it. Jinchao looked up at her mother, but Lady Ji no longer spoke of Concubine Yun and continued guiding her embroidery.

When Concubine Yun died, Jinchao was still at her maternal grandmother’s home and didn’t know much about it. She had only heard Madam Xu mention that Concubine Yun died from complications during childbirth.