Jin Chao thought for a moment, then changed into a sky-blue plain satin padded coat before going to find Gu Dezhao to discuss ancestral worship matters.

Gu Dezhao was in his study talking with Daoist Master Qing Xu. When the Daoist Master heard that the Gu family’s eldest daughter had arrived, he naturally excused himself. Jin Chao stood at a distance under the corridor and saw a middle-aged man wearing a deep blue Daoist robe, fair-skinned, tall and thin, walking out of the study. He had a handsome beard on three parts of his face and appeared otherworldly, carrying a snow-white duster on his arm. He walked unhurriedly out of the passageway.

She had heard that Daoist Master Qing Xu was over fifty years old, but he looked less than forty. Even the nobles and officials in Yanking who weren’t fond of Daoist teachings would associate with him, believing he possessed the secret to maintain his youthful appearance. However, few treated him as ceremoniously as her father did.

Jin Chao entered the study to discuss matters with her father and saw him sitting in a round-backed armchair with a faint smile on his face.

After asking about how many tea and meal offerings should be made for this year’s ancestral worship, Jin Chao finally brought up the Daoist Master: “…I just saw someone wearing Daoist robes leaving. I haven’t seen him before. Is he a new adviser you’ve hired?”

Great officials’ households often kept several advisers to help with strategy. Gu Dezhao was a fifth-rank Lang Zhong, which wasn’t considered a high official in a place like Yanking, but he still employed two advisers who could discuss court affairs with him daily.

Gu Dezhao shook his head, feeling it wasn’t appropriate to discuss this matter with his eldest daughter, but since she had asked, and the Daoist Master would be frequently visiting their home in the future, he somewhat anxiously said: “That’s Daoist Master Qing Xu from Yanqing Temple. When you were five years old, he conducted a Daoist ceremony to pray for your blessings. Recently, Father has been struggling to understand some Daoist classics, so I invited him to lecture on Daoist teachings. He’ll be staying in our mansion for a few months…”

Hearing her father’s explanation, Jin Chao simply smiled and didn’t ask any further questions.

When it came time for ancestral worship, Jin Chao was busy directing the servants to bring out all the ancestral tablets and arrange the tea and food offerings. But her father came over and told her, “The Daoist Master says our home has been unclean for several months, so we need to perform a ritual to drive away evil spirits first, to prevent them from disturbing our ancestors.”

Jin Chao felt somewhat helpless. She had been busy for several hours, but could only remove everything and start setting up a Daoist altar outside the ancestral hall. After a while, Daoist Master Qing Xu came to perform the ritual. She watched from a distance as the Daoist Master consulted with her father, and then they removed the wine and food she had arranged, replacing them with a three-legged cauldron.

While the Daoist Master performed the ritual with her father watching closely, Jin Chao found the smoky atmosphere unpleasant and returned to Qing Tong Courtyard.

Gu Jin Rong, who hadn’t yet gone to the Yu family’s clan school, was waiting for her in Qing Tong Courtyard.

He held several lotus lanterns in his hands to show Jin Chao: “…Let’s float them on the lake to pray for Mother’s blessings!” His eyes looked at Jin Chao carefully yet expectantly.

Jin Chao smiled and said, “Your lanterns are made with such thin paper, they’ll be useless once they touch the water.”

She took Gu Jin Rong to the west side room and had the maids bring up bamboo strips. She made several exquisite lotus lanterns using bamboo frames for the lantern skeleton. Since they were praying for their mother, she didn’t color the lanterns red, leaving them as pure as white lotus.

Jin Chao held up the lanterns to show Gu Jin Rong, who scratched his head and smiled: “My elder sister’s work is still the best! I didn’t know how to make them before—Qing Xiu taught me…” He picked up scissors, enthusiastically asking Jin Chao to teach him as well.

Jin Chao watched him half-squatting, awkwardly handling the scissors. Yet he happily cut out flower petals, seemingly gradually recovering from their mother’s passing. Half a month ago, he had turned thirteen, but as they were still in mourning, the household didn’t even hold a small celebration. She had made him a bowl of longevity noodles with egg to mark his birthday. Their father, however, had chosen two maids to send to his room.

Jin Chao had specifically met with these two maids. They were both better-looking than ordinary maids, fair-skinned and plump, with delicate features. They were only fifteen or sixteen years old and appeared obedient.

The servants who personally attended to Gu Jin Rong were either old women or young male servants. The previous maids didn’t attend to his personal needs. Before a boy reached fifteen in great families, they wouldn’t let them be exposed to such things, fearing it would deplete their vital energy and distract them from their studies. But they also couldn’t be completely ignorant of relations between men and women, otherwise they might be deceived by scheming maids in the future. Jin Chao guessed this was her father’s intention.

She asked him about the two maids in his room.

Gu Jin Rong just smiled: “Father sent them to serve me, but doesn’t allow them to enter my inner chamber or study. I don’t see them much, but they seem obedient…”

Perhaps feeling embarrassed, he stopped talking about the two maids and told her about Gu Lan, “…Second Sister came to see me a few days ago, asking to borrow two name cards from me to practice her calligraphy. I told her that her handwriting was still childish and that she should first find suitable copybooks for young ladies to practice. That made her angry.”

Jin Chao found it amusing: “You could tell she was angry?”

Gu Jin Rong thought for a moment and said: “Although she was smiling the whole time, I can tell when she’s angry or not. When she’s unhappy, she looks down at her skirt hem… But since I wouldn’t lend her the name cards, she went to Father. At that time, Father had just called me to test my lessons. I saw that Father not only gave her name cards and copybooks but also taught her brush techniques. He told her that reading more books and practicing more writing would improve her character.”

Jin Chao disagreed with this notion. There were plenty of people who read extensively yet had poor character. Wasn’t Ye Xian an example? Her father was a two-time jinshi graduate, yet in her previous life, he had taken a new wife less than a year after her mother’s death.

After Daoist Master Qing Xu finished the ritual, everyone went to worship the ancestors together. Gu Lan was chatting cheerfully with the maid beside her. When she saw Jin Chao and Gu Jin Rong coming over together, she asked Gu Jin Rong: “…I just saw Young Master Rong making lotus lanterns earlier. I wonder if you finished them.”

Gu Jin Rong snorted and didn’t respond.

Gu Lan’s expression darkened, and she smiled apologetically: “It’s my fault, I shouldn’t have mentioned the lotus lanterns.”

Their father, who had just finished arranging the sacrificial offerings, overheard Gu Lan’s words and noticed Gu Jin Rong ignoring her. He sighed: “Rong, Lan is still your sister after all.” Even if you don’t like her in your heart, you should at least maintain a harmonious appearance! Siblings not getting along was not something good to be known by others.

Ji-shi had died, and now Gu Jin Rong only spent time with Chao. Gu Yi and Gu Xi never spoke with Lan either. Now that Concubine Song had gone mad, Gu Lan had no one to talk to. He often saw Lan all alone.

Gu Dezhao recalled that yesterday, Gu Lan had come to him asking for copybooks to practice writing and had him teach her brush techniques. She had stayed with him for a long time. When he asked, she hesitantly said: “Daughter can only talk with the maids now. With Mother in her condition, I feel truly miserable…”

No matter what mistakes she had made, she was still his daughter, and treating her this way seemed a bit cruel. Gu Lan’s current situation was partly his responsibility—he shouldn’t have let her grow up at Concubine Song’s side in the first place, or she wouldn’t have been raised with such manners.

Jin Chao stood by and said nothing.

After the Zhongyuan Festival, news came from the estate in Xianghe that over ten mu of fruit trees had all suffered root rot. The estate manager, surnamed Liu, talked at length but couldn’t provide a concrete plan. He said peaches were good but prone to disease and dependent on weather conditions. Jujube trees might work, but he worried they wouldn’t fetch a good price. Unable to make a decision, Jin Chao knew nothing about farming, she thought about asking her grandmother for advice, but her grandmother was in mourning and couldn’t leave home.

Mama Xu told her: “…Instead of going out while in mourning, you could take the ash pot from in front of the Buddha, burn incense daily, and return within seven days.”

Jin Chao thought this was the only option. Her mother’s seven-year mourning period had already passed, so the rules didn’t need to be as strict. After all, she had many things to consult her grandmother about that couldn’t be clearly explained in one or two letters.

After sending a letter to her grandmother, the maids helped her pack her trunks. Jin Chao informed Gu Dezhao, and on the third day, she went to Tongzhou.

Having received her letter, her grandmother personally waited for her at the decorated gate and took her hand, leading her to the east wing.

“…I was just thinking of sending you a letter when Song Mama told me you were coming. I’ve been looking forward to your arrival every day,” Ji Wu-shi said with a gentle smile. “Your fourth cousin Ji Can has become engaged to the second daughter of the Chen family from Wanping. Tomorrow we’re hosting a dinner to thank the matchmaker. It’s a pity you’re in mourning and can’t attend. The matchmaker is the wife of Communication Minister Xu, a very nice person…”

The Chen family from Wanping! Jin Chao was quite surprised. How could she have forgotten that Ji Can marry Chen Er-ye’s concubine-born daughter?

In her previous life, she didn’t have much contact with her male cousins. Three months after the engagement, Chen’s second daughter, Chen Xuan, married into the Ji family, which was exactly when Chen Xuanqing and Yu Wanxue officially became engaged. She was in mourning then too and didn’t even attend the wedding banquet.

One way or another, she was destined to be connected to the Chen family. Jin Chao smiled helplessly.

She stopped thinking about this matter and instead told her grandmother about Concubine Song.

After listening, Ji Wu-shi also thought for a long time: “…Song Miaohua has a strong character. To say she went mad just like that, I wouldn’t believe it. But if she can keep up the pretense, that’s her skill, and you naturally don’t need to concern yourself with her.” She held Jin Chao’s hand and sighed, “Our Chao, who used to seem cold on the outside but warm-hearted inside, can now also be ruthless.”

Jin Chao jokingly asked Ji Wu-shi: “So now Grandmother finds me disagreeable?”

Ji Wu-shi stroked her hair and said with a smile: “You are the one who resembles me the most. If I found you disagreeable, wouldn’t I be finding myself disagreeable too!”

After chatting for a while with Ji Wu-shi, her third cousin’s wife, Liu-shi, heard of her arrival and came to pay respects to Ji Wu-shi while carrying her child.

Tun’er was now almost two years old and very active. As soon as he entered Ji Wu-shi’s room, he broke free from his mother’s grasp and toddled toward Ji Wu-shi’s embrace, calling “Great-grandmother” in his clear voice. Liu-shi was so frightened her face turned pale, and she scolded him: “Tun’er, slow down! Be careful not to hurt your great-grandmother!”

Ji Wu-shi said: “It’s fine. He hasn’t visited me for several days.”

Picking up Ji An-tun, she pointed at Jin Chao and asked him with a smile, “Look, do you remember your Aunt Jin Chao?”

Ji An-tun tilted his head to look at her. Jin Chao looked at Tun’er, a child as delicately carved as jade, and smiled at him. Tun’er stared at her with his large, dark eyes for a long time, then turned to hug Ji Wu-shi’s neck without speaking. Liu-shi grew even more anxious, fearing this would displease Ji Wu-shi.

Fortunately, Tun’er spoke again: “Mother told me about Aunt Jin Chao who gave me the silver hairpin. Tun’er remembers!”

Hearing this, Liu-shi finally relaxed, thankful that her frequent mentions of Jin Chao to Tun’er had not been in vain.