As long as she was pleased, it meant the treat had been a good choice.

Girls are really quite easy to satisfy — a small sweet dish can make them bloom with joy. Watching her happy expression, Xiang Xu felt all the more resentful of Jiang Heng’s foolishness: what kind of cold, heartless nature must a man have to keep his eyes fixed only on his concubine and pay no heed to his own daughter’s life?

He took two silver spoons and handed one each to Yun Pan and her maid: “Try it.”

So the two girls sat close together, gently scooping a flower from the edge of the honey pool, bringing it to their lips — and immediately their eyes lit up. Yun Pan said: “Truly delicious — and there is the fresh fragrance of jasmine.”

Qin Dan nodded vigorously; beyond a long, drawn-out “mmm,” she could find no other words to describe it.

Xiang Xu watched them eat with delight and smiled contentedly himself. He turned to instruct the restaurant steward: “Prepare another dish for me, pack it in an ice box and have it delivered to Duke Shuguo’s residence.”

The steward answered in a resonant voice, took the food box and went back to prepare.

Xiang Xu climbed back into the carriage and asked warmly: “Si Si, do you like candied fruit? The candied golden tangerines and candied crab apples from Zhuzhai Garden are famous in the capital. We could order a couple of servings — if you like them, we can have them boxed up to bring back.”

Girls have small appetites and are not greedy; Yun Pan shook her head, cradling her blue-green porcelain cup with contentment: “These past two days at the household I have eaten quite a lot of all sorts of fruit, and today I have already tried this honeyed crisp apple blossom dessert. If Mother were still alive, she would never have allowed me to eat so many sweets — she said eating too much would lead to a toothache.”

Xiang Xu let it go and simply said: “Zhuzhai Garden is actually quite a distance from here — we can leave it for another time. When I pass by, I will bring some back for you; you do not need to eat much, just taste the shop’s craft.”

Yun Pan said her thanks, Elder Brother. The thanks prompted Xiang Xu’s restraint. His face slowly turned red; his fingers rubbed helplessly at his knee, the bamboo-leaf pattern woven into the fabric blooming clear and precise beneath his fingertips. The air in the carriage suddenly felt not quite right. He turned his face toward the window, and seeing the crowded, bustling pedestrians outside, the urgent thrumming in his chest gradually subsided.

Yun Pan did not notice; she was still thinking about her Guanghan Incense. After a while, she spotted a beautifully adorned street shop — dried jasmine flowers and osmanthus were heaped in wicker baskets, and walking toward it, the warm air carried a gentle wafting fragrance.

She called out: “Elder Brother Hexu, that shop has dried flowers for sale.”

Xiang Xu was startled again by that single address of “Elder Brother Hexu.” By the time he came to his senses, he hastily called the groom to stop the carriage and jumped out himself. He had been about to extend his hand to help her, but seeing Qin Dan steady her down the step, he let his raised hand fall back and tucked it, somewhat sheepishly, behind him.

Girls browsing those flower and cosmetics shops were as happy as eating sweets — the tiny shop sold not only dried flowers but also sachets made from all kinds of fragrant ingredients. Qin Dan held one up against Yun Pan’s waist; she giggled and gave a little turn at the hip, and the tassels at the bottom of the sachet swirled and fluttered along.

The shopkeeper greeted them eagerly: “The young miss has a fine eye — this is this year’s most fashionable style, cut from the same brocade used for Consort Zhang’s lantern-silk dress…”

Xiang Xu stood at the other end of the shop, catching their conversation now and again as it passed back and forth. He looked over; Yun Pan wore a smile, light dancing in her eyes. He let out a breath — at least the upheaval at the Marquis’s household had not left her cowed and self-diminished. A girl of this age ought not to be burdened with such heavy shackles.

Just as he was reflecting on this, a shop assistant popped up uninvited at his elbow, teeth showing as he said: “Young gentleman, would you like to buy some raven-head blackening? This is the finest eyebrow ink — called ‘Green Moth’ — made by burning the smoke from fine sesame oil, then soaking it in a mixture infused with musk and camphor. When you want to use it, dilute it with fragrant dew, draw it across the brows… and truly, the brow is gently furrowed, gently lowered, the color like distant mountains. Buy a stick, young gentleman, let your honored wife try it at home.”

Xiang Xu then realized he had been standing in front of a row of eyebrow inks. The assistant had a gift for smooth sales talk that left him exceedingly awkward — he was not even engaged to anyone; where would this wife come from to try the eyebrow ink?

He waved his hand, saying no need. Luckily, the girls were about done with their shopping. Yun Pan lifted a gauze bag; inside, half a bag of dried osmanthus flowers, tiny petals piled layer on layer within. Through the thin mist of the fabric, their beauty and fragrance could not be contained.

“Elder Brother, I have bought everything I need.” Yun Pan called over, “It is getting late — let us head back.”

Xiang Xu answered and started toward her; behind him the assistant was still calling out with great energy: “Young miss, top-quality ‘Green Moth’ — would you like a stick?”

Yun Pan smiled and shook her head. Her brows and lashes were naturally dark; since she had been old enough to do her own makeup she had never drawn her brows. A while back the fashion for the figure-eight brow and the distant-mountain brow had come along, and she had tried them out of curiosity — but those brow shapes on her face produced an absurd expression, somewhere between weeping and laughing. She had given it up. After all, deliberate artifice was nowhere near as naturally fitting as her own brows. Her maids also teased her that the mistress’s long, gently curving natural brows were so fine — think how much in lead powder and spiral-shell pigment that saved.

They climbed back into the carriage and returned to Duke Shuguo’s residence. Along the way, Xiang Xu spoke to her of Youzhou’s local customs and character, and of the reforms that the capital was about to implement: “Starting next year, His Majesty will hold court on alternate days. Capital officials will no longer be able to return to their residences in Youzhou; most officials already have quarters in the capital. Does your household have an ancestral property in the capital?”

Yun Pan said no. “The Jiang family’s ancestral home is in Cangzhou — the ancestors never came to the capital; my father also only came to the capital after he entered officialdom, married my mother, and then built a residence in Youzhou.” She mulled it over and began to feel troubled: “If they move the whole household to the capital, then we will be right on top of each other — I fear there will be endless entanglements.”

Though Yun Pan was a cousin by marriage, to Xiang Xu she was like his own younger sister; so he said gravely: “You need not be afraid. Father and Mother will naturally not let you suffer. It is because they see that your mother is gone and you are alone without a backing that they feel emboldened. But they have forgotten — you still have your mother’s family, still have Aunt and me. From now on, you stay here at the Duke’s household; your father would not dare come to cause trouble. And if he refuses to let the matter rest, we shall simply seek justice for you and press the charge of taking a concubine as a wife.”

Xiang Xu was generally mild-tempered, untouched by the bad habits common to the young nobles of the capital and Youzhou. He spoke with a degree of warmth, always measured in his conduct and never raising his voice in anger. But when speaking of the preposterous actions of Founding Marquis’s household, his indignation was plainly evident.

Yun Pan still wore her smile. That smile was like a shell around her, keeping her from looking too battered even in adversity.

But even a smile can become difficult to maintain. She listened to Xiang Xu’s words; the corners of her lips slowly pressed into a faint, suppressed curve. After a long pause she said: “The Duke’s household is here in the capital and we are usually in Youzhou; these years I have seen little of Aunt and barely met Elder Brother until today. The household has already shown great kindness in taking me in — if this brings a great many troubles with it, I would not know how to face Uncle and Aunt.”

This feeling Xiang Xu could perfectly understand. Si Si was not a dull-witted person; having suddenly been through upheaval, she inevitably watched her every step, fearing she might add to someone else’s burdens.

But such worry was unnecessary. Xiang Xu said: “You are Aunt’s flesh and blood, and we are the closest kin — even a stranger, seeing such injustice, would speak up; how could one’s own family stand by and do nothing? That would be letting down the memory of your late mother. Set your mind at ease: the Duke’s household has a strict family code; Father also respects Mother. Since they chose to keep you here, they must have weighed it carefully already. The matters outside are not for you to handle — let the elders manage them. Besides, now that you have come, I can see that even Mei Fen’s spirits have opened up somewhat; at the very least she is more talkative and lively, and her energy is better.”

Speaking of Mei Fen, Yun Pan recalled what she had said the other day — that in a household like Duke Weiguo’s, one would likely not survive. Now in the capital, nobility was everywhere; as for that Duke Weiguo, she knew very little about him, only having exchanged a few words with him, one inside the carriage and one outside, on the day of the earthquake. Judging by his character alone, he seemed a reasonable person.

“Are there differences between one ducal household and another?” Yun Pan asked, puzzled. “Elder Cousin always says that sort of family is too difficult to manage. I would think that two households of the same rank as duke would have similar rules.”

Xiang Xu slowly shook his head. “Duke Weiguo’s household is different from ours. His father was Prince Liang of Loyal Devotion; by birth, he is nobility among the nobility. Apart from two other imperial nephews here in the capital, no one can surpass him in standing. A few years ago, His Majesty’s only son passed away, and to this day the rear palace has not given His Majesty another son or daughter. Those imperial nephews have prospects that are not to be underestimated. How many pairs of eyes in the capital are fixed on them — it is no wonder Mei Fen quails, and has refused to complete the marriage to this day.”

Only now did Yun Pan truly understand what it was that Elder Cousin Mei genuinely feared.

People at the center of the storm are called supremely exalted, but success and failure can turn in a single night. Whether one can preserve one’s present life in the future is uncertain; to rise and become a person above all others was truly like grasping a needle in the vast sea. And that Duke Weiguo seemed to be of frail constitution — still wearing fox-fur cloaks as summer arrived, he was already a step behind among the imperial nephews. Regardless of whether he competed for the throne in the future, the waters he moved in would inevitably run deep and hot; perhaps he would struggle even to protect himself.

So it is that people, living, always have one dissatisfaction or another. Mei Fen’s marriage was already set in stone. The only comfort left to herself was that old saying: “Riches and honor are to be sought in the midst of danger.”

Yun Pan was a girl; for matters concerning one’s whole life, she did not seem suited to think too deeply, so she stopped her thoughts there and turned her attention back to her dried osmanthus flowers.

The carriage made a leisurely turn around the street corner; two incense sticks’ time of travel and they would be home. Just as the horses were reined to a halt, the maid Ge Nanny from Zilanyard came trembling forward to curtsy, and pointing back inside the gate: “Young Master, young mistress, please quickly go to the front hall — the mistress and the master have gotten into an argument.”

Xiang Xu started, and quickened his step up the wooden veranda. Yun Pan followed toward the front hall. Before they arrived, from a distance came Mei Fen’s wailing cry: “You want me to die… if I die, then you will be satisfied…”

Yun Pan’s heart leapt in alarm. She followed Xiang Xu through the threshold and took in the scene at a glance: Duke Shuguo stood with a face ashen with fury; Madam Ming wore an expression of helpless distress. And Mei Fen — she had wept so much that her eyelids were swollen; noticing her brother and cousin had arrived, she pressed her eyes in embarrassment and turned away.

The scene made it plain at a glance what had happened. Xiang Xu looked at his mother: “Just now Duke Weiguo’s chief administrator called — what was said?”

Madam Ming sighed. “Two things: first, he came on Duke Weiguo’s orders to confirm Si Si’s identity; second, he brought the words of the household’s Dowager Lady, saying she has asked the Grand Astrologer to select an auspicious date and is informing our household to begin preparations at an early stage.”

But these words set Mei Fen off again. She cried out in a fit: “I will not marry — nothing will make me marry! It was you who made this betrothal in the first place, without ever asking my opinion. Now that they are ready to welcome a bride, whoever agreed to it can go be the bride themselves — it has nothing to do with me!”

This finally ignited Duke Shuguo’s fury. He slapped the table and rose to his feet, bellowing: “Just look at yourself — what trace of a well-bred noblewoman is left! Duke Weiguo is of such character and background — can it be that he is beneath you? You weep and scream inside the house without a thought for the servants watching and laughing, and when word gets out, how will you show your face? I tell you: this time you will marry whether you will it or not. Even if you hate us for it, even as though your parents were dead and gone, and you never speak to your family again — that is your choice!”

Duke Shuguo flung down his harsh words and swept away in a fury, leaving Mei Fen sobbing loudly. Madam Ming creased her brow with worry, and tried to soothe her heart and soul: “My dear child, just listen to your father…”

But Mei Fen only wept more urgently, and suddenly could not catch her breath. Her face turned white; she crumpled like mud, going limp. The hall fell into pandemonium at once — someone calling for the physician, and Madam Ming’s crying mixed in as well. The whole household was thrown into chaos, and the air of those increasingly hot days became all the more stifling and oppressive.