Xue Pan watched her father’s figure disappear into the distance, then turned back with a derisive smile. “And it happens to be a household of ducal rank — what good fortune for her!”

Liu Shi languidly held her tea bowl and sipped. The broken tea froth had dissolved into a dense, dark liquid — and even blended thoroughly with the water, the knotted, uneven distribution could still be discerned.

She savored a small sip. Between her teeth and cheeks lingered a heavy, sluggish astringency, like medicine. In truth, she had never cared for tea. What she loved were the sweet mung bean soups and lychee syrups sold in the market stalls — sweet in an open, uncomplicated way. Yet in a grand household, one could not take those casual sweet drinks as one’s main beverage. The head of the household delighted in tasting tea; tea was refined and elegant — so she had to put on the appearance of enjoying it as well.

She turned aside and set the tea bowl on the small table, then smoothed out the creases on her knee, and said: “Her mother was a County Princess, making her half a royal-clan woman herself — it is only natural she would be matched with a household of ducal or marquis rank.”

Xue Pan had never been able to accept this elder sister of hers. In her view, Yun Pan’s only advantage over herself lay in her birth. If she herself had been born from the County Princess’s womb, there was no telling which of them would shine brighter.

As things stood, Jiang Yun Pan relied on her status as the legitimate daughter to outrank her and Yu Pan in every respect. Yu Pan was a person who was content as long as she had food and drink — the open and hidden struggles between the legitimate and lesser-born daughters were matters for the eldest and second sister, and had nothing to do with her. If one tried to explain stakes and consequences to her, she would seem to understand in the moment, nodding vigorously — then forget everything the instant she turned away. And so, in all matters, no one ever discussed pros and cons with her.

But however indignant one might feel inside, the distinction between legitimate and lesser-born was indeed as several mountains between them. Within the inner chambers, relying on their father’s favoritism, they did not come off the worse — but in the circle of Youzhou’s noble young women, they would forever be looked down upon. For example, the annual Fanhua Banquet invited only the legitimate daughters of each household — daughters born of concubines had no standing even to look on from the sidelines. Furthermore, in terms of marriage, the legitimate daughter would be matched to high officials and prominent families, while these small concubine-born daughters would either marry minor clerks, or enter the households of officials as second wives.

Xue Pan’s aspirations were extremely high. She naturally did not believe that such would be her fate. Some voice in the depths of her being had always told her that a great future awaited her. She only watched Yun Pan — when Yun Pan made a fine match, she resented the injustice of the world, and in front of her own mother she need not conceal it: “Better that she be married off to some poor, bookish wretch!”

Liu Shi thought her daughter was being terribly naive. “Even a dead camel is bigger than a horse. If she truly were married off to some poor scholar, your father himself would not agree — which household of marquis rank would want to find a nameless nobody for its son?”

Xue Pan finally deflated and sat there grumbling endlessly.

Liu Shi smiled and said in gentle tones: “She is, in the end, your elder sister. Between sisters, harmony should come first — you must be deferential and respectful to her, and not make things difficult for your father. Father and mother cannot accompany you for your whole lives. If she comes to prominence in the future, it will be of benefit to you as well. Should you ever encounter hardship, you can help one another.”

Xue Pan stared at her mother for a long moment, genuinely puzzled, and finally squeezed out a few words from between her teeth: “A’Niang grows more timid with each passing day.”

Liu Shi was not the least bit vexed. She leaned against the cushion and gazed out the window.

The late spring sunlight had grown gradually harsh. The red-lacquered swing frame in the courtyard shimmered with layered reflections — looking at it too long made one dizzy.

She half-narrowed her eyes, with the air of one who had seen through the ways of the world. “If I were as rash as you, how could I have come to where I am today? To rely on beauty alone to serve one’s master — one remains forever a lowly, inferior concubine, no different from a plaything. But if one carries the demeanor of a principal wife, combined with the master’s affection, then what is there to fear in a life spent as a concubine? Live long enough, and everything will come in time.”

Deep within a great residence, there is never any shortage of those who carry news. The word that the marquis’s household had sent a matchmaker to call upon the Commandery Duke’s residence spread quickly into Pi Xiu Courtyard.

Nanny Pan had been the County Princess’s own attendant nanny who had come with her at marriage, and had helped raise Yun Pan as well — she was a trusted soul of long standing. She had gathered the news from the gatekeepers and came back to report it, brimming with indignation: “If Lady were still alive, could such a thing ever have happened! Miss observes mourning, the marriage is deferred, the Commandery Duke’s household has waited a full year — by rights, they should be the anxious ones. There is simply no principle by which the bride’s family, the very moment the mourning period ends, rushes to send a senior matchmaker to notify them. Such petty-household behavior — I need not ask whose idea this was to know.” Nanny Pan crossed her arms inside her sleeves, her face a portrait of indignant displeasure, muttering with a glance toward the base of the wall: “If this old servant may say something bold — our Master grows more muddled with each passing day, led astray by that sort of person, with not a trace of the bearing befitting a household of marquis rank! Though the Li family accepted the betrothal, it is still a new alliance — and before the wedding, one must be especially careful. In the future, when Miss enters that household, there will also be a sister-in-law to contend with. To invite gossip right from the beginning — will it not only invite further contempt as time goes on?”

Yun Pan also felt helpless about it all. The quarrel with her father that day had been the cause — it had given them the notion to be rid of her as quickly as possible.

Indeed — how long could a daughter remain in her parental home? It was nothing more than raising her to fifteen or sixteen, arranging a marriage, and sending her off. Liu Shi had outlasted the mistress herself, and to then outlast the obstructing legitimate daughter by driving her out the door was no very difficult task.

What a pity that A’Niang had borne only her alone. What a pity she was not a son. This household would ultimately fall into Liu Shi’s hands — after all, she had borne Father’s only son. One consolation, however: when Liu Shi had first come presenting herself at the door, A’Niang had kept her wits about her and required her to enter the household under the status of a bond servant.

A wine-selling woman from the market stalls, though lowly, was still a freeborn commoner — and freeborn status carried unlimited possibilities. For instance, if a master were willing to endure the laughter of ten thousand people, he could quite openly elevate her to the rank of wife. But a bond servant was another matter entirely. To gain standing, one must first be granted freedom. Liu Shi’s bond servant documentation was currently in Yun Pan’s possession — and this was precisely why Father, in wishing to elevate Liu Shi, had first had to come and consult with her.

In any case, she herself was in no hurry. Even after marrying into the Commandery Duke’s household, she intended to take that contract with her. As long as she lived, Liu Shi could forget about ever becoming the Lady of the Kaiguo Marquis household. What chilled her was her father’s callousness — while A’Niang was alive, he had at least kept up pretenses. Once A’Niang was gone, he had turned cold-blooded enough to disregard even the bonds of flesh and blood.

Let it be. None of it was of pressing importance. Yun Pan’s nature was not truly hard and unyielding — as long as they refrained from provoking her, each keeping to their own courtyard with minimal interaction, they could coexist in peace. A’Niang had spent over a decade regretting the recklessness of her youth. Years of painful reflection had ultimately channeled itself into the energy of preparing her daughter’s dowry. Beyond the County Princess’s accumulated land grants and estates, there were also vouchers of various kinds from the exchange banking houses.

With money came backbone. Yun Pan was not particularly bothered by her father’s maneuvering. She sat by the window leafing through her dressing case, found two tea-transaction vouchers, and with eyes lowered gave instructions to Qin Dan: “The transport of tea from beyond the pass has been disrupted lately — tea is available in name but not in practice, and the prices are high. This is a fine time to sell. Have Juan Bai find a broker to seek out a buyer offering a suitable price, then convert it to silver and exchange that for salt vouchers and medicinal commodity vouchers.”

Buy low, sell high — she had begun managing such things herself since the age of thirteen. A’Niang had been purposeful in teaching her these skills, saying that when she one day ran a household as its mistress, all of it would be the methods of managing a family’s wealth.

Qin Dan received the order and went off to handle it. Only then did Yun Pan have time to attend to the news Nanny Pan had brought. She turned her head and said: “It is entirely within a father’s rights to arrange his children’s marriages, and though I feel this is being handled improperly, there is nothing I can do about it. Half a month has already passed since the mourning period ended — and the Commandery Duke’s household has indeed sent no one during this time. I am not sure what they intend.” She paused, then asked, “Have you confirmed it clearly — was it the wife of the Regional Transport Commissioner herself who went in person to the Commandery Duke’s residence?”

The wife of the Regional Transport Commissioner was a close confidante of the wife of the Anchang Commandery Duke — it had been she who had been back and forth repeatedly that had made this match possible. Father entrusting her to convey his intentions was a sign of serious matrimonial intent. If the Commandery Duke’s household was inclined toward the marriage, they ought to have been busily calling on them by now.

Nanny Pan confirmed it was so. “It was indeed the Commissioner’s wife who went in person — only, our Lady is no longer with us, and there is no one to receive the message on our behalf. Though Liu Niang has seized hold of the household management, the wives of eminent noble families of any standing do not regard her as a person of consequence. A concubine handling the betrothal of a legitimate daughter — would that not make the Commissioner’s wife appear ignorant of propriety as well?”

Yun Pan nodded and said nothing more. The marriage had been arranged the previous year. She had no strong impression of the second son of the Commandery Duke’s household — she had met him briefly just once and only remembered that he seemed reasonably refined and courteous. As for his looks, she could not even recall them now. She had no particular feelings about this marriage one way or another. If the Commandery Duke’s household was in a hurry, a date would be set and she would marry — that was that. If they were not in a hurry, waiting a little longer was also fine. After all, having witnessed her mother’s devoted love come to nothing, she understood now that marriage was nothing more than a binding together to live one’s life. There was no such thing as being unable to live without someone.

She sent Nanny Pan away and, having nothing else to occupy her, went on as before making incense and crafting ink sticks following ancient formulas. The days of her girlhood passed in this unhurried, quiet manner.

Two days later, her father sent someone with a message: let the whole family dine together this evening. Yun Pan knew — the Commandery Duke’s household must have responded. The days she had left in this household were likely numbered.

She came out from her room and stood under the covered walkway, looking east. That was the courtyard where A’Niang had once lived — close enough that she could see the dark, slate-grey roofline and the upturned eave corners.

It was the hour when the sun was descending, and heaven and earth were submerged in a vast and brilliant radiance. Suddenly she saw a dandelion seed drift over the courtyard wall, carried on the golden light, floating toward her. She reached out to receive it — the teardrop-shaped slender stem settled into the gap between her fingers, and the delicate feathered canopy trembled finely. She held it with great care. The pale blue veins on the inside of her wrist, in the warm glow of the setting sun, shimmered with a gentle, warm orange-red.

Qin Dan teased her: “Miss loved to play with these when she was small — and now that she has grown, she is just the same.”

Yun Pan blew a soft breath and sent it drifting away, then said with a touch of wistful longing: “How wonderful it would be to be like it — to ride the long wind a thousand miles away, then take root where one lands, and put up new sprouts the following year.”

It was only the melancholy of a young girl, after all. Qin Dan passed her a round fan and then took her arm to help her down the steps. That evening’s banquet was set in the covered pavilion. Walking through the long wooden corridor, one could see from a distance that bamboo screens had been set up on either side of the pavilion, and gauze lanterns hung high from the pavilion roof. Those from Liu Shi’s rooms had already arrived. The youngest of the male children, Jiang Mi, was only six years old this year and was kneeling on a stool, reaching into the dish for fruits to eat.

When Liu Shi saw her arrive, she stacked a smile onto her face and said, pressing her handkerchief in her hands: “Miss, do sit for a moment — someone has already gone to fetch your father.”

Yun Pan greatly disliked the way Liu Shi habitually referred to the head of the household as “your father” — it carried a deliberate air of ingratiating closeness and an attempt to elevate her own standing. Over all these years, Liu Shi had learned a great deal from life in the Kaiguo Marquis’s residence, yet at her core there always remained a certain market-stall cunning that seized every opportunity — a flaw that no amount of Father’s affection could cure her of.

The wet nurse quickly carried the young lord down from the stool and nudged him forward: “Call your elder sister.”

Jiang Mi disliked greeting people. The more you urged him, the further he shrank back — turning up his eyes in a gaze that perpetually suggested someone owed him two copper coins.

Yun Pan looked away. She had no interest in quarreling with a small child. Xue Pan, however reluctantly, called out “Elder Sister” together with Yu Pan.

Jiang Heng arrived before long. Everyone rose to greet him. The quarrel of a few days ago had left no trace on his face. He stood with his arms loosely clasped behind his back, lifted his chin, and said expansively: “Sit, sit.”

Yun Pan, Xue Pan, and Yu Pan took their seats. Even Jiang Mi had his own place. Only Liu Shi remained standing to one side, helping the maidservants serve the dishes. A concubine’s position was, by nature, just so — however favored she might be in her own small courtyard, at a formal occasion she did not share a table with the head of the household. Her children were of principal rank; she remained a bond servant.

Jiang Heng glanced sideways at Liu Shi’s skirt hem, clearly making a deliberate gesture of elevation while feigning casual indifference. He looked down, chopsticks in hand, and said: “You sit down as well.”

A flicker of hesitation crossed Liu Shi’s face. She cast a cautious glance at Yun Pan. Yun Pan, not wishing to embarrass her father, relented and said: “Yiniang, do sit — there are no outsiders present, after all.”

No outsiders meant it was permissible to be less formal; in the presence of outsiders, the proper rites still had to be observed. Liu Shi heard the meaning contained in her words. In these days when the distinction between legitimate and lesser-born was firmly maintained, she had to bow her head before a sixteen-year-old child.

Jiang Heng seemed reasonably satisfied with the atmosphere at the table. He spread a smile across his face and said: “The Commandery Duke’s household has sent its chief steward to discuss Si Si’s marriage. They say that the second son of the Li family passed the imperial examinations this spring and will shortly be entering government service, and that if the wedding can be arranged at this convenient time, it would be a double occasion for celebration — I was very pleased to hear it. The Li family has imperial connections through marriage. The eldest son serves as a department head in the Ministry of Rites; as for the second son entering official life, there is no need to worry about his future prospects. Looking back on it now, your A’Niang truly did plan a fine future for you. Outside, it is fashionable to snatch a bridegroom fresh from the examination list — but we arranged this in advance, so we may proceed without any scramble.”

Having heard this, Liu Shi smiled admiringly and said: “It was long said that the second young master of the Li family excels in both literary and martial arts — who would have expected he would pass the imperial examinations this very year? Lady’s judgment was truly exceptional.” She then asked Jiang Heng: “Auspicious dates carry great significance — has the Commandery Duke’s household settled on one?”

Jiang Heng said: “It is set for the second day of the sixth month — a little over twenty days away.”

The expression on Liu Shi’s face shifted to one of faint worry. “That is rather hasty — how will there be time to prepare?”

Xue Pan truly had little patience for her mother’s unnecessary fawning at moments like this. “Yiniang is worrying unnecessarily. The Commandery Duke’s household has time to prepare a wedding reception — if Father has only to give away his daughter, how could he not have time?”

Yu Pan’s reactions always lagged behind everyone else’s by a beat. It seemed she had only just registered what had been said, and she looked at Yun Pan with wide eyes: “Elder Sister — you are going to be married?”

Yun Pan felt no particular aversion toward her. She only smiled, calm and placid.

Liu Shi had been watching Yun Pan’s reactions closely all this while. Seeing no sign of displeasure, the great stone in her heart was set down. She furrowed her brow in a fond, wistful smile and said with infinite regret: “I am only afraid the preparations may not be adequate and that Miss will be poorly served. What a pity Lady has departed to the immortal realm — there is no one in the household for them to consult. For a matter of this magnitude, we have no choice but to arrange everything according to their wishes.”