The next day was the date of the household banquet at Banlou. Yun Pan and Li Chenjian rose early and made their way to Maoyuan to pay their respects to Grandmother Hu. The whole family sat down to breakfast together, and at the table the Dowager Lady also inquired after Li Chenjian’s health, knitting her brows as she said: “I have told you time and again — when you are out, you must not indulge in drink. First, your health matters; second, in times like these, who can say what is truly in another person’s heart? I heard you came home drunk again last night. With your new bride barely through the door, that sort of thing does not look well.”

Li Chenjian was especially mild-mannered in the Dowager Lady’s presence, and smiled in acknowledgment. “They were all colleagues from the Garrison Command and the Palace Command — we’re accustomed to being casual with one another. They took the occasion of my wedding as an excuse to fill my cup. I was simply in high spirits and did not think much of it, but I am sorry that Si Si had to come and look after me again. I truly feel bad about it.”

Hearing herself mentioned, Yun Pan set down her chopsticks with a slight blush. “It is entirely within my duties — please say no more of feeling bad, my Lord.”

Hui Cun, listening to their exchange, could not help laughing. “Elder Brother and A’Jie, why are you being so formal with each other? Someone who didn’t know better would think you were conducting official business.”

Both of them felt a little self-conscious at that — it was true that even though they had been married several days and the marriage had been consummated, they were not yet fully at ease with each other, and their speech still carried a trace of courteous reserve.

Wang Shi, a woman of experience, smiled and said: “All newlywed couples are like this. Which pair does not start as strangers and grow into familiarity? When you marry one day, you will understand.” Then she turned to Li Chenjian: “Is it an evening banquet? Have you sent word again today to Duke Shuguo’s household and to your father-in-law?”

Yun Pan took up the thread: “Mother need not worry — I sent people to both households first thing this morning. I also confirmed with my uncle and father on the day of my return visit; they have promised to attend the banquet.”

Wang Shi said that was good. “Since we became family, it has taken until today for us all to sit down at table together — the lapse in courtesy is already on our side. Please convey my apologies to your father and to the Duke on my behalf, so that people do not say our ducal household has been remiss in its welcome to our new family.”

Yun Pan smiled and agreed. When the maids had cleared the small tables, she moved to the main room to keep the Dowager Lady company over the morning tea, then saw Wang Shi back to her Xunchun Pavilion.

Li Chenjian had deliberately made himself scarce, to give the two women — mother-in-law and daughter-in-law — space to talk. Yun Pan supported Wang Shi as she settled into a rose armchair, and her hesitant, about-to-speak expression soon drew Wang Shi’s attention. Wang Shi asked: “What is it? Do you have something to say to me? Has Ji Fu done something wrong? Or did he talk nonsense last night when he was drunk?”

Yun Pan said no, it was neither. “It is not on account of my Lord — it is something of my own that I wished to speak to Mother about.”

Wang Shi relaxed. As long as the young couple were not at odds, everything else was a minor matter. She gestured toward the armchair nearby: “Sit down, then. Whatever it is, sit and tell me at your leisure.”

Yun Pan answered softly, perched herself on the edge of the chair, and after turning the matter over in her mind several times, still found it difficult to bring up.

Wang Shi laughed: “Whatever could be so formidable as to turn a forthright girl like you into someone who hedges and sticks?”

Yun Pan looked a little abashed. She lowered her head. “I had it all planned out how to say it, but now that the moment has come, I no longer know where to begin.” After a brief pause she continued: “Mother knows the situation in my family — I will not conceal it from you. The concubine my father has been keeping is simply intolerable. She has repeatedly pressured my father into elevating her to the position of principal wife. For a marquis’s household to be managed by a concubine is something the entire court and the public would mock my father for without restraint. Before I was married, certain things were inconvenient for me to say, and certain matters were not mine to act upon. Now that I have my own household, I can at least ask questions about family affairs — I cannot let my father go on being so muddled.”

Wang Shi listened and nodded. “That is quite right. He is your father after all. Small domestic grievances, handled behind closed doors, may not reach outside ears — but when the New Year comes and they move to the capital, this is a place where a reputation can be ruined with ease. Those who are careless of themselves cannot expect others to spare their feelings. Since our two households have now become family, we truly share each other’s fortunes — you need not be guarded with me. Whatever plan you have in mind, speak it plainly.”

Hearing this, Yun Pan felt at ease. In truth she had been very reluctant to mention the unsavory affairs of the marquis’s household to anyone in this ducal residence. She could certainly handle the matter on her own, but if she did so without informing her mother-in-law, and the news eventually reached Wang Shi’s ears — and Wang Shi discovered that her daughter-in-law had not breathed a word — she might well suspect that Yun Pan had no regard for her elders, or that she was too headstrong for her own good.

It was therefore better to report it herself. On one hand, she could hear Wang Shi’s opinion; on the other, Wang Shi’s circle of acquaintances was far wider than her own, and with her assistance, the matter would more than half succeed.

The manner of speaking also mattered greatly. To say bluntly, “I intend to find my father a new wife,” would be too presumptuous and might make Wang Shi think her impetuous. So she circled around to it: “The day I heard Grandmother’s words — that men are upheld by skin and flesh, but women by sinew and bone — I felt the truth of it at once. When my A’Niang was alive, she managed the household even through illness, and things were orderly; the concubines did not dare cause trouble. After my A’Niang passed away, that slave-born concubine seized control of the domestic affairs, and even dares to meddle in the clan’s ancestral rites. I think the root of the problem must be addressed — that woman must be thoroughly suppressed. But I am young, my experience is shallow, and even when I have a plan in mind I dare not act on my own judgment. That is why I have come to seek Mother’s guidance: what does Mother think of this?”

Wang Shi had by now understood her meaning, and could not help but admire the thoroughness of thought in one so young.

Indeed — without a proper principal wife to hold the house, a concubine was bound to entertain delusions above her station. Once she began whispering in the man’s ear and clouded his judgment, and if the man himself wavered, the whole household would fall into disorder. Jiang Heng was after all the illustrious Kaiguo Marquis, and though his title and stipend had come through his late father-in-law’s patronage, he at least held rank and land, and the marquisate had been a dignified one. After the County Princess’s death, had he only conducted himself well, after the mourning period there would have been no shortage of people coming to broker matches for him. But then the concubine had stirred everything up, and before long had taken over the household — with word of that spreading about, what family of quality would let their daughter walk into that mud, to contend with a slave-born concubine?

She agreed with Yun Pan’s thinking in principle, yet she also felt the execution would be difficult. “A daughter from a good family — quite apart from whether she would be willing to marry as a second wife — would likely take one look at the marquis’s household as it stands and want nothing to do with it. And if the family were of lesser standing, one would worry she would not be able to keep that menace in check — and end up simply consigning some poor girl to a lifetime of misery.”

Yun Pan said: “I thought the same. Father is getting on in years after all; taking a girl who has never been married would not seem quite right.” She shifted slightly in her seat and said with care: “Mother, I have someone in mind — may I tell you what I think, and see if it would work?”

Wang Shi nodded. “Go ahead. Which family’s daughter?”

Yun Pan said: “She is not exactly a daughter, as such — she is the younger sister of General Zhongwu, Jin Zhenzhao…”

“Jin Shengyu?” Wang Shi’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “You have your eye on her?”

Yun Pan hesitated. “Does Mother find it unsuitable?”

Wang Shi said: “She was in a divorce — your father may not be willing.”

“There is nothing wrong with a divorce. She was neither repudiated nor shut away in widowhood.” Yun Pan said. “What I worry about more is that she might find the marquis’s household too undisciplined to wish to marry into. I have heard that this Second Miss Jin is a decisive woman — if she could truly manage the household for my father, that would be a genuine blessing for my younger brothers and sisters.”

Wang Shi considered this. “You are right. She comes from a military family; her father and mother are both still living, and her brother is a general with real authority. If she truly enters the marquis’s household, she would certainly have the formidable means to bring that troublemaking concubine to heel. Very well — for your father to seek a new match, it would not be proper for me, his new family by marriage, to insert myself directly. Jin Shengyu is on close terms with the Chancellor’s wife. I will entrust the matter to the Chancellor’s wife to act as matchmaker, and add my own encouragement from the side — the affair would likely be settled.”

Yun Pan was overjoyed. She rose and curtsied to Wang Shi. “Thank you so much, Mother. I mentioned this to my Lord last night, and he said the very same thing — that the Chancellor’s wife might be asked to mediate.”

“Mother and son think as one it seems — they arrived at the same conclusion.” Wang Shi smiled, then a shadow of feeling crossed her face. “Dear child, you have had to trouble yourself so greatly on your own father’s account.”

Yun Pan was not truly at ease in her heart. “If the concubine had only kept her place, I would not have been driven to this. My A’Niang was the principal mistress of the marquis’s household; now that she is gone, forgotten, I — her own daughter — must go and find someone to take her place. I feel I have wronged my A’Niang terribly.”

Later, as she walked with Nanny Yao through the courtyard where light and shadow played in patches, she murmured: “Finding father a new wife — I say it is for the sake of the marquis’s household’s future, but I have my own private feelings in it too. I am simply furious at being played by Liu Shi, and I want to find someone who will properly deal with her — to let out this anger that has been sitting in my chest.”

Nanny Yao smiled. She had just been listening to Yun Pan speak so well before Wang Shi, but now, looking at her again, she was young and hot-blooded after all. That pent-up grievance had been lodged inside her so long; now that she had a household of her own and the confidence to speak from a position of standing, she was ready to begin settling old scores one by one.

Yun Pan turned her head and grinned at Nanny Yao. “Am I being terribly small-minded? Fixated on how to deal with Liu Shi?”

“Madam, that is not being small-minded — that is reclaiming what is just.” Nanny Yao said. “Even yesterday, Liu Shi was still instigating Jiang Family’s paternal aunt to come and ask you for money. If Madam had been left alone and Liu Shi had truly kept her place after your marriage, who would have had the heart to go looking for trouble! All the grievances you suffered before — the earthquake in Youzhou, if you had not met the Duke then, who knows what might have become of you. No one in the marquis’s household so much as gave a thought to whether you lived or died.”

It was true — her father had been so muddled, and who could say she bore him no resentment? Yet she still had to consider the reputation of the ducal household, and Li Chenjian’s name. As long as she managed to see a new mistress through the door, whether things went well or not would be her father’s fate to bear — and if the household did manage to right itself from here on, that would be an unexpected joy.

The ducal residence was connected by covered walkways; passing through the courtyard, the path ahead led to Xuzhu Hall. The morning still held some small and quiet tasks for each of them; but once the midday meal was done they could not rest — the hosts of the evening would need to arrive at the banquet venue ahead of their guests, to await the arrival of all who had been invited.

As it was her newlywed period, Yun Pan changed into a jacket of evening-mist blue-gray, paired inside with an ivory underdress and a crimson gauze skirt. Her fair complexion set against the bright, deep colors made her both striking and graceful. After settling herself in the carriage she smoothed the hair at her temples; today Ruolan had arranged her hair in a new style and she had felt a little uneasy about it all morning. She glanced up and saw Li Chenjian looking at her, which made her self-conscious. “My hair…”

His eyes were as still and unruffled as always. He looked her over carefully and said it was fine — very proper.

She smiled with slight embarrassment. She trusted his judgment; if he said it was good, it most likely was.

The afternoon air was somewhat sultry. Yun Pan loosened her collar slightly and glanced at him again. The inner garment beneath his purple-and-gold court robe was worn with a composed neatness, and his body was indeed somewhat frail — the summer coughing spells were fewer, but the temperature of his hands was a little cooler than most people’s. Perhaps for this reason, he always gave the sense of being not quite easy to approach; sometimes when he turned his head to look outside, his eyes held a solitary, unyielding quality that quietly drew a line, keeping others at a gracious yet definite distance.

Seeing she had gone quiet, he thought to ask: “That matter — did you settle it with Mother?”

Yun Pan said yes. “Mother is of the same mind — she will ask the Chancellor’s wife to bring the two parties together. After that I will mention it to Father; if he does not object, then the matter can proceed.”

He nodded. “The marquis’s household has been so thoroughly unsettled of late — I expect Father has noticed.”

Yun Pan gave a weary smile. “It would be a good thing if he had. What I fear is that Liu Shi will get wind of it and put on a show of tears and tantrums, and he will lose his nerve.”

This was entirely possible. He pondered for a moment. “You speak with Father first. When the time comes, I will come to your aid.”

Yun Pan looked at him in surprise. “You will come to my aid?”

He smiled slightly. “Sometimes, to get something done, reasoning alone is not enough — someone needs to add a little fire.”

He had always handled matters with quiet confidence. With his word of support, it seemed as though there was nothing that could not be accomplished.

At that moment the carriage arrived before Banlou. The maids brought a mounting step and helped her down. Yun Pan looked up — it was indeed worthy of its name as one of the capital’s most celebrated restaurants; no ordinary tea house or food stall could compare. The building rose to three stories, with the look of considerable age about it — the railings and pillars had darkened to a deep, lustrous black — and on either side, bright red lanterns hung in long clusters. One could easily imagine how splendid it would all look when lit up in the evening.

The serving attendant had been waiting at the door and came forward at once when they descended from the carriage, clasping his hands and bowing. He smiled: “This attendant has been waiting for the Duke and Madam half the day. The small dishes the Duke ordered have been prepared. Since there is still some time before the evening banquet, perhaps they should be served now?”

Li Chenjian turned to Yun Pan: “What does Madam say?”

When it came to food, Yun Pan was quite pleased — but she kept a composed expression on her face, pretended to consider for a moment, then gave a dignified nod. “Very well.”

The serving attendant raised his voice in a cheerful acknowledgment, bowing and gesturing: “Duke and Madam, please come in. A private room has been prepared ahead — very quiet and peaceful. Please rest there for a while. Someone is stationed at the main entrance; when the guests arrive, word will be sent to you both at once.”

Li Chenjian said good, and went ahead up the covered walkway, then turned to take her hand. Yun Pan followed him to the room at the far end of the corridor. When the door was pushed open, it was nothing like an ordinary tavern’s mix of meat-and-wine smells — the private room had been scented with Guangling incense, the floor laid with fine woven matting weighted at its four corners with small bronze lion figures. It was exactly the kind of refined, scholarly taste that literati preferred.

The two of them sat down before the low table, and looking sideways through the window, they could see a tallow tree in the courtyard growing at its own unhurried pace. It was not yet autumn, and the leaves had not yet turned red, but the branches were laden with long, slender yellow blossoms that swayed and trembled in the breeze, scattering a carpet of fallen blooms across the ground below.

The spring cocoons with flowing sugar-sand filling and the Qiongbo wine that she had been looking forward to were soon brought out, accompanied by dragon-wrapped tea confections and peach kernel pastry, arranged on a peach-wood tray and set before them. She had never laid eyes on the sugar-sand spring cocoons before — the outer skin was just as she had imagined: translucent and delicate as a real silkworm’s cocoon, with the filling just visible inside. The serving attendant poured melted sugar syrup over them, and an amber gleam spread across the fine porcelain dish like the play of light on rippling water — even just looking at them made them seem worth tasting.

Li Chenjian passed her a pair of bamboo chopsticks, then lifted the wine pot to pour her cup.

Yun Pan picked one up, shielded her mouth with her hand, and placed it inside. He watched her face carefully — saw her brow go from smooth to slightly furrowed, then slowly settle back to its usual ease. With the serving attendant present, she could not say anything, so she only remarked that it was good. But once the attendant had left and the door had been pulled closed, she dropped her voice: “Too sweet — not refreshing at all. So much for the fine reputation; one ought not to believe everything one hears.”

He laughed. She was such a composed and measured girl, yet she also had this lively and straightforward side.

He set the cup before her: “Try this Qiongbo then — you’ve been thinking about it for quite a while now.”

She had not been able to stop mentioning it even on their wedding night — naturally it deserved a proper tasting.

She took a small sip, and this time offered genuine praise: “This is good. It has the fragrance of green wheat, with just a faint sweetness.”

Li Chenjian had attended many social occasions and had tasted almost everything the capital had to offer; he knew perfectly well what Qiongbo tasted like — for a man it was really too gentle and mild, but it suited a girl’s palate exactly.

Later Yun Pan also tried the peach kernel pastry, which was an unpretentious little dish but turned out to be unexpectedly delicious. She promptly called for the serving attendant and asked for another portion to be made, along with a box of gold-bar wrapped steamed glutinous rice dumplings, to be sent together to Duke Shuguo’s household for Miss Mei.

The summer afternoon passed in this leisurely way — tasting a little wine, enjoying the view — a very pleasant time. Around mid-afternoon the Dowager Lady and Wang Shi also arrived, and Yun Pan had no more leisure to herself after that; she attended to them and moved them to the private room, staying to chat and keep them entertained. When guests gradually began to arrive and word was sent from outside that the Duke wished Madam to come, she quickly straightened her clothes and went out, standing shoulder to shoulder with him at the entrance to receive the guests.

It was a Li family household banquet, so the guests were all naturally of the imperial nobility. Duke Chengguo and his wife also came at the invitation, and the sister-in-law cousins by marriage met with great propriety. The Duchess of Chengguo was surnamed Jing, a woman of dignified bearing, and she took Yun Pan’s hand: “Several days have passed since your wedding, and this is the first time I have met my younger sister-in-law — we must visit more often from now on. Kinship grows cold if uncultivated.”

Then the Duchess of Chuguo arrived as well, and said with a smile: “Our Duke has been in the army and could not return, so he entrusted me to come and offer congratulations to the Fourth Young Master and his wife.” She looked Yun Pan over as she spoke: “My younger sister-in-law is so beautiful! I was unable to attend the banquet at Chancellor Han’s residence that day, but I heard about it — and I heard that my sister-in-law has a pair of skilled hands. Younger Sister Shucun even showed me the carved walnut shell, and kept saying how kind and approachable her elder sister-in-law is.”

This lady’s smile did not reach her eyes — all the warmth was on the surface. Yun Pan had no choice but to respond in kind: “I ought to have called on Elder Sister-in-Law myself, but these past two days have been too busy to find an opportunity.”

The Duchess of Chuguo waved her hand. “You have only just been married; first there was the visit to the palace to offer thanks, then the return visit to your family, and today you are holding a banquet for your relatives and friends. Your propriety is already more than sufficient — your elder sister-in-law is not so unreasonable as to find fault with any of this.” As she caught sight of Wang Shi and the Dowager Lady, she quickly went inside to pay her respects.

Yun Pan and Li Chenjian exchanged a brief glance and smiled with quiet resignation. Turning back, she saw Duke Shuguo and Madam Ming arriving. These were the closest of kin, and there was no need for the careful, guarded manner she had maintained with the others. Yun Pan asked where her elder brother was; Madam Ming replied: “Several students at the Imperial Academy absolutely insisted on holding a banquet for him — he simply could not get away. He asked me to apologize to you in his stead.” Then she looked toward the interior: “Has your father come?”

Yun Pan was just about to answer when she saw Jiang Heng coming along from the direction of the main street — alone, attended only by a young manservant, looking rather solitary and forlorn.

A small ache rose in Yun Pan’s heart, though she kept it from showing on her face. She went with Li Chenjian to meet him, greeting him as Father, then led him inside and introduced him to Wang Shi and Grandmother Hu.

The pleasantries between the two families were many. Jiang Heng bowed sincerely to Wang Shi: “Si Si is young, and there are bound to be shortcomings in what she does — if Wang Shi sees anything wanting, please be patient with her, as you would have been with her mother.”

Wang Shi had nothing to find fault with, and said directly: “Marquis Jiang has raised his daughter with great care — I see not a single thing amiss in the girl.”

Madam Ming, standing to the side, offered a playful remark: “They say a mother-in-law looks at her son-in-law and grows fonder by the day — and now Wang Shi looks at her daughter-in-law and loves her right down into the corners of her heart.”

While the others chatted and exchanged pleasantries, Yun Pan found a moment to speak with Jiang Heng. Seeing that no one else was near, she said: “Father, there is still a little time before the banquet opens — let me say a few words to you.”