That single cry dragged Mei Fen out of her daze. She started — her mind cleared in an instant — then she saw that she was holding a strange man in her arms, and she let out a scream of shock.

Madam Ming was so furious her head spun. She rushed forward and slapped the young servant across the face repeatedly. “You vile wretch — what do you think you are doing!”

Everyone in the room had been struck dumb by this sudden upheaval. The two maidservants fell to their knees with a thud, staring blankly at Mei Fen trembling on the bed, utterly unable to comprehend what had happened.

In short order, slaps fell mercilessly on their faces as well. “You useless things — assigned to wait on the young lady, and you didn’t even notice a stranger entering the inner courtyard!”

Ba Bao and Tuan Yuan clutched their stinging cheeks and began to cry. “Earlier the young lady gave us some peony cakes, and when we saw her lie down to rest, we went to the rear corridor to—”

“Enjoying yourselves, were you — so much so that you couldn’t even keep watch over the residence! What is the point of keeping you!” Madam Ming spat bitterly, then turned her glare on the young servant. “Someone come — tie this cursed wretch up for me!”

Several older maidservants came rushing in from outside and bound the young servant securely. He did not struggle, but pleaded piteously, “Madam — the young lady and I are in love with one another. Please, I beg you to grant us your blessing!”

The dazed Mei Fen suddenly snapped back to her senses. She stared at this unfamiliar face in disbelief and cried out, “What are you saying? I don’t know you at all. Who are you!”

Madam Ming felt as though her head were about to explode — she was so furious, so anguished, she nearly broke down weeping.

Her most treasured and cherished daughter — how could she have been entangled with a household servant! Heavens above, had she never truly known this daughter of hers? The girl said she did not recognize this man, yet a moment ago the two of them had clearly been embracing — and she had seemed anything but unwilling.

“If you don’t know him, how did he get into your inner chamber? If he was a stranger to you, why didn’t you call out — why did you just let him—” Madam Ming stamped her foot. “What a disgrace to our family! What a disgrace!” She raised her finger to point at the young servant. “Drag this criminal out and throw him into the well — do not let him live another day!”

But such a thing as killing a man was beyond the nerve of any woman in the inner quarters. While everyone hesitated, Duke Shuguo came rushing in, having heard the commotion. He found his daughter’s courtyard in utter chaos, and nearly collapsed at the entrance, his face drained white as he asked, “What has happened? What in the world is going on?”

Madam Ming was weeping too hard to speak. She pointed at Mei Fen, who lay on the bed sobbing with her face hidden, her finger pressed so hard it seemed she wished she could stab through to the other side.

“Go ask her yourself! What sort of respectable household are we — to raise such a shameless creature! In broad daylight, she was found in an embrace with this good-for-nothing—” The fury was absolute, and she slapped herself across the face. “Where am I supposed to show my face after this!”

Duke Shuguo turned to look at the young servant and recognized him — he was a distant relative of the Xiang family, by the name of Xiang Yun. The young man had come to seek shelter at the household after his family fell into misfortune. The Duke had taken pity on him at the time and kept him on to help with work out front, also serving a guard-like function. He had never imagined the man would end up setting the inner quarters ablaze. A good deed had been repaid with ingratitude — Heaven had no eyes!

He was incensed. He stepped forward, seized the man, and landed two solid blows square on his face. “You reckless, worthless scoundrel — I’ll beat you to death!”

Xiang Yun, bloody-faced from the beating, still repeated the same words. “Master, the young lady and I are in love with each other. I beg you to grant us your blessing.”

Mei Fen leapt barefoot from the bed and screamed, “You are lying! Lying! I don’t know you — don’t think you can frame me like this!” She then turned to plead with Madam Ming. “A’Niang, please believe me. It is not what you think. I was asleep — I had no idea anyone had come in.”

But Xiang Yun denied this, crying out with grief, “Mei Fen, things have come this far — just admit it. If you had not sent word to me today saying that Madam was out on an errand, how would I have dared sneak into the inner courtyard? You broke off your engagement to Duke Weiguo for my sake, and I have told myself that in this life I will marry none but you. Why, at this very moment, do you still not dare speak the truth to Master and Madam? Though I am poor, I will work as a beast of burden for the rest of my days to provide for you. You need not be afraid. Just make it plain to the two elders.”

Madam Ming’s vision went black with rage. She pressed her hand to her temple and sank into the armchair. “So then… so that is how it is. Here comes another Jiang Heng. You little wretch — poor as a leaking coffin lid, you wanted to beguile a young lady of a distinguished household and use that to climb in the world. Do you think I don’t know your calculations?”

Yet Xiang Yun would not admit to any of it. “Madam, I have never had such designs. I want only Mei Fen herself. If there is a single false word in what I have said, may Heaven strike me down with five bolts of lightning. I beg Master and Madam to see clearly.”

Just then, Mei Fen suddenly flung herself headlong at the corner of the table. Ba Bao managed to intercept her just in time, but Mei Fen still struck her head hard enough to draw blood, and she crumpled to the floor.

Madam Ming stamped her feet and wept. “You debt-collecting spirit — you’ll be the death of me!” She rushed forward and pressed her hands to the wound, frantically calling for a physician.

The courtyard had descended into complete chaos. Duke Shuguo was worn to his marrow. He steadied himself, knowing that this matter must not be made public, and had Xiang Yun dragged away like a feral animal to the front courtyard. He turned the situation over and over in his mind, trying to work out how best to handle it.

For the household to have produced such a scandal was a great misfortune. Xiang Xu’s betrothal was in sight — if the Yu family were to find out, they would surely never agree to give their daughter to this household, and that would ruin Xiang Xu’s prospects entirely. But to hold his nose and accept the situation felt more revolting than swallowing something rancid. A legitimate daughter of the Duke’s household, paired off with a household servant — it was far worse even than the situation when Yue Yin had been matched with Jiang Heng. At least Jiang Heng had his credentials, small as his post at the Four Directions Reception Office was.

Looking at the man now — battered and swollen and pathetically disheveled from the beating — Duke Shuguo found him more and more an affront to his eyes. A general who had fought all his life on the battlefield, yet when it came to his daughter’s affairs he was completely helpless — it made him feel the full weight of his advancing years.

“You—” He swallowed with difficulty. “Mei Fen will never be yours — put that out of your mind. I will give you two choices. Either pack your things and get out — go to the ends of the earth, and do not let me lay eyes on you again. Or die here today, and be thrown to the stray dogs on the unmarked graves mound. In this day and age, there is no shortage of those who die without cause — and you have more than deserved your death. Think carefully about which path you choose.”

Xiang Yun refused to relent. “Master, Mei Fen and I—”

“Silence!” Duke Shuguo cut him off in fury. “A young lady’s given name is not something a lowly creature like you has the right to utter! You speak of your mutual love, but she refuses to acknowledge it. My household holds a position of distinction — we will never form a union with a penniless wretch like you. Hear me clearly: do not make me give in to the urge to kill, for killing you would be easier than crushing an ant.”

Xiang Yun faltered and hemmed and hawed. “Master, perhaps you could ask the young lady once more for her thoughts. My feeling for her is truly one of complete sincerity — the sun shining overhead can bear witness to my heart. If there is a single false word in what I say, let me die here on the spot.”

Duke Shuguo gave a cold, derisive laugh. “A father’s command and a matchmaker’s word — when has any daughter ever had the right to decide for herself? There is no need for oaths and vows. I will not trouble the heavens to deal with someone like you, who repays kindness with betrayal. I am fully capable of ending you myself. I have asked you three times now. You won’t go, will you? Very well then — stay here for the rest of your days.” He raised his voice and bellowed, “Come!”

Everyone nearby stepped forward as one. “Your command.”

But before he could issue the order, Xiang Yun yielded. He said again and again, “Master, please — I’ll go, I’ll go now.”

Duke Shuguo signaled to those around him to untie the rope from Xiang Yun’s body. Just as the man was scrambling frantically for the door, he called out again, “Stop.”

“What kind of standing the Duke Shuguo household commands — I trust you know well enough. If so much as a single word about today’s events ever passes your lips, take care of your father, your mother, and your younger sister’s lives.”

Xiang Yun, crestfallen, said yes. Before leaving, he knelt and pressed his head to the ground once more, then limped out the gates of the Duke’s residence.

Outside, the sun blazed directly overhead, so bright one could barely keep one’s eyes open. He wove through several narrow lanes, and only when he reached a corner did he find the errand runner waiting there.

One glance, and the man knew the deed was done. The errand runner grinned and leaned in close, lowering his voice. “You got to hold that warm jade beauty to your heart’s content — you haven’t done badly. Only… you didn’t go too far, did you?”

Xiang Yun said, “Of course not. She is a thousand-gold daughter of the Duke’s household. It was enough to get to that level of intimacy and the whole household was already thrown into uproar — if I had gone any further, do you think I’d be keeping all my parts intact?” He glanced at the runner’s hand. “You brought the banknote?”

The errand runner reached into his breast pocket and produced a note, fluttering it in the breeze.

He snatched it away and said, with a tone that mingled remorse and resignation, “Truly, men die for wealth as birds die for food. I did such a monstrous thing today — when I die, I will sink into the deepest level of hell. Duke Shuguo treated me well. If there were a remedy for regret, I truly wish I had never taken this job.”

The errand runner laughed and said, “All right, all right — don’t enjoy the spoils and then play the victim. Your monthly wage at Duke Shuguo’s residence was a mere two taels of silver. This note is a hundred taels — worth several years of your earnings. Take the money and go redeem your little smoky beauty and be on your way. From this day on, whatever happens in the capital has nothing to do with you.”

Yet Xiang Yun continued to curse under his breath — whether at whoever had orchestrated this from behind the scenes, or at his own greed, it was hard to say.

He limped away. The errand runner watched his retreating figure with contempt and spat.

Then he turned and ran back toward the Sang Family Market. At the edge of the street there stood a carriage. He ran up to the front of it, clasped his hands respectfully, and said, “Young Master, the matter is all settled.”

The person inside the carriage gave a soft sound of acknowledgment, and a faint note of amusement threaded through his voice. “The Duke Shuguo household must be in complete chaos right about now.”

The errand runner gave a low, pleased laugh. “If Young Master were to go propose marriage now, it would be like rain after a drought for Duke Shuguo — I expect the entire household would be bowing and thanking you.”

But the person inside said not to rush. “Wait a few more days. If I appear at their door urgently now, they are not fools.”

There was something rather amusing about it all. That day, when he had intercepted her behind the artificial rockery and spoken those words, she had thought that reporting it to her parents would settle everything — little did she expect that far more formidable forces still awaited her. Eleven years without the trust of her closest kin must have been agony. And if the next eleven years were to unfold the same way, or twenty-one, or thirty-one — would that not make life feel worse than death?

No one would believe her. In the end, there would be only him to depend on. No matter how imperious Madam Ming might be, aside from him, who else would there be to entrust with her daughter’s future? She would bow her proud head of her own accord. Duke Shuguo’s household — and was it not destined to yield to the mere Baron of Kaiguo’s household?

As for Mei Fen — that frivolous little creature — she had truly gotten ahead of herself. She had presumed that the clouds had cleared and the mist had parted, and had actually dared to step outside the door and take a turn or two in front of the main gate. Women, it seemed, could not be given too much latitude. They needed a bit at their mouths to keep them in check — only then would they know how they ought to conduct themselves, what it meant to uphold feminine virtue, and what it meant to never set foot outside the inner or outer gates.

***

Madam Ming, for her part, was at a complete loss for what to do. She began by calling the maidservants of Zilan Garden to account, summoning Ba Bao and Tuan Yuan to kneel before her in the main hall and hear their reprimand.

“About this matter — about this person — did you or did you not know anything beforehand?”

Ba Bao and Tuan Yuan had already been struck; the welts on their cheeks rose high. They glanced at each other and both shook their heads.

“You still dare to stonewall me?” Madam Ming, livid, snatched up a bamboo switch from beside her and laid into them without mercy. “You accompany the young lady day and night — everything she sees, everything she says — how can you claim to know nothing? You think you can fool me, playing tricks right under my nose… It is precisely because of useless creatures like you that the young lady has been led astray… I’ll beat you to death! Beat you to death!”

Madam Ming’s rage had nowhere else to go — she could not punish her own daughter like this, so she vented her feelings on the maidservants instead. In truth her heart was filled with grief. Ever since Yun Pan had said those things to her last time, she had been consumed by guilt over Mei Fen, feeling that she had failed in her duties as a mother and that the child had suffered all these years because of it. Everything Yun Pan had said had been perfectly sound and credible — so how had things come to this? In her eyes, Mei Fen had always been an honest, guileless child who would never deceive anyone. And yet right under her very nose the girl had been meeting privately with a man from outside — how could she not feel as though her very guts had been torn apart?

Xiang Xu, standing nearby, watched his mother strike the maidservants and stepped forward to stop her. “A’Niang, at least give them a chance to explain. If you punish them in such a blind fury, even if they have something to say, they won’t be able to get it out.”

Madam Ming was persuaded to stop and flung down the bamboo switch, pointing at them. “Speak — and if you dare to be evasive again, you will be beaten to death on this very spot.”

Ba Bao kowtowed repeatedly, weeping. “Madam, we are with the young lady day and night and truly have not noticed any entanglement with anyone. The young lady’s temperament you know full well — she hides from outsiders at the slightest occasion. How would she ever become involved with anyone from the front courtyard?”

Madam Ming shouted back, “Still daring to bluster! I saw it with my own eyes — he had barged into the inner quarters in broad daylight, and you dare say you knew nothing?”

Xiang Xu had listened for quite some time now and found himself thoroughly confounded, unable to make head or tail of any of it.

“A’Niang, why not hear what Mei Fen herself has to say? There may be more to the story.”

Madam Ming burst into tears at the very mention of it. “You go ask her — she absolutely refuses to open her mouth. If I had any means of getting through to her, would I need to interrogate the maidservants?”

Mei Fen’s disposition was something no one could do anything about. Xiang Xu, as a man, had always kept out of inner-quarters matters, and now, unable to determine who was in the right, he said in frustration, “Whether or not my younger sister is any good, I will provide for her for the rest of my life!” And with that, he swept his sleeve aside and walked out.

Madam Ming sank back into the armchair, weeping until the world went dark and dizzy around her. In all her life, aside from the deaths of her parents, nothing had ever plunged her into despair like this. The shame of it — this kind of thing was too shameful to put into words. She could accept Mei Fen not marrying. Just as Xiang Xu had said — she could support her for the rest of her life without a word of complaint. But she could not accept the girl being chaste and righteous on the outside while carrying on with a household servant in secret.

There were men enough in the world — why would one pick such a sordid ruffian… The thought made her head swim more violently than ever. She pressed her hand to her forehead and closed her eyes, hating herself for not being able to simply die on the spot and be spared the misery of facing this wretched situation.

Ba Bao thought at this moment of a lifeline. “Madam, shall we send word to Cloud Lady…”

Before she could finish, Madam Ming silenced her sharply. “Is this something to be proud of? And you have the face to tell her? She has only just married — are you going to drag her all the way here to deal with something so disgraceful?”

The more she thought about it, the worse it became. Mei Fen had rejected all of this for the sake of a man like that, had refused an engagement to Duke Weiguo — if Yun Pan ever learned of it, then truly every shred of dignity would be lost. What would people say!

She burned with anger, felt as though her heart was bleeding — and yet what could she do now? Mei Fen’s character was such that if you pressed her too hard she would throw herself at the wall, and she herself had only these two children. No matter how disappointing they were, there was nothing to do but grit one’s teeth and bear it.

She steadied herself and rose. Madam Ming, her steps heavy, made her way back into Zilan Garden. Mei Fen’s wet nurse, Nanny Nian, had been by her side the whole time, trying every kind of persuasion, none of which had moved the girl to speak.

At a loss and about to give up, she saw Madam Ming enter, stood up to greet her, and gave a slight shake of her head.

Madam Ming sighed, looked at Mei Fen with furrowed brows, and at last sat down beside her. After a long, strained silence, she finally could not hold back and asked, “As for your future — do you have any thoughts of your own?”

Mei Fen seemed not to hear. Her gaze was vacant, and she appeared to be a person from whom the soul had departed.

Madam Ming looked at the cloth bandaged around her head, at her face pallid as yellow paper — one moment seething with resentment, the next overwhelmed by tenderness. Her heart was too knotted to sort out, and she had no idea what to say. She could only gaze helplessly at her until she fell asleep, and then she finally withdrew from Zilan Garden and returned to her own chamber.

Duke Shuguo sat in listless silence beside the lamplight. Hearing the sound of her footsteps, he raised his head blankly, stood, and asked, “Mei Fen has gone to sleep?”

Madam Ming nodded and sank into the armchair on the other side. After a brief pause she asked, “And that wretch — how was he dealt with?”

Duke Shuguo lowered his head and said, “I drove him out and forbade him from remaining in the capital. I originally thought I would simply have him killed outright, but in the end it is a human life — and since our own daughter was not beyond reproach, we cannot lay the entire blame on him. If his parents were to kick up a fuss, Mei Fen’s reputation might not survive it. I had no choice but to send him far away and pretend the whole disgraceful affair never happened. That is that.”

Madam Ming was too choked to speak for several moments, clutching her chest. “My heart feels wrung dry today… That wretch won’t go spreading it around, will he?”

“He wouldn’t dare — unless he truly no longer cares to live.” Duke Shuguo came over to help rub the tightness from her chest, and said, “Children have their own fates. We have done everything parents could do. What comes next — let her go her own way.”

“But—” Madam Ming began weeping again, twisting in distress. “I just cannot swallow this resentment. She played us beautifully — refused ten thousand times over to marry Ji Fu, and it turns out all along it was for the sake of a wretch like that. Right now I would rather she had been held over a fire by the Empress Dowager than for things to have come to this pass. What sin have we committed — what sin!”

She clutched Duke Shuguo’s robe and buried her face in his chest, weeping without restraint in that space where no one could hear.

Duke Shuguo could only go on consoling her. “All right, all right — the sky is not falling. As long as we cut off her foolish notions, things will improve in time.”

Madam Ming felt that things could never truly be repaired again. She kept shaking her head. “I am afraid she has been thoroughly corrupted. Heaven knows how many more scandals lie ahead. And now I regret it — I regret it completely. Why did I let Si Si step in and patch up that mess for her? I truly believed she had a heart ailment and simply did not wish to marry. Now look at it — look at this state of affairs. After this, how will we ever hold our heads up before Si Si and Ji Fu?”

Duke Shuguo had never known how to handle his children’s affairs, but now he set his jaw and made a firm decision. “From this point on, she has no say in her own marriage. Even if it kills her, she will die in her husband’s household!”

When the heart is truly broken, there is nothing left to say. Madam Ming no longer had any defense left to offer for her daughter. She reflected on her own failures and concluded that nothing more remained to be said — a lenient mother raises a ruined child.