So he was going home right away? He had clearly enjoyed the conversation very much!

When Mei Fen came out of the private room, Chun Sheng’s eyes were practically shining. She laughed and asked, “What did my little brother-in-law say to you? Look at him, all bright and eager, rushing home — can it be that he is going to tell his parents and prepare to come call formally?”

Mei Fen’s face still bore a bashful smile. “That Military Observer of yours — he seems to have something of an impulsive nature as well.”

Chun Sheng gave a hearty laugh. “After spending too long in the military — where giving orders means instant obedience — he does everything with that charge-forward energy. As long as you agree, Madam, of course he has to hurry and get things done while the going is good. A match this fine is not something one finds even with a lantern to search by. Your temperament must suit him as well — why else would he come rushing back home to make preparations?” She cradled her belly and added, “I had better go as well and see what help I can offer with the betrothal gifts.”

The attending maidservants and serving women quickly came forward to support her. Yun Pan and Mei Fen saw her to her carriage, and watched as it rolled away into the street before turning to go back inside the shop.

Yun Pan pressed her for every detail of what had been said. Mei Fen’s face flushed as she replied, “I have never met anyone like him — mouth opening and closing to say he wants to make my acquaintance, as though I were a man. At first I was rather tense being alone with him. But then it turned out he was even more nervous than I was, and kept stumbling over his words, terrified I would misunderstand him, and even made a special point of insisting he does not stammer.”

Yun Pan burst out laughing, and said with a sigh, “A person like that is actually quite good. Imagine if you had met someone with a glib and slippery tongue — that is what would truly be cause for grief. You see — when fate comes, you cannot keep it away. With A’Jie’s family background, how many men in this capital have set their hearts on you? The two families are also well-matched in standing, with no question of marrying up or marrying down. This is exactly right.” She drew her aside and murmured, “If this match comes together, I will also be happy for A’Jie. After everything that has happened, too many people have been smirking behind your back — one must never give in without fighting back, and life in this world is all about preserving one’s dignity. Once things are settled, you can hold your head high again, and all that bitterness you have been carrying in your heart will dissipate. You can see it — Military Observer Zhao is a man of passion and earnest feeling. A person like that is rare: when he says he will see a thing through, he will go through fire and flood to accomplish it. And he is every bit a fine-looking man too. The two of you standing together would be wonderfully matched.”

Mei Fen squirmed a little. “We are nowhere near that point yet — it is too early to speak of a match.”

Yun Pan was puzzled. “What do you mean? Did the Yu family say something?”

Mei Fen said, “No, nothing like that. It is just something I have been thinking to myself — that this really cannot go on much longer. You have all made your matches, and I am always alone, which worries Father and Mother and puts Elder Brother in a difficult position.”

Yun Pan said, “Oh — is Elder Brother entering official service?”

Xiang Xu had been a junior secretary at the Imperial Academy for some time, applying himself entirely to his studies — in preparation, in truth, for just this step. The post of Collator at the Wenfu Pavilion carried duties of responding to imperial inquiries, and held a rank of Senior Fourth Grade among civil officials — no small thing, owing both to Lord Xiang Junjie’s early military merit and to Xiang Xu’s own learning. Starting as Collator, in time he would advance to Associate Scholar, and then to Scholar — a bright future stretched ahead.

Mei Fen had not thought so far ahead before. Her brother was simply studying hard every day, and she had felt that her own affairs need not entangle him in anything. But now that he was to take up an official post, things were different from before. She had already caused her father enough difficulty — she could not be the source of trouble for her brother as well.

Mei Fen nodded. “Nian Zi’s father is the Vice Prime Minister. Since Elder Brother is to marry into that family’s only daughter, he ought to have something to his name.”

So everything around her was quietly, gradually changing. If she herself remained standing still, she truly would be left behind by the world.

Whatever happened, if she could willingly choose a person and marry him, that too was a fortunate thing in a life.

Later, Yun Pan went home and mentioned that day’s events to Nanny Yao, who was happy on Mei Fen’s behalf as well. Laughing, she said, “Earlier, when Madam Mei was the way she was, everyone in the household thought she would never leave home. But now — look at the turn her luck has taken. With He the Third dealt with and gone from her life, everything has come right.”

Just as she was saying this, a serving woman from the inner gate came to announce from beneath the covered walkway that two older women had arrived at the outer gate who said they were longtime servants from the former Kaiguo Marquis household.

Yun Pan’s heart gave a glad leap. She turned to Qin Dan and said, “Could they have found Nanny Pan and Nanny Wei? Go quickly and see.”

Qin Dan said yes, and hurried swiftly to the garden gate. Yun Pan stood on the walkway and listened, hearing the sound of warm voices coming from outside, growing nearer. Figures appeared at the courtyard gate, and by then both nannies were already in tears, walking and crying out as they came: “My little Madam, my young mistress… after being apart so long, we have finally found you again.”

Those two were the nannies who had raised her, and seeing them again brought back fragments of memory from when her mother was still alive. Yun Pan’s own tears were flowing long before they reached her. She took one woman’s hand, then the other’s, and looked at them over and over — and sobbed, “Where did Liu Yinniang send you? I had people searching for you for so long, and it is only today that we have finally brought you back.”

The three of them wept together, and the scene was truly sorrowful. It was Nanny Yao and the other maidservants who came forward at last to console them, saying, “Madam, do not grieve — the nannies have come back now. Whatever hardships they endured can be made up for in the future. All this weeping is no good — you will injure yourself.”

Nanny Pan hastily dried her eyes, helped Yun Pan into the armchair, and smiled through her tears: “Madam, please sit — this is a happy occasion, not the time for tears.” She looked Yun Pan up and down, her eyes welling up again, and said in a choked voice, “Liu Yinniang had the heart of a snake and a scorpion — she sent us off to Xingyuan Prefecture. We worried about Madam night and day, not knowing whether you would fall into her vicious hands. But look at you now… look at that bearing about you — who could have imagined our young Madam would become a Duchess. It must be the County Princess watching over Madam from the heavens, bringing Madam such good fortune. That poisonous Liu Yinniang — her day of reckoning will come. Though we were carried through difficulties before returning to our Madam’s side, from now on we will serve her with all our hearts and make up for the time we were apart.”

In any case, the people had come back — this long-held worry had finally been answered. They then asked what had happened at the time. Nanny Wei said, “That day we were in the courtyard clearing the flowing water channel when the earthquake struck without any warning — sky went dark, sand and stone flew through the air, one could not even open one’s eyes. When it eased a little, we found that the roof had collapsed on half the room. Mu Xiang had just been inside tidying up and was trapped underneath. We worked together to dig her out. Ah, Madam — you did not see it… her face could not be recognized. We reported back to Liu Yinniang, and she came with some people to take a look. I do not know what went through her mind, but she had a few of the errand boys who were usually at her beck and call tie us up, stuff our mouths, cover our eyes, and ship us out of Youzhou. At first we had no idea what had happened in the household. We only heard it all gradually on the way back this time. Thinking back now — Madam truly had it hard. Thank goodness there was still your aunt’s family to turn to. If you had taken one wrong step back then — whether you had alarmed the authorities or troubled your lady friends — Liu Yinniang would have had words to say, and who knows what would have become of things.”

Nanny Pan then pressed further: “What of Liu Yinniang now? Before we were sent away we heard that the Master was moving the household — is she in Youzhou still, or is she in the capital?”

Yun Pan leaned against the armrest. “She is in the capital. Word came the other day that she has been ill — though whether it is true or false, I cannot say.”

At the Kaiguo Marquis’s estate, Jiang Heng had only just returned from court, and nearly collided with a serving woman running toward him as he came through the door. He stopped and snapped, “What are you doing? Running about in such a panic — have you no decorum!”

The serving woman quickly apologized. “Master, please do not be angry — it is that the concubine is not well, and your servant is going to fetch a physician.”

Jiang Heng wrinkled his brow. “What is wrong now? Today a headache, tomorrow a stomachache — she was perfectly fine in Youzhou, and now that we have come to the capital, is it that the climate disagrees with her, or what? Not a single day without some ailment, never well.”

The serving woman could only stammer — how was she to explain the reasons behind it all?

Jiang Heng waved her off irritably. “Go along, go along!” The serving woman made a bow and hurried off to the gate. He had originally intended to ignore the matter, but felt that not going to take a look seemed too cold-hearted. So with his hands clasped behind his back, he walked slowly toward Liu Yinniang’s courtyard.

Ever since that day Jin Shengyu had squeezed five thousand taels out of her, Liu Yinniang had felt as though neither her body nor her soul truly belonged to her anymore. She had genuinely been ill for seven or eight days, practically eating medicine as though it were food. The anxiety in her heart was real — but there was nowhere to air this grievance. Even Jiang Heng no longer came to her rooms, and she had no recourse but to nurse her resentment alone.

To say a man was heartless — she had never quite felt that way in the past, because she had always been the one to benefit. The County Princess’s suffering had seemed to her almost a joke. If anyone mentioned it, she would dismiss it lightly: “In the Lady’s presence, where was there any footing for me?” — casting herself in the role of the weaker party. And then, by some particular mischance — or perhaps the wheel of fortune turning — along came Jin Shengyu, sweeping through like a weasel into a henhouse and disrupting the entire household. She found at last that some words should truly never be said carelessly, for saying them too often, they had a way of coming true. In the days she had been ill, Jiang Heng had only come to see her once — had not even managed to say a word before leaving again. Afterward, once she recovered, she lay there uselessly for another half month, and he never once asked after her welfare.

This could not go on. By the looks of things, Jin Shengyu was going to come through the door in just a few more days. If she did not act now, there would truly be no way forward — she had to make use of what little standing she still possessed to draw Jiang Heng’s heart back even halfway. Otherwise, once he threw himself heart and soul into life with this new main wife, would she and her three children still matter to him at all?

The maidservant in her room, Cui Jie, stood on tiptoe clinging to the doorframe, craning her neck to watch, and finally caught sight of Jiang Heng’s figure at the courtyard gate. She immediately came back inside to report: “Concubine — the Master has come.”

“Quickly, quickly…” Nanny Kong hurried over with lead powder so she could dust her face, and a layer was also put on her lips. When Jiang Heng came through the door, he saw her lying there looking as though her last breath was upon her — as if a half-step later would have meant missing her final moment.

To say these years had produced no feeling between them would not be true. She was his woman, after all, and had borne him three children. When it truly came to a moment like this, his heart could not help but be moved.

He walked over and looked at her. “I hear your health has failed again? Whatever is past is past — set your mind at ease, stop thinking so much.”

At those words, Liu Yinniang’s eyes reddened. “Master — if I do not speak of the injustice I carry in my heart, I shall not be able to close my eyes in peace, even in death.”

Jiang Heng wrinkled his brow. “What injustice could there be now…”

She had scooped so much cream from the household accounts all these years — to now claim she had been wronged — why, presumably the money had only been hers once it entered her own purse, and once it had been extracted, she needed to die protesting her innocence.

Jiang Heng let out a sigh. Since he had come, he supposed he must hear her out. He turned a chair and sat down, bracing himself to listen.

Liu Yinniang had Nanny Kong help her prop herself up a little, looked once at Jiang Heng, and dabbed at her tears. “Master — regarding those five thousand taels, I have something to say. I will not deny that I moved two thousand taels from the household account. I did it because I have three children, and in the future Jue Ge will need to study, and Xue Pan and Yu Pan will need to be married off. Without some savings put aside, I feared that the Second Lady Jin would be unkind to my children. That day she meant to sell me, and even brought in the broker — she was going to have Xue Pan sold along with me too — she forced me to bring out five thousand taels… Master, since when has there ever been a main wife in this world who sells off her husband’s concubine-born daughters! I had no choice in the end, and had to rake out every last coin from the bottom of my chests. There was my savings of more than ten years in there, as well as the earnings I put aside from selling wine in the pleasure quarter…” At this, she could barely draw breath, and her grief was genuine — she sobbed and wailed, “That Lady has a heart of iron — now that I think about it and compare her with the late County Princess, they are truly as different as the heavens and the earth. In the past, the County Princess was so good to us, mother and children — never a moment’s shortage. Knowing I had worked hard in bearing children, she gave me ten taels a month, which I scraped and saved for so many years — only to have it all scraped right back out by this new one. I cannot bear even to think of it. It nearly kills me with rage, I truly could not think of anything that grieving. Master, you were not in the inner quarters — how could you know my difficulties? You only saw all that money and stood there aghast, thinking I had stolen so much of it all on my own… that money was my life!”

She gave herself over to heart-rending wailing — no tears, only dry sobs — yet she sobbed in a way that made one’s heart pound and one’s bones shake.

Jiang Heng was nearly ready to cover his ears, and sat with his eyes squeezed shut and his brow furrowed, as though turning his head might shut out the sound of her voice.

Yet once she had calmed down somewhat, he thought the matter over carefully. She had always helped herself to little advantages here and there, but to say she had kept back five thousand taels all on her own — that really was beyond her ambition. Having had even her coffin money squeezed out of her — no wonder she was half-dead with illness…

Looking at her now, his heart softened once more. “Enough — stop crying. All your savings are gone, I understand that. Here is what I will do: I will give you five hundred taels. Keep it quietly and don’t let her know. Get your health back and let’s take things one day at a time. When the time comes for the children’s education and their marriages, those will be taken out of the household account — you need not worry yourself so much. In a few days the new main wife will be coming through the door. Let all the business of before be settled and done. On that day, take the household servants and maidservants and present a proper greeting — make a fresh start and everything will be fine.”

Having been shown this consideration, and being promised five hundred taels, Liu Yinniang’s grievance eased by half. It was not about the money itself — the essential thing was his attitude. In the end he still cared for her, and whatever could be said about this newly arrived woman from outside, could those ten-some years of accumulated feeling simply be set aside as nothing?

Nanny Kong caught her eye, urging her to take what was offered and not push for more. Liu Yinniang knew better than that herself, and let out a long, drawn-out sigh. “I naturally want very much to get along with her — it is only that I fear this new main wife will not be able to tolerate our mother and children. As things stand, she and Xue Pan are like fire and water. The poor girl was slapped across the face in front of everyone — so shamed she dares not show herself to anyone. If I had not happened to arrive when I did, the rope up on the beam was already in place — Master, does that not make your blood run cold?” She began to shed tears again, choking out, “I am of low birth, and whatever harm comes to me matters little. But Xue Pan is the Master’s own flesh and blood — she is the daughter of the Kaiguo Marquis household, a proper young lady. How is it that in her hands, she is treated no better than a servant? Not to speak out of turn, but this Jin Shengyu is far too arrogant. At the heart of it, she looks down on this family — she looks down on the Master. Was it not purely to curry favor with the Duke of Wei’s household that she agreed to this marriage? So before she has even crossed the threshold, she is already doing her utmost to grind us down beneath her feet — every last thing in this household is to be decided by her, and having dealt with us today, who knows who she will deal with next, even the Master himself, one day.”

Jiang Heng’s brows deepened. “There you go again — why do you insist on judging her like that?”

“The slap was right across the face — and that is still just judgment?” Liu Yinniang flared up, sitting upright in her agitation, then, gasping for breath, collapsed back down again. After a long moment she said with no little despondency, “Very well — whatever I say now, Master will not believe me. I must seem like the kind of person who is forever stirring up trouble. Master should think about the past — back when the County Princess was here, did I ever once speak ill of her? Even when the County Princess was in a bad temper and reprimanded me, I bore it alone without ever troubling the Master. But this new main wife is simply too formidable — I truly cannot manage against her. I cannot help but come to the Master in complaint — and if the Master does not wish to hear it, then from now on I will simply say nothing.”

Eyes he could close, but ears he could not. Jiang Heng, having sat through all of it, leaned against the table with a deep frown, and for a long while said nothing.

He had always been like this — whoever was nearest to him was the one he listened to. Today Jin Shengyu was not before him, and this was Liu Yinniang’s best opportunity to tap on the rim of his cauldron. So she pressed on: “Master — things between Jin Shengyu and Xue Pan have come to a complete impasse. When she becomes main wife, Xue Pan will have no easy life beneath her hand. Xue Pan is nearly fifteen now — why not find a good family for her? Once the betrothal is settled, she becomes someone else’s person, and even if Jin Shengyu still cannot stand the sight of her, she would have to respect the in-laws’ face, and there would be nothing she could do to Xue Pan.”

Jiang Heng raised an eyebrow. “A betrothal? Ought that not to be handled by the main wife? How could we go over her head?”

Seeing he had no such intention, Liu Yinniang grew more anxious by the moment. She propped herself up and said, “If we ask her to handle it, then given how Xue Pan has offended her, how could she possibly find a good match? She would not want Xue Pan to one day rise above her. If she fears that, she will certainly arrange a lowly match for Xue Pan — some minor official of sixth or seventh rank, just to get the girl out of the way. And then my Xue Pan’s whole life would be ruined by her hands!”

Jiang Heng looked a little blank. After all, Jin Shengyu’s authority was still very much present in his mind, and he could not simply do everything Liu Yinniang asked. He stroked his beard and said, “A sixth or seventh rank is not that low — and besides, the young fellow can rise through the ranks in time.”

Liu Yinniang would not give up. “Xue Pan and Yun Pan are both the Master’s flesh and blood. Why should Yun Pan marry into a Duke’s household while my Xue Pan has to marry some petty official?”

Jiang Heng clicked his tongue, looking at her with something like helplessness. “Why — do you not already know the answer to that? Are these two children of the same birth?”

Liu Yinniang was cut off mid-breath, and though her heart was full of resentment, she could not escape the plain reality of it. Somewhat reluctantly she said, “Very well, granted there is a difference of legitimate birth and concubine birth between the two children. But they are both the Master’s own blood, are they not? From the start I wished for Yun Pan to make a good marriage — so that at least it might reflect well on our Xue Pan. Master will think about it: when matchmakers come to look, they look not only at the Kaiguo Marquis household’s standing — they will take note of the Duke of Wei’s household as well. No matter what is said, Xue Pan is the Duke of Wei’s wife’s younger half-sister. If her brother-in-law by marriage is some petty official, the Duke of Wei would also have no face.”

Jiang Heng listened, and it did seem to make a fair bit of sense. He stroked his knee in thought for a moment, then lifted his eyes. “In that case… this matter — should we entrust it to Si Si?”

Liu Yinniang heard this and could not have been more pleased. Now that Yun Pan had married into a Duke’s estate, her own standing had risen accordingly, and all the people she came into contact with were well-connected and distinguished. If she could bring Jin Shengyu to her father, surely she was also capable of finding a good match for Xue Pan.

She herself was at odds with Yun Pan and could not well go to her door with this request. But if she sent the girl’s own father — however they might feel about it, he would surely be shown some face. He could hardly stand by and watch his own younger sister marry into a poor match.

With this thought, Liu Yinniang’s “illness” instantly cleared up. She struggled into a sitting position and said, “Master — is this not a free afternoon? As the saying goes, an auspicious day chosen is no match for an auspicious day that comes on its own — why not change into a fresh set of clothes this very moment and go pay a call on the Duke of Wei’s household?”