The nannies from the General’s residence were truly not to be trifled with. At the command, they stepped forward to take him by the arms. Frightened, he dodged left and right. “What is going on!” But they had already caught hold of him.

Jin Shengyu stood and said, “Does the Marquis think I have no informants in this household — that he could secretly stuff silver into Liu Shi’s quarters and keep me in the dark? Marquis, you have truly wounded my heart. I went to every effort to pry out the money Liu Shi had embezzled, and then the Marquis turned around and sent the silver right back to her. If the two of you are so devoted to each other, what was the point of taking a second wife at all? A pair of devoted lovers — could you not just live out your days together?”

This left Jiang Heng stunned. He had not imagined that his every move was known to her, and to think he had spent so long tampering with the account book.

Watching Jin Shengyu’s anger flare up like this, and knowing full well he still had expectations for this marriage — if everything fell apart now, who would that serve? So he pleaded repeatedly, saying, “My Lady, I only gave her the money because I felt sorry for her. She was making such a scene about wanting to die that I softened and gave her the silver.”

Jin Shengyu let out a cold laugh. “Wanting to die? There are plenty of people threatening to die out there. It will be getting cold soon, and there will be no shortage of vagrants collapsing on the roads. The Marquis is so benevolent — why not simply donate to an orphanage? I truly do not understand you men. Why do you all love stuffing money into your concubines? I suppose the concubines serve you so well that you cannot help yourselves — so then why are you still in my quarters?” Her contempt grew by the moment, and she furrowed her brow. “Throw him out!”

And so Jiang Heng, still in his wedding finery, was escorted out to the gate of Liu Shi’s courtyard.

Fortunately, his head was clear enough. He grabbed hold of the arched gateway. “I am not going in… I will not go in! Let go of me!”

The sounds of the commotion had reached Liu Shi inside. She hurriedly put on her robe and came out to find the Master of the house being manhandled by several matrons to the gate, while he clung to the door frame with both hands, gripping it for dear life.

“Master…” Liu Shi walked a few steps forward, inwardly jubilant. It seemed Jin Shengyu was going to use Jiang Heng as a pawn on the very first night. If she went over now to attend to him, wouldn’t it have the flavour of two lovers sharing misfortune?

But she had only taken a few steps when one of the matrons bellowed, “Yinniang, stay inside your room. Whatever is happening out here has nothing to do with you. If the Marquis wishes to come to your quarters, we will naturally escort him in.”

Jiang Heng was a man, after all. When he used his full strength, those matrons could not ultimately hold him. He finally broke free, panting with indignation. “Since when do you people decide where I sleep?” He clasped his hands behind his back and strode away.

On this wedding night, with the moon half-full, he found himself wandering aimlessly through the garden. He had no heart for Liu Shi’s quarters; he dared not return to the bridal chamber. After circling about for a time, he decided to spend the night in the study.

But just as he was about to step onto the covered walkway, he spotted a stout, dark-complexioned matron standing guard at the study door. Seeing him approach, she fixed him with a sharp gaze, bobbed a curtsy, and announced in a voice that seemed to shake the walls, “The Marquis need not proceed.”

How was it that even the study was denied to him? He retreated in frustration and thought to try the side room, but spotted someone standing guard there even from a distance. He felt nothing short of despair — it seemed there was no path forward but to submit to Madam Jin.

With no other option, he returned to the outer door of the bridal chamber and called out plaintively, “My Lady, please let me explain.”

But there was not the slightest sound from inside. After quite a long while, he saw the candlelight shift, and the outer room gradually fell dark as the person within moved into the inner bedchamber, clearly intending to put out the lights and go to sleep. Anxiety seized him — he felt as though he were being roasted over fire. In the end, he steeled himself and turned sharply, striding into Liu Shi’s courtyard with great strides.

Liu Shi had no inclination to sleep either. She sat there turning matters over in her mind. Jin Shengyu was so fierce — on the very first day of the marriage she had already shown Jiang Heng who was in charge. The two of them could not possibly manage as husband and wife going forward. The more they quarrelled, the more pleased she was. Women had always needed to be gentle as water to hold a man’s heart. The more overbearing Jin Shengyu was, the wider her own future path would be. Before long, Jiang Heng would miss the tender comforts she offered and come back to her quarters.

While she was still thinking, she heard footsteps in the courtyard. Her heart gave a flutter — who could it be? She peeped out at the door, saw Jiang Heng’s figure, and hurried out to meet him. “Master… tonight is Master’s wedding night. Why have you come to this concubine’s quarters?” Even as she spoke, she ushered him inside.

It seemed there was truly nowhere else to rest, and he would have to stay here. Liu Shi was secretly delighted and was just about to help him change his clothes, when he raised his arm to wave her off and simply said, “That five-hundred-tael banknote I gave you — where is it?”

“What?” Liu Shi startled. “Master came to my quarters just to retrieve the banknote?”

Jiang Heng was at his wit’s end. He furrowed his brow and said, “It’s all gotten too dire… Quickly give me the banknote. I just need to get through tonight somehow.”

Liu Shi immediately burst into tears. “You cannot get through things on that end and so you come to my end to get the money… Master, does this not feel like a betrayal of the bond between us over these many years?”

Jiang Heng had no time at this moment to think about bonds old or new. He only felt that Liu Shi, who was usually so perceptive, had become utterly unreasonable at the critical juncture. He said with displeasure, “Did I not give you this money? It’s not as though I’m digging into your own savings…” Seeing she was still reluctant, he sighed with furrowed brows. “Fine, fine. Consider it a loan — give it to me for now, and I’ll repay you later.”

Things having reached this point, Liu Shi could push back no further. In the end, she could only pull the banknote from her chest. Tear stains still wet on her face, she held it out to Jiang Heng with a wounded expression, saying, “This concubine does this for the sake of harmony between Master and My Lady…”

Jiang Heng said he understood, took the banknote, and left without looking back.

On the other side, Jin Shengyu finally heard the urgent calling at the door — his voice sincere and earnest as he called, “My Lady! Open the door, I’ve gotten the banknote back.”

The light in the room came on. An attending maidservant came and opened the door. He strode in and found Jin Shengyu still sitting there, dignified and formally composed in her bridal wear. He felt rather embarrassed, presented the banknote, and said in an ingratiating manner, “My Lady, I was confused over the past two days. I felt sorry for her and listened when she said the money was for the children’s future, so I softened and gave her the five hundred taels. Now I know I was wrong. I’ve gone to her quarters and retrieved the money… I humbly ask My Lady to let go of her anger, and please do not let this small matter damage our marital bond.”

Only then did Jin Shengyu’s expression soften. Managing a man was like tuning a bowstring — the tension had to be just right. If wound too tight, it would easily snap. Since he had brought the banknote back, she would not press the matter further. But the words still had to be spoken clearly. “This is not a small matter. It concerns the Marquis’s dignity before me. I have just entered this household and am at the very stage of establishing its governance. For a carelessly altered account book to be brought before me — if I could not detect it, then the Marquis need not expect me to keep this household running. Since things have been settled today, from now on all financial income and expenditure of the household, I ask the Marquis to hand over entirely to my management. The Marquis is a true man — he need only handle external affairs. He should not interfere in the inner courtyard. That is the proper conduct of a husband.”

What more could Jiang Heng say? He could only nod repeatedly.

That charming smile finally appeared on her face. Only now did she carry a hint of a new bride’s manner as she announced, “The Marquis must be tired. Please retire to the inner bedchamber.”

Jiang Heng finally let out a sigh of relief. He went to wash up first, then with some trepidation mounted the step to the inner bedchamber.

His wife in the lamplight was still quite young — a lovely face, and when not disciplining anyone, she looked quite beautiful. By his reckoning he was a full ten-odd years her senior, quite the older husband with a young wife. He had assumed that, bedchamber-wise, Jin Niang would also be as impenetrable as a deity. But the new bride was extraordinarily tender, and that contrast between her two extremes left Jiang Heng quite beside himself.

Afterward, she rested her head on his arm and said softly, “These past two days I have been thinking about something. I alone attending to the Marquis may not be adequate, and I am considering selecting two good ones to serve the Marquis.”

Jiang Heng, still drifting in a pleasant haze, heard this and could not help but break out into a cold sweat. “No, no… no need for that. Having My Lady is more than enough.”

Jin Shengyu made a sound of acknowledgement. “Are those the Marquis’s true feelings? The household has only had Liu Shi all these years, and I have felt that the Marquis has been quite deprived.”

Jiang Heng dared not accept her goodwill in the least. His heart pounded as he said with great awkwardness, “I understand My Lady is generous, but we have only just married, so speaking of this now is really… really quite inopportune.”

Jin Shengyu smiled and did not continue. In any case, after tonight’s events, she had seen clearly enough — this man could barely manage as a live-in partner for daily life, and there was absolutely no need to entrust him with her true heart.

She was already thirty. She did not know whether she could conceive a child. Her previous marriage had ended in ruin precisely because she had not produced an heir, and the relationship between her and her mother-in-law had become like water and fire. She supposed her body simply failed her — watching the concubine-born children arrive one after another while she drank countless remedies and went through round after round of treatments, yet her belly never stirred. There was simply nothing to be done. Now the garden had three concubine-born children — all Liu Shi’s. The youngest, Jiang Mi, only knew to roll her eyes, and looked thoroughly unpleasant. Thinking about the family estate being passed to that boy in the future — it would be far better to arrange two more obedient concubines for Jiang Heng instead. One purpose was to fully strip Liu Shi of all favour; the other was that should any of them produce a son, she could take the child and raise him herself. Raised from infancy under her own guidance, such a child would be a hundred times better than that half-grown Jiang Mi.

She was the sort of person who, once she had made up her mind to do something, simply did it. In truth she felt no love, so none of this troubled her in the slightest.

After the return visit following the wedding, two days later she had the women brought into the garden — one purchased from outside, one a maidservant from her maiden home, both of them steady and reliable. She placed them first in her own quarters to serve, with an agreement that after two months they would be formally elevated in status and established as Yinniangss.

When Liu Shi heard the news, she was so furious she tore her handkerchief apart, gnashing her teeth as she said, “To think the world truly has such a capable household manager. The sheets haven’t even been warmed and already she’s setting about acquiring concubines for the man. That is truly laughable — afraid she cannot hold the man’s heart herself, so she brings in two young ones to keep his appetite whetted, like a greedy cat that goes to her room every day.” She spat in contempt. “As if this is how she’s going to conceive a child. It makes me sick!”

Nanny Kong and Cui Jie looked at each other helplessly. “Yinniang, think of something — the Master has now completely stopped coming to our courtyard.”

Liu Shi stewed in her agitation for a good while, muttering under her breath, “What a heartless, faithless creature!” But she truly had no recourse, and could only drop into the armchair, heartbroken, and sob piteously.

Everything was moving in a better direction. Things on Father’s end had settled. Although Jin Shengyu had arranged two concubines in the household — which was not the ideal arrangement — given her circumstances, it seemed to be the most advantageous course for herself. Whatever happened, Jin Shengyu needed a son, and whether or not he was her own flesh and blood, if she raised the child herself from the start, she would not have to rely on Jiang Mi in her old age.

As for Mei Fen — the Zhao family had already sent betrothal gifts. According to what Aunt had said, the two had been in frequent contact throughout this period, and their feelings were deep. Mei Fen, who was a person who had always kept her heart closed, had found in her time with Zhao Zhongyan that there was not the slightest barrier between them — they said whatever was on their minds, and when they had nothing to say, they found things to say, and had even worked out plans for the future, including how many children to have.

As autumn set in, each day grew colder than the last. At this time of year, Li Chenjian’s cough would flare up somewhat. Often at night he would let out an extremely suppressed light wheeze, and then try to keep Yun Pan from hearing it. Yun Pan, though, did not sleep deeply. Sensing it, she would sit up and help him ease his breathing. Sometimes she would reach to feel his back and find it frighteningly cold, and so she would lean against him, using her own body to warm him, which would ease the coughing considerably.

Outside, frost gradually began to settle. Setting out for morning court was nothing like it had been in summer. In autumn and winter, at the fifth watch, the sky was a heavy black, the stars and moon hanging low and dense in the half-sky.

Officials, at a certain time of year, could switch to a padded seat in their carriage, but Li Chenjian was always earlier than others. The interior of the carriage was thickly layered. Yun Pan would see him off to the carriage — the fox-fur collar of his cloak obscured half his face, leaving only a pair of deep, calm eyes visible as he looked at her warmly and said, “Go back in. Don’t catch cold.”

Yun Pan nodded, watched the carriage set off, and then returned to the garden with Qin Dan.

She had planned today to make osmanthus flower oil. The season of the blossoms was nearly over, and if she didn’t hurry and store a batch, she would have to wait until the following year.

The two of them, mistress and maidservant, went to the osmanthus tree. The tree, trimmed to shoulder height, bore flowers only halfway in bloom. Qin Dan held up a lamp to give her light while Yun Pan, holding a lacquered box, carefully picked out the half-opened ones. The fully bloomed ones had already lost most of their fragrance; only the half-opened ones still held their scent close. She would bring them back, remove the stems, and they would be ready.

She fetched a porcelain jar and poured the tiny flower buds inside — when the bamboo sieve was shaken, it was as if a shower of golden rain fell down. She then sealed the mouth of the jar tightly with oiled paper and placed it inside a pot to steam for three periods of two hours each. Once it had finished steaming, she would set it in a cool, dry, ventilated place. After ten days, the clear liquid would be pressed out, and it would be ready to use.

Yun Pan was busy through the entire morning and only rested at midday. In the idle hours of a woman’s inner chambers, time was mostly passed this way. Occasionally she would go to the shop to take a look. The shop’s business had remained brisk all along — after all, the distinguished ladies of the capital never lacked money, only novel ideas, and a place to turn those ideas into reality.

During her time there, she naturally gathered useful information. For example, the wife of the Pinlu Army Commander mentioned in passing how her husband had been exhausting himself reorganising troops for days — and so Yun Pan knew the Pinlu Army was undergoing new deployments. The wife of the Hanlin Academician planned to return home early to prepare for her husband’s afternoon audience — which meant the military authority around the capital was shifting once more.

Yun Pan would sort through these things one by one and carefully raise them with Li Chenjian. But he was so busy that they could only properly talk in the evenings.

She had recently also acquired a new prescription said to have remarkable efficacy for coughs. She had just been intending to have someone go out and purchase the necessary medicinal herbs when a servant from the Mao Garden came with a message from the Senior Madam, saying that a relative had come to visit and asking Yun Pan to come keep them company.

Yun Pan heard this and changed her clothes to go to the Mao Garden. She had barely stepped inside when she heard a lively conversation. A voice was saying, “Aunt is now wanting for nothing — the young master has such a promising future, and he’s married such a wonderful granddaughter-in-law. All that remains is to wait to hold a great-grandchild, and there could be no further wishes left unfulfilled.”

Yun Pan’s steps faltered momentarily. Yu Li, the maid attending beside the Senior Madam, came out to receive her. She smiled and said, “My Lady has arrived.” She bowed and guided her in. “Please do come in!”

Yun Pan entered the inner room. She saw the Senior Madam seated at the head of the room, with the Princess Wang and the visitors seated to the side. Standing before them was a young, attractive girl about the same age as herself. From the earlier exchange, the guests were evidently relatives of the Senior Madam’s own family, but they had brought a young girl with them — the purpose was unclear.

Yun Pan would not let any trace of this show on her face. She simply smiled and stepped forward. The Princess Wang raised her hand to make introductions. “This is the Senior Madam’s second-cousin-once-removed by marriage. Her husband’s family name is Cao.” She then gestured to the girl standing nearby. “This is Madam Cao’s daughter, An Rong — I believe she is only two months younger than you. Just call her younger sister.”

Madam Cao and An Rong both rose. The two exchanged greetings, then spoke a few pleasantries. Madam Cao, folding back her sleeves, said, “Our family has been posted in Longzhou, far from the capital, so we were unable to come and offer congratulations when you and Ji Fu were married. This is our first meeting, and I must say I find it deeply delightful. It is also the Senior Madam’s good fortune — word has it you manage the household and oversee all manner of affairs with complete mastery. One can’t help but envy it.”

The Senior Madam was always very happy to see relatives from her own family, and as she gestured for them to sit, she smiled and said, “Ji Fu no longer gives me cause to worry. How has your son been getting on? I heard he also took a wife last year — how are things now?”

Madam Cao smiled broadly. “This past summer, he had a pair of twin sons. The children are doing very well, though the daughter-in-law suffered greatly and has been recuperating ever since — she is gradually improving. The boy secured a post last year, though it’s only an assistant county magistrate of the eighth rank. It’s a small position, but he’s still young, and there will be chances for promotion in the future.”

The Senior Madam nodded. “For young people to advance steadily one step at a time is no bad thing.” She looked toward An Rong, who was seated at the lower end of the room, and asked with a smile, “And what about Rong? She must be sixteen now — has a match been arranged?”

Yun Pan heard this and turned her head to look at the so-called young cousin — she saw the girl’s face flush red as she kept her head lowered and said nothing, no doubt too bashful to speak, as young girls often are.

It was Madam Cao who picked up the thread, patting her knee and saying, “While we were in Longzhou there were a few wealthy households that came to propose — but our thought is that we would like the child to come back to the capital. After all, to marry into such a remote place would mean spending her life there, and we are originally people of the capital, with our roots here. There’s no need to send the child so far away, and once one is older and wishes to return to one’s roots, one might not even get to see one’s own child’s face.”

Yun Pan sat and listened, and came to understand — the Cao family’s official rank and standing were not high; the head of the family was of the sixth rank, and they were distant relatives at that. By rights, it was actually unnecessary to have her specifically come and accompany them. She studied An Rong a second time and a rough suspicion formed in her mind — but she dared not take it too far. Better to keep listening and see what would be said next.

Sure enough, after a few more exchanges, the Senior Madam sipped her tea and said, “Our family is going along steadily now, but it cannot compare to your good fortune — getting two grandsons at once. I recall that the Cao family seems to frequently have twins. Were your son and his elder brother not from the same birth?”

Madam Cao said yes, and said with a laugh, “Their two elder sisters were also twins. Twins beget twins — people who know the family often tease them about it, saying that since one guest is as welcome as two, they might as well produce them two at a time, which saves a good deal of trouble.”

The Senior Madam nodded. “Such things are actually passed from the older generation to the younger? Look — your Zhong has again had two…” As she spoke, she shot a glance toward An Rong.

Madam Cao only smiled, saying with practiced modesty, “One cannot guarantee such things — it seems only that it comes more easily to some than others. Though there’s also a downside to it — it’s the women who suffer.”

But the Senior Madam said heartily, “Giving birth is a matter of life and death regardless. Though it may be harder, the fortune is doubled in return. Looking at Rong’s face and features, she is clearly a child of great destiny. Come visit more often in the future, and we will keep watch on your behalf — perhaps one day a fine family will be found, and a lifetime of prosperity will be within reach.”