The so-called Bureau of Household Discipline was an office established specifically to adjudicate cases involving the families of officials.

The capital was filled with princes and high-ranking nobles, and their inner households were nothing like those of ordinary families. The female members of official residences generally held imperially conferred titles — whether of the first rank as a Princess Imperial, or of the seventh rank as a Ruren — all receiving salaries from the court, their status matched to that of their husbands.

If any among these women committed a transgression, it naturally could not be handled openly in a public hall for commoners to crowd around and watch. Since these were respectable women of distinguished households, it was more appropriate to conduct proceedings behind closed doors. Although the final outcome was no different from that of a regular tribunal, the process preserved the dignity of the head of the household — a form of consideration extended to the nobility.

Of course, while dignity was preserved on the surface, the interior was generally a mess. The Bureau of Household Discipline kept official case records, and there were no walls without gaps — if a person were truly delivered there, news would quickly spread among the noble ladies’ circles of the capital.

Jin Shengyu now had nothing left to be concerned about. This Liu Yinniang was like an abscess that had been festering for a very long time. If you did not lance it, it would sit there day after day — though no longer painful, it was a terrible eyesore. The reputation of the Kaiguo Marquisate had never recovered since the death of the County Mistress who had run the household. Things being already as they were, it was better to resolve everything in one stroke. Though people would gossip for a while, in the long run, it would be a good thing — for her own standing, and for the descendants to come — a matter of lasting benefit.

Since her mind was made up, and the several bondwomen were ferociously capable, regardless of how Liu Yinniang screamed and struggled, she was still dragged bodily out into the corridor.

Jiang Heng heard Liu Yinniang’s heart-wrenching cries: “Master… oh, Master, I have followed you for sixteen years, I bore your children, and this is how I am repaid today…”

Jiang Heng wandered forward a couple of uncertain steps, murmuring, “Yan… Yan Qiao…” — and was promptly seized by Jin Shengyu.

“Stuff her mouth!” Jin Shengyu was like a cold-faced lord of the underworld, squeezing her words out through clenched teeth. “Inform the Brocade Envoy — the capable nannies in Liu Yinniang’s entourage must be rigorously interrogated. She knows a great deal — not just this incident, but also the earlier matter of using a murdered maidservant to impersonate the Duke’s wife. Look into that as well. You’ll see — there may be quite a few old accounts we know nothing of that have yet to be unearthed.”

The bondwomen received their orders and, seemingly from nowhere, produced a grimy strip of cloth, rolled it up, and stuffed it directly into Liu Yinniang’s mouth, then worked together to carry her out of the courtyard.

Jiang Heng was in turmoil, watching helplessly as she was removed. He turned to look at his two daughters who were sobbing, then gazed toward Jin Shengyu — and whatever thread of sorrow he’d felt was suddenly cut off.

Jin Shengyu said, “What is it, my Lord Marquis? Are you truly so reluctant to be parted from a mere concubine-servant? Even though she plotted to take a life, in your eyes she can still be forgiven?” She laughed with disdain. “Now I understand why Liu Yanqiao grew so audacious — it was all indulged by you, my Lord Marquis. You are so muddleheaded. Are you not afraid of setting a terrible example before your daughters? In the future, if your daughters encounter an equally wicked and vicious concubine in their husbands’ households, will they hesitate — worrying that their husbands might be just like you and shield their concubines — leaving the legitimate wife unable to speak a single word, swallowing grievance after grievance in silence every day?”

Jiang Heng could not save face, and stood there awkwardly.

Wei Shi saw this as the moment to play the gentler role, and said warmly, “Since the woman has been sent to the Bureau of Household Discipline, let the Brocade Envoy handle it. Rather than worrying about Liu Yinniang, my Lord, you would do better to go and look in on the wronged party.”

Only then did Jiang Heng remember that Zhou Shi had suffered a miscarriage and was lying alone in her small courtyard. He quickly agreed. “I’ll go see her at once.”

Xue Pan and Yu Pan watched their mother be escorted into the inner court, and then watched their father abandon them to go tend to Concubine Zhou. Left standing in the main hall with no one to turn to, they did not know what to do.

Jin Shengyu gave them a measuring look, then turned to instruct the maidservants nearby, “Escort the young misses back to their own courtyards.” She then added, “Although Liu Yinniang gave birth to you, her conduct has been disreputable, and this day was long in coming. If you can tell right from wrong, I will naturally stand up for you in the future. But if you are just as foolish as she is — skulking about with wicked ideas — then don’t blame me for being harsh. This household can afford to keep two unwed daughters for life.”

Xue Pan and Yu Pan had witnessed her formidable nature and did not dare challenge her. Naturally, they obediently agreed and followed the maidservants back to their own courtyard.

Jin Shengyu watched them walk away, then turned and went to Zhou Shi’s courtyard. As she entered, she saw Zhou Shi weeping piteously, clutching Jiang Heng’s sleeve and saying, “Master, our child is gone…”

Jiang Heng’s heart was equally wrung, and he consoled her steadily: “It doesn’t matter — there will be more in the future. Ease your heart, and focus on recovering your health first.”

Wei Shi agreed warmly. “You are still young, and there is still plenty of time ahead. Now that this calamity has been hauled away, justice will be done for you soon. Calm yourself — ailments developed during a small confinement become lifelong troubles. This is a serious matter.”

Jin Shengyu watched from the side for a while. Observing that Zhou Shi was wailing loudly but shedding no actual tears, she turned to Jiang Heng and said, “My Lord, go attend to your own affairs. We will look after things here — nothing will go wrong.”

Jiang Heng truly did not know how to console the grief-stricken Zhou Shi, and hearing Jin Shengyu say so, he rose from the bedside, urged Jin Shengyu to take good care of Zhou Shi, then departed with repeated backward glances toward the courtyard gate.

The moment Zhou Shi saw him disappear into the distance, she dropped the performance and composed her features. She sat up and asked Jin Shengyu, “Madam, that wretched creature can’t make a comeback this time, can she?”

Though the pregnancy was false, and the miscarriage likewise false, what was real was Liu Yinniang ordering Nanny Kong to go out and buy ground bone meal, to slip into the soup as poison. In a private household, the pregnancy of a concubine was nothing like that within the imperial palace — it required no physician to examine again and again. As long as the legitimate wife acknowledged and announced a concubine’s pregnancy, it was considered confirmed, and no one would question it. As for a miscarriage, naturally it could be arranged whenever one wished. The Bureau of Household Discipline only needed witnesses and physical evidence to convict Liu Yinniang — it would never send a midwife to verify whether Zhou Shi’s pregnancy had been real or fake.

Jin Shengyu settled into the armchair and exhaled a long breath. “It should be more than enough to hold over her. Thank goodness that Madam Yun offered me a word of advice that day — it put me on guard. This time it was drawing the snake from its hole, with no real harm done. But if someone had truly been with child, who could have withstood that two-qian measure of ground bone meal?”

Wei Shi also felt a chill of retrospective fear. “That wicked creature has truly gone black-hearted — to ensure the glory of her own children, she would cut off someone else’s entire line.”

Zhou Shi leaned against the bed-frame and clapped her hands in satisfaction. “Now that she’s been locked up, I imagine her three children must hate her to death!”

This prompted Wei Shi to sigh. “You don’t know — it seems the saying is true that like gives rise to like. Her two daughters, afraid of being implicated, stood there and watched without a word as their mother was dragged away. Can you imagine?”

Zhou Shi was greatly taken aback. “Was it all in vain then, the love she gave them?” She turned to ask Jin Shengyu, “Madam, what do you plan to do with those two young misses in the future? Will you truly register them under your name?”

Jin Shengyu gave a cold, thin smile. “That name cannot be registered carelessly — it would only sully my own reputation later. Jiang Mi is still young; with Liu Yinniang removed, let’s see if his character can be turned around. As for the third daughter, her elder sister can worry about her in time. I’ve been watching that girl for a while — she does have some measure of sense. But that second daughter — sharp-tongued and mean-spirited — is the exact image of her mother.”

Given that her conduct was lacking, she would naturally be kept beneath the others in the future — and unlikely to marry into a distinguished family. Finding some minor, uneventful household to send her off to would be sufficient.

The three women sat in Zhou Shi’s room in good spirits, calling for fragrant drinks, warming themselves by the fire, chatting and laughing as they admired the swirling snow beyond the window.

News that Liu Yinniang had been sent to the Bureau of Household Discipline reached Yun Pan’s ears not long after.

At that moment she was sitting before the stove, simmering a loquat syrup. The caramel-colored loquat liquid bubbled and rolled in the pot. She pinched back her sleeves to add powdered fritillary bulb, stirring as she spoke: “All I did was mention it in passing that day — who knew Liu Yinniang would actually walk right into the trap.”

Nanny Yao agreed. “She already harbored ill intent, so something happening isn’t surprising at all. I was worried the concubine Zhou Shi had truly fallen for her scheme, and had specifically sent someone over to the Marquisate to check. The person came back with word that Madam need not worry — it was only the Marchioness’s technique of luring someone into her own net.”

Yun Pan nodded, watching the loquat syrup in the pot grow gradually thicker. She reached out, using a cloth to grip the handle, and shifted it onto the nearby ceramic stand.

“What does Father say?” She stood, rolling down her sleeves.

Nanny Yao handed over the jar and replied, “His Lordship the Marquis was naturally unwilling to let go, wanting to handle it quietly within the household, but Madam Jin refused. In the end, the woman was forcibly sent to the Bureau of Household Discipline — that place is easy to enter and hard to leave. His Lordship, being one who won’t pull strings, let the matter drop and hasn’t asked after it since.”

Yun Pan used a wooden spoon to carefully transfer the loquat syrup into the jar, silently sighing to herself. To meet a man like that was truly a woman’s misfortune. Her mother had suffered grievances too, but at least she had the support of a distinguished background to rely on — the blow, when it came, was only a disappointment in matters of the heart. But Liu Yinniang was different. Her rise and fall were entirely bound to Father, and if Father no longer cared for her, her life would extinguish without sound or trace, vanishing without a ripple.

Still, what end a person comes to is always a matter of her own choices. Among concubines too, the two Yinniangsin this household lived out their days in peace and comfort, without a day’s worry. And at her aunt’s house, the two concubines had always submissively relied on the main wife — having endured long enough to see Yong’er approach entry into office, and Lanfen settled into a good marriage. All in that household treated them with respect.

Only Liu Yinniang never saw through it. She exhausted every means to court trouble. If she hadn’t harbored such malicious thoughts this time, how would she have walked right into the net that others had spread for her? After all, no cunning can match virtue — no matter how the Bureau of Household Discipline chose to deal with her next, there was no possibility of her returning.

So be it. Whatever becomes of her is her own fate. Yun Pan set the matter aside, busied herself filling the rest of the loquat syrup into jars, sealed each one carefully with oiled paper, and placed them one by one into the small cabinet on the table.

She looked at the sky — it was already getting late. She wondered why Li Jibai had not yet returned.

When he came home late on ordinary days, he always sent someone ahead to say so. Today, however, was strangely different. Yun Pan, with this on her mind, instructed Qin Dan: “Go to the front gate and find Chang Song — have him go out and look into things. Find out where the Duke is at this hour.”

Qin Dan answered with an affirmative and lifted the door curtain to step out of the main room. In the deep chill of the ninth nine-day period of winter, the room itself was warm and snug — but the moment the curtain was raised, the cold air struck the face like a fist.

Qin Dan shuddered and tucked both hands beneath her jacket, hurrying along the wooden covered walkway toward the front courtyard. In the gathering dusk, heavy snow mixed with the northwest wind swept through the covered corridor. Snowflakes landed on her face and melted instantly, jolting her half-drowsy mind into clarity.

“Chang Song…” she called, standing before the gatehouse. “Chang Song…”

Chang Song inside promptly responded and came out. “Qin Dan, does Madam have any instructions?”

Qin Dan said, “Madam wants you to go to the court offices and check — why hasn’t the Duke come home yet…”

As she was speaking, she heard the sound of hooves arriving at the steps outside the gate.

She turned to look. A company of armored riders and horses surrounded a carriage as it returned. The formation was one she had never seen before.

Chang Song glanced at Qin Dan and quickly went out to receive them. The carriage door opened and Li Jibai stepped down wearing a fox-fur cloak. His tall, lean figure stood in the ice and snow; even in the depths of winter, when his health was poor, he still stood perfectly straight.

He cupped his hands in salute. “My thanks to Captain Qian for taking the trouble to escort me.”

The officer, Captain Qian, dismounted and returned the salute. “Your Grace is too kind — this is this officer’s duty. It is cold and freezing, please go inside, Your Grace.”

Li Jibai gave a slight nod, turned and walked through the main gate.

Behind him the heavy gate panels swung shut with a deep, resonant thud. He stood quietly before the gate for a moment, listening as the sound of hoofbeats outside grew gradually distant, before lifting his feet and walking toward the rear courtyard.

Yun Pan, not seeing him return, had grown increasingly anxious. Qin Dan came ahead to announce his arrival, saying the Duke had returned, and she went out to stand at the covered corridor and peer down the path. When she at last spotted his figure, she hurried forward to meet him, asking softly, “Why did you come back so late today?”

He smiled. “With the New Year approaching, affairs at court are multiplying. I was kept in the palace for a deliberation and was delayed until now.”

Yun Pan stepped forward to remove his cloak. She took his hand-warmer from him, and at that moment discovered the charcoal inside had long since gone cold. Her unease deepened. She could not tell what exactly had changed — enough to make him unaware even that his hand-warmer had gone cold.

Looking at his expression again, it remained entirely composed. He sat down, washed his hands, and drank his daily medicinal soup for strengthening the spleen and moistening the lungs.

Yun Pan sat beside him, glancing at him sideways again and again, the anxiety in her heart too difficult to voice. She could only look at him, over and over.

He laughed and turned to her: “Don’t worry — I will be careful.”

She nodded absently. Once everything was settled, she sent away the surrounding maidservants and bondwomen, then poured a cup of hot water and set it by his hand. She said, “I heard Qin Dan come in and report — just now there were many armored men escorting you home. Were those men from the Imperial Guard?”

He fell silent, and after a moment said, “They were from the Court of Judicial Review.”

Yun Pan was startled. “Why? Why the Court of Judicial Review again?”

Her anxiety showed on her face and it flushed red. He quickly sought to reassure her, saying it was nothing. “At court there will always be differing opinions. The Emperor issuing a show of authority is nothing new — it will pass.”

“But…” she pressed her lips together with worry, “the Court of Judicial Review answers directly to the Emperor. With them being frequently deployed lately, I can see that things don’t seem quite so simple.”

She was a sharp young woman, and since marrying him she had gradually come to understand the workings of officialdom. Using the Court of Judicial Review against the commanders of the Palace Front Command and the Imperial Guard Command was indeed no small matter. But what must come would come. At this season, whose doorstep was not steeped in blood and wind?

He drew her to sit beside him. He had always felt she was still young, and had been reluctant to burden her with affairs of the court. But she had matured considerably of late and was worthy of her title as mistress of a Duke’s residence. The more he kept things from her, the more anxious she became — she was no longer someone who could be placated with a few vague words.

“Today at court, someone impeached Elder Brother on charges of factionalism and abuse of power. The Emperor listened, and ordered the Court of Great Justice to pursue a full investigation — meaning strict, swift, and severe. They came just short of dragging Elder Brother to the Court of Great Justice in person.” He lowered his gaze, speaking in a measured tone. “Elder Brother and I are deeply entangled in our associations. It was inevitable that I would be implicated — and I spoke up in his defense as well, which enraged the Emperor, who ordered the Court of Judicial Review to investigate me. The procession just now was not an escort — it was an arrest detail. But you need not worry. This matter, though it will have its complications, may not necessarily be bad for me. The political situation at court is treacherous at present, and the Emperor’s true intentions remain unclear. Certain ministers have been gradually attaching themselves to Elder Brother and Third Brother — and the Emperor is already aware of this.”

Yun Pan’s heart tightened, and she asked him anxiously, “And you? Has anyone attached themselves to you?”

He shook his head. “Everyone in the capital knows of my friendship with the Duke of Chenguo — who would come attach themselves to me? Those scenes of jostling for favor generally end in charges of factionalism. That I can remain outside of it is precisely because of the cultivation of these past two years. Only…” He paused. “The words I spoke to you last time — keep them close to heart. If we are forced to be separated for a while, you stay home and look after A’Niang and Grandmother. Do not worry about me.”

Yun Pan listened to him finish, and her face drained of color. She remembered every word he had said — he had once asked her to wait for him until the spring. That had stayed with her ever since. She had hoped it might have been said in passing, but now he raised it again. It seemed the undercurrents at court had truly reached him, and the road ahead would be a difficult one.

Could she refuse? It seemed she could not. For a brief moment, a feeling like a permanent farewell descended over her heart. But thinking again — he always had everything in hand and never erred. If she could just hold the household steady for him, they would come through this storm and into better days.

Yun Pan drew a slow, deep breath. “Everything here will be managed by me. I will take good care of the elders and younger sister. But I cannot help being worried about you. When you are outside, you must be careful. We have become husband and wife — we are to be together for a lifetime. A short parting of a day or two I can bear. Half a month, I can endure. But if it goes longer than that…” she paused, “I will be angry.”

Said at the very end, her childlike little threat carried a strangely endearing quality.

He laughed despite himself. “You will be angry… then I’ll think of a way not to make you angry.”

She shot him a reproachful look. “I mean it. Don’t you smile at me like that.”

He paused — she really was angry — and so he put aside the smile on his face, and said with perfect seriousness: “I only feared you would be distressed… Now you should understand why Uncle and Aunt regret having pledged Miss Mei to me. Miss Mei is too gentle — she could not hold up the gates of the Duke of Weiguo’s residence. You can. You are stronger than she is. And it is precisely for that reason that I feel I have wronged you.”

Those who are strong always bear more than those who are weak — was that unfair? Perhaps. But Yun Pan did not resent it, because she had also received more than others.

She gripped his hand tightly. “Will there be another audience tomorrow at court? The Court of Judicial Review won’t come to escort you back again tomorrow, will they? Take Bi Xie and Bi Han along with you…” She thought for a moment. “And take Chang Song as well. If you are home late, send someone back immediately to tell me — so I won’t worry.”

He nodded, and after a pause deliberated: “If you don’t see me return, and I haven’t sent word either, take that as a sign — don’t come looking for me. Have the gates secured and watched, then go to Uncle the next day. He will find a way to keep you safe.”

He said this with such gravity that it was clearly no jest. Yun Pan’s heart lurched, but she knew that pressing him for more answers in this moment would serve no purpose. She gave a heavy nod and said in a hoarse voice, “If it is calamity, I will face it. But you must be careful — I am waiting for you to come home.”