After returning to the residence, Ling Wuye recounted everything that had happened that day to Sun Shi, leaving out no detail.

Sun Shi listened with her stomach full of irritation, and immediately summoned Ling Jingyan over, scolding her severely: “What did I tell you before you left the house? I told you to behave yourself and not cause trouble. You agreed so readily, and in the blink of an eye you tossed it all aside. That mother and son were kneeling and begging for mercy—what business is that of yours? Who told you to go meddling and stirring things up?”

Ling Jingyan defended herself, though without much confidence: “That mother and son were dressed in rags, kowtowing and begging for mercy over and over—they looked truly pitiful. That Zhang Jian looked every bit a wealthy young master, so naturally I assumed he was the one bullying them. That’s why I went over to ask a few questions…”

“Ask a few questions? More like you went charging in to right a wrong!” Sun Shi snorted lightly.

No one knows a daughter better than her mother. Though Sun Shi hadn’t witnessed it with her own eyes, she’d guessed exactly right, word for word.

Ling Jingyan fell silent.

Sun Shi tapped Ling Jingyan’s forehead with a finger. “You—you just can’t shake this impulsive, hot-headed habit of yours. Lucky for you, that Young Master Zhang has a broad-minded heart and didn’t hold it against you.”

Ling Jingyan couldn’t help protesting: “Mother, that Zhang Jian claimed his purse had been stolen and he had no silver on him, then had the nerve to make me treat him to lunch. After the meal, he even said he’d come visit the Ling family in a few days! Broad-minded, my foot—he’s nothing but a shameless freeloader who mooches food and drink!”

Hearing this, Sun Shi, far from getting angry, grew rather interested instead: “From what your Fifth Uncle says, this Zhang Jian is the son of the Vice Minister of Justice, eighteen years old this year, and not yet married. You’ve seen him with your own eyes now—what does he look like? Is he handsome?”

An image of Zhang Jian’s face flashed through Ling Jingyan’s mind again. Against her own true feelings, she pouted: “He looks completely ordinary, not handsome at all.”

Sun Shi gave Ling Jingyan a smiling glance, not taking her words to heart in the least, and began quietly turning things over in her mind.

If Zhang Jian never came calling, well, that would be that. But if he really did come to visit in a few days, she would have to see him for herself.

…

After the fifteenth of the month passed, the days quickly rolled toward the end of the year.

This time of year was always Sun Shi’s busiest. In the past, her daughter-in-law Jiang Shi had helped out, but now that Jiang Shi was pregnant and needed to rest and focus on the pregnancy, she couldn’t be troubled with such matters. Sun Shi alone had to prepare New Year gifts for relatives and friends, manage all the household’s New Year supplies, and handle a mountain of other trivial affairs.

Stretched too thin to manage everything, Sun Shi simply assigned some of the chores to Ling Jingyan and Ling Jingshu: “Both of you will be fifteen once the New Year passes—it’s time you learned to manage some household affairs. A’Yan, the items in the storerooms need to be recorded one by one. Go check on it every day so nothing goes wrong. A’Shu, you help oversee matters in the sewing room. I’ll have the stewards come see you both shortly. If either of you doesn’t understand something, come ask me.”

Ling Jingyan and Ling Jingshu answered together in agreement.

Being idle all day was boring anyway—having something to occupy their time wasn’t so bad.

The sewing room had about ten embroiderers in all, busy every day making padded winter clothes. The steward of the sewing room was an embroiderer of about thirty, soft-spoken and gentle, who handled things thoroughly and efficiently.

After taking over the duties of the sewing room, Ling Jingshu mastered them within a mere two days, handling everything with ease and to spare.

Ling Jingyan, who had taken over the storerooms, found herself with quite a headache.

The several storerooms were packed full of gold and silver wares, fabrics, medicinal herbs, and the like, all of which needed to be sorted by category and recorded one by one. Some items were fragile and easily damaged, requiring extra care when moved. Every time the storerooms were sorted, breaking a few things was unavoidable.

Ling Jingyan was careless and scatterbrained by nature to begin with, so managing this whole mess inevitably left her feeling restless and impatient.

Before long, while moving porcelain in the storeroom, a servant broke two bowls from an extremely precious set of blue-and-white porcelain. The two errand boys responsible blamed each other, arguing back and forth without resolution, until the matter was brought before Ling Jingyan.

Listening to them gave Ling Jingyan a headache, and unable to decide for the moment, she had a maid go fetch Ling Jingshu.

“Cousin Yan, what’s going on here?” Ling Jingshu asked with a smile after looking the scene over.

Ling Jingyan recounted the whole story, then sighed in exasperation: “There was no one else present at the time, only the two of them. Each one says it was the other who carelessly broke the bowls. They’ve been arguing for ages, and I simply can’t get to the bottom of it.”

Ling Jingshu raised an eyebrow and smiled faintly: “This is actually easy enough to settle. Don’t say anything for now—let me ask a few questions and it’ll be clear.”

Seeing how confident Ling Jingshu looked, Ling Jingyan couldn’t help widening her eyes in curiosity.

…

Ling Jingshu stepped forward and looked down at the two errand boys kneeling on the ground: “Who exactly broke these two porcelain bowls?”

“In answer to the young miss, he’s the one who broke them.”

“Young miss, please don’t believe him—he’s clearly the one who broke the bowls, and he’s trying to pin it on me, your humble servant.”

And just like that, the two of them started bickering all over again, one word after another.

Ling Jingshu’s expression turned cold, and she gave a chilly laugh: “The two of you crafty servants, making such a racket here—you clearly don’t have the slightest respect for your masters. There’s no need to ask further into this. The two bowls that were broken—each of you will pay for one.”

Of the two errand boys, one looked utterly wronged and kept crying out in protest, while a flash of relief crossed the other’s eyes—though he, too, quickly joined in shouting his innocence.

Ling Jingshu, no longer bothering to look at either of them, turned to Ling Jingyan: “Cousin Yan, the matter is already clear. This crafty servant is the one who broke the bowls.”

Her slender finger pointed at the errand boy who had been putting on a show.

Just now, she had deliberately said something to test them—and when the one who’d actually broken the bowls heard he’d only be responsible for paying half, he’d felt a flash of relief, giving himself away.

By now Ling Jingyan understood as well, and she strode forward in fury: “What a cunning, crafty servant! If A’Shu hadn’t come, I would have nearly been deceived. Someone, drag him out and give him ten strokes of the paddle, so he’ll remember this lesson.”

The errand boy was dragged out amid his cries and wails.

Ling Jingyan’s temper settled considerably after that. She looked at Ling Jingshu with admiration, then with a touch of dejection and frustration: “A’Shu, am I really so foolish? I couldn’t even handle a small matter like this.”

Ling Jingshu comforted her with a smile: “Of course not. You were just flustered for a moment and didn’t think of it, that’s all.”

“You don’t need to comfort me. I know I’m nowhere near as clever and quick-witted as you,” Ling Jingyan said gloomily.

Ling Jingshu took Ling Jingyan’s hand and smiled gently: “Cousin Yan, actually, I’ve always admired you. You’re lively, lovable, kind-hearted, and easy to like. Eldest Uncle and Eldest Aunt both dote on you, and your elder cousin and cousin’s wife treat you wonderfully too.”

Whether a person was happy or not, after all, had little to do with how clever they were.

She herself carried a heavy past and deep hatred upon her shoulders; until the day her great vengeance was repaid, she could not truly smile.

Ling Jingyan was the truly happy one. She lived joyfully every day, her biggest worry nothing more than what clothes to wear or what jewelry to put on the next day.

Such a leisurely, carefree life was, for her, something she could only look upon from afar, forever out of reach.