Qieting Temple was located ten li outside Yongqing Prefecture. As a Taoist temple supported by the Marquis of Dingxi’s mansion, its incense offerings were not particularly flourishing.

A young married woman stepped down from her carriage with the help of a servant woman.

The carriage bore the markings of the Marquis of Dingxi’s mansion.

Five Taoist nuns had long been waiting respectfully.

“Young Madam, please come this way,” they said.

The young woman nodded slightly and walked forward surrounded by a group of servant women.

“How has Concubine been recently?” she asked.

The temple master hurried forward a step.

“Concubine Zhou… is well enough,” she said quietly.

The young woman stopped walking.

“I’ll go see her,” she said.

The temple master seemed hesitant.

“Please don’t let it disturb Young Madam…” she said.

“Disturb me how? What could disturb me?” the young woman said with a slight smile.

The temple master said nothing more, bowing her head and leading the way.

At the very back of the temple complex was a courtyard with a locked gate. Two young attendants sat by the door playing with stones, and quickly stood when they saw people approaching.

“Open the door,” the temple master said.

Someone stepped forward.

As the door creaked, before it could even open, hurried footsteps came from inside, followed by a thud as someone collided with the door.

The people outside couldn’t help but step back in alarm.

“Has Yunqi come to fetch me? Has Yunqi come to fetch me? Yunqi? Yunqi? No, the Prince! The Prince!”

A woman’s voice screamed wildly.

“Where is Yunqi? My son is the Prince now! My son is the Prince! He’s coming to take me back! Open the door quickly! I am the Madam of the Marquis of Dingxi’s mansion! I am the Marchioness! Open the door, I want to return to the mansion!”

The door shook violently.

The young woman frowned.

“You call this ‘well enough’?” she looked at the temple master with some displeasure.

The temple master lowered her head awkwardly.

“She doesn’t make a scene every day…” she said quietly.

The woman’s shouting from inside the door drowned out their conversation, and the door shook as if it would fall off at any moment.

“Open the door, open the door! My son is the Prince! My son is the Prince! My son has come to take me back!”

Wild laughter came from inside.

The young woman turned and walked away.

The others didn’t dare linger and hurried to follow.

“Young Madam, should we tell Concubine that the Prince has already…” a servant woman said quietly.

The young woman’s steps stopped. She looked up at the sky.

“It’s been three years already,” she murmured.

Everyone fell silent.

Behind them, Concubine Zhou’s wild shouting continued.

“Never mind. Let her think she has a cold, heartless son. That’s better than having no son at all,” the young woman said, glancing back.

If Concubine Zhou knew her son was gone, would her life lose all meaning?

“Let her live. Living even once isn’t easy. Those who can live should live well,” the young woman said, raising her hand.

A servant woman quickly stepped forward to support her.

The group departed noisily.

As the young woman’s carriage entered the Marquis of Dingxi’s mansion, the managing women servants crowded around.

“…Let’s discuss matters this afternoon. Everyone disperse for now,” the young woman said.

The women servants quickly smiled and bowed, watching the young woman head inside.

Madam Xie still lived in her own courtyard, but compared to before, it was much more desolate.

Without the coming and going of servant women, without human presence, even the courtyard walls seemed to have lost their spirit, appearing somewhat gray and defeated.

“Keep an eye on it. New Year is coming, this place needs to be tidied up to look more lively,” the young woman said, surveying the area.

The servant women beside her immediately agreed.

“It was originally meant to be repaired. Madam said too many people would disturb her Buddhist chanting,” a servant woman said quietly.

The young woman shook her head slightly.

Stepping through the gate, it looked even more desolate than from outside.

There wasn’t a single person serving in the courtyard; it was so quiet it seemed uninhabited.

Even in broad daylight it felt somewhat eerie, let alone at night.

Once night fell, no one dared approach this place.

It couldn’t be said there was no sound. Listening carefully in the quiet, a humming sound came from one of the rooms.

“Mother, is she still not coming out of the Buddhist hall?” the young woman asked.

“Yes. Madam won’t come out,” a servant woman said.

The young woman sighed.

She slowly walked to the window of a small room and looked inside through the lattice.

The room was dim, and it took a moment to adjust before she could see a woman sitting on the floor with her back to this side, turning prayer beads in her hands, the sound coming from her mouth.

The room had almost no furnishings. Only a table with a Buddha statue, incense burner, and two memorial tablets.

“How can she endure like this?” the young woman shook her head and said softly.

“Young Madam, this is Madam’s own choice. There’s no other way,” the servant woman said quietly.

The young woman looked inside. The woman’s figure was already hunched, her hair completely white. Remembering how she had looked when she first entered the household, it was as if she had aged ten years overnight…

She turned around.

That one could live was a good thing, but for this one, perhaps death would be liberation.

She shook her head and stepped forward.

Leaving this place, that oppressive sadness finally dispersed, and everyone’s expressions became more relaxed.

With New Year approaching, there were many matters to attend to. The young woman sat in the hall arranging household affairs for quite a while, talking until her throat was dry.

“The gift list has been sent to the Marquis. The Marquis said to let Young Madam decide everything; there’s no need to show him,” a managing woman said, holding the list.

The young woman nodded, taking the tea a maid handed her and sipping it.

“Where is Huai-ge’er?” she asked. “Why haven’t I seen him for so long? With New Year approaching, has he been naughty and skipping school again?”

“No, he finished his lessons and is practicing calligraphy now,” the servant woman quickly replied.

Only then did the young woman breathe a sigh of relief, put down her teacup, and pick up the account book.

People came and went in the room, careful and orderly.

In another courtyard of the Marquis of Dingxi, nothing had changed from before. Young, beautiful maids still came and went, with women’s delicate laughter heard from time to time.

“My lord, my lord, write one for me, write one for me.”

“My lord, I want one too…”

In the study, the Marquis of Dingxi was surrounded by seven or eight women, writing and drawing with a beaming smile, turning his head from time to time.

A woman beside him laughed charmingly as she fed him wine.

The Marquis of Dingxi drank it in one gulp.

On the other side, four or five women sat playing and singing.

It was truly a heavenly paradise where immortals dwelt.

“Fifth Young Master, Little Prince… slow down, don’t run…”

The steward’s voice came from outside the door.

It interrupted the decadent music inside.

“Father.”

“Grandfather.”

Two children’s voices rang out.

The Marquis of Dingxi straightened up, and the women quickly scattered. The dancers and singers also hurried to stop.

The Marquis of Dingxi walked out and saw two boys standing in the courtyard.

“Father,” the one about ten years old bowed respectfully.

“Grandfather,” the other, four or five years old, also imitated the older one’s bow with proper form.

The Marquis of Dingxi laughed heartily and extended his hand.

“Come, come, why did you come together?” he said, sitting down on the silk cushions under the corridor, surrounded by various birdcages with birds chirping inside.

The two children stood on either side of him.

“Grandfather,” the smaller one said in a childish voice, “why does Huai-ge’er call him uncle? Shouldn’t he call him brother?”

The Marquis of Dingxi laughed heartily and lifted him onto his lap.

“Because he has to call your father brother,” he said.

Huai-ge’er seemed to understand but not quite.

“Then why call him Fifth Uncle and not Second Uncle?” he asked again. “Huai-ge’er clearly only has one uncle.”

The steward coughed and waved his hand.

“Young Master, let’s go back quickly. The teacher will be calling,” he said.

The Marquis of Dingxi smiled and waved his hand.

“Because you also have First Uncle and Second Uncle, and he…” he pointed to the boy standing beside him, smiling patiently, “ranks fifth, so you call him Fifth Uncle.”

The boy made a sound of understanding and nodded.

“Then why haven’t I seen First Uncle and Second Uncle?” he asked.

The Marquis of Dingxi looked at him and smiled.

“Because they, like your father, have gone far away,” he said, reaching out to pinch the child’s nose.

The courtyard emptied, and the Marquis of Dingxi sat alone under the corridor for a long time without moving, until the slanting sun set in the west.

“My lord,” the old steward entered with a slightly hunched form. “It’s getting cold. Don’t sit outside like this. Come inside.”

The Marquis of Dingxi seemed to come to his senses then, sighed, and slowly stood up.

“New Year is coming, New Year is coming, year after year…” he said slowly, seeming to chant or choke with emotion, his back to the old steward so his expression couldn’t be seen. “Time passes so slowly…”

Lamps were lit in the room, and the sounds of song, dance, strings, and feminine voices resumed.

The old steward stood silently for a moment, then slowly turned and walked out.

“Yes, time passes so slowly,” he murmured.

A firecracker exploded in the night sky, and a new year had arrived.