The cold autumn wind cut down the back of the neck. The moment She Zixiu stepped down from the carriage, he shivered, his pale face taking on a faint bluish tinge.

Seeing the palace eunuch’s unhappy expression, Meng Quanzi no longer dared shout excitedly as he had just moments before. His voice trembling slightly, he kept knocking on the wooden door, calling out: “Nai~!! Hurry up, please…”

Before long, a clear, crisp young woman’s voice came from within the courtyard: “Please wait a moment! There is no man at home, and we had no prior notice of your arrival, so we are disheveled and improperly dressed to receive you. Please allow us a moment to tidy ourselves before we may receive our honored guests. We shall be ready shortly.”

Hearing this, Meng Wanquan’s expression grew even more nervous. He turned to look at She Zixiu, but She Zixiu waved a hand indifferently: “No need to rush them. What that young lady inside says is perfectly reasonable.”

This was, after all, the receiving of an imperial edict — one truly couldn’t appear disheveled for such an occasion.

And so, the group that had come from the palace stood quietly outside this plain, modest little courtyard, waiting.

While they waited, the womenfolk of the estate gradually gathered again, crowding forward — only this time they couldn’t get close by the gate as before. The eunuch who’d come from the palace had brought along more than twenty guards as well, wearing eight-paneled helmets, purple lacquered armor, sabers at their waists, mounted on horses — the moment they arrived, the women were held back a full twenty paces away.

After a moment, the courtyard gate finally opened, and an old lady emerged first, leading the way.

She Zixiu looked up, and saw this old lady — her hair gathered into a simple bun wrapped in dark blue cloth, wearing a dark blue-green round-collared cross-front long robe, with a cross-collar lined jacket beneath it. Most remarkable of all, at the point of her cross-collar, a snow-white collar lining peeked through.

Ever since leaving the palace, the whole journey had been nothing but dusty, drab colors — this single touch of pure white collar alone was enough to leave a uniformly favorable impression on the visiting party.

The old lady’s features weren’t particularly attractive — a broad forehead, faint eyebrows, drooping eyes, and a wide mouth — yet remarkably, this old lady radiated a thorough sense of cleanliness and neatness from head to toe. Though her eyes showed a look of complete bewilderment, and she glanced around cautiously in every direction like a small child, somehow it was impossible to find her irritating at all.

The old lady still had no idea what was happening — she only knew that her grandson’s wife had gone over her from head to toe once more, removed her bracelets and silver hairpin, dug out the good clothes she’d secretly kept aside for her own burial, and dressed her in them instead.

Finally, a cloth kerchief had been placed atop her head, and just like that, in complete confusion, she’d been sent out.

Having finally finished looking the visitors over, the old lady turned to give this baby-faced young man standing at the front a thorough once-over in return.

This one’s skin was remarkably delicate, white as a peeled hard-boiled egg, his tender little face the kind that could break if the wind blew too hard.

She couldn’t tell his age at all — his face looked like that of a teenager, but his eyes looked to be in his twenties. Not only did he carry an air of refined, delicate elegance about him, he also wore a black cap and green robes, with a colorful square-patterned design on the front of the sort only officials wore.

This young master — an official? In his hands he also held a pair of small brocade scroll cases — what on earth could those be? Judging by the surface, some sort of gaudy, expensive-looking silk fabric?

What had he come for?

The old lady was rather afraid of people with square patches on their chests like this — the birds and beasts on them looked fierce, man-eating creatures!

Qiqian’er was still too young to hold up the household on her own — courage was needed even to feel afraid — so the old lady gritted her teeth and stepped forward cautiously to ask: “Little one? Young master? Great lord? You — you’ve come to our home for some matter?”

Only after asking did she remember to offer a proper greeting, dropping into a crude, stiff, halfhearted curtsy.

Poor She Zixiu, Eunuch of the fourth rank in charge of the Seal, had been standing in the cold for so long, and finally an old lady appeared — only to have her call him “little one” right off the bat.

He couldn’t help himself, and burst out laughing on the spot. His laughter startled the young eunuchs and guards standing around him.

This man never laughed — his face, year-round, carried the look of an oncoming storm, gloomy and cold.

A sudden warmth of goodwill rose in Eunuch She’s heart — this old lady struck him as innocent and endearing, simple and genuine. He himself was already past thirty — what did she call him? Little one? Was he really that young-looking?

Seeing this man laugh, the old lady felt reassured, no longer afraid. If he was laughing at her, then things must be fine, right?

She was about to press for more information, but just then heard several sharp rebukes from over to the side, along with a woman’s shriek.

Looking up again, she saw Gao Shi and the others being held back outside by the guards with sabers at their waists. Turning her head the other way, she saw Meng Wanquan making strange, contorted faces at her — what on earth was he trying to say?

Her heart grew uneasy again, and she turned to look for Qiqian’er, only to see her walking out carefully, both hands cradling a small kang-table draped in silk brocade. As she walked, she asked: “May I trouble you gentlemen — shall we receive the edict out here, or inside the courtyard?”

Hearing this, She Zixiu raised an eyebrow, thinking to himself — this one truly was different from the rest. By the looks of it, she knew the proper etiquette for receiving an imperial edict.

This young woman was quite the remarkable figure too — with just six characters she’d thrown the entire Tan household into turmoil, top to bottom, and won her husband a bright and promising future besides. Most remarkable of all was the sheer favor shown to them now — who wouldn’t envy that these days?

With these thoughts in mind, he began quietly observing this young woman.

She was slender in build, small and delicate, narrow-shouldered, not particularly pretty — passably delicate-featured at best. Though neatly and cleanly dressed, in the eyes of a man accustomed to the soft, pampered flowers of the inner palace, her looks wouldn’t even rank among the eighth-tier consorts.

And yet, despite her lack of natural advantages, this young woman had something different from other women — a certain ease, an unafraid, open way of looking at everything without fear, a composed, orderly assurance that was truly rare to find.

What sort of environment could have raised a young woman with such a temperament?

Chen Dasheng and the others had already been in Yanjing for ten days now. Over these ten days, whenever His Majesty had a spare moment, he’d ask after them — how were the old blades being settled in? Where were they living? Were they comfortable? Don’t let them feel constrained! What had they eaten? How much had they eaten…

He’d even taken time to see them three separate occasions, each time asking about old times past, reminiscing about Second Tan, occasionally asking about other matters too — like how many family members they had, where they were now, and so on.

In the course of casual conversation, it came up that Chen Dasheng’s old grandmother had found him a wife — and this was how the whole matter of the Tan family’s camp had first come to light.

Earl Chang, utterly bewildered, had been summoned into the palace and questioned back and forth, only to discover, quite by accident, a great meritorious deed had come of it — wasn’t that quite the tale to tell?

It was precisely because Chen Dasheng’s new wife had written him a letter that he’d learned his own name, and realized something was wrong with his military order — and from there had come the whole business of Chen Dasheng searching the entire camp asking about that order…

Ah, a story so strange even the storytellers spinning legendary tales couldn’t have dreamed it up.

Eunuch She said with a smile: “Madam Huo, there’s no need to be anxious. Times are different now from before — everything’s rather makeshift these days, no need to stand on ceremony, nor is this really the moment for it. The old lady is up in years — let’s do this in the courtyard. It’s too windy out here.”

He knew her surname?

Qiqian’er’s mood turned subtly complicated at this.

Having glimpsed the eunuch through the gap in the door, and having seen the familiar edict scroll she’d handled a thousand times over in another life, she already knew what was about to happen.

That blue-gray-yellow-red-black silk brocade — she had received imperial edicts before, had once been a titled lady of rank herself.

But no matter how she thought about it, something was off — how could there suddenly be an imperial edict for this household now? What exactly had happened?

Everything had suddenly veered completely off course — and this eunuch even knew her surname?

Her mind was a jumbled mess, but she still had to rely on past experience, keeping her expression composed on the surface, taking things one step, one word at a time.

Qiqian’er turned and handed the kang-table to Meng Wanquan, flustered enough herself that she momentarily forgot he only had one arm.

Fortunately, Meng Wanquan could manage anything with just one arm — he lifted the small table with a single hand from beneath, and the incense table was held perfectly steady.

Qiqian’er let out a breath of relief, then turned back to take hold of the flustered old lady, patting the back of her hand gently, stroking her chest and back, coaxing her like a three-year-old child: “Don’t be afraid! Don’t be afraid! It’s good news — Nai! Good news!”

Hearing this, the old lady let out a long breath: “Ah, good news?”

“Yes, yes! Good news. Just put your heart at ease first, good news! Let’s go into the courtyard and talk, alright!”

And so, the old lady, still half in disbelief, nodded and turned to walk into the courtyard on her own. She was, after all, an old woman who’d never seen this sort of thing before, with no idea at all of proper deference — the imperial edict hadn’t even gone in yet.

Qiqian’er had no choice but to step forward and take hold of her, turning back to say to Eunuch She: “Please don’t take offense, sir — my grandmother is up in years now, nearly seventy.”

Eunuch She said with a smile: “No matter — past seventy, all is forgiven. Let the elder do as she pleases.” Then he added: “This young lady seems quite knowledgeable, though.”

Qiqian’er glanced at him and said: “In my natal family, for ten generations back, my ancestors looked after the imperial estates — I know a little of the proper etiquette, bits and pieces picked up secondhand. I hope I haven’t made you laugh, and if there’s any impropriety, I beg your indulgence.”

“So you were the young lady of a great household, then.”

“Hardly. Born of a concubine, my father never acknowledged me, my father’s principal wife wanted nothing to do with me — I was born and simply cast off in the back courtyard, whether to live or die left entirely to heaven’s whim. I grew up in the hands of unfortunate women condemned to hard labor. Those aunties were kind enough, didn’t look down on me, and taught me what they knew of surviving as best they could. Listening here and there, I picked things up, took a few hard knocks, and remembered the lessons — and so I’ve survived until now.”

Qiqian’er wasn’t the least bit afraid of eunuchs — whatever others might say of them, a eunuch was still a person too.

She’d seen Eunuch Liao at the most desolate, most hopeless moment of his life, and later benefited from a eunuch’s kindness besides — she couldn’t really say she disliked these men. If anything, she felt something like quiet sympathy for them.

Eunuch She found himself at a loss for words, standing there in thought for a good while before finally looking up at Qiqian’er and saying: “So you too have come through bitterness to reach sweetness at last.”

Qiqian’er smiled: “Indeed. Every day I open my eyes, I have to make sure all over again — afraid I might slip out of the honey and fall back into how things used to be.”

Eunuch She smiled as well: “That won’t happen! It absolutely won’t happen again!”

His impression of this young woman grew even more favorable.

His own family, too, had once belonged to the high nobility of the former dynasty, before falling into disgrace — though they hadn’t been as fortunate as the young woman described, merely sentenced to hard labor with an eventual chance of release.

His family’s daughters not yet grown had been sold into brothels; the boys not yet grown had all been castrated and made into eunuchs; the rest of the household had been executed to the last member.

Harboring this hatred in his heart, he’d become an inside collaborator when the Liang army entered Yanjing — you destroyed my entire family, so I’ll bring down your whole nation in turn; that made them even, as far as he was concerned.

As they spoke, the group entered the courtyard. Just as Qiqian’er stepped through the courtyard gate, she heard Qiao Shi shouting from behind, some distance away: “Mother! Old lady! Qiqian’er, it’s me, it’s me… Old lady, let me come too, it’s me, Si Niu’s wife! Old lady, think of your Si Niu! And, and Xique too, you liked her so much — I’m your daughter-in-law too, old lady…”

Qiao Shi was quite frantic, hopping in place while urgently explaining herself to the soldiers — she too belonged to this family! This was, after all, receiving an imperial edict — how could the old lady be so oblivious to proper priority, letting even an unmarried little servant girl go receive the edict, while she, the rightful daughter-in-law of the household, wasn’t allowed in?

Twenty paces away, and Qiao Shi’s voice was so loud there was no way the old lady hadn’t heard her. And yet, she merely paused for a moment at the gate, and once everyone else had gone inside, she personally stepped forward, looked at Qiao Shi’s desperate, pleading face, and coldly, silently, slowly closed the courtyard gate.

Outside the courtyard, Meng Wanquan had found a string of firecrackers from somewhere and set them off.

Inside the courtyard, the incense table was set up properly, and the old lady, hand in hand with Qiqian’er, knelt down.

Eunuch She then unrolled the imperial edict of the first year of Yong’an, conferring the title upon Chen Wu Shi, grandmother of Sixth-Rank Registrar of the Bodyguard Command Chen Dasheng.

The edict first laid out Chen Dasheng’s military merits and his loyal devotion to the crown and love of country, then praised the old lady’s warm and loving nature, her wise and clear-headed practice of maternal virtue, her exemplary conduct befitting a household, and her long history of aiding her husband and educating her descendants. Finally, it concluded by bestowing upon her the title of Anren.

Qiqian’er’s own edict, meanwhile, praised her as gentle and kind to the end, calm and devoted, of virtuous and chaste nature by birth, capable of managing her household well, and bestowed upon her the title of Ruren.

Anren was a sixth-rank title; everything below it was titled Ruren — Qiqian’er thus held the seventh-rank title of Ruren.

Beyond the two edicts of nobility, the court also bestowed two hundred taels of sealed silver upon the old lady, and one hundred taels upon Qiqian’er — money meant for their clothing and jewelry. In the past, titled ladies receiving such honors were given a great deal more — beyond formal ceremonial robes and headpieces, titled ladies would also receive luxurious brocades and jewelry, to display the imperial family’s grandeur.

But the current emperor being as poor as he was, he simply gave them a bit of silver and let this pair of grandmother and granddaughter handle it themselves.

As for the rest, it was rather practical — five dan each of the five grains, ten boxes of palace pastries, two hundred mu of land granted to the old lady, and one hundred mu to Qiqian’er as their own private property. The sort of thing where high-ranking titled ladies of the former dynasty might casually receive a thousand dan a year — that kind of arrangement, it seemed, was likely gone for good now.

Qiqian’er helped the old lady up, and spoke slowly and gently, explaining the situation carefully for quite some time before the old lady finally understood what was going on.

Everyone had expected the old lady to be overjoyed, waiting for her to express boundless gratitude.

Instead, the old lady, cradling the imperial edict, said with trembling hands, murmuring: “My three sons, my five grandsons… all traded in for one scroll of silk…”

Qiqian’er quickly clapped a hand over the old lady’s mouth. Seeing her confused expression, Qiqian’er said, holding back tears: “From now on — no more crying!”

The old lady didn’t understand — why couldn’t she cry?

Qiqian’er pulled the old lady into her arms, patting her, and said: “I once read in the Jade Register Precious Scroll that when a person dies and crosses the River of the Dead, after being judged by the magistrate of the underworld, good people are led together to Grandmother Meng’s side to receive a bowl of soup — the soup that makes you forget your past life, so you can be reborn.

But when their loved ones drink that soup, they must first cross the Bridge of No Return, to take one last look at their family. Nai! You mustn’t cry then — if you cry, they won’t be able to bear leaving you, they’ll think you’re not doing well, they won’t be able to rest easy, they won’t drink the soup, they won’t be able to forget you — and if that delays some good rebirth into a wealthy family waiting for them, how heartbroken would you be!”

Hearing this, the old lady’s heart gave a shudder. Her eyes went wide, straining wide open, and however her tears had been about to fall, she forced them, forced them back… down.

Finally, she slowly pushed Qiqian’er’s hands away, looked at Qiqian’er, then looked around at everyone else, and suddenly held up a hand in a “V” gesture, lifting it from her chin upward, propping up the thin flesh at the corner of her mouth: “Hey! I’m smiling!”

Qiqian’er blinked hard, and the young eunuchs standing to the side had misty eyes as well — only Eunuch She’s face remained expressionless, though inside, his heart had already shattered to pieces.

Seeing the old lady smile, he smiled along with her too: “Indeed. From now on, all will be well. The old lady has a grandson who’s made something of himself, a dutiful grandson’s wife — good days lie ahead.”

Hearing this, the old lady suddenly grabbed his hand and nodded: “Isn’t that the truth, couldn’t have said it better myself. This grandson’s wife of mine — you couldn’t find another one so good in ten villages, ten cities, eight cities over! She’s wonderful, truly!”

Eunuch She was caught off guard for a moment, his face flushing red instantly.

“Child, come here! Poor thing, so small, having to endure all this, in such cold weather — come inside with grandmother…”

Not caring what expression anyone around them wore, Eunuch She found himself floated along and pulled inside, pressed down onto the kang by the old lady, his shoes taken off, pushed to sit right beside the warm wall where the heat gathered, and a small flowered quilt tucked over his legs besides.

Once she’d gotten him settled, the old lady went to pull the other young eunuchs over too. The young eunuchs, not daring to accept, were about to refuse when they heard Eunuch She, quilt in his arms, say: “Go on.”

They went up at once, moving briskly and without hesitation.

Seeing them all warmed up now, the old lady beamed and showed off: “Sit tight, children, grandmother’s going to boil you some sugar water — we’ve got sugar at home! Your sister-in-law just got it… afraid I’d ruin my teeth, she hid it from me! Hmph! But I know exactly where it is!”

Having said this, she scurried off.

Once the old lady had gone out, Qiqian’er finally, respectfully, placed the two edicts of nobility atop the kang cabinet.

There was no proper table at home, so this would have to do.

Once everything was set, Qiqian’er climbed down from the kang and bowed deeply and solemnly to Eunuch She: “Forgive me, the old lady is simple and innocent by nature, and doesn’t understand the weight of such matters. If there’s been any impropriety, I beg you not to hold it against her, sir.”

Clutching the quilt, Eunuch She said with a lowered head and a smile: “No offense taken at all — the old lady is lovely. But does the young lady know how this imperial title came about?”

Qiqian’er bowed again: “With no connections and no way in, two country women — I beg you, sir, to enlighten us. This humble woman has had many doubts in her heart, but no one to ask. My husband — wasn’t he in the Tan family’s camp? How did he come to be His Majesty’s personal guard?”

Eunuch She smiled, and tilted his chin toward the two young eunuchs. They glanced at the old lady still busy around the stove outside, and simply covered their ears, turning their backs and burying their heads into the corner of the wall.

Their behinds stuck up rather high in the air.

Once they’d made sure the two were thoroughly blocked out, Eunuch She said: “As for this imperial title — it came from that salt well the young lady donated. Your generosity in offering up salt and iron, that salt well, was a tremendous help to His Majesty — that salt well alone resolved the refugee crisis near Qingfeng City. With salt, they had the strength to make their way home again. As for the rest, well — His Majesty simply took a liking to your family’s Chen Dasheng…”

Hearing this, Qiqian’er’s eyes lit up at once. She glanced at the old lady outside, took two steps forward, and asked quietly: “There must have been some sequence of events leading up to it, surely?”

Eunuch She set down the little quilt and burst out laughing — what a legendary story it was, all from just six characters! Just six characters!

He rather enjoyed telling it too, and gave Qiqian’er a simple rundown of the whole sequence of events.

By the time he finished, Qiqian’er was utterly dumbfounded.

So — it was because that Stinkhead had read that letter that he’d gotten promoted?

Heaven and earth as her witness, she’d only written that letter out of pent-up frustration. In her previous life, this same year, that Stinkhead had gone off to the border, drifted through three hard years, and finally encountered a considerate superior officer who’d given him a good position and put him to real use — that was how he’d finally earned leave to return home.

But when that fool had come back, he’d gone around asking everyone, unable to even give his own grandmother’s full name, let alone know his own wife’s name — just saying he was looking for his grandmother, looking for his wife, blundering about for half a day before finally finding them, only to become a laughingstock in the mouths of sharp-tongued women.

From then on, Qiao Shi had added yet another line of mockery to her repertoire — that fool bought for ten strings of coins, whose own husband didn’t even know her name…

It was for exactly this reason that she’d written those six characters in a fit of pique — simply out of unresolved resentment.

Qiqian’er’s mind was in a whirl, but she heard Eunuch She continue: “Just now I heard — the old lady lost eight descendants in all?”

Shaking her head slightly, Qiqian’er composed her expression solemnly and nodded: “Nearly fifty souls left their hometown; along the road, most were lost to hardship and upheaval. Of the women, only two remain. Afterward, the sons and grandsons joined the Liang army to campaign for our Emperor across the realm — over five years, the old lady lost three sons and five grandsons. What remains in the army now is one son, four grandsons, and one grandson-in-law.”

Eunuch She drew in a sharp breath of cold air, and after a long while said: “Truly, a household of loyal martyrs, every last one.”

Qiqian’er nodded: “Yes. And so, I beg you, sir, not to tell A’Nai the true reason behind this conferral of titles — it will be easier on the old lady’s heart this way.”

Eunuch She paused, startled, then quickly nodded with a smile: “You — you’re quite something. Truly rare to find.”

Qiqian’er shook her head: “It’s nothing compared to the old lady’s own compassionate heart — it’s her goodness that matters here, not mine.”

From outside came the clatter of a wooden pot lid against an iron pan, the stirring of chopsticks beating eggs in a porcelain bowl. Looking down at the little quilt in his hands, Eunuch She said quietly: “When I return this time, I won’t report anything to the old lady about this matter. Going back to say anything now… it would be too late for anything to change anyway — the title’s been conferred, the reward’s been accepted, it wouldn’t do to alter it now.

Better to let it sit for a year or so before doing anything more. Right now the minting bureau is rushing to finish the coin designs — at the very latest, by next August, they should issue a batch of merit-reward coins, whether gold or silver. Better to earn one such coin that protects one’s descendants for generations to come.

For now, Chen Dasheng and the rest have only just taken their first steps testing the waters here in Yanjing — their footing isn’t steady yet. Though they enjoy great favor now, their future prospects will surely be limitless. Still, you and the rest of the family ought to keep your composure, focus on managing the household properly, remain gentle and humble, loyal, trustworthy, and easygoing — that is the true foundation of a family’s lasting stability. Not showing off one’s edges, staying modest and cautious — that is the way for descendants to secure their standing for the long term.”

The eunuch said a great deal, but only two phrases truly stuck with Qiqian’er — one, about a single merit-reward coin protecting descendants for generations; the other, about the way for descendants to secure lasting standing.

Qiqian’er bowed respectfully to Eunuch She: “Yes. Your great kindness, sir — this humble woman shall never forget it.”

Hearing this, Eunuch She, still holding the little quilt, laughed: “It’s not for your sake that I say this, so you needn’t remember any kindness of mine either. Just a few honest words spoken with a clear conscience — once I walk out that door, I’ll have forgotten them myself.”

Qiqian’er smiled: “What was it you just said, sir?”

Eunuch She paused for a moment, but just then the old lady came bustling in carrying a large coarse porcelain bowl, handing it to Eunuch She with a beaming smile: “Child! Here, here, drink it while it’s hot, it’ll warm you right up, poor thing… you must be hungry!”

Eunuch She’s posture, sitting up, looked rather awkward, but he knelt properly on the kang, reached out with both hands to accept the crude porcelain bowl, and with an exceedingly solemn expression, drank it down mouthful by careful mouthful.

Having taken care of him, the old lady turned her head and spotted the two young eunuchs still by the head of the kang, rear ends stuck up in the air, heads buried in their hands.

The sight made her burst out laughing, and she went over and gave each of them a smack on the backside: “Get up already, aren’t you grown men, still playing games? Playing hide-and-seek, are you — oh, you silly boys.”

The old lady had no idea what a eunuch even was — she simply treated them as ordinary children. Looking at their pale, smooth faces and hearing their thin, high voices — what were they, if not children? Poor things, so young and already out working for someone else.

The two young eunuchs, startled by the smacks, sat up, and each was then handed a bowl of brown sugar water with egg drop, and ended up crying over that too.

Just as they sat there on the heated kang, drinking their brown sugar egg drop soup, outside — unbeknownst to them — Qiao Shi sat cross-legged in a corner, weeping and wailing, pouring her heart out to anyone who’d listen.

“What did I ever do wrong? Why does the old lady dislike me so much? Such a huge matter, and it just got handled so carelessly — what does that little chit, barely dry behind the ears, even understand? Besides, to everyone outside we’re one family — I’m at least Si Niu’s wife, and this is receiving an imperial edict, an imperial edict!!”

She gritted her teeth, wiping at her nose, her heart shattered into eight pieces, wrapped in five layers of bitterness like coptis root: “Even if you won’t show respect to the monk, at least show it to the Buddha behind him — for Xique and Si Niu’s sake, the whole family should have gone to receive the edict together. Why should I, who’ve served her for three years, lose out to that one who just arrived? Why give it to her! Conferring titles…” She sprang up in fury like a shrew: “Why wasn’t there one for me! It’s not fair! I’ve been wronged! I’m going to file a complaint, that — that sweet-tongued, bitter-hearted woman with a knife planted in her heart… She tricked everyone, I’m the one who’s served the old lady, why did she get the title…”

She was truly on the verge of losing her mind — Qiao Shi’s heart was full of regret and bitterness, resenting only that the world hadn’t given her warning sooner.

In the past, the aunties around the estate had always sided with her in their talk. But today, no matter how much she cried, not a single one of them dared say a single word in her defense. This was too big a matter — even His Majesty himself knew of it — how could they possibly dare speak up? Oh, “Your Majesty, you’ve done wrong, it was Qiao Shi who served the old lady, the title should have gone to her”?

Had she lost her mind? Tired of living? Besides, anyone could see with their own eyes what state the old lady was in these days.

However it was, Qiao Shi kept wailing outside, venting her frustration, all the while glancing anxiously at that tightly shut gate — until she cried herself into a faint, and still that gate never opened.

The other women scrambled to carry her away.

What Qiao Shi didn’t know was that for more than ten years to come, that door of the old lady’s would never open to her again — whether she truly changed her ways or genuinely repented from the heart, it would all come too late.

Eunuch She and the old lady got along quite well, chattering on together about all sorts of idle things, until finally the head of the guard outside urged them to leave, and only then did the two part ways reluctantly, promising to meet again the next day.

Grandmother and granddaughter saw Eunuch She off to his carriage. Once he was seated, he suddenly remembered something and, lifting the carriage curtain, said to the old lady: “Old lady, prepare the household over these next few days — your grandson Dasheng may well be coming home in a few days’ time.”

Hearing this, the old lady was overjoyed, asking again and again: “Really? Is my Dasheng really coming home?”

Hearing this, Qiqian’er’s mind went blank for a moment too. She quickly recalled something — her son An’er had been born only after Chen Dasheng came home on leave three years later, in her past life.

And now Chen Dasheng was coming back already?

They… that… um… what should they do? What if… what if it happened again, what a mess that would be?

No, no — whatever happened, they’d have to avoid it somehow.

While her mind raced with wild thoughts, she saw the old lady turn and run back inside.

Before long, she came back out carrying a small quilt and a small bundle. She handed the quilt in to Eunuch She first, saying: “Child, it’s cold on the road — take this to wrap around your legs against the wind. Your sister-in-law made it fresh, it’s nice and clean.”

Eunuch She accepted it, stepping down from the carriage to give his thanks.

As he climbed back in, the old lady handed in a small bundle as well, saying proudly: “Child, when you get back, tell His Majesty properly for me — he’s given us so much, land, grain, even silver. Our family’s poor, we can’t afford to repay such a gift, so tomorrow we’ll just go to the temple and burn a long stick of incense for him, asking the Bodhisattva to keep him safe and grant him a long life of a hundred years.

In this bundle are five pairs of cotton socks — three men’s pairs, two women’s — all made fresh with new cloth and new cotton. It’s gotten cold now, so let His Majesty put these on so his feet won’t freeze. And tomorrow, when the Empress is weaving cloth this winter, her feet won’t be cold either!”

Eunuch She was utterly dumbstruck. He accepted the bundle numbly and thanked the old lady.

And so, grandmother and granddaughter saw them off sincerely, walking quite a distance. By the time the carriage had nearly disappeared from sight, Eunuch She lifted the curtain to look back — there, at the great millstone at the entrance to the estate, the old lady was still waving to her grandson’s wife.

Only once the carriage and horses had disappeared completely from view did the old lady hop down briskly from the millstone.

Qiqian’er wiped a bead of sweat and said: “Nai! You really are something — saying whatever comes to mind, giving away whatever you please. That was someone sent from the palace — the Empress herself doesn’t weave cloth, why did you give His Majesty the cloth socks we made ourselves…”

Before she could even finish grumbling, the old lady gave a little laugh in her direction: “What do you know! Of course I know he goes out riding in golden carriages, eats chicken drumsticks with every meal, as many as he wants! Do you think I’m really just some ignorant country old lady who knows nothing! Our family’s lost so many souls — I have to make sure this family…”

The old lady spat bitterly onto the ground: “I won’t let them just buy off our family’s lives with money and think that’s the end of it. Whatever he gives me, I’ll give something back in return — in the end! We’re square, no one owes anyone anything!! There’ll come a day when they pay their debts too — the magistrate of the underworld keeps careful count!”

Having said this, the old lady walked off, leaving poor Qiqian’er standing there in the wind, blowing and blowing… chilling her clean through to the bone.