A few days later, Shiyiniang’s monthly time came.

She could not help but let out a great sigh of relief.

To be honest, her monthly cycles had never been regular, and she had been worried about this. But the turn of events came as a pleasant surprise, and her mood at once became very bright.

Nanny Tao, however, was quick to remind her: “Madam, have you decided who you will designate as your personal attendant-companion?”

Shiyiniang was momentarily taken aback.

Since their marriage, she had sensed that Xu Lingyi was not a man who placed great importance on physical beauty. Furthermore, the two of them had already consummated the marriage, and there were three concubines living next door… She had not felt any particular sense that Xu Lingyi was in urgent need of a personal attendant-companion.

Nanny Tao, seeing Shiyiniang say nothing, assumed she was displeased, and quickly counseled her in a low voice: “No matter how high she rises, she will still be a servant girl under your roof. Whether she lives or dies, rises or falls, rests entirely on a word from you. I think both Dongqing and Hupo would be suitable. Madam, please do give it some thought!”

Dongqing?

Why was she being brought up?

Shiyiniang was quite startled.

Nanny Tao smiled and explained: “Seeing that Dongqing was still unmarried at her age, I assumed…”

Shiyiniang quickly shook her head: “No, no. She has served me since childhood. I intend to find her a good match.”

Nanny Tao was not entirely convinced, but this was not a matter she could press, so after several more repeated reminders she withdrew.

Did she really have to designate a personal attendant-companion?

Shiyiniang found it quite a thorny problem.

The main difficulty was that she had no one trustworthy to discuss it with — she did not know whether this was a rule of the Xu household or simply Nanny Tao’s personal assumption.

She decided to first observe Xu Lingyi’s attitude before doing anything.

But telling Xu Lingyi about her own physical condition herself was not something she could bring herself to say aloud.

She thought it over and instructed Nanny Tao to go and speak to him on her behalf.

That evening when she returned to the rooms, Xu Lingyi behaved no differently from usual. Seeing her reading a book, he even asked her which part she had reached.

Shiyiniang did not know whether Nanny Tao had spoken to him or not. She smiled and exchanged a few words with him, and then Xu Lingyi went to sleep first.

The next morning she asked Nanny Tao: “What did the Marquis say?”

“He said only ‘Noted.'” Nanny Tao’s expression also seemed somewhat puzzled.

Since the lead figure had no objection, the supporting figures had no business fretting over it for no reason!

Shiyiniang sent Nanny Tao away.

The matter of the personal attendant-companion was left at that, set to one side.

The Grand Madam, however, noticed that Shiyiniang came to pay her respects every day with an unperturbed composure, and began to feel a certain misgiving. She specifically instructed Nanny Du to go and make inquiries at the laundry room. Learning there had been no development, she could not help feeling a little disappointed: “Didn’t people say the two of them were getting along well?”

Nanny Du laughed softly: “It can’t happen that quickly. And she is still so young — it is all the more difficult at her age.”

“I am getting old, and I never know what tomorrow will bring,” the Grand Madam said with some wistfulness. “I wonder if I will live to see it.”

“I still intend to serve you for another thirty years,” Nanny Du smiled. “I haven’t conceded to old age yet — how can you concede to it before I do?”

“Thirty years!” The Grand Madam heard this and laughed. “You expect me to live until I’m a monster!”

“A household with an elder is like a household with a treasure.” Nanny Du smiled and began to loosen the Grand Madam’s hair. “Fourth Madam is still so young — you really must help look after her for a few years. Once she gives you a grandchild, there will be even more to do. What do young people know of all these things?”

“That is quite true.” The Grand Madam laughed with confidence. “I can’t claim to be skilled at much else, but raising children — that is my greatest gift…”

……

When the tenth month came, with almanacs distributed and winter garments issued, Qiao Lianfang’s illness showed no sign of improvement.

Shiyiniang summoned her maid Xiu Yuan to ask about it, and was told she suffered from disturbed sleep at night and chills alternating with fever. Shiyiniang then specially requested Imperial Physician Liu from the Imperial Medical Institute to come and diagnose her.

Imperial Physician Liu prescribed a Heart-Nourishing Decoction.

Shiyiniang reviewed the prescription, arranged for Imperial Physician Liu to return every five days for a follow-up consultation, and then had Nanny Tao see him out before dispatching a maid to transmit the prescription to the outer courtyard to have the medicine procured.

Just then Xu Lingyi returned home: “Who is unwell?”

“Qiao Yiniang,” Shiyiniang said with a smile. “I specially requested Imperial Physician Liu to come and examine her. He prescribed a Heart-Nourishing Decoction. Looking at the ingredients — all tonics for the vital energy, the spleen, and for calming the heart and mind — I had the maid go and have the medicine prepared.”

Xu Lingyi nodded and went to visit Qiao Lianfang.

Shiyiniang accompanied him.

She lived in the middle courtyard on the east side, accessible through a small black-lacquered gate on the western end. Three main rooms with side chambers, three wing rooms on the east and north, and covered walkways encircling all four sides. At the foot of the main room’s steps grew a cotton rose tree heavy with buds; in the center of the yard was a small flower bed, and since it was autumn, chrysanthemums and azaleas of every color bloomed in cheerful profusion.

When they saw Xu Lingyi and Shiyiniang arrive, of the two small maids standing before the curtained doorway, one ran inside to announce them, while the other ran forward to receive them. By the time they entered the room, Qiao Lianfang had already been helped up by Xiu Yuan to come and greet them.

“Marquis, Madam.” Her complexion was pale and she had grown considerably thinner; her formerly perfectly proportioned figure had become as slender and frail as a willow.

Xu Lingyi’s expression showed clear surprise.

“How did she fall ill to this extent?”

Qiao Lianfang smiled with a tinge of bitterness: “It is entirely this concubine’s own fault, for reading at night without shutting the window. I have troubled the Marquis and Madam with this.”

But her beautiful eyes were fixed on Xu Lingyi, unwilling to stray for even a moment.

Shiyiniang had handled enough cases in her previous work to have seen countless such situations, and understood at once what lay beneath.

She suddenly began to understand why Qiao Lianfang had been so easily taken advantage of back then…

Even a woman who had entered through the front door as a legitimate wife dared not hope for too much — how much less a woman in the position of a concubine? When a person cannot find her own place in the world, she is most liable to fall into the abyss.

Shiyiniang could not help but let out a quiet sigh.

Xu Lingyi, for his part, appeared little affected — or perhaps he had received such gazes so often that he had long grown accustomed to them.

He said a few plain and unremarkable words — “Rest well and take care of yourself going forward” — and then left with Shiyiniang for the Grand Madam’s quarters.

During this period, everyone had taken to having dinner together, and the Grand Madam was in good spirits, so it had gradually become the custom.

After dinner, everyone moved to the western side chamber for tea.

The Grand Madam asked Shiyiniang: “How many days are you planning to go back and stay?”

Shiyiniang smiled: “If Mother agrees, I would like to go back for four days.”

She had already inquired of Nanny Tao: Third Madam had stayed four days when she returned to her family; the late Madam had stayed six days; and Fifth Madam had stayed twelve days.

The Grand Madam gave a faint nod and said: “Then go back for six days. Your mother-in-law is still unwell — going back will also give you the chance to attend to her.”

Shiyiniang gratefully said “yes.”

That evening her mood was quite good, and she lay on her side and read for a while.

Xu Lingyi saw that she had returned to her usual self and smiled faintly, then went to sleep on his own.

Two days later, Luo Zhensheng came to fetch her home.

She left Hupo at home and took Binju and Zhuxiang to take her leave of the Grand Madam, then returned to Bowstring Lane.

Fourth Young Miss and Fifth Young Miss were already waiting in the rooms. They went to pay their respects to Madam Luo, presenting shoes and socks as a gift. Then the eldest young mistress and the others surrounded Shiyiniang and accompanied her back to her former rooms. A maid opened the trunks and took out the bedding and utensils brought from the Xu household to set everything in order. Binju attended to Shiyiniang while she freshened up and changed clothes, and they then sat and talked with the eldest young mistress, Fourth Young Miss, and Fifth Young Miss for a while. Nanny Hang came to announce that the luncheon was prepared, and everyone moved to the eldest young mistress’s courtyard to eat. Shiyiniang went back to her room to rest, and the eldest young mistress settled Fourth Young Miss and Fifth Young Miss to nap in the rooms where Fifth Young Miss used to stay. In the afternoon they all got up and went to visit Madam Luo, sitting together around the bed. The eldest young mistress and Fourth Young Miss offered all manner of advice to the pregnant Fifth Young Miss, and Shiyiniang sat smiling beside them, listening contentedly, relishing this comfortable domestic warmth.

Madam Luo’s spirits had clearly improved considerably, and that evening the dinner was laid out in her own rooms.

After dinner, Fourth Young Miss and Fifth Young Miss returned to their respective households. The eldest young mistress accompanied Shiyiniang back to her rooms.

Binju directed the little maids to draw water and heat it, and attended to Shiyiniang as she bathed and changed.

“We’ve been gone barely a month — why does this place feel cramped, and everything inconvenient!”

Shiyiniang laughed: “It is easy to move from thrift to comfort, hard to move from comfort to thrift.”

“Then let us stop putting ourselves through hardship!” Binju said with a smile as she made up the bed for Shiyiniang. “Serve the Marquis well and stay at the Xu household.”

“Oh?” Shiyiniang said with a smile. “So you want to stay at the Xu household?”

Binju nodded: “At least there’s no need to live in constant fear of being driven out or sold off for reasons one can’t even fathom.”

Shiyiniang smiled quietly.

She felt this way as well.

All those former worries and fears had settled like dust to the ground. What lay ahead — joys and sorrows, laughter and tears — would be nothing more than small things that had no bearing on life or death.

She lay back contentedly in bed: “Finally, I don’t have to get up at the hour of Chou!”

Binju and the others all covered their mouths and laughed.

But the next day she still woke at the hour of Chou.

Her internal clock had been reset.

Shiyiniang gazed up at the pitch-black canopy above her and smiled with upturned lips. She thought of Dongqing. How was she getting on in that Jinyu Lane house in the western part of the city? Wan Yizong’s eldest son, Wan Dasheng, had seemed a decent young man — would he and Dongqing find each other suitable? If Dongqing were to marry, she would certainly need to provide her with some things…

Thinking of this led to thoughts of her own empty money chest.

When would it ever be filled…

She dozed off while her thoughts wandered, and by the time she woke the sun was already three poles high. She scrambled up in a panic to go pay her respects to Madam Luo.

The eldest young mistress had breakfast ready long since. When she saw Shiyiniang, she teased her: “The beds at home sleep more comfortably, don’t they?”

Shiyiniang laughed: “But of course.”

After breakfast, there was nothing but talking and chatting.

Shiyiniang took out her needlework.

The eldest young mistress saw it was a small child’s bright red hooded cloak, with an elder sage leaning on a staff embroidered at one corner, three deer of varied expressions and poses beside him. She looked it over at length, pulling her hand away: “Look at these nimble fingers, Sister-in-law — those deer look ready to leap right off the cloth!”

Shiyiniang smiled: “I’m embroidering this for Fifth Elder Sister. Eldest Sister-in-law, if you think it is pretty, I’ll make one for the Princess of Danyang as well — she asked me a couple of days ago to embroider a few things for the nephew not yet born.”

The eldest young mistress lowered her voice: “Just make the child a few small shoes and socks. It’s not as if you’re one of the seamstresses in their household.”

“Our household has the Grand Madam too!” Shiyiniang smiled. “The old matriarch has her heart set on welcoming a grandchild!”

“When will you add one?” The eldest young mistress smiled and looked at her.

A light flush rose to Shiyiniang’s face: “It is not yet time. We should wait until Zhun Ge is a little older.”

The eldest young mistress’s expression dimmed almost imperceptibly at that, and she changed the subject by saying that pears were wonderfully sweet right now and she ought to send someone to West Main Street to buy some for Shiyiniang to try while they were fresh.

Shiyiniang knew she was steering the conversation elsewhere and followed her lead: “Sister-in-law, also have someone buy some fresh lotus root — we’ll make glutinous rice stuffed lotus root together.”

The eldest young mistress naturally agreed with much enthusiasm. “And not just lotus root — have someone buy some old corn as well. We’ll roast corn.”

The prospect of food put everyone in high spirits. The eldest young mistress dug out five taels of silver and gave it to Xing Lin, telling her to dispatch someone to buy things. That afternoon they steamed the glutinous rice, then made osmanthus sugar syrup and hawthorn sugar syrup, and everyone ladled whichever they fancied onto their glutinous lotus root and ate.

The rooms rang with laughter.

The next day Fifth Young Miss was specially brought back. They roasted corn and also sent someone to buy lamb’s head meat, braised pork knuckle, and crystal braise to eat. That evening, Qian Ming came to collect Fifth Young Miss, and Luo Zhensheng kept Qian Ming back to drink wine with him — it was not until dusk that they left. The day after, they came again. It was all very lively and merry. Even Madam Luo, with considerable effort, instructed the eldest young mistress: “Buy the crystal braise from Chunxi Tower.”

Luo Zhensheng roared with laughter: “Mother likes Fifth Brother-in-law best nowadays.”

A smile was managed even on Madam Luo’s expression of restricted movement.

Qian Ming put on an air of exaggerated self-importance: “But of course. A son-in-law of such talent and such looks — where would you ever find another?”

This made everyone burst out laughing.

Shiyiniang could not help but feel a wave of admiration.

For Qian Ming to have brought things to this point — it was truly no small achievement.

—