Seeing how seriously Xu Lingyi took the matter, Eleventh Young Mistress quickly explained in full her decision to select well-behaved maidservants for Xu Siyu and have them vetted by the Grand Matriarch before being placed in his service.

Xu Lingyi listened in silence until she had finished. “Why trouble Mother over it? Just make the decision yourself,” he said.

His expression was easy, his tone almost offhand, yet the gaze with which he regarded her was notably brighter than usual.

Eleventh Young Mistress’s heart gave a small lurch — she immediately sensed that Xu Lingyi was testing her.

Her heart beat rapidly.

This was an opportunity: to earn Xu Lingyi’s trust and thereby gain greater freedom, deeper respect, and a more secure footing — or to become a wife whose face in his mind remained vague and indistinct.

Eleventh Young Mistress drew a slow, deep breath. Then, with unruffled composure, she smiled and said, “I am young and know little — naturally I must rely on Mother’s experience. Yu Ge is, after all, the eldest son of our household. He is to be an example to his brothers in future, and his conduct and learning cannot be treated carelessly in the slightest. Yet now that he is older and living alone in the outer courtyard, it is inconvenient for me to visit him there. Only those who attend him day and night are truly with him, so I cannot afford the least oversight. By having Mother help choose maidservants for Yu Ge, I can observe and learn as well — so that the next time something like this arises, I will have a precedent in my mind and will not be left scrambling as I am now.”

All the while she spoke, she watched Xu Lingyi’s expression.

The bright keenness in his gaze gradually softened into warmth, and his chin dipped slightly twice.

Eleventh Young Mistress let out a quiet breath of relief.

It seemed she had passed.

A feeling of lightness rose in her chest, and her smile grew radiant.

Xu Lingyi, seeing the happiness in Eleventh Young Mistress’s eyes, felt rather uncomfortable — a sense of having misjudged a person of honour.

It seemed he had read the situation wrong.

He had assumed Eleventh Young Mistress was seizing this opportunity to test his position. After all, she had married into the family to protect Zhun Ge’s interests — the more Xu Siyu came to nothing, the more advantageous the situation would be for Zhun Ge. Much as First Mistress had once indulged Xu Siyu — had Second Mistress not eventually intervened, Xu Siyu might well have turned out even more undisciplined than Zhun Ge.

With these thoughts, Xu Lingyi couldn’t help but look at Eleventh Young Mistress more carefully.

She was sitting quietly across from him, her refined features serene, her gentle smile gracious and composed.

For a moment, he felt uncertain.

The person before him felt familiar, yet somehow strange.

And across from him, Eleventh Young Mistress noticed that Xu Lingyi’s gaze had grown a little distant and abstracted. She smiled faintly to herself.

Perhaps because of the great distance in their stations, Xu Lingyi saw no need — or no inclination — to restrain his emotions in her presence. He would often reveal quite genuine feelings, and she had gradually come to discern something of their pattern.

Xu Lingyi was a quintessential man of the feudal gentry. He held firmly to the belief that “men rule outside, women rule within” — which was why he would never speak to her about the mouldy rice, just as he had let her handle receiving Lady Qiao without interfering himself. Each had their own domain of duty.

Even so, Eleventh Young Mistress could not guess why Xu Lingyi’s expression seemed so distracted.

He may have been content to sit still, but she had no desire to spend her time simply sitting there keeping him company.

Eleventh Young Mistress smiled and made a show of reaching over to refill his already full teacup.

Xu Lingyi came back to himself. He smiled. “You have considered this very thoroughly. Proceed as you see fit.”

Eleventh Young Mistress acknowledged this with a smile, then ventured to enquire, “Shall I call Chunmo to help you change? It is nearly the you hour.”

She was reminding him that it was nearly time to go to the Grand Matriarch’s for the evening meal.

Xu Lingyi looked at her composed and deferential manner, and came to a decision.

He glanced at the self-striking clock in the west side chamber, found there was still time, and told her, “Stay a while longer.”

Eleventh Young Mistress naturally raised no objection and sat obediently down across from Xu Lingyi.

Xu Lingyi said abruptly, “The matter of the mouldy rice has implicated several of the overseers. I am quite troubled by it.”

Eleventh Young Mistress had already foreseen this outcome. She had spent all of the previous night composing her thoughts, readying herself in case Xu Lingyi asked her — so that she could respond simply, clearly, and with well-organised reasoning, and thereby earn further regard in his estimation.

But if she answered too smoothly, she would expose the full extent of her capabilities…

Now that Xu Lingyi had asked, she murmured in a low, deliberate tone: “Much as I suspected!”

Xu Lingyi’s eyebrow arched slightly — he looked rather taken aback. “You guessed?”

Eleventh Young Mistress nodded and said with composure, “The Marquis governs strictly. The distribution of porridge is also a matter of great consequence. Without the backing of figures of standing and influence, those beneath them would never have had such audacity.”

Xu Lingyi felt a twinge of embarrassment.

If he truly had governed strictly, this would never have happened in the first place. Yet he had always believed in trusting those he employed without doubt, and doubting those he employed he would not use — and had forgotten that “human desire is insatiable.” Given time, and with the Xu household now at the height of its splendour and prestige, those who considered themselves well-regarded in his eyes had inevitably grown overbold.

He said in a measured tone, “How do you think this should be handled?”

It was neither the tone of someone seeking counsel, nor of someone asking for guidance — merely a statement of fact.

Eleventh Young Mistress guessed he had already formed his own plan and was simply curious to hear what she would say. But she did not want to simply echo him. The days ahead of them were still long — if she spent them perpetually second-guessing Xu Lingyi’s thoughts and tailoring every word to match his wishes, she would sooner or later lose herself. And what meaning would whatever freedom she gained through such a price truly hold?

Eleventh Young Mistress let a pensive expression cross her face. After a moment she said, “Let me venture a thought — the Marquis may judge whether it has any merit.”

“Go ahead,” Xu Lingyi said, his manner easy.

Eleventh Young Mistress said, “In my view, it might be best to take advantage of the year-end period, when all the overseers return to Yanjing to submit their accounts, and close the ledgers then. After the new year, reassign some of the overseers to different posts — that would provide a perfectly natural occasion for settling accounts. As for which overseers are implicated, I imagine the Marquis already has a clear sense of that. Keep a close watch on those particular individuals — there will always be discrepancies to be found in the accounts. At that point, use those discrepancies as grounds to replace another batch of people. Even if word spreads outside, it will appear that the overseers had unclean hands — nothing to do with the porridge distribution. That way the reputation of the Marquis’s household is preserved.”

A grave look gradually surfaced in Xu Lingyi’s eyes.

He had not expected her to speak exactly what was in his own heart.

He regarded the young wife before him — still carrying the tart freshness of unripe fruit — and his voice dropped lower: “And we simply let it rest at that?”

Politics is compromise. A man who has mastered the art of politics, now putting on the air of one who wants to press further and asking her “do we simply let it rest at that” — Eleventh Young Mistress found it rather amusing.

Yet her expression remained perfectly grave.

“My lord Marquis, you are fine porcelain — those men are common earthenware. There is no need to stoop to their level. As the saying goes, one rotten grain spoils the whole pot of congee. If you strip those men of their positions and deprive them of their livelihoods, they will have nothing left to lose. Besides, our family is great and our estate vast — it would be difficult to ensure that no unworthy descendants give them some hold over us in time. At that point, clinging to a grievance we cannot relinquish, we would stand to lose far more than we gain. Better to let it go where letting go is possible.”

“But are you aware — this matter also involves Third Master?”

This was something Eleventh Young Mistress had vaguely sensed herself.

Without someone like Third Master as a shield of authority, how could those cunning old overseers have dared to act — or turned a blind eye and pretended to see nothing?

“My lord Marquis, perhaps there has been some misunderstanding in all of this?” Thinking that Third Master was Xu Lingyi’s own brother, and that even if he were a thousand times at fault it was not her place, as a younger sister-in-law, to pass judgment, she said words she did not entirely mean: “Third Master has managed the family’s affairs for so many years — if he had wished to line his pockets, he would have done so long ago. And besides, the quantity of mouldy rice was not large, nor was the sum of money significant. It truly would not have been worth his while. My lord Marquis, I urge you to reconsider.”

Xu Lingyi listened and anger surfaced in his eyes. “He admitted to it himself.”

Eleventh Young Mistress’s heart grew a little clearer.

This was likely a matter of standing up for Third Mistress — husband and wife are one; to dishonour Third Mistress was to dishonour Third Master.

“My lord Marquis, this morning Qiao Yiniang ate only a mouthful of congee.”

Xu Lingyi froze.

He could not understand why Eleventh Young Mistress had suddenly brought this up.

Yet Eleventh Young Mistress had done so deliberately, using this incident as an analogy — to forewarn Xu Lingyi. And even if Xu Lingyi suspected something, she was only a woman of modest experience, and it was only natural she could draw comparisons from nothing further than the people and events around her.

“If someone told you I had been sweet-faced but cold-hearted toward Qiao Yiniang — so much so that she had been too upset to eat — what would you do, my lord Marquis?”

Xu Lingyi’s expression took on a look of comprehension.

Eleventh Young Mistress smiled. “Whether true or not, I am still the Marquis’s wife. Before outsiders, naturally you would stand by me. And I imagine it would be the same even before your own brothers. Third Mistress, whatever her faults, is Third Master’s wife. Given what has happened, Third Master is probably overcome with shame and self-reproach — where would he find the heart to argue in his own defence?”

This was her genuine view.

She did not believe Xu Lingning would have done such a thing for the sake of a few coins. However one looked at it, he was a man who oversaw several tens of thousands of taels of gold.

Xu Lingyi said nothing, yet neither did he voice any disagreement.

Eleventh Young Mistress, sensing she had touched upon what was weighing on his mind, resolved to continue gently pressing her point.

“Third Sister-in-law, since taking over the household, has been praised by all for her capable management. And Third Master, over these years of helping to oversee family affairs, has done well — the Marquis knows best what has been accomplished. Today Mother lives in peace and contentment, owing in no small part to the harmony within this family. Not to mention that we are now relatives of the imperial family by marriage — we must set an example above all else. It would be best not to divide the household if it can be avoided. And even if it must come to division, it should not happen in bitterness. This matter of the mouldy rice — whether Third Sister-in-law acted out of pride or out of want — I cannot be sure. But whatever her reason, my lord Marquis, a frank and open conversation with Third Master is essential. To understand what he and Third Sister-in-law truly want. If it is a matter of money — forgive me for speaking plainly — there are countless people outside who have used your name and standing to advance their own fortunes. How much more should your own brother be looked after? If it is a matter of wounded pride — once everything has been said openly, the anger will slowly ease. In the end, what matters most is that the family lives together in peace. And there are still Qin Ge’er and Jian Ge’er to consider — whatever grievances exist between one generation must never be carried into the next. The longer resentment festers, the more it serves only to invite the laughter of outsiders. It is said: when husband and wife quarrel, even neighbours grow bold. For a household such as ours, we cannot afford to lose our footing on this front. Mother has seen everything in this life — why then does she choose to act the contented fool? I suspect she holds precisely this sentiment. The Marquis should be all the more careful and deliberate.”

Xu Lingyi stared at Eleventh Young Mistress, his face full of astonishment.

And at this same moment, Third Master Xu Lingning was staring at his wife Gan Shi with an equally astonished face.

“You — you dare admit it?” he said, raising his hand, and with a sharp crack, he struck her across the face.

Gan Shi pressed her hand to her cheek, her eyes filled with shock. “You — you hit me…”

Xu Lingning looked at the red mark slowly rising on his wife’s cheek, his heart a tangle of regret, anger, guilt, and despair.

—