The Luo Mansion operated by fixed rules: at the first watch of the night, every wing of the household was locked.
Luoqiao returned to Zhiyun Courtyard just as the second half of the evening hour was drawing to a close.
The junior maids rushed forward to take her umbrella. One knelt to remove her wooden clogs, and she was ushered inside.
Another junior maid stepped forward to offer a hand warmer.
She shook her head and gave instructions: “Bring water for me to wash my face — I still need to go and report to the First Madam.”
The junior maids dared not delay. They quickly fetched a clean set of clothes for her to change into, brought hot water for her to wash her face, re-dressed her hair, and once Luoqiao had satisfied herself that everything was in order, she took the warm hand warmer that had been set nearby and held it for a moment before setting off to the First Madam’s chambers.
Third Yiniang was in the main hall with several junior maids, gathered around a warming brazier doing needlework. Seeing Luoqiao, she smiled: “Has the gathering broken up over there? Why have you come back so early?”
“They haven’t broken up yet. Shanhu and the others are still drinking and playing drinking games with great enthusiasm!” Luoqiao said cheerfully, stepping forward to examine the work in Third Yiniang’s hands. “This carp — how lifelike it is! Is it for Fifth Miss?”
A thread of warmth crept into Ke Yiniang’s eyes. “I had some idle time, so I’m making her a pleated skirt. It’ll be just right to wear come spring.”
Luoqiao exchanged a few words with Ke Yiniang, then headed upstairs toward the First Madam’s bedchamber. “I’ll go pay my respects to the First Madam!”
“The First Madam is talking with Nanny Xu,” Ke Yiniang said without looking up from her carp. “She said to wait!”
What she had actually said was probably: “She sees no one.”
Luoqiao laughed inwardly at herself, though her outward expression was entirely bright and at ease. “There must be a junior maid standing by upstairs. I’ll just show my face — if the First Madam asks, at least it won’t seem as if I went somewhere and forgot all about day and night.”
Ke Yiniang looked up with a faint smile. “True enough.” And she bent back over her work.
Luoqiao climbed the stairs quietly.
The upper floor was utterly still. Only a single junior maid sat dozing by the brazier at the top of the stairs, a hand warmer in her arms. The dim amber light from beneath the curtain of the east bedchamber stretched long across the dark-brown floorboards, casting a solitary, silent glow.
Hearing the light footsteps, the junior maid jerked her head up — and seeing Luoqiao, she broke into a smile.
Before the junior maid could speak, Luoqiao said: “Go and announce me. The First Madam is waiting for my report.”
The junior maid hesitated for a moment, then padded softly to the curtain and announced her.
“Let her in.” The First Madam’s voice carried an unmistakable weariness.
Luoqiao smoothed her collar before stepping inside.
The maids and women who usually attended the room were entirely absent. On top of the closed chest along the alcove colonnade of the eight-poster bed, a single octagonal palace lantern burned — its faint glow illuminated the red shoes embroidered with five bats among longevity characters resting on the bed step, while the tall red-lacquered cabinets arranged all around had become hulking black shadows pressing toward that single light, like beasts crouching in the dark, threatening to swallow it whole.
“You’re back.” The First Madam was leaning against the large bolster at the head of the bed. Her fair face was half-hidden, half-revealed in the shadow of the deep red curtains, indistinct and blurred. “Nanny Xu, give her a seat.”
Nanny Xu, who had been sitting by the bed, smiled and rose to place a small stool at the bedside.
Luoqiao curtseyed her thanks to the First Madam and settled lightly onto the stool.
“What was the situation over there?”
The First Madam sat up straighter. Her sharp eyes glimmered in the darkness.
Luoqiao paused, then chose her words carefully: “When I arrived, I saw Wu Xiaoquan’s wife…” She slid a glance toward the First Madam, trying to make out her expression. Whether the light was too dim, or whether the First Madam had truly shown nothing, Luoqiao could not tell. “There were also Shanhu, Feicui, Daimao, Dujuan, and Duwei from our wing. From Twelfth Miss’s room, there were Yutong, Yuhuai, Baizhu, and Jingzhu. Dongqing from Eleventh Miss’s room sat at the same table as Wu Xiaoquan’s wife, Hupo, and Shanhu. Binju, Qiuju, and Zhuxiang waited upon them. They served four condiment dishes, four cold platters, four warm platters, ten main dishes, and one soup. I left before the meal concluded, so I do not know what the main staple was.”
“And Fifth Miss’s and Tenth Miss’s rooms — no movements at all?” The First Madam’s voice carried a trace of coldness.
Luoqiao quickly replied: “I heard that Fifth Miss sent her maid Ziwei to deliver two packets of Xinyang Maojian as a congratulatory gift. Tenth Miss’s room had Baizhi come, bearing a drawstring pouch and a sweat towel.”
The First Madam was silent for a long moment. “You may withdraw.”
Luoqiao rose, head lowered and hands at her sides, and walked out.
The First Madam then turned to Nanny Xu: “What do you think?”
“The First Madam has a mirror-clear mind,” Nanny Xu said with a gentle smile. “There is no need for this servant to venture an opinion.”
The First Madam let out a quiet sigh and patted Nanny Xu’s hand. “In the end, it comes down to just the two of us.”
Nanny Xu’s composure wavered. A glimmer shone at the corner of her eye. “There the First Madam goes again, speaking words of despair. You have a great household, a full lineage, children and grandchildren all around — there is not a more fortunate woman to be found in all of Yuhang.”
The First Madam sighed once more, and sank back heavily against the bolster. “Who can say whether they will be of use or not?”
Nanny Xu stood and bent forward to support the First Madam’s back, easing the bolster from behind her and slowly guiding her to lie down.
“There is no such thing as a person of no use in this world. It is only a question of how you choose to use them.” Her voice was unhurried and warm, steady enough to settle the heart. “The Eldest Miss is the most brilliant person I have ever known in my life. Whatever you have thought of, she has certainly thought of too; and what you have not thought of, she has most certainly thought of as well. You are the one who bore her and raised her — I am the one who watched her grow. At a time like this, if we do not help her, who will? Even if you do not trust your own judgment, trust in the Eldest Miss’s discernment. Besides, after all these years in the capital, she has moved among those most privileged circles — her perspective is long since beyond the ordinary. Come now — set your heart at rest and live out your days in comfort.” By the time she finished speaking, she had already tucked in the corners of the quilt.
“Dongqing, come sleep with me tonight,” the First Madam said, the trace of a smile at her lips. “It has been a long time since we talked like this.”
Nanny Xu smiled. “It has been many years since I slept at the foot of the First Madam’s bed either. I rather miss it.” And she went out to call for a junior maid to bring in her bedding.
—
At this same hour, the heated side chamber was still lively. Dongqing caught Binju’s eye, and slipped quietly back to Lvyun Tower.
“…The First Madam received a letter from the First Master after her afternoon nap. In less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the Third Lady of the West Mansion came to discuss the matter of the First Madam’s ancestral lands. The one who went in to announce her was Duwei.” Dongqing and Eleventh Miss sat together by the warming brazier. “That day, the north wind was blowing. No one knows who had left the window in the stairwell open — when Duwei went in, the panel curtain swung against the door frame with a loud bang. The First Madam immediately threw a teacup. It barely missed Duwei’s head.”
The Luo family had been divided up once in the previous generation, during the Old Master’s time. The Old Master had kept the east wing of the original Luo Mansion, while one of his cousins had taken the west wing. From then on, they were known as the East Mansion and the West Mansion respectively.
Eleventh Miss prodded the glowing silver-frost charcoal in the brazier with the fire tongs.
So then — after receiving the First Master’s letter, the First Madam had been angry enough to take it out on the maid who lifted the curtain.
“The letter from the First Master arrived after dinner.” Dongqing sorted through what she had heard. “Because the First Madam had thrown a fit that afternoon, everyone was treading on eggshells. Feicui was attending at her side at the time. After receiving the letter, the First Madam gripped it without saying a single word. She rose and paced the room several times, then summoned Nanny Xu. The two of them talked alone, deep into the night.”
Eleventh Miss was astonished.
Could it be that the First Madam was the sort who grows calmer in the face of larger crises? Or had she guessed wrong? No — even if she had guessed wrong, could the First and Second Yiniang have guessed wrong too? And could Wu Xiaoquan’s wife have guessed wrong as well?
At this thought, she could not help but rise from her seat and begin to pace the room.
This banquet had been a test from the very beginning. Fifth Miss, Tenth Miss, and Twelfth Miss had all behaved as usual. What was unusual were Wu Xiaoquan’s wife and Luoqiao — both had been remarkably forthcoming, yet both were precisely the people best able to read the First Madam’s mind. Wu Xiaoquan’s wife especially so: she herself moved freely through the inner household and was on good terms with every room and wing. Her husband, as the Luo family’s head steward, managed all of the family’s external affairs. With all of that, her information ought to be the most current of anyone’s…
Eleventh Miss could not help but stop mid-pace.
“What about Nanny Wu? Did she do anything particularly unusual? Or say anything strange?”
Dongqing was briefly taken aback. She lowered her head in thought for a long moment, then said hesitantly: “Nanny Wu spent the whole time listening to the rest of us talk…” Then she stopped, and her eyes suddenly widened. “Wait — halfway through the wine, Nanny Wu asked me to accompany her to the privy. While we were there, she muttered something very strange.”
Eleventh Miss crossed the room and sat down beside Dongqing.
“What did she say?”
Seeing how intent and serious Eleventh Miss was, and how much weight she placed on what Wu Xiaoquan’s wife had said, Dongqing thought carefully and then repeated it word for word: “She said: ‘Things are still good here. At home, I’m often alone — cold and quiet. That man of mine is busy every day robbing Peter to pay Paul, without so much as a glance to spare for me. And on top of it, every time he does a favor for one person, he offends another. Do a favor for that one, and he offends this one. He can’t please anyone. And this morning, he was called to the First Madam by Luoqiao first thing. He came home looking miserable, and has been wearing that face all day. Nothing like Lu Yonggui, who followed the Eldest Miss to the capital — haven’t seen him in years, and now he’s bought a house in the capital and is living a capital man’s life. It really is true what they say: even a minister’s doorman outranks a seventh-grade official! I’d had enough of looking at that long face of his, so I took this chance to come out and enjoy myself. That way he can’t think I’m stuck inside with nowhere to go.'”
Robbing Peter to pay Paul… unable to please anyone on either side… summoned by Luoqiao to see the First Madam first thing in the morning… came home looking miserable and wearing that face all day… unlike Lu Yonggui, who followed the Eldest Miss to the capital… tired of looking at that long face…taken this chance to come out and enjoy herself…
What exactly was Wu Xiaoquan’s wife trying to convey?
The couple — husband and wife — were both the First Madam’s trusted inner circle.
And what was it that was worth her risk of offending the First Madam in order to come out and hint at all this?
Eleventh Miss sank into thought.
“After that, we went back to the heated side chamber, and Luoqiao had already left. Feicui was giving Lianqiao a piece of her mind.”
“Oh?” Eleventh Miss came back to herself. “What was she saying?”
Dongqing smiled. “You know how those two have never gotten along. It seems that when Lianqiao was carrying out some duty, something went wrong — Nanny Xu slapped her across the face, leaving a mark, and she hasn’t been able to show her face in front of others for some time. Feicui was being a little gloating about it.”
Once more, Eleventh Miss sank into deep thought.
—