The room quieted, and the sounds from outside became amplified. After about the time it takes a stick of incense to burn, they heard unhurried footsteps coming from the stairwell.

“Go and have a look.” Eleventh Miss, who had been bent over her cord tassel, suddenly raised her head and told Dongqing: “See what Tenth Sister is up to.”

Dongqing had been keeping First Yiniang’s visit in the back of her mind this whole time. With Eleventh Miss showing no reaction, she had not felt she could say anything. Now that Eleventh Miss was sending her to gather information, she was immediately delighted, agreed with a bright smile, and slipped quietly out.

Before long, she came back. “Eleventh Miss, it’s First Yiniang — she just left.”

The hand working the cord tassel paused for a moment. “When First Yiniang left, what was her expression?”

Dongqing considered. “The same as always — nothing out of the ordinary.”

Quite the composed figure.

Eleventh Miss quietly turned the matter over in her mind.

Then came lighter footsteps from the stairwell.

The two looked at each other.

Eleventh Miss said in a low voice: “Go and look — quickly.”

Dongqing went at once, and returned shortly. “Eleventh Miss, it’s Tenth Miss. She’s coming downstairs with Zhutao, wearing her grey crane-colored brocade cape.”

Eleventh Miss’s expression grew pensive.

Tenth Miss always came down the stairs with a heavy “thud, thud, thud” — how was it that today, quite contrary to her usual self, her steps were so light and gentle? And if she was going out, why not take Baizhi or Jiuxiang — why bring the junior maid Zhutao? Or could it have something to do with First Yiniang’s visit?

The thought had barely formed before Eleventh Miss said: “Go and see — where is Tenth Miss going.”

Dongqing nodded and slipped quietly out.

Eleventh Miss finished one bat before Dongqing returned.

“Eleventh Miss, Tenth Miss has gone to Fourth Yiniang’s.” Her expression was somewhat heavy. “I thought about following and listening to what Fourth Yiniang and Tenth Miss said to each other, but Fourth Yiniang’s maids were standing guard at the door. I didn’t dare get close…”

Three years ago, Tenth Miss had knocked Eleventh Miss to the ground. In front of others, the First Madam had said it was “the floor was slippery, and Eleventh Miss fell by accident.” But before the First Master, she had given him a tongue-lashing — saying that his indulgence of the concubines had produced daughters with an arrogance that knew no bounds, not a shred of affection for one another, and none of the bearing expected of young misses. The First Master had not dared to argue back.

Fourth Yiniang, Yang Shi, had been given to the First Master by his superior when he was serving as a senior official in Shaanxi. By the time the First Madam learned of her existence, Yang Shi was not only already with child — she had also taken over the management of the First Master’s official salary and the private funds sent from home. The First Madam turned the situation over in her mind, and sent her own most beautiful maidservant, Lv Shi, to him. The First Master took one look and was instantly pleased. Lv Shi quickly became pregnant. Before the child was even born, the First Madam had already elevated Lv Shi to the position of Fifth Yiniang. But Fifth Yiniang, though beautiful, had a weak and timid character — within a few meetings, she had been completely overshadowed by Fourth Yiniang. Seeing this, the First Madam found another young, beautiful maidservant, Lu Shi, and sent her to the First Master, who fathered Twelfth Miss. By then, the First Master had already been appointed as the Provincial Governor of Fujian, and all three of them had grown up following their father from post to post. After the incident, they had been relocated to Lvyun Tower, where First Madam had stationed her own trusted maids and attendants to personally oversee their upbringing. As for Fourth Yiniang Yang Shi — whose failure to discipline her daughter had caused the trouble — the First Madam had punished her by ordering her to kneel before the ancestral hall.

The weather had been cold. After kneeling through the night on the flagstone courtyard before the ancestral hall, Fourth Yiniang had fallen ill. She was moved to a small two-room side chamber next to Shuangxing Courtyard to recover.

That recovery had now stretched to three years.

In those three years, the number of times Tenth Miss had visited Fourth Yiniang could be counted on the fingers of one hand. And yet — the moment First Yiniang left, she had gone to see Fourth Yiniang.

No matter how she looked at it, Eleventh Miss could not believe it was a coincidence.

And then there was the fact that Fourth Yiniang had sent her maids to stand guard outside while they spoke…

Her fingers flew swiftly. “Go find a flat box. Once I’ve finished the two cord tassels, put them in it.”

Dongqing blinked. “You intend to deliver them to First Yiniang and Second Yiniang in person?”

Eleventh Miss answered obliquely: “I’m going to pay my respects to the First Madam and bring the cord tassels along.”

—

By the time Eleventh Miss arrived, the First Madam’s room was already full of cheerful voices and laughter.

Ziwei and Ziwei were holding up a scroll painting before the First Madam, while Fifth Miss sat leaning against the First Madam’s side, pointing out details: “…Look at this character — do you like it? I modeled it on ancient seal script. And this one — this is after Wang Xizhi’s running cursive…”

The First Madam nodded and kept nodding, as if quite pleased with what she saw.

Seeing Eleventh Miss walk in, the First Madam beckoned to her: “Come — look at your sister’s Hundred Longevity Characters.”

Finished so soon!

Eleventh Miss was inwardly surprised. She smiled, paid her respects to the First Madam, and exchanged a greeting with Fifth Miss: “Is this for the embroidery pattern? You’re so quick, Sister!”

Fifth Miss returned the greeting and smiled: “I was thinking of sending a birthday gift to Elder Sister’s household, so I worked through it in a rush. I was only afraid there might be mistakes that would make your embroidery turn out poorly as well.”

“I don’t see any flaws,” Eleventh Miss said, studying the characters Fifth Miss had written.

On a sheet of paper measuring six feet square, characters in regular script, clerical script, seal script, running hand, and cursive were all present — varying in style and size, dazzling in their abundance. She was quietly astonished.

Setting aside the question of technical mastery, the sheer dedication behind it was already worthy of admiration.

She had not expected Fifth Miss’s calligraphy to have reached such a level.

The First Madam also smiled: “I find it beautiful as well.”

“Thank you for the compliment, Mother.” Fifth Miss smiled and made modest demurrals.

The First Madam then had Ziwei and Ziwei bring the scroll painting to Eleventh Miss: “Embroider it just like this.”

Eleventh Miss sank into a curtsy to acknowledge the instruction, and Hupo stepped forward to take the painting.

The First Madam then pointed to the box in Hupo’s hands. “What is that…?”

Eleventh Miss smiled: “Those are the cord tassels I made for Xu Ge.”

The First Madam’s eyes lit up immediately. “Let me see.”

Hupo heard her and at once opened the box and held it forward.

Two cord tassels lay quietly against the deep red velvet lining of the box — their silk threads woven in the five colors of the five elements: white, blue, black, red, and yellow, vivid and brilliant. Looking more closely, one saw that the silk threads had been braided into plum-blossom-pattern tassels, each centered with five bat shapes the size of jujubes.

“How exquisite.” The First Madam turned them over in her hands, murmuring her admiration. “Setting aside everything else, these two cord tassels alone — Eleventh Miss’s needlework is among the finest in all of Hangzhou.”

Fifth Miss, hearing this, eyes flickered for a moment.

Eleventh Miss already smiled: “That I can make such tassels is itself because Mother took the trouble to bring a teacher all the way from Hangzhou for us.”

The First Madam, hearing this, let a look of quiet contentment settle in her eyes: “Go and bring them to the two Yiniangss — don’t be out when it gets dark.”

Eleventh Miss smiled her acknowledgment, and was just about to sink into a curtsy and withdraw when a junior maid came in to report that Tenth Miss had arrived.

Everyone showed surprise, the First Madam included, who raised an eyebrow.

Since that incident three years ago, when Tenth Miss had knelt alongside Fourth Yiniang before the ancestral hall and caught a chill that left her with a chronic wheeze, the First Madam had waived her morning and evening courtesy visits every winter.

Eleventh Miss thought of what had just transpired before coming here, and felt a vague unease — she could not shake the feeling that Tenth Miss’s sudden appearance was not quite as simple as it looked.

“Let her in quickly, before the cold air makes her start wheezing again!” the First Madam called out to the junior maid, though her voice carried a faint trace of disdain.

Everyone in the room glanced about sideways, pretending not to have heard.

In a moment, the junior maid led in a figure wearing the grey crane-colored brocade cape.

Eleventh Miss blinked.

She had come directly from Fourth Yiniang’s without even changing her clothes…

The junior maid carefully helped her off with the cape, revealing a half-new, half-worn jacket of green persimmon-medallion cut-silk beneath.

“Daughter pays her respects to Mother.” Her form was lithe and graceful as a willow as she knelt before the First Madam.

The First Madam accepted her full obeisance before raising her hand. “In weather this cold — how have you come? I would be sick with worry if you were to fall ill.” She instructed Nanny Xu beside her: “Brew Tenth Miss a cup of ginger soup to warm her. She is not as strong as Fifth Miss, who is tough as a monkey born from a crack in a rock and fears neither wind nor rain. And not like Eleventh Miss either — before the north wind even starts blowing, she’s already wrapped herself in padded clothes and padded skirts, and I needn’t worry about her at all.”

She spoke with a warm smile and a caring tone — yet when Eleventh Miss heard those words, something in them felt strange.

Fifth Miss, listening, had already caught the First Madam’s sleeve and was pretending to sulk: “Daughter is grown now and Mother still says such things. I won’t stand for it — how is it that I’m the one born from a rock, Tenth Sister is cherished like someone held in the palm of your hand, and Eleventh Sister is so well-behaved you don’t need to worry about her?”

“Look at you — you’re making my head spin. If you’re not a monkey, what are you?” The First Madam laughed, pressing a hand to her temple.

Everyone laughed along, suiting the mood.

Eleventh Miss stepped forward and greeted Tenth Miss.

The normally tightly-drawn features of Tenth Miss eased into the hint of a smile, and her striking, deep-set features bloomed all at once like a summer flower — a breathtaking beauty that stirred the heart.

Eleventh Miss’s chest tightened.

She thought of the first time she had seen Fourth Yiniang.

It had been winter then too. Fourth Yiniang had been wearing a bright green persimmon-medallion cut-silk jacket, a crimson cape trimmed with white fur slung over her shoulders, and carried a cobalt-blue painted enamel hand warmer with bird-and-flower designs, strolling over with effortless grace.

Eleventh Miss had just woken up, still in a daze, and for a moment she thought she was dreaming — that a beauty from an ancient painting had stepped down from the frame. It was not until Fourth Yiniang’s warm, gentle hand lightly touched her forehead that she felt something real.

She still remembered Fourth Yiniang’s face, full of tender sympathy: “You poor child. It was all Tenth Miss’s fault. I’ll have her come and apologize to you shortly.”

As she spoke, Fourth Yiniang’s willow-leaf brows were faintly knit, as if genuinely worried.

But before Fourth Yiniang had even left her courtyard, she was summoned by Nanny Xu to the First Madam’s chambers. After that, she never laid eyes on Fourth Yiniang again… She had no way of knowing what she looked like now.

The thought crossed her mind, and she gave an involuntary shudder.

The jacket Tenth Miss was wearing was the very one Fourth Yiniang had worn all those years ago — only now it was old and worn…

Eleventh Miss did not dare dwell on it. Tenth Miss had already greeted her: “Sister is here too!”

“I was just on my way to Duan Yiniang’s and Yuan Yiniang’s.” In the First Madam’s presence, Eleventh Miss never referred to Duan Shi as “First Yiniang.”

Tenth Miss smiled and gave a nod.

Eleventh Miss took the opportunity to take her leave of the First Madam: “Then Mother, your child will be on her way to the Yiniangss’ rooms.”

The First Madam’s attention had already been entirely drawn to Tenth Miss, and she gave a somewhat absent nod.

Eleventh Miss felt as if a weight had been lifted, and withdrew with Hupo at once.

As the curtain fell behind her, she heard Tenth Miss say with a smile: “…Daughter was thinking that with the cold weather, she did not know how Mother was keeping — and came especially to pay a visit.”

Eleventh Miss quickened her pace.

Hupo said nothing, following close behind as Eleventh Miss hurried away from the First Madam’s chambers. Only then did she call out: “Miss — you should put on your cape.”

Eleventh Miss finally slowed her steps, and went to call upon the two Yiniangss.