Anyone would have panicked in such a situation.

Xu Lingyi’s own mind was troubled enough, and he paid little attention to the Eleventh Young Madam’s reaction. He said coldly: “Don’t ask so many questions — just do as I said and find a few nannies who can hold their tongues to look after him.”

The Eleventh Young Madam immediately composed herself.

*What was the use of asking all that now?*

What mattered was: what did Xu Lingyi intend to do?

“Where shall we keep him?” She heard her own voice — steady, composed, clear-headed, and calm. “My rooms have too many people coming and going — it might not be very convenient. How about finding a spot temporarily in the garden? The Fifth Madam is in the northwest corner, and Banyue Pond is in the northeast. The Fifth Madam’s quarters see quite a bit of foot traffic…”

She was hinting that the northeast corner was the quietest, with the least risk.

“You sort it out.” Xu Lingyi’s expression was grave. “For now, just keep it from the rest of the household.”

*Keep it from the rest of the household… for now.* In other words, the others didn’t yet know. And thinking back to how he had brought the child in — bundled up and carried in like a parcel — did this suggest that, at least as matters stood, Xu Lingyi still trusted her?

*It seems I was worrying for nothing before.*

The Eleventh Young Madam’s shoulders eased. Then she thought: in this world, what wall truly keeps out every draft — and this was a living person, a young child unaware of the ways of the world, who might cry and fuss at any moment… But this was the task Xu Lingyi had given her.

She said gravely: “I will do everything in my power.”

Something in Xu Lingyi’s expression thawed slightly. “Get me a change of clothes — I need to go out again.”

*Is it for this child’s sake?*

The Eleventh Young Madam guessed so, and spoke quietly: “My Lord, your foot ailment…”

“I know my own limits!” Xu Lingyi said in a low, firm voice. “You only need to mind the child.”

His meaning was unmistakable. The Eleventh Young Madam said nothing more, helped him change into a celadon robe with a treasure-flower cut-silk pattern, and saw him out of the washroom.

By the kang, Dongqing and the child were still locked in a wide-eyed standoff, precisely as they had been when the two had gone into the washroom.

Seeing them come out, Dongqing visibly relaxed and hurried to explain: “He won’t let me touch him — I was afraid he’d make a scene, so I’ve just been keeping watch from here.” She was explaining why she had remained standing by the kang.

The Eleventh Young Madam noticed that the child’s eyes had lit up the moment he saw Xu Lingyi, his gaze brightening with something like delight.

She gave no sign of having observed this, and smiled: “He’s just arrived — naturally he’s shy around strangers. As long as he’s not making a fuss, that’s a good sign.” It was also her gentle way of explaining to Xu Lingyi that caring for a child was no simple matter — and that if anything went amiss later, it wouldn’t necessarily all be her fault.

Xu Lingyi listened and nodded, accepting the explanation. He instructed her: “No need to see me out. Just keep a good eye on this child. If I haven’t returned by midday, tell Mother that I went to Lord Wang Li’s estate early in the morning and will be back later.”

The Eleventh Young Madam murmured her assent and saw him to the doorway of the inner chamber. When she turned back, she found the child with eyes full of tears, gazing forlornly at the still-swaying door curtain.

Something stirred in her heart. She went to him gently: “The Marquis said your name is Fengqing. What does your mother call you? Just Fengqing, or do you have a pet name?”

But the child’s eyes went wide with alarm, and he began edging fearfully toward the window — as though she were some great villain come to bully him.

“Shall I call you Fengqing then?” The Eleventh Young Madam smiled warmly and settled herself on the edge of the kang.

At that, the child snatched the bolster nearby and clutched it to his chest like a shield, his entire posture one of guarded wariness.

“Madam, you’re wasting your breath.” Dongqing said, somewhat exasperated. “I talked at him for ages just now, and he didn’t make a single sound.”

“Not a single sound?” The Eleventh Young Madam asked, surprised.

Dongqing nodded. “Not a single one.” Then her eyes went wide. “Madam — you don’t think he could be mute, do you?”

The Eleventh Young Madam recalled that when Xu Lingyi had carried him in inside that bundle, there hadn’t seemed to be any sound from him. For a child of two or three years old, to be carried in an unknown bundle to an unknown destination without uttering a word — it was far too strange. Could there truly be something wrong with him? Yet his eyes were bright and quick, which didn’t suggest any impairment…

While she was still thinking it over, she saw Dongqing reach out to take the child’s arm: “Madam is speaking to you! If you don’t answer properly, you won’t get any sweets!” She moved with a rather forceful sweep of her arm.

The child suddenly let out a shriek and began kicking and hitting Dongqing.

Both of them were startled.

Immediately a maid called out from beyond the curtain: “Madam, shall we come in and help?”

Dongqing, thinking of nothing else, stepped forward and clapped her hand over the child’s mouth. The sharp cry dropped to a muffled whimper.

The Eleventh Young Madam, afraid of drawing people in, didn’t stop her, only called back to the maid: “Something’s happened in here — have Hupo come in.”

The junior maid went off to fetch her.

Dongqing gave a pained cry and released her hand.

The Eleventh Young Madam looked — the child had bitten clean through the flesh of Dongqing’s hand, between her thumb and forefinger.

*This child is truly fierce.*

The Eleventh Young Madam stared, took a handkerchief and wrapped Dongqing’s hand, then glanced at the child they called Fengqing.

He was glaring at her the way a small animal caught in a trap glares — terrified and savage at once.

“Madam, this child needs a good deal of discipline,” Dongqing said, her face white as paper. “I’ve got seven or eight brothers and sisters at home, and not one of them bit people at first sight…”

She was still speaking when Hupo came in.

She took in the scene and froze in place: “Madam, what — what is going on here?”

The Eleventh Young Madam smiled wryly and gave her a brief account of what had happened. All the while, Fengqing remained huddled by the window, the large bolster clutched to his chest, watching them with guarded eyes.

“Could this be the Marquis’s child?” Hupo studied the child’s features intently.

“What do we do about this?” Dongqing started to panic. “This child is only two or three years old — by that reckoning, he was born right when the First Young Madam was gravely ill… No wonder the Marquis couldn’t very well bring the child into the household openly!”

The Eleventh Young Madam felt a sharp pain behind her eyes.

Not because she was afraid of the child being Xu Lingyi’s. Though Xu Lingyi had brought only the child and not the mother — hadn’t even brought the child’s attendants — which indicated that the child’s mother was someone who could not be brought to light, and whose origins were likely even more obscure than Xu Siyu’s. He was not the eldest son either, so he posed no threat to Zhun Ge’er… What worried her was how she would answer to Xu Lingyi — since he had asked her to hide the child from the household for now, and had brought him back nonetheless, it meant he intended to acknowledge the child, but was held back by some difficulty and could not do so openly at this moment. And he had gone back out despite his foot ailment — in all likelihood, it was to deal with some matter relating to this child, and he might even be arranging a false identity for the boy. So until the matter was resolved, the fewer people who knew of the child’s existence, the better…

The Eleventh Young Madam’s thoughts ran on.

But keeping it from the household… how on earth could they manage that? Setting aside everything else, simply getting this child to the back garden without anyone knowing was itself a tremendous problem. She did not have Xu Lingyi’s strength — he had carried the child in with one arm. And even if she had that strength, how would she explain it…

A thought struck her. Why not follow Xu Lingyi’s method — wrap the child in something and carry him over that way?

She pictured the look on someone’s face when they discovered a child of unknown origin suddenly taking up residence in Banyue Pond — Xu Lingyi’s sanctuary — and could not help but let the corners of her lips curl upward. There was something delightfully impish about the thought.

Yes. That’s exactly what she’d do.

After all, she had already suggested that the northeast corner was the quietest…

The Eleventh Young Madam paid no heed to Dongqing’s relentless murmuring and spoke quietly to Hupo: “Do we have a wicker basket or something of the kind? Put the child in the basket, then have a coarse-duty nanny carry it to Banyue Pond — tell anyone who asks that the Marquis has sent over some everyday supplies. Then find someone reliable and honest to stay at Banyue Pond to tend to him. We’ll wait for the Marquis to return before deciding anything further.”

“Banyue Pond?” Dongqing’s face went even whiter. “But that’s the Marquis’s study — no one without business there is allowed in. If the Marquis finds out, he’d likely be furious. Besides, Banyue Pond is half a quarter-hour from here — having a nanny stay to look after things isn’t hard, but what about meals? What about the daily laundry? If small children’s clothes suddenly appeared out of nowhere, how would we explain that…”

Hupo, however, mused: “Madam’s idea seems sound enough to me. After all, no one ordinary would dare set foot in Banyue Pond — even if something stirred out there, no one would dare go charging in. As for meals — when I went looking for the Marquis there once, I noticed there’s a small kitchen on that side, and the east corner gate opens directly to the outer courtyard passage. We could cook there. For laundry, we could find somewhere out back to hang things — there’s sure to be a place to keep them out of sight.”

“No, no.” Dongqing still felt it was wrong. “That is the Marquis’s study…”

The Eleventh Young Madam smiled: “He can drop a child in my lap just like that — surely I can make use of his Banyue Pond. It’s not as though I’m the one who brought this trouble on us.”

Seeing the smile spread to the very corners of the Eleventh Young Madam’s eyes, Hupo couldn’t help but laugh too. But she was still a little worried: “Madam, perhaps you should discuss it with the Marquis first?”

For a man, this was a matter of debts owed to past indulgences… handled well, it might even become a story fondly repeated. The Eleventh Young Madam had no real say in any of it.

But she could quietly snip a small hole in that brocade robe of his — enough to give Xu Lingyi just a tiny bit of private grief.

The thought filled her with a sudden burst of energy: “Hupo — go find me a wicker basket!”

—