Resolve it once and for all — but how?

Eleventh Miss was startled.

“Eleventh Miss.” Xu Lingyi called her name softly, his gaze on her deeply earnest. “I want to formally acknowledge this child.”

When Second Madam had proposed that Xu Lingyi acknowledge Fengqing a moment ago, neither Xu Lingyi nor the Grand Madam had objected. Eleventh Miss had already been bracing herself for this. Now hearing Xu Lingyi say it directly, she nodded without a moment’s hesitation.

Just as Second Madam had said — things having come this far, there was no better course than to acknowledge the child. Moreover, with Xu Lingyi formally acknowledging Fengqing, this child would henceforth fall under her own care and guidance. Whatever else she could not promise, she could at the very least guarantee that Fengqing would have enough to eat and wear, would not be beaten for no reason, and would receive the same education as Xu Siyu and Zhun Ge.

“I will follow the Marquis’s wishes!” She smiled as she looked at him.

Xu Lingyi gave a slight nod, a look of quiet relief passing through his eyes.

“Come.” He drew her down to sit on the heated bed. “Let us talk this through properly.”

Talk it through? What was there to talk through? As long as the child was not registered under her own name, everything else could be worked out.

Eleventh Miss smiled and sat down beside him on the heated bed.

“Ever since Lady Qu was granted the title of Imperial Noble Consort, I have been on guard and made certain arrangements.” Xu Lingyi’s expression was grave. Rather than speaking of the question of whose name Fengqing would be registered under, he turned the conversation inward, to his own thoughts. “Only I had not anticipated how powerful the Qu family’s reach was, nor how boldly and decisively they would act — cutting off every avenue of retreat without a moment’s hesitation. Looking back, the fault is entirely mine — not only did I underestimate my opponent, but I was complacent and self-satisfied. If not for the matter of the child, and if not for the Wang family’s chance intervention, I might not have known my entire household was on the verge of ruin until it was too late.” He examined his own failings with candor.

“My Lord…” Eleventh Miss wanted to offer a word of comfort, but a glance from him stopped her.

“I cannot make the same mistake twice.” A trace of cold clarity settled in his brow and eyes. “I have thought it through carefully. Since the Qu family has been preparing for this for a long time, there is more to be gained by temporarily stepping back — feigning weakness even from a position of strength — than by defending against them at every turn. Give the Qu family room to make their moves, and find ways to push them into overstepping, forcing their ambitions into the open. Even if the Qu family can hold themselves in check and we cannot achieve that aim, we must at the very least create in the Emperor’s mind a picture of the Qu family as arrogant and extravagant beyond their station.” He spoke at a measured pace, his gaze deep and composed. “After all, the more one does, the more one errs. What we must do now, above all else, is do nothing — respond to motion with stillness.” With that, a cold smile crossed his face. “The Qu family wants to make us lose face? Very well — we shall play this spectacle all the way through. A performer. A camp courtesan. A female chieftain — I will acknowledge them all, and see what more they have to say.”

Precisely so — the one with nothing to lose has nothing to fear.

When you have already sunk to the dust, with nowhere lower to fall, what more can anyone do to you?

“This concubine understands.” Eleventh Miss expressed her sympathy to Xu Lingyi at once. “Only, I feel the Marquis has been made to suffer an injustice.”

Xu Lingyi heard this and his gaze paused a moment. He waved it off with a laugh: “The fault was mine — what injustice is there?” Yet the corner of his mouth could not help turning up, betraying his thoughts.

Eleventh Miss found it amusing to watch, and decided to be generous about it entirely: “As for the matter of Bowstring Alley, the Marquis need not worry. I will go and speak with them.” She added, “Elder Brother is a reasonable man and should understand at once once he hears.”

Xu Lingyi was taken aback, then felt a deep and genuine sense of gratitude. He patted Eleventh Miss’s hand: “There is no need for you to go out of your way. I will personally speak with my father-in-law.”

“Why don’t we go together?” Eleventh Miss thought for a moment and said. “After all, the matter of Fengqing cannot be stated plainly. If I am there, should Father have any misgivings, I can speak a word to ease them.”

With Eleventh Miss there, the Luo family would certainly be much easier to manage. But it had always been his way to handle matters himself rather than have a woman step forward on his behalf — and yet Eleventh Miss’s offer came from genuine goodwill… The refusal on his lips faltered, and a trace of hesitation showed on his face.

Eleventh Miss saw it clearly.

Men of the patriarchal sort are like this — they prefer to carry everything themselves. Though it may make a woman’s life quite comfortable, in the long run it can also lead to a growing distance between husband and wife, a gradual drifting apart. She did not object to Xu Lingyi making decisions on her behalf — he was a man born and raised in this world, and understood its rules of survival far better than she did. But that did not mean she was willing to comply without understanding the reasons.

“My Lord — when husband and wife work together, their sharpness can cut through metal.” She put it gently. “This is as much the Xu family’s matter as it is a matter for the two of us.”

“All right!” Xu Lingyi was very fond of the phrase “work together.” He agreed at once: “We’ll go together.”

“No time should be wasted. Since we have decided to acknowledge the child, the household register must be updated before the New Year, and the child must take part in the ancestral rites. Better that we go and greet Father in advance than have him hear it from someone else.” Eleventh Miss smiled. “Since we have no obligations this afternoon, why not make a trip to Bowstring Alley now?”

Xu Lingyi had not expected her to move so decisively. He stood for a moment in mild astonishment, then smiled: “That is fine. The Qu family presses in step by step — this matter is indeed better done sooner than later.” Then, his expression turning serious: “What do you think — under whose name should the child be raised?”

This was no small matter.

If he were raised under Qin Yiniang’s name, she already had one son — to acknowledge another would make her the most highly regarded among the concubines, without question. From time immemorial, among the three great transgressions, the gravest is having no heir. And to bring a new member into the family line was the greatest contribution one could make to the household. As for Wen Yiniang — she had the Wen family behind her. Even if Wen Yiniang herself had no designs on the matter, the Wen family would surely not be quiet about it. And Qiao Lianfang — she was still young and would certainly have her own children in time. On the one hand, whether she would be willing was a question in itself; on the other, she and Eleventh Miss had no great conflict at present, but there was no guarantee they wouldn’t in the future. If it came to that and she used Fengqing as a tool, the trouble would be considerable.

These thoughts passed in a flash, and Eleventh Miss decided it was better to hear Xu Lingyi’s own inclination first, while also taking the opportunity to see which of the concubines he held most in regard in his heart.

For there was a world of difference between a concubine who had borne a son and one who had not.

“What does the Marquis think…” Eleventh Miss looked at him.

Asking for my opinion… meaning Eleventh Miss felt no option was good — whether it was this concubine or that one.

He thought for a moment, then said: “What if we place the child under Tong Yiniang’s name?”

Eleventh Miss was stunned.

Tong Yiniang was already deceased… placing the child under her name was, in effect, entrusting this child entirely to her own care.

Xu Lingyi said earnestly: “Though I am acknowledging this child, we still need to make some pretense of concealment. What we tell the outside world is that Tong Yiniang came to me in a dream, saying she had no incense or candles offered to her since her passing. It happens that I came across a child with phoenix eyes while visiting a charity home, so I brought him back and placed him in Tong Yiniang’s name to be raised. This can be explained to outsiders, and makes it easy for you to manage things on your end. Of course, this is a matter of the inner household — if you are not agreeable, it shall be done as you see fit.”

For Eleventh Miss, there could not have been a more ideal arrangement.

“My Lord…” She looked at Xu Lingyi, and for a moment did not know what to say.

This had never once occurred to Eleventh Miss.

Xu Lingyi’s decision spoke, at the very least, to the respect he held for her.

“Very well.” Xu Lingyi, seeing the gratitude flash in Eleventh Miss’s eyes, was in excellent spirits. He rose with a smile: “I will go speak with the Grand Madam, and then we will make a trip to Bowstring Alley. We also need to stop by Red Lamp Lane to inform the old Marquis. And Fifth Master must be properly instructed — otherwise we put in all the effort to clean up his mess, and he’ll still feel unsettled seeing the child around the house every day. Then there is Fan Weigang — and Wang Li — letters of complaint ought to be written to each of them… There is no end to the affairs at hand!”

The matter had been resolved, hadn’t it? There was no need to write letters of complaint to Fan Weigang and Wang Li. Besides, writing letters of complaint didn’t seem like something Xu Lingyi would do at all.

Eleventh Miss was a little puzzled.

“If we genuinely do nothing at all, how is that any different from forcibly suppressing the rumor?” Xu Lingyi, seeing the confusion in her expression, smiled and explained: “Think about it — after something like this has happened, there’s not a single person speaking up to defend us? That in itself would be suspicious. If the Emperor were to think it over carefully, he might imagine I’m retreating in order to advance, holding something back — and that would be even more troublesome.” He gave a faint sigh. “So letters of complaint must be written. Given the friendship between us, once they hear I’ve been compelled to acknowledge a ‘child born outside of marriage,’ they are certain to speak up on my behalf. And since the two of them — one a civil official, one a military man, each in entirely separate spheres with no particular bond between them — would be defending me without any coordination between them, the Emperor would see that there is nothing calculated about it, and would come to feel that the Xu family is ‘abundant in loyalty and integrity, but slow to react under pressure.’ In the future, should anyone bring charges against our household again, the Emperor’s heart will already have its own measure of judgment.”

Eleventh Miss understood.

Though the Emperor was wary of the Xu family, wary of Xu Lingyi, the Xu family was still the Empress’s maternal home, and Xu Lingyi was still his brother-in-law. He might allow things to be done to them, but others could not. The more the Qu family reduced the Xu family to a sorry state, the more the Emperor’s scales would tip toward the Xu family. And the Xu family’s crisis could then be resolved.

She could not help smiling: “Is this what you meant by ‘once and for all’?”

Xu Lingyi nodded: “Only in this way can the Emperor be brought to stand on our side.” Then, as something came to mind, he reminded Eleventh Miss: “Good news may stay behind closed doors, but bad news travels the world in an instant. The New Year is nearly upon us, and there will be much visiting between households — people will inevitably ask about Fengqing. Be prepared in your heart.”

“The Marquis need not worry.” Eleventh Miss smiled. “I will handle it with care.” Then, thinking of Xu Lingyi’s mention of calling on the old Marquis at Marquis Dingnan Sun family’s residence at Red Lamp Lane, she hesitated. “Does the Marquis not intend to tell Fifth Sister-in-law about this matter?”

“Hmm.” Xu Lingyi considered. “Since I have already acknowledged the child, let us not stir up further complications. My visit to the old Marquis is also to inform him of this matter. As long as the old gentleman knows what is in his heart, that will be sufficient.”

That was for the better, to spare the child heartache when she grew older. Better to let Fengqing believe she was truly Xu Lingyi’s own son.

“Someone ought to caution Fifth Master as well.” Eleventh Miss worried he might let something slip.

“Naturally.” Xu Lingyi replied, as a junior maidservant came to announce: “Second Madam is here!”

Both of them were surprised.

Since the two had married, this was the very first time Second Madam had come to their room.

Eleventh Miss said quickly: “Please show her in!” and instructed the junior maidservant to fetch the finest Dahongpao tea for Second Madam.

But Second Madam only stood a moment in the outer reception room: “Fourth Sister-in-law, there is no need to trouble yourself. I have come to say farewell.”

Her words surprised Eleventh Miss greatly: “Today is already the twenty-eighth of the twelfth month, and this year’s snowfall has been heavy. Second Sister-in-law, please stay and celebrate the New Year before returning to West Mountain. I’ll send someone to fetch Zhen Jie’er.”

“I was worried the Marquis might be too close to the situation to see it clearly, so I rushed back to take a look.” She smiled. “Now that I know the Marquis has already formed his own plan, I am naturally at ease. Fourth Sister-in-law need not worry — on a fast horse, half a day is enough to get there.”

Eleventh Miss wished to persuade her further, but Xu Lingyi said: “Since Second Sister-in-law has made up her mind, your younger brother will not detain you.” He also instructed Eleventh Miss to see the guest out.

—