The Grand Dowager watched this and silently sighed inwardly, then cooled her expression and said to Xu Lingkuan: “Your Fourth Sister-in-Law has been running about all day on account of this matter.”

A flicker of guilt crossed Xu Lingkuan’s face, and he murmured, “Fourth Sister-in-Law…”

The Grand Dowager had already turned to Eleventh Miss: “You must be tired as well. Go rest. Tomorrow is New Year’s Eve — take a breath for yourself.”

Eleventh Miss smiled and agreed, then looked toward Xu Lingyi — to see whether he had any further instructions.

Xu Lingyi considered briefly, then said: “Mother should also rest early. I’ll have a word with Fifth Brother, and then we’ll be done.”

The Grand Dowager knew he intended to speak seriously to Xu Lingkuan. Ordinarily, she would have kept the brothers and played the peacemaker herself — but this time, she understood she could no longer act on sentiment alone. She nodded firmly: “The two of you brothers do indeed need to have a proper talk.”

Leaving Zhun Ge’er to keep the Grand Dowager company, Xu Lingyi, Xu Lingkuan, and Eleventh Miss — who was carrying Xu Sijie — left together.

Hupo was waiting outside the door.

When she saw everyone come out, she hurried forward: “Marquis, Fifth Master, Madam, Young Master Fengqing!” Anxiety showed plainly in her eyes.

Earlier, Nanny Du had quietly taken the child from the Half-Moon Pavilion without a word; none of them had known what it meant. Dongqing had to stay with Fifth Madam and couldn’t appear, so Hupo had rushed over with Binju.

Eleventh Miss glanced at Binju, Lvyun, and the others who had followed Hupo, then said with a smile: “We can no longer call him Young Master Fengqing. The Marquis has given him the name Xu Sijie. Henceforth, you will address him as Fifth Young Master.”

So it was settled after all…

Hupo and the others exhaled with great relief.

All that secrecy and concealment — who knew what trouble might have come of it? Now at last everything could be done openly and properly.

The group of them curtsied in acknowledgment and changed their form of address to Fifth Young Master from that moment on.

Xu Lingyi took Xu Lingkuan back to his own courtyard. Eleventh Miss felt uneasy about the Half-Moon Pavilion — safe as it was, it was remote and rather desolate. She sent someone over to Concubine Qin’s side to ask whether the rooms where Xu Siyu had previously lived had their kang bed heated, while directing Binju to take the child to Dongqing’s room. She also dismissed the servants who had been attending Xu Lingkuan’s study, then personally carried in a cup of hot tea.

As she entered, she heard Xu Lingyi’s blunt, unsparing questions: “…You’ll take responsibility? Tell me then — how exactly would you take responsibility?”

“Regardless, it was I who caused this trouble, and I’ll find a way to explain everything to everyone…” Xu Lingkuan’s face was flushed crimson; he stiffened his neck and glared back at Xu Lingyi.

“Are you trying to make this even more of a disaster?!” Seeing that Xu Lingkuan showed no sign of admitting wrongdoing, Xu Lingyi’s temple veins bulged visibly. “Explain to everyone? Explain what? How? Tell them the child is yours? Let people think you were standing up for me? Or tell them the child isn’t the Xu family’s at all — and shirk your own responsibility…”

Eleventh Miss gave a soft cough.

The two brothers turned at the sound.

Xu Lingkuan’s face was full of shame, and he murmured, “Fourth Sister-in-Law…”

Xu Lingyi’s expression eased slightly: “Is the child settled?”

“I’m thinking of placing him for now in Siyu Ge’er’s old quarters…” Eleventh Miss set down the tea and briefly described the arrangements for Xu Sijie, then gave Xu Lingyi a meaningful look. “As for how to inform the concubines — that still needs to be discussed with the Marquis.”

Xu Lingyi turned and went with Eleventh Miss into the warm inner room of the study.

“What is it?”

He naturally did not believe Eleventh Miss had come to consult him about what to say to the concubines.

Eleventh Miss smiled: “I noticed the Marquis had Fifth Master reeling with that dressing-down. Does the Marquis speak to his colleagues in the same manner?”

Xu Lingyi paused.

“Of course not…” He hesitated a moment, then added: “But he is my younger brother!”

It was one of the most common mistakes people made — being harsher, stricter, and more demanding with those closest to them than with strangers.

Seeing that Xu Lingyi had grasped something, Eleventh Miss smiled. “Shall your concubine heat some wine? On a cold night like this, it would warm you both.”

“Very well…” Xu Lingyi’s answer came with a touch of hesitation.

A person’s habits cannot be changed overnight — that he was willing to try at all was already a good thing.

Eleventh Miss smiled and went out to have the maids send word to the kitchen to prepare a few small dishes and warm a jug of Jinhua wine. That done, she returned to her own room.

Hupo was waiting for her there.

“Concubine Qin’s side had no kang bed lit. When she heard Fifth Young Master was to move in, she immediately led her maids to tidy the rooms.”

“Oh!” Eleventh Miss was somewhat surprised by Concubine Qin’s compliance. “She heard that the Marquis had taken in an adopted son — did she say nothing at all?”

Hearing this, Hupo also found it a little strange.

She herself had been completely dumbstruck when she first saw the child; when Nanny Du had carried the child away to the Grand Dowager’s quarters, she had been sick with worry, afraid the Grand Dowager would blame Eleventh Miss for helping the Marquis conceal it from her. Then, hearing that the Marquis had ultimately taken the child in as an adopted son and was keeping him in the household, she had felt aggrieved on Eleventh Miss’s behalf — worried that if the child were raised well, it would simply be expected, but if anything went wrong, all the blame would fall on Eleventh Miss… Her own feelings had been this tangled; how much more so for Concubine Qin, whose own interests were directly affected?

“She seemed to freeze for a moment…” Hupo recalled, “then smiled and called for her maids to start tidying… and even asked whether they’d want Second Young Master’s old baby clothes…”

“She even asked about Second Young Master’s old baby clothes?” Eleventh Miss murmured thoughtfully. “It seems she already knew quite well where Fifth Young Master had come from.”

This remark touched on matters too broad for Hupo to venture an answer on. She smiled and changed the subject: “Madam, now that Fifth Young Master has his own courtyard, should we not arrange a few personal attendants? Elder Sister Dongqing is getting on in years and could be wed at any moment. Best to plan ahead.”

Had it not been for the whole affair with Xu Sijie, her marriage would have been settled long ago.

“The New Year is almost here, and there’s no suitable person at a moment’s notice.” Eleventh Miss nodded with a smile. “After the Lantern Festival, we’ll look for someone. It will be arranged before she is wed.”

Hupo acknowledged this, and just then a junior maid came in to report: “Madam, the three concubines have come to pay their respects.”

Eleventh Miss smiled faintly and directed Hupo: “Bring Fifth Young Master over — let the concubines meet him.”

Hupo went off at once. Eleventh Miss then told the junior maid: “Show the three concubines in.” She straightened herself in the grand chair at the head of the reception hall.

The one leading the way in was Concubine Wen, beaming and full of evident delight. Concubine Qin followed behind, eyes downcast, stepping softly, appearing meek and compliant. Qiao Lianfang was the same as always — spine straight, chin tilted slightly upward, composed to the point of mild pride.

The three of them paid their respects, and Eleventh Miss had them seated in the nearby grand chairs.

When the junior maids had served tea, Concubine Wen immediately smiled and said: “Elder Sister, I heard the Marquis has brought in a young master to raise under Concubine Tong’s name — is it true?”

She was refreshingly direct.

Eleventh Miss smiled: “Concubine Tong appeared in the Marquis’s dream, and so the Marquis brought a child to raise under her name. He has been given the name Sijie, ranked fifth among the brothers. He will be entered into the family register during tomorrow’s ancestral rites.”

As she spoke, she kept watch on the expressions of Concubine Qin and Qiao Lianfang.

Concubine Qin was listening with a smile on her face, but her fingers were twisted together, betraying a certain anxiety.

Qiao Lianfang’s eyes flashed with a brief look of astonishment, then she turned to listen with great attention.

“Oh my!” Concubine Wen was all over-the-moon delight, as though it were she who had a son raised under her name. “Concubine Tong truly has good fortune! Even after being gone for more than ten years, the Marquis still remembers her. Though when all is said and done, it’s because Elder Sister has such a generous and forgiving nature — it’s on your account that she has this blessing…”

Eleventh Miss listened with a smile as Concubine Wen delivered a flowing stream of praise, but her eyes never left the other two women in the room.

Concubine Qin’s smile was beginning to look strained, while Qiao Lianfang’s complexion shifted slightly and she lowered her head in quiet thought.

How interesting!

A faint smile played at the corners of Eleventh Miss’s lips.

Concubine Wen was always well-informed — her knowing was no surprise. Qiao Lianfang had clearly only just heard this. But Concubine Qin — where had her news come from? And what was making her anxious? After all, Concubine Tong had been a sister sharing the same room with her…

She turned these thoughts over in her mind while effortlessly engaging Concubine Wen: “…Serving from childhood — the bond runs deep. When one is young and busy with everything, one doesn’t notice. But in these quieter days, one remembers all that care and warmth she once showed. At such a lovely age, how could the Marquis not think of her still…”

Concubine Qin’s smile grew stiff; Qiao Lianfang clenched her hand into a fist.

The atmosphere in the room gradually grew heavy, pressing down on the heart with a vague sense of unease.

Fortunately, Hupo’s arrival broke the tension.

“Madam, Fifth Young Master is here!” She walked in with a smile, carrying Xu Sijie.

Every eye in the room fell on him.

He looked around with his wide phoenix eyes, as though searching for something.

“Oh my, what a beautiful child!” Concubine Wen went forward and clasped his little hand, then drew from her sleeve a pair of small solid-gold bracelets. “Here, Fifth Young Master — take these to wear and play with.”

Xu Sijie looked at Concubine Wen, his eyes full of wariness.

Hupo quickly said: “Fifth Young Master, this is Concubine Wen. She’s giving you a gift — please thank her.”

Xu Sijie said nothing, only blinked his large eyes and looked at Eleventh Miss.

Eleventh Miss smiled and instructed him: “Say thank you to Concubine Wen.”

“Thank you.” He expressed his thanks to Concubine Wen in a small voice, clear and melodious, pleasant to the ear.

Concubine Wen went briefly still before saying softly: “What a beautiful voice.”

By then Hupo had already carried Xu Sijie to greet Concubine Qin and Qiao Lianfang.

Concubine Qin gave a silver necklace hung with a ruyi lock as a meeting gift. Qiao Lianfang, having come unprepared, stared at the child’s phoenix eyes with a somewhat dazed look and said: “…I’ll have Xiuyuan bring something over later.”

With introductions made and the necessary matters explained, Eleventh Miss had Hupo take Xu Sijie away. She then exchanged a few words with the concubines — each wearing a different expression — and, lifting her teacup, made her way to the study.

Since the two brothers were having a private conversation, the attending servants had been dismissed, leaving only a single manservant on duty beneath the eaves.

It was cold, and he had been standing there stomping his feet with both hands tucked into his sleeves. When he saw Eleventh Miss approach, he straightened up at once and was about to announce her — but Eleventh Miss held a finger to her lips, then had Lvyun give him a few coins and lifted the curtain herself, slipping quietly inside.

The kang bed by the window had only a gourd-shaped sheep-horn palace lantern lit; looking through the partitioned screen, one could not see very clearly — only hear Xu Lingyi’s voice: “…If it were not for your Fourth Sister-in-Law’s forbearing nature, how could things have been resolved so smoothly!”

Was Xu Lingyi speaking of her?

Eleventh Miss stood frozen.

She had never expected Xu Lingyi to say something like this about her in front of his brother…

—