Upon hearing the news of Wang Lang’s death, Shiyiniang was momentarily stunned.

Wang Lang was dead?

How did he die?

Thinking of what he had done to Shiniang, and then thinking of Shiniang’s temperament… surely it wasn’t Shiniang who…

The thought flashed through her mind, and her mouth immediately went dry.

She knew that in this society, a man beating a woman was nothing, but if a woman killed a man, nine times out of ten she would pay with her life.

Shiniang must not do anything foolish!

After all, they were both concubine-born daughters. Unless they could prove the fault lay entirely with Wang Lang, the Luo Family would never stand up for them.

She couldn’t help but glance over at Xu Lingyi.

Just then, Xu Lingkuan across from her leaped to his feet with a startled cry: “Wang Lang is dead? When did this happen? How did he die?”

Xu Lingyi noticed his wife looking over at him with anxious eyes, and paused before saying: “It happened at you time this afternoon. He had too much to drink and got into a conflict with someone over a disagreement. Someone at the Office of the Shuntian Prefecture Magistrate knew of the connection between our two families and specifically sent someone to inform me.”

His words were concise, without a single unnecessary sentence.

Shiyiniang listened and felt something was off. Xu Lingyi seemed to be avoiding something.

But upon realizing that this matter had nothing to do with Shiniang, she couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.

She was just about to ask for more details when the Grand Madam spoke up with concern: “Has the perpetrator been caught? Should we send someone to the Wang Family to offer our condolences?”

“The one who reported the case was… the proprietor. The perpetrator was caught on the spot.” There was a brief hesitation in Xu Lingyi’s words, but he quickly returned to his usual calm composure. “When a person dies, it is like a lamp going out. Before, we feared that Fifth Brother would get entangled with Wang Lang, but now that Wang Lang is gone, our two families are still relatives by marriage after all, and it is only proper to send someone to offer condolences. However, the hour is already late today, and the Wang Family has only just received the tragic news — they are surely deep in grief. It would be better to send someone tomorrow.”

The Grand Madam nodded, her expression melancholic. “Wang Lang was an only son… the Wang Family must feel as though the sky has collapsed upon them.” As if remembering something, she asked Shiyiniang, “Did he leave behind any children?”

Shiyiniang shook her head. “No.”

She thought of what Shiniang had endured, thought of Jinlian’s miscarriage… she wondered whether Wang Lang had thought of any of this as he died. Whether he had felt any regret.

“This child…” The Grand Madam’s eyes grew heavy as she listened, shaking her head and sighing.

The Fifth Madam tried to console the Grand Madam: “Wang Lang was spoiled rotten and didn’t know his own limits. He was always audacious. If you walk along the riverbank often enough, you’re bound to get your feet wet eventually. This was simply his misfortune.”

“What do any of you know — when a white-haired person must see off a black-haired one, that is the most unbearable sorrow of all.” As the Grand Madam said this, moisture already glistened at the corners of her eyes.

Nanny Du noticed at once and hastily passed over a handkerchief: “Grand Madam, what is this for? All the young masters are gathered around you, and here you are grieving!”

“That’s right, that’s right.” The Third Madam, seeing the situation, quickly and attentively poured tea for the Grand Madam. “Have some hot tea — it will help you feel better.”

“Grandmother, don’t be sad!” The children chimed in from all sides, crowding forward to comfort the Grand Madam.

The Grand Madam took Nanny Du’s handkerchief and dabbed the corners of her eyes, then accepted the tea from the Third Madam. Seeing the children’s small upturned faces looking up at her with worry, her heart immediately warmed.

“When one gets old, one becomes easily moved by the seasons.” She took a sip of hot tea. “It’s getting late. Everyone should disperse. Whatever matters there are can be discussed tomorrow.”

Everyone acknowledged this and dispersed.

Nanny Du attended to the Grand Madam for her evening grooming.

“The matter regarding the Marquis… shall I send someone to inquire?”

“No need.” The Grand Madam let out a long sigh. “Things being as they are, there is no benefit in saying more. Let Fourth Master have some peace and quiet first. When he has thought it through, he will naturally speak to me.”

Nanny Du nodded and helped the Grand Madam change into her sleeping garments.

—

Xu Lingkuan remained silent all the way back to his quarters.

The Fifth Madam watched with some concern and nudged him with her elbow. “What’s the matter?”

Xu Lingkuan said nothing, gloomily went to wash up, and listlessly went to bed.

The Fifth Madam thought for a moment, then pouted and snuggled up to him: “Lingkuan, what’s wrong? Is your heart feeling unwell? Should I have Songxia come to keep you company?”

Songxia was a second-rank maidservant in the Fifth Madam’s service. Since Xiaolan and the others had become his chamber attendants, Songxia had become the Fifth Madam’s personal attendant. She was also quite a beauty, with almond-shaped eyes and peach-blossom cheeks.

“No need!” Xu Lingkuan’s expression was glum. He reached out and pulled Danyang into his arms. “I never thought Wang Lang would actually die!”

So that was what this was about.

After all, the two had been childhood friends. And he was soft-hearted by nature.

Thinking of this, the Fifth Madam stopped pressing the matter of attending to him, and instead rested her head on her husband’s shoulder, murmuring softly: “Yes, no one could have imagined it. To be honest, I didn’t like him when we were young. I always felt that the way he looked at people made your skin crawl. I always felt that he was a restless person, that sooner or later he would stir up some kind of trouble. Yet I never imagined that someone so young would lose his life like this. I just don’t know who the perpetrator was. Did they know he was the heir of the Duke of Chengguo’s estate? Wang Lin really is unlucky, saddled with a brother like that. These past years in the Jiang Family haven’t been easy for her either. She has had to flatter the elders, defer to the younger generation, and look after the children. If not for this brother dragging her down, why would she be in such a difficult position…”

Xu Lingkuan lay listening to the Fifth Madam’s chatter, his hand absently stroking her hair, while his thoughts drifted far away.

When Fourth Brother had scolded him for fooling around with Wang Lang back then, he had outwardly gone along with it while inwardly dismissing it. He would run as far away as he could whenever he saw his brother coming to lecture him… thinking back on it now, he owed so much to Fourth Brother. Without him, who knows what kind of reckless things he might have done… When this had just happened, the Shuntian Prefecture Magistrate had sent someone to inform Fourth Brother — by the looks of it, they wanted to hear what Fourth Brother thought. He wondered whether those at the Shuntian Prefecture Magistrate’s office knew about Fourth Brother being stripped of his post. If they knew, he wondered whether they would continue to be this attentive in the future. Although this matter had little to do with the Xu Family, it still concerned Fourth Sister-in-Law’s maternal family. If the Shuntian Prefecture Magistrate refused to give them any face at all, it would be a minor matter for Fourth Sister-in-Law to lose face with her own family, but it would be a far greater matter for Fourth Brother to lose face in front of Fourth Sister-in-Law.

He had to think of a way to help Fourth Brother.

Only he didn’t know who the perpetrator was.

What a pity — he had been so shocked by the sudden news of Wang Lang’s death that in his surprise, he had forgotten to ask Fourth Brother who the perpetrator was…

With that thought, he bolted upright in one swift motion, the force so great he nearly sent the Fifth Madam tumbling off the bed.

“Sibao, Sibao,” Xu Lingkuan called out the name of his personal manservant, “Go first thing tomorrow morning to the Shuntian Prefecture Magistrate’s office and find out who it was that beat Wang Lang to death.”

The manservant acknowledged the order and left.

The Fifth Madam couldn’t help but tug at his sleeve and pout: “The Marquis said not to let you involve yourself in Wang Lang’s affairs — why are you getting mixed up in this again?”

Before she could finish speaking, Xu Lingkuan had already said: “Am I not doing this to help Fourth Brother?”

The Fifth Madam heard this and was exasperated, not believing for a moment that he was doing it for Xu Lingyi’s sake: “The Marquis still needs you to step forward on his behalf?”

Xu Lingkuan couldn’t very well say that he was worried about the Shuntian Prefecture Magistrate being fickle and not taking Xu Lingyi’s words seriously, so he made up some excuse: “When something like this happens, naturally the more people the better. The authorities will be intimidated too…”

The Fifth Madam was speechless.

When had the authorities ever been afraid of having more people involved?

He just wanted to stand up for Shiyiniang!

She listened to her husband talking nonsense, pulled the quilt over herself, and turned her back to Xu Lingkuan to sleep.

—

At that moment, Shiyiniang was helping Xu Lingyi soak his feet.

“Aside from being relieved of the post of Grand Commander of the Five Military Commands, did the Emperor… say anything else?”

She was a little worried.

Xu Lingyi lay back in the reclining chair with his eyes closed, his expression somewhat cold and stern.

“He did…”

But nothing more followed.

Shiyiniang hesitated for a moment, took the towel that had been folded on the small stool beside her, wiped her hands, sat down on the brocade stool next to the reclining chair, and asked him softly: “What did he say?”

Warm breath, carrying the faint scent of roses, drifted toward him.

He opened his eyes.

And saw a pair of eyes as brilliant as morning stars.

He smiled faintly. “The Emperor has summoned Wang Jiubao to the capital.”

The Emperor had summoned Wang Jiubao to the capital.

The Wang Family and the Qu Family were hereditary enemies…

Shiyiniang murmured: “That being the case, the Emperor is on our side.”

Xu Lingyi nodded, with a faint smile in his eyes. “Although Elder Liang and several others opposed it, Elder Chen remained silent. So the Emperor still decided to summon Wang Jiubao to the capital to discuss lifting the sea trade ban.”

Elder Chen was the Grand Secretary. With his silence, the matter was already sixty percent certain.

Shiyiniang had not expected Elder Liang to object. “…Didn’t Elder Liang come to find you over the New Year?”

Xu Lingyi laughed self-deprecatingly. “At the time, he was only there to sound out my position. First, I had no desire to get involved in this. Second, I recalled how that Huang Yu had gone around him to send Wang Jiubao’s letter directly to me, and I became wary. I played along evasively with him for quite some time, and never actually expressed whether I supported or opposed lifting the sea trade ban.”

It seemed that on the question of lifting the sea trade ban, the court officials each had their own views, and the matter was quite complicated.

Compared to this, she was more worried about the Qu Family’s movements. “Since the Emperor has summoned Wang Jiubao to the capital, the Qu Family should be making their move as well, shouldn’t they?”

“Not that quickly.” Xu Lingyi said, “The Emperor’s decision this time was very sudden. And his manner was forceful. He directly had the Bureau of Protocol draft an imperial edict and had the Grand Secretaries issue it to all the ministries. The Grand Secretaries were all caught off guard, and they argued for nearly an hour over Wang Jiubao’s summoning and the matter of lifting the sea trade ban. In the end, it was Elder Chen who intervened to resolve things. I only just found out about this myself, let alone the Qu Family all the way in Fujian — at most they have capable men stationed permanently in Yanjing. Making decisions still requires word from those back in Fujian.”

Shiyiniang nodded.

Xu Lingyi continued: “This is something we must make good use of. Only I cannot be the one to act openly. You have to understand, the Emperor still has an Ouyang Ming at his side! He is most likely watching my every move. Rather than give him a hold over me, it would be better to wait until Wang Jiubao arrives in the capital before doing anything. I think Wang Jiubao will certainly be eager to demonstrate his capabilities, to convince the Emperor and the court officials that he is fully capable of standing against the Qu Family.”

This was, in essence, a pledge of allegiance.

And Wang Jiubao would have no way to refuse.

Shiyiniang smiled bitterly.

Politics truly was not a game that just anyone could play.

“As for Ouyang Ming,” Xu Lingyi said coldly, “I can take this opportunity to observe his reaction.”

Shiyiniang was taken aback.

How did Ouyang Ming come into this?

“When the Fifth Prince died, Ouyang Ming was sent to accompany the Crown Prince to pay respects at the ancestral temple, while I was sent to accompany the Empress and the Third Prince to the Western Hills.” Xu Lingyi gazed up at the blue-and-green gilded ceiling. “Not only was he treating the Crown Prince as the heir apparent, he was also guarding against me becoming too close to the Crown Prince. If I could see through this, how could Ouyang Ming not? If he cannot see through it, he does not deserve to serve as a future attendant minister to the Emperor.”

—