Qiao Lianfang dipped into a graceful curtsy and called out, “Madam.”
Shiyiniang gave a mild smile and gestured toward the inner chamber. “My lord is also inside — please sit in the side room, Yiniang.”
Qiao Lianfang smiled and went in.
Xu Lingyi was quite surprised to see Qiao Lianfang. “It’s so late — what brings you here?”
Qiao Lianfang’s expression faltered for a moment upon hearing this, and she lowered her head.
Her long, pale neck curved in a graceful, captivating line.
Shiyiniang heard Xu Lingyi give a faint sigh.
“What is it?” His tone softened somewhat.
Shiyiniang saw the still-bowed Qiao Lianfang press her lips together in a faint smile.
She smiled as well. She asked Hupo to bring over an embroidered stool. “Please sit and speak, Yiniang.” Then she had a maid bring tea. “I’ll go see if Sijie is asleep yet.” She offered this as a pretext to withdraw.
“Madam!” Qiao Lianfang stopped her, however. “It was you I came to see.” Her eyes shimmered.
Shiyiniang smiled and settled herself back in the seat across from Xu Lingyi.
Qiao Lianfang stood before them both.
“Madam, it’s been some time since I’ve seen my mother. I’d like to visit her. I ask for your grace in granting me this, Madam.”
Was this about the pregnancy?
Shiyiniang looked toward Xu Lingyi with a mild smile.
Xu Lingyi pondered for a moment, then gave an almost imperceptible nod in Shiyiniang’s direction.
Shiyiniang immediately said with a smile, “When does Yiniang plan to set out? Since it’s a visit home, at the very least some things need to be prepared to bring along — otherwise it would seem improper. I’ll need a little time to get things ready.”
Qiao Lianfang, seeing Shiyiniang taking her cue from Xu Lingyi’s eye signal, gave a cold, silent scoff inwardly.
What does it matter that you’re the official wife? The Luo family has been declining more and more with every passing day — the glory of the time when Old Master Luo was alive is long gone. And even if that glory remained, a wife takes her heaven from her husband — could one overstep the Marquis?
Such was her inner thought. But her outward manner was perfectly respectful. “Tomorrow is the day my cousin-sister returns to her parents’ home after marriage. We were always closest when we were young. I couldn’t be there to see her off when she married. If Madam agrees, I’d like to go tomorrow — it would also be a chance to spend some time with my cousin-sister.”
She seemed to be in quite a hurry.
Shiyiniang glanced at Xu Lingyi again. Seeing he had no objection, she nodded. “Tomorrow it is then.” She then called Hupo to come arrange the carriage and the gifts to be sent back with Qiao Lianfang.
Qiao Lianfang curtsied in thanks, exchanged a few pleasantries, and rose to take her leave. “I mustn’t keep my lord and Madam from resting.” As she spoke, she glanced at Xu Lingyi.
Xu Lingyi nodded. Shiyiniang had Lvyun see her out.
Hupo stayed up late to draw up a complete gift list for what Qiao Lianfang would bring home, and brought it over the following morning while Xu Lingyi and Shiyiniang were eating breakfast. “My lord, Madam — please have a look and see if anything needs to be added or removed.”
Shiyiniang looked toward Xu Lingyi.
“You decide,” Xu Lingyi said.
Shiyiniang took it and looked it over. It matched the return gifts that had been given when Wen Yiniang visited the Wen family. She smiled and handed it back to Hupo. “You have quite a good memory.”
Hupo smiled. “This servant has nowhere near the memory Madam gives me credit for — I was just worried about delaying Qiao Yiniang’s departure, so last night I went to the Third Young Mistress’s quarters to look through past account records. Since there’s no record of Qin Yiniang ever visiting her family, I followed Wen Yiniang’s precedent. I even specifically consulted the Third Young Mistress about it. Third Young Mistress also said that Qiao Yiniang and Wen Yiniang are sisters from the same quarters — following Wen Yiniang’s example was the most appropriate thing to do. Only then did I dare present this before my lord and Madam.”
Shiyiniang couldn’t help but silently admire her.
This Hupo was growing sharper with every passing day. She had only given a slight indication, and Hupo had known exactly what to do and what to say next.
Qin Yiniang was of maid origin, and her family was long gone — there was naturally no question of her returning home to visit. And the Wen family was one of the most prominent and wealthy merchant households in the Great Zhou dynasty. Toward the Xu family, which could help them in business, they had always been generously open-handed. The Xu family naturally would not be stingy in return and make a spectacle of themselves. So when someone from the Wen family came to visit, the gifts bestowed were exceedingly lavish. By rights, Qiao Lianfang’s situation could be compared to Wen Yiniang’s, or to the third branch’s Yi Yiniang, or to the few old concubines who had passed — any of these would have been defensible. But Hupo had specifically chosen to match Wen Yiniang. And not only that, she had taken the gift list to discuss with the Third Young Mistress. Since the Third Young Mistress managed the household accounts, an expenditure this substantial would surely need to be separately reported to the Dowager. Hupo had effectively used this occasion to let everyone in the Xu household know just how “generous” Shiyiniang was toward Qiao Lianfang.
For the Wen family, receiving gifts from Wen Yiniang meant they dared not only receive and not return. But the situation with Duke Chengguo’s manor was harder to say. For one, where Qiao Lianfang would send her gifts was a question — if she sent them to her own mother, would Madam Qiao really spend such a large sum to give a return gift in kind? For another, since Qiao Lianfang’s father had already passed, whether Duke Chengguo’s manor would put itself out for this niece of theirs was a question — the Qiao family was not some destitute household; they had their own rules of conduct. How much a married-out daughter gave as a gift had to follow precedent. Whether Madam Qiao would break that precedent for Qiao Lianfang, no one could say for certain.
In this way, if the Qiao family returned gifts proportional to what Qiao Lianfang brought home, they’d only be on par with Wen Yiniang — nothing out of the ordinary. But if they returned gifts that didn’t match what had been sent, given Qiao Lianfang’s status as a concubine, it wasn’t without precedent. But that would make Duke Chengguo’s manor’s standing relative to the Xu family strikingly apparent — it would confirm the suspicion of “climbing to a higher branch.” And knowing the Third Young Mistress’s temperament, regardless of whether the Qiao family returned the gifts or not, she would likely make sure everyone heard about it.
In essence, this was a trap dug for Qiao Lianfang.
It was only a question of whether Qiao Lianfang was clever enough to see it, and whether she would step into it.
But whether she stepped in or not, it would no longer affect Shiyiniang — in this matter, Shiyiniang had fully occupied both the ground of “propriety” and the ground of “virtue.”
“Then have the list copied out neatly on red gold-flecked stationery and give it to Xiuyuan, Qiao Yiniang’s maid.”
Shiyiniang reasoned that given Qiao Lianfang’s temperament, if the list were presented to her directly in front of Xu Lingyi, Qiao Lianfang would likely find it vulgar and probably wouldn’t even glance at it before having a maid take it away. So she deliberately instructed Hupo to hand it to Xiuyuan — for what one thought in private and what one did in public were two very different things.
Hupo acknowledged and left.
Xu Lingyi gave a smile and remarked, “You’re quite generous.”
Shiyiniang covered a smile with her sleeve. “It’s only because my lord earns enough that this concubine dares to be so open-handed.” Then she added, “Besides, Yiniang is here to serve my lord — when she returns home in style, that reflects well on my lord’s standing as well.”
Xu Lingyi, being somewhat old-fashioned in this regard, said nothing further and bowed his head to eat.
Before long, Qiao Lianfang came to bid farewell to Xu Lingyi and Shiyiniang.
She had arranged her hair in an elaborate peony knot, fastened with a pearl hair band and a solid gold dangling ornament. She wore a peach-red embroidered butterfly jacket, with just a light dusting of powder on her face, her eyes bright with a smile, and a vivacious light in her expression as she looked about her. Gone entirely was her usual cool aloofness. Like a bird released from its cage, she radiated joy and eagerness.
One could clearly see that being able to go home to see her mother made Qiao Lianfang genuinely happy from the bottom of her heart.
“My lord, Madam — if there are no further instructions, I shall take my leave.” She saluted Xu Lingyi and Shiyiniang with easy, composed grace. At this moment, Hupo, who had come in behind her, gave a faint nod to Shiyiniang — signaling that the matter had been handled.
Shiyiniang looked toward Xu Lingyi without changing her expression.
“Give my regards to Madam Qiao when you see her,” Xu Lingyi said warmly.
Qiao Lianfang immediately dropped into a deep curtsy.
Shiyiniang had Hupo bring out a pouch of silver ingots for Qiao Lianfang: “Keep this for tipping the maids and servants. It is my lord’s face as well.”
A flicker of surprise crossed Qiao Lianfang’s eyes. She smiled her thanks, and Xiuyuan immediately stepped forward to take the pouch. Then the mistress and maid were seen out by Hupo.
Xu Lingyi went to the outer courtyard — the stone slabs and bricks for the construction had been coming in bit by bit, and with Xu Lingkuan occupied with official duties, Xu Lingyi would occasionally go with Steward Bai to take a look.
Shiyiniang then went with Hupo to the warm inner room.
“I gave the list to Xiuyuan. Xiuyuan took it and was about to tuck it into her sleeve when I deliberately said — take a look at it yourself; if there’s anything that needs to be added or removed on a moment’s notice, I can go take care of it right away. No need to be embarrassed about it — if Qiao Yiniang loses face going back to Duke Chengguo’s manor, our Madam’s name will suffer too. Xiuyuan was still being polite, but I was very insistent, so she finally unfolded the list and looked at it.” Hupo’s eyes crinkled in a smile as she recounted the story. “Her expression changed immediately. Then she answered me distractedly for a moment before hurrying off with the list to find Qiao Yiniang. I figured there was nothing left to hold myself back for, so I just followed along without any shame. Xiuyuan naturally couldn’t say anything to Qiao Yiniang in front of me, so she just pointed at the list and showed it to her.”
Shiyiniang nodded attentively.
“Qiao Yiniang looked at it and was visibly shocked. She asked whose idea it was. I said it was Madam’s instructions — done in accordance with Wen Yiniang’s precedent. If Yiniang finds anything unsuitable, I’ll go report it to my lord and Madam at once.” Hupo continued, “Qiao Yiniang held the list with an expression that shifted between several things at once. After a good while, she raised her head and gave me a smile, and said: since it is Madam’s grace, how could I dare refuse and disappoint Madam’s kind intentions. Then she had Xiuyuan put the list away.”
Shiyiniang thought of Qiao Lianfang’s composed manner just now, and murmured, “It seems Qiao Yiniang is indeed with child.”
Hupo was taken aback.
Shiyiniang explained, “Even Xiuyuan could see that the gifts were unusually generous — how could Qiao Yiniang not see it too? Yet she chose to accept after reflection, which means she has something to rely on. Just wait and see — when she comes back, Duke Chengguo’s manor will return at most a four-color or eight-color gift box.”
For a family, carrying a child for the household was a woman’s greatest contribution. No return gift could match that for confidence.
True enough, by evening, Qiao Lianfang returned with only an eight-color gift box.
Shiyiniang told Hupo, “Go and fetch Nanny Tao for me. I have something to tell her.”
Hupo went off to find Nanny Tao, her mood subdued.
Most of the maids in the courtyard had been recommended by Nanny Tao. Hupo had her own ways about her, and everyone could see that Shiyiniang was growing more established by the day. Some maids thought to themselves that they weren’t Shiyiniang’s inner circle and would eventually be sent out — so when things came up, they played dumb. Some maids, seeing how things had gone poorly when First Mistress was alive and hoping things might be different under a new mistress, found themselves drawing very close to Hupo whenever anything arose. And some maids, remembering First Mistress’s kindness to them and fearing Nanny Tao’s authority, couldn’t help turning to Nanny Tao for guidance whenever something came up. So Nanny Tao had already caught wind of some whispers about Qiao Lianfang. When Hupo came to fetch her with a displeased expression, she had a rough idea of what it was about. But when she reached the inner chamber and saw Shiyiniang sitting there with a perfectly tranquil air, she found herself uncertain again — and suddenly unsure whether Qiao Lianfang was really pregnant at all.
Shiyiniang invited Nanny Tao to sit in the warm inner room and came straight to the point. “Qiao Yiniang is pregnant. Nanny, what do you think should be done?”
—