In the dead of that same night, they arrived at Suzhou. The ship did not moor at the bank, but anchored in the middle of the river. At first light, they set off again.

Passing through Zhenjiang, Yangzhou, Huai’an, Xuzhou, Jining, Liaocheng, Linqing, Dezhou, Cangzhou, and Tianjin, they at last arrived at Tongzhou.

At Zhenjiang, Old Head Steward Niu’s eldest son and daughter-in-law had come aboard with gifts to pay their respects to First Madam. At Yangzhou, the wife of Prefect Pu came to call on the ship. At Huai’an, they moored for a day while First Madam met with an old school friend of hers, whose husband served as a Provincial Judge in Shaanxi. Once past Xuzhou, these social obligations came to an end. By the time the ship reached Tianjin, they had nearly come into a conflict with a senior official returning to the capital for his regular review — the man was a scion of the Wang family of Marquis Zhennan’s household. First Madam invoked the name of the Xu household of Marquis Yongping, and the other party immediately sent his wife aboard to pay her respects to First Madam, with plans to meet again in Yanjing for a sightseeing excursion to Shanxi.

After that wife had departed, Nanny Xu could not help sighing: “If not for the son-in-law’s name, today’s matter would have been very difficult to resolve.”

After several days of continuous travel, First Madam was somewhat weary, and gave a rueful smile: “The capital is full of hidden dragons and crouching tigers. There is even a saying: if a plaque falls in the street, seven of the ten people it hits are likely to hold a third-rank office or above.”

Nanny Xu was greatly moved by this. She not only summoned the guards and reprimanded them, but also called together all the maids, wives, and serving women to give them a thorough lecture, warning everyone in the strongest terms not to cause any trouble once they reached Yanjing — and that anyone who disobeyed would be turned out on the spot.

When Binju came back and recounted all this to Shiyiniang, Shiyiniang could not help a small, amused laugh. She found Nanny Xu’s manner somewhat like a villager’s alarm upon first entering a city: “We do need to be careful. One slip, and you might just find yourselves bumping into a chief steward from some royal or noble household…”

Qiuju, however, blinked her large eyes: “But our brother-in-law is very powerful, isn’t he? Otherwise, why would that lord’s son have come to apologise to our family?”

For a moment, everyone’s expression took on a slight look of vicarious pride.

Shiyiniang felt this was not a healthy attitude, and her heart stirred with a thought. First, she gave Qiuju a talking-to: “That Marquis Zhennan Wang family simply has an acquaintance with our sister’s husband. First Madam is also an elder, and so they sent a wife over to pay her respects — you must not think such fortunate circumstances will repeat themselves every time. Otherwise, Nanny Xu would not have warned you all so earnestly.” She then had Dongqing and Binju help support her and made her way to Fifth Miss’s cabin.

It was barely more than ten feet away, yet she had to stop and rest once along the way.

Since boarding the ship, she had been “seasick” — unable to eat, her face puffy from lying down so much.

At the sight of Shiyiniang, Fifth Miss was visibly startled and quickly stepped forward to take Binju’s place in supporting her: “We’re nearly at Tongzhou. Once we reach Tongzhou, we switch to carriages, and then you’ll feel much better.”

Fifth Miss spoke in a gentle murmur, and a faint fragrance of jade hairpin flowers clung to her, pleasant and soothing to the senses.

“Fifth Sister,” said Shiyiniang, with a look of admiration in her eyes, “is our eldest sister’s husband really a very powerful man?”

Fifth Miss froze. Her body grew gradually rigid. Her face continued to smile, but the smile stayed only on her lips and never reached her eyes. “You came all this way just for that? You could have sent yourself to an early grave!” — that last sentence, her voice suddenly rising an octave, sharp and strident.

Shiyiniang smiled: “Elder Sister can spend each day in Mother’s company, chatting and strolling to the ship’s rail to admire the view, composing verses on the spot — while I can only lie here, unable to even hold a needle and thread… I really am bored beyond measure. Fifth Sister, please keep me company for a while!” There was an uncharacteristic note of pleading in her voice.

Fifth Miss’s gaze turned colder: “You are right — our eldest sister’s husband is indeed a man of considerable influence. You saw that Wang wife who came to apologise to Mother? She is not only a daughter-in-law of the Marquis Zhennan Wang household — she is also a daughter of the Jiang family of Dongyang.”

“The Jiang family of Dongyang?” Shiyiniang suddenly noticed that Fifth Miss seemed to have a thorough knowledge of all the prominent families of the Jiangnan region.

“Yes.” Fifth Miss nodded. “The Jiang family of Dongyang and our Luo family of Yuhang are both great clans of Jiangnan. Although their ancestors were not as distinguished as ours in earlier generations, their family has always intermarried with the noble houses of Yanjing, and there was even a Dowager Consort from their line…”

“Goodness! A family that commands such respect even from the likes of the Jiang family of Dongyang — what fortune our eldest sister has found!”

Fifth Miss gave a vague nod. The vivid, lively face that usually shone like a sunflower turned faintly distant and unfocused. For the first time, she did not invite Shiyiniang to sit down and talk at length, but stood there barely five or six paces from the cabin doorway and conversed with her. And Shiyiniang, for the first time visiting Fifth Miss’s cabin, turned to leave without sitting down at all.

Ziwei watched Shiyiniang’s slightly unsteady retreating figure, her expression shifting between light and shadow: “Fifth Miss, Eleventh Miss, she…”

Fifth Miss’s expression sharpened — every trace of that distant, distracted look vanished. She spoke with gravity: “Fine silks move the heart — even Eleventh Miss is no exception!”

“Then should we…”

“Pay her no mind.” Fifth Miss gave a cold, soft laugh. “Whatever schemes Mother and Eldest Sister may be hatching… she is only thirteen years old this year. A little too young still.”

Ziwei thought of Shiyiniang’s face, still like a bud barely opening, and remained uneasy: “But First Madam brought her along…”

“If she hadn’t brought her along, was she supposed to announce to the world exactly what we were going to Yanjing for?”

Only then did Ziwei let out a quiet breath of relief.

Meanwhile, in her own cabin, Dongqing was quietly urging Shiyiniang: “Miss, what has come over you? You were just lecturing Qiuju a moment ago… and then you went and waded into that murky water yourself?”

Shiyiniang lay back, breathing hard, and murmured in a low voice: “There is no such thing as a free meal in this world!”

Dongqing had not heard clearly. “What did you say?”

Shiyiniang smiled: “I said — the more people scramble for something, the more valuable it becomes. If I don’t fan the flames a little, how will I be able to walk away clean when the time comes?”

Dongqing listened, even more bewildered, and muttered under her breath: “I don’t know what has gotten into things… nothing has gone right since we boarded this ship…”

Shiyiniang smiled without answering, turned over, and went to sleep.

Only by sleeping could she feel that her stomach was not empty…

She truly hoped to meet Luo Yuanniang soon, to get through this ordeal quickly — so she could finally eat whatever she wanted!

The thought had barely circled through her mind two or three times before they arrived at Tongzhou.

It was the hour before nightfall. The sky was thick with dark clouds, the surroundings dim and unclear — as if a great rain or heavy snow were about to fall — pressing down on everything with a stifling weight.

The journey had drawn on Xu Lingyi’s name to avert one unforeseen misfortune along the way, but at this moment First Madam dared not let her guard down for a single instant. She had long since instructed the ship’s captain: queue up to enter the dock, and if anyone needed them to yield the way, they should yield — the Luo family was here simply to visit relatives, after all. They were not rushing to the capital to report for an official review, nor to rush a cargo of goods to market…

Fifth Miss found First Madam’s cautious, deferential manner excessive: “Giving way to officials is understandable — but why must we even yield to merchants?”

Nanny Jiang responded with a polite smile: “Miss does not know — even those traders coming to do business in the capital need powerful patrons behind them to hold their ground… We save ourselves one trouble wherever we can.”

Fifth Miss considered this thoughtfully: “To hold one’s ground in Yanjing, then — must that not be no simple matter?”

“Quite so!” Nanny Jiang’s only wish was for everyone to comply with First Madam’s intentions, so they could dock safely and smoothly and meet up with First Young Master Luo Zhensheng. “Yanjing is after all the capital — the very seat of the Emperor’s feet, the heart of the realm…”

By the time the ship had moored, another hour had passed, and rain began to pour down in great sheets.

The boarding ramp had barely been lowered when a tall, slender man in a black cape leapt aboard and strode quickly toward First Madam, who was waiting at the ship’s prow.

Shanhu, who was holding the umbrella, was sharp-eyed, and cried out in delighted surprise: “First Madam — look, it’s First Young Master!”

First Madam craned her neck on Shanhu’s shoulder to look more carefully: “It really is Xing’er.”

“Mother!” The newcomer came through curtain after curtain of rain and stopped beneath the awning that had been erected at the prow, sinking down at once onto his knees. “Thud.”

First Madam quickly stepped forward and lifted him to his feet. The maids, wives, and serving women behind her all dipped into a deep curtsy in unison: “First Young Master!”

He rose, then smiled and called out into the crowd: “Nanny Xu!”

Nanny Xu’s eyes had already reddened. She dipped into a deep curtsy, her voice slightly thick with emotion as she called out: “First Young Master!”

Over there, First Madam had already begun pouring out words to her son in an eager rush: “In such heavy rain, you could have waited in an inn — why come all this way out here? What if you fall ill? Is Mu Ge all right? Are you eating and sleeping well in Yanjing?”

“Mother need not worry — your son is well. Mu Ge is well too…”

Mother and son went on talking together. The eyes of everyone on the ship turned to rest on First Young Master Luo Zhensheng.

Shiyiniang was no exception.

When she had returned to the Luo family, Luo Zhensheng had long since moved to the Diming Courtyard in the outer compound, and the number of times they had actually seen each other, counted up carefully, could be tallied on less than one hand. The last time was the ancestral rites on New Year’s Eve of the year before last. He had stood before the ancestral tablets of the Luo family in light furs and brocade robes, carefully receiving each offering from First Madam’s hands and arranging them with reverence, his handsome face serene and unclouded in the early morning light, with the quiet ease of a young man who had not yet known sorrow… But on this reunion, Luo Zhensheng was nothing like the image she remembered — his gaze had grown warm and steady, his bearing open and at ease, and his fine, elegant brows now carried the faintest hint of resolute strength. He was like a young man who had at last fully grown into a man.

Shiyiniang was inwardly astonished.

Whatever had happened to bring about such a profound change in Luo Zhensheng?

The Grand Canal of the Zhou dynasty linked south to north, and Tongzhou was its terminus. There were inns of every kind there, as well as grandly appointed government courier stations. Wherever you walked, it was a tumult of people, neighing horses, and rumbling carriages.

The Luo family took lodgings at an unremarkable mid-range inn and secured the entire western side courtyard. Luo Zhensheng, accompanying First Madam, explained with a hint of unease: “Now that spring has come, more and more officials are arriving in the capital for their reviews… the courier stations are full, and even inns are not easy to find. Mother, please bear with the accommodations.”

First Madam gave a quiet “oh” and smiled: “Time passes so quickly. In the blink of an eye, it has already been three years since the Emperor ascended the throne.”

Officials of the Zhou dynasty came to the capital for review once every three years.

Luo Zhensheng smiled: “And next year, Mother will be celebrating her fiftieth birthday.”

The warmth in First Madam’s smile reached all the way to the corners of her eyes: “It is kind of you to remember.” Then she added: “We are only staying in the inn for one night — there is no need to reproach yourself. Tongzhou is famous throughout the realm for its congestion. Finding somewhere this clean and quiet is no small thing. Besides, when I was young I followed your grandfather all over the country — I have stayed in far worse places than this. I am not as delicate as you seem to think.” She then gestured for Fifth Miss and Shiyiniang to come forward and greet their elder brother.

Luo Zhensheng returned their greeting and presented each of Fifth Miss and Shiyiniang with a white jade lotus hairpin as a gift for the meeting.

Both thanked him and returned to their separate rooms.

Before long, a coarse-work serving woman brought food in, and gestured particularly to a large bowl: “This is the house specialty — braised catfish. Every traveller who stops here tries some. Miss should give it a taste, something new!”  Her accent already carried a tinge of the capital’s flavour.

So they were already a thousand li from home!

The thought flickered through Shiyiniang’s mind, and she was momentarily startled.

When had that place become home in her mind?

—