Hupo recounted how she had handled the little maid. “…They need to know — in this courtyard, who has the final say.”

Shiyiniang smiled and nodded, offering verbal praise. “Well done — very quick thinking.”

Hupo’s eyes lit up with pleasure, but the light quickly dimmed. “Madam says I thought quickly, but does not say whether I handled it correctly.” She looked at Shiyiniang uncertainly, her words trailing off.

A person shows their true growth — look again after three days.

“As matters stand, you handled it well enough.” Shiyiniang gestured to the nearby brocade footstool and had Hupo sit down, then said in a calm, unhurried voice, “But you must remember one thing: one grain of rice feeds a hundred different people. Not everyone will be loyal to us, and not everyone will respect us. Consider the people in this courtyard. Most of them were left here by my elder sister. They received her kindness and are grateful to her. It is natural, then, that they should feel some resistance toward those of us who are new. That is simply human nature.”

Hupo nodded.

“For those people, all we can ask of them is that they do their work honestly and properly. Nothing more can be demanded. On the other hand, for girls like Dongqing and Binju, it is different. They came into this household with me as part of my bridal retinue, and they serve as the senior maids in this courtyard. In addition to doing their work with honesty, they must know where their loyalty lies.”

Hupo listened and lowered her head in thought.

“As long as you can take some of the burden from me, and those left behind by my elder sister can do their work without causing trouble, this courtyard will be a peaceful and orderly place. That is why I say your actions were sharp and quick — punishing that little maid in time, making an example to warn the rest, and achieving a restraining effect. Well done.”

Hupo’s confusion deepened. “If that is so, then why did Madam…”

“It is precisely this I want to talk to you about.”

Shiyiniang’s tone became even more gentle.

“Among those left behind by my elder sister, there are those like Nanny Tao — capable and shrewd, women of standing in the eyes of their mistress — and then there are those like Lvyun and Hongxiu, who were originally chosen only for their quick wits and brought into close service. For someone like Nanny Tao, consider: in terms of feeling, she was my elder sister’s wet nurse; in terms of time, she was with my sister from birth to death; in terms of favour, her son now manages my sister’s largest estate. Unless she were a heartless, ungrateful person, if both my sister and I were drowning at the same moment, she would be the first to jump in and save my sister — even if I were right within her reach, she would save my sister first, not me.”

Hupo stared, struck dumb by the analogy Shiyiniang had drawn. Yet when she thought it through, she could not find a way to deny it.

“But if it were Lvyun or Hongxiu in that same situation, things might be quite different. Even if they would jump in to save my sister, if I were closer to them than my sister was, human instinct — for people are born good at heart — would most likely lead them to save me first, and then go for my sister. Now, does that reasoning hold?”

A gleam of understanding appeared in Hupo’s eyes. “Are you saying that if Nanny Tao commits a wrong, no punishment is too heavy — but if it were Lvyun or Hongxiu, the punishment could be lighter…”

Shiyiniang smiled. “You have found the door but have not yet stepped through it. Think a little more carefully.”

Hupo tilted her head in thought for a long while, then said, a little sheepishly, “Madam, I am dull-witted. I would rather hear it from you.”

“Rules are rules, and whoever breaks them is dealt with in the same way. You sent that little maid to the laundry room and made it plain that she was to wash the entire household’s bedding. Young as she is, she will likely buckle under the burden within days.”

“Then — then what should I do?” Faint beads of sweat appeared at Hupo’s temples.

“Take some things and go to that little maid’s family. Find out who is in charge at home. Then explain the whole matter clearly — what she did wrong, and why she is being punished. Tell her family as well that if she cannot hold out, they are welcome to take her home. As for the management office, you can put in a word on her behalf. And as for the money for her indenture, you can offer to cover that as well.”

“But then — what was the point of punishing her at all?” Hupo could not help exclaiming.

“We have no old grudge against her and no new grievance between us. Why drive her down a road that ends in hatred toward us?” Shiyiniang sighed gently.

“However,” she continued, her tone shifting, “there are those who, try as we might to treat them well, we simply cannot win over. If they commit a wrong, it is simply their bad fortune. And if they choose to resent us for it — well, there is nothing to be done, is there?” She glanced at Hupo with a wink. “Then let them resent us however they please!”

Hupo grasped it at once.

“That is exactly it, Madam.” A note of excitement crept into her voice. “Rules are fixed, but people are not. Whoever breaks the rules must be punished — that is clear. But whether to apply a salve after the rod falls, and what kind of salve, and when — that is up to us.”

“It was not a waste of breath after all.” Shiyiniang was genuinely pleased to see her understand, and put her to work. “Go on — just standing here learning from me, and you can’t even think to pour me a cup of tea to wet my throat.”

“Oh my!” Hupo leapt to her feet. “It is all this servant’s fault.” She hurriedly poured out the tea that had gone cold in front of Shiyiniang and replaced it with a fresh, hot cup.

“I heard from Dongqing that when Madam was in Yuhang, she would drink Iron Goddess of Mercy in spring and summer, and Qimen black tea in autumn and winter, and add two spoonfuls of honey to the black tea. But ever since I have been with you, I have only ever seen you drink Longjing…” She settled back on the brocade footstool and kept Shiyiniang company in conversation. “Is it that we do not brew it to your liking?”

Shiyiniang sipped her hot tea and smiled, turning the question back to her. “Have you ever seen anyone put honey in their Qimen black tea?”

Hupo thought about it and shook her head. “I have seen little of the world, so naturally I haven’t.”

“It is not that you haven’t seen it. It is that it is genuinely rare.” Shiyiniang’s voice took on a quality that was neither quite sorrowful nor quite glad — odd enough that Hupo found it slightly unsettling. “So then — we must strive to be in a position where we can drink our Qimen black tea with honey in the winter.”

Hupo listened, a little puzzled. Then brightened: “But the maid Heye from Fifth Lady’s household says the Second Lady keeps burning-hot stones in her tea! If Madam wants to add a little honey to her black tea, what is so outlandish about that?”

Shiyiniang laughed out loud at this.

When her laughter subsided, she spoke seriously to Hupo. “All the new maids must learn the household rules. Those rules are the code of conduct for maids and matrons alike. Go and copy out a set, and have everyone recite them again. Then make it clear to all of them: going forward, conduct yourselves according to the rules. If anyone breaks them again, deal with it according to those rules. That way there will be less room for blame.”

She had a great deal still to do. Chang Jiuhe had just taken charge of the dowry estates — she had no idea yet how the harvest was coming along. The flower-dew shop could no longer be opened, and she would have to think of another means. The end of the first month was already upon them, and the day Xu Lingyi dismissed those stewards implicated in the spoiled grain affair could not be far off. Liu Yuanrui’s elder son from her bridal retinue was twelve this year; Chang Jiuhe’s second son was ten. She needed to find an opportunity to put them forward to the outer household, to start from the bottom as manservants and personal attendants. Then there were Chang Jiuhe’s eldest daughter and Wan Yizong’s eldest daughter, both of age to enter household service — she had not yet met either of them…

She had no desire to spend her days mired in all this mess.

Hupo nodded. Then, seeing Shiyiniang in particularly good spirits, the spine that had sat upright began to lean forward slightly. She lowered her voice. “Madam, when we went back to Bowstring Lane, Shanhu told me the First Mistress wants you to find the Marquis a personal maidservant.” Her eyes flickered. “And she is afraid the Marquis might not be pleased, so she wants to choose a few from among our original sisters and bring them over for the Marquis to have a look at…”

Shiyiniang looked at her with a smile. “What is it you want to say?”

Hupo’s face turned crimson at once, and she began to stammer. “Madam, you see, I… I…”

—

While the two of them were talking inside, Nanny Tao was staring at the matron who had come to report, giving a cold laugh.

“So her wings have hardened at last — even a little maid dares show me that face.”

“Indeed, Nanny!” the matron said with indignation. “They say you should never strike a person in the face. Yet that Hupo made a point of naming names outright. If you do not find a way to put her in her place now, I fear that in time…” She trailed off, watching Nanny Tao’s expression carefully.

Nanny Tao merely smiled at this and had the little maid at her side count out twenty copper coins. “Go buy yourself some wine,” she said, and dismissed the matron with that.

The curtain was swept aside, and in stepped Wanxiang — wearing an official-green patterned luzhou silk overcoat, with a pair of red-gold twin longevity hairpins in her hair.

“I told you that girl was all sweetness on the outside and venom within, and now you see what she is capable of,” she said, with a note of mockery in her expression.

In ordinary times, Nanny Tao would have sent a piercing glance in her direction long before now. But at the thought of Zhun Ge… she forced down the displeasure rising in her heart and drew a slow, deep breath.

Seeing the usually imperious Nanny Tao yield, Wanxiang could not suppress a flash of quiet satisfaction.

She moved in close and sat beside Nanny Tao. “That matter I asked of you… what do you think?”

“No.” Nanny Tao refused without hesitation. “If the Marquis is to take a personal maidservant, that is the Madam’s affair. I will not involve myself.”

“Ah, my dear Nanny!” Wanxiang’s mockery deepened. “Do you still think you are the Nanny Tao of old? The Marchioness of Yongping today is not the young mistress of years past. Your loyalty and devotion — someone has to want it first. Besides, I am not asking you to recommend anyone to the Madam. Only asking you to keep watch and tell me when the Marquis goes to the outer courtyard, so that she can chance to cross paths with him. If it comes to nothing — that is her lack of fortune, and I shall be grateful to you all the same; if it works — well, it gives that Madam of ours something to gnaw on.” She lowered her voice further. “You will see for yourself — the very image of the other one.”

Nanny Tao’s long brows arched, and something cold settled in her expression. “My mood is poor today. You should head back early as well. Do your duty properly and do not fill your head with such nonsense.”

Wanxiang’s chest heaved with agitation for a long moment before she bit out through her teeth, “If Nanny is so heartless, do not blame me for showing no loyalty in return.” She spun on her heel and left.

Nanny Tao’s complexion took on a grim cast.

The little maid who came in to clear the tea things saw it in her eyes, and worry showed on her face. “Nanny, Wanxiang…”

“Do not speak of that troublemaker. She is having a hard time lately, and desperation makes a dog leap over walls — she has lost her head entirely.” As she spoke, she was already on her feet, giving the little maid an instruction: “I will be back shortly.”