No one had noticed when Xu Lingyi had entered.

And no one knew what he had heard, or how much.

The room went still, an unease settling over everyone.

Dongqing was the most stricken — she shot upright like a cat that had its tail stepped on, trembling as she called out: “My lord Marquis.”

Hupo and Binju quickly composed themselves and dropped into curtsies for Xu Lingyi.

Xu Lingyi paid no attention to any of them. His gaze went straight to Eleventh Miss.

She was half-seated at the edge of the platform bed, her complexion somewhat pale, her eyes and nose both reddened, her head bowed as she dabbed at her tears with a handkerchief.

His heart sank.

Every time he returned home, Eleventh Miss had always come forward to greet him with a smile. He had never seen her like this — downcast, her face the picture of grief and distress.

Xu Lingyi’s eyes moved to the maids.

Dongqing stood there sheepishly, the left side of her face a vivid red — clearly she had received a hard slap. As for Hupo, her gaze was evasive. Binju — the right side of her face was equally red. He replayed what he had just glimpsed: Hupo had plainly been pulling Binju back.

Eleventh Miss had always treated those in her service with kindness and patience — she was not built for striking people, certainly not hard enough to leave marks like that. Clearly, the senior maids had been scrapping with each other, and had brought their quarrel to her door.

No wonder the two young maids keeping watch at the entrance had gone white in the face and looked so panicked when they saw him arrive.

But this was ultimately Eleventh Miss’s own affair, and not his place to interfere in.

Even so, Xu Lingyi could not suppress the faint irritation that settled in his brow.

The three maids saw it and each felt a renewed wave of apprehension.

The way they had been carrying on was truly improper. No wonder the Marquis was displeased.

Eleventh Miss stood up to ease the tension: “My lord, you’ve returned. Allow me to call Chunmo and Xiayi in to help you change your clothes.” Then she directed the others: “You may all withdraw.”

At her words, Xu Lingyi had no choice but to play along, and he gave a seemingly unconcerned nod: “Call Chunmo in.” Then he made his way toward the washing room, giving Eleventh Miss time to settle whatever remained unresolved.

Hupo and Binju felt a wave of relief that he had not pressed the matter, and curtsied their acknowledgment.

But Dongqing went cold, and came back to her senses.

If this matter blew up fully, the Madam, for the sake of her reputation as a virtuous wife, might even consent. But if it were simply left like this…

Her heart thudded frantically.

The left cheek Binju had struck burned like fire.

Could she still turn back now, at this point?

She shook her head, almost imperceptibly.

The first one to make her life difficult would be Binju, without a doubt.

The thought came and went — and before she could stop herself, she turned toward Xu Lingyi’s retreating figure and called out “My lord Marquis!” in a loud, urgent voice. The words tumbled out rapid-fire, catching everyone off guard: “It is all my fault. Qiao Yiniang is with child. The Marquis’s inner chamber grows empty. The First Madam at Bowstring Lane wished to send several of her pretty maids to attend the Marquis. When I heard of it, I was bold enough to come and inform the Madam…”

Xu Lingyi paid it no mind.

Eleventh Miss had once spoken to him about the First Madam’s wish for him to take someone in. At the time, he had already suspected the First Madam would make some move. But for Dongqing — Eleventh Miss’s own senior maid — to suddenly bring this up now… could there be some twist to this that he was unaware of? Or was Eleventh Miss’s weeping connected to it?

Whatever the case — if anything needed saying, Eleventh Miss would tell him herself.

Going around her to engage with a maid…

He gave an almost imperceptible shake of his head.

Eleventh Miss found herself at a complete loss between tears and laughter.

She had already made her position as clear as it could be — and Dongqing still would not let it go. Whatever more was said, whatever more was done, it was all without meaning.

Her only wish now was that Dongqing would not make it any more explicit, and would leave a shred of dignity for her, for Hupo, for Binju, and for the other women who had come from the Luo household.

“That’s enough, Dongqing.” She cut her off gently. “I will speak with the Marquis about this. All of you go and rest for now.”

The intention to stop her was unmistakable.

Before she had even finished speaking, Hupo had surged forward.

Cursing herself inwardly for her carelessness — this was no moment to let Dongqing make a scene — she gripped Dongqing’s left arm: “Dongqing, the Marquis is here. Let us withdraw first and give the Marquis and the Madam time to speak properly — that is the right course.” As she spoke, she clamped her hand hard around Dongqing’s arm and shot Binju a look to come help.

Dongqing began to struggle: “My lord Marquis — the Madam was deeply grieved to hear all of this, and felt that even if someone must enter the Marquis’s household, it ought to be someone from among her own attendants…”

Binju and Dongqing had five years of bond between them, and it had never occurred to Binju to use force against her. But hearing Dongqing say something more outrageous with every breath, when Hupo gave her the look, she moved without hesitation to seize Dongqing’s other arm.

Inside the washing room, Xu Lingyi heard the commotion outside and suddenly remembered — Eleventh Miss had mentioned, at some point, that not all of her accompanying maids had grown up serving her from childhood. But he had not paid close attention at the time, and could not recall the exact words.

Now that he thought about it: if they had not served her from childhood, they had to be maids assigned by the First Madam just before the wedding.

No wonder they were so bold.

Xu Lingyi considered for a moment, then turned and came out of the washing room after all.

“Eleventh Miss.” He stood at the washing room doorway, his gaze fixed on her from across the room, his expression cool and somewhat distant. “If a maid is disobedient, just send her away.”

His appearance was so sudden, and his words so abrupt, that the room went still.

Xu Lingyi, seeing that Eleventh Miss had not fully grasped his meaning, let his gaze fall on Dongqing: “If a maid is disobedient — just send her away. It is not worth upsetting yourself.”

Only then did Eleventh Miss understand.

Her heart warmed faintly.

“Thank you, my lord,” Eleventh Miss said, the faintest hint of a smile touching the corner of her lips. “I will handle it as I see fit.”

She understood. Dongqing, Hupo, and Binju understood too.

Dongqing’s color drained instantly from her face.

“Send her away…” she whispered, staring at Xu Lingyi in disbelief. “Send her away…”

Hupo and Binju both felt the weight lift from their chests, and could not help exchanging a glance.

With the Marquis’s words on the table, whatever the Madam decided to do about Dongqing, no one could stand in her way.

—

By the time Xu Lingyi emerged from the washing room, the inner chamber had returned to its usual quiet.

Eleventh Miss sat cross-legged on the wide platform bed by the window, staring blankly at the bare branches outside.

At the sound of him entering, she turned her head and smiled.

“What are you looking at?” Xu Lingyi settled beside her and followed her gaze outward.

Outside the window was a crabapple tree.

“The branches,” Eleventh Miss replied with a smile, her voice gentle and unhurried. “They should be budding in a few days, don’t you think?”

Xu Lingyi thought for a moment: “Spring comes a little late to Yanjing — probably not until the end of the second month.”

“Oh.” Eleventh Miss nodded.

The room fell quiet again.

The two of them sat there in stillness for a while.

Only then did Eleventh Miss’s feelings settle completely.

“My lord,” she said softly, “Dongqing doesn’t wish to marry Wan Daxian, and has been making something of a fuss over it. I think a forced match yields nothing good. It might be best to find some pretext to break off the engagement.”

If Dongqing had merely not wanted to marry Wan Daxian, why would she have needed to drag him into the conversation — and why would Hupo and the others have needed to hold her back so desperately…

Eleventh Miss must have been deeply humiliated.

He thought of her tear-reddened eyes and nose.

He reached over and gently stroked her hair.

“Once the second month’s Day of the Dragon’s Rising has passed, most of the managers in the outer household will be replaced. Let’s make some changes among the maids, wives, and older women in the inner household as well.” His tone was matter-of-fact. “Draw up a list over the next few days — I’ll have Steward Bai help you find suitable people. If there are any maids or women you take a liking to, you may mention them to Steward Bai.”

“My lord…”

Eleventh Miss was taken aback.

This was, in effect, handing her the authority over all personnel matters.

Xu Lingyi smiled: “When Third Brother and the others leave at the start of spring, you’ll be managing the household. You can’t expect to give orders that go unheeded. Reversing one’s orders is bad, but failing to have them obeyed at all may be even worse.”

She had not expected him to remember that.

Eleventh Miss laughed: “My lord is thinking of that little kitchen, isn’t he? However eloquent your argument, I won’t agree to reopening it.”

Xu Lingyi burst out laughing.

The two of them bantered back and forth for a while, and Eleventh Miss’s spirits lifted considerably.

Xu Lingyi stood and said: “You’ve had a tiring day — rest well. No need to go to Mother this evening. I’ll tell her you’re feeling unwell.”

“That won’t do at all!” Eleventh Miss protested quickly.

Xu Lingyi smiled: “One must fall ill occasionally!”

Eleventh Miss was taken aback.

He had already strode out of the inner chamber.

Eleventh Miss stared at the swaying door curtain for a long moment before she came back to herself. She could not hold back a laugh.

That evening she forced herself to drink half a small bowl of gruel, then had a young maid call Hupo in and relayed Xu Lingyi’s wishes to her: “…We’ll need to move quickly to determine the vacancies and the candidates.”

“Don’t worry, Madam, I know how serious this is,” Hupo said, her face brightening. “I’ll have the list ready before the Day of the Dragon’s Rising — it won’t hold up the outer household.”

Eleventh Miss smiled and had a young maid bring out a dish of preserved pork, a dish of pan-fried yellow croaker, a dish of stir-fried napa cabbage, a bowl of plain congee, and a small bowl of white rice.

“You must be able to eat now.”

Hupo was startled, then broke into a smile: “Oh, Madam, really.”

Not wanting to cause Eleventh Miss any further worry, Hupo ate a bowl of congee with the dishes.

“That’s enough — go and see to things.” Eleventh Miss did not press her. “And tell Binju this news on your way, so she can sleep tonight too. Ask her to stay with Dongqing for the time being — she need not do anything else. If anyone asks, say it’s on my orders, that she’s keeping Dongqing company with the trousseau embroidery. After a few days, when things have quieted down, I’ll find some pretext — say she has an illness — and send her out of the household. Better that than ruining a perfectly good Wan Daxian.”

Hupo nodded, her eyes dimming slightly.

A woman with a hidden ailment — the groom’s family could annul the engagement on those grounds.

Eleventh Miss had decided to use this pretext to have the Wan family withdraw from the match.

But that would make it very difficult for Dongqing to ever marry.

Such a fine future, come to this end…

She could not help letting out a quiet sigh.

Seeing that Eleventh Miss, though she spoke lightly, had a fleeting shadow of sorrow in her brow, Hupo knew she too was grieving. So she smiled and changed the subject: “The Lin family’s Hui Jie’er is coming in a few days — what should we prepare, do you think?”

At the thought of that proud little girl, Eleventh Miss’s face softened with warmth: “Sweet white porcelain dishes, green bamboo chopsticks, the house swept spotless, a few stems of narcissus on the table — that will be quite enough.”

“Is that really enough?”

As the two were speaking, Linbo — Xu Lingyi’s personal attendant — suddenly came dashing in, out of breath.

“Ma-Madam, you — you had better lie down quickly. The Grand Madam heard you were unwell and has come in person to see you…”

—