Upon hearing that her daughter wished to see her, the First Madam immediately responded: “There is no need to wait for another day. Go and inform Yuanniang that I will be there without fail tomorrow afternoon.”

Nanny Tao replied with a respectful “yes,” then called the accompanying maid inside to present the gifts sent by Luo Yuanniang: “Some medicinal herbs, for the First Master and First Madam to nourish themselves.”

The First Madam smiled and had Nanny Xu receive them.

Shanhu had already carried over an embroidered stool: “Nanny Tao, please have a seat.”

Nanny Tao kept declining, saying repeatedly, “I would not dare. The First Madam has been exhausted from the journey, and our Madam is waiting for me to report back. I shall take my leave for now and come tomorrow to escort the First Madam to the residence.”

The First Madam considered briefly and said: “There will be plenty of time ahead. Go back and give Yuanniang the news so that she may set her heart at ease.”

Nanny Tao rose to bid farewell upon hearing this, and Nanny Xu personally saw her to the door.

The First Master then stood up: “Everyone go and rest. We will all dine together this evening.”

Everyone in the room responded respectfully with a “yes.” Nanny Xu, Shanhu, and the others remained behind to attend to the First Madam’s grooming, while Luo Zhensheng and the First Young Madam led the remaining people out of the room in single file.

A plump, round-faced woman stood smiling under the eaves, waiting. Seeing them come out, she stepped forward and paid her respects to Luo Zhensheng, then reported to the First Young Madam: “First Young Madam, the young misses’ quarters have all been arranged. The First Madam’s trunks have been unloaded and the count tallies, only we do not know which belongs to which room…”

This woman’s surname was Hang, and she was the First Young Madam’s personal attendant who had accompanied her from her parental home — a capable nanny close to her.

Having heard the report, the First Young Madam turned to Fifth Miss and Eleventh Miss with a smile: “In Yanjing, every inch of land is precious and it is nothing like Yuhang. The residence is rather small. Father and Mother are occupying the main rooms, so we have arranged you in the rear wing rooms. I hope the two of you will not mind and make do for the time being.”

Her smile was warm and her words gentle, and Eleventh Miss could not help but inwardly admire her.

Gu Shi was, after all, born of a prominent family from the south of the Yangtze. Even knowing that the First Madam treated these concubine-born daughters with sweetness on the outside but bitterness within, she still conducted herself with gracious warmth, never losing the composure befitting a daughter of a distinguished family.

Eleventh Miss smiled and expressed her gratitude to the First Young Madam: “Many thanks, Elder Sister-in-law!”

Fifth Miss, however, took the First Young Madam by the hand: “How can Elder Sister-in-law say such a thing — are we really such people who do not know what is appropriate? This residence is only so big in total. Father and Mother occupy the main rooms, we are in the rear wing rooms, and Elder Brother and Elder Sister-in-law have to make do with the outer wing rooms. The outer wing rooms face north and back toward the south, cold in winter and hot in summer, and being adjacent to the outer courtyard, it is noisy and bustling… and Elder Brother still needs to study…” As she spoke, tears already glistened at the corners of her eyes, “For Sister-in-law to speak this way makes us truly wish we could find a hole to hide in.”

The First Young Madam was quite moved upon hearing this.

How touching that Fifth Miss recognized her kindness. And she had pointed it out right in front of her husband Luo Zhensheng as well… No wonder everyone said Fifth Miss was clever and charming — she was truly endearing.

Her smile thus grew warmer with an added touch of affection: “Dear Sister, please do not say such things. You are young ladies of the inner chambers — it is not the same for you as it is for us, who must live adjacent to the outer courtyard!”

Hearing Fifth Miss speak this way, Luo Zhensheng’s expression also softened, and warmth entered his eyes: “Alright, the sisters have been tossed about on the road for over a month, and Eleventh Sister was even seasick. Quickly take them to rest!”

The First Young Madam respectfully replied “yes,” and Tenth Miss and Eleventh Miss paid their respects to Luo Zhensheng, greeted Sixth Yiniang, and followed the First Young Madam to the rear wing rooms. Afterward, Luo Zhensheng also passed through the decorated gate and returned to his own rooms in the outer wing. Nanny Jiang called for Fifth Miss’s maid Ziwei and Eleventh Miss’s maid Hupo to follow Nanny Hang in sorting through the trunks.

—

The rear wing’s main rooms were the same as the main courtyard’s principal rooms — five bays, each with an adjoining side room, with three-bay east and west wing rooms each carrying an adjoining side room. Only the courtyard had no fish tank or flower stands like the main rooms, and the scholar tree before the steps had been replaced with weeping willows.

The First Young Madam smiled: “See which you prefer and just pick one!”

Fifth Miss quickly said: “Let Sister choose first! It makes no difference to me where I stay!”

Eleventh Miss did not say much either, simply smiling: “Sister is the elder — then I shall take the western room!”

“How could that be?” Fifth Miss smiled. “Your constitution is still weak, so you should take the eastern room!”

“Once I am off the boat, I shall recover with some rest. It is nothing serious!” Eleventh Miss smiled back. “Sister should take the eastern room and I will take the western one!”

Fifth Miss continued to defer. The First Young Madam had already smiled and said: “There is no need for you to keep going back and forth — I think, as Eleventh Sister says, she is the younger, so she takes the western room, and you are the elder, so the eastern room suits you!”

Eleventh Miss smiled: “Then as Elder Sister-in-law says!” As she spoke, she was already panting lightly, looking rather taxed.

The First Young Madam seized the moment to take her leave: “You rest now. I must go and see to supper.”

The two of them saw the First Young Madam to the door: “We have put Sister-in-law to trouble.”

“I am the elder sister-in-law — how can there be any trouble in that.” She walked out with a smile. Fifth Miss and Eleventh Miss returned to their rooms. Eleventh Miss gave Fifth Miss a wry smile: “Sister, I need to rest a while…”

“Go ahead!” Fifth Miss smiled, turned, and went into the eastern room, without so much as a word of polite concern.

Ziyuan and the others hurriedly followed Fifth Miss into the room.

Eleventh Miss watched Fifth Miss’s retreating figure and could only give a helpless smile.

Ever since she had let slip her interest in Luo Yuanniang, Fifth Miss had harbored a faint hostility toward her. If she truly intended to compete with her for something… the hatred would likely run bone-deep!

“Miss, Fifth Miss…” Dongqing had also noticed something was off. “You ought to find an opportunity to explain things to her. Otherwise, the misunderstanding will only deepen!”

“I know what I am doing.” Eleventh Miss had no wish to dwell on the matter.

The situation was still unclear — best not to act rashly for now!

She leaned on Dongqing’s arm and returned to her room.

In the western secondary room, a large heated platform bed faced the window, flanked on either side by small side tables, covered with a scarlet felt rug. Four rosewood armchairs stood on each side, arranged into a resting area. In the inner room, a writing desk sat against the window, the left wall lined with bookshelves, and a small low bed was placed at the center of the room, with a small heated alcove set behind it.

Eleventh Miss looked around with satisfaction.

If only Fifth Miss did not live next door, it would be perfect!

She mused inwardly.

Dongqing and Binju, however, looked on with clicking tongues: “What a peculiar arrangement this is! There is a small alcove behind the bed, yet though there is no brazier, it is warm. And this…” She reached out to touch the large platform bed by the window. “This is warm too.”

Eleventh Miss smiled: “The south and the north are different. In the south it is humid, so one lives in upper-story rooms. In the north it is cold, so one sleeps on a heated bed platform.”

“How does Miss know?” Qiuju asked with a beaming smile, sitting down on the bed in the warm alcove.

“Read about it in books, of course!” The reserved Zhuxiang seemed unusually animated, more talkative than usual. “Miss has read so many books, of course she knows everything!”

Of course it was not from books — it was from her past life of traveling north and south, seeing and experiencing things firsthand…

Eleventh Miss smiled without answering. An unfamiliar little maid came in to report: “Eleventh Miss, Sixth Yiniang has come.”

Everyone was startled.

Sixth Yiniang had already lifted the curtain and entered.

“Eleventh Miss!” She greeted Eleventh Miss with a cheerful smile.

Dongqing and the others quickly composed their expressions and stood to the side with proper solemnity.

“Why has Yiniang come!” Eleventh Miss responded with a smile. “Please come in and have some tea!”

Qiuju quickly brought a small stool for Sixth Yiniang, while Dongqing found the wooden bucket of warm water in the corner of the secondary room and brewed tea for her.

Sixth Yiniang smiled and waved her hand: “I will not sit. I still need to attend to the First Madam’s rest shortly. I came only to ask…” She hesitated for a moment, and the smile on her face took on a trace of bitterness. “I just wanted to ask — how is Twelfth Miss? Is she well?”

Eleventh Miss inwardly let out a quiet sigh.

A mother’s heart travels a thousand miles with her child. When she herself had set out, Fifth Yiniang had wept bitterly. By the same token, Sixth Yiniang, being here and thinking of the young Twelfth Miss, was likely tossing and turning with worry.

“She is doing very well!” Eleventh Miss had always felt Sixth Yiniang to be an exceptionally perceptive person. “In the past stretch of days, I spent every day at home embroidering a decorative screen. Fifth Sister and Tenth Miss would often go to attend on Mother. Twelfth Sister would sometimes also come to Mother’s side and chat and laugh with her sisters. Twelfth Sister even fashioned silk flowers from gauze to present to Mother, and Mother could not tell them from real ones… Her hands are terribly skilled.”

Sixth Yiniang listened and visibly relaxed, smiling: “Then I shall not disturb Eleventh Miss any further. Come to think of it, Fifth Yiniang and I lived in the same rooms for five or six years — if you ever need anything, you may come to me directly.”

“Thank you, Yiniang.” Eleventh Miss did not know whether the First Madam was aware of Sixth Yiniang’s visit, and she was also worried Fifth Miss might see her, so naturally she could not presume to keep her. Using her headache as an excuse, she had Dongqing see Sixth Yiniang out.

No sooner had Sixth Yiniang left than Hupo returned from collecting the trunks.

Dongqing first opened the trunk containing the bedding, then made up the bed in the warm alcove, fetched water to help Eleventh Miss wash up and lie down to rest, left Zhuxiang to keep watch over her, and then she and Hupo, together with Binju and Qiuju, began unpacking and sorting through the belongings.

—

Eleventh Miss slept and woke feeling refreshed and light.

She gazed at her own face carefully in the mirror: “Have I gained any weight?”

“Your face is so thin it is no bigger than a palm,” said Dongqing, inserting two pomegranate blossoms the size of thumbnails into Eleventh Miss’s hair, “and yet you are still going on about losing weight?”

Eleventh Miss pursed her lips and smiled.

Hupo urged Eleventh Miss to hurry: “I see Fifth Miss has already set off toward the First Madam’s rooms.”

Eleventh Miss dared not look at the mirror any longer. She draped a rose-red fur-trimmed cloak over her shoulders and strode briskly toward the First Madam’s quarters, finally catching up to Fifth Miss just before she stepped inside, the two of them entering one after the other.

The two of them stood just inside the door curtain as maids helped them remove their cloaks. Fifth Miss glanced at Eleventh Miss with an ambiguous smile: “Who would have thought — even when ill, your hands and feet are so nimble, Sister!”

Eleventh Miss smiled back at Fifth Miss sweetly and reproached her: “It is all Sister’s fault for leaving without calling for me!”

Fifth Miss gave a cold smile and was about to say something more when the curtain on the other side was already being lifted, and Shanhu came out with a smile: “The First Madam is just waiting for the two young misses!”

Neither spoke another word, and they entered the room one after the other.

The resting area of the secondary room was furnished with a black-lacquered four-legged square table and eight rosewood chairs with scarlet cushions, chopsticks and dishes already laid out. Several young maids stood beneath the curtained canopy, while Nanny Xu, Luoqiao, Daimai, and others were gathered around the large platform bed by the window — Mu Ge’s cheerful laughter drifted from that direction from time to time.

“First Madam, Fifth Miss and Eleventh Miss are here!” Shanhu announced with a bright smile. The crowd dispersed, and Eleventh Miss saw that the First Master and the First Madam were seated side by side on the large platform bed, the small table between them long since moved away somewhere, with Mu Ge tumbling somersaults on top of it. The First Young Madam stood before the bed with arms spread wide to keep the child from falling off.

“Alright, alright.” The First Master chuckled and scooped Mu Ge up. “Let us go and eat!”

Mu Ge looked reluctant, squirming in his arms and still wanting to do somersaults.

Luo Zhensheng, standing to one side, put on a stern face: “Stand still for me this instant.”

Mu Ge apparently did not dare to cause any more trouble upon hearing this, and obediently pressed himself against the First Master without stirring.

On the other side, the First Madam, while being helped with her shoes by Du Wei, laughed: “Are you not afraid of frightening the child!”

Mu Ge instantly lifted his head from the First Master’s arms and looked toward the First Madam with a pitiful expression.

The First Madam at once stretched out her arms and took Mu Ge into her embrace: “Do not be afraid, do not be afraid — Grandmother is here!”

Luo Zhensheng looked at his mother with a mixture of amusement and exasperation, wanting to say something but holding back.

The First Young Madam saw this and quickly redirected everyone’s attention: “Father, Mother, please be seated! The two younger sisters must surely be hungry as well!”

Everyone’s attention was indeed redirected, and the First Madam even complained: “Why have you only just arrived?”

Fifth Miss smiled: “I was waiting for Sister!”

Eleventh Miss said sheepishly: “I slept too long!”

The First Madam laughed: “Now there is an honest one!”

Eleventh Miss lowered her head with a blush, drawing laughter from everyone present.

—