Fang Jie’er lowered her voice with a knowing laugh. “Even without Hui Jie’er saying a word, I already know. It must be that someone from the Shao Family came wanting to bring a Lin Family girl back with them…”

“What nonsense are you saying?” Hui Jie’er reached over to pinch her. “It’s for my Fifth Aunt…”

Fang Jie’er clapped her hands in delight. “There — it just came out!” She then turned on Zhen Jie’er. “Your turn — you have to say it now.”

Hui Jie’er took hold of Fang Jie’er’s arm. “Zhen Jie’er, don’t tell her. Let her guess.”

Fang Jie’er’s eyes darted about. “Fine, if you won’t tell me, you won’t tell me. I’ll go ask the Fourth Madam.” She turned to go.

Zhen Jie’er’s composure slipped ever so slightly.

Hui Jie’er saw it clearly, and remembering that Zhen Jie’er was born of a concubine… she quickly seized Fang Jie’er’s arm and laughed. “Always resorting to tricks like this. Keep it up and I’ll stop playing with you!” She gave her a pointed look.

Fang Jie’er understood at once. She laughed and made light of it: “I just like to bluff people a little — I’d never dare go telling tales for real.” With the topic momentarily stalling, she asked about Hui Jie’er’s aunt, Lin Mingyuan. “Surely your Fifth Aunt will finally get married this time?”

Hui Jie’er had not wanted to talk about it, but if she didn’t bring this up, the conversation would inevitably circle back to Zhen Jie’er.

“I don’t know,” she said after a moment’s thought. “She’s always finding fault with this one and dissatisfied with that one. But this time, Grandmother has declared she’ll have no say in the matter. Willing or not, the betrothal will be settled this year.”

Fang Jie’er found the whole thing terribly dull. She sprawled languidly on the chaise longue in the pavilion, propping her cheek in her hand with a sigh. “Marriage just makes life so much less fun.”

For a moment, a distant, unfocused look crossed all three of their faces.

From outside came the chirping of birds.

Zhen Jie’er came back to herself and smiled. “Let’s go sit by the lake — we shouldn’t leave Xian Jie’er alone out there.”

The other two nodded.

Yet the brightness that had been in their eyes when they arrived had quietly faded, and they walked to the lakeside with only faint, fleeting smiles.

Xian Jie’er was already sitting there watching the fishing floats on the water. She spotted them coming and waved eagerly. “I’ve already caught seven or eight fish!”

The three went over to look — the fish were leaping and thrashing in the bamboo basket.

“The fish here are well fed.” Fang Jie’er settled into her seat before her own fishing rod. “As long as you put bait on the hook, they’ll bite. What’s so impressive about seven or eight fish? Just watch me!” Her manner was itching with eagerness.

Hui Jie’er, however, simply sat and stared in silence at Shier Niang and the eldest Miss Li drifting about on the lake in a boat. When the attending nanny from the Xu household quietly pointed out that a fish had taken the bait, she said with idle calm, “I’m only here to pass the time — it doesn’t matter whether I catch anything or not.”

The nanny, seeing her air of unhurried refinement, feared she might appear lacking, closed her mouth on the subject of fishing altogether, and simply busied herself baiting the hooks.

Zhen Jie’er, sitting beside her, could see that she had something weighing on her mind, and said quietly, “Shall we go rest in the pavilion?”

Hui Jie’er glanced over at Fang Jie’er, who was enthusiastically hauling in her line, and gave a small shake of her head. “In case she follows us there again.” She sighed softly. “I was actually hoping to have a word with you.”

Zhen Jie’er shifted her armchair a little, gestured for the attending servants to step back a few paces, and said in a low voice, “We just have to keep our voices down — it’s just the same.”

Hui Jie’er bit her lip. “My mother wants to marry me off to Cangzhou.”

Zhen Jie’er was stunned. “How can this be?”

Hui Jie’er looked thoroughly dejected. “Mother says I have an unruly nature. If I marry into Cangzhou with the backing of Weibei Marquis’s name, and with Grandfather and my uncles there to look after me, the family there would surely treat me with every respect and not dare be careless…”

“Has it already been settled?” Zhen Jie’er’s eyes dimmed.

“Nine chances out of ten it has,” Hui Jie’er said, downcast. “Yesterday I saw Father writing out my birth characters with a brush on red gold-speckled letter paper… and Mother has been pressing Grandmother to hurry and get Fifth Aunt married off.” She heaved a long sigh. “I don’t want to go to Cangzhou. I don’t know a single person there. It’s cold. There’s no Mafuzi’s almond pastries, no Duobaoge, no Jinshi Zhai…” Her voice trailed off with unmistakable sorrow.

Zhen Jie’er was silent.

Fang Jie’er suddenly bounded over. “What are you two whispering about, looking so pleased with yourselves?”

Hui Jie’er, seeing her breezy and carefree manner, shot her a sidelong look and said, “We were talking about when you’ll be getting married.”

Fang Jie’er burst out laughing. “Protesting too much — a dead giveaway.”

Hui Jie’er knew these words wouldn’t faze her, and simply changed the subject. “On the ninth day of the third month, come to my house to play! I’m hosting a spring banquet.”

“What’s so fun about your house?” Fang Jie’er said dismissively. “Your uncles are all afraid your grandfather will divide the family wealth only to your father, so they’re all camped there refusing to leave. It’s so packed there’s barely room to stand…”

Hui Jie’er fixed Fang Jie’er with a stare. “Are you coming or not?”

Zhen Jie’er, however, had an inkling of what Hui Jie’er was really thinking.

If she truly was to be married off to Cangzhou, then every day she could spend in Yanjing was precious.

She quickly said, “Everyone will of course be there!”

Fang Jie’er had only been teasing. Now, seeing Hui Jie’er’s face go serious, she sensed dimly that her mood was off, and laughed, “Of course I’ll be there, of course. Otherwise you’d stop playing with me, wouldn’t you!” She added with a playful jab, “Though I’ll only come if Chunxi Restaurant brings their braised fish lips. Otherwise, I might just stay home.”

Hui Jie’er had been feeling rather low, but at these words she couldn’t help but laugh. “All you think about is food.”

Fang Jie’er was unbothered, and turned to Xian Jie’er. “Hui Jie’er is hosting a spring banquet on the ninth. Will you come?”

“Have Hui Jie’er send me an invitation when the time comes!” Xian Jie’er replied generously.

“An invitation? What invitation?”

Everyone turned their heads.

Without anyone having noticed, the eldest Miss Li and Shier Niang had already come ashore.

Fang Jie’er curled her lip and turned back to her fishing.

Zhen Jie’er could not easily respond.

Hui Jie’er, however, thinking of the saying “meeting is fated,” smiled and said, “I’m hosting a spring banquet on the ninth. Miss Li and Twelfth Cousin are welcome to join the fun at my home!”

The eldest Miss Li nodded eagerly and said yes. Shier Niang smiled and said nothing definitive.

By this point, Wen Yiniang saw that the hour was growing late and invited the young ladies to the main hall for dinner.

Everyone headed cheerfully along the central path, attended by their own maidservants, passed through the rear garden, and made their way to the main hall.

By now it was dusk. The large red lanterns beneath the eaves were all lit, casting their glow over the blue stone tiles — a warm, red radiance that breathed festivity into the air.

Shiyiniang stood at the top of the steps by the main hall entrance, speaking with the supervising nanny. In her hair was a ginkgo flower hairpin — unlike the common style of a single ginkgo blossom at the pin’s tip, this one had tiny ginkgo flowers cascading downward one after another, layered and clustered together into a blossom as large as a wine cup, trembling delicately with every movement, like a breeze passing through blossoms in bloom. It was truly lovely.

“Lady Xu really knows how to adorn herself,” Xian Jie’er said, gazing at her with a sigh of admiration.

Fang Jie’er’s suppressed curiosity flickered back to life.

She pulled Zhen Jie’er aside. “I promise I won’t breathe a word of it — that time you went to pay your respects and saw Fourth Auntie of the Xu household, what happened?”

The form of address had shifted — from “Fourth Madam Xu” to “Fourth Auntie of the Xu household.”

Unable to withstand her persistence, Zhen Jie’er lowered her voice. “One time I went to pay my respects, and Mother was sorting through her trunks and boxes. She was taking out some of her older clothes to give away. Among them was a plain black cloth front-fastening short jacket with twenty-six pairs of colorful bat-shaped clasps running all the way down — from a distance, they looked like clusters of colorful flowers. I couldn’t imagine anything more beautiful.”

“Oh my — bat-shaped clasps in five colors!” Fang Jie’er gasped softly. “How wonderfully inventive!”

The others nearby all fell quiet and leaned in to listen.

“Indeed,” Zhen Jie’er said with a smile. “Goodness knows how much effort went into them. I thought it was a shame to give such a thing away to a maidservant, and so I asked Mother if I could have it. But Mother said the bats were actually practice knot-work that hadn’t turned out right, and she had used them as clasps. If I liked it, she would make me a new one.”

Shier Niang quietly lowered her head.

She knew that jacket.

The plain black cloth had been the wrapping used to bundle the bolts of satin sent over with the spring fabric delivery from the shop — Shiyiniang had asked for it at the end and had it made into a small jacket to wear close to her body. Binju had even complained that the jacket shed dye and had stained the lining of her outer robe…

Fang Jie’er was thoroughly charmed. “Really? Show me that little jacket later. I want to have one made exactly like it.”

Zhen Jie’er pressed her lips together with a smile.

Fang Jie’er bolted through dinner in just a few bites, dragged Zhen Jie’er off to her room, then came slipping back to the main hall with a look of secret delight.

The very next morning she rose at the crack of dawn and pestered Madam Zhou into going to the Xu household to watch the opera. This left Madam Zhou quite bewildered. “The opera doesn’t start until after the midday meal.”

Fang Jie’er’s eyes darted about. “Didn’t you say it was unbearable having everyone bring their daughters over and call on us at home? If we go early, we can avoid all of them. And we can pay our respects to the Marchioness of Yongping — it’s two birds with one stone. Why wouldn’t we?”

Madam Zhou laughed. “You just want to go and make a ruckus with that Hui girl, don’t you!”

“How could that be?” Fang Jie’er said with perfect seriousness. “Zhen Jie’er is so gentle and shy — none of us would have the heart to make a scene with her.”

The First Prince was selecting a consort, and everyone was doing whatever it took to gain an advantage. Madam Zhou was also weary of all the visitors coming to seek her favor. She had already been planning to go to the Xu household early anyway — and so, going along with her daughter’s wishes, mother and daughter set off ahead of Madam Huang and became the first guests to arrive.

Shiyiniang apologized to Madam Zhou, “…Today is the third-day washing ceremony for Fifth Elder Sister’s baby. I’m afraid I can only accompany Elder Sister properly this evening for a drink.”

Madam Zhou laughed, “You said it yourself — you have to sit with me for a drink this evening.”

Jinghua wine was low in strength; Shiyiniang had sampled it before and had a rough sense of her own limits.

“Only if Elder Sister doesn’t mind my poor company.”

The two chatted and laughed their way to the Grand Dowager’s quarters.

Fang Jie’er’s eyes followed Shiyiniang wherever she went.

Shiyiniang had no idea why.

When they came out of the Grand Dowager’s quarters, she smiled and asked, “Fang Jie’er, is there something you wanted to say to me?”

“No, no!” Fang Jie’er denied it quickly, but the words had barely left her mouth before she felt they sounded a little petty. She laughed and said, “I was just looking at Fourth Auntie’s clothing.”

“But Fang Jie’er, you look lovely today as well!” said Shiyiniang.

Fang Jie’er was wearing a brocade outer robe in plum-red with gold worked all over it — but somehow, for some reason, the effect was rather bulky on her.

Shiyiniang naturally could not say as much.

Fang Jie’er had already come forward to take her arm. “Fourth Auntie, that ginkgo flower hairpin you wore yesterday was beautiful. Which craftsman made it?”

Shiyiniang was mildly surprised.

This was only her second meeting with Fang Jie’er, yet the girl was behaving with a warm familiarity toward her. She also noticed that Madam Zhou beside them had not said a word. Assuming it must have been at Madam Zhou’s instruction, she smiled and replied, “It was made by a craftsman surnamed Huang at Lao Jixiang. His workmanship is quite good.”

Fang Jie’er’s brow furrowed faintly.

She knew every craftsman at Lao Jixiang who had made a name for himself, and she had never heard of one surnamed Huang.

Madam Zhou, for her part, was quietly astonished.

The Zhou family had connections to three imperial princesses across the generations. The men of the family were all mild-tempered; the young ladies, on the other hand, had a tendency toward spiritedness. Her own daughter, the most beloved of them all by the Princess of Fucheng, was clever enough — but had always carried a certain lofty disregard for others. How was it that she was suddenly so warm and familiar with Shiyiniang?

She was still turning this over in her mind when Madam Huang and the Third Young Madam Huang arrived.

Shiyiniang smiled and asked Fang Jie’er if she would like to go sit with Zhen Jie’er for a while.

Fang Jie’er understood she needed to attend to her guests. She smiled and nodded. “Fourth Auntie, please don’t mind me. I know the way — just have one of the sisters show me.”

Shiyiniang had Hupo accompany Fang Jie’er to Zhen Jie’er’s quarters.

Fang Jie’er breathed a long sigh of relief. She took off her outer robe, revealing underneath it a plain black jacket with five-colored bats worked in a continuous pattern. “I had the ladies from the Imperial Garment Bureau help make an exact copy.”

Zhen Jie’er quickly helped her take the jacket off. “If it weren’t Mother’s, I would have no objection to giving it to you.”

She was taller than Shiyiniang had been at the time and couldn’t fit into it. But on Fang Jie’er, it was a perfect fit.

The two were putting the jacket away when Hui Jie’er arrived.

—