In Xu Lingyi’s mind, Eleventh Miss had always been gentle and serene, magnanimous and tolerant — even a little soft-hearted. He had never seen her like this.

Outwardly composed and steady, her words were velvet-wrapped iron.

For a moment he found himself without words.

Eleventh Miss lowered her eyes: “My lord, how am I to feel about this?” Her tone was pained, and she spoke with the air of someone on the verge of tears.

Xu Lingyi was deeply embarrassed. “This matter is complicated. It was not that I wanted to keep you out of it beforehand —”

“My lord.” Before he could finish, Eleventh Miss raised her eyes suddenly and fixed them on him. “You are the head of this household. The marriages of our children are rightfully yours to decide.” Her face without its usual smile was as coldly still as a snow-capped mountain peak. “I must simply lack the discernment, which is why you saw fit to entrust the selection of a daughter-in-law to Second Sister-in-law.” As she said this, a note of dejection entered her voice. “Since that is the case, I will simply follow my lord’s instructions.” Seeing such an expression on Eleventh Miss — who he was so accustomed to seeing smiling — left Xu Lingyi deeply uncomfortable. Words of explanation came pouring out of him: “At first it was only my own idea — I had no idea whether the Xiang family would agree, and so I could not very well say anything to you. Then Ma Zuowen came, and the list of candidates for Crown Princess that he brought me resolved the doubts that have been troubling me these past months. I was caught up in making arrangements on the Qu family’s side of things and had no opportunity to speak. The moment things were settled with the Xiang family, did I not come and tell you first?” By the end, his voice had taken on a faint note of helplessness.

Eleventh Miss was genuinely surprised.

First? Did that mean Xu Lingyi had not even consulted the Grand Matriarch?

She was also curious why the list of candidates for Crown Princess had resolved Xu Lingyi’s doubts of these past months.

But thinking back on Xu Lingyi’s actions, she firmly pressed down the questions rising within her and turned her face toward the window.

And seeing his wife’s expression close off against any explanation, Xu Lingyi gave a wry smile and rose to sit beside her.

“Mo Yan, there are things you do not know.” Xu Lingyi’s expression grew serious. “The Xu family is a family of nobles and meritorious subjects — we advance through the hereditary privileges of our noble rank. Siyu is a son born of a concubine. The title will not pass to him. On top of that, for the sake of the family’s security, I have refused the Emperor’s generous offers of reward three times…” Here he paused. “…and in so doing, I closed off Siyu’s path to advancement. As Marquis Yongping, I have no shame before my ancestors. But as a father, I have wronged Siyu greatly.”

Eleventh Miss began to understand.

“I must find some way forward for this child,” Xu Lingyi said, his voice taking on a tone of quiet emotion. “Fortunately, he is reasonably intelligent. Rather than let him drift like Fifth Brother, waiting idly for me to seek him a hereditary position in my old age, it would be better to let him try the path of the imperial examinations. And since he does not have Fifth Brother’s family background, they cannot be compared in this regard. This way the brothers will each have their own road, and perhaps they will be all the closer for it.”

Eleventh Miss looked at Xu Lingyi in astonishment.

Were not the sons of the Xu family exempt from taking the imperial examinations? Had not Third Brother quit after passing only the licentiate examinations, precisely because of this?

“Times change.” Seeing a slight thaw in his wife’s expression, Xu Lingyi’s voice became even gentler. “I had this idea before, but there was no opportunity to act on it. This time when I met Master Xiang, I found him more practical and capable than ever. As long as he makes no serious mistakes, in another ten or twenty years a position as provincial governor is well within reach — and if fortune favors him, it is not inconceivable he might enter the Grand Secretariat. You know our situation: we are both a noble family and an imperial consort family, and I am a man who has commanded troops and won battles. Most men would be envied for just one of these things, let alone a family that has all three. If Siyu takes the hereditary path, he still has my lingering prestige and the goodwill of old comrades, and the military establishment would show him some deference. But if he takes the examination path, his very origins become grounds for attack by the censorate officials and for alienation by his colleagues — it would be a blessing if he were not dragged down by association with me.” His voice gave way to a faint sigh.

Eleventh Miss said nothing.

The censorate officials most loved to impeach members of powerful noble and consort families. In their eyes, members of the imperial consort family who enjoyed the state’s bounty were all riding the coattails of the Emperor’s favor; and the old noble families were a cohort of parasites feeding on the goodwill of their ancestors, squandering the state’s resources. They might pay respect to those who had won their position through merit and honor the founders of dynastic prosperity — but they had no reason to show leniency to those who had simply risen with the tide, or to the idle, worthless descendants of once-great families. Those self-made men who had endured ten years of hardship at their studies to reach where they were now harbored no fondness for these people, and were constantly looking for evidence to justify their contempt.

All the more so given that Xu Lingyi was a general — the kind of rough military man that men of letters looked down upon!

“I cannot shield him. I can only find him someone who can shield him. That is why I thought of forming a marital alliance with the Xiang family.” Xu Lingyi looked at Eleventh Miss. “Siyu is a son born of a concubine, and his birth mother was a bondservant. Any other family would certainly not agree to such a match. But Second Sister-in-law watched Siyu grow up. She knows his character through and through. That is why I thought of this alliance, and asked Second Sister-in-law to act as go-between. Even Master Xiang, to say nothing of Second Sister-in-law herself, had some hesitations when he first heard it. Under these circumstances, it was even harder for me to say anything to you. As for having Second Sister-in-law choose from among her nieces — that was also because Second Sister-in-law stands between two families and knows the children on both sides well. A good wife makes half one’s fortune. It is surely better than us blindly choosing someone headstrong and willful to bring into the family. You should know that the one who will eventually take over the household management from you is Zhun Ge’s wife — not Siyu’s.”

Xu Lingyi’s candor gradually dissolved Eleventh Miss’s resentment, but that did not mean she was therefore ready to forgive his conduct.

“Everything my lord says is reasonable,” she said sincerely. “But there are still some things I do not quite understand.”

Seeing his wife willing to have a calm conversation, Xu Lingyi relaxed slightly and said with care: “Go ahead. I am listening.”

“Why does my lord tell me all this?”

Xu Lingyi was taken aback for a moment, and said without hesitation: “Naturally because you are broad-minded and understanding —”

“But which is it — am I broad-minded, or am I understanding?” Eleventh Miss pressed.

Xu Lingyi was startled.

“My lord must not give me a careless answer,” Eleventh Miss said. “Tell me what you truly think.” Her gaze as she looked at him was earnest.

Xu Lingyi felt a sudden gravity come over him, and said: “It is because you are understanding, of course. If I explained the whole sequence of events to you, you would naturally see why I formed this alliance with the Xiang family.”

“Then why did my lord not consult with me first?” The words were not spoken loudly, but they rang out clearly, and Xu Lingyi felt the impact.

“In my lord’s estimation, I am broad-minded and understanding. If my lord had spoken with me before deciding to seek the Xiang family’s Second Miss for Siyu, would I not have been able to understand your difficulty?” Eleventh Miss held her gaze steadily on Xu Lingyi. “And yet instead, all was settled before my lord thought to inform me. How could I not feel hurt and grieved?” As she spoke, her eyes dimmed slightly. “To think I was kept from even a matter as consequential as this… At first hearing, I was truly ashamed and furious, not knowing what I had done wrong. I wished the ground would open and swallow me up, so that no one would know and say I had no capacity for tolerance — that I could not even bear the management of a stepson’s marriage being kept from me. I felt utterly defeated and wanted to let go of everything and stop caring. Yet now hearing my lord explain it so — I feel even worse. I have followed the path of devotion and obedience, and yet all my lord can think of is that I am broad-minded and easy to manage…”

The sight of Eleventh Miss speaking so openly and yet so sorrowfully sent ripple after ripple through Xu Lingyi’s heart, and filled him with a restless, pressing unease.

“Mo Yan…” His voice was bitter. He looked at her with something hesitant in his eyes, his lips opening and closing for a long moment without producing a second word.

Eleventh Miss felt a quiet stab of disappointment.

In marriage, it was the union of two families, and so whom to ally with was the husband’s decision to make. A daughter-in-law would be coming to manage the household, and so which woman to take as a daughter-in-law was the wife’s decision to make. Xu Lingyi was willing to explain himself, and he knew he had acted improperly — yet he was not willing to apologize. Was it because of the customary precedence of husband over wife? Or the pride of a man long used to being in a position of authority?

She pulled her lips into a thin, strained smile, then stepped quietly down from the platform. “It is getting late, and my lord has been occupied with the matter of the Crown Princess candidates brought by Master Ma. You must be fatigued. Rest early.” She rose and went to make up the bed for him.

“Mo Yan!” Xu Lingyi seized her arm from behind.

Eleventh Miss stopped, standing perfectly still.

The two stood motionless for a moment.

“I was in the wrong about this matter.” Xu Lingyi’s voice came low and measured by her ear. “I will be more careful in the future.”

Eleventh Miss turned to face him, fixing him with a steady, deliberate gaze. “My lord, I wish to meet the Xiang family’s three young misses.”

A subtle change crossed Xu Lingyi’s expression.

Eleventh Miss held his gaze in silence for a long moment, then turned without a word and went back to making the bed.

Xu Lingyi stood rooted to the spot, watching her back in prolonged silence.

She finished making the bed, moved the lamp to the small stool beside it.

“My lord, allow me to help you change.” Eleventh Miss’s voice was soft, exactly as it always was.

Xu Lingyi slowly raised his arms.

Eleventh Miss helped him out of his outer robe.

Husband and wife lay down on opposite sides.

The rams-horn palace lantern cast a soft and mellow glow.

Eleventh Miss turned over.

Xu Lingyi, eyes wide open, heard it clearly.

A moment later, Eleventh Miss turned over again.

Xu Lingyi closed his eyes.

Another sound of turning.

Then again.

He opened his eyes and watched her turn over.

Unable to hold back any longer, Xu Lingyi spoke: “Mo Yan. This was originally my idea…”

Yes — it was certainly Xu Lingyi’s idea. But the Second Madam had proposed that the Xiang family’s Second Miss be matched with Xu Siyu. Could the Xu family not have raised an objection?

“My lord also said he could not take in someone headstrong and willful,” Eleventh Miss said, her voice faint and drained. “I want to look carefully at the Xiang family’s three young misses.”

“The eldest daughter is certainly out of the question…” Xu Lingyi began, still hoping to dissuade Eleventh Miss.

“But there is still the Second Miss and Third Miss, is there not?” Eleventh Miss said quietly, a gentle but unmistakable firmness beneath the words.

Xu Lingyi frowned and said nothing.

Eleventh Miss rolled over, turning her back to him.

Xu Lingyi was silent for a long while, then let out a long, slow breath. He gently drew Eleventh Miss into his arms. “Mo Yan…”

Eleventh Miss did not turn around.

In the distant sound of the watch drum, there came the faint intermittent crackle of a candlewick.

……

And at the Xiang residence in the southeastern corner of the Xu compound, Master Xiang and Madam Xiang were at that very moment glaring at each other.

—