Several people glanced over.

Hupo quickly pulled the little maid close. “Don’t cry, don’t cry — if you attract attention and this becomes a scene, you’ll be the one in trouble.”

The little maid, hearing this, quickly stifled her sobs and choked out, “I… I wasn’t looking…”

“Then stop crying!” Eleventh Young Madam said gently. “Take me to your Third Miss’s quarters, I’ll change into something else, and no one will know anything happened. The nanny in charge of you won’t have a reason to scold you.”

The little maid nodded through her tears and led them hurriedly toward the east side courtyard.

Fortunately, the powder room was situated behind the main hall in the passage room, and the Gan family had installed a corner gate between the passage and the east courtyard, allowing them to go directly through.

Along the way, a number of maids and nannies glanced at them curiously, but seeing Eleventh Young Madam’s composed bearing, none dared to step forward and ask. The little maid, however, looked increasingly panicked — and someone even fell in behind them.

Eleventh Young Madam glanced back.

It was a woman of about fifty. Of medium build, she wore a camel-colored Hangzhou silk jacket patterned with roundel florals. Her hair, laced with silver threads, was combed into a neat bun adorned with a pair of solid gold hairpins inlaid with lapis longevity characters, and she wore jade studs in her ears. Her face was round and pale as a full moon, her features relaxed, giving her a benevolent and gentle appearance.

Eleventh Young Madam was not quite sure what to make of her.

Madam Gan’s main hall was reserved for distinguished guests. This woman was unfamiliar to her, and her dress was rather plain. If she were a nanny or stewardess, her manner was too dignified and composed for a servant’s bearing. Perhaps she was a guest who had lost her way?

The thought crossed her mind, and she gave the woman a small, pleasant nod.

The woman smiled and nodded back, then, after a brief hesitation, stepped forward. “Excuse me, Madam — do you happen to know the way to Madam Gan’s eldest daughter-in-law’s main chamber?”

Eleventh Young Madam understood at once.

This woman was likely a relative from the eldest daughter-in-law’s family.

She smiled. “I’m not quite certain myself.” Then she turned to the little maid with a friendly expression. “Do you know the way to your eldest Madam’s chamber?”

The little maid nodded quickly. “Go out through the back gate of Third Miss’s courtyard, turn left, and walk straight ahead — it’s not far!”

Eleventh Young Madam turned to the woman. “We are heading to Third Miss’s courtyard… we are going in the same direction.” She was suggesting, gently, whether the woman would like to walk with them.

The woman smiled upon hearing this. “Then I won’t impose further, Madam!”

“Please, think nothing of it.” Eleventh Young Madam smiled, and the two walked side by side toward Cao E’s courtyard.

The woman pointed at the water stain on her jacket. “You’ve had a…”

The little maid walking ahead gave a startled flinch.

Eleventh Young Madam smiled. “I accidentally spilled some tea on myself.” She said nothing further.

The little maid glanced back with a grateful look.

The woman smiled and asked no more. They entered Cao E’s courtyard.

One of Cao E’s personal maids was standing on the steps of the main room, giving instructions to the younger maids. She recognized Eleventh Young Madam and hurried over to pay her respects. “Madam Xu!” Then, noticing the water stain, she exclaimed in surprise, “What has happened…”

Eleventh Young Madam had no need to explain herself to a maid. She asked directly, “Is your Third Miss in her room?”

“Yes, yes, she is!” the maid said quickly. “Please, come inside and be seated.”

Eleventh Young Madam said politely, “Go and let her know first.”

Not daring to act on her own, the maid went quickly inside to inform her young mistress.

Eleventh Young Madam turned to the little maid. “Take this lady to the eldest Madam’s quarters. If anyone asks, tell them I sent you to help show her the way — nothing more. Do you understand?”

The little maid dropped straight to her knees, bowing her head repeatedly. “Madam, I will never forget your great kindness as long as I live!”

Eleventh Young Madam felt a headache coming on.

For one thing, she was unaccustomed to such a display. For another, with the little maid carrying on this way in full view of the woman — who clearly was no fool — an explanation would become necessary, and then all the trouble of keeping it quiet would have been for nothing.

Eleventh Young Madam signaled Hupo to help the little maid up. “Get up quickly — if you get your skirt dirty and someone notices, all of this will unravel.”

The little maid rose, her eyes brimming with tears.

Eleventh Young Madam then smiled at the woman. “Today is Seventh Miss’s happy day. For those of us who are guests, the fewer complications the better.”

The woman nodded pleasantly. “You are quite right, Madam.” But the words had barely left her lips when, with a rustle of curtains, Cao E came out surrounded by her maids.

Seeing half a courtyard’s worth of people standing about, she looked rather startled, and then, noticing the stain on Eleventh Young Madam’s jacket, said in puzzlement, “What on earth has happened?”

“Nothing at all!” Eleventh Young Madam, seeing the little maid’s face go white, quickly said, “I accidentally spilled some tea on myself and wanted to borrow a change of clothes from you.”

Cao E walked over, her eyes full of curiosity. “Rose-red, plain weave with continuous myriad-swastika pattern… is this not from that batch of Hangzhou silk sent as tribute by the Jiangnan weaving office last year? My mother received a bolt in madder red and exchanged it with Madam Zhou for a bolt of bright red — she had it made into a jacket for Lanting to wear at the meeting-the-relatives ceremony. I doubt we’d have fabric of this quality.”

The little maid looked ready to crumple to the ground. Afraid that Cao E would continue and the maid would faint before she finished, Eleventh Young Madam quickly laughed. “At a time like this, who worries about the quality of the fabric — Third Miss, please just lend me something to save the situation.”

Cao E, seeing her somewhat disheveled appearance, said hastily, “Come with me, Madam!”

Eleventh Young Madam gave a nod to the woman, smiled, and instructed the little maid, “Take this lady to your eldest Madam’s quarters. The meal service will be starting soon — hurry along!”

The little maid nodded through her tears.

The woman gave Eleventh Young Madam a kind smile, then followed the little maid through the passageway between the ear rooms toward the eldest daughter-in-law’s chambers.

Cao E asked curiously, “Who is that?”

The Gan family had many connections and complicated relations by marriage, and Cao E, being a young unmarried lady of the inner chambers, would naturally not recognize everyone. Eleventh Young Madam replied, “A guest from your eldest sister-in-law’s family, I believe. She had taken a wrong turn.”

Cao E nodded and led Eleventh Young Madam inside, where she changed into a newly made lotus-pink Hangzhou crepe right-lapel jacket. Then Cao E accompanied Eleventh Young Madam back to the main hall.

When the other guests saw her come back wearing a different jacket, they broke into playful teasing. “Don’t tell us you brought an entire trousseau along?”

“I spilled tea on myself,” Eleventh Young Madam explained with a laugh, “so I borrowed a jacket from Third Miss.”

Madam Zhou stirred the pot merrily. “Cao E, here’s your chance! She’s well known for having the most clothes — make her replace it with a new one!”

Cao E was a rather straightforward-natured girl, not one for playful banter — yet she could not very well dampen everyone’s spirits either, so she simply stood to the side, smiling.

Eleventh Young Madam readily agreed, and the next day sent Cao E a bolt of bright red Hangzhou silk woven with a continuous myriad-swastika pattern.

“She is truly thoughtful,” Madam Gan said, taking her hand with a gentle sigh. “At the time, I was so focused on not letting Lanting lose face before the Liang family — that they might think us unsophisticated — that I quite neglected Cao E.”

Eleventh Young Madam only smiled at Madam Gan.

Perhaps she simply had not wanted Madam Gan to be put in a difficult position.

When Lanting boarded her wedding sedan, Madam Gan’s eldest daughter-in-law was in the front hall attending to Madam Gan as she received the new son-in-law’s family. Lanting’s several sisters-in-law stood about looking at one another, each waiting for someone else to act. It was not until the eldest daughter-in-law rushed over and presented the customary gift envelope for boarding the sedan that the other sisters-in-law reluctantly produced their red envelopes as well.

Third Madam Huang shot a meaningful look in Eleventh Young Madam’s direction.

Eleventh Young Madam paid no attention.

Seeing a daughter married off always left the house feeling hollow. One by one, guests began to take their leave, and Eleventh Young Madam also bid her farewell to Madam Gan.

Madam Gan pressed her to stay. “It is rare to have a day out on your own. Madam Zhou and the others are not strangers — sit with them and play a few rounds of mahjong to pass the time. Household matters are like grass — cut it and it grows back. They can wait a little while!”  Her tone was utterly genuine; it was plain she truly wished Eleventh Young Madam would stay.

Eleventh Young Madam did not conceal the truth. She lowered her voice. “I have a maidservant who has served me since childhood. She was married off on the twenty-sixth of last month, and today was agreed upon as the day she returns home to visit. She is likely still waiting for me.”

Madam Gan, as though reading something between the lines, nodded meaningfully. “If she has served you since you were young, naturally the bond is no ordinary one. Go on, then — I won’t keep you!” And she rose personally to see her off.

Madam Zhou also pressed Eleventh Young Madam. “What is so urgent? Stay and have dinner before you leave!”

Madam Gan kindly covered for Eleventh Young Madam with a laugh. “With old and young at home, how could she just sit still? Not everyone is like you, able to do whatever she pleases.”

Madam Zhou protested with a smile. “We all know it’s stolen time snatched from a busy life!”

“Well, since you know it’s stolen time, you’d still have her sit here and keep you company?” She was defending Eleventh Young Madam with quite some conviction. This took Madam Zhou by surprise.

Madam Gan had spoken off the cuff, and only once the words were out did she realize that, as the hostess, it could seem as though she were trying to drive a guest away. She laughed it off gracefully. “Alright, alright — let’s get the tiles dealt! All this talk is only wasting time.”

Madam Zhou had only asked to show that she wished Eleventh Young Madam would stay. As for why Eleventh Young Madam was in a hurry to return, since Eleventh Young Madam had not offered an explanation, it was not her place to ask. She took Madam Gan’s lead and graciously stepped back, sending Eleventh Young Madam off with a smile and a word to “take care on the road,” walking her to the courtyard entrance before turning back inside to pull Third Madam Huang along for a game of mahjong.

Madam Gan herself walked Eleventh Young Madam all the way to the inner gate, watching until she was seated in the carriage before turning to go back inside.

Hurrying all the way, Eleventh Young Madam finally made it back to Yongping Marquis’s residence just as dusk was falling.

Binju was already waiting in the courtyard.

She was dressed in a bright red jacket embroidered with yellow hibiscus flowers, her hair combed into the married woman’s bun, her fringe smoothed flat with pomade to reveal a clean, fair forehead. Her brows had been shaped into fine willow-leaf arches, and her lips were tinted in peach red. There was a new calm about her now, the fresh-faced rawness of girlhood giving way to the quiet composure of a young wife.

“Madam!” Binju’s eyes brimmed with tears as she curtseyed respectfully.

“Binju!” Eleventh Young Madam hurried over, taking both her hands and looking her over from every angle.

The joy of reunion gave way to astonishment. “What has happened to you?”

Eleventh Young Madam pouted. “I was checking whether they’d been working you to the bone — making you chop wood, haul water, tend the fire, and cook every meal!”

“Nothing of the sort, nothing of the sort!” Binju could not help smiling as she held out her hands. “See for yourself, if you don’t believe me.”

Yet the corners of her eyes glistened.

Eleventh Young Madam examined both hands carefully. Seeing them as soft and fair as ever, she gave a satisfied nod at last. “Good — it seems Wan Daxian does have some sense after all!”

At that, Binju could no longer hold back her tears.

Nanny Song, standing nearby, quickly said, “Goodness gracious, what’s all this? Today is your return-home visit — a happy occasion Madam has been looking forward to. It should be all smiles and cheer! What is there to cry about?”

—