The Elder Madam clasped Miss Jiang the Ninth’s hand, her eyes and brows full of smiles.

Miss Jiang the Ninth stood straight and tall, her voice clear as pearls of different sizes dropping onto jade: “…I have only read as far as the chapters on ‘Women,’ ‘Household Implements,’ and ‘Poverty and Wealth.’ Father says I should wait until I’m a little older before reading the rest carefully.”

The Elder Madam nodded repeatedly and said to Lady Jiang, who sat properly to one side: “Scholar Jiang truly lives up to his reputation as a man of learning.”

Lady Jiang smiled faintly, the small dimple at her cheek appearing: “The Elder Madam is too kind. It is only that my daughter is slow and simple, so I can only teach her the easy parts.”

Miss Jiang the Ninth, hearing this, dropped her head and laughed a little, a faint shyness flashing across her brow.

The Elder Madam watched her and laughed warmly: “The ninth miss is sweetly guileless—Lady Jiang is being too modest.” She glanced over at Zhun Ge, who stood by her side staring at Miss Jiang the Ninth with undisguised curiosity. “This is your Jiang family younger sister!”

Zhun Ge stepped forward like a little adult, bowed with proper courtesy, and called out: “Younger Sister Jiang!”

Miss Jiang the Ninth raised her head and curtsied with natural ease and grace.

The Elder Madam’s smile deepened. She glanced up and saw Nanny Song standing with her hands at her sides by the bamboo curtain, understanding that the banquet was ready. She said: “Lady Jiang is a rare and precious guest—we have prepared some food and drink, and hope Lady Jiang will not decline.” So saying, she rose with the support of Nanny Du.

Everyone in the room rose with a rustle of movement. Lady Jiang offered polite protestations for a form’s sake, then fell back two steps behind the Elder Madam and followed her toward the flower hall beside Dian Chun Tang.

The early summer air was brilliant with pomegranate blossoms in full bloom.

The Elder Madam and Lady Jiang were talking of flowers.

Lady Jiang responded with murmurs of assent, her gaze stealing sideways now and then toward Eleventh Miss, who walked behind her.

She wore a pale water-green gauze jacket and a moon-white skirt embroidered with raised thread, her lovely face carrying a light smile that bespoke quiet elegance and serenity. A certain fifth young master of unspecified birth was being carried in his wet nurse’s arms and was twisting about, wanting her to hold him. She went over and cradled the baby, said a few gentle and tender words in a low voice, and the child settled down, lying quietly in the wet nurse’s arms without stirring further. She patted the child’s head, then hurried forward in a few quick steps to rejoin the group.

Lady Jiang gave an imperceptible nod and followed the Elder Madam into the flower hall.

Four kinds of dried fruits, four dishes of pickled vegetables, four cold dishes, four accompaniment dishes, six hot dishes… a full table set. There was the Jiangxi delicacy of three-young-chicken, and the capital’s famed chrysanthemum pork medallion. At the end, a dish of ice-chilled water chestnuts was brought out on crystal plates.

Lady Jiang was somewhat surprised.

Water chestnuts were one of Nanjing’s eight aquatic delicacies; they came into season in the sixth month, and brought by fast relay horse to the capital would still take until mid-month to arrive. And yet it was only the middle of the fifth month… It was clear the Xu household attached great importance to this meeting and had gone to considerable trouble to receive her.

Her gaze swept across to the adjacent table where Zhun Ge sat.

The boy had a fine appearance—gentle and refined in his brow and bearing, courteous and well-mannered in his conduct—and he even knew to help his younger brother eat beside him. The only pity was that he appeared somewhat more delicate and slight than children of the same age. From what she had heard, he had been born prematurely… If a husband’s constitution were poor, the couple would inevitably be lacking in certain kinds of marital happiness.

At this thought, Lady Jiang inwardly let out a quiet sigh.

The sweet, clear water chestnuts in her mouth lost a little of their flavor.

It was called a look-over, but whether one looked or not hardly mattered anymore. This had been settled two years ago. They and their husband had simply been unwilling to let it go unexamined—they had to lay eyes on their future son-in-law before they could be at ease.

The thought having passed, she chided herself inwardly for her insatiability.

She had known from the start that nothing in this world was perfect in every way. Before coming, she had feared this boy’s early loss of his birth mother might mean the household either held him at a respectful distance, or that having been raised in his grandmother’s rooms he had grown unruly for lack of proper guidance, or that without support he had been looked down upon and grown timid and dense—faint of heart and hesitant of step. Now, the Elder Madam appeared kindly and good-natured, Eleventh Miss had a gentle and accommodating temperament, and the brothers treated one another with respectful affection… Lady Jiang mused on this, her attention shifting to the Fifth Madam who sat nearby.

This young aunt, too, appeared to be someone of gracious bearing and proper conduct. Rather better than she had imagined.

Perhaps it was a matter of different perspectives. Eleventh Miss had anxious fires burning for Zhen Jie’er’s situation, but when it came to Zhun Ge, her state of mind was quite at ease. For one thing, this arrangement had been settled long ago, and today was merely going through the motions. For another, she felt society was harsher toward girls—once Zhen Jie’er married into someone else’s family, her joys and sorrows would be in another’s hands. As for a girl from another family marrying into her own—she couldn’t speak to everything, but at the very least, she would not deliberately make things difficult for her daughters-in-law merely to assert a mother-in-law’s authority.

The two of them had entirely different thoughts, yet over the course of the meal they grew considerably warmer toward each other.

Everyone moved to the west flower hall for tea and conversation; the children, accompanied by Nanny Du, Nanny Song, and others, went to the back garden.

Xu Siyu, feeling himself the eldest of the group, merely made a token appearance and stood to one side. Zhen Jie’er, with her gentle nature, yielded to everyone; Miss Jiang the Ninth was still at the age of guileless innocence, and she quickly found her way into play with Zhun Ge and Xu Sijie.

She looked out at the back garden, a riot of color in full bloom, and exclaimed: “It’s even more beautiful than the scenery at our Dafu Temple!”

It was rare for the household to receive guests with a girl the same age as Zhun Ge, and this girl was both lovely and gentle. He said: “Do you go to worship the Buddha? We have one here too!”

Miss Jiang the Ninth’s eyes went wide: “You have a temple here too?”

Zhun Ge was about to answer when he saw Jiexiang leading a group of young maidservants walking toward them.

They were carrying flower baskets, filled to overflowing with pomegranate blossoms, jade hairpin flowers, jasmine, and gardenia.

Several of them curtsied at once to Zhun Ge and the others.

Zhun Ge pointed to Jiexiang and said to Miss Jiang the Ninth: “This is the personal attendant who serves at my Second Aunt’s side—her name is Jiexiang.”

Knowing that Lady Jiang and her young miss were coming as guests, she also curtsied to Miss Jiang the Ninth.

Miss Jiang the Ninth called out: “Older Sister Jiexiang!” She looked with great longing at the fragrant white gardenia blooms in her arms. “What flower is that? How beautiful!”

“These are gardenia flowers,” Jiexiang said at once, and picked out several of the larger blossoms for Miss Jiang the Ninth. “They are grown in our household’s heated conservatory. They are common in the south, but quite rare here in the north.”

Miss Jiang the Ninth happily accepted the flowers and took a deep breath. “No wonder I didn’t recognize them!” she said grandly, making everyone laugh.

Nanny Du laughed and asked Jiexiang: “Gathering so many flowers—what are these for?”

Jiexiang replied: “Second Madam wishes to make some floral extracts.”

Nanny Du asked no further; but Miss Jiang the Ninth was greatly interested upon hearing this, and asked Zhun Ge: “May I go watch the floral extracts being made? When I came, our family’s Fourth Elder Sister was making floral extracts following recipes from Father’s collection… I left before I could watch!” She blinked her eyes at Zhun Ge, looking utterly endearing.

Zhun Ge immediately said: “Why not? My Second Aunt often makes floral extracts at home—she makes different ones according to the different seasons. She also makes incense blends.” And he led Miss Jiang the Ninth toward Shaohua Courtyard.

Nanny Du and the others had been leading the children wherever they wished to go, so this was of no consequence.

Xu Siyu had been shut inside the house studying for several days and had not seen Second Madam for a while; he wanted to go sit with her as well.

Zhen Jie’er, as half a hostess, was obliged to be an attentive host.

And so the whole group went to Second Madam’s quarters in merry spirits.

Shaohua Courtyard had not been this lively in a long time.

Second Madam set out fruits and homemade pastries for them.

Golden chrysanthemum cakes, snow-white jade hairpin flower cakes, red pomegranate pastries, candied apples, toffee strips, willow-leaf sweets… and clear, fresh West Lake Dragon Well tea.

Miss Jiang the Ninth smiled until her eyes curved into crescents.

Xu Siyu took the opportunity to consult Second Madam about his studies. Zhen Jie’er, fearing Xu Sijie would make noise, whispered to Zhun Ge and Miss Jiang the Ninth: “Let’s go play in the bamboo grove.”

Miss Jiang the Ninth had often seen people come to consult her father about his studies at home, and knew one was not supposed to make a sound. She nodded repeatedly.

Zhen Jie’er had the young maidservant Xiao Li pick out several kinds of pastries for each of them, arranged on large red-lacquered and gilt sea-anemone-shaped trays, then took Xu Sijie by the hand and went to the bamboo grove.

The group settled themselves on the stone table and stone stools in the bamboo grove, eating pastries and drinking tea. Miss Jiang the Ninth talked about things at her own home, Zhun Ge talked about Teacher Zhao, and everyone chimed in, back and forth, merry and carefree.

Nanny Du stood watching to one side, her face lit up with happiness.

In the end, Miss Jiang the Ninth never did get to watch the floral extracts being made, but she received from Second Madam a bottle of rose and lily fragrant water, and a bottle of peony and osmanthus fragrant water.

In the carriage on the way home, Lady Jiang held them up and inhaled with admiration: “Truly unexpected. To think someone could make such remarkably wonderful fragrant water. First you smell the rose, then breathe in more carefully—and there is the lily.”

Miss Jiang the Ninth kept calling out: “Mother!” She opened her black-agate eyes wide and said: “Second Aunt was also explaining the Analects to Elder Brother Yu.”

Lady Jiang heard this and smiled gently at her daughter, her eyes filled with tender warmth: “Does Sese like Zhun Ge’s family?”

Jiang the Ninth’s daughter, pet-named Sese, nodded eagerly: “I do!”

Madam Jiang, who sat to one side, heard this and looked at her sister-in-law with a smile: “This is what they call a match written in the heavens!”

Lady Jiang said nothing. She stroked her daughter’s dark hair, her touch gentle, even carrying a trace of tenderness tinged with sorrow.

Over at Xu manor, Fifth Madam was somewhat tiredly removing her pale water-blue fine kudzu jacket, revealing the pale yellow inner robe embroidered with large red winding flower branches.

“The weather is getting hotter and hotter,” she said, her tone carrying a note of complaint.

Nanny Shi smiled and took the garment she had removed, passing it to a young maidservant nearby. She picked up a freshly wrung cloth and helped Fifth Madam wipe herself down.

“Tonight Fifth Master is on duty in the palace—have the wet nurse bring little Xin Jie’er to sleep in my room!”

Nanny Shi smiled and replied, “Yes,” then instructed a young maidservant to pass the word.

Fifth Madam then thought of something: “Last time I went back home I heard Father say he wanted to petition for an imperial decree naming Wei Ge as heir—I wonder how that is coming along?”

“It cannot possibly happen this quickly!” Nanny Shi smiled. “The Marquis holds a hereditary title that descends unchanged through generations. It requires a memorial petition to the Emperor and to the Ministry of Rites. The earliest would be next spring.” She then helped Fifth Madam drape a white-and-silver-striped gauze jacket around her shoulders.

Fifth Madam, however, appeared to have thought of something; she pressed her lips together with a half-smile that wasn’t quite a smile.

Nanny Shi’s heart gave a small jolt, and she quickly said with a smile: “The Marquis saw from the start that Wei First Master was the right choice—was it not because of Wei First Master’s straightforward nature, and how well he gets along with Madam? What’s more, these past several years Wei First Master has done his filial duty before the Marquis…”

“I know.” Fifth Madam waved a distracted hand, cutting off Nanny Shi’s words. “I was thinking about Zhun Ge… By the look of things, the Marquis is going to petition for Zhun Ge to be formally named heir. I wonder what Eleventh Miss would think of that when she finds out?” She said this, and then pressed her lips together in a smile.

* * *