By the time they returned to the Bow-String Hutong in Baoda Quarter, the first lanterns of the evening were already lit.

The First Young Mistress, Madam Gu, helped the First Madam down from the carriage and said in a low voice, “Mother, Second Master and Second Madam have come!”

The First Madam was slightly startled. “They haven’t left yet?”

“No!” the First Young Mistress replied quietly. “And Fourth Young Mistress came with them…”

The First Madam raised an eyebrow. “What did she come for?”

From the direction of the main chamber, easy, hearty laughter already carried over.

Eleventh Miss had just stepped onto the footstool to descend from the carriage. Hearing that laughter, she paused.

It was Second Master’s laughter…

In Yanjing, the curfew sounded at the first watch of the night. It was now the second half of the fourth watch. She had no idea how far Huanghua Quarter was from here — whether they could make it back in half an hour or not…

She was still turning this over in her mind when the laughter grew closer and Second Master’s voice became clearly audible. “…Then tomorrow at the second half of the first morning watch, I’ll come to fetch you, Elder Brother.”

The First Master’s voice was cultivated and unhurried. “I’ll be waiting for you — let’s have breakfast together first and then go.”

The words had barely faded when First Master and Second Master appeared at the inner gate together — one inside, one outside — and the two parties came face to face.

“You’re back!” The First Master smiled and greeted the First Madam. Second Master clasped his hands in a bow and called out, “Sister-in-law.”

The First Madam curtsied to the two men, addressing the First Master respectfully as “My Lord,” then greeted Second Master as “Second Uncle.”

Behind the two men stepped out a woman of about forty. She had a fair complexion and an oval face, and wore a fragrant-beige brocade jacket with a hundred-butterfly floral pattern, inlaid jade and solid-gold Guanyin hairpin, a bowl-sized Western pearl and jade flower, with an additional ring of fine emerald-plum-blossom flowers — caught in the glow of the red lanterns hanging at the inner gate, she fairly blazed with pearls and jade, dazzling to behold.

“Sister-in-law.” She smiled broadly at the First Madam and curtsied. “Knowing you had arrived, I specially brought the children to pay their respects. Little did I know you had gone to Marquis Yongping’s mansion… I’ve been waiting until now. How fortunate that I waited and caught you.”

She was Second Madam, Madam Yu.

“You’ve had a long wait.” The First Madam curtsied in return to Second Madam. Then a young woman stepped out from behind Second Madam and called, “Aunt.”

The woman appeared to be in her early twenties, tall and slender, with fair skin and gentle, agreeable features — pleasant to look at.

“Fourth Young Mistress!” The First Madam smiled in greeting. “I didn’t expect to see you here as well!”

“I had gone back to see Mother, and that’s when I heard you had arrived in Yanjing. So I came along to pay my respects to Aunt.” Fourth Young Mistress smiled warmly as the spring breeze. “I heard you had gone to Marquis Yongping’s mansion. How is Elder Sister faring?”

The First Madam smiled and nodded. “She is well. Thank you for your concern.”

“That is a relief.” Fourth Young Mistress exhaled. “I had heard she was gravely ill. I was confined to my lying-in month and could not go to her. I’ve been worried the whole time!”

Seven years ago, Third Madam had acted as matchmaker to arrange Fourth Young Mistress’s betrothal to Yu Yiqing, the eldest son of Yu Naigui, the Vice Magistrate of the Court of Judicial Review. Yet not two years after her marriage, Yu Naigui passed away from illness, and she followed her mother-in-law back to the family’s ancestral home in Fuyang. The Yu family had originally been quite poor, and it was only after Yu Naigui had passed the imperial examinations that the household had slowly accumulated some property — no more than four or five hundred mu of waterland in all, with one residence each in the city and outside, and with Yu Yiqing’s many brothers and sisters to consider besides, making for rather tight circumstances. Second Madam felt deeply for her daughter and every year set aside five hundred taels from her own household allocation to have delivered to Fuyang.

Yu Yiqing was a capable scholar. In the fifty-ninth year of Jianwu he passed the provincial examinations. The following year, when the new Emperor ascended the throne and a special examination was announced, he hastily sat for it but failed to place. Second Madam then used the pretext of “Fuyang having no good tutors” to bring her daughter and son-in-law to Yanjing. Using Second Master’s connections, she arranged for Yu Yiqing to study at the Imperial Academy, and helped them rent a residence near Laojuntang Hutong.

Perhaps it was the benefit of having her mother close by: the previously childless Fourth Young Mistress had gone on to bear two sons in succession — the younger of whom had been born just the previous month.

“Is the baby healthy?” The First Madam smiled and exchanged pleasantries. “I had someone send some Shandong donkey-hide gelatin your way some days past — did you receive it? Do you find it agreeable? It is most excellent for replenishing the blood.”

“I received it!” Fourth Young Mistress quickly thanked the First Madam. “Thank you so much for your care and thought.”

Fifth Miss and Eleventh Miss took the opportunity to step forward and bow to Second Madam and Fourth Young Mistress.

Fourth Young Mistress returned their bows. Third Young Mistress, Madam Ding, came out leading Seventh Miss, and they exchanged greetings with the First Madam, Fifth Miss, and Eleventh Miss — chattering and lively, a most cheerful scene.

The First Master smiled. “We can’t very well all stand here. Shall we go in for tea?”

Second Madam looked as though she was tempted to stay, but Second Master said, “It’s getting late. Tomorrow you and I still need to go to the Liu family. There will be plenty of time.”

The First Master did not press them to stay, and simply instructed, “Be careful on the road.” He also called on Luo Zhensheng, who had been standing quietly to one side the whole time, to see the guests out. He himself stayed with the First Madam at the inner gate until the Second Branch’s carriage had driven off before returning to the main chamber.

The First Madam then asked, “You are going to the residence of Grand Secretary Liu tomorrow? Why didn’t you mention it to me so I could be prepared? What business are you attending to at the Liu household?”

Third Master of the Luo family had married the youngest daughter of Grand Secretary Liu, and after the Luo family’s Elder Master had retired, Grand Secretary Liu had taken the three Luo brothers under his wing. The Luo brothers, in turn, held Grand Secretary Liu in great esteem — besides the Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, and New Year, they sent household stewards to offer congratulations on occasions ranging from Grand Secretary Liu’s birthday all the way down to when the young Liu masters took concubines.

“It was a sudden decision.” The First Master’s brow was slightly furrowed, and he looked rather vexed. “Grand Secretary Liu got into a dispute with Grand Secretary Chen over the tea tax and in a fit of anger submitted his resignation. Who would have thought the Emperor actually accepted it…”

“What?” The First Madam’s face went pale with shock. “How can this be?”

“He is leaving the capital the day after tomorrow.” The First Master’s expression darkened. “We only found out through Third Brother — Second Brother heard you had arrived and was planning to invite Third Brother to come here for a family gathering, but then this happened. Third Brother and his wife have already gone to the Liu household!”

The First Madam’s emotions were written all over her face. She waved her hand at Fifth Miss and Eleventh Miss in irritation. “You have both had a long day. Go and rest!”

Fifth Miss and Eleventh Miss curtsied and answered “Yes” with convenient timing. As they rose, the First Master and the First Madam had already entered the main chamber, though the sound of their conversation could still be faintly heard.

“How is Yuan Niang?”

“She is holding on.” The First Madam’s voice was taut. “As it happens, there is something I need to speak with you about…”

The voices grew fainter and farther, and the courtyard returned to quiet.

Fifth Miss and Eleventh Miss walked back one behind the other to the rear side rooms.

—

Early the next morning, the First Master had Second Master come for breakfast, after which the two of them went together to the Liu household.

When Fifth Miss and Eleventh Miss went to pay their morning respects to the First Madam, she was somewhat distracted — not even Mao Ge’s arrival was enough to truly lift her spirits. She sent the child away in his wet nurse’s arms and kept only the First Young Mistress to speak with her alone.

The two of them stepped outside. Fifth Miss beamed at Eleventh Miss. “Come to think of it, we sisters have not sat together in quite a long time. Since we happen to be free today, come have tea in my room!” She was an entirely different person from her usual cool indifference.

Eleventh Miss was mildly surprised.

As long as Fifth Miss had not yet achieved her goal, there was no way she would ever truly make peace with her.

This sort of warmth and friendliness — there must be some purpose behind it.

But whatever her purpose, if she paid no attention to it, Fifth Miss might think she was looking to start a confrontation.

Turning this over in her mind, Eleventh Miss smiled with easy lightness. “Of course! We really haven’t sat and had tea together in quite a while!”

Fifth Miss gave a slight nod — looking rather satisfied with Eleventh Miss — and then brought her to her own quarters.

It was plain that the First Young Mistress had put considerable thought into arranging their accommodations. Not only were the furnishings in the east and west wing rooms identical, but even small items like tea cups and cushions were exactly the same, with no distinction between them.

The two sat down on the large kang by the window. Ziwei served tea. Fifth Miss smiled and said to Eleventh Miss, “I want to say something in confidence.” And with that, she sent Ziwei and the others away.

Eleventh Miss also smiled and sent Hupo and the others away.

Left alone together in the room, Fifth Miss let out a sigh. She looked at Eleventh Miss with an apologetic expression. “Good sister, I misjudged you, which is why I have been finding fault with you at every turn… Please, don’t hold it against me.”

Eleventh Miss was genuinely surprised.

Such humility and deference — it seemed Fifth Miss had truly made up her mind to secure what she was after.

She assumed an uneasy expression. “Sister, please don’t say such things. It must be that I did something wrong somewhere, which caused the misunderstanding.” She widened her eyes and looked at Fifth Miss. “Sister, what exactly did I do…”

“It is entirely my fault,” Fifth Miss said, looking quite guilty. “You don’t know — when Mother chose you and me to come to Yanjing to see Elder Sister, it was simply because Elder Sister has already married, and Elder Brother is far away in Yanjing, so the house feels empty. She wanted a couple of daughters she is fond of to accompany her on the road to keep her company, chat and laugh and lift her spirits.” A look of indignation crossed her face. “Who could have known that in the eyes of certain people, this would become: Zhun Ge’s health is poor, and Elder Sister wants to choose a concubine from among the younger sisters…”

Eleventh Miss played along and showed a look of surprise. “Something like that? I had never heard any of this!”

“Those people thought you were too young to be worth telling. They didn’t bother whispering it in front of you.” Fifth Miss’s gaze shifted. “But they found their way to my room to gossip.” She paused. “To tell you plainly — the ones spreading this talk were First Yiniang and Second Yiniang.”

Eleventh Miss looked at Fifth Miss in surprise.

She really could spin a story.

But then — First Yiniang and Second Yiniang did spread gossip everywhere. It wasn’t out of the question that they had actually said something like this.

Seeing Eleventh Miss’s expression, Fifth Miss looked satisfied. She smiled and said, “And it wasn’t just that. They also said that Mother brought the two of us so that Elder Sister could choose one of us. So that day when you were unwell but still came to my room asking about Elder Sister, I was furious!”

“Sister!” Eleventh Miss said in something close to alarm. “Sister couldn’t possibly think that I was trying to… I truly knew nothing about any of this… I was only bored on the boat, and so I came to chat with Sister.” She added a self-reproachful expression. “Had I known, I would have made things clear to you from the start. Then you wouldn’t have misunderstood me!”

“No, no, no,” Fifth Miss quickly said. “When I think about it, the fault lies with me. It was I who failed to explain things clearly to you, and so…” She looked down, her face flushed a delicate pink, the picture of shyness. “Mother once spoke to me about this matter… She said Elder Sister’s health is poor, and she worries there will be no one to care for Zhun Ge after she is gone, so she wants to find someone among the younger sisters to help look after Zhun Ge. She said that among the sisters of suitable age, there was only me and Tenth Miss… You know Tenth Miss is not in Mother’s favor. She also asked me — asked whether I was willing… Being an unmarried girl, how was I supposed to answer something like that… So when Mother told me to come to Yanjing, I refused no matter what… Mother persuaded me, and I said, if I go alone, won’t everyone know exactly what it means… So Mother had me come to Yanjing together with you…”

Eleventh Miss was dumbfounded.

For Yuan Niang’s position, Fifth Miss had already stopped at nothing…

Given the First Madam’s nature, even if such a thing were truly the case, she would never say it aloud. Let alone when Yuan Niang was not yet dead!

When it comes to the person one loves most, no matter how clear-headed one may be, there is still some small flicker of hope — the belief that she will certainly recover — and the precautions one takes “just in case” are ones that will never actually need to be used…

—