When Eleventh Young Lady saw that Dowager Lady Gan’s expression held not a trace of bitterness, she felt reassured and smiled. “Fuzhen Sister, what did you want to see me about?”

Dowager Lady Gan smiled back at her and turned to open the storage chest.

“I had my brother purchase this some time ago. It turned out I had no use for it,” she said, settling herself in front of Eleventh Young Lady and placing a paper box on the low kang table. “So I thought I’d give it to you!”

Eleventh Young Lady opened the paper box with a puzzled frown.

Inside, neatly arranged, was a full box of cordyceps.

Golden in color, plump and substantial — one glance told her it was the finest quality.

“The appearance looks quite good,” Dowager Lady Gan smiled. “It would be a shame to leave it sitting with me.”

It was a sincere gesture from Dowager Lady Gan’s heart!

Eleventh Young Lady accepted it readily: “Thank you, Fuzhen Sister!”

Dowager Lady Gan laughed, and a warmth crept into her eyes. She then had a young maidservant bring out Tieguanyin tea to serve her guest. “What have you been occupied with lately?”

Eleventh Young Lady told Dowager Lady Gan about Master Jian’s arrival and their discussions about opening a needlework and trousseau shop together.

Dowager Lady Gan listened, then said thoughtfully: “Opening a shop in Yanjing is no simple matter. You’ll need start-up capital, and more importantly, you’ll need backing. Would you like me to put in a word with my brother? I won’t claim I can do everything, but a word to the Prefect of Shuntian and a word to the Five-District Garrison — that much I can manage.”

Eleventh Young Lady was genuinely grateful. “I’ve already spoken with the Marquis. He has asked our household’s Chief Steward Bai to act on our behalf and help smooth things over. If we run into any difficulties, I’ll come to you, Fuzhen Sister.”

“You don’t need to stand on ceremony with me.” Dowager Lady Gan smiled. “If Chief Steward Bai can’t manage it, I’m afraid my brother won’t be able to either.” She paused briefly, then hesitated for a moment before continuing: “I am a few years your senior, and you call me elder sister. So let me offer you some words from the heart. It would be best if your shop had no entanglement with the Xu family name. Otherwise, gossip will start circulating, and in time it will be impossible to separate your business from the Xu family’s holdings. I’ve heard something of the Xu family’s situation — it seems the Third Master and Fifth Master have long since branched out on their own, though I don’t know whether your husband’s Second Branch has formally separated yet. If it hasn’t, and your widowed sister-in-law adopts a child, there could be all manner of complications. You’re still young — you must plan ahead for your own future. You shouldn’t covet what belongs to Xu Mansion, but neither should you allow your own standing to be given away to others.”

These were truly words spoken from the heart.

Eleventh Young Lady nodded repeatedly and explained the circumstances of how things had come about: “…At the time, I didn’t know who else to turn to, so I spoke up myself. Now that I’ve already informed the Marquis, to reverse course would look rather ungracious.”

Dowager Lady Gan then helped her devise a plan. “Didn’t Chief Steward Bai say he would wait for your confirmation before going to make inquiries? I think there’s another way to handle this. I have several storefronts on East Main Street — two of them are currently rented to a cosmetics merchant from the Jiangnan region. They’ve been doing business in Yanjing for over ten years and have built up a modest reputation. But recently the proprietor has been getting on in years and wishes to return home to retire. A few days ago he sent word asking if I could find a new tenant before the Start of Winter. If one could be found, all the better — if not, they said they could manage at most until the end of the year. I was already thinking of asking my brother to help me find someone. Why not have Master Jian go and take a look? If the location seems suitable, I would like to put the shop’s rent in as my share, and enter into partnership with the two of you to open the trousseau shop together. I wonder what you think of this proposal?”

If the shop’s rent was used as an equity stake in the way Dowager Lady Gan described, they would not need to produce the rental money upfront. And because it was being contributed as a share, if the business ran at a loss, the rent payment would simply not be owed; if there was a profit, the rent would effectively be paid in proportion to earnings. Unless Dowager Lady Gan could predict the future, no matter how one calculated it, this arrangement worked entirely to the advantage of herself and Master Jian. Besides, given Dowager Lady Gan’s circumstances, renting out the shop and collecting rent would be far less conspicuous — and far less troublesome — than entering into a business partnership.

Eleventh Young Lady understood her meaning in an instant.

This was not really about Dowager Lady Gan wanting a stake in the business. It was plainly a way of helping her.

But before she could say a word, Dowager Lady Gan had already spoken: “I’m asking you to help me make money, you know — you can’t refuse me outright!”

“Whether the business turns a profit or a loss is still uncertain,” Eleventh Young Lady laughed. “I’m afraid I might drag you down with me!”

“Would the loss of rent on those two storefronts really leave me short of pin money?” Dowager Lady Gan laughed. “I’ll only put in the stake — I won’t involve myself in any of the shop’s affairs. If anything comes up that needs attending to, my brother can run errands. And you don’t need to rush your answer — go home and discuss it with Master Jian!”

Eleventh Young Lady felt she could trust Dowager Lady Gan’s character.

She smiled. “All right — I’ll go home and talk it over with Master Jian, and give you a definite answer as quickly as possible, so the matter of the shop can be settled for the other party as well.”

Dowager Lady Gan smiled and nodded, writing down the precise location of the shop for her. The two women chatted for a while longer, and when Eleventh Young Lady saw the hour was growing late, she rose to take her leave.

That evening, she met with Master Jian and relayed Dowager Lady Gan’s proposal.

“Birds of a feather flock together,” Master Jian smiled. “If she has befriended you, she is likely a fine person. It would of course be ideal if Dowager Lady Gan can contribute the shop’s rent as a share. You don’t know this, but today I went around to inquire about shop rents — and what I found astonished me. Some storefronts, just a single unit, can fetch five hundred taels a year. The more modest ones still run two or three hundred taels a year…” Master Jian went on to describe what she had observed that day. The following morning, she went to look at the address Eleventh Young Lady had given her.

Since the previous business had dealt in cosmetics, the clientele was largely female. Moreover, the neighboring storefronts included two other cosmetics shops, one selling hairpieces, and one selling women’s shoes. Dowager Lady Gan’s two adjoining units occupied a corner directly connected to East Main Street — the kind of location that, even with money to spare, one might never find available. Master Jian was thoroughly satisfied and came back to tell Eleventh Young Lady: “Tell me — is it possible that Heaven itself is looking after us? Ever since coming to Yanjing, everything has been going so smoothly.”

Eleventh Young Lady also felt this opening had been auspicious, and nodded enthusiastically.

The two women called on Dowager Lady Gan the following day, gave her their formal reply, and it could be said that the three partners had convened for the first time. They decided to take over the storefront after the Start of Winter.

Eleventh Young Lady informed Binju about the trousseau shop venture and asked whether she would be willing to go and help at the shop. Binju went home to consult Wan Daxian, who naturally agreed without hesitation.

She also went to call on the Dowager Lady.

The Dowager Lady, hearing the news, was very supportive: “…Master Jian looks like a reliable person. This will give you some money for your own cosmetics.” She privately gave her two thousand taels of silver. “Once you’ve made a profit, return it to me double. If you suffer a loss, you’ll have plenty of leisure time — you can just help me make a few more garments.”

With things put so plainly, Eleventh Young Lady could only feel grateful. She also quietly resolved that no matter what, she would make this trousseau shop a success.

At dinner that evening, everyone had heard the news.

Xu Lingkuan said: “Fourth Sister-in-Law, when you open, I’ll hire a Yanjing opera troupe to set up a stage there and put on a show — a grand celebration for your opening!”

That would make them known to everyone in the city!

“There’s no need for that, no need at all.” Eleventh Young Lady laughed. “We’re opening a modest little shop — a spectacle on that scale isn’t what we want. We’d frighten away the everyday customer.”

She and Master Jian had decided to aim for the middle market. If the opening was made too grand an affair, ordinary people might well be too intimidated to set foot inside.

Xu Lingyi also said: “This is a little cosmetics venture for the women — don’t go meddling in it.”

Eleventh Young Lady reported progress to Xu Lingyi daily, and he was well acquainted with their plans.

Xu Lingkuan looked a little deflated.

Fifth Young Lady smiled and said: “Oh, when the time comes, we’ll send our congratulations in person — that’ll be far more practical for Fourth Sister-in-Law at the opening than hiring any opera troupe.”

“Yes, yes, quite right.” Xu Lingkuan, like Xu Lingyi, was not particularly versed in commercial matters, but both of them had properties under their names and understood these things to some degree. “When Fourth Sister-in-Law first opens, she’d do best to sell at cost. Once she’s established her reputation, she can start introducing new varieties and adding a small margin. Once she’s on solid footing, change up the stock again and start turning a real profit.”

“Then I’ll gratefully accept the Fifth Master’s good wishes!” Eleventh Young Lady smiled and thanked him.

Xu Sizhun, who had been listening, looked somewhat crestfallen.

Eleventh Young Lady asked him gently: “What is the matter?”

Xu Sizhun hesitated. “Mother is going to run a trousseau shop, so you’ll be meeting with the stewards to go over the accounts often. Does that mean I should help look after Fifth Brother?”

“What? You’re unwilling?” Xu Lingyi, who was sitting nearby, said quietly, his tone level.

Xu Lingkuan and Fifth Young Lady’s expressions became slightly uneasy.

“No, no, it’s not that.” Xu Sizhun hastily said. “It’s just that recently my tutor has been compiling a record called ‘Chronicles of Yanjing,’ and he’s asked me to help research references and sources. I need to let him know first. And when Mother is busy, perhaps Fifth Brother could be brought to Shuangfu Courtyard.”

Xu Sizhun lived on the Dowager Lady’s side of the residence, while Xu Sijie was still staying with herself. Without creating opportunities for them, the two boys would have little chance to spend time together beyond morning and evening greetings. To deepen the bond between them, Eleventh Young Lady would often have Xu Sizhun bring Xu Sijie along to play on the days when she met with the stewards at the end of each month. He must have been thinking that with his mother now taking on another undertaking, she would be even busier going forward, and so had raised the question.

The Dowager Lady heard this and chuckled warmly, drawing Xu Sizhun into her arms. “My dear grandson. Your mother is only investing a share — the day-to-day running of the shop is Master Jian’s affair. She’ll only be busy for two or three days at most. Besides, your Fifth Brother has his own managing nanny. You don’t need to worry about him.”

Xu Lingyi’s eyes softened with a quiet smile.

Only Xu Sijie, not understanding why his elder brother had mentioned his name, stared around with wide, beautiful phoenix eyes full of curiosity.

Eleventh Young Lady smiled and gathered Xu Sijie into her arms.

Master Jian began seeking out fabric and thread merchants, and at the same time reached out to old acquaintances in the Jiangnan region to see whether anyone would be willing to come north to work as an embroiderer. The wife of Liu Yuanrui’s household took charge of canvassing the surrounding neighborhood for skilled needlewomen who could work from home. Binju sorted through old embroidery patterns and visited other trousseau shops to observe what goods they produced and what prices they charged. The task of keeping Zhen Jie’er company at her embroidery now fell to Qiuju. Qiuju could not help daydreaming, until one day Zhen Jie’er said: “Mother, why don’t I help embroider things for your shop too?”

“That won’t do at all,” Eleventh Young Lady laughed. “You’re not an embroiderer — if something you’ve made ended up circulating in the marketplace, that would be most improper!”

By the time they busied through to the beginning of the tenth month, the problem that had given them the most headaches — finding embroiderers — was essentially resolved.

Because they wished to avoid being drawn into the rivalry between the Caiiu Embroidery Workshop and Xianling Pavilion, four or five embroiderers who had once been indebted to Master Jian’s kindness, and who had no family ties to hold them back, decided to make their way to Yanjing and place themselves under her guidance. Although these women were not particularly famous, they were more than capable of handling the trousseau shop’s embroidery work.

The trousseau shop was taking shape in outline.

Eleventh Young Lady’s spirits were bright, when suddenly Jin Lian and Yin Ping — the two maids from Tenth Young Lady’s side — came to find her.

—