‘What could be wrong with him!’ Gan Grand Madam laughed. ‘A third of the ancestral estate was sold off to establish the sacrificial fields; over the course of the litigation, the public revenue had sharply decreased, and yet another portion of the properties had been disposed of. By the time the household was divided, the Marquis of Zhongqin mansion’s ancestral estate amounted to barely a third of what it had originally been. I am afraid he will be up in the middle of the night secretly laughing to himself.’

Eleventh Young Mistress felt somewhat abashed.

Gan Grand Madam continued: ‘When all is said and done, this lawsuit was resolved as it was in large part because Lanting exerted herself considerably in the matter.’

Eleventh Young Mistress did not understand.

‘Lanting is clever and lively, her temperament open and cheerful, her husband respects her, her mother-in-law is fond of her, and her firstborn was a son — she has established herself firmly and steadily within the Liang family.’ Gan Grand Madam placed the shelled lotus seeds she had been preparing into a small gilded dish and passed it to Eleventh Young Mistress. ‘Fresh and sweet, these. Try one.’

Eleventh Young Mistress took a toothpick fork and speared one to eat: ‘They are very sweet!’

Gan Grand Madam continued the thread of her earlier remarks: ‘This business with the Gan family has made things difficult for two people in particular. The first is Cao’e — by the time of her marriage, I fear her dowry will not even be properly assembled. The second is the Marquis himself — he will inevitably be seen by others as a man of neither virtue nor ability. He and Lanting are, after all, children of the same mother. So Lanting stepped forward and asked her father-in-law to intervene, sending word to the Court of Judicial Review, so that the case might be brought to an early close.’

Eleventh Young Mistress’s concern was entirely for Cao’e: ‘And Cao’e’s dowry…’

‘The Marquis declared in front of Lanting: whatever the standards by which other families marry off their daughters, that is how he will marry off his younger sister.’ Gan Grand Madam placed a few more lotus seeds into the gilded dish. ‘One hundred and twenty-four trays of dowry goods, stuffed full to the very brim — he has pledged that not one item will be shorted, and will not give the Jiang family’s people reason to look down upon them.’

Eleventh Young Mistress thought of the two nannies from the Jiang family: ‘…Are the attendants who came to look after her still there?’

‘They are still here!’ Gan Grand Madam said with a laugh. ‘I had always thought Cao’e’s nature was gentle and yielding, and that she would suffer in silence when she encountered such circumstances. I had not expected that, though she speaks and acts with somewhat excessive uprightness, she carries herself with an open and magnanimous spirit, her bearing upright and unyielding — enough that those two nannies did not dare look lightly upon her, and even developed a measure of respect.’ She gave a soft sigh. ‘When the family into which one marries harbors disdain, and one’s own family no longer has anyone to lean upon — if one does not esteem oneself, it is all too likely that one will end up with neither side approving of her. Far better to hold oneself with stern and upright bearing, and strive for at least the word respect — that is worth more than lowering one’s own worth and still having others look down upon you.’

Eleventh Young Mistress fell silent.

Before she had even entered the door, she had already given up any extravagant hopes for the days to come… like a flower, that has not yet bloomed, already showing signs of withering.

A faint sadness settled over the room.

Gan Grand Madam quickly smiled and shifted the subject, asking about Hui Jie’er’s departure for her husband’s home: ‘…I heard that by the time the first palanquin arrived at East Main Street, the last one had not yet left the gate.’

‘I only heard about it myself,’ said Eleventh Young Mistress, smiling at the recollection of the drums and gongs that had filled the Lin household with festive sound. ‘I was not there. Zhen Jie’er went to see the bride off. I specially had Nanny Song attend her throughout. She went to see what a wedding of that grandeur looked like. For when our Zhen Jie’er is married in time, it ought to be much the same.’

Gan Grand Madam nodded repeatedly: ‘Both are daughters of noble and distinguished families, and both are marrying to Cangzhou. Zhen Jie’er’s dowry, while it need not necessarily surpass Hui Jie’er’s, certainly cannot fall short of hers.’ She also asked, ‘Is it still Wen Yiniang who is helping to prepare things?’

‘Yes.’ Eleventh Young Mistress smiled. ‘She is most attentive and diligent. Looking at what she has been preparing, each item more refined than the last, each piece more novel and elegant than the previous. The ten thousand taels the Marquis gave have likely been seven parts spent already, and the trousseau is barely half prepared.’ She said this, then sipped her sour plum broth. ‘I am thinking of finding Wen Yiniang in a few days to go over the accounts, and seeing whether I might ask the Marquis to quietly put in a bit more to supplement the shortfall.’

Gan Grand Madam laughed at that: ‘You are quite at ease spending other people’s silver.’

Eleventh Young Mistress laughed: ‘Money is earned to be spent. Is there not a saying — if the descendants are capable, what is the use of leaving them wealth? And if they are not capable, leaving them wealth serves no purpose either. Rather than leaving behind a great pile of silver that does people harm, it is better to scatter it early, and let each stand on their own. That at least gives them a thicker foundation than those who start from nothing with bare hands.’

Gan Grand Madam could not help but savor those words carefully.

‘Well said,’ she murmured thoughtfully. ‘Take the Gan family — in their day, they were among the founding meritorious officials as well. And throughout, they enjoyed the most enduring imperial favor of all those families, having never suffered any great setback. Yet look at them now — I am afraid they cannot even compare to the Marquis of Weiyuan’s mansion.’

The Marquis of Weiyuan’s mansion had once, like the Marquis of Yongping’s, had its title stripped. The Xu family had at least produced an Empress and a great general; but the Lin family had, through the efforts of successive generations, transformed what had been a fallen household into one of the great merchant fortunes of Yanjing.

Having said this, she recalled that she herself had received a portion of the Gan family’s shops, and so she let the subject drop, smiling as she turned to ask about Eleventh Young Mistress’s birthday: ‘With your mourning period, you cannot hold a banquet — surely your birthday passed rather quietly?’

‘Not particularly quietly,’ said Eleventh Young Mistress with a smile. ‘Yu Ge had someone bring back a folding fan that he had personally inscribed, Zhun Ge fashioned a flute and gave it to me, Jie Ge gave me a jar of his favorite crystal sugar candies, and Zhen Jie’er made me two pairs of shoes. We all gathered together and happily ate a bowl of longevity noodles. It was quite lively.’

Gan Grand Madam could not help but look on with envy.

She had lived her whole life without children, and loved them dearly.

‘Jie Ge also knows to give you gifts?’

‘Yes. It was something the Grand Madam had given him as a reward — and he had not yet touched it.’

‘One of these days bring him here so that I may have a look at him,’ Gan Grand Madam said with a smile. ‘I hear he is quite a beautiful child!’

‘All the children are beautiful…’

The two of them went back and forth, speaking of the children at great length, until a young maidservant came to ask where the kang table should be set for the midday meal, and only then did they set aside their talk and go in to eat.

Just as they put down their chopsticks, Madam Gan came to call.

Eleventh Young Mistress stayed only to keep them company over tea and conversation.

Observing that Madam Gan seemed to have something she wished to say, Eleventh Young Mistress excused herself on the pretext of needing to use the privy.

Yet the rooms where Gan Grand Madam resided were small, and the chambers were so hushed that words not meant to be overheard were heard all the same with perfect clarity.

‘With all the commotion of recent days,’ said Madam Gan, her tone carrying a few shades of deference, ‘I never found a proper moment to come and pay my respects to you. Three days of fishing, two days of drying the nets — I have been quite remiss in my duties. Now that the name and standing have been settled, the old rules and proprieties must be established properly as well. The Marquis’s wish is for me to come each morning and evening with the children to perform our filial duties before you, as is right.’

Gan Grand Madam was quite taken aback, and hesitated a moment before saying: ‘There is no need. I am a widow in solitary residence — it is better for me to remain at peace and keep things simple.’

‘That cannot be said,’ Madam Gan insisted firmly. ‘Whatever else may be said, you are always our mother.’

Gan Grand Madam did not dare respond to that at all.

Madam Gan, growing urgent, came straight to the point: ‘Those of us who are parents must set a good example for our children as well.’

Gan Grand Madam understood at once. She thought it over, then said: ‘Very well — then let it be on the first and fifteenth of each month to pay respects. After the three years of mourning have passed, we can speak of it again.’

Madam Gan let out a breath of relief, exchanged a few more words with Gan Grand Madam, bade Eleventh Young Mistress farewell, rose, and took her leave.

Gan Grand Madam could not help giving a self-deprecating laugh: ‘It seems I am still of some use!’

Eleventh Young Mistress felt a pang in her heart, and could only offer comfort: ‘No matter what the reason behind it, if they are willing to show you respect as an elder, you need not weigh yourself down calculating it too carefully. If you are pleased to have them come and pay their respects, accept it. If you are not, simply claim you are feeling unwell and put them off!’

Gan Grand Madam burst out laughing at that: ‘That is the familiar ruse of your mother-in-law, is it not?’

Naturally Eleventh Young Mistress could not speak disparagingly of her elders, and only pressed her lips together in a smile.

Gan Grand Madam then recalled Eleventh Young Mistress’s sudden appearance that day, and said: ‘Looking at your face, I see you are quite at ease. The moment you arrived you pulled me into conversation without even so much as a word of greeting. How did you end up dashing over here to me without a word of notice like this?’

Propriety required that one send a nanny ahead of time to arrange an appointment, so as not to arrive when the other party had something on and could not receive guests, or had stepped out.

‘I came to avoid someone,’ Eleventh Young Mistress said without any pretense. ‘The Lady of the Marquis of Jianning sent word early this morning that she wished to call on me. I did not want to see her, so I came here instead.’

Gan Grand Madam was briefly startled, then grew a little worried.

‘This is not a solution, you know,’ she said. ‘The Lady of the Marquis of Jianning, having set her mind on seeing you, will not be deterred by one failure — she will certainly try again. Moreover, you are both Ladies of Marquis households, both belonging to the imperial family’s circle of kinsmen and relations. Even if there was little contact between your two households before, now that Yang Yiniang is entangled in the middle, her visit to you could be described either as the ordinary courtesy call between noble ladies, or as a visit made on account of Yang Shi. For you to evade her without even hearing what she has to say is rather small-minded. If, on top of that, some gossip were to circulate — claiming you are engaged in a quarrel with a concubine, and that you lack the generosity and magnanimity expected of a mistress of the household — then you would truly have gained nothing and lost everything. I think you had best still see her. At least hear what she has to say first, then decide on a course of action.’

‘All that you have said, I know as well,’ Eleventh Young Mistress replied, with measured significance. ‘I have considered it too. What I have done is simply to make my position clear to everyone.’ Her expression grew somewhat grave. ‘The words to treat the Yang family as proper relatives were spoken by Princess Fucheng — but what the Yang family themselves think, and how others regard it, is still very much open to question. Yet if I were to see the Lady of the Marquis of Jianning just like that, without a word of explanation, and someone with ulterior motives were to pass it around that I wished to be on intimate terms with the Yang family as relatives — what would that make me? And what would that make our Luo family?’ By the end of her words, her tone had taken on a sharp edge.

Gan Grand Madam heard the sense in what she said, and could not help but let her gaze grow a little dim: ‘What if, because of this, you offend the Yang family…’

‘There are certain things to which I will absolutely never agree,’ said Eleventh Young Mistress, her gaze unwavering.

Quite so. To treat a concubine’s family as one’s own relatives amounted to relinquishing the rights that belonged to the wife in name.

Gan Grand Madam heaved a long sigh, refrained from persuading her further, and told a young maidservant to place a scented handkerchief beside Eleventh Young Mistress’s bolster: ‘It is jasmine fragrance — rest through the afternoon. Those vexing matters can be thought about later when you wake.’

Eleventh Young Mistress had already planned to return that evening in any case, so she did not stand on ceremony — she rested on the kang through the afternoon, and in the afternoon discussed the embroidery shop business with Gan Grand Madam: ‘…The rank insignia patches have not earned much profit, but they have earned us a name and a reputation. No small number of officials throughout Yanjing have heard that we can embroider the rank patches used in the palace, and have come to the embroidery shop to have their court robes made.’

‘That is excellent!’ said Gan Grand Madam with a smile. ‘One more trade, one more income.’

‘I think the same,’ said Eleventh Young Mistress with a smile. ‘So I have left it for Master Jian to decide for herself. If the price is agreeable, there is no harm in taking on the work.’

The two chatted across every corner of the sky, and Eleventh Young Mistress stayed on to eat the evening meal before returning home.

* * *