“My lord!” Eleventh Miss called out, her voice tinged with a hint of hesitation, for she did not know what had transpired.

Xu Lingyi heard her and stepped forward two paces. His handsome face appeared softer than usual in the clear moonlight, making Eleventh Miss wonder if she had imagined the severity of his expression just moments ago.

“Shall we head back?” he said gently.

It was no different from his usual manner — authoritative, yet touched with warmth.

Since Xu Lingyi did not wish to speak of it, she would ask Seventh Miss later.

Eleventh Miss smiled and murmured her assent, and the two returned to their rooms together.

Early the next morning, Zhu Anping came to see her.

“You know your Seventh Sister’s temperament better than anyone.” His expression carried a trace of guilt. “Yesterday we were having such a good time that she lost track of the hour. Though she said nothing, she felt uneasy in her heart. When she encountered my lord, she feared he might blame Fifth Madam, and so she spoke those words in front of him to put on a bold front. Please do not take it to heart.”

Eleventh Miss was somewhat taken aback, but a moment’s thought made it all clear.

From the look on Xu Lingyi’s face last night, Seventh Miss had clearly said something before him that had displeased him. Zhu Anping was a shrewd and capable man — he would certainly have sensed it as well. But if he were to go directly to Xu Lingyi and offer an explanation, it might imply that he thought the marquis was too narrow-minded. So instead he had come early in the morning to explain things to her.

“What did Seventh Sister say?” she thought for a moment, then asked.

Zhu Anping was quite surprised.

He had not expected Eleventh Miss to ask him so openly.

Zhu Anping’s face flushed slightly, and he hesitated before speaking. “Your Seventh Sister often says that Fifth Madam is one of the people in this household whose temperament best matches her own. With the Mid-Autumn Festival drawing near and our departure for Gaoqing approaching, she was thinking that she did not know when she would next be able to come to Yanjing. She had hoped to invite Fifth Madam to visit the Temple of National Protection and the White Cloud Monastery for an outing, and to sample the New Year’s cake from ‘Year-Cake Li’ at the Temple of National Protection and the almond tofu at the White Cloud Monastery. So yesterday morning she made arrangements with Fifth Madam to visit both places in a couple of days. But then she came home late, and she feared that if Fifth Madam accompanied her on another outing, my lord might think Fifth Madam too frivolous. So she rushed to bring up the matter in front of my lord. My lord said nothing at the time, only asking whether she would need you to look after Xin Jie’er. Your Seventh Sister felt guilty and made a bit of a fuss. I know these are small matters and my lord would not take them seriously. But it sat uneasily with me. I would have felt quite ashamed not to speak with you about it.”

Seventh Miss had been a little too impetuous.

Not only had she failed to return on time as promised, but she had also been talking about going out again. Xu Lingyi’s displeasure was likely because he felt Seventh Miss had acted too presumptuously — not necessarily because he intended to find fault with anyone.

“Brother-in-law, please do not worry about it.” Eleventh Miss offered Zhu Anping her reassurance. “As you yourself said, my lord is a magnanimous man — he will not trouble himself over such small matters. Besides, Seventh Sister rarely comes to Yanjing, and I have not had much time to accompany her about. Now that she and Fifth Sister-in-law have found such easy company with each other, and may go out together, nothing could be better. As for Xin Jie’er — never mind that Fifth Madam is helping me to entertain Seventh Sister; even if she simply brought her to me, Xin Jie’er is my own niece, lively and dear. I would be only too delighted. Please tell Seventh Sister not to give it another thought. Once you have settled on a day for the outing, just let me know.”

Seeing the sincerity in Eleventh Miss’s words and thinking of how his wife still behaved like a young girl with no sense of propriety, Zhu Anping felt all the more ill at ease. He offered a few words of apology before rising to take his leave.

Xu Lingyi came in from outside, his clothes damp with sweat. Seeing a young maidservant clearing away the tea things, he asked in mild surprise, “Who came at such an early hour?”

Knowing he had been practicing martial forms in the rear courtyard, Eleventh Miss instructed the young maidservants to bring warm water to attend to his bath. Then she told him the whole account: “…she only comes to bother us for these few days out of the year. And who knows — perhaps next year we won’t even be able to persuade her to come at all. My lord, please do not fault her for speaking without thinking.”

Xu Lingyi stripped off his inner robe, revealing a broad and muscular chest. He walked into the washroom with his arms bare and responded simply, “Understood.”

Seventh Miss, however, no longer mentioned the trip to the Temple of National Protection or the White Cloud Monastery. Each day she simply whispered with Fifth Madam or amused herself playing with Xin Jie’er.

Eleventh Miss thought to herself that in a few more days it would be the Mid-Autumn Festival. If Seventh Miss suddenly wished to visit the Temple of National Protection and the White Cloud Monastery while she herself was busy with festival preparations, it would only cause trouble. Better to go early.

She took the initiative and brought it up with Seventh Miss.

“Never mind.” Seventh Miss was rather sulky. “I simply cannot stand that cold manner of his — as though I owe him something. So I came home a little late, and it was not as if I did it on purpose. And besides, what he did to me at the time…” Here her words trailed off into vagueness. “I have not even made a fuss about that, so why must he make such a fuss over something that concerns me?” Then she sat up straight and issued Eleventh Miss a stern instruction: “You must be careful in how you conduct yourself from now on. My lord is the sort of man who nurses grievances for a very long time.”

Eleventh Miss felt that Xu Lingyi and Seventh Miss were simply not suited to each other. What began as a perfectly fine matter would always somehow give rise to complications.

She smiled and said, “If you want to go, take advantage of these next two days while I am not yet busy, and while I can still help look after Xin Jie’er. Otherwise, you won’t get to go at all.”

Eleventh Miss considered this for a moment. “Let me think it over.”

She then went off to murmur and confer with Fifth Madam for quite a long time, and in the end they decided to visit the Temple of National Protection the next day and the White Cloud Monastery the day after.

Since it was during the daytime, Eleventh Miss had Xin Jie’er brought to her own quarters.

Morning, noon, and evening she helped bathe the child. During the afternoon nap she switched to a feathered fan to keep her cool. She prepared minced meat and steamed egg to spoon-feed her… She also kept Xu Sizhun and Xu Sijie after their lessons to stay and play with her. After two days of such attentive care, Xin Jie’er would reach out for Eleventh Miss the moment she saw her.

Yet Xu Lingyi, whenever he looked on, could not help but let a shadow pass over his eyes.

Eleventh Miss was a good mother — but every child she held in her arms was someone else’s.

And Seventh Miss, having gotten what she wished for, packed her luggage and returned to Gaoqing in the latter part of the seventh month.

Eleventh Miss then began to attend to the arrangements for the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Xu Lingyi asked her, “Would you like the managers from the outer courtyard to lend a hand?”

“There are established customs for how things are to be handled.” Eleventh Miss smiled. “The inner courtyard only needs to draw up the requisition lists; the purchasing is the outer courtyard managers’ affair. It is not so taxing, really.”

She would need one full day to finalize the requisition lists with the various matron managers, and two full days to distribute the purchased goods.

Xu Lingyi gave a soft sound of acknowledgment and said nothing more.

A few days later he asked her again, “Have the Mid-Autumn Festival preparations all been taken care of?”

Eleventh Miss was mildly surprised.

Xu Lingyi was paying an unusual amount of attention to this matter.

“Does my lord have some instructions?”

“No.” Xu Lingyi said. “I noticed the weather has been quite fine these past few days. If you are not too busy, I thought we might go together to the Temple of National Protection to offer incense. With the fifteenth of the eighth month approaching, it would be good to pray for peace and safety.”

Eleventh Miss could not conceal her astonishment.

Why had Xu Lingyi suddenly thought to go and offer incense at the Temple of National Protection? There did not seem to be any precedent for this in previous years. Or had something happened?

As she pondered this, she hesitated and said, “Myself — and my lord?”

“Oh, not just us.” Xu Lingyi paused slightly in the hand that was brushing the lid of the tea bowl to remove floating leaves, and said softly, “I did not know how your affairs were arranged on your side, so I have not yet mentioned it to Mother.”

A clear and brisk autumn season — the whole family going together to the Temple of National Protection to pray for peace before the Mid-Autumn Festival.

The more Eleventh Miss thought about it, the more she liked the idea.

The children would also be able to enjoy a full day out.

“I have nothing pressing on my side,” she said, her face lighting up with a smile as bright as a May morning. “Any day will do.”

Xu Lingyi gave an unhurried nod, his expression mild, and over evening tea at the Grand Madam’s western chamber, he brought up the matter casually: “…it has been some years since I visited the Temple of National Protection. The weather has been unusually fine of late. I thought I would ask whether you might wish to go.”

The Grand Madam listened with great interest. “Oh, gladly! I too have not been to the Temple of National Protection in quite a few years.” She then asked Nanny Du to fetch the almanac. “Since we are going to pray for blessings, we naturally ought to choose an auspicious day.”

Xu Lingkuan took the almanac from Nanny Du’s hands and settled beside the Grand Madam to leaf through it with her: “…Should we have the road cleared? Or shall we go quietly? When Brother-in-law Seventh and I went last time, we slipped away without any fuss. It was wonderfully interesting — we even saw a monkey show… What about the fourth of the eighth month? It is auspicious for departures, for long journeys… Otherwise we would have to wait until the twelfth of the eighth month. But by then it is nearly the Mid-Autumn Festival, and the Temple of National Protection will be packed with people… I think the fourth of the eighth month is better…”

Fifth Madam, hearing all this, cheerfully joined them: “…Can we be ready in time for the fourth? With maids and matrons, we also need to arrange the kitchen staff — cups, bowls, dishes, and chopsticks, and the cooking staff and their helpers!”

Xu Lingyi, who had proposed the outing, sat to one side drinking his tea without so much as shifting position.

“Did we not also go to the Temple of National Protection to offer incense during the New Year’s Day celebrations in the first year of Yonghe?” Xu Lingkuan said dismissively. “Steward Bai managed all the preparations that time, and he had it done in two days.” He looked up at Xu Lingyi, who had been sitting quietly without saying a word, seeking his opinion. “Fourth Brother, I think the fourth is good.” He then turned to Eleventh Miss. “Fourth Sister-in-law, which day do you think is better?”

Better to go early if they were going at all.

Eleventh Miss also thought the fourth was best, and smiled. “I have not been in such a grand expedition before. If Steward Bai can arrange the journey in two days, then the fourth of the eighth month is perfect.”

Everyone’s gaze fell on Xu Lingyi.

His expression was unhurried. “Then let it be the fourth. I will have Steward Bai make the preparations. Have your lists of who will accompany us ready within a day, so Steward Bai can make his arrangements.”

Xu Lingkuan was delighted, and turned to the Grand Madam to discuss: “Mother, on the day itself, you should wear that amber-colored robe with the gourd-and-double-happiness embroidery. It is both spirited and distinguished.”

“Is that so?” The Grand Madam sounded doubtful. “Will it not be too elaborate?”

“Not at all, not at all!” Fifth Madam said. “When I attended the full-month celebration at Elder Liang’s home the other day, the wife of Vice Minister Wang of the Ministry of Works was wearing a deep crimson robe embroidered with cranes, auspicious grasses, and five bats cradling clouds.”

“I cannot be compared to her,” the Grand Madam said. “She is ten years younger than I am.”

“Without your telling anyone, who could tell?” Xu Lingkuan fawned over his mother. “Trust me, I am never wrong.”

“Very well, I shall wear that robe then.”

Xu Lingkuan and his wife nodded in enthusiastic agreement, and the conversation was flowing along pleasantly when Xu Lingyi abruptly rose to his feet.

Everyone started slightly and looked toward him.

“It grows late. Let us all retire,” Xu Lingyi said with a smile. “We can discuss the rest tomorrow morning.”

But the Grand Madam called him back: “…We must send word to Zhun Ge’s and Jie Ge’s tutor, Master Zhao. I was thinking — why not also invite Master Zhao to join us? By the way he teaches them — playing the flute, making river lanterns — he must be a man of refinement. And besides, a larger party makes for a livelier outing. The Temple of National Protection is so large, and with just the few of us wandering about, it might seem rather desolate.”