Early the next morning, the Eleventh Miss went to Ciyuan Temple.

Abbess Jining personally received her at the gate. After paying respects to the Bodhisattva and drinking a cup of tea in the side chamber, the Fifth Miss arrived.

Ever since carrying Xin Ge, her figure had grown increasingly full and rounded, and she had never managed to recover her former slender frame. That day she wore a bright blue embroidered plain-faced lined jacket, her hair styled in a round bun pinned with gleaming reddish-gold hairpins and ornaments — she possessed a kind of lush, radiant beauty all her own.

“I had quite a time coaxing Xin Ge’er to settle down,” she said with a smile. “Otherwise I would not have made it here by now.”

Those who had children were always at the mercy of them.

The Eleventh Miss smiled and asked after Xin Ge’er.

“That medicine of yours is excellent,” the Fifth Miss said, her smile full of relief. “He has stopped coughing entirely now.”

“That is wonderful!” The Eleventh Miss exchanged a few pleasantries, and the party made their way to the main hall.

At noon, Abbess Jining arranged for them to rest in the side chamber.

The Eleventh Miss brought up Qian Ming: “I heard that Fifth Brother-in-Law went to Xuantong to call on General Fan?”

The Fifth Miss looked somewhat uncomfortable at this. “General Fan helped out a little last time, and your brother-in-law earned some silver from it. This time, your brother-in-law failed the examinations and was prepared to stay home with the door closed to focus on his studies. But we had just purchased a house, and your brother-in-law has no income coming in — the child is still small, and the household needs money everywhere — so he decided to make one more trip to Xuantong, finish this piece of business, put some savings aside, and then settle down properly to his reading.” Having said this, she added hastily, “We have never used the Marquis’s name to conduct business. Your brother-in-law and General Fan are personally acquainted, and they have even shared drinks together.”

The Eleventh Miss was silent for a long moment.

Without Xu Lingyi, could General Fan Weigang have come to know Qian Ming? Could he have shared drinks with him?

This matter still had to be brought to Xu Lingyi’s attention so that he could exercise some restraint over Qian Ming.

The Eleventh Miss said no more to the Fifth Miss about it. That evening, upon returning home, she spoke to Xu Lingyi.

“It is nothing to worry about,” Xu Lingyi said with a smile. “Fan Weigang was originally a close personal guard at the Emperor’s side — steady and reserved by nature, measured in all he does. If he believes the venture is sound, then it is sound.”

The Eleventh Miss felt that the winding intricacies of such matters were beyond the understanding of someone like herself, an inner-chambers woman. Since Xu Lingyi already knew of it, she trusted he could keep the situation within reasonable bounds. Having listened to the nuns chant sutras for an entire day, she was rather tired. She told Xu Lingyi a little about her visit to Ciyuan Temple, then rose and went to the washroom to freshen up.

Xu Lingyi watched his wife’s figure disappear into the washroom, and the smile faded somewhat from his face.

He knew that Qian Ming was a restless sort of man — and now it seemed he was reckless besides.

There were things the Eleventh Miss did not know, but he knew them perfectly well. That time of Qian Ming’s, if not a full hundred thousand taels’ profit, it had been seventy or eighty thousand — and in just a single year he had already…

Xu Lingyi thought it over. The next day he took up his brush and wrote a letter to Fan Weigang, couched in the most tactful terms, to convey that certain things could be done once but not repeated; that if Qian Ming was short of funds, he himself could provide assistance, but he must not be allowed to fix his mind solely on trade with no upfront capital and let the proper work fall to ruin.

Fan Weigang replied to Xu Lingyi promptly, saying he would act according to Xu Lingyi’s wishes.

Still not entirely at ease, Xu Lingyi calculated the days and sent someone to the Sijiao Hutong to invite Qian Ming to dinner at the house.

Qian Ming had just returned from Xuantong, and he appeared deflated as a frost-bitten eggplant. Before Xu Lingyi he forced a cheerful smile.

Xu Lingyi did not expose him, only said he would provide him with five hundred taels of silver each year going forward, so that he could stay home and read in peace and aim for success on his next examination.

Qian Ming had not expected Xu Lingyi to be so generous. He gave his thanks again and again, then drank heartily, and from that ease of spirit a measure of genuine feeling arose. He spoke many of his innermost thoughts to Xu Lingyi, and from that day on came to regard Xu Lingyi as a bosom friend.

Xu Lingyi caught the undertones dimly as he listened.

Qian Ming enjoyed socializing and spent freely. After marrying the Fifth Miss, the people he associated with were all wealthy or well-born — nothing like before. He was also a proud man who could not bear to lose face, so his expenditures grew ever larger, and gradually his outgoings exceeded his income. The money the First Madam gave him all went on these matters, and when funds ran short, he would deceive the Fifth Miss out of hers. The Fifth Miss had been supportive at first, but then several business ventures all fell through and left him with considerable losses. With nothing coming in and everything going out, the Fifth Miss’s face grew harder and harder to read — unless he could account for himself, he could not hope to get a single coin from her. The child’s premature birth had also been connected to this. Having no other option, he had steeled himself and made the trip to Xuantong.

To his surprise, Fan Weigang had shown him exceptional courtesy: not only wined and dined him and taken him on outings through the mountains, but also promptly converted his promissory notes into salt certificates, allowing him to earn an unexpected windfall.

He understood clearly that this was owing to Xu Lingyi’s influence, and he told himself inwardly that he would never again engage in trade.

Yet no sooner had the bank notes come into his hands than the Fifth Miss began clamouring for a house. Not only did she cite one sister after another as examples, but she also tallied up how much of her money he had used.

Qian Ming could not withstand her repeated scenes, and he himself felt that renting a house indefinitely was no long-term plan — especially now that he had money, and acquiring some property was not unreasonable. So he spent a large sum to buy a house in the Sijiao Hutong. The Fifth Miss furnished it according to her own taste, and Qian Ming became more lavish than ever in his daily socializing. Watching that silver drain away like sand through a sieve, and then failing the examination again, and then the Wen family coming to the door…

As Xu Lingyi listened, he thought of Yuan Niang, who had done business with the Wen family, and then of the Eleventh Miss, who had handed Yuan Niang’s dowry properties over to Luo Zhensheng to manage. He followed along and drank a few extra cups himself — his spirits running high, he went home and made merry with the Eleventh Miss for the entire night.

The Eleventh Miss was flustered and indignant and burning with embarrassment. The next morning, seeing Xu Lingyi’s half-smiling expression, she wished she could sink into the floor. She arranged the gifts to be sent to Nanjing, dismissed the nannies who had been waiting in the main hall for instructions, thought the matter over at length, then went to call on Grand Madam Gan.

Grand Madam Gan assumed she had come to hear what answer had been given, and drew her into the inner room to speak.

“…As for the matter of doing business with the Gong family, I told my brother and asked him to go speak to the Earl,” she said, brow furrowed. “But I could see from the Earl’s manner that he has not taken it to heart. I am afraid your kind intentions may come to nothing.”

The Eleventh Miss would naturally not share marital confidences with another, so she simply went along with the misunderstanding and helped her think of a way: “What if you spoke to Madam Gan? With her help in persuading him, he is more likely to listen than to any outsider’s words.”

“It would be of no use,” Grand Madam Gan said with a bitter smile. “The Earl is presently in the throes of infatuation with the concubine he recently took in — no one dares spoil his pleasure. And Madam Gan rarely gets to see him at all.”

The Eleventh Miss was startled to hear this: “But we are still in the national mourning period…”

“When the top beam is crooked, the lower beams will be warped,” Grand Madam Gan said with some helplessness. “He is simply following the example that has been set for him.”

The Eleventh Miss thought of the old Earl’s appearance — hollowed out by wine and indulgence — and then thought of how most noble households were privately drinking and feasting during the mourning period even so. She was momentarily without words.

Grand Madam Gan did not want these matters to dampen the Eleventh Miss’s spirits, and said with a smile, “Don’t worry yourself over it. I have already spoken to our household’s chief steward about this matter. He was a man left behind by the old Earl — he watched the Earl grow up, and has managed the Gan family’s properties for so many years. The Earl needed his assistance even in dividing the estate. Whatever he says, the Earl will listen to at least some of it. Besides, I cannot eat more than three meals a day or sleep in more than three feet of space. My own allowances will never fall short.”

One could hardly drag the Earl of Loyal Diligence by force, after all. For all one knew, the man might even think you were blocking his source of income.

The Eleventh Miss smiled and let the matter drop. She stayed for lunch, took an afternoon nap at Grand Madam Gan’s quarters, asked after the situation at Lanting, then stopped in to sit a while at Cao E’s, whiling away the time until dusk before returning to the Lotus Courtyard.

To her surprise, Xu Lingyi was not in the rooms.

The Eleventh Miss stood there in a daze for a moment.

Hupo, while helping her change her clothes, kept careful watch on her expression: “When you were in the main hall giving instructions to the nannies, the Marquis had already gone out, and he has not returned until now.”

In other words, Xu Lingyi was simply not at home.

The Eleventh Miss said quietly, “Do you know where he went?”

Hupo shook her head gently.

The Eleventh Miss went to pay her respects to the Grand Madam, came back and listened to Xu Sijie play his flute and recite his lessons, coaxed him to sleep, then returned to her own rooms — and still Xu Lingyi had not come back.

She gave the plump large resting pillow an indignant whack, then blew out the lamp and lay down.

In the middle of the night, Xu Lingyi returned.

“Wang Jiubao invited us to dinner at Chunxi Restaurant today,” he said quietly by way of explanation.

From morning until now?

The Eleventh Miss made a sound of acknowledgment, shifted over in bed, and made room on one side.

“Marquis, please rest early,” she said in a muffled voice, affecting the drowsy tones of one half-asleep. She turned over gently and lay with her back to Xu Lingyi.

Xu Lingyi looked at the delicate contours beneath the thin coverlet, thought of her irritated expression that morning, and smiled despite himself. He blew out the lamp and, his interest thoroughly unspent, gathered her into his arms…

“Marquis!” In the darkness arose the Eleventh Miss’s voice, half coquettish and half reproachful.

Xu Lingyi pressed close to the Eleventh Miss’s ear and breathed, “Tomorrow is my birthday!”

The figure beneath him stiffened for a moment, then grew pliant as a willow branch, curling softly toward him…

Before long, the quiet room filled with faint, tender sounds of pleasure.

* * *

After Xu Lingyi’s birthday passed, the days slipped by in the blink of an eye to the end of the ninth month. The seamstresses in the household’s needlework room began sewing new year garments for the maidservants, married women servants, and older female servants. Each day, one woman came to be measured; the next, another went to look at fabric — every face radiant with eager anticipation, brightening the mood of the days themselves. When the imperial almanac was distributed on the first day of the tenth month, the new year clothes from the needlework room were almost finished, and each household began to receive their winter garments. Binju came with her son to kowtow before the Grand Madam and the Eleventh Miss.

“…I am grateful that you kept us in mind. You sent gifts for both the third-day bathing ceremony and the full-month celebration.” Binju, who had just given birth, was fair and plump, standing respectfully before the Grand Madam. Nanny Du took the infant over for the Grand Madam to see.

The child was stout and round-faced, fair-skinned and well-dressed, sleeping soundly no matter how he was held.

The Grand Madam looked on, chuckling with delight: “This one is blessed with good fortune.”

The Eleventh Miss seized the moment to ask the Grand Madam to give the child a milk name.

The Grand Madam was a person doubly blessed with fortune and prosperity, and a name given by such a person would allow the child to share in that blessing.

The Grand Madam thought for a moment, then smiled: “Peace and ease is called fortune. And he is the firstborn son — I think Chang’an would do well.”

“What a fine name!” Nanny Du said with a smile, passing the child to Binju.

Everyone laughed as they called to the child: “Chang’an!”

Binju quickly knelt to kowtow, said a few words, then took her leave of the Grand Madam along with the Eleventh Miss.

The Eleventh Miss kept Binju for dinner.

“What are your plans?” she asked.

Binju said apologetically, “I am afraid the embroidery shop is out of the question now.”

With a child, naturally the child came first.

The Eleventh Miss asked her quietly, “Is Wan Daxian’s pay enough to get by?”

“More than enough,” Binju said with a smile. “These days he won’t even take a carriage home — says it costs twenty copper coins.”

When husband and wife were of one heart, even hardship was sweet.

The Eleventh Miss smiled and patted Chang’an’s head, then ordered the stable to send a carriage to see Binju and her son safely home.

* * *