Tao Cheng had come to Yanjing to visit his mother. On his way back that evening, the carriage overturned and fell into a roadside ditch, and he had been unconscious ever since. Nanny Tao rushed back to the farm estate in great haste, and even the trunks and the gifts bestowed by the Grand Matriarch and Eleventh Young Lady were sent on to the farm estate gradually afterward by Lu Yonggui.

Nanny Tao had been out of active service for some years, and her departure caused only a brief spell of headaches among the maids and serving women of the first Madam’s former residence. First, Eleventh Young Lady dispatched Zhuxiang to take charge of the valuables in the first Madam’s former quarters; she and Zhuxiang went through the ledgers and had all the furnishings moved into the storeroom — a busy stretch of time. Just as things quieted down, Nanny Wang, who had previously served under Nanny Yu as second-rank manager of the storeroom, was sent to oversee affairs on that side. Everyone rushed to curry favor and work their connections, terrified of losing their positions, and another round of disorder ensued. When that finally settled, word came from the outer courtyard that Second Young Master Xu Sizhun had passed the prefectural examinations, and several women who were on familiar terms with Qin Yiniang felt obliged to go and offer their congratulations.

Qin Yiniang managed as best she could to receive them, and with great effort finally saw the group off. She then turned to Yi Yiniang, who had stayed behind, and said: “Now that Nanny Tao is gone, these people have lost their former arrogance and have actually come around to my quarters seeking gifts. In the old days, they would not have spared us so much as a sideways glance — me or my son. It all bears out that old saying: ‘thirty years the river runs east, forty years it runs west.'”

Yi Yiniang lifted her teacup with a smile. “Those who add flowers to brocade are many; those who offer coal in the snow are few. After all these years, have you still not made your peace with that?” She then turned the conversation to Xu Sizhun: “I hear he is going back to Le’an in a day or two. Why does he not press on and sit the prefectural qualifying examination while he is at it? Second Young Master is no longer young — if he were to earn the rank of licentiate, it would smooth the way for a marriage arrangement.”

“There are licentiates everywhere under heaven. What is so remarkable about that?” The thought of her son drifting ever further from her since he had gone to Le’an to study made Qin Yiniang disinclined to pursue the subject.

Yi Yiniang understood her feelings well and smiled, shifting to the topic of the Grand Matriarch’s birthday: “…This time there ought to be a proper celebration, surely? Fourth Madam is with child, after all!”

“I heard they are only inviting a few close acquaintances on the day itself.” Qin Yiniang shook her head. “The Madam has been unwell ever since the child took hold. The Grand Matriarch had not originally planned a birthday observance, but the Marquis summoned Fifth Master to settle the arrangements.”

Yi Yiniang let out a small sound of surprise. “By my reckoning, she must be four months along — why is she still unwell? Is it truly illness, or is she feigning?” She paused. “Come to think of it, I noticed the Marquis said not a word about Nanny Tao’s departure. Most likely he is mindful that she is carrying the heir.”

“Who can say whether it is real or feigned?” Qin Yiniang said with a laugh. “As long as she remains unwell for a single day, both the Marquis and the Grand Matriarch will treat her like a bodhisattva enshrined on an altar. If I were her, I would only wish the days would pass more slowly.” Her voice carried a note of mockery toward the end. “Otherwise, if the child turns out to be a girl, the Grand Matriarch and the Marquis may not look upon her quite so kindly.”

Yi Yiniang laughed at that. “What is truly pitiable is our Yang Yiniang — wanting to embroider that little jacket with a hundred children at play for the Madam, she has been stitching day and night until her eyes are nearly ruined.”

Nanny Yang urged Yang Yiniang: “Please rest for a while, Madam!”

Yang Yiniang stared at the embroidery, on which only a little over twenty small children in various poses had been completed, and felt rather discouraged. “I had no idea it would take so much effort.” She accepted the cassia seed, chrysanthemum, and mulberry leaf tea that Nanny Yang handed her and drank a few sips with furrowed brows.

“What if we switch to embroidering a ten-pattern brocade instead?” Nanny Yang said softly, helping Yang Yiniang tidy the tangled embroidery threads. “With some lucky grasses and writing brushes and ink stones added to it, it would make a fine swaddling wrap for a baby.”

Yang Yiniang felt somewhat tempted by the idea.

“Fourth Madam has been with child for over four months,” Nanny Yang continued, pressing the point. “By June at the latest, she should be feeling well again. At that point the Marquis will be able to breathe more easily. If you do not establish a rapport with the Madam now — once the child is born, if it is a son things may be manageable, but if it is a daughter, Fourth Madam may well arrange a companion maid for the Marquis rather than a concubine to wait upon him. And besides, word to those outside is only that we are making a few small items for the Madam — no one will say we made a hundred-children jacket. So this cannot be called scheming or taking advantage.”

Yang Yiniang deliberated for a moment and then made her decision: “I will follow your counsel, Nanny. The most pressing thing now is to establish a rapport with the Madam.”

Nanny Yang promptly fetched fresh paper, and Yang Yiniang began sketching out new embroidery patterns.

Wen Yiniang, however, was delighted with the infant’s bib she had embroidered — a design of ‘abundance year after year.’ She said to Qiuhong: “At this rate, by the time First Miss gets married next year, I should be able to embroider at least two sets of children’s clothes, do you not think?”

Qiuhong covered her mouth and laughed.

Wen Yiniang paid her no mind. In high spirits, she called Donghong to put the bib away, then brought out the ‘twin lotus on a single stem’ bib pattern that Binju had drawn for her a few days earlier, and had Qiuhong make a start on it so she could follow along and continue the embroidery.

Wan Yizong’s eldest son and youngest daughter both served in the household, and Wan Yizong’s wife, wishing her children to have someone looking after them nearby, had arranged for Binju to rent a house beside the Yongping Marquis estate with her grandson. As Binju’s mother- and father-in-law were still living, and she had a younger brother-in-law and a sister-in-law as well, and her firstborn had been a son, everyone agreed she was a woman of great fortune. Wherever there was a wedding or funeral or betrothal or coming-of-age ceremony in the vicinity, people were glad to ask her to lend a hand. She had a capable nature and nimble hands, and gradually the senior maids and young matrons of the Yongping Marquis estate grew fond of asking her to sketch embroidery patterns and give guidance on needlework. She in turn took the opportunity to accept piecework from the embroidery shop and distribute it among the junior maids, allowing them to earn a little pocket money; and little by little she had built up a certain standing among the household’s female servants.

Wen Yiniang wanted to learn needlework, and Qiuhong’s first thought had been to ask Binju, inviting her to sketch the embroidery patterns.

Binju agreed with a smile, seated herself on a low stool beside Wen Yiniang, and while she worked the needle along the pattern on the tracing paper, she murmured softly: “Yiniang, when I went to Binju’s place the other day, I ran into Hupo and Zhuxiang. The three of them were shut up in a room talking in whispers!”

Qiuhong would not have mentioned this without reason.

Wen Yiniang turned toward her. “Did you catch what they were saying?”

Qiuhong leaned closer. “From what I could hear, Nanny Du wants to arrange a match for Hupo. The Madam apparently asked Wan Daxian to make inquiries, but Hupo is unwilling, and Binju and Zhuxiang were trying to persuade her.”

“What a jumbled business.” Wen Yiniang listened and laughed. “Tell me clearly. What family’s young man is Nanny Du proposing for Hupo? And why is Hupo unwilling?”

“Why she is unwilling, I do not know.” Qiuhong pouted. “I only caught a vague mention of Chief Steward Bai — something to do with someone connected to him.”

Wen Yiniang’s mind began turning swiftly.

Now that she thought of it, Qiuhong was no longer young either — it was only because she had watched Qiuhong grow up and always found this or that fault, fearing she might suffer hardship, that she had kept the girl with her until now.

With Nanny Du acting as go-between, and the connection being to Chief Steward Bai, and the girl in question being one of Eleventh Young Lady’s personal maids — even in the worst case, it would still be a hundred times better than an ordinary manservant. And since both Binju and Zhuxiang were trying to persuade Hupo, it was most likely not a matter of the man’s character, but rather a reluctance to be entangled with Chief Steward Bai and invite wariness from others.

She considered the matter for a moment, then stepped down from the bed platform and slipped on her shoes. “Have Donghong come with me. I am going to the Madam’s quarters to sit with her for a while.”

Qiuhong quickly knelt down to put Wen Yiniang’s shoes on for her. “It is not yet a quarter past the final watch!”

Wen Yiniang said nothing more and set off with Donghong for Eleventh Young Lady’s quarters.

Eleventh Young Lady had just risen from her afternoon nap and was in good spirits.

Xu Sizhun and Xu Sijie were both seated close beside her, chattering away.

“…Second Brother passed the prefectural examination, and First Brother said he would go mountain climbing to celebrate. Father will most likely not allow me and Fifth Brother to tag along. And even if we did go, they are long-legged and quick-footed — when they get caught up in the fun, we will be left behind again.” Xu Sizhun tugged at Eleventh Young Lady’s sleeve, half wheedling and half pleading: “Mother, please tell Father that mountain climbing is too dangerous for us — let us just have a barbecue in the rear garden at home instead!”

Xu Sijie also nodded along from the side: “Mother, let us have a barbecue!”

Eleventh Young Lady could not hold back her laughter.

“Do you truly want to go out and play, or do you want to go along with First and Second Brother?”

Xu Sizhun’s face reddened: “We want to go out too.”

“Then go to the West Mountain estate,” Eleventh Young Lady said with a smile. “First Brother and the others can go climbing, and you two can stay at the estate and have your barbecue.”

Xu Sizhun broke into joyful cheers.

Eleventh Young Lady laughed till she could hardly contain herself. “Now off to your lessons — mind you are not late or Master Zhao will make you stand as punishment.”

The two little ones exchanged a greeting with Wen Yiniang and then followed Nan Yong’s wife to the Shuangfu Courtyard with cheerful smiles.

Eleventh Young Lady had a small lacquered stool brought for Wen Yiniang to sit on.

Wen Yiniang, as was her custom, said a few light-hearted remarks to put Eleventh Young Lady in good cheer, then came around to her own purpose: “…I only ask that you find her a decent family. I do not require wealth or connections — only that the man be honest and dependable, someone she can make a proper life with.”

Eleventh Young Lady was somewhat taken aback. She recalled what Nanny Du had said to her a few days earlier: “…There is a manager under Chief Steward Bai, just turned twenty this year. He has a fine appearance and is quick-witted. Chief Steward Bai thinks very highly of him, and has asked me to find him a match. As you know, the Grand Matriarch has not been managing affairs for some time, and I am getting on in years — I no longer know the younger maids in the household. After much thought, I could only come to ask the Madam for help.” As she spoke, her eyes had kept drifting toward Hupo.

Eleventh Young Lady had understood the implication well enough, but had not given Nanny Du a definitive answer. In private, however, she had asked Hupo’s own view.

Hupo, her face flushed, had summoned up the courage to say: “A husband and wife cannot both hold managerial posts in the outer and inner courtyards at the same time. I wish to remain by the Madam’s side.”

Eleventh Young Lady had been the one to hesitate: “I will have Wan Daxian make inquiries. If the man is truly good, do not refuse outright.”

She had not expected that before any firm news came on that matter, Wen Yiniang would appear at her door.

She looked at Wen Yiniang with a quiet smile.

Wen Yiniang made no pretense of concealment, and said with a touch of bashfulness: “I too heard a whisper of this. If the Madam feels Hupo is not the right fit, speaking to our Qiuhong would come to the same thing. Whether it is Nanny Du or Chief Steward Bai, all they wish is to draw closer to the Madam.”

There was sense in that.

The difficulty was that sending Qiuhong across would require the approval of both Nanny Du and Chief Steward Bai.

“Do not be in a hurry,” Eleventh Young Lady said with a smile. “Speaking of which, aside from my Hupo and Hongxiu, there is also your Qiuhong, and Qiao Yiniang’s Xiuyuan — they are all around the same age.”