“Yiniang, there’s really nothing to be found out.” Cui’er said with some helplessness. “Qiu Hong is about to be married — she’s shut herself in her room and won’t go anywhere.” She pouted. “Wen Yiniang has always had money to spare, and now that Qiu Hong’s marriage has won Madam’s favor, she’s become so full of herself her eyes are practically pointed at the sky. Every day all she talks about is how to help Qiu Hong put together a trousseau — she has no patience to discuss anything else. What exactly Wen Yiniang said to Madam, she can’t be bothered to tell me in detail.” Her tone carried a note of complaint, but beneath it, even more so, was envy.

Qin Yiniang spat at her: “You useless girl — if you can’t get the details out of her, how am I supposed to know which path Wen Yiniang took to win Madam’s favor so completely? If you envy Qiu Hong so much, you ought to put in some effort yourself, instead of always letting my words go in one ear and out the other.”

Cui’er flushed crimson at the scolding and murmured a reply, preparing to withdraw — but Qin Yiniang called her back, still not having vented enough: “You brainless thing, what good is it to be embarrassed now? Just wait until Qiu Hong and Dong Hong one by one marry decent husbands — you’ll have plenty to regret then.” She beckoned Cui’er closer: “Come here. I have something to tell you.” Then she leaned in and whispered in Cui’er’s ear: “Put on a look of having nothing to do, and go to Madam’s small kitchen to make some inquiries — find out whether Madam has been feeling any better these days, and what she’s been eating…”

Before she could finish, Cui’er’s expression had already changed: “Yiniang, this — this doesn’t seem quite right!”

Qin Yiniang said impatiently: “You can’t get anything out of Dong Hong’s side, and you’re afraid to go near the small kitchen — what exactly are you good for? Madam is carrying a child right now. If we don’t put effort into currying favor on that front, where else do you think we can curry favor?”

Cui’er suddenly understood, and answered with an abashed murmur before withdrawing.

Leaving through the door, she ran into Qiao Lianfang and Xiu Yuan.

She was still hesitating about whether to step forward and pay her respects when Xiu Yuan, gently supporting Qiao Lianfang, had already entered the covered walkway and was heading toward the main rooms.

Cui’er breathed a sigh of relief and made her way to the small kitchen.

Xiu Yuan had not noticed Cui’er. She was speaking in a lowered voice to Qiao Lianfang: “Yiniang, Madam has summoned you — I wonder what it’s about?” Her tone was full of concern.

“We’ll know when we get there!” Qiao Lianfang’s voice was indifferent.

“Yiniang.” Xiu Yuan frowned slightly at her tone, and was just about to offer a few words of counsel when a young maidservant nearby bowed to them — the words she had been about to say were swallowed back down.

Qiao Lianfang lifted the curtain and entered the room.

The Eleventh Young Lady received her in the main hall.

“Xiu Yuan is no longer young. She has also reached the age to be released from service. These past days my energy has not been good, and I have inevitably been unable to attend to certain matters. So I have asked you here to discuss it. Xiu Yuan came into this household with you from the Qiao family, so should her marriage be arranged by you, or should she be sent back home for her parents to decide?”

The implication was clear — she had no wish to involve herself in Xiu Yuan’s affairs.

Qiao Lianfang was somewhat surprised, yet also felt it was entirely within reason.

She thought for a moment, then said: “I don’t really understand these matters. If Madam agrees, I would like to consult with my mother.”

The Eleventh Young Lady raised no objection, and at once gave orders to have Madam Qiao invited to the Xu household, then lifted her teacup.

Madam Qiao received the message and immediately hurried to the Xu residence.

A young maidservant went to inform the Eleventh Young Lady. Shortly after, Lv Yun lifted the curtain and stepped out, standing at the top of the steps with a smile: “Our Madam is occupied at the moment.” Then she called a young maidservant over, told her to “escort Madam Qiao to Qiao Yiniang’s quarters,” and turned back inside.

Madam Qiao watched the curtain of Xiang Fei bamboo sway a few times and then fall still. A surge of something lodged in her chest with no way to be released — it was some time before she followed the young maidservant whose hair had not yet been put up, toward Qiao Lianfang’s chambers.

The Eleventh Young Lady was speaking with Wen Yiniang about Guan Qing’s situation: “…So by that account, he is an honest man.”

Wen Yiniang nodded: “He’s not dim-witted — it’s just that his family’s circumstances are too meager. Acting from a position of limited means, he has inevitably become overly cautious, and has developed a habit of careful restraint.”

The Eleventh Young Lady had already begun to feel some favor toward him. Since Steward Bai had arranged for Guan Qing to assist the manager overseeing the renovation of the Jinyu Lane residence, the Eleventh Young Lady had deliberately assigned him a few small tasks. Though his execution was not yet polished, it was within bounds and caused no significant trouble. She also found an opportunity for Hupo to take a look at Guan Qing.

Hupo reflected on how the Eleventh Young Lady had entered the Xu household with wolves before and tigers behind, and yet had managed to live so well. She asked only whether Guan Qing was dutiful toward his parents; beyond that, she had no further demands.

The Eleventh Young Lady thus had Nanny Song relay a message to Nanny Du, intending to settle the matter.

The Guan family felt as though a pie had fallen from the sky — so delighted that they could not stop smiling. The whole household’s servants and women came to know that Hupo would be marrying into the Guan family, and even women who normally never visited came to offer their congratulations. The commotion reached even the Grand Madam, who specifically summoned Hupo to speak with her.

“What a fine-looking girl.” The Grand Madam took her hand and looked her over from head to toe, then instructed Nanny Du: “Take all those red garments we sorted out the other day and bestow them upon this girl.”

Nanny Du answered with a smile and went to fetch them.

Hupo’s face turned red, and she curtsied again and again in gratitude, then took the garments the Grand Madam had bestowed and returned to the Eleventh Young Lady’s quarters.

The Eleventh Young Lady looked at the garments — all still quite new, every one of them fine silk and satin — and smiled: “Alter them over the next few days, and they’ll be just right to wear come autumn.”

Hupo’s wedding date was set for the ninth month.

Lv Yun and the others covered their mouths and laughed; Hupo’s face glowed with radiance.

Xu Sizhun and Xu Sijie came over after school.

Seeing a few bright garments scattered across the Eleventh Young Lady’s sleeping platform, both asked: “Has Mother had new clothes made?”

Now that her marriage to Guan Qing had been settled, Hupo continued to attend to her duties in front of the Eleventh Young Lady as though nothing had changed — yet the way people looked at her was nonetheless a little different. Though Hupo showed nothing of it on her face, she still felt a little flustered inside. Hearing Xu Sizhun and Xu Sijie ask, she worried that Lv Yun and the others might say something embarrassing, so she quickly pulled the two boys away to wash their hands: “…Madam has had the kitchen prepare cold jelly noodles.”

The two little ones happily trotted along after Hupo.

A burst of hushed laughter followed in their wake.

How could Cha Xiang and Xiu’er dare trouble Hupo? They quickly said: “Elder Sister, you go ahead and tend to your business — we’ll look after the young masters here!”

Hupo felt guilty, and hearing Cha Xiang and Xiu’er speak up, she handed Xu Sizhun and Xu Sijie off to them, said “Look after the two young masters — I’ll go have a word with the kitchen,” and hurried out of the main hall.

It was a rare sight, seeing Hupo in such a flustered state. Cha Xiang and Xiu’er exchanged glances, then poured water for Xu Sizhun and Xu Sijie to wash their hands.

Xu Sizhun asked Cha Xiang: “What’s the matter with Elder Sister Hupo? She seemed very embarrassed.” But as he lifted his eyes, he caught sight of an unfamiliar maidservant peering in through the curtain of the main hall.

These past days the household had released several maidservants from service, and Nanny Song was currently training new ones.

Xu Sizhun paid it no mind, finished washing his hands, and made to go to the eastern side room.

But the maidservant beckoned to him.

He paused slightly.

The maidservant was already making eyes at him, her expression unmistakably urgent.

Something stirred in Xu Sizhun’s heart. He slowed his pace, falling behind the others, and said with a smile: “Cha Xiang, I need to use the lavatory.” Without waiting to see whether Cha Xiang heard him, he quickly stepped out of the main hall and headed toward the side room where Xu Sijie lived.

By the time Cha Xiang and the others realized what had happened, Xu Sizhun was already nowhere to be seen.

The group hurried out to find him, and saw an unfamiliar young maidservant attending Xu Sizhun as he walked toward Xu Sijie’s wing. Assuming she was one of the newly arrived maidservants, they simply followed along. The maidservant stood at the door and held the curtain aside for them. Cha Xiang’s steps faltered briefly, and she glanced at the maidservant. The maidservant quickly put on a smile, like all the junior maids — wearing the look of someone eager to please.

Cha Xiang squared her shoulders and entered the side room.

Xu Sizhun sat on a footstool, turning over in his mind the maidservant’s words.

“In a few days it will be the late Fourth Madam’s birthday, and in the sixth month will come the young master’s own birthday. Nanny Tao says that she is not in the household this year and cannot come in person to celebrate, and asks the young master to please forgive her. If the young master has a free moment, she would ask that on the late Fourth Madam’s birthday, he go to the ancestral hall to burn a stick of incense for her — so that the late Fourth Madam’s spirit in heaven may bless the young master with peace and tranquility, free from the harassment of petty persons.”

Long-buried memories were drawn forth.

He had always remembered: his birth mother’s birthday was the twenty-seventh day of the fifth month. Every time that day came, Nanny Tao would dress him in new clothes early in the morning and carry him to his mother’s room. Walking past the eaves, the maidservants, matrons, and senior nurses standing beneath the eaves and throughout the courtyard — every one of them would lower their heads.

His mother would be seated on the large platform bed beside the window of the inner chamber in those days, its low table spread with all the foods he liked best.

The moment he entered, his mother would open her arms wide.

Once Nanny Tao had placed him in his mother’s embrace, she would hold him tightly, and the faint fragrance of medicine would drift around his nose, bringing him a feeling of calm and serenity.

His mother would point at the food on the table and ask him in her soft, gentle voice: “What would you like to eat?”

Nanny Tao would then come over with a mild scold: “Madam, the Fourth Young Master has already had half a bowl of congee — if he eats more, he’ll get indigestion.”

His mother would not take offense, but would simply tilt her face upward and smile.

At that moment, gifts from his father would arrive as well.

Often it was a single thin sheet of paper.

His mother would not even look at it, but would have Nanny Tao put it away.

Then she would gently kiss his cheek: “We’ll save all of these, and in the future give them all to our Zhun’er.”

How long had it been since he had smelled again that faint, warm medicine fragrance that was found only in his mother’s arms…

He lowered his head, his eyes growing moist.

Xu Sizhun came out of the lavatory, rubbing his hands with bath powder, and asked Cha Xiang: “Do you know when my birth mother’s birthday is?”

Cha Xiang was startled.

She had only entered the household when Yuan Niang was managing the inner affairs, and had just been promoted to the Grand Madam’s courtyard when Yuan Niang passed away — how would she remember such things?

“Why does the Fourth Young Master ask?” she said with a smile. “If you like, I can go ask Nanny Du.”

Meaning she did not know.

Xu Sizhun felt dispirited: “Never mind — I was just asking on a whim.”

Cha Xiang let out a quiet breath of relief.

Back in the eastern side room, the cold jelly noodles had already been brought out.

Snow-white jelly noodles in a reddish-brown broth — the sight alone was enough to make one’s mouth water.

Yet the Eleventh Young Lady asked Xu Sizhun: “Are you not feeling well somewhere?”

Xu Sizhun met the gentle concern flowing from the Eleventh Young Lady’s eyes, and a long-treasured memory came surging forward like a tide — the portrait hanging on the wall and the person before him now overlapped and blurred into one another, faint and uncertain…

“What is it?” The Eleventh Young Lady’s worried voice pulled him back from the haze.

Xu Sizhun studied the Eleventh Young Lady carefully.

His mother and his birth mother were different.

In the portrait, his birth mother had delicate, refined features, a calm gaze, a faint, elusive smile at the corners of her mouth — a serenity that seemed to encompass compassion for all the world. His mother also liked to carry a smile at her lips, but her gaze was limpid and clear, giving her a look of bright spirit and vitality.

“No — nothing at all!” Xu Sizhun gently shook his head, and for the first time felt keenly the difference between his birth mother and his mother. “I’m perfectly fine!”

—