On the day Yi Yiniang passed away, it happened to be the third day after Qiuhong’s wedding, when she returned to her maternal home for the customary visit. Nanny Song, her godmother, had set up a banquet at her home to receive the new son-in-law, and had also invited Chief Steward Bai and his wife, Steward Zhao and his wife, Nanny Du, Wan Daxian and his wife, Hupo’s fiancé Guan Qing, Yanrong’s fiancé Cao An, and others to keep them company.

After everyone had exchanged greetings, the new son-in-law remained at Nanny Song’s home to attend to the guests, while Qiuhong went to the inner courtyard to pay her respects to the Eleventh Miss and Wen Yiniang.

Seeing Qiuhong walk in, dressed in a bright red linen vest and wearing large red pomegranate silk flowers in her hair, Wen Yiniang’s eyes grew a little moist.

Bright red — how splendid!

Without waiting for Qiuhong to bow, she had already risen and stepped forward to take Qiuhong’s hands, looking her up and down, then turned back to smile at the Eleventh Miss: “Madam, just look at this child — now that she’s a married woman, she’s different from before. She’s so much more beautiful than she used to be!”

The Eleventh Miss was happy to join in the fun. She laughed and said: “Qiuhong was always pretty. By your reckoning, it seems the new husband’s family has a way of bringing out her glow — she’s been there barely three days and has bloomed more than in the dozen-odd years she spent at your side.”

Wen Yiniang naturally flattered the Eleventh Miss in return: “That is also thanks to you, Madam — if it weren’t for you arranging such a fine match for her, how could she be living such good days?” As she spoke, she released Qiuhong’s hand. “Now go and properly kowtow to Madam.” And she added: “Without Madam’s grace, you wouldn’t be where you are today. Now that your life is going well, do not forget the kindness Madam has shown you.”

Married straight into the role of a steward’s wife — among all the many maids in the Xu household, she was the very first to have such a distinction. Her husband was capable, and her mother-in-law, seeing that she had been personally matchmade by the Fourth Madam and had served closely at Wen Yiniang’s side, regarded her a few notches above the other sisters-in-law. Though she had only just been married in, everything was discussed with her first, with an implicit understanding that she was to be the one in charge. She was genuinely and wholeheartedly grateful to the Fourth Madam for giving her this honor. Before Wen Yiniang had even finished speaking, she had already knelt and was kowtowing to the Eleventh Miss with sincere reverence.

The Eleventh Miss rose to help her up.

Hupo, standing to one side, quickly stepped forward and, reaching her before the Eleventh Miss could, helped Qiuhong to her feet.

“Don’t listen to your Yiniang,” the Eleventh Miss said with a smile. “She’s the sort who’ll take three parts of goodness and speak it as six.”

Qiuhong dared not be at ease in the presence of the two women and replied demurely, making the servants in the room all break into laughter.

Knowing that Nanny Song and the others were still waiting for the new bride to return before starting the feast, the Eleventh Miss exchanged a few more words with Qiuhong, then signaled the end of the visit by lifting her teacup.

Given the special bond between them, Wen Yiniang personally escorted Qiuhong all the way to the hanging-flower gate before turning back.

On her way back in, she happened to run into Huo Xiang — one of the newly assigned little maids in the Eleventh Miss’s rooms — leading that woman known throughout the household for her big mouth, the matron Xiang, toward the Eleventh Miss’s quarters.

Wen Yiniang was puzzled: “What is this about?”

Matron Xiang quickly stepped forward and curtsied to her, smiling obsequiously: “Madam says the courtyard of the Third Branch is sitting empty and needs a few trustworthy people to keep watch over it.” She pointed to Huo Xiang. “This young miss asked me to come for a word.” Then she broke into a grin. “At my age, to land such a fine assignment — I must go and kowtow properly to the Fourth Madam later, and pray she gives birth to a young master!”

Of all people, why hire someone like this!

Wen Yiniang made a sound of displeasure and returned to her own courtyard.

That evening, when she went to pay her respects to the Eleventh Miss, she learned that Matron Xiang had already taken up the post. She could not help but say: “Madam, you really should have asked around first. That Matron Xiang is notorious for her loose tongue. Whatever she comes to know is as good as known by the entire household.”

The Eleventh Miss smiled and said: “I have heard the same. But her household is truly in hardship. The Third Branch courtyard is an empty wing, and I have already told her to stay out of other people’s affairs when she has nothing to do.”

Since the Eleventh Miss had made up her mind, Wen Yiniang said no more, but remained uneasy in her heart, and privately passed a word to Hupo and the others.

Hupo understood that the Eleventh Miss had brought Matron Xiang on precisely to let her carry news. But this was not something she could say to Wen Yiniang, so she smiled and agreed, then relayed Wen Yiniang’s kind concern to the Eleventh Miss.

Two days later, Yanrong’s mother came to take Yanrong out of the household.

The Eleventh Miss gifted her a pair of solid gold and enamel bracelets, a pair of solid gold clove-flower hairpins, and twenty taels of silver: “When the wedding date is set, remember to let me know. And in the future, if you encounter any difficulties, don’t hide them — come straight to me.”

Yanrong’s mother thanked her a thousand times over, her heart finally at ease — she had previously worried that Yanrong had done something wrong and was being dismissed. But looking at this, with gifts of jewelry and silver both, she had clearly been overthinking it. She also thought that when she got home, she would make a point of showing these things off and putting to rest any talk from wagging tongues.

Yanrong had long envisioned staying on to become a first-rank maid before leaving service, but in the end it had all come to naught. She then thought of the days she had spent at the Fourth Madam’s side — the Madam had never said anything aloud, yet the food and clothing she had always been given matched that of first-rank maids, and she had never once been overlooked. Thinking now that once she left the household, she didn’t know whether fate would ever bring them together again, her eyes grew red unbidden. She knelt and kowtowed three firm times before finally rising.

A little maid was peering in from beyond the Huanfei curtain.

Hupo walked over lightly and quietly.

“Cui’er says Qin Yiniang has a slight fever,” the little maid said in a low voice. “She would like Madam to summon a physician to come and have a look.”

Yanrong heard clearly and, with a turn of her mind, understood. She knew that this was no longer a place she could remain.

She gave her mother a meaningful glance, immediately took her leave of the Eleventh Miss, and went out of the courtyard with her mother.

The Eleventh Miss asked Hupo to fetch the tally token and send for Physician Liu: “Say that a yiniang in the household has fallen ill, and ask him to please send a capable person over.”

Hupo went off to carry out the errand.

Imperial Physician Liu sent over a young man of seventeen or eighteen.

The young man entered with a flushed face and lowered head, not daring to let his eyes wander, staring steadily at his own feet: “Physician Liu says, since the one who is ill is a yiniang of the household, it is appropriate for me to come. He also asked me to inquire of Madam — what symptoms does the yiniang have?”

That Imperial Physician Liu — no wonder he could oversee the Imperial Medical Bureau.

The Eleventh Miss spoke from behind the Huanfei curtain: “They say she has a fever. It has come and gone several times already. I think if she doesn’t improve, she may have to be moved to the villa to recuperate.”

The young man responded quietly in acknowledgment, then followed a little maid to Qin Yiniang’s quarters.

Qin Yiniang felt that her illness had come about in a rather baffling way.

She had clearly been perfectly fine, yet Cui’er kept insisting she felt hot to the touch. She checked herself carefully and did sense a bit of warmth. This kept going back and forth, until Cui’er’s face suddenly went pale: “Could it be that Yiniang has contracted malaria?”

Qin Yiniang was frightened as well, and quickly sent Cui’er to fetch a physician.

The physician came and said she had caught a chill, wrote out a few inconsequential prescriptions, and left.

Qin Yiniang was left with a growing sense of unease.

Could it be that she really had malaria, and the physician, acting on the Eleventh Miss’s instructions, was treating her for a common cold?

At that moment she thought of Yi Yiniang. With her around, at least there would have been someone to consult.

She had no choice but to instruct Cui’er: “Don’t make a fuss. Just go fetch the medicine and brew it.”

But once the medicine was ready, Qin Yiniang poured it all out at the foot of the flower tree in the corner of the courtyard.

Two days passed in this way. Then one morning, Cui’er came in trembling: “Yiniang, I had a bout of fever this morning, then felt chills at noon, and now I feel a little warm again. Feel me and see.”

All was lost — wasn’t this exactly the malaria the Second Madam had once described? And now it had spread to Cui’er as well.

She grabbed Cui’er by the arm: “Quick — go and tell Madam, ask her to summon Imperial Physician Liu to examine me!”

But before the Eleventh Miss could even send for Imperial Physician Liu, word had already spread through the courtyard: Qin Yiniang had contracted malaria, and had infected Cui’er.

In an instant, the entire household was in a stir.

Wen Yiniang hurried to the Eleventh Miss’s quarters, only to find Yang Shi already seated there: “… Madam, this is no small matter. We others are one thing, but you are carrying an heir.”

The Eleventh Miss looked up and addressed Wen Yiniang: “You’ve come at just the right time. I will need your help with this matter.”

Wen Yiniang answered without hesitation: “Madam, please speak.”

The Eleventh Miss instructed Hupo to copy out a roster of the servants in Qin Yiniang’s rooms and hand it to Wen Yiniang: “Please help me move everyone on this list to the Junzi Pavilion in the rear garden. When Imperial Physician Liu arrives, he can examine them one by one. Those who have been infected will remain at Junzi Pavilion to receive treatment; those who have not will move to the Ziyuan Residence beside it for a few days, and then await further instructions.”

Junzi Pavilion was in the rear garden. Whenever someone in the Xu household fell ill, they would first be moved there for a period, and if they did not improve, they would be sent out of the household entirely.

Wen Yiniang went to carry out the task, and in less than two hours had moved everyone on the roster to Junzi Pavilion.

Only then did the Eleventh Miss let out a quiet breath.

She instructed Zhuxiang and the others to lead the matrons in spreading quicklime throughout the courtyard, then had Qin Yiniang’s quarters locked.

That evening, Hupo quietly told her: “Cui’er says she has a younger sister named Xing’er. In the recent round of maid selections by Chief Steward Bai, her parents sent her into the household. She wishes to beg Madam’s grace and have her assigned to the needlework department.”

She’s afraid of her sister walking the same path, isn’t she!

Serving close to the mistress brought higher monthly wages, status, and better chances of being matched to a good family — but it also meant bearing the brunt of blame and being caught up in others’ troubles just as easily.

The Eleventh Miss gave a small nod: “I understand.”

The next day, two men claiming to be sent by Imperial Physician Liu arrived to conduct examinations.

First they examined those who showed no symptoms, then proceeded to Junzi Pavilion.

Shortly after, they sent someone to report back to the Eleventh Miss: “It does appear to be malaria. Please, Madam, make a decision without delay.”

The Eleventh Miss immediately went to inform the Grand Madam, then instructed Chief Steward Bai to arrange carriages and horses. By midday, the afflicted had been transferred to the Luoye Mountain villa. She also asked Steward Zhao to help purchase fleece flower root, Chinese angelica, ginseng, and tangerine peel, and had the kitchen matrons of the outer household brew it with fresh ginger into a preventive drink to be given to everyone in the household, from top to bottom.

Even the neighboring household of Marquis Weibei, the Lin family, was alarmed by this, and specially sent Lin Da’s wife to inquire.

“There is nothing to worry about,” the Eleventh Miss reassured Lin Da’s wife. “It is merely a precaution.”

Lin Da’s wife thought it over, and simply asked for the recipe to take home, following the Eleventh Miss’s example and brewing a large pot to distribute among her household. The Ding Guo Gong Zheng family living at the front learned of it as well and sent someone to ask for the recipe, then brewed it for their own household to drink.

The Eleventh Miss couldn’t help but murmur to herself: “It’s fortunate that it’s herbal medicine, diluted many times over at that — otherwise, if someone actually got sick from it, that would be a real disaster.”

After all this commotion over two days, news arrived from Luoye Mountain.

Cui’er, unable to endure the torment of the illness, had hanged herself.

The Eleventh Miss fell silent for a long while.

The wait is already unbearable — how much more so the wait for death…

For her, perhaps this was a form of release.

* * *