Tenth Miss turned around, tilting her chin slightly, smiling at Fifth Miss while a glint of contempt flashed through her eyes. “Sister, why lose your temper over this — I’ll tell you when we’re done, that’s all.”

The room was full of clever people, and every single one of them could see that the two Luo sisters did not get along. All of them looked on without interfering.

Tenth Miss’s inexplicable appearance, the First Madam’s cold treatment of her, her younger brother’s situation still uncertain — and now Tenth Miss’s provocation had sent Fifth Miss, who had never been particularly good at containing herself, straight into a fury. Her eyes blazed with fire, and she stepped forward two paces, opening her mouth to rebuke Tenth Miss, but was stopped just in time by Eleventh Miss at her side.

“Tenth Sister must keep her word!” Eleventh Miss tilted her head slightly, her smile mischievous. “Otherwise we’ll go back and tell Mother — say that you borrowed our rouge and never returned it — and let Mother scold you!” As she spoke, she winked at Fifth Miss. “Fifth Sister, don’t you think that’s a good idea?”

What appeared to be Eleventh Miss’s soft and slender fingers gripped Fifth Miss’s arm in an iron hold, sending a sharp pain through it. Yet it was precisely that pain which jolted Fifth Miss back to her senses. By the time Eleventh Miss said “tell Mother,” she had already grown calm.

Right — Mother was still there to decide everything.

Fourth Brother was timid by nature; even if he had been tricked into letting Tenth Miss out, surely Mother’s punishment would be nothing more than house arrest or a docking of monthly allowance. Once time passed and Third Yiniang pleaded on her behalf, the matter would blow over. But if she herself committed some improper act now — losing face, let alone bringing disgrace to the Luo Family name — that small private calculation she was nursing would never have any chance of coming to pass. And all the advantage would fall to Eleventh Miss instead…

At that thought, she could not help looking at Eleventh Miss.

That younger sister who had always been so modest and yielding before her — right now her eyes were fixed on Fifth Miss with nothing but worry.

She must be afraid I’ll act rashly.

A sudden pang of guilt rose up in Fifth Miss’s heart.

She had always been guarding against her, yet at this critical moment, it was Eleventh Miss who helped her… With the example of Fourth Yiniang as a cautionary tale, Mother would never allow Tenth Miss to enter the Xu household. And so, as long as Eleventh Miss kept silent, in this contest between the sandpiper and the clam, the fisherman to profit would be none other than Eleventh Miss herself. Yet she had given up that opportunity…

The thought flickered through her mind.

But another voice inside told her: perhaps Eleventh Miss had no understanding of the stakes at all, and had simply chosen to help her out of dislike for Tenth Miss. After all, when Tenth Miss had been living above Eleventh Miss, she had never missed an opportunity to make Eleventh Miss’s life difficult…

These feelings had all passed in an instant. Seeing every eye in the room now turned on her, Fifth Miss smiled and said, “Eleventh Sister’s idea is a good one. If Tenth Sister doesn’t tell us, when we get home, we’ll tell Mother… and let Mother deal with her.” And with that, she laughed brightly, her expression warm and playful, as if she and her sisters were simply joking with one another.

Eleventh Miss watched Fifth Miss’s expression shift through light and shadow before at last arriving at the words “Eleventh Sister’s idea is a good one” — once more pushing the responsibility onto her own shoulders.

She felt very disappointed. Fifth Miss had grown so selfish that she no longer considered the bigger picture. Had she never heard the saying “when the nest is overturned, no egg remains unbroken”?

Others watching the sisters quarrel this way must surely find it laughable.

That thought moved her, and her eyes swept involuntarily across the room.

Everyone wore a different expression.

Qiao Lianfang’s eyes flickered, wearing the look of one who delights in watching drama from a safe distance. Tang Miss’s face showed open mockery. Lin Miss lowered her head and smoothed the pleats of her embroidered skirt, as though she hadn’t noticed anything at all on this side of the room. Gan Third Miss’s lips parted slightly as if about to say something, then thought better of it. Gan Seventh Miss stared at Eleventh Miss with wide, wondering eyes filled with frank astonishment.

Eleventh Miss could make sense of everyone else’s expressions, but the Gan Family’s two misses — one of them seemed filled with sympathy for what they had just witnessed, and the other seemed thoroughly fascinated by Eleventh Miss herself.

Eleventh Miss felt a flicker of thought, but just then Tenth Miss’s laughter reached her ear. “You’re going to tattle on me to Mother again…”

Her words were not yet finished, however, before the Third Mistress appeared at the folding screen. “The Marquis has gone — let us carry on with the opera.”

There was nothing more anyone could say. With the Gan Family sisters, who were closest to the screen, leading the way, they filed out one by one and retook their seats.

Eleventh Miss then noticed that Tenth Miss had shifted her brocade footstool toward the position where Gan Seventh Miss was sitting. Once the opera resumed, she and Gan Seventh Miss fell into a hushed, whispering conversation.

Fifth Miss had also noticed.

She had no more capacity to watch the opera; her eyes kept darting over to them. But Madam Qiao, seated across from her, caught this.

When the third act ended and the scene was being changed, Madam Qiao suddenly said, “We here are watching opera — no need to keep the young ladies so restrained. Look at the Luo Family misses and the Gan Family misses — clearly they’ve been unable to sit still for quite a while.”

At once, every gaze fell in that direction — especially the First Madam’s, which cut across the room as sharp as a knife’s edge.

Eleventh Miss sat there in graceful composure, smiling faintly.

Fifth Miss shot Tenth Miss a fierce glare, which Tenth Miss met with an unruffled smile.

Gan Seventh Miss simply stood up, ignoring her elder sister tugging at her hem, and pouted at the Dowager Madam with a coaxing air. “I want to go fly kites — I don’t want to watch opera!”

The Dowager Madam seemed to have a great fondness for lively, adorable children, and indulged her with a tolerant laugh. “Go, go then.” She then called over a nanny named Du who was at her side. “You take the Gan Family’s Seventh Miss to the storeroom and let her choose the kind of kite she likes.” She thought for a moment, looked over the young ladies in the room, and said, “Any others who want to go fly kites — go all together. It saves everyone the trouble — you’ll be squirming about here, and we won’t be able to listen in peace either.”

Everyone laughed.

Tenth Miss laughed and rose to her feet with flair. “Dowager Madam, I want to go too!”

The Dowager Madam laughed warmly. “Good, good, good.” She seemed very pleased indeed.

Fifth Miss hesitated for a moment. But Eleventh Miss smiled and said, “I’ll stay and watch the opera. I still want to find out whether Cai Bojie will agree to become Prime Minister Niu’s son-in-law.” Her tone was wistful and thoroughly invested in the story.

Her true reason was that today’s situation was very complicated, and the safest course was to stay still and let things come to her — to stay by the First Madam’s side, within the First Madam’s sight and direct view. That was the surest way not to go wrong.

The Dowager Madam listened and nodded, then looked toward Lin Miss.

Lin Miss smiled gently and said, “I would like to go see the Second Mistress. Last time when I visited to see Fifth Mistress, the Second Mistress was kind enough to give me several sheets of Chengxin Hall paper.”

Eleventh Miss noticed that Madam Qiao, Madam Tang, Qiao Lianfang, and Tang Miss all gave a slight change of expression, and looked at Lin Miss with gazes that shifted between wariness and uncertainty.

“A few days ago I came across a copy of the ‘Chunhua Ge Ti’ in the Wang府 version.” Lin Miss remained perfectly composed under the weight of those gazes, graceful as always. “I would like to give it to the Second Mistress.”

The Dowager Madam was overjoyed and said “Wonderful” several times, then added, “That edition is extremely precious — how can you give it away? Very well — I have a copy of Xia Gui’s ‘Pines and Stream in Moonlight.'” She called out to Weizi, “Go fetch it for the Lin Family’s young miss.”

Lin Miss quickly rose to demur. “How could I accept a gift from you?”

The Dowager Madam waved her hand with a smile. “I think of it as the right gift for the right person… I know you love painting.”

Lin Miss considered for a moment, then curtsied graciously to the Dowager Madam in thanks. “Had I known it would come to this, I should have brought some model calligraphy to trade with the Dowager Madam for a painting.”

The Dowager Madam laughed warmly at that. “I only have these old treasures of mine…” But the sentence broke off quite abruptly.

Eleventh Miss felt that something was odd, and quickly glanced at the Third Mistress and Fifth Mistress — yet both were smiling warmly at Lin Miss, with nothing unusual in their manner.

Perhaps she was overthinking things.

She was still turning this over when she noticed Qiao Lianfang slowly rising to her feet with a smile. “I’ll go with Lin Sister to visit the Second Mistress. Last time, she told me pine blossoms can be made into cakes. I went home and tried it, but it didn’t come out right — so I’d like to ask for her guidance.”

“Good, good, good.” The Dowager Madam looked at her with a warm smile. “You each seek out what you enjoy — if guests feel at home and at ease, that is what makes me happy.”

Before her words had quite ended, Tang Miss also rose to her feet and smiled. “I’ll go along with Mingyuan as well. It has been so long since I’ve seen the Second Mistress — I still remember the plum wine she brewed. I must taste it again.”

“I’d like to go too!” Fifth Miss suddenly clenched her jaw and stood up. “I have been thinking ever since about the tea the Second Mistress prepared last time. And now hearing what everyone has said, I realize the Second Mistress not only knows how to blend teas, but also brews wine and excels at calligraphy. I admire her very much. I would also like to get a look at the ‘Chunhua Ge Ti’ in the Wang府 version in Lin Miss’s hands.”

The First Madam’s expression had already become somewhat stiff.

Eleventh Miss could have rushed forward and covered her mouth.

When you have thought to go visit a widowed Second Mistress, how is it that you never thought to visit your own elder sister, who lies ill in bed?

Tenth Miss had also caught Fifth Miss’s urgency. She curved her lips in a small smile, took Gan Seventh Miss by the arm, and asked Gan Third Miss with a smile, “Gan Sister, will you be coming with us to fly kites, or going with Lin Sister to visit the Second Mistress?”

Gan Third Miss said quickly, “Naturally I’m going with you to fly kites. Otherwise, who knows what sort of trouble Lanting might cause.”

Gan Seventh Miss stamped her foot and cried “Sister!” in a petulant tone, drawing a round of laughter from everyone.

Eleventh Miss laughed too, while inwardly noting that Gan Seventh Miss was called “Gan Lanting” — she wondered what Gan Third Miss was called.

Madam Gan let out a sigh and watched the Gan Family’s two young misses with a helpless smile. “Don’t cause any trouble.” Then she summoned her maid. “Accompany the two young misses.”

The maid stepped forward, curtsied, and acknowledged the order.

In this way, the group divided into three. The two Gan Family misses and Tenth Miss formed one group, to go fly kites. Qiao Lianfang, Lin Miss, Tang Miss, and Fifth Miss formed another group, to go visit the Second Mistress. Eleventh Miss formed the third group on her own, and remained to watch the opera. The opera watchers were easy enough — they simply stayed seated. The Second Mistress visitors were also straightforward — Nanny Yao led a few maids to attend on them properly. But the kite-flying group posed rather more trouble: they had to go to the storeroom to choose kites, then find a suitable spot in the garden, and there was the worry of straying too close to the water… Quite a lot of details to manage. The Third Mistress thought it over and personally led her maids and attendants to arrange matters for the two Gan Family misses and Tenth Miss.

The side room grew quiet.

The Dowager Madam then looked at the young mistresses of the various families, who had not said a word throughout. “How about letting Danyang accompany you to play mahjong?”

The Tang Family’s First Young Mistress smiled and replied, “Now what do you mean by that? We are not fourteen or fifteen-year-old young misses who know only how to play, nor are we unworldly young ladies who think nothing of daily household affairs is beneath us — calling it all ‘vulgar’… This is exactly what I enjoy. Listening to opera, trading idle talk, happy as immortals.”

The Dowager Madam laughed out loud.

Eleventh Miss felt a genuine, heartfelt admiration.

These young mistresses sitting there smiling without a word — not a single one of them was to be trifled with.

Just look at how finely Tang Family’s First Young Mistress had crafted that speech. With one sentence she had pointed out that the two Gan Family young ladies knew only how to play, and with another that Lin Miss was ignorant of worldly affairs. She had struck at the Gan Family, and struck at the Lin Family — and yet she had also flattered the Fifth Mistress and had conspicuously left out the Third Mistress, who had been faithfully attending on them all the while. Formidable, truly formidable.