“They had the needlework room help embroider white cranes on a sapphire-blue brocade for the bed curtains?” Yang Shi set down the needlework in her hands, her expression turning grave as she gazed at Nanny Yang.

“Indeed!” Nanny Yang nodded repeatedly. “Right now the needlework room has set aside every piece of work in hand — even the little padded jacket they were making for Fifth Madam’s dear Xin Jie’er has been put off — and they are rushing to finish the bed curtains for Madam. They say that the curtain pattern design was drawn by the Fourth Madam herself.”

Yang Shi frequently did needlework, and on occasions when it was inconvenient for her, Nanny Yang would go to the needlework room to borrow embroidery thread, needles, thimbles, and small items of that sort, so she had become acquainted with the people there over time.

“I also heard from the needlework room that Madam has had a black lacquer bed inlaid with mother-of-pearl — one whose decoration reads ‘all wishes fulfilled’ — moved into the birthing chamber,” Nanny Yang continued. “Madam matched it with sapphire-blue bed hangings, and then felt they were too plain, so she had people embroider a row of white cranes along the curtain hem. Also, there are silver-gilded sea-crabapple flower curtain hooks on either side of the hangings.”

Yang Shi could not help pressing her lips together: “Does the Marquis know?”

“He knows.” Nanny Yang’s voice dropped involuntarily. “They say the Marquis even had Jiting bring over some prize chrysanthemums to arrange on the windowsill.”

Yang Shi lowered her head and stared at the half-finished infant’s belly bib she was embroidering, and said nothing.

In a few more days, Luo Shi would become a mother. She might even give birth to a legitimate son… If that happened, the Elder Madam’s and the Marquis’s joy went without saying. Even if it turned out to be a daughter, for the Marquis whose heirs had always been few, it would still be a cause for rejoicing. And by then, the Marquis would surely dote on Luo Shi even more. With Luo Shi’s cleverness and her looks, there would be no one who could rival her for the next three to five years.

She herself was only five months younger than Luo Shi.

With this thought, the faces of Xiulian and Yumei floated into Yang Shi’s mind.

In three to five years, she would be considered an old spinster.

If by then Luo Shi still kept her on ice like this, and her youth gradually slipped away — what then? Even if by that time she had managed to warm Luo Shi’s heart and Luo Shi arranged for her to attend upon the Marquis, she owed the Marquis neither the grace of caring for his parents nor the bond of bearing him children. She would merely be trading on her looks; whether she could even hold the Marquis’s interest was uncertain, let alone speaking of bearing him a son or daughter.

Yang Shi thought of the late Qin Yiniang.

If she hadn’t been fortunate enough to bear a firstborn son, what would have given her the standing to hold her own against the sharp-witted and capable Wen Yiniang for over a decade?

With this thought, she irritably flung down the belly bib in her hand.

Young and beautiful, able to sing and dance, and bestowed by the Empress Dowager — if she herself had been sitting in Luo Shi’s place, she would likely also have thought of every means possible to keep such a person on ice for a few years, until the bloom had faded before letting her have a few drops of favor. By then the flower would have no way to bear fruit, while she herself would have preserved her reputation for virtue. Two birds with one stone — why not?

The Nanny Yang beside her, seeing Yang Shi’s expression shift, timidly called out “Yiniang,” her eyes full of worry.

Ever since the night Yiniang had rushed to finish the swaddling clothes and presented them to Madam — only for Madam to remain unmoved — Yiniang’s mood had grown increasingly restless, no longer possessing the composure and tranquility of her former days.

“Some things cannot be rushed,” Nanny Yang thought for a moment, and tried as best she could to comfort Yang Shi in her clumsy way. “The Elder Madam suddenly, without a word to Madam, had the person bestowed directly to the Marquis like that. As the legitimate wife, Madam is naturally unhappy in her heart — that is perfectly understandable. The Marquis, moreover, has some friction between him and the one who bestowed you, so he would naturally not put in a word on your behalf. These are things you yourself told me when we first entered the mansion. Do you still remember?”

Yang Shi was startled for a moment.

Nanny Yang continued: “I cannot reason through grand principles. But I feel that every person’s heart is made of flesh. Ever since you stepped through the doors of the Xu household, you have behaved with propriety, respect, and humility. Given enough time, Madam will come to know what kind of person you are. And then, naturally, she will grow warm toward you. Otherwise, look at Wen Yiniang — Madam even entrusted the inner courtyard’s accounts to her, treats the daughter she bore as though she were her own, helped that daughter find a good match, and then spoke to the Marquis on the daughter’s behalf about her dowry, saying: daughters are not like sons — sons talk of establishing merit and sustaining the family line, and those with ambition have no need of their parents’ money. But daughters marry into another family, and since they cannot go out about in public nor manage affairs, if they have no private savings and must depend entirely on their husbands, they will be at everyone’s mercy and unable to hold their heads up. The Marquis, upon hearing this, added another ten thousand taels of silver to the daughter’s dowry. This was of course partly due to Wen Yiniang’s careful and attentive conduct before Madam, and partly due to the bond of affection between Madam and Wen Yiniang. Yiniang, set your heart at ease — once Madam comes to know what kind of person you are, she will treat you even better than she does Wen Yiniang.”

Yang Shi knew that her Nanny was guileless; there were some things that, even if explained to her, she would not understand, so she simply nodded, sent Nanny Yang to pour her a cup of tea, and sat alone gazing absently at the leaves of the courtyard trees, still lush and green.

In a few more days, those leaves would turn yellow, wither, and fall… and then be trodden underfoot, rotting into the soil after the autumn rains.

The large sleeping platform by the window was covered with a sapphire-blue brocade cushion; on the windowsill two chrysanthemum pots, one red and one yellow; against the wall, a six-post canopy bed hung with sapphire-blue bed hangings, the curtain hem embroidered with a row of white cranes, and silver-gilded sea-crabapple flower curtain hooks on either side of the hangings. Across from the bed were two grand master’s chairs; off to one side stood a screen, and behind the screen was a small washroom.

Shiyiniang gave a satisfied nod, then pointed to the whitewashed wall between the large sleeping platform and the bed: “Hang a four-panel porcelain screen there, find a flower stand, and place a pot of Chinese perfume orchid on it, then set a few stalks of wintergreen beside the stand as well. And add a few more embroidered stools — when visitors come to call, there will be somewhere for them to sit.”

Jiting’s wife smiled and agreed, and led the serving women off to fetch the orchid and wintergreen stalks.

Zhuxiang led the junior maids off to open the storeroom and bring out the porcelain screen, flower stand, and embroidered stools.

Shiyiniang went with Nanny Song to the main room.

Both of the palace-sent midwives and the two midwives engaged by the Elder Madam all said that her belly had already dropped and that labor was expected any day now. She had stared at herself in the mirror for a long while and could not see any difference.

Assisted by Nanny Song to sit down on the sleeping platform, Shiyiniang asked about the progress of finding a match for Lvyun.

“From the way you speak of him, it sounds like a well-off family.”

Nanny Song personally served her a cup of tea and smiled: “If it were not a good family, I would not dare bring it up to Madam.”

Shiyiniang smiled: “Then summon Lvyun’s parents to come and discuss the matter.”

Nanny Song smiled and agreed. A junior maid came in to report: “Madam, Yang Yiniang is here to see you!”

These past days, Yang Shi had been visiting her rooms very frequently, coming to chat about everyday matters. At first it had been confined to household gossip, but in recent days Yang Shi had taken to mentioning how poor her family had been when she was small, and how her mother had favored her younger brother and such things.

There had already been enough happening in the household these past days; she truly had no way to feel sympathy for Yang Shi’s “wretched” experiences, and after listening for a few sentences, she dismissed her with a cup of tea.

Head Embroideress Jian and Qiuju arrived.

The two women came carrying two large bundles each.

“Our shop alone has over fifty embroidery women — are we really going to have you, a woman in the late months of pregnancy, do the sewing yourself?” Head Embroideress Jian said this as she had Qiuju open the bundles; the sleeping platform was covered with children’s garments — not only exquisitely made, but in a dazzling array of colors and patterns that dazzled the eyes.

“These will fit all the way up to age five,” Qiuju said and burst into laughter at her own words.

Qiuju had grown quite a bit taller. The timid, hesitant air she had carried in her serving days was gone, replaced by a vibrant, bright-eyed glow.

She was in the process of discussing a marriage match. The intended party was a good friend of Head Embroideress Jian from the south, whose family ran a small embroidery shop in Huzhou. The two were considered a well-matched pair. Head Embroideress Jian had proposed that the man marry into the woman’s household, but his family was hesitant about this, and so the matter had been set aside.

Shiyiniang was startled, and laughed: “You surely didn’t put the shop’s work aside just to make all these little things?”

Head Embroideress Jian smiled: “These were all made by Qiuju.” Her brows and eyes shone with the pride of someone sharing in another’s glory. “Perhaps someday we really will specialize in children’s clothing.”

Everyone laughed at this.

Head Embroideress Jian’s words might come to pass several centuries hence — but not now. Those who could afford to buy clothes had their own needlework rooms; those who could not simply had the older children’s clothes passed down to the younger. And besides, there was even the old saying: “Those who know how to dress themselves up, dress up at seventeen or eighteen; those who don’t, dress up the infant in the cradle.”

Zhuxiang had Qiuyu go and bring in two trunks to store the little garments.

Head Embroideress Jian smiled and asked after Shiyiniang’s condition, then mentioned some matters concerning the shop. Seeing that the hour was growing late, she said the shop still had business to attend to, and took her leave with Qiuju.

Head Embroideress Jian no longer did much of the needlework herself these days, but everything embroidered in the shop had to pass her inspection before being sold. This was the time she would be checking the embroidered goods, so Shiyiniang did not keep her, and had Zhuxiang see them to the ornamental gate; she herself called Qiuyu, Xiulian, and Yumei over to help with the tidying.

Before long, Zhen Jie’er came to pay her respects.

A young girl, of course, would be delighted by all these little things.

She exclaimed with wonder, helping Qiuyu and the others fold the garments.

Xu Sizhun and Xu Sijie had finished their lessons for the day. Both looked on with great interest. Xu Sijie even asked Shiyiniang quite seriously: “The baby hasn’t even been born yet — what if the clothes are made too small?”

Shiyiniang truly did not quite know how to answer. Just as she was pondering it, Xu Sizhun had already replied: “That is why they were made in so many sizes, large and small. This is called being prepared for all eventualities.”

Xu Sijie listened and nodded very seriously: “Fourth Brother is so clever.”

This sent the whole room into such laughter that tears came to their eyes.

When they went to the Elder Madam’s quarters for dinner, Zhen Jie’er recounted it all to the Elder Madam and the Fifth Madam. Even the Second Madam, who laughed with uncontrollable merriment, broke into a radiant smile.

In the blink of an eye it was the beginning of the tenth month, and everyone in the household grew tense. The Elder Madam even went to Ci’an Temple on the first morning of the month to burn the first stick of incense.

Whether because of the approaching confinement date or the attitude of those around her, Shiyiniang had begun to feel a little uneasy.

In the middle of the night, Xu Lingyi was awakened by Shiyiniang tossing and turning beside him. He took her in his arms: “What is it?”

Shiyiniang did not know how to put it.

Saying she was worried the child might be born missing a limb, or that she feared the child would be oxygen-deprived and impaired during delivery — all of that would be inauspicious to say aloud. Yet these thoughts kept circling in her mind without ceasing. Especially when she saw the palace-sent midwife ask Nanny Song to prepare a new pair of scissors — she had read in a book that in those past times, many newborns had died because the umbilical cord was cut with scissors, causing infection.

Xu Lingyi saw that she would not speak, so he said nothing either, simply holding her gently, kissing her forehead, and comforting her.

The warmth of his embrace gradually lulled Shiyiniang into sleep.

* * *