Once the guests had been seen off, the household settled into quiet.
Eleventh Young Lady reclined against the bolster pillow, watching wet nurse Gu Shi bathe her son. Hongwen, A’jin, and Yumei stood nearby — one wringing out the face cloth, another holding out clean garments.
Nanny Wan came in carrying a bowl of medicinal broth.
“How many more days must I take this medicine?” Eleventh Young Lady drank it down in a single draught.
“You may stop once the old blood is fully expelled,” said Nanny Wan with a smile.
On the other side of the room, wet nurse Gu had already wrapped the baby and was carrying him over.
Eleventh Young Lady kissed her son’s small face, tucked in the blanket corners, and settled him inside her own bed covers.
Wet nurse Gu seemed to want to say something but held herself back.
By rights, the child should have been sleeping with his wet nurse. Yet for these past few days, Madam had kept the child with herself as though such a custom did not exist, while she herself rested on a chaise lounge at the bedside.
Eleventh Young Lady behaved as if she had noticed nothing.
Three days had passed, and she had long since accepted that she could not nurse her son herself. As his mother, if she did not strive to spend as much time as possible with her child, she feared the only scent he would ever know would be his wet nurse’s.
Fangxi and Qiuyu had both received a quiet hint from Hupo and understood Eleventh Young Lady’s intentions. One smiled and helped Wet Nurse Gu carry her bedding over, while the other reminded her: “It is getting late — do wash up and get some rest.”
Wet Nurse Gu dared not say another word. She curtsied and withdrew.
Nanny Wan, witnessing all this, smiled and said: “Madam, you are working yourself too hard. I have something I wish to say, if I may be so presumptuous.”
Eleventh Young Lady was not one to make things difficult for people. She replied agreeably: “Go ahead, Nanny Wan, say what is on your mind.”
Nanny Wan smiled with restrained dignity and said: “I see that Sixth Young Master’s rooms have no one properly in charge, and Madam is attending to everything herself. I thought I might recommend someone for the position of managing maidservant.” Without waiting to be asked, she continued directly: “There is a saying — do not avoid recommending those close to you. My third daughter-in-law is in the prime of her years, has given birth to two sons and a daughter, and is not only fair-complexioned and dignified in her bearing, but sharp and capable in everything she does. The neighbors all speak well of her without exception. If Madam deigns to look favorably upon her, I could bring her in for Madam to look over one of these days.” She finished and looked at Eleventh Young Lady with hopeful expectation.
Eleventh Young Lady was genuinely surprised.
She had not expected Nanny Wan to recommend her own daughter-in-law in this manner.
She turned the idea over quickly and decided it was not without merit.
Nanny Wan was getting on in years and could not remain in service for more than another couple of years. Her several sons were all said to be decent, honest men, doing simple errands around the manor. Risking so much to recommend her daughter-in-law was, Eleventh Young Lady suspected, truly an act of desperation — a gamble to secure the family’s livelihood for the years ahead.
“Well then, whenever you have a chance, Nanny Wan, bring her in for me to meet.”
Nanny Wan was overjoyed beyond measure. She gave her thanks again and again before withdrawing.
Hupo could not help frowning: “This Nanny Wan — she is, when all is said and done, still someone from the Dowager Marchioness’s side. How can she not know her place? Coming to you so directly like this — if you refuse, you offend the Dowager Marchioness; if you agree and the woman turns out unsuitable, what then? I think it would be better to simply turn her down from the start. We will offend someone either way — better to refuse at the outset than to say later that she must be sent out of the household.”
“We have not even seen the person yet; there is no need to draw conclusions so quickly,” Eleventh Young Lady said with a smile. “Nanny Wan pressing forward so boldly shows how determined she is to secure this position. I have also thought it through carefully — the question of the managing maidservant has been left unresolved, and who knows how many people have their eyes on it. Today, Nanny Wan took her courage in both hands and spoke to me directly. If the Dowager Marchioness, the Second Madam, or Fifth Madam also happen to have someone they wish to recommend, would it be better to agree or to refuse? Better, I think, to simply use Nanny Wan’s daughter-in-law. As long as the woman is obedient, that is all that matters!”
Eleventh Young Lady’s ultimate aim was to keep her son close to her. Nanny Wan, though trusted by the Dowager Marchioness, was valued only for her knowledge of the care of pregnant women and new mothers — she was not one of the manor’s genuinely powerful managing maidservants.
Hupo nodded.
Eleventh Young Lady asked after Xu Lingyi: “…Is the Marquis still at Banyue Pond?”
The third-day bathing ceremony and the full-month celebration were occasions presided over by the maternal side of the family — the chief seat of honor at the table was held by the maternal relatives — and they were affairs of the women’s quarters, attended only by female guests. Xu Lingyi had removed himself to Banyue Pond since early morning.
“The Marquis is still at Banyue Pond,” Hupo said with a smile. “He has not come out all day.”
Perhaps it was because she was still in her confinement, but Eleventh Young Lady found herself consistently tired. She gave Hupo a few instructions — “Make sure you all attend the Marquis properly when he returns” — and then fell asleep with her child.
It was a season of crisp autumn air and chrysanthemums blooming throughout the garden. Xu Lingyi painted a chrysanthemum picture, then returned to the rooms. He saw the warm glow of the antechamber’s dim lamplight spilling through the lattice window and falling in soft patterns on the pale stone tiles, hazy and quietly warm. He turned his steps and went to the antechamber.
The one on night watch was Fangxi. She was startled to see Xu Lingyi, but he signaled her to make no sound, and stepped quietly inside.
Wet Nurse Gu had only recently arrived and had not yet grown accustomed to Eleventh Young Lady’s ways. Sharing the room as she was, she had not managed to truly sleep. Hearing movement, she got up, and she and Fangxi stood to one side, uneasy and uncertain. They watched as Xu Lingyi sat at the bedside and studied Eleventh Young Lady and Jin Ge’er at length, with great care. He then lightly brushed the top of his son’s head before rising and going back out.
Early the next morning, the Emperor and the Empress each sent an attendant to inquire after Jin Ge’er’s illness. Xu Lingyi, thinking back on how, had the Emperor not shown his grace that day in immediately allowing Imperial Physician Wu to leave the palace with him, he might not have been released so quickly — so he simply went to the palace and offered his formal thanks. Coming out of the palace gates, he encountered the Shun Prince, Yu Yiqing, and Scholar Jin. Not having seen one another in quite some time, the group went together to Chunxi Tower.
Nanny Wan, meanwhile, brought her third daughter-in-law in for inspection.
True to her description, this daughter-in-law looked sharp and capable at first glance.
Eleventh Young Lady smiled and asked: “Have you served in a household before?”
“I have,” she replied with a smile. “I served as a second-rank maid in the outer courtyard, attending to the serving of tea and refreshments in the reception hall.”
“And do you know what the most important quality is for a head maidservant?”
Nanny Wan had rehearsed this with her beforehand, and without missing a beat she said: “Obedience and deference. Modesty and an even temper.”
Eleventh Young Lady gave a slight nod, then said, half as instruction and half with a deeper meaning: “Be sure to remember those words.” She then had Hupo escort Nanny Wan’s daughter-in-law to the Dowager Marchioness to give the matter an official sanction.
Things had gone so smoothly that Nanny Wan was simply overcome with happiness. Once she received the Dowager Marchioness’s approval, Eleventh Young Lady gave Nanny Wan’s daughter-in-law five days to set her home affairs in order. The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law pair knelt and kowtowed in gratitude, and at that moment a manservant came running in: “Madam, a letter has arrived from Yuhang!”
Eleventh Young Lady had been expecting it, and smiled immediately upon hearing this: “Bring it in at once.”
The Wan mother-in-law and daughter-in-law took the opportunity to withdraw.
The letter was written by Luo Zhensheng. He explained that Yuyao was a thousand li or more from Yanjing, and with the three letters and six rites of the betrothal process to complete, one could not expect the wedding date to be set in under half a year — to say nothing of the actual sending off of the bride. There were still some affairs and properties at home that needed to be settled; he could not get away until mid-November. He had therefore sent Luo Zhensheng and his wife ahead, together with Sixth Yiniang and Twelfth Young Lady, to go to the capital. He asked Eleventh Young Lady to look after them when they arrived and to finalize Twelfth Young Lady’s marriage arrangements, so that the wedding could take place from Bowstring Lane.
Eleventh Young Lady calculated the days: “By that reckoning, Fourth Brother and Sixth Yiniang should be arriving any day now!”
Hupo smiled: “Should we not also inform Third Master, so he can have Bowstring Lane tidied up? And there is also Madam Zhou — when a daughter leaves, the family bows their heads in gratitude, but when a son marries, they hold their heads high. Now that Madam Zhou has received word, she should tell the Zhengnan Marquis’s heir to come and discuss the wedding date.”
When Twelfth Young Lady’s marriage had first been arranged, the groom’s family had invited the Zhengnan Marquis’s heir to act as the go-between on the man’s side, and Yu Yiqing to act on the woman’s side.
Seeing that Hupo had thought of everything, Eleventh Young Lady smiled: “I will leave this matter in your hands.”
That evening, Xu Lingyi returned home, and it was already the first quarter past the xu hour.
A faint scent of sandalwood drifted through the courtyard.
Not the inferior kind mixed with aloeswood, but the finest quality South Sea ambergris.
Xu Lingyi’s brow furrowed slightly.
At this hour… Eleventh Young Lady was not the type to worship at shrines… He cast a glance at Linbo.
Linbo had also caught the sandalwood scent as he entered the courtyard. He thought of Qin Yiniang’s recent incident, and his expression shifted slightly. He followed the scent to trace its source.
“My Lord,” he returned quickly, “the scent is coming from the east side courtyard.”
Xu Lingyi’s gaze flickered. He said in a low, measured voice: “Go and have a look.”
Linbo took a lantern from a manservant’s hand, signaled to the others to stay where they were, and went with Xu Lingyi to the east side courtyard.
In the long, narrow connecting passage between buildings, someone had set up a small incense altar — an incense burner sat on it, and a figure was prostrating westward in ritual worship.
It was the fourteenth day of the tenth month; the moonlight was bright and clear. Because the figure had their back to the two men, their face could not be made out. One could only perceive that the figure was very slender, and moved with considerable grace, yet was dressed in the bright blue fitted jacket that maids habitually wore. Linbo moved with a cat’s lightness and reached out to seize the person’s wrist, saying sharply: “Who are you, out here in the middle of the night instead of sleeping, doing—”
The sentence was not finished. The person had already cried out in startled alarm and turned around, revealing a face lovely enough to draw out either coquettishness or displeasure as the moment required.
Linbo felt as though he were holding a burning coal. He released her at once and stumbled back several steps, calling out in surprise: “Yang Yiniang!”
Yang Shi was even more startled than he was. She trembled, her body swaying slightly, and then she sank gracefully to her knees before Xu Lingyi: “My Lord… my Lord…”
Xu Lingyi stood beneath the high wall, half his face illuminated by moonlight, half lost in shadow, his expression unreadable. He looked at Yang Shi in silence.
Yang Shi explained in a rush: “A few days ago I heard that Sixth Young Master was unwell. I made a vow before the Bodhisattva.” The slight tremor in her voice made it sound, in the stillness of the moonlit night, as clear as the ringing of porcelain against porcelain. “Tonight I came here specifically, in the quiet of the night, to set up the altar and fulfill the vow.” She raised her head, her eyes like still water: “I did not expect to disturb my Lord. The fault is entirely mine.”
Xu Lingyi gazed at her for a long, quiet moment, then said in a low voice: “It is very late. Do not do this again.”
Yang Shi quickly bowed her head in assent, and when she raised it again, Xu Lingyi had already passed through the connecting passage. She could only see a trailing edge of his robe lifting in his wake.
She quickly called her junior maid to clear away the altar. Only then did she discover that the back of her garment was soaked through — a chilling dampness that penetrated to the bone.
Within a few days, Luo Zhensheng and the others arrived in the capital, and with them came a small unexpected guest — the little Ying Niang, who was not quite two years old, just shy by one more full month.
“Oh my, to think our Ying Niang and Jin Ge’er were both born on the tenth!” Luo Fourth Young Madam cradled Jin Ge’er, turning him this way and that with undisguised delight. “They probably did not get the news over in Yuhang, did they? Had I known all this, we should have traveled through the night — we might even have made it in time for Jin Ge’er’s third-day bathing ceremony!”
Eleventh Young Lady patted little Ying Niang, who was holding on to the bedside and standing beside her: “Is everything at home well? I heard from Elder Brother that there were some properties to settle, so he could not leave until mid-December. What properties are they? What needs settling?”
A barely perceptible stiffness crossed Luo Fourth Young Madam’s smile, quickly smoothed over with a bright, collected expression: “The specific details — I do not really know either. You know how your Fourth Brother and I are — we are both idle people. These sorts of matters are the last things we would want to get involved in.” The last sentence carried a light note of self-deprecating humor, and the atmosphere in the room became lively at once.
—