Eleventh Miss supported Yuan Niang as they slowly made their way toward the main room.

Along the way, Eleventh Miss noticed that Yuan Niang was growing heavier and heavier against her, and she unconsciously slowed her steps, saying softly, “Would you like to rest for a moment?”

Yuan Niang turned to look at her with a smile, one brow lifting, but her lips twisted into a strange expression: “Don’t make a sound!”

Eleventh Miss found this odd, but obeyed without a word, quietly supporting Yuan Niang up the steps of the main room.

The main room doors were half-closed. The east and west window lattices were open halfway, as if to let air in.

With one hand supporting Yuan Niang, she reached out with the other to push open the door.

Her fingertips had barely touched the wood when a man’s angry shout rang out: “Who’s there outside?”

Eleventh Miss’s heart lurched. Her hand trembled, and struck the door. It swung open with a creak.

From inside came a woman’s low, startled cry.

Someone is in there.

That was the first thought that flashed into Eleventh Miss’s mind.

A man and a woman.

That was the second.

She was dumbstruck. Then a sense of deep unease quietly rose within her.

Yuan Niang, who had been leaning against her shoulder with barely any energy, now stood straight upright, calling out in a loud voice: “Who is it? Who’s inside?” With that, she grabbed hold of the doorframe with surprising swiftness and stepped inside.

Eleventh Miss, watching Yuan Niang’s stumbling steps, hesitated a moment, then hurried forward to support her — and came face-to-face with a man striding out of the western side room with the powerful, assured gait of a tiger.

He was tall and upright, with striking features, dressed in a moon-white inner robe. Catching sight of Yuan Niang, his expression registered faint surprise. “Yuan Niang?” His voice was full of disbelief.

But Yuan Niang was the one who seemed to have lost her voice. “My Lord? You… why are you here?”

My Lord? Marquis Yongping, Xu Lingyi?

Eleventh Miss felt a flutter at the corner of her eye and looked more closely at the man before her.

He appeared to be around twenty-five or twenty-six. His complexion was fair, and his phoenix eyes were large and elongated, full of bright alertness. The composed, authoritative air of a man long accustomed to high position gave him a steadiness and capability that seemed to exceed his years.

She was quite surprised.

She had not expected Xu Lingyi to be so young.

He gazed at Yuan Niang without answering, his brow furrowing slightly.

Yuan Niang stared at him and let out a cold scoff, pushed Eleventh Miss away, and lurched past him into the western side room.

Xu Lingyi watched her go in without moving to help or to stop her.

Eleventh Miss thought again of the woman’s startled cry she had heard a moment ago…

What could be worse than this? The matter of Tenth Miss had not yet been resolved, and now she herself had walked into a place she should not have entered.

She began inching backward on tiptoe, trying to slip into a corner of the wall, to become a tall side-table that no one would notice… If she could have turned into a mote of dust, she would have had no objection at all.

But at a moment like this, going unnoticed was no longer a luxury she could afford.

A sharp, penetrating gaze fell upon her.

“Who are you?” The speaker’s eyes carried a flash of cold light.

A girl in full bloom, her features delicate and refined, her clothing understated yet of evident quality, her bearing graceful and natural, her manner serene — clearly a young lady of a distinguished family.

Eleventh Miss let out a quiet sigh in her heart.

What must come will come.

“I am the Eleventh Miss of the Luo Family.” She bent her knees and gave Xu Lingyi a proper curtsy, her voice calm and gentle. “I humbly inquire after the Marquis’ wellbeing.”

Xu Lingyi was briefly taken aback. “The Luo Family?”

Eleventh Miss smiled. “Indeed.”

Xu Lingyi inclined his head and was about to say something when Yuan Niang came rushing back out, clutching in her hand a moon-white skirt embroidered with bamboo, plum blossoms, and orchids along its bordered hem.

“Xu Lingyi,” she said, tears streaming down her face. “I am not yet dead!”

It was a sentence of bitter hatred, yet spoken in a tone so desolate that anyone who heard it could not help but feel a pang of sorrow.

Xu Lingyi gazed at Yuan Niang steadily, without a word, his expression intent. An inexplicable feeling stirred in Eleventh Miss.

Yuan Niang was heartbroken, her already gaunt frame shaking and swaying as if she might collapse.

Eleventh Miss quickly stepped forward to support her.

Xu Lingyi, his composure unmoved, turned and seated himself in the master’s chair in the main hall. Then he spoke in a low, measured tone to Eleventh Miss: “Step outside first. I have things to say to your elder sister.” There was a faint trace of weariness in his voice.

Eleventh Miss did not dare to think too deeply or look too long. She lowered her eyes, bent her knees in a respectful curtsy, quietly said “Yes,” and turned to leave.

But at that moment, a woman in a peach-red jacket burst out of the western side room, nearly colliding with Eleventh Miss.

Eleventh Miss instinctively stepped back — and in doing so, caught a glimpse of the woman’s face…

She froze where she stood, as if struck by lightning.

“You have misunderstood… there is truly nothing between the Marquis and me!” The voice was soft and lovely. “Just now in the garden, the sleeve of my robe was torn on something — I only came here to change my clothes!” She grabbed hold of Yuan Niang’s sleeve, pleading desperately: “Truly — if you don’t believe me, you can ask the Seventh Miss of the Gan Family. I was just flying kites with her a moment ago…”

Yuan Niang stood where she was, smiling coldly.

With tear-filled eyes, she turned and went to appeal to Xu Lingyi: “My Lord…” But after two steps she seemed to think better of it. She stopped where she was, at a loss, her hands and feet not knowing what to do with themselves. “I truly did not know you were here… I truly did not know…” With that, she buried her face in her hands and began to sob softly.

Eleventh Miss gave a start, and clarity returned to her at once. She lowered her head and slipped out quietly.

It was Qiao Lianfang — the Sixth Miss of the Qiao Family.

How had she come to be here?

No — the real question was: how had Yuan Niang come to be here?

Yuan Niang had not stepped outside even to receive her own mother, whom she had not seen in over ten years. Yet she had come all the way to Dian Chun Hall for the sake of a gathering of family friends and acquaintances…

Eleventh Miss gently pulled the door shut behind her.

She also recalled how, when they had arrived, the door had been half-closed and the windows half-open…

She had barely taken her place when she saw Wen Yiniang approaching, her gaze shifting and unsteady.

From inside the closed door came Yuan Niang’s voice, broken with grief and fury, and Miss Qiao’s quiet weeping.

Eleventh Miss sighed and called out clearly: “Wen Yiniang, what brings you here?”

Behind her, everything inside went suddenly silent.

She already understood — Yuan Niang had no wish to let this matter become a scene…

Wen Yiniang had already come up the steps. “My dear young lady, why are you standing out here?”

Eleventh Miss gave a faint smile. “Elder Sister said she is a little tired and would like to rest.”

Wen Yiniang rose on her toes and craned her neck, trying to peer past Eleventh Miss’s shoulder into the room, her attention clearly elsewhere. “Should I bring Sister a cup of hot tea?”

Wen Yiniang was Xu Lingyi’s concubine — in relation to Yuan Niang, she was like a subordinate to a superior…

The thought flashed through her mind, and Eleventh Miss was already smiling: “That would be most obliging of you. I was just thinking of getting Elder Sister a cup of tea myself, but not knowing the layout here, I didn’t dare wander about.”

Wen Yiniang was momentarily startled.

She had not expected Eleventh Miss to take her up on it so literally.

Eleventh Miss read her expression clearly and simply smiled at her with open warmth. “Please be so kind as to go and brew a cup of hot tea!”

Wen Yiniang’s expression cooled slightly. Her eyes darted to one side, then she smiled again. “Then I shall go and brew the tea for Sister.”

She turned and descended the steps, glancing back once as she went.

If anyone else came, she would certainly not be able to hold them off.

Whatever the truth of this matter, Yuan Niang was her elder sister, Xu Lingyi was her brother-in-law, and outside sat a room full of distinguished ladies…

Eleventh Miss watched Wen Yiniang’s figure disappear from view, then stepped quickly after her. Beside the Taihu rock, she peered into the covered passageway and spotted a young maidservant standing at the top of the steps. She beckoned to her quickly.

The maidservant was from Yuan Niang’s household, and a sharp-witted girl. She came running over at once.

Eleventh Miss asked with a smile, “What is your name?”

The maidservant said with a smile, “I am called Wen Lian.”

“Ah, Wen Lian.” Eleventh Miss smiled warmly. “I have an important matter — can you quietly fetch Nanny Tao for me… without letting anyone know?” As she said it, a touch of bashfulness came into her smile.

Could she need to use the privy?

Wen Lian guessed as much and smiled her agreement, quickly turning to fetch Nanny Tao.

Eleventh Miss drew Nanny Tao to the center of the courtyard.

“The Marquis, Elder Sister, and the Sixth Miss of the Qiao Family are all inside,” she said to Nanny Tao in a few direct words, watching the woman’s face as she spoke.

Nanny Tao looked at Eleventh Miss with mild surprise, but showed no signs of shock.

Eleventh Miss took note of this and urged her quickly: “This must not be allowed to become a scandal… Miss Qiao’s reputation would be beyond saving, and Elder Sister’s name for virtue and propriety — built up over more than a decade — would be destroyed as well. Please quietly inform the Dowager Madam. Tell her only that Elder Sister is feeling unwell and wishes to see her alone. Not a breath of this to anyone else. Not even to Mother — not yet.”

Nanny Tao looked at Eleventh Miss with an expression of someone seeing a stranger.

There was no point in timidity now.

Eleventh Miss smiled calmly and met Nanny Tao’s gaze steadily, urging her one more time: “Please go quickly, Nanny. Just now, if I hadn’t blocked her, Wen Yiniang would already have walked in. I can stop her once, but I cannot stop her a second time.”

Something of urgency came into Nanny Tao’s face at last. She said a polite “Forgive me for the trouble” to Eleventh Miss and turned, moving at a swift trot out through the passageway.

Eleventh Miss raised her eyes to the deep blue sky, divided by the eaves into four neat squares, and let out a long breath.

Before long, Wen Yiniang returned, carrying a lacquered red tray with a faded celadon old-kiln tea bowl upon it.

Eleventh Miss took the tray. “Thank you for the trouble, Yiniang.”

Wen Yiniang stood there, smiling and watching Eleventh Miss, as if waiting for her to go inside before leaving herself.

Eleventh Miss stood there, tray in hand, smiling and watching Wen Yiniang, as if waiting for her to leave before going inside herself.

For a moment, the two women stood facing each other, neither moving.

Wen Yiniang’s smile remained, but a glint of sharpness flickered through her eyes. “My dear young lady, I have been serving Sister for more than a decade. I care for Sister as if she were my own kin, and Sister in turn has always treated me with great respect.”

The implication was that Eleventh Miss had been terribly rude to her.

Eleventh Miss’s smile remained gentle. “It is precisely because Elder Sister has long been confined to her sickbed that she tends to think too much. Those of us close to her ought to be especially accommodating. Yiniang, you are being a little too eager.”

The implication was that Wen Yiniang was disregarding Yuan Niang’s wishes now that Yuan Niang was ill.

Wen Yiniang’s smile gradually faded. “I was afraid that my dear young lady might not know Sister’s habits and preferences, and thought I might be of help by staying close. After all, the two of you have only met three times.”

Eleventh Miss’s smile was brilliant. “It is precisely for that reason that Elder Sister drew me aside to share confidences.” She allowed a trace of wistful feeling to enter her expression. “Had she not told me herself, I would never have known that Lvyun Tower was built after Elder Sister married into this family. And the heated chamber behind Lvyun Tower as well — in Yuhang, unlike in Yanjing, charcoal is quite hard to come by. Mother, fearing we sisters might catch cold in the snow, would have the underfloor heating lit, and we would all do needlework together in the heated chamber. Our Twelfth Sister would always complain that a fire basin would be better, so we could roast sweet potatoes and chestnuts…” Her manner suggested she had a great deal more to say on the subject.

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