The Dowager Marchioness heard this and nodded in approval.
Though there were closer and more distant relations, one could not make the distinction too apparent.
“Good — as long as you know what you’re doing.” The Dowager Marchioness smiled and settled onto the heated platform bed by the window.
Xu Sijun and Xu Sijie came running over: “Grandmother, Grandmother.” They cupped their hands in a proper bow.
The Dowager Marchioness looked at the two children and chuckled heartily, then took Jin Ge’er, who had just been crying, from Nanny Gu’s arms. “Now, what is this all about? Who has been upsetting our Jin Ge’er — tell Grandmother and she will deal with them for you.” She added, “Our Jin Ge’er all dressed up in his little jacket looks all the neater and tidier.” She kissed Jin Ge’er on the cheek.
Jin Ge’er stared up at the Dowager Marchioness with wide, bright eyes cleansed by tears until they shone like black jewels.
The Dowager Marchioness looked at him and felt a rush of delight, and kissed Jin Ge’er on the cheek again. Only then did she ask Xu Sijun and Xu Sijie, “And why have you two gone running to your mother’s room again?”
Xu Sijun quickly said, “Mother says she is better now. We will be able to eat lunch here every day from now on, like before!”
The Dowager Marchioness looked toward Eleventh Young Mistress.
Eleventh Young Mistress smiled and said, “It is only lunch together. With the maidservants and matrons attending, there is nothing for you to worry about, Mother.”
The Dowager Marchioness saw that while she was speaking with Eleventh Young Mistress, Xu Sijun and Xu Sijie were already occupied — one pulling at Jin Ge’er’s hand and the other tugging at it — and she shook her head gently with a smile. “You truly do spoil them!”
Eleventh Young Mistress smiled. “Spoiling children is not the same as indulging adults. Besides, Zhun Ge and Jie Ge are so well-behaved — even if I wanted to spoil them, I’m not sure I could manage to spoil them badly.”
Just then several Yiniang came to pay their respects.
Seeing the Dowager Marchioness present, Wen Yiniang looked somewhat constrained. Qiao Lianfang carried herself with a natural ease. Yang Shi appeared particularly deferential.
“Knowing Madam has moved back to the main rooms, we came specially to see her,” Wen Yiniang, unusually, said nothing. Qiao Lianfang stood there with a certain hauteur. Yang Shi, seeing the atmosphere a bit stiff, stepped forward with a smile. “If there is anything Madam needs, please only have to say the word.”
“There is nothing much needing tending to,” Eleventh Young Mistress said. “The underfloor heating in the main rooms has been burning all along, and the dust and grime have been swept and cleaned by Xiu Lian and the others.” She raised her teacup. “If anything comes up, I will certainly call on you ladies.”
The three of them, seeing this, curtseyed in unison and withdrew one after another.
The Dowager Marchioness watched Yang Shi’s departing figure with something to say yet holding it back.
Yang Shi had still not been invited to share the marital bed, and many in the household were surely aware — to say nothing of the Dowager Marchioness. During Eleventh Young Mistress’s pregnancy, the fetal sign had been inauspicious, and Xu Lingyi had stayed on out of much tender concern, tending to her in her room. Then came the difficult labor, followed by the infant’s initial discomfort, and now her hemorrhaging — she needed three to five years of recuperation. By the standard of a virtuous wife, she should have arranged a concubine to attend the marital bed; and on the nights when it was her own turn in his room, she should also have a serving girl attend. Yet Xu Lingyi had been spending all his time lingering in her own quarters…
She played the part of not noticing.
“Mother, have you eaten yet? If not, why not stay and dine with us?” Eleventh Young Mistress smiled and drew Xu Sijie to her side, then put her arm around Xu Sijun’s shoulders. “We haven’t had lunch yet, the children and I!”
The Dowager Marchioness, seeing how she was and smiled, said, “Very well then — have your little kitchen make me a bamboo-shoot and aged-duck soup!”
This was the Dowager Marchioness’s most beloved dish.
Eleventh Young Mistress smiled and agreed, instructing Zhuxiang to relay the order to the kitchen.
Xu Sijun and Xu Sijie gathered round, one calling out for “Longjing prawns,” the other calling out for “rose pastries.” The Dowager Marchioness was so entertained she laughed heartily, and made a playful comment to Jin Ge’er, who did not yet understand: “Look at your fifth elder brother — all he ever thinks about is pastries and braised pork buns.”
Xu Sijie was well-known throughout the entire household for his fondness for meat-filled buns. He dropped his head in a touch of embarrassment.
Eleventh Young Mistress smiled, reached over and ruffled his head, then whispered in his ear, “I love braised pork buns too.”
Xu Sijie looked up, his face flushed, but his eyes shining bright.
Two days later, Eleventh Young Mistress went to Marquis Zhongqin’s estate to add gifts to Xian Jie’er’s trousseau.
Madam Gan came out smiling warmly to receive her.
“You came all this way yourself when your health is not yet fully restored. I truly don’t know what to say!”
Eleventh Young Mistress replied courteously, “For Xian Jie’er’s marriage, I simply had to come and see her no matter what.”
The two of them talked as they walked into the main reception hall.
In the hall sat two unfamiliar women, both appearing to be eighteen or nineteen years of age. One was dressed in finery but of unremarkable features; the other was dressed plainly but was strikingly beautiful. The two sat side by side, and though they were talking, the atmosphere in the room had a certain chill to it.
Eleventh Young Mistress could not help but find this puzzling.
Madam Gan was already laughing as she introduced them: “These two ladies are both sisters-in-law to our family’s Seventh Young Mistress.” She pointed to the one of ordinary looks. “This is Third Young Madam Liang — Yang Shi.” Then she pointed to the other. “And this is Second Young Madam Liang — Huang Shi.” As she spoke, both women’s gazes had landed on Eleventh Young Mistress, one after the other.
Eleventh Young Mistress had lost considerable weight, so today she had specially arranged her hair in a loose, tumbling style, and wore a lake-blue short jacket with a wide border of grass-green trimming, a twelve-panel Hunan-silk skirt in grass-green embroidered with lake-blue plum blossoms — in the depths of winter, she wore this with an air of slender grace. On her wrist she wore a string of carnelian beads wound seven or eight times around, adding a note of charm to her delicate and refined appearance.
In Yang Shi’s gaze, a flash of envy appeared; in Huang Shi’s gaze, there was a thread of searching scrutiny.
Madam Gan introduced Eleventh Young Mistress: “This is Marquise Yongping — Luo Shi. She gave birth to a young master just the other day and came out of confinement to come and add to Xian Jie’er’s trousseau.” Her tone carried a note of quiet pride.
Eleventh Young Mistress smiled and exchanged courtesies with the two of them.
A glimmer of jealousy flashed through Yang Shi’s eyes, while Huang Shi straightened her back, tilted her chin slightly, and assumed a rather haughty air.
Eleventh Young Mistress glanced at Yang Shi, a spark of shrewdness crossing her eyes. She smiled at Huang Shi and said, “I had not expected to meet the daughter of the Honorable Huang here.”
Huang Shi was mildly surprised.
Eleventh Young Mistress continued, “My maternal family is from Yuhang. When your late grandmother held her birthday celebration, my elder brother went on behalf of our father to offer congratulations.”
Huang Shi replied, “So Madam is from Yuhang. I was away at my father’s official posting at the time.”
“That is all the more reason to call it fate,” Eleventh Young Mistress smiled. “We didn’t meet then, yet here we are running into each other in Yanjing.”
A warmth crept into Huang Shi’s smile, and she grew livelier in conversation with Eleventh Young Mistress.
“Old acquaintances all! Come, everyone sit down and talk.” Madam Gan, hearing this, invited them all to sit with warmth and enthusiasm, and had the maidservants bring tea and refreshments.
Eleventh Young Mistress asked after Lanting: “…How is it I don’t see her!”
“She is in the middle of speaking with her elder brother!” Madam Gan smiled and had the maidservants serve the tea and refreshments.
Eleventh Young Mistress then talked with Huang Shi about life in Jiangnan, which naturally left Yang Shi somewhat ignored to one side.
Yang Shi’s face darkened noticeably.
Huang Shi, seeming rather pleased, grew more animated in conversation with Eleventh Young Mistress.
Yang Shi’s expression grew harder and harder to read.
They were all guests, after all. If this went on and Yang Shi turned hostile, it would be the Gan Family’s face that suffered.
The thought had barely crossed her mind when Lanting walked in.
She wore a peach-red short jacket of cut-silk brocade and had her hair in a round bun, adorned with gold earrings and a gold hairpin. Her face was pulled somewhat tight, which gave her a slightly severe look.
Seeing Eleventh Young Mistress there, she brightened and regained some of her usual vivaciousness.
“Eleventh Young Mistress — how did you come!” Lanting quickly came forward and took her hand. “I heard that Imperial Physician Liu comes every five days to give you a follow-up consultation. Is your health any better?”
“Gradually improving,” Eleventh Young Mistress replied briefly, not wishing to dwell on it.
Lanting nodded and did not press further.
Eleventh Young Mistress then expressed a wish to call upon the Dowager Consort Gan.
Madam Gan was not surprised — everyone knew that the Dowager Consort Gan and Eleventh Young Mistress were business partners who had made a great deal of money together.
Lanting quickly said, “I came back and my elder brother whisked me off to talk — I haven’t even gone to pay my respects to Mother yet.” Then she said, “Let us go together!”
Madam Gan seemed slightly displeased, but still sent a young maidservant to lead them to the Dowager Consort Gan’s quarters.
Along the way, Eleventh Young Mistress asked Lanting, “I heard from your sister-in-law that your elder brother called you in. Is it still about the Quanzhou matter?”
Perhaps because she was in the presence of a trusted friend, Lanting’s face fell. “…He said I couldn’t even manage such a small thing as this. How is he going to explain it to the people from the Gong Family? I advised him to stop doing business with the Gong Family altogether — the Gong Family is vast and rich; losing one boat at sea would mean no more to them than plucking out a single hair. But for our family, every copper coin is real sinew and bone. If something were to happen, we would regret it too late. But my elder brother wouldn’t hear a word of it. I’m at my wits’ end with him. It’s enough to vex one senseless.” She added, “And as you’ve seen — the three of us are sisters-in-law, yet each has her own schemes, each her own intentions. If I were to go pleading on behalf of my maiden family, they would find out at once. How would I ever hold my head up again?”
Before Eleventh Young Mistress had a chance to reply, they had already reached the gate of the Dowager Consort Gan’s courtyard.
The two of them stopped their conversation and followed the maidservant inside.
The Dowager Consort Gan was delighted to see them. She smiled and took Eleventh Young Mistress’s hand. “These past weeks, first I heard someone say you had a difficult labor, then I heard someone say you had a hemorrhage — all of it left me so confused and muddled. I sent people to inquire, and they couldn’t find out anything definitive. I worried day and night. Just what happened, exactly?”
Eleventh Young Mistress smiled and gave a brief summary of the situation: “…It was nothing — a false alarm.”
Now that she knew all was well, the Dowager Consort Gan’s expression relaxed with a sense of relief, and she asked after Lanting.
“I am also quite well!” Lanting’s expression was distant, and she answered a few words before rising to take her leave.
Eleventh Young Mistress was also thinking of Jin Ge’er and was preparing to make her way home. She said a few words along the lines of “I’ll come see you again another time,” and she and Lanting left the Dowager Consort’s courtyard together.
The weather was fine that day, the sunlight falling on one’s face with a radiant brightness, yet without any harshness — only warmth.
Lanting’s steps were slow. She said softly, “Yesterday I received a letter brought by Third Elder Sister’s personal maidservant. It said Third Elder Sister was with child.”
To have a child so soon after entering her husband’s household — this was a good thing, surely.
Then why did Lanting’s expression look so very strange?
She was still puzzling over it when she heard Lanting murmur, “And then she miscarried due to the provocations of a concubine.”
“Ah!” Eleventh Young Mistress could not help but stop walking.
Lanting stopped beside her.
She looked at Eleventh Young Mistress and gave a bitter smile. “I wasn’t expecting my elder brother to go and confront the Jiang Family over it — I only wanted him to write a letter of censure. But he…” Lanting turned her face away, and at the corner of her eye there was already the glimmer of tears.
So that was why she had chosen today to come back to her maiden family to add gifts to Xian Jie’er’s trousseau.
* * *