Eleven had no way to avoid it, and had no choice but to sit down at Xu Lingyi’s side.

Xu Lingyi glanced at Wen Yiniang’s reddened eyes, then said directly: “You need not speak — I know why you came to find my Lady. But this matter does not concern you alone — it also affects the Xu household. You need say nothing more. The shop must close, and it must be done before the second day of the second month, the Festival of the Dragon’s Rising. This matter must be dealt with fully by then.” His tone was final and absolute, with no room for maneuver. Then he added: “These past years you have also accumulated considerable private savings. Be content and at peace with your lot — ruin most often comes from one character: greed.”

Wen Yiniang’s face flushed crimson. She looked to Eleven for help.

This matched closely what Eleven had guessed. Xu Lingyi, having endured Wen Yiniang’s secret pocketing of those twenty thousand taels, would hardly have been unable to tolerate a small shop. Most likely it was Wen Yiniang’s business that posed a threat to the Xu household’s safety, and that was why Xu Lingyi had put his foot down so firmly. Only one did not know how deeply Wen Yiniang’s shop was entangled in things… And Wen Yiniang had her own difficulties; likely the difficulties before Xu Lingyi were even greater.

Thinking this, Eleven spoke gently to persuade Wen Yiniang: “The Marquis has been invited here precisely to speak things through clearly. Now the Marquis’s meaning is already plain. Wen Yiniang also has things she may speak of openly and directly. That is only right.”

Wen Yiniang was taken aback.

The Marquis had already made his decision — was she still able to speak?

But Eleven gave her a slight nod, as though in support. She thought again of Xu Lingyi’s fond indulgence of Eleven, of her mother’s tears when she had been sent to Yanjing, and of the wet nurse she had not seen for seven or eight years, and of her milk brother… She gathered her courage: “My Lord — I have no other intentions. Previously I did not know that the shop affair also touched upon great matters at court. It was only after hearing my Lady’s words that the fog cleared from my mind, and I understood my Lord’s good intentions. The matter of the shop — I will comply with my Lord’s will and wind up the business before the Festival of the Dragon’s Rising.” Having loosed the arrow, it was easier to continue. Wen Yiniang’s words flowed more and more smoothly. “My only present worry is for my mother far away in Yangzhou. She gave me life and raised me. I cannot simply stand by and watch…” Here her voice broke, her eyes brimming with tears again. “My Lord — you are a man of both civil accomplishment and martial valor, a man of the world — quite unlike us women of the inner chambers. I beg you to think of a way — save my mother’s life.” As she spoke, she slowly knelt before Xu Lingyi. “My Lord — to save a life is a merit worth a seven-story pagoda. Now there is none but you who can devise a way to save my mother…”

Xu Lingyi looked on with a slightly furrowed brow, and signaled Eleven to help Wen Yiniang up.

“Matters are not as dire as you imagine,” he said with a grave expression. “All the same, it would be well for you to send word to Wen Grand Dowager. Third Master Wen has been conducting himself very badly these past two years. If Wen Grand Dowager would take it upon herself to admonish and guide him, he will likely restrain himself somewhat. Going forward, he will know his own measure.”

Wen Yiniang was overcome with grateful emotion. “Thank you, my Lord!” She then, unable to wait even a moment, rose, saying: “My Lord, my Lady — I will send someone to Yangzhou with a letter immediately. As for the shop in Jinan Prefecture…” Here her expression dimmed. “I will find a way to close it.”

Xu Lingyi gave a nod and raised his teacup.

Wen Yiniang looked at Eleven with a grateful glance, then curtseyed and withdrew.

Eleven, however, was concerned about Xu Lingyi.

She refilled his tea and said in a low voice: “On the first day of the New Year, when my Lord went for the palace audience — did His Majesty give you a hint? Or did you perceive something yourself?”

“His Majesty gave me a hint,” Xu Lingyi replied. He raised the teacup and took a sip, his expression gradually easing. “Otherwise I would not have realized His Majesty intended to move with this much force.” At this his eyes showed concern. “To cook a small fish, treat it as you would govern a great kingdom. His Majesty’s step this time — it is too large… I fear that when the moment comes, he may not be able to hold the reins.”

Even if he could not hold the reins, it could at most make him an incompetent ruler — it could not make him the ruin of a dynasty.

Eleven let out a quiet breath of relief.

If the Emperor had truly wanted to deal with the Wen family, why would he have given Xu Lingyi a hint? Yet Xu Lingyi had told the Wen family to hold back, which meant the Emperor had some displeasure toward the Wen family too. If the Wen family continued to be reckless and disregarding, then once the Emperor had finished with the Yang Family, there was no guarantee the Wen family would not one day come to the Emperor’s notice. It was better to make early preparations.

“His Majesty’s mind is set,” she said, consoling Xu Lingyi. “My Lord can only act as circumstances permit.”

Xu Lingyi gave a quiet sound of acknowledgment, then collected himself and in turn consoled her: “The Wen family’s affairs — you need not worry. Were His Majesty truly set on dealing with them, why would he have given me the hint? I think this time the Wen family will suffer some chastisement, but it will not go so far as the Yang Family’s fate — where one misstep could mean extermination of the entire clan…” He said this with a look of apology, watching her. “I had not intended to let you trouble yourself with all this tangled mess. I did not expect Wen Yiniang to be so bold — to come and find you despite my warning…”

“My Lord means well by me, and I understand that. Wen Yiniang had no other recourse either,” Eleven said with a smile, taking this opportunity she would not let pass — she used the story of how Tang Fourth Madam had handled Elder Liang cabinet minister’s third daughter-in-law Yang Shi to make her point. “…The inner and outer quarters are as lips and teeth — the honor or disgrace of the outer quarters is also bound to the life and death of the inner quarters.” Smiling, she added: “If my Lord truly wants me to worry less — would it not be better to tell me the full course of events? Knowing the cause and effect, I can act with confidence. This way — guessing from one side, wondering from the other — only makes my heart more uneasy.”

This was already the second time Eleven had made such a request.

Xu Lingyi could not help but think seriously about it.

After a long while, he said slowly: “Some of these matters are of great consequence… were you to know them, I fear you would be even more uneasy…”

Eleven had never imagined serving as Xu Lingyi’s strategist — and besides, Xu Lingyi could not possibly tell her all the murky affairs of the court… She laughed: “What I wish for is for my Lord to give me a word of warning at critical moments, so that I don’t let my mind run wild. Take the affair of Wen Yiniang — she came to find me, and I didn’t know how far the situation had developed. In helping, I would have caused the Marquis difficulty; in not helping, I feared Wen Yiniang making a scene and troubling my Lord…”

Xu Lingyi listened and clasped Eleven’s hand, nodding: “I understand.” His tone was very sincere.

Eleven pressed her lips together in a smile, her eyes bright as stars.

Thinking of Wen Yiniang’s words, she asked Xu Lingyi: “The workers in the shop — how has my Lord arranged for them?”

Xu Lingyi’s gaze shifted thoughtfully. Instead of answering, he turned the question back: “How did Wen Yiniang describe it to you?”

“Wen Yiniang said nothing of it to me,” Eleven replied with a laugh. “But I know my Lord acts with care in all things. And Wen Yiniang said those people all came with her from the Wen household. When they left, they also rendered service to the Xu household. To just abandon them now — it would have the flavor of burning the bridge once one is safely across. It would not be good for my Lord’s reputation. And my Lord will always need talented and trustworthy people around him. The reputation of rewarding merit, of seeing things through with honor — even if we do not seek it, to be able to keep one’s word with those who labor in one’s service, to bring things to a proper end, will put those who work for my Lord at ease. I imagine my Lord will have given those people a proper and fitting arrangement.”

Xu Lingyi listened, his expression growing gradually serious. He looked at her with an extremely intent gaze, making Eleven feel as though she were laid utterly bare in a beam of light.

“I was only guessing,” she said with some unease. “If I’ve said something wrong, my Lord need not take it to heart.” She reached for her teacup and raised it to her lips, finding the tea had long gone cold, and set it back down again. “The tea has gone a bit cold. Let me go and brew a fresh cup.” She rose from the heated platform… but her arm was caught and gripped fast by Xu Lingyi.

“You guessed correctly,” Xu Lingyi said, his gaze burning as he looked at Eleven. “Those people did indeed come from the Wen household with Wen Yiniang, but among them — some came because they had helped the Xu household and could no longer remain under the Wen family. Others came under orders from the Wen family. Having managed Wen Yiniang’s affairs all these years, I had no way to intervene directly in Wen Yiniang’s shop — and no way to sort through them. Even without the Emperor’s hint, after some time I would have had her close the shop anyway. This occasion is merely what it is — a convenient moment to act on what was already intended.” He explained to her: “I know that. But outsiders may not. So this time I did not investigate further. Each worker in the shop receives twenty mu of good farmland and five hundred taels of silver. The managers, according to rank, receive an additional sum from five hundred to one hundred taels — all of them are to go off and farm their land in peace.”

This was indeed a workable solution.

Then why had Wen Yiniang not agreed to it?

Her expression had been one of genuine, heartfelt concern for the workers in the shop!

Eleven turned this over in her mind, when her arm was suddenly tugged and she fell into a warm embrace.

“Default!” Xu Lingyi pressed his face against Eleven’s, and for a long while said nothing.

His warm breath echoed in her ear; his skin, hot, pressed against her cheek — making her body also suddenly grow warm.

The ambiguous closeness made her half-aware. Yet raising her head to look through the glass window, she could see Nanny Gu sitting with Jin Ge’er at the stone table in the courtyard, which was covered with an autumn-yellow cushion; Chang’an, supported by two little maidservants not yet of age, was toddling unsteadily about the yard.

Her words came out a little halting: “Wh — what is it?”

“Nothing!” Xu Lingyi rubbed his face against Eleven’s. “I just wanted to hold you.”

Eleven said “oh” — and the body that had been taut against him went completely, softly limp.

Xu Lingyi’s arms tightened around her, pulling her closer.

Eleven gradually began to feel a little short of breath.

She wanted to push him away, but for some reason found herself hesitating.

Binju’s voice came through the curtain from outside: “My Lord, my Lady — a page boy from the outer courtyard has come to report: Third Master’s manservant has come to announce that Third Master and Third Madam have already passed through Chaoyang Gate.”

This early in the first month — how could they have returned so quickly!

Eleven struggled to sit up straight. Xu Lingyi held her even tighter instead.

“I heard!” he called back, his lips curved in a smile as he looked at Eleven. His eyes were bright and glittering.

Eleven felt her face grow warm, dropped her gaze — then thought that dropping it was rather small-natured of her. She lifted her face and let him look openly at her, though her cheeks grew warmer still.

Xu Lingyi burst out laughing. He kissed her soundly on the cheek with a loud smack, then released her abruptly and strode out the door.

“Go tell Mother,” he called back. “Have someone prepare a welcoming feast.”

Eleven answered “yes” — and Xu Lingyi was already out through the hall door.

—