The wine may be the ostensible purpose, but the drinker’s heart lies elsewhere entirely!

Shiyiniang immediately understood the real reason for Third Madam Huang’s visit. And given the depth of friendship between the Huang and Xu households, she doubted Xu Lingyi would refuse to see her regardless of what she had come to ask.

“The new year has just passed — the Marquis has been busy these days with some household affairs in the outer courtyard.” She smiled and took the initiative to ask, “Sister, you are asking about the Marquis — is there something you need to speak with him about?”

This matter might well require Shiyiniang to put in a word on her behalf before Xu Lingyi…

The thought flashed through Third Madam Huang’s mind. She cast a glance around the room at the senior maidservants and junior matrons.

Shiyiniang caught her meaning and dismissed the attendants nearby.

“It is all because of that worthless husband of mine!” Third Madam Huang, seeing that no one else remained in the room, felt her eyes suddenly well up, and tears fell. “Acting rashly, not consulting anyone — and now something terrible has come of it…”

Marquis Yongchang was not gifted at managing household affairs and often felt overwhelmed by it all, so he had handed everything over to the eldest son. The eldest son, newly in charge and eager to establish his authority, had set his sights on the Jiangnan waterway projects. Marquis Jianming had likely heard from officials in the Ministry of Works and had sent his chief steward to approach the Yongchang household’s head steward on his own initiative, proposing to purchase stone materials from the Yongchang household’s stone quarry. The eldest son was quite agreeable to the arrangement. The two families thus fell into a vaguely defined business partnership. As time passed, social obligations naturally followed, and a certain familiarity developed between them. In the twelfth month of the year before last, someone approached the eldest son through the Yongchang household’s private advisor, offering three hundred taels of gold to secure the position of secretary overseeing the Fujian division of the Ministry of Revenue. The eldest son tried his luck and wrote a note to Marquis Jianming. Unexpectedly, come the new year, the man truly obtained the post of secretary for the Fujian division of the Ministry of Revenue — and the eldest son subsequently sent a hundred taels of gold to the Yang household…

“…On the first day of the new year, the Grand Madam sent the Second Madam to deliver warning. It was only after hearing what the Second Madam said that my husband came to realize the gravity of the situation.” Third Madam Huang dabbed at the corners of her eyes. “That note — whether it has been kept or was set aside carelessly somewhere, it is still in the hands of Marquis Jianming. And if — as the Second Madam described — the Yang household is raided and ransacked… should the note written by my husband be found among the seized items, or should his name appear in a private account book recording a payment of gold to Marquis Jianming… Even if the Emperor, out of regard for the Huang family’s meritorious service to the imperial ancestors, were willing to spare the Marquis’s life, those censors would never let it go. My husband has been sighing and lying awake night after night. Yet he does not dare tell the Marquis… He has thought it through from every angle — he has no choice but to come and ask the Marquis for help. Yet when he thinks of what he has done, he cannot bring himself to face the Marquis. I am the one who told him — our two households are like family, and the Marquis and my husband have grown up together like brothers. No matter how shameful the affair, what is there that cannot be said between brothers? My husband went red in the face but still would not speak. I felt this was a matter where delay would only make things worse. It just so happened that the Grand Madam had also sent a matron over to ask me to go and serve as matchmaker for the eldest young master. Knowing that the Grand Madam had never stood on ceremony with me, I thought, I might as well forget about propriety and come barging in like this.” She spoke, then took hold of Shiyiniang’s hand. “Dear sister, you must save your brother-in-law — if something were to happen to him, I would have no wish to go on living either.” With that, she buried her face in her hands and wept.

If the Ministry of Personnel was under Elder Cabinet Minister Chen’s jurisdiction, how had a single note from the Yongchang eldest son enabled Marquis Jianming to arrange a secretary’s position in the Ministry of Revenue’s Fujian division?

Shiyiniang pressed down the doubts in her heart and comforted Third Madam Huang. “Sister, please do not weep. I will send someone to fetch the Marquis in right now.”

Third Madam Huang sobbed and nodded.

Shiyiniang called Qiu Yu to bring water for Third Madam Huang to freshen herself up, then sent Xiu Lian to fetch Xu Lingyi. When Xu Lingyi came in, she withdrew from the main hall.

The two of them spoke in the resting alcove of the eastern side chamber for about the time it takes an incense stick to burn, after which Third Madam Huang emerged with a dispirited expression.

Shiyiniang hurried forward to meet her.

“Why don’t you rest for a while in my rooms, Sister?” she hinted. “Since you have already come all this way, you cannot avoid making a stop at Third Sister-in-law’s — it would look suspicious otherwise.”

Third Madam Huang nodded at Shiyiniang with a grateful look, and followed her to the western side chamber. She drank the hot tea a small maidservant brought up, and her spirits improved somewhat.

“The Marquis says it depends on whom the Emperor sends,” she whispered to Shiyiniang. “If it is the Five City Infantry or the West Mountain Camp’s forces, things can still be managed. What he fears is if the Court of Judicial Review’s people take charge — the Marquis has no trusted connections within the Court of Judicial Review.”

“At least there is still a thread of hope.” Shiyiniang comforted her. “Sister, try not to worry too much. Perhaps the eldest son is blessed by fortune and will manage to weather this crisis!”

Third Madam Huang let out a soft sigh. “Let us hope so!” After a moment of quiet reflection, she forced a smile. “But no matter what comes of it, Sister, please put in a word with the Marquis for me — tell him that your brother-in-law will never forget his great kindness for as long as he lives.”

Shiyiniang quickly replied, “Our two households have had ties from the generation of the Grand Madam onward — to say such things, Sister, is being far too formal.”

Third Madam Huang said nothing more. She rose and took her leave. “Today I came here originally on account of the eldest young master’s matter. I still need to go to the Third Madam’s rooms and get a sense of her intentions — so I can have something to say to Madam Liu when I speak with her.”

Shiyiniang walked Third Madam Huang over to the Third Madam’s rooms. “I leave our Qin Ge’er’s matter entirely in your hands, Sister!”

“You yourself said this is a friendship spanning several generations — then there is no need for such words!”

The two of them reached the Third Madam’s rooms.

The Third Madam had already been told that Third Madam Huang had come, had first gone to the Grand Madam’s quarters, and then to Shiyiniang’s — and she had been feeling quietly disgruntled. But seeing Shiyiniang personally escort the guest to her, her expression softened. Shiyiniang, mindful of Xu Lingyi waiting in her rooms, exchanged a few pleasantries with the Third Madam and then withdrew.

Xu Lingyi was pacing the room with his hands clasped behind his back, his face overcast and gloomy.

Seeing Shiyiniang come in, he stopped.

My expression must look very grim right now.

Xu Lingyi reflected on this, and sought to soften the atmosphere. He took the initiative and greeted Shiyiniang: “Have you seen the guest to Third Sister-in-law’s rooms?” But to his surprise, the words that came out sounded even more cold and measured than usual.

He could not help frowning slightly.

This affair was putting him in a very difficult position.

Shiyiniang understood this, and walked quietly toward him. “My lord Marquis, we plot what we can, but Heaven decides what comes to pass. If the Emperor truly sends the Court of Judicial Review’s people to raid the Jianming Marquis household, then it can only be said that the eldest son was simply not blessed with the fortune to escape it!”

Even as she said these words, she was genuinely worried inside — afraid that Xu Lingyi might put himself in a difficult position in order to rescue the Yongchang eldest son.

Looking at Shiyiniang’s somewhat troubled expression, Xu Lingyi could not help but let out a quiet inward sigh.

He had promised not to let her worry about such things anymore, yet matters always seemed to find their way to her in the end.

He drew Shiyiniang into his arms.

“It’s nothing I intend to strain myself over.” He rested his cheek against hers and sighed. “Even if the Court of Judicial Review’s people do go to carry out the raid, a few prefectural offices under the Court of Judicial Review are not sufficient to accomplish great things on their own. Lifting a few letters, account books, and the like from a mountain of confiscated items is not impossible. It is simply that Ziqin has been far too bold, and if I do not take this opportunity to teach him a lesson, I fear he will only grow more reckless as time goes on.”

Ziqin — that must be the courtesy name of the Yongchang eldest son.

“My lord Marquis, please be cautious in all things.” Shiyiniang trusted in his abilities, but words of concern still came unbidden. “If it truly proves impossible, there is no need to force it. Did you not say so yourself — the Emperor’s purpose in all of this is to frame those he intends to remove from power. As for who will be implicated and who will be spared, the Emperor surely has his own accounting in mind. Otherwise, he would not have used the occasion of New Year’s Day to issue his warning — he clearly does not wish to blow things up into a larger affair.”

“Personnel appointments fall under Elder Cabinet Minister Chen’s jurisdiction. For a single note to secure someone a posting — it could not be as simple as Third Madam Huang described.” Xu Lingyi settled onto the large kang by the window with his arm around Shiyiniang’s shoulders. “There is something more to this matter, I fear.” He paused in thought. “What I am worried about is that there are things happening which even Elder Cabinet Minister Chen does not know about… and that the Emperor, in pulling up the radish, has dragged the mud up around Elder Cabinet Minister Chen as well.”

“But as you yourself said, since Elder Cabinet Minister Chen oversees the Ministry of Personnel, if the ministry’s officials have truly engaged in such misconduct, he can hardly escape censure,” Shiyiniang said quietly. “Even if the Emperor is counting on Elder Cabinet Minister Chen to help him achieve great governance and leave a legacy for the ages, he cannot simply overlook or condone this. In the long run, it would only harm Elder Cabinet Minister Chen — and might even tarnish the Emperor’s own name and ruin his great endeavors for posterity.”

“There are things you don’t know about.” Xu Lingyi said pensively. “Of the seven Grand Scholars in the Cabinet, Elder Cabinet Minister Chen is the one who supports the Emperor’s position and advocates for opening the maritime trade ban, while Cabinet Minister Liang’s stance remains unclear. The remaining five are all opposed to opening the ban…”

He spoke, then hesitated.

The world at large believed imperial authority was supreme. In reality, imperial authority did not always achieve its aims.

He found himself uncertain how to explain such a situation to Shiyiniang.

Shiyiniang began to understand why an official in the Ministry of Personnel would have dared to sell appointments — someone wanted Elder Cabinet Minister Chen removed from power. If a scandal broke in the Ministry of Personnel, Elder Cabinet Minister Chen would have no way to account for himself and would be forced to resign in admission of responsibility. With the only man who supported the Emperor gone, the maritime trade ban would naturally come to an end at that point. She also began to understand why the Emperor had issued his warning to Xu Lingyi — his target was these few Grand Scholars of the Cabinet. If two or three of the cabinet ministers could be implicated and removed, men who supported his own position could be put in their place, breaking the current deadlock.

Whether Elder Cabinet Minister Chen fell from power or the Emperor achieved his aims, the court of Great Zhou was about to be swept by tremendous, crashing waves… If Elder Cabinet Minister Chen fell, the Emperor’s new policies would collapse before taking shape — would the Emperor truly accept that? If the Emperor prevailed, the now-vacant cabinet positions would have untold numbers of eyes fixed upon them!

“My lord Marquis, what should we do, then?” she asked in a low, measured voice.

Beneath forces of this magnitude, no one could remain untouched — not even the Xu household of the Yongping Marquis, who stood as imperial relatives by marriage.

Xu Lingyi was somewhat struck by Shiyiniang’s response, but his mind was unsettled at that moment, and there were more pressing things to be done. He pressed down the puzzlement in his heart, and with a somewhat grave expression said, “I am thinking about how to bring this to the Emperor’s attention without drawing the Huang household into it at the same time.”

This was beyond anything Shiyiniang could resolve.

She rose and brewed him a cup of hot tea, then sat quietly beside him.

Xu Lingyi drank the tea slowly to the last drop, then rose with a composed expression. “Do not wait for me to eat — I am going into the palace.”

Simple, matter-of-fact words — yet they concealed great danger.

“My lord Marquis!” Shiyiniang exclaimed. “Surely you are not going to remonstrate at the risk of your life?”

The solemnity of the moment was entirely shattered by that sentence, and Xu Lingyi burst out laughing. “I am not a censor!”

Shiyiniang gave him a mischievous smile. “As long as the Marquis knows that!”

Xu Lingyi was momentarily taken aback.

Shiyiniang — she was just trying to lighten the mood.

Such a composed and dignified person — yet when she turned playful, she was just like a child.

He laughed and ruffled her hair. “Now go quickly and call a maidservant in to help me change my clothes!”

—