The final act was *The Reunion*.

Cai Bojie and Zhao Wuniang met at last. She told him of everything that had befallen his family at home, and his grief was overwhelming. He immediately submitted a memorial requesting to leave his post and asked Zhao Wuniang and Madam Niu to return with him to observe mourning in their hometown. The Emperor and his ministers all praised Zhao Wuniang as “virtuous and filially devoted,” and decreed that the Cai family be honored with a public commendation.

When the Emperor made his entrance, Eleventh Miss opened her eyes wide — she noticed a minister standing beside him, echoing every word, wearing a python-embroidered robe, his face made up in an elaborate painted design. He was tall and upright, at ease in his bearing, and carried himself with more commanding presence than the Emperor beside him.

Eleventh Miss could not help but smile to herself.

By all appearances, this minister was the Fifth Young Master of the Xu household playing a minor part. A pity the Dowager Madam was not here at this moment…

She watched the Fifth Young Master of the Xu household perform with close attention.

He had only one line, yet his expression was utterly earnest…

Eleventh Miss glanced at Fifth Madam.

She was gazing at the stage with a smile, her eyes bright with quiet delight all the way to their depths.

The corner of Eleventh Miss’s mouth curved upward.

Fifth Madam seemed to take everything about her husband very much to heart…

She was still thinking this when she noticed a young woman in a peach-red jacket and a pale green foreign-flower brocade composite skirt slip quietly inside.

Eleventh Miss looked more carefully — it was the Sixth Miss of the Qiao Family, Qiao Lianfang.

She wore a listless expression, forcing a smile as she exchanged a few words with Madam Qiao, then sat down on the brocade stool behind her. Madam Qiao turned to say something to her, but she responded only in a daze, one syllable at a time, which drew a repeated furrowing of Madam Qiao’s brow.

With that, the last of the tension in Eleventh Miss’s heart finally eased.

With one of the principals absent from the scene, things would be far more manageable — after all, to catch a thief you need the stolen goods, and to make a case of misconduct you need both parties present…

She thought again of that moon-white skirt embroidered with bamboo, plum blossoms, and orchids along its bordered hem.

And here Qiao Lianfang had come back wearing a brocade composite skirt… a composite skirt, worn mostly by married women, made of brilliant brocade weave that caught the eye from across the room… Since things had already come to this, why not simply let the Dowager Madam find her a plain white embroidered skirt to change into…

While she was still mulling this over, Eleventh Miss became aware of a gaze resting on her, long and unwilling to leave.

She turned her eyes in that direction without turning her head, and found Qiao Lianfang staring at her with an expressionless face.

Eleventh Miss gave a rueful smile inwardly.

The most compromising scene had been witnessed by her. Even the most magnanimous person would carry some resentment over that.

She could only pretend she had not noticed, assuming an air of earnest attention to the opera.

She did not know how much time passed before the gaze fixed on her finally withdrew.

Eleventh Miss breathed out quietly — and just then saw Miss Lin and Miss Tang walk in side by side, smiling and talking. Fifth Miss came in after them, her expression somewhat troubled.

At the sight of Qiao Lianfang, all three gave a start.

Qiao Lianfang saw the three of them as well, and with a slightly strained smile she gave them a nod. They nodded back, returning the greeting. But after the exchange, Miss Tang leaned toward Miss Lin and said something in a low voice. Miss Lin listened, and glanced sideways at Qiao Lianfang with a faint, ambiguous smile, giving the impression that the two of them were discussing Qiao Lianfang privately.

Qiao Lianfang’s face flushed crimson.

Miss Tang said something else to Miss Lin — one could not make out what — then covered her mouth and laughed. Miss Lin gave her a look of affectionate reproach.

Qiao Lianfang went pale, her discomfort like that of a person sitting on a bed of pins.

But the two of them did not glance at her again. Each returned to her own elder’s side, and each family’s senior ladies began to speak quietly with the younger ones. Fifth Miss also came back to the First Madam’s side. The First Madam smiled warmly at her. “Did you see the Second Madam? Why did you come back so early instead of staying longer?”

Fifth Miss said respectfully, “I did see the Second Madam. She even had us stay for a cup of Clear Spring White Stone tea. Then Nanny Du came on behalf of the Dowager Madam to let us know the opera was nearly finished, and so we came back.”

Clear Spring White Stone tea? Yet another kind of tea she had never heard of.

Eleventh Miss puzzled over it silently. The First Madam had nodded with a smile, looking satisfied with Fifth Miss’s answer. She then smiled and said, “Come and rest a while. The opera is indeed nearly done. I am not sure if it’s simply not being used to it, but sitting in one place for half a day without anything to do strikes me as terribly dull.”

“Mother has been so busy at home all her life, it is only natural you are not used to this,” Fifth Miss smiled. “In time it will feel right.”

The First Madam gave a small smile, turned to listen to the opera, and Fifth Miss sat down obediently beside Eleventh Miss.

The moment Fifth Miss took her seat, the two Gan Family young ladies and Tenth Miss came back.

Tenth Miss had her arm through that of the Seventh Gan Miss, Gan Lanting, and the two were chatting merrily together. The Third Gan Miss trailed behind them with an expression of weary resignation, and the two maidservants following them each had their arms full of wildflowers and weeds.

All three of them saw Qiao Lianfang upon entering. Their expressions were entirely calm — none of the startled look that Miss Lin, Miss Tang, and Fifth Miss had shown. But they walked in with unhurried ease, drawing the eyes of everyone in the room.

Even Madam Huang commented with a laugh, “Come and sit down — you’re blocking everyone’s view of the opera.”

The Third Gan Miss blushed slightly and murmured “yes.” The Seventh Gan Miss gave a giggle, dropped Tenth Miss’s arm, and ran over to Fifth Madam’s side, bending close and talking to her with a bright smile. Tenth Miss then curtsied toward Madam Huang, smiled and went forward to pay her respects to the First Madam. The First Madam smiled warmly and gave her a small nod, and she sat down smiling at the First Madam’s side.

The Third Gan Miss followed, curtsied to Madam Gan and said, “Mother!”

Mother?

Eleventh Miss was quite surprised.

Could the Third Gan Miss be born of a concubine?

She then thought of Madam Gan’s youthful appearance… Or perhaps Madam Gan was a second wife?

“Have you caused any trouble?” Madam Gan smiled pleasantly.

“How could we?” the Third Gan Miss said with a touch of exasperation. “Even if we were ever so thoughtless, we could not possibly do anything improper in the Xu household.” Her manner was not entirely deferential.

Madam Gan paid it no mind, smiling mildly. “Come and have a cup of tea — look at you, your face is all perspiration!”

The Third Gan Miss gave an indifferent nod and sat down. A maidservant naturally came forward at once to pour her a cup of half-cooled tea, and another fanned her with her sleeve.

She smiled and exchanged pleasantries with Eleventh Miss. “Was the opera good?”

Eleventh Miss nodded. “It was performed very well.”

“It’s all because of that Lanting,” she said with a hint of complaint, yet without any real irritation. “Otherwise I might have watched some of it too. Do you normally watch opera at home? What do you like?”

“I don’t watch opera at home normally,” Eleventh Miss smiled. “This is my first time.”

The Third Gan Miss widened her eyes, then nodded with a look of complete understanding. “Of course. There is not much to do in your kind of rural town.” She said it without arrogance, without condescension — speaking of it purely as a matter of fact. There was nothing offensive in it; she came across instead as rather charmingly unaware.

The corner of Eleventh Miss’s mouth twitched.

“What is Third Sister talking about now?” the Seventh Gan Miss appeared suddenly behind her. “The Jiexiang She, one of the three great Yanjing opera troupes, performs the Yuhang style. And Luo Younger Sister’s hometown is Yuhang.”

The Third Gan Miss gave a start, and the look she turned on Eleventh Miss now carried a trace of displeasure, as if she felt she had been deceived.

Eleventh Miss felt this was rather funny but refrained from laughing.

There was no sense getting into it with these girls.

She could only explain again: “I had been traveling with my father on his posting to Fujian, and only came home when my grandfather passed away. I have never attended any opera performances.”

The Third Gan Miss’s expression softened, and she gave a nod.

But the Seventh Gan Miss pressed her lips together, trying not to smile, then took Eleventh Miss’s hand. “Please don’t take offense, Younger Sister — our Third Sister always speaks very directly.”

It was nothing serious, and since the other person had gone out of her way to apologize, Eleventh Miss had every reason to accept the goodwill.

She opened her eyes wide, a playful look on her face. “Third Gan Sister was perfectly right! Our part of the country really doesn’t have many interesting places… Seventh Gan Sister, what is there to ‘take offense’ about!”

The Seventh Gan Miss laughed. “You are such an amusing person.”

Eleventh Miss laughed too.

Madam Huang turned her head. “Lanting, you truly cannot be still for a single moment. Come, sit yourself down properly. I cannot hear a word of the opera with all this noise.”

The Seventh Gan Miss stuck her tongue out at Eleventh Miss, then sat down beside her — but still could not resist whispering in Eleventh Miss’s ear: “Did Lianfang go to the Fourth Madam to borrow a skirt?”

Eleventh Miss’s heart gave a jolt, though her face remained perfectly still. “How did you know?”

The Seventh Gan Miss winked at her. “She had originally agreed to go with Mingyuan to visit the Second Madam, but halfway there she said she wanted to come fly kites with us instead. The passage had quite a strong breeze — it was a good spot for it. But then she ran into a little maidservant who said the view near the Chunyan Pavilion was prettier, so she insisted on flying kites from there. Fine, if she wanted to go there. But then misfortune fell — she was standing right there beside the pavilion, looking out at the view, and out of nowhere a senior maidservant who had come to pick spring jasmine at the Chunyan Pavilion blundered right into her and tore her skirt. She had no choice but to head back… but no one expected her to go and borrow a skirt from the Fourth Madam.”

Eleventh Miss felt her heart beating quickly.

From the Chunyan Pavilion, looking out, one could see a small crescent-shaped lake, with a water pavilion at its edge… Fifth Miss had once leaned close to her and asked in a low voice whether that place over there was the Marquis’s study — Banyue Pan.

She looked at the Seventh Gan Miss.

The Seventh Gan Miss wore a full and open smile, a glint of knowing mischief in her eyes.

Like a sudden light cutting through fog, Eleventh Miss understood all at once.

Every word this Seventh Gan Miss spoke was chosen with precision, each carrying its own meaning.

She simply responded in kind, playing along: “Odd — why not go and borrow from the Third Madam? Why trouble Elder Sister for it?”

The Seventh Gan Miss’s eyes lit up at once, her smile growing even brighter. “The eldest daughter-in-law was called away halfway there. Someone from the kitchen came to get her, saying the shad fish the Dowager Madam had personally requested had gone missing, and would she please come and look into it at once. Her foot had not even crossed into the garden gate when she was called away. Otherwise, why would Lianfang have changed her plans at the last moment?” She looked at Eleventh Miss with an expression full of implication.

Eleventh Miss could not help but give a rueful smile.

One coincidence following upon another, until a coincidence became an inevitability.

But who had been the cicada? Who the praying mantis? And who the bird perched behind them both?

The light was now fading gradually from the sky. The rough-work women of the Xu household padded silently along under the eaves of Dian Chun Hall, and one by one the great red lanterns were lit.

At the side of the stage the drums and gongs still rang out in full force, but the players on the stage had shifted from rousing boldness to soaring, tender melody. Cai Bojie stood with Zhao Wuniang on his left and Madam Niu on his right, following the virtuous example of E Huang and Nü Ying…

From somewhere nearby came the admiring voices of the ladies.

“Wuniang has found her happiness — married to a brilliant scholar and official!”

“Madam Niu is truly virtuous, magnanimous in the highest degree!”

For a moment Eleventh Miss felt a strange, distant unreality wash over her.

So it was that Zhao Wuniang had endured coarse chaff and wild herbs, wrapped the earth in hemp for her parents-in-law’s burial — and this, in the end, was the outcome she received.

—