Never mind Madam Huang the Third coming — even if Madam Huang herself came in person, she would hardly be so distinguished as to require two people to brew the tea with their own hands!

The Third Madam’s thoughts flashed quickly, and her heart grew clear.

Madam Huang the Third had rushed here in such haste — she was plainly here to speak with the Grand Madam about something connected to the Yang Family’s household raid.

She quietly followed Shiyiniang out of the room and went to the tea room.

Shiyiniang dismissed the maids who had stepped forward to help, and kept watch herself over the brazier as she waited for the water to boil. She turned over the tea canisters on the shelf and discussed with the Third Madam what would be best to brew: “…Longjing is fine, of course, but it is rather common after all. Wuyi is too bold in flavor; white tea is too delicate… I think Tieguanyin would do best… though I do not know whether Madam Huang the Third has a preference for it or not…”

The Third Madam watched her busying herself over nothing in particular, then thought back to her sharp reaction just a moment ago, and guessed she must certainly know the reason behind Madam Huang the Third’s visit. She stepped forward, picked up a tea canister from beside Shiyiniang, and said in a low voice: “Sister-in-law, has the Huang Family gotten themselves into trouble?”

The Huang Family’s affairs were of great consequence — this was not the time to be discussing them!

“I am not entirely certain,” Shiyiniang said. “Only, looking at Madam Huang the Third’s manner, she seems to have something she wishes to say to Mother.” She added, “When I drew you out just now, did Mother not remain silent?”

Which plainly meant there was indeed something she needed to speak with the Grand Madam about!

The Third Madam listened and nodded, dropping her voice a shade lower: “I had already heard people say that the Yang Family had made quite a considerable sum lending out money at interest. Do you suppose the Huang Family might have borrowed from the Yang Family on that account? Now that the Yang Family has been raided, once everyone finds out, the Huang Family will have lost every last shred of face, inside and out!”

Shiyiniang feigned ignorance: “Surely not! Looking at Madam Huang the Third’s daily dress and manner of living, she does not strike me as someone who has been robbing Peter to pay Paul. Elder Sister-in-law reads too much into things. Perhaps she is simply shaken by seeing the Yang Family’s household raided — they were acquainted, after all.”

The Third Madam was unconvinced: “Their household being raided — what is there for us to feel shaken about…” She caught herself mid-sentence and quickly added, “Come to think of it, there is still a Yang Yiniang in this household. I think you ought to speak to the Marquis at once — otherwise, one person’s troubles could drag the whole family down!”

“It cannot have come to that,” Shiyiniang said with a laugh. “She was a concubine bestowed by the Empress Dowager, and the Emperor himself gave his approval at the time. She was not someone we took in on our own initiative!”

“That is true!” The Third Madam reflected on it and felt she had been fretting needlessly. She laughed and said, “If anyone is worried, it is the Zhongshan Marquis household far more than us.” At that, she covered her mouth and laughed, “And Elder Grand Secretary Liang… he must be filled with bitter regret at this very moment!”

“Guilt does not extend to a daughter once she has married out,” Shiyiniang said with a laugh. “I expect there will be no serious consequences.” Yet in her mind, the image of the Fourth Madam Tang’s cold indifference toward the Third Madam of the Liang Family surfaced unbidden.

“Oh my!” The Third Madam looked at Shiyiniang with an expression that said ‘how can you not understand even this,’ and said, “Even if the Emperor does not hold her to account, without the backing of her own family, a woman can never truly find her footing in her husband’s household…”

She chattered on rapidly, but Shiyiniang’s thoughts had drifted far away.

She wondered whether the Emperor would keep the promise made to Xu Lingyi, and in the end only reprimand the Huang Family. And then there was the Yang Family — would it be merely a confiscation of property? Or would punishment extend to the women, children, and elderly of the household as well? If it was only exile and the like, that could still be borne. What she feared was enslavement — the men made servants, the women forced into prostitution…

Someone suddenly clapped her on the shoulder.

Shiyiniang gave a great start.

“What are you thinking about?” The Third Madam’s puzzled face swam into view. “The water is boiling!”

“Oh!” Shiyiniang quickly tipped the Tieguanyin into the teapot. “I was thinking about the Yang Family’s affairs!”

The Third Madam was indifferent to this: “In any case, our household and theirs have always been at odds — everyone knows that. Even if the people at the Court of Judicial Review cast their net wide, they would never cast it over our household.” She then leaned close to Shiyiniang’s ear and said, “What do you think — if the Huang Family really does get caught up in this, Qin Ge’s engagement… surely it cannot be dragged down with them?”

The implication being that she wished to change the matchmaker!

Shiyiniang suppressed the urge to show her displeasure and said, “The betrothal gift list from the Fang Family has already been sent over, and the betrothal sum has already been settled with Madam Liu as well. I think it is best to let Madam Huang the Third see it through to the end. In any case, when the time comes, the Marquis will be invited to preside over Qin Ge’s wedding — you need only engage a separate auspicious matron for the ceremony!”

It was customary that the matchmaker, unless there were special circumstances, would also be invited to serve as the auspicious matron at the wedding.

The Third Madam hesitated at this.

Afraid she might actually go through with it, Shiyiniang added: “We do not yet know whether the Huang Family is truly implicated, and even if they are, we do not know the full extent of the situation. If the Huang Family truly has some trouble and you act this way, others watching will say nothing less than that our household is kicking them while they are down — which would harm Qin Ge’s reputation. And if nothing comes of it, you will have offended the Huang Family for nothing, making enemies out of people for no reason!”

The Third Madam gave a somewhat helpless nod.

* * *

After seeing Madam Huang the Third off, the Grand Madam, accompanied by Nanny Du, went to the Buddhist hall.

Shiyiniang and the Third Madam each went their separate ways.

Before even an incense stick’s worth of time had passed, the entire household knew the news of the Yang Family’s raid.

Yang Shi’s face turned the color of earth. She clutched Nanny Yang’s hand and trembled without ceasing: “Nanny, how can this be? How can this be? She was the Empress Dowager’s own family — whatever their wrongdoings, a stern reprimand would have sufficed… how could they simply raid the household?” As she spoke, tears streamed down her face in a torrent, and she was as panicked and helpless as a child of ten or so.

Though Nanny Yang had experienced much in her years, this manner of thing she had never encountered before. In her heart, she too was flustered. But seeing Yang Shi in such a state, she could not but steel herself and feign composure.

“It will be all right, it will be all right!” She wrapped her arms gently around Yang Shi, as she had done when Yang Shi was still an infant in swaddling clothes, and rocked her softly. “I am here, I am here — it will be all right, it will be all right…”

The warmth of that embrace held Yang Shi for a long while.

Then, slowly, she straightened herself.

All right? How could anything be all right?

She was no ignorant child of two or three years, who could believe that hiding in an elder’s arms made everything fine!

“Nanny, would you bring me a basin of water — I need to wash my face!”

This child had always been proud, even as a little one. At a moment like this, with the news having come from the Third Household, who knew how many people were privately laughing. However uneasy the heart, one could not go out looking unkempt. Otherwise, those petty people who judged others by their clothes and not by their character would find cause to denigrate her — and stooping to anger over such small-minded people would only lower one’s own standing.

Nanny Yang nodded and went herself to fetch the water.

Yang Shi opened her jewelry case and poured out all the gold and silver ornaments onto the bed. She then lifted the crimson velvet cloth lining the inside of the case and retrieved five banknotes from beneath it, tucking them into her sleeve before replacing the gleaming jewelry in the case. Then she sat quietly and waited for Nanny Yang to return.

* * *

When Qiao Lianfang heard the news, she was leaning over her desk copying out scripture. She frowned slightly.

“Other people’s affairs — we keep well out of them.”

Zhu’e retreated with an awkward smile. At the doorway, she ran into Xiuyuan.

“What is it?” Xiuyuan asked with a smile.

Before the New Year, Zhurui’s parents had used the pretext that Zhurui was already betrothed and, through Nanny Du’s connections, taken Zhurui home. Shiyiniang had added a new maid named Yinqiao to their quarters — a very quick and clever girl, though perhaps a touch too clever. She had once said to Donghong, who served Wen Yiniang: “My parents sent me into this household only so that I might have a respectable background to my name. I will serve properly here for four or five years and then they will take me home. I seek no merit, only to avoid fault — I will do whatever I am told, and keep well away from whatever I am told not to touch.”

For a girl who had served beside the mistress of a great household, once she was let go, her experience and bearing would surpass even some daughters of prosperous families — and she could typically expect an advantageous marriage.

When word reached Xiuyuan’s ears, she had taken a dislike to Yinqiao. She felt a far greater warmth toward Zhu’e, who served Qiao Lianfang with genuine devotion.

“It is nothing!” Zhu’e also felt she had overreacted, and smiled a little, returning inside to do her needlework.

At any other time, Xiuyuan would have had a proper conversation with her — but today…

Thinking of this, she quickened her pace toward Qiao Lianfang’s quarters.

“The Third Madam is waiting at the rear gate for you!”

Qiao Lianfang was greatly startled and set down her brush: “What business does Mother have here?” As she spoke, she rose and went to the inner room to change her clothes.

Xiuyuan caught hold of Qiao Lianfang’s arm: “Yiniang, you must think carefully before you act!”

Qiao Lianfang was unconcerned: “Mother came to visit during the New Year too, and the Marquis and the Mistress said nothing. The Mistress even sent over a table of dishes as a reward…”

It had been a long time since all of that. Everyone seemed to have forgotten the original prohibition.

But Xiuyuan gripped tighter: “The Third Madam also asked whether the Marquis was at home, and what he was doing.”

Qiao Lianfang paused.

Xiuyuan saw her hesitate and, steeling herself, simply came out with it: “When I went home last time, I heard my mother say that the Mistress and Madam Yang had pooled funds and put out money at interest these past days — making a tidy fortune, and spending quite freely as a result. She had grown so absorbed in calculating how to make money breed money that she could not even be bothered when the Marquis took on someone new. And now, barely after word has spread that the Yang Family has been raided, here comes the Third Madam… When you see her, by all means help where you can. But where you cannot help, you must make that clear to the Third Madam as well!”

Qiao Lianfang shook her head: “My mother has never once asked anything of me. If she has come for this matter now, she must truly have no other recourse. As long as she asks, I will always try.”

* * *

Wen Yiniang was pacing in her room in tight, anxious circles, like a frantic ant trapped in a box.

She had not expected the Emperor to move so swiftly or strike so hard. The mourning rites for the Empress Dowager were not yet concluded, and he had already raided the household without a word of warning!

Qiuhong pushed open the door and entered.

“What news?” Wen Yiniang immediately went to meet her.

Six months pregnant, Qiuhong’s robes were loose and flowing, yet could not conceal her swollen figure.

“My husband says the Wen Family’s shops are all open as usual. But none of the senior stewards are at their posts.”

Wen Yiniang heard this and dropped heavily into the armchair beside her.

“Is there any other news?” Her face was white as a sheet of paper.

Qiuhong was about to say something when a small maid ran in: “Qiuhong, your personal maid has come running in — she says there is something urgent to tell you.”

“My husband likely has some message to send me through her.” Qiuhong said in a low voice toward Wen Yiniang, then asked the small maid to bring the girl in.

Seeing that only Qiuhong and Wen Yiniang were in the room, the girl took courage and said: “The Third Young Madam of the Wen Family is on her way to visit your household. The Madam asks you to hurry home and receive the guest.”

Qiuhong looked toward Wen Yiniang.

Wen Yiniang bent her head in thought for a good while, then instructed Qiuhong: “You rest here for now. I will go and see the Mistress. When I return, I will tell you what has been decided.”

Qiuhong quickly assented and called Donghong in to help Wen Yiniang change into fresh clothes.