The opera was over. By custom, the troupe leader would bring out the lead performers to kowtow to the audience from the stage. The audience would then present them with gifts of money. The host usually gave the largest share; the other guests might give whatever they pleased.

Fifth Madam watched as the Cai Bojie on stage was about to depart with his two wives, and a sense of urgency came over her.

The Dowager Madam had not yet reappeared, and she had taken with her all the attendants who might have helped with such arrangements. Fifth Madam had no idea who was in charge of the performance gifts.

Then there was Third Sister-in-law, Madam Gan.

Until now, it had always been Fourth Sister-in-law who ran the household. But this year, as the new year turned, Fourth Sister-in-law’s energy had grown worse and worse, and she had taken the initiative of handing household management over to Third Sister-in-law. At the time, Third Sister-in-law had been unable to conceal her delight, and a smile had kept breaking through. This was her first time presiding over a family gathering, and by rights she ought to have been managing everything with painstaking care and full dedication. Yet having sent the Gan and Luo young ladies off to fly kites, with both the Gan and Luo young ladies now back, Third Sister-in-law herself was nowhere to be seen…

Whatever the case, she was still one of the mistresses of the Xu household. Surely the event couldn’t be allowed to fall cold simply because both of the responsible people were away?

She quietly told her own personal maidservant Heye to hurry back to her rooms, open the trunks and bring three hundred silver taels at once to see them through the moment. She then instructed her other personal maidservant Hexiang to quickly inform the people at the small courtyard, simply saying that the opera at Dian Chun Hall had come to its end.

The two maidservants acknowledged her and disappeared in a blur.

Her mind settled a little.

What had happened at Fourth Sister-in-law’s end?

If it was illness — she had been ill for a long while, after all; that was nothing new, and it would not explain the need to avoid seeing her.

Or perhaps she and the Marquis had had some quarrel?

The thought came and went, and she felt more and more as if she had hit upon something. Who didn’t treat her husband like the very sky she lived under? Only Fourth Sister-in-law, who to all appearances treated the Marquis with perfect courtesy and saw to his every need with meticulous care, yet for some reason Fifth Madam had always had the feeling that something was missing between them. At least it was nothing like her and Fifth Young Master, where when they quarreled they would ignore each other, but when they made up again, a moment apart was almost unbearable…

At this thought, her face grew faintly warm, just as from the direction of the stage came the announcement: “The Deyin Ban presents their respects to all the Mesdames, Madams, and Young Misses.”

Fifth Madam’s heart gave a start. She saw the elder Madam Zheng seated alone on the low couch, turning toward her with an embarrassed smile.

But Heye had not yet come back!

With some difficulty, she stepped forward and began making conversation with the Deyin Ban.

“…Head Performer Zhou has worked so hard. I noticed in the broken temple scene with Wuniang, the singing style became soft and lyrical — quite different from the powerful, vigorous tone of the earlier pieces. What was the reason for that?”

Zhou Huide, who played Zhao Wuniang, knelt in the center of the stage and answered respectfully: “That was a small idea of my own. I thought about the kind of person Wuniang was — gentle on the surface but strong within. She had wrapped the earth in hemp to bury her parents-in-law, which showed her fierce loyalty and virtue. So in the broken temple scene, I made the singing style more lyrical, so that everyone could see that Wuniang, in addition to her fierce and devoted side, also had a gentle and yielding side…”

Everyone in the side room nodded along with appreciation.

Madam Lin even asked him: “Your voice is resonant and clear, your singing refined and lovely. Who was your teacher?”

Zhou Huide said, “My teacher was Little Huilan.”

“The Little Huilan who was with the former Sanqing Ban?” Madam Lin said in surprise. “I heard him sing when I was a child. Your style is quite different from his.”

Zhou Huide quickly replied, “When I was still following my teacher from place to place, we passed through a town called Shibei, and I heard people there singing ceremonial folk opera…”

Everyone was listening to him speak at ease and at length. But Eleventh Miss was somewhat distracted.

The Dowager Madam still had not returned. She wondered how things were going in the small courtyard.

Please, let nothing else happen now.

She would very much like to leave the Xu household in one piece.

She was still turning this over when she noticed the sharp-featured, clear-eyed personal maidservant of Fifth Madam standing at the door of the side room, a red lacquered gold-painted crabapple-flower tray in her arms. Stacked neatly on the tray were thirty silver ingots.

Fifth Madam caught sight of Heye and immediately felt a wave of relief. At the right moment, she gently cut into Zhou Huide’s monologue, raising her voice slightly to announce “Rewards.”

Zhou Huide at once led the Deyin Ban in a round of grateful thanks and pressed their foreheads to the floor.

Heye stepped forward and passed the tray to a young maidservant without a head-covering nearby, who received it and in turn passed it to a manservant standing beside the stage. He was barely ten years old, and the two of them — one on each side — lifted the tray and carried it up to the stage.

Zhou Huide thanked them again, then rose and accepted the tray with a respectful bow.

The elder Madam Zheng, Madam Huang, and the others in the side room presented their own gifts in turn. Zhou Huide bowed and thanked them again and again.

In the midst of all this pleasant commotion, a bright, smiling voice came drifting in: “Oh my, Mother really is formidable — she invited the Deyin Ban to perform a private opera, and now the opera is finished and still no one wants to leave. I have been keeping careful track of the time and had someone start steaming the shad fish. At this rate, I’m afraid it will be overcooked by now…” The voice caught in her throat as she caught sight of Fifth Madam standing before the low couch in the manner of a host receiving guests.

“Where is Mother?” Her smile stiffened slightly.

How did it come to be that Danyang was here, presiding over these old family friends and relations as if she were the mistress of the house… And then, thinking of what had happened in the kitchen, she allowed herself a small cold smile inwardly.

All that the others had seen was that Nanny Tao, acting on Yuan Niang’s orders, had sent two plates of peaches for everyone to taste the fresh fruit. The Dowager Madam had eaten two pieces and then felt unwell; she had gone out with Fifth Madam in attendance. Everyone had assumed she had eaten something upsetting and had gone to relieve herself… And when Fifth Madam returned, no one had given it another thought — after all, she was an older woman who set great store by dignity, and Fifth Madam was a daughter-in-law, but also a Princess of a County… When they saw Eleventh Miss come back in, they had not paid it much mind either — the Fourth Madam was so frail that a few exchanges would likely leave her spent, and surely she would not keep her younger sister there like a maidservant while she rested…

Since both of them had been going to the same place and had returned together, it was not surprising.

Now that Third Madam asked, everyone suddenly realized the Dowager Madam had been gone rather a long time.

“Danyang,” the elder Madam Zheng said with some concern, “you went with the Dowager Madam just now — how is she?”

“The Dowager Madam asked me to return first!” Fifth Madam said, somewhat vaguely. “Why don’t I go and look — Third Sister-in-law is here, as it happens.”

She too had been wondering — Hexiang had been gone all this time without a word; and now that Third Madam had arrived and there was someone to manage things, she could be away without it mattering.

Third Madam, however, had heard all this in a fog of confusion, and looked from Madam Zheng to Fifth Madam with an expression of complete bewilderment.

Madam Huang explained: “Just now, the Fourth Madam sent some peaches for everyone to taste…”

Third Madam could not help but say reproachfully, “The Dowager Madam is getting on in years — she shouldn’t be eating such things.” Her eyes, however, rested on Fifth Madam, carrying a distinct note of blame.

Yet Fifth Madam received this with a face perfectly composed and unmoved, which made the First Madam rather uncomfortable. She frowned and was about to say something in defense of her daughter when she looked up and saw the Dowager Madam walk in, leaning on the shoulder of a small maidservant. “Old age, old age — a few pieces of peach and this stomach of mine turns everything upside down.” Fifth Madam’s maidservant Hexiang was nowhere to be seen.

“Mother!” Third Madam and Fifth Madam cried out in unison and ran to the First Madam’s side.

Third Madam, being closer, reached out first and took hold of the Dowager Madam’s left arm. Fifth Madam, arriving a step later, took the right. Together they supported the Dowager Madam into the side room.

Everyone came forward to inquire after her. The Dowager Madam chuckled and kept saying, “It’s nothing, nothing.” Then she gave a small exclamation. “The opera is over? The performance gifts haven’t been given yet, have they?”

Fifth Madam quickly said, “They have, they have!”

The Dowager Madam gave Fifth Madam’s hand a light pat and smiled. “In that case, let us go to the flower hall — I have also arranged for a fireworks display.”

Everyone in the room agreed cheerfully, clustering around the Dowager Madam and making their way toward the flower hall.

Then Madam Qiao said suddenly, “Should we send someone to let the Fourth Madam know? It is no small effort for her to have come out today.”

“No need, no need,” the Dowager Madam said with a smile. “I just went to look in on her. She is feeling a little unwell — she has just taken her medicine and gone to rest.”

The First Madam gave a startled cry. “What is the matter with her?”

The Dowager Madam smiled. “Her constitution is weak, and there has been so much noise and commotion over here — naturally she would feel it. She has taken a calming medicine. Nothing serious. I was also worried she could not take the strain, and specially arranged for Zhun Ge to be brought to my rooms to keep Zhen Jie’er company. I have had her stay the night in the small courtyard.”

A mother’s heart knows no reasoning. However well the Dowager Madam spoke of it, the First Madam was still anxious.

She hesitated, then said, “I think I shall still go and see her.”

Eleventh Miss noticed the Dowager Madam’s gaze sweep swiftly across the faces of those present. She smiled. “Auntie entrusted her daughter to me, and I cherish her as my own — surely there is nothing there to be uncertain about. Besides, Xiao Si is there with her. Let the two of them manage their own tea and water. You simply come along with me to dinner.” As she spoke, she broke into the broad, contented smile of someone bestowing a great reassurance.

“The Marquis is there!” The First Madam was quite astonished.

“But of course!” The Dowager Madam’s smile was radiant. “Otherwise, how could I, as his mother-in-law, have walked away looking as if nothing were the matter at all?”

A chill moved through Eleventh Miss.

The Dowager Madam… was quite formidable indeed.

She could not help scanning the room for Qiao Lianfang.

The lantern-light was soft and shifting. Miss Lin was all white, striking as fresh snow. Fifth Miss was composed and dignified. Tenth Miss was proud and luminously beautiful. Miss Tang was graceful and lovely. Third Gan Miss was solid and measured. Seventh Gan Miss was spirited and clever. But among them there was no sign of the gentle and pretty Qiao Lianfang.

The Dowager Madam had taken the First Madam’s hand and was already heading toward the door. “Come now, we’re going to eat. The younger generation has its own affairs to worry about. If I were to manage this and manage that, there would never be an end to it…” Her tone carried a note of genuine ease, as though she had not a worry in the world.

The First Madam nodded, and the group made their way to the flower hall in a pleasant hum of conversation.

Eleventh Miss was silent.

How much must one have been through, to cultivate the Dowager Madam’s gift of letting nothing show in joy or sorrow?

The flower hall blazed with light, and the lacquered black tables gleamed bright enough to reflect her own face back at her.

She sat at a table with Tenth Miss and the two Gan young ladies; Fifth Miss sat at a table with Miss Lin and Miss Tang. Fine teas and small delicacies, seasonal vegetables, exotic delicacies from land and water — dish after dish was brought out.

Miss Lin looked around and said with curiosity, “Odd — where is Lianfang?”

Miss Tang said, “She was just walking behind me a moment ago.”

The Dowager Madam, hearing this, narrowed her eyes slightly and smiled. “Quickly go and look — it is so dark outside, she might have stumbled somewhere.”

Third Madam immediately rose to her feet. “I’ll go and have a look.”