That evening Xu Lingyi came home to find Shiyiniang playing a hiding game with Jin Ge’er.

“Where has our Jin Ge’er’s rattle gone?” she coaxed him. “Find it and bring it to Mother.”

Jin Ge’er promptly stuck his bottom in the air, crawled to the corner of the couch, grabbed the rattle, and held it up for Shiyiniang to see.

Shiyiniang gave Jin Ge’er’s cheek a big kiss and sighed: “You are so clever — how is it you still will not talk!”

Jin Ge’er shook the rattle and grinned at his mother.

Shiyiniang felt a faint pang of dejection.

Xu Lingyi went over and lifted his son into his arms.

“What is the rush for words?” He was entirely unperturbed. “All that chatter — it lacks composure.”

“The Marquis is home!” Shiyiniang stepped off the couch. She caught a smell of wine on Xu Lingyi and reached to take the child. “It has been a busy day — please go and wash up!”

Xu Lingyi kept Jin Ge’er and would not let go. “I will wash up in a moment — let me play with Jin Ge’er first!” Then he tossed the child up into the air and caught him again.

Jin Ge’er erupted in gleeful laughter, beside himself with delight.

Shiyiniang knew perfectly well that Xu Lingyi’s hands were steady, yet she felt her heart strung taut with nerves.

“Marquis, please do go and wash up!” she said anxiously, standing nearby. “If Jin Ge’er gets too excited, he will not sleep again!”

Only then did Xu Lingyi relent and hand the boy back to Shiyiniang.

Jin Ge’er immediately clamored loudly for Xu Lingyi.

Xu Lingyi could only pat his head. “We will play again tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow the Marquis still has guests to attend to.” Since this was the Marquis Yongping’s residence hosting a wedding, families with social connections to the household had all sent congratulatory gifts, and with the Third Master absent, Xu Lingyi was overseeing everything and entertaining the guests. “One must not make casual promises to small children. At this age he may not understand — but when he grows up, he will not trust us as his parents.”

“I know, I know!” Perhaps it was the wine that had mellowed him — Xu Lingyi was less stern than usual. He laughed and pinched Shiyiniang’s nose. “You talk so much — the household stewards can handle things perfectly well. Tomorrow I will spend a little while playing with Jin Ge’er before I go out to receive guests. The wedding is set for the first hour of the pig anyway. As for you — find some excuse to rest properly. Once the new bride is in, the revelry is liable to go on until morning. And the next day is the bride-meeting ceremony.”

Shiyiniang gave a murmured acknowledgment.

Xu Lingyi went to the bathroom.

When he came out, Shiyiniang and Jin Ge’er were no longer in the room.

Qiuyu hurried to say: “Madam is putting the Sixth Young Master to sleep!”

Xu Lingyi nodded and settled himself in bed. He read through half a travel memoir, and only then did Shiyiniang come in looking thoroughly worn.

“Jin Ge’er is asleep!” He felt a pang of guilt and lifted the covers to invite her to come rest quickly.

But Shiyiniang pointed to the sapphire-blue gold-flecked cloud-patterned round-collar robe hanging from the dark-lacquered clothes rack with its carved beast’s-head crest. “That is what the Marquis is wearing tomorrow.”

Xu Lingyi’s gaze fell on the small stool beneath the rack.

A pair of white silk socks lay upon it, embroidered along the edges with fine cloud patterns worked in sapphire-blue and gold thread — opulent yet refined, striking at a glance, instantly recognizable as no ordinary article.

“Do not keep working with your needles.” He took Shiyiniang’s hand. “They are only socks — no one even sees them.”

Like wearing fine brocade in the dark, it truly was a waste of her skill — and he felt a pang wearing them himself, as though something precious were being squandered.

And yet, not without notice.

Just yesterday Zhou Shizheng had pulled him aside and asked who had made his socks, offering a thousand taels if he would let the embroiderer go to him — and added: “…you do not care about such things anyway.”

Xu Lingyi had not wanted to admit they were made by Shiyiniang, so he said the needlewoman was employed to make garments for Shiyiniang and had done him two pairs of socks on the side.

Zhou Shizheng was thoroughly disappointed upon hearing this.

It was well known throughout the realm that the Marquis Yongping’s second wife was fond of fine clothes and excelled in dressing herself. To try to poach another man’s personal needlewoman was as dishonorable as trying to poach his most cherished intimate.

“Did the Marquis not say they fit comfortably?” Shiyiniang smiled. “Then that is all that matters!”

So it was.

The socks Shiyiniang made for him not only fit his feet perfectly, but suited his taste exactly — neither overly refined nor carelessly plain, and he felt thoroughly satisfied with them.

Seeing that he made no further comment, Shiyiniang fell silent as well and quietly climbed into bed.

Xu Lingyi, noticing she had not chattered on with him, asked with concern: “Are you tired?”

“The Third Household’s affairs have nothing to do with me — I am not managing the household. I only looked on from the sidelines, so there is no reason to be tired.” Her tone carried a faint hesitation.

“What is it?” Xu Lingyi leaned back against the head of the bed, settling in as though for a long conversation.

Shiyiniang rolled over onto her side, facing Xu Lingyi. “What do you think — should I take back the management of the household?”

Xu Lingyi considered this, and said: “Did something happen that made you feel uneasy watching Mother busy herself with everything?”

Shiyiniang nodded. “I have thought it over. Sizhun is ten this year, and the Ninth Young Miss of the Jiang family is only a few months younger than he is. In another five or six years, even if we are not in a hurry, the Jiang family will be. By then, letting the Ninth Young Miss of the Jiang family take over managing the household — what do you think?”

In the past, though she had never actively sought it, she had still applied herself wholeheartedly. This was the first time she had ever let it be known that she had no wish to remain the one in charge.

Xu Lingyi said nothing.

Shiyiniang sat up as well. “Does the Marquis find this unsuitable?”

Xu Lingyi considered, and said: “You know I recently took Sizhun along hiking? He…” He seemed to want to say more, then held back.

Xu Sizhun had come back very cheerfully and described at length to her the places they had gone, the people they had met, and what they had eaten. Xu Lingyi had come back and said nothing. Shiyiniang had assumed the day had gone smoothly. She had not expected that the two of them would have such vastly different impressions of it.

“What happened?” Shiyiniang could not help frowning slightly.

Xu Lingyi was quiet for a moment before saying in a low voice: “Elder Dou’s grandson is two years older than Sizhun, so I will say nothing of him. But Wang Li’s son is a full year younger than Sizhun, and he already understands the principle of ‘take on the difficult tasks on behalf of your elders.’ Sizhun, on the other hand…” Xu Lingyi gave a wry smile. “When he mingled with the servants and their children he talked and laughed freely enough, but when I asked him to greet Elder Dou and Wang Li, he became timid and ill at ease…” His voice grew faint, but could not conceal his disappointment.

“Give it time,” Shiyiniang could only say by way of comfort. “Perhaps Wang Li’s son is simply an exceptional case!”

Xu Lingyi, who had never been bested by anyone his entire life — and even in those rare moments of disadvantage had always believed he would rise again — had never once when it came to Sizhun felt anything other than a deep uncertainty.

He let out a breath. “Sleep. Tomorrow will be busy.”

Shiyiniang pressed her face against his back and wrapped her arms around his waist.

The next day, the feast was laid, the sedan chair set off to the sound of firecrackers, and everything proceeded in orderly fashion.

After the new bride had entered the house and the exchange-cup wine ceremony was completed, the Fifth Madam pulled Shiyiniang away to go see the new bride.

Senior matrons and maidservants of standing all stood in rows beneath the eaves of the bridal chamber, and several aunts and cousins from the Gan family were already inside. Red all around, people everywhere — the festive spirit came rushing to meet them.

The moment Shiyiniang and the Fifth Madam stepped through the courtyard gate, a quick-witted senior matron called out loudly: “The Fourth Madam and the Fifth Madam have arrived!”

“Fourth Madam!” “Fifth Madam!” — a rush of greetings and curtsying that jostled against the crowd packed solidly before the bridal chamber door, opening a path for them.

Shiyiniang and the Fifth Madam gave slight nods of acknowledgment and entered the bridal chamber side by side.

Several of the Gan family relatives who were acquainted with them came over to exchange greetings; others who were strangers stood where they were — some smiling with reserve, some shrinking to the walls, some stepping forward to introduce themselves.

Shiyiniang and the Fifth Madam exchanged courtesies with these relatives of the Gan family, and only then found a moment free to look properly at the new bride.

No wonder the Third Madam had agreed to this match.

The new bride was in the first bloom of youth — like a freshly opened white magnolia, and that was not all: the gentle, refined air of a cultured great lady that rested between her brows was something that few ordinary families could cultivate. It was plain that the Fang family had devoted great care to raising this daughter. In terms of bearing alone, Xu Siqin marrying into the Fang family was something of a step above his station.

Feeling Shiyiniang and the Fifth Madam’s scrutiny, the new bride’s face flushed deep as morning clouds. Mustering her courage against her shyness, she murmured quietly: “Please do not take offense, dear aunts. Tomorrow morning without fail I will come and give both of you extra bows.”

The bride was not permitted to leave her seat.

Shiyiniang and the Fifth Madam exchanged a glance, then smiled and stepped forward to take the new bride’s hands. “Our niece-in-law is truly lovely. No wonder our Third Sister-in-law was so eager to have her daughter-in-law brought home at last!”

The new bride’s face grew even more crimson, and she replied politely: “Fifth Auntie is too kind — Fang Shi dares not accept such praise.”

Having come all the way from an unfamiliar Huzhou to marry into Yanjing, a stranger in a strange place, soon to face an entirely new life — anyone would feel some measure of anxiety.

Shiyiniang smiled and said: “I am from Yuhang — only I had never gone out before I was married, so I have no idea how far Yuhang is from Huzhou.”

The new bride’s eyes brightened all at once, luminous as water and jade, lending her face two parts more radiance.

She said quietly: “This concubine once accompanied her grandmother on a visit to Hangzhou Prefecture. And I spent two years with my father at his posting. I have never been to Yuhang myself, but I believe I once read in some book that the Tiao Xi flows out of Yuhang and into the northeast of Wucheng County, emptying into Lake Tai. Our Huzhou…” She caught herself and seemed to feel she had misspoken. A trace of contrition appeared in her eyes, and she said again: “Huzhou borders Lake Tai to the north — so it seems Yuhang cannot be far.” Having said this, her expression did seem to ease somewhat.

Shiyiniang smiled. “I have never heard that before. What a pity that today is your great joyous occasion — otherwise I would fetch a book and work it out properly with you, and we would surely be able to calculate exactly how far Yuhang is from Huzhou!”

Fang Shi pressed her lips together and smiled — the grace of a daughter from a great family.

The Fifth Madam chimed in playfully: “Well now, it seems we shall have no shortage of salted fish to eat!”

Fang Shi and Shiyiniang looked at each other and laughed. The mood in the room grew warmly at ease.

Someone brought over high-backed chairs for the two of them.

Shiyiniang looked up — it was the two matrons who had come with the dowry yesterday.

Fang Shi introduced them: “This is Nanny Cheng, this is Nanny Li. Both came with me.”

Shiyiniang gave the two a nod.

Both promptly knelt and kowtowed to Shiyiniang and the Fifth Madam.

Qiuyu and Heyu — the Fifth Madam’s senior maid — hurried forward to help the two matrons to their feet.

“Today is the day of the new First Young Mistress’s great joy — if you wish to kowtow to us, this is not the moment!” The Fifth Madam laughed.

From outside came the Third Madam’s cheerful voice: “Elder Sister, mind your step — these courtyard flagstones were just relaid, and in the rush of things I may not have had them leveled perfectly — be careful not to catch your foot.”

The relatives from the Gan family all surged toward the door.

Shiyiniang explained to Fang Shi: “That is the Marchioness of Zhongqin who has arrived.”

Fang Shi gave a small nod, evidently familiar with this marchioness!

The Fifth Madam said quietly to Shiyiniang: “The new chamber is so crowded — shall we go back first?”

Shiyiniang had no particular wish to exchange words with the Marchioness of Zhongqin either, and nodded with a smile.

—