Xu Lingyi, seeing that Shiyiniang’s mood was low, mistook the cause and assumed she was still thinking about Jin Ge’er’s grabbing ceremony. He put his arm around her shoulder and comforted her: “Knowing the ways of the world is itself a kind of learning; being adept at human relations is itself a kind of art. In the army there are countless men of outstanding martial skill who end their careers as no more than a senior captain, and countless men who could not overpower a chicken who have risen to the rank of general. In the end it all comes down to whether a person knows how to conduct himself in the world. Our Jin Ge’er has grabbed a wine-game token — that means he will be a person who delights in making friends. And a person with friends to rely on need fear nothing, whatever he sets out to do!”

Looking into his eyes, so full of gentle concern, Shiyiniang felt a vague disquiet stirring within her.

Si Niang had come to her for no other reason than to ask Xu Lingyi to lean on the authorities to stay out of the Zhu clan’s matter of establishing an heir. But doing so — intervening in another clan’s affairs — would reflect on Xu Lingyi’s reputation.

She wrapped her arms around his waist and made a decision.

“Seventh Sister is in Yanjing!”

Xu Lingyi was somewhat surprised. “Did she quarrel with Zhu Anping again?”

“There were many guests today and what Si Niang said was not very clear.” Shiyiniang replied. “I would like to go see her tomorrow.”

Xu Lingyi nodded. “Should I help talk some sense into Zhu Anping?”

“Let me see the situation first,” Shiyiniang said. “With matters between a husband and wife, it is hard to know — sometimes a word of counsel is like coal sent in a snowstorm, and sometimes it only adds fuel to the fire.”

Xu Lingyi had always thought Seventh Sister was headstrong and Zhu Anping broad-minded, and in the back of his mind he suspected this was yet another incident of Seventh Sister’s own making. He asked nothing further, exchanged a few more idle words with Shiyiniang, and they settled down to sleep.

The following day, saying only that she was going to visit Si Niang, Shiyiniang took Zhuxiang with her and went to Si Niang’s house.

Yu Qing was not at home. Si Niang was surprised to see Shiyiniang arrive and said only “you’re here,” then led her to the easternmost chamber of the rear row of outbuildings.

The chamber was clean and tidy, its furnishings simple and refined. Shiyiniang stared for a long moment at the figure seated on the large kang by the window — gaunt as a skeleton, with a vacant, dazed expression — before she said softly: “Seventh Sister.”

Seventh Sister looked back at her with a self-mocking smile: “I must be barely recognizable now — you didn’t know me for a moment, did you?”

Shiyiniang did not want to look someone in the face and tell an obvious lie, so she kept her silence.

Seventh Sister pointed to the kang across from her: “Come, sit. I need your help this time too.” Her tone was cold, even carrying a faint note of imperious command.

Si Niang looked at her apologetically and murmured: “Her mind has been a little unsteady for some time now — Shiyiniang, for my sake, please be patient with her.”

Shiyiniang gave Si Niang a look that said “I understand,” and sat down across from Seventh Sister.

There were no servants in the room. Si Niang went to brew tea. Seventh Sister had already begun to murmur: “He promised me — said that if it came to it, he would adopt from among our sisters’ sons and raise the child under my name. Now that they must adopt, it should naturally be a child from among our sisters. That is only right.”

Something dawned on Shiyiniang.

If Zhu Anping had already agreed, why did Seventh Sister keep insisting on that old promise?

She did not respond. She accepted the tea Si Niang handed her, took a slow sip, then said softly: “Did Seventh Brother-in-law not come with you?”

Seventh Sister pressed her lips together and said curtly: “He did not.” But Si Niang answered at the same moment: “He came,” and both voices sounded at once, leaving no one sure whether Zhu Anping had come or not.

Si Niang glanced at Seventh Sister, then quickly added: “He stayed two days, then had to return to Gaoqing County on family business. He said he would come back in a few days to take Seventh Sister home.” There was a quality to her words of glossing things over on Seventh Sister’s behalf.

Some things no longer needed asking.

Shiyiniang gave a nod, said a few words along the lines of “bearing children is a matter of great importance, Seventh Sister need not be anxious — take it slowly,” then rose and took her leave.

Seventh Sister gave a listless nod. She let Si Niang see Shiyiniang out.

The two went to sit on the large kang by the window in Si Niang’s inner chamber.

“How is it I don’t see Qi Ge’er?” Shiyiniang said with a smile, drawing a small pouch from her sleeve. “I went to Ciyuan Temple to release living creatures for Jin Ge’er’s blessing, and asked for a peace amulet. One for Jin Ge’er and one for Qi Ge’er.”

Si Niang quickly accepted it and thanked her, setting it carefully in a small box nearby. “The wet nurse has him!” Then she called a young maidservant: “Bring the Third Young Master out to pay his respects to his aunt!”

Shiyiniang asked after Yu Cheng and Yu Li, the elder brothers: “Are they at school?”

Si Niang nodded: “Your brother-in-law is thinking of having Cheng Ge’er sit the examinations next year — a first try to see how he fares. He’s been studying hard these past few days.”

While they were speaking, the wet nurse carried in little Qi Ge’er, now six months old.

“Oh my!” Shiyiniang took him into her arms. “Such a plump little thing — how lovely.” Then she looked at Qi Ge’er, and then at Si Niang: “Look at this nose, these eyes — the very image of Fourth Sister.”

Si Niang smiled with quiet pride. She straightened the lapels of her son’s clothes and said: “Some people say he takes after me, others say he takes after his father. The child is still small — it is hard to tell yet who he resembles.”

Shiyiniang picked up a rattle drum nearby and began playing with Qi Ge’er to amuse him.

“It is a pity our Jin Ge’er takes after the Marquis,” she smiled. “Still — the moment I think of the ten months I carried him and the labor of bringing him into this world, happiness just rises up from somewhere deep inside me.” Then she asked Si Niang: “Fourth Sister, do you think all mothers feel this way?”

Si Niang found the question rather endearing in its simplicity, and smiled: “Of course all mothers feel this way!”

Shiyiniang pressed her lips together in a smile: “I think, out of her three children, Fourth Sister must love Qi Ge’er most of all!”

Si Niang smiled: “Why do you say that?”

“I have been thinking,” Shiyiniang said with a smile, “Qi Ge’er looks so much like Fourth Sister — when he grows up and takes a wife, perhaps she will give Fourth Sister a grandchild with the same face. And then that grandchild might give Fourth Sister a great-grandchild with the same face too… A child who looks like yourself — you must be so happy you smile in your sleep.” Then she added with emphasis: “If it were me, I certainly would.”

Si Niang was tickled into laughter.

Shiyiniang’s smile faded. She looked at Si Niang with grave solemnity: “Fourth Sister, how can you bear to give Qi Ge’er away?”

Si Niang’s smile froze on her face.

Shiyiniang let out a quiet, mournful sigh: “Fourth Sister is surely the most decisive among all our sisters. If it were me, I could never do it.”

Tears found their own way from Si Niang’s eyes. She turned her face aside and lowered her head to wipe them.

“Fourth Sister, this matter — you must think it through carefully.” Shiyiniang’s voice held a trace of sorrow. “Once Qi Ge’er is sent to Gaoqing, he will no longer be your son. And the Zhu family’s situation seems deeply tangled — if Seventh Sister is able to manage the Zhu household for the rest of her life, that is one thing. But if things should ever change — the child will remain with the Zhu family. And then what would Fourth Sister do…”

But she had not finished when Si Niang broke in.

“Say no more.” Her voice was resolute. “I cannot stand by and watch Seventh Sister be ground down beneath the Zhu family’s heel…”

“Fourth Sister.” Shiyiniang looked at her with grave earnestness. “Seventh Sister managing the Zhu household’s affairs, having devoted sons and daughters-in-law at her knee, being honored in the Zhu ancestral hall after she is gone — that is Seventh Sister’s true victory. Not quarreling over from which family the adopted heir should come.”

“Do you think I do not know this?” Si Niang’s expression eased a little. “But these are Seventh Sister’s days to live — she must be willing herself.”

Shiyiniang held Si Niang’s gaze steadily: “If none of us give our support, in time — Seventh Sister will come to see it clearly on her own.”

Si Niang’s face flushed a deep purple-red.

The implication in Shiyiniang’s words was plain — she was reproaching her for lacking good judgment and indulging Seventh Sister in this manner.

“I told her — a woman who seeks separation has no choice but to return to her family in disgrace. She said she would rather return in disgrace. I threatened to send her away, and she ran off to a temple to shave her head.” Si Niang wiped her tears. “Father and Mother are both away from Yanjing, and I am her eldest sister — how could I stand by and watch her do something so foolish?” Then she added: “And it doesn’t help that Zhu Anping made a promise at the time about adopting from among our sisters’ sons — Seventh Sister’s nature is simple and direct, and now that the Zhu clan has gone ahead and opened the ancestral hall without a word to anyone, how do you expect her to bear it?”

Even knowing Seventh Sister was in the wrong, she defended her still — for they were sisters born of the same mother.

Shiyiniang gave a bitter smile, and said quietly: “Fourth Sister, have you ever thought about why the Zhu clan has moved so quickly and so forcefully this time — leaving our Luo family no room at all?”

Si Niang had sought out Shiyiniang because Shiyiniang was the most clear-headed among the sisters. She had never intended to conceal anything, and when Shiyiniang asked directly, she answered honestly: “Seventh Sister kept coming back to her family home one time after another, and the Zhu clan found it humiliating. Especially the last time, when she came all the way from Shandong to Yanjing in such an open and conspicuous manner — everyone throughout Shandong was saying Zhu Anping had wronged Seventh Sister, and it left the Zhu family’s Old Madam furious. She told anyone who would listen that Seventh Sister was in the wrong. But Seventh Sister has her proud nature — the more the Old Madam spoke against her, the more she refused to take any notice. Over time, people came to see Seventh Sister as erratic and overbearing. Add to this that they have had no children all along, and members of the Zhu clan, coveting that family fortune, managed to win over the Old Madam, and that is how this whole affair was set in motion.” She paused, and her expression became grave: “Things have come to this point — this is no longer the moment to argue over who is right and who is wrong. Our Luo family’s daughters cannot be allowed to be trampled over in this way. Third Brother is too timid to be of any use. I have already spoken to Elder Brother, and Elder Brother has agreed to my plan — Elder Brother will handle the negotiations with the Zhu clan directly. All you need to do is persuade the Marquis to quietly let the authorities know that they should stay out of this matter.” Her gaze hardened then, as cold and cutting as frost: “We cannot allow the Zhu clan to establish their heir this way. If they do, Seventh Sister may bear the title of the Zhu family’s mistress, but in the end she will be nothing more than a puppet. Better no adopted heir at all than that.”

Shiyiniang looked at Si Niang — her bearing sharp and unyielding — and knew that this path was no longer open to her.

She turned back toward home.

The clip of hooves tapped steadily against the stone-paved road, and Shiyiniang’s thoughts moved swiftly.

She had already spoken with Luo Zhensheng… Even if she did not tell Xu Lingyi herself, when the moment came, Luo Zhensheng would certainly come to Xu Lingyi with the request… Since she had married into the Xu household, Xu Lingyi had never once refused when the Luo family asked for his help…

With these thoughts turning in her mind, she knit her brows tightly together.

The carriage came to a halt.

“My Lady, we are home!” came the respectful announcement from the servant woman outside the curtain.

Shiyiniang, her thoughts elsewhere, leaned on Nanny Song’s shoulder and stepped down from the carriage.

A few young maidservants came walking this way, their faces bright and animated, murmuring and laughing softly together. When they saw Shiyiniang, they immediately fell silent, clasped their hands, and stood against the wall with eyes downcast.

Shiyiniang stood there unmoving.

“My Lady!” Nanny Song said carefully in a low voice. “Do you have any instructions?”

Shiyiniang roused herself, and gave Nanny Song her instruction: “We are going to Bowstring Lane.”

—