The Grand Madam took up her tea.

In the face of such an unyielding stance from the elder, Third Madam knew her only option was to retreat.

She curtsied and withdrew, then hurried off to confer with her husband.

“His ancestor served as a參將, and he entered the Western Hills Camp through hereditary privilege,” Third Master mused. “He followed Fourth Brother and earned military merit, and he now serves in the Five-Districts Constabulary. I too entered through hereditary privilege — though my rank is the Fourth, I hold real authority, unlike the Jin family… All things considered, it’s actually a fairly well-matched union…”

“Well-matched!” Third Madam immediately leapt up. “Our family is the Empress’s maternal clan — the future Emperor’s mother’s family. How could a mere deputy commander of the East District Constabulary ever be spoken of in the same breath as us…”

Third Master immediately clapped his hand over his wife’s mouth. His voice turned sharp: “How many times have I told you — keep those words locked inside your heart. Never let them slip out carelessly. One wrong step and it will bring catastrophe…”

Seeing her husband look as though he were facing a mortal threat, Third Madam quickly pried away his hand and said, rather flustered: “I… I was only saying it to you… there’s no one else here… I’ve never said this to anyone outside…”

Third Master frowned.

Third Madam immediately put on a placating smile: “Please don’t be angry, my Lord!”

Third Master did not soften as quickly as he used to.

Third Madam stepped forward and tugged lightly at Third Master’s sleeve, in a tone very close to yielding.

A flicker of helplessness passed across Third Master’s brow, and he let out a quiet sigh.

Only then did Third Madam’s anxious heart settle.

Others lent money at interest too, and so had she — but who would have thought her luck would be so poor, that she would bring such trouble down on her husband. What unsettled her even more was that from the incident to now, her husband had not said a single word about it. In the past, if her husband had lost his temper, she could cry and make a scene and then apologize, and his anger would pass — and the two of them would be on good terms again. But now, no matter what she said, he only responded with a vague “mhm.” She had cried, she had made scenes, she had apologized — all of it felt like throwing a punch at cotton, with no effect whatsoever. He remained just as sullen and distant as before.

When she thought it through carefully, she supposed she couldn’t blame him.

It was her own foolishness — she had not listened to her husband, had cut off the family’s income, and worse, had robbed them of the chance to establish their own standing. Her confidence had quietly drained away. In front of her husband, she had lost all of her former spirit. Even her words were measured now, tinged with careful caution.

“I don’t mean anything else by it.” She softened her voice, speaking gently: “I’m only thinking — our Jian Ge’er is now in the Imperial Guard, so his standing is different. Fourth Brother hasn’t yet arranged a match for Yu Ge’er, and isn’t that precisely because he’s hoping the boy will earn a licentiate’s degree and later be able to marry into a prestigious family? It’s not unreasonable for me to plan ahead for Jian Ge’er as well, is it?” Third Madam spoke while watching her husband’s expression closely. Seeing Third Master’s face begin to ease slightly, she felt a surge of relief and continued: “Not that I’d aim too high — but based on the fact that he’s the Marquis Yongping’s nephew and holds an official post, it wouldn’t be overreaching to seek a daughter of a Third-Rank military official as his wife, would it?” As she spoke, she couldn’t help but grumble: “It’s all because of Fang Shi. If not for her, I would have already secured a match for Jian Ge’er with the Fengxiang Prefect’s daughter. That girl was truly lovely, and so poised in her speech…”

There it was again — dragging Fang Shi into it.

These past days, his wife had become like a woman possessed, bringing everything back to his eldest daughter-in-law.

The Fengxiang Prefect’s wife had not thought Jian Ge’er suitable because he was a second son with no hereditary privilege to pass on and no scholarly degree to his name — what did any of that have to do with his eldest daughter-in-law?

Thinking over the recent events in the household, Third Master’s expression gradually turned sour: “Mother has experienced far more than we can imagine. Since she has taken a liking to Miss Jin, the girl’s character and appearance are certainly sound. Stop stirring things up. A match must be fitting — that is the whole point of compatibility. Look at Qin Ge’er…” At that point, remembering that Fang Shi was now his own daughter-in-law and criticizing her was the same as slapping his own face, he swallowed back his dissatisfaction. “In short, do as Mother says!”

Third Madam stared at her husband in shock: “So… so Jian Ge’er’s marriage is just to be settled like this?” Her voice was trembling.

Third Master waved his hand, signaling the matter was not to be discussed further, then walked to the writing desk, took up a red gold-flecked invitation card, and wrote Xu Sijian’s birth characters on it.

“Send this over now,” he instructed Third Madam. “Don’t drag your feet and leave Mother displeased.”

Third Madam stared at the invitation card, feeling as though her arms had been filled with lead and she could not lift them.

“I was just saying — why did Mother suddenly want you to find Jian Ge’er a position?” Fifth Madam said, taking the iced mung bean soup from Hexiang’s hands and ladling a spoonful to feed Xu Lingkuan. “So it was all along to arrange a marriage for him.”

Outside, the cicadas cried without cease. Even with ice blocks placed in the room, the heat was still stifling. Taking advantage of his day off, Xu Lingkuan lounged with his legs crossed, leaning back against a large pillow covered in ginger-yellow coarse linen, contentedly drinking his iced mung bean soup. Only then did he say: “Did you think the people at the Ministry of War’s Military Selection Bureau were so easy to deal with? Going to their doors for no good reason — do you know how much I spent in all, back and forth? Two hundred taels. And to this day there’s no accounting for it!”

Fifth Madam laughed and leaned against her husband’s shoulder: “I’ll cover it for you!” Then she added, “This was our Fifth Master’s first chance to show face among his brothers — bringing up those two hundred taels rather kills the moment, doesn’t it? Besides, when the Zhongshan Marquis household’s Tang Shiliu secured a seventh-rank post, the paperwork alone cost five hundred taels, never mind the rest. My Lord only spent two hundred taels — the people at the Military Selection Bureau gave you tremendous face. They must have only asked you to treat them to a meal and declined everything else. And besides, for someone of Fifth Master’s standing, a banquet costing less than two hundred taels a table would look rather stingy, wouldn’t it?”

“Aren’t you clever!” Xu Lingkuan laughed and pinched Fifth Madam’s cheek. “At Chunxi Tower, we spent one hundred and sixty taels. The remaining forty — I gave as a tip when collecting the documents.”

Fifth Madam’s brow furrowed slightly: “Didn’t Third Brother go with you?”

“Those petty clerks were putting me on the spot,” Xu Lingkuan said breezily. “I happened to have only a forty-tael banknote on me, so I gave it to them on the spot. Third Brother later took out fifty taels to treat them to drinks.”

The smile returned to Fifth Madam’s face: “Do you know that Commander Jin of the East District Constabulary? What kind of family are they? Is Miss Jin really as fine as Mother says?”

“I’ve met him a few times, but we’re not well acquainted. He seems like an honest sort of man…” Xu Lingkuan recalled. “That time there was a large group of us — he was the oldest, sitting by the door. Whenever anyone needed something, he immediately went and took care of it. He’s a very cautious, careful man…”

Xu Lingyi and Eleventh Miss were also talking about Commander Jin: “I don’t recall anyone by that name serving under me. He was likely responsible for grain transport. That section was supervised by Old Marquis Sun at the time.”

Eleventh Miss was somewhat surprised.

She had not expected that Old Marquis Sun had been in charge of grain supply during Xu Lingyi’s campaign in the Miao borderlands. No wonder the two families shared such an unusually close bond.

She smiled: “So all those days Mother was going around visiting people — she was actually arranging a match for Jian Ge’er!”

Xu Lingyi placed great trust in his mother. And now that the matter had reached the stage of exchanging birth characters, the Jin family had in all likelihood already given their tacit approval.

For matters already decided, he never dwelt on them further. He turned to ask about Zhen Jie’er: “…Has the dowry list been sent over?”

“It has!” Eleventh Miss smiled. “Madam Lin, the eldest daughter-in-law, was so astonished when she saw it. She said she couldn’t imagine how one hundred and twenty-four trays of dowry would ever all fit in!”

“Then just pack what’s most important,” Xu Lingyi said without concern. “If it truly doesn’t work, convert the rest into banknotes. They can buy land and property later — quiet and unassuming is better, and it avoids stirring up envy.”

Eleventh Miss laughed: “Madam Lin was being polite. You actually took her at her word. Think back to when Hui Jie’er was married — her dowry was no smaller than our Zhen Jie’er’s.”

Xu Lingyi was momentarily taken aback, then broke into a smile as well.

Eleventh Miss then talked with him about the selection of people to accompany Zhen Jie’er: “Xiao Li, Xiao Que, and the others have served at her side since they were small — they’ll naturally go with her. I’ve also assigned a girl named Xiulan to her room. She’s good with an abacus and can help Zhen Jie’er manage accounts…”

The two of them were in the middle of their conversation when a young maid came in to report: “My Lord, Madam — Third Madam Huang of the Yongchang Marquis Mansion has arrived!”

Eleventh Miss was somewhat surprised.

In just these two hours, Madam Huang had already come — how remarkably prompt!

She invited Madam Huang to the reception hall.

“I came to see you before going to see the Grand Madam,” Madam Huang said with a wry smile. “I’ve taken on a thorny matter here — can’t very well drop it, can’t very well hold onto it either.”

After the business of arranging Xu Siqin’s marriage, Madam Huang still felt a lingering unease.

Eleventh Miss smiled: “This match was decided by the Grand Madam herself, and it was the Grand Madam who chose you as the matchmaker. We may not always be reliable, but our Grand Madam most certainly is. Elder Sister, set your worries aside for now — wait until you’ve met the Jin family, and then speak.”

But Madam Huang said: “It’s not the Jin family I’m afraid of. It’s your Third Madam. You may not know this, but she has already made her position known — the eldest daughter-in-law came with twenty thousand taels of dowry, and the second daughter-in-law cannot be expected to bring less. The Jin family, even if they had mountains of gold and silver, with three sons at home to provide for, could never possibly put together twenty thousand taels for a daughter’s dowry!”

“Everyone hopes to climb higher than the last.” Eleventh Miss could only try to reassure her. “When choosing a wife, one ought to choose for virtue above all else. One cannot fix one’s eyes solely on the dowry. Otherwise, why would our Grand Madam choose such a family for Jian Ge’er? She could have simply formed ties with a great southern merchant family — they could produce not just twenty thousand taels, but two hundred thousand without blinking.”

Even so, Madam Huang went on fretting and lamenting for quite some time before her mind eased somewhat. Escorted by Eleventh Miss, she then went to call upon the Grand Madam.

“You’ve come quickly,” said the Grand Madam, clearly pleased to see Madam Huang arrive so promptly.

Madam Huang was a woman who knew how to make herself agreeable. She smiled and took a seat beside the Grand Madam: “What sort of friendship do our two families share? You dispatching me is no different from dispatching Fourth Madam herself.”

The Grand Madam’s face broke into a broad smile.

Third Madam brought the betrothal card.

Eleventh Miss was a little surprised.

Third Madam’s dissatisfaction with this match was written plainly on her face. She had expected that while Third Madam would not openly defy the Grand Madam, she would at least not be overly eager about it.

The Grand Madam, however, didn’t so much as bat an eye. She handed the betrothal card directly to Madam Huang and smiled: “Then I shall wait for your good news!”

—