What followed went more smoothly than Eleventh Miss had expected.

Madam Huang went to the Jin family to propose the match, and the Jin family agreed at once. They invited the wife of Commander Wei of the Five-Districts Constabulary to serve as the matchmaker on their side and accepted Xu Sijian’s betrothal card. On the Xu family’s end, Third Master came early to pay his respects to the Grand Madam and, in high spirits, placed Miss Jin’s betrothal card in the ancestral hall. He then took the initiative to discuss Xu Sijian’s wedding with the Grand Madam: “Zhen Jie’er is to be married in the tenth month. I was thinking — Jian Ge’er could have the formal betrothal gift in the twelfth month, and the wedding in early spring next year. What do you think?”

The Grand Madam slowly sipped her tea and said: “They say, rich or poor, take a bride and have a good new year. Zhen Jie’er’s side has been prepared two or three years in advance — there’s nothing pressing to rush for. In my view, have the formal betrothal in the seventh month and select a date in the eighth month for the wedding.”

Third Master looked at the Grand Madam in astonishment, then quickly collected himself and smiled: “The eighth month, when the sweet osmanthus blooms — neither too hot nor too cold, the finest time for a wedding celebration. As expected, Mother has thought of everything.”

The Grand Madam then had Nanny Du bring the almanac: “I see the twentieth day of the eighth month as a fine date. The twelfth day of the tenth month — Zhen Jie’er’s departure from the family home — and the sixth day of the tenth month — the dowry procession sets out — and then, with two days to settle in, it will be just in time for Jin Ge’er’s third birthday.” The Grand Madam smiled as she said this. “Everyone can celebrate all over again!”

Third Master accompanied her with a smiling, “Yes.”

Fifth Madam came with a name list: “Mother, would you have a look!”

In a little over ten days, it would be Shen Ge’er’s first birthday celebration. Xu Lingkuan and Fifth Madam had decided to hold a grand affair and had begun preparations early.

Seeing this, Third Master rose and took his leave — matters of the inner household were for the women to attend to, and as an uncle and a grown man, it would hardly be appropriate for him to linger.

The Grand Madam did not press him to stay, but smiled: “Dandan is becoming more capable by the day. I thought this list was very well prepared. When the time comes for Jian Ge’er’s wedding, you and your Fourth Sister-in-law go together to Sanjing Hutong to help.”

Third Master had one foot inside the door and one foot out. His figure hesitated for a moment before that foot inside finally, slowly stepped through.

The Grand Madam watched him go and took a sip of tea, then smiled as she returned the list to Fifth Madam: “Go show your Fourth Sister-in-law. She’ll know how to help you arrange things.”

Fifth Madam smiled and went off to Eleventh Miss.

“…The sixth month is sweltering — I have a glass screen panel in my storeroom. We can set it up in the reception hall. The hothouse should also be given instructions to have fresh flowers in the vases by then!”

Fifth Madam nodded along eagerly: “Use blue and white porcelain for all the wares, and lay out deep red table coverings!”

“Deep red?” Eleventh Miss pondered for a moment. “What about lake-green? It may not be as festive as red, but it would look refreshing.”

“Lake-green?” Fifth Madam’s eyes lit up with interest. “Only — wouldn’t it stain badly if wine spilled on it and be difficult to wash?”

That was indeed her concern — silk fabrics could be dyed lake-green, but once soiled, they could not simply be washed.

Eleventh Miss smiled: “What if we use coarse linen? Stains can be washed out!”

“Come on!” Fifth Madam pulled Eleventh Miss along. “Let’s go to the sewing room and ask.”

Eleventh Miss was genuinely curious herself — she wanted to know whether coarse linen could be dyed lake-green.

The two of them spent the whole afternoon in the sewing room, ate dinner together there, and by the time they had settled on the arrangements for Shen Ge’er’s first birthday celebration, the evening was well along.

By the time they went to pay their respects to the Grand Madam, it was a little late.

The Grand Madam shook her head at the sight of them and laughed: “All that effort, just for a table covering? Will it even be ready in ten days?”

“Mother,” Fifth Madam protested, “after our Shen Ge’er’s first birthday, there won’t be another occasion to invite relatives and friends together like this until his coming-of-age ceremony. Please just let us have the fabric dyed!”

“When have I ever said no to your carrying on?” The Grand Madam laughed, gathering Jin Ge’er — who sat beside her, wholly absorbed in trying to solve a set of linked iron rings — into her arms. “Go ahead and dye whatever you like. I only worry that if the fabric doesn’t turn out well, you’ll go and change the table covering to green, and the blue and white porcelain to sweet white porcelain — and none of us will get any peace!”

“We won’t, we won’t.” Fifth Madam quickly promised. “The women in the sewing room said if they have the dyehouse work through the night, there’ll be a sample ready in five days at most. If it doesn’t turn out right, we’ll simply switch to water-blue instead. Today Fourth Sister-in-law and I tried it — water-blue looks lovely too, it just isn’t quite as striking as lake-green.”

The Grand Madam, watching her two daughters-in-law consult together so harmoniously, couldn’t help but let a smile of genuine contentment blossom at the corners of her mouth. Out of the corner of her eye she caught sight of Jin Ge’er, who was pouting over the linked rings he had turned every which way but still couldn’t solve. Her heart grew even warmer, and she laughed as she kissed his cheek: “I won’t interfere with the two of you — do whatever you like. As for me, I’ll just keep company with our Jin Ge’er, and keep company with our Shen Ge’er.” She kissed Jin Ge’er’s cheek once more.

Fifth Madam took hold of her son’s little hand: “Shen Ge’er, do you hear that? You must grow up quickly. You must pay your respects at Grandmother’s side, just like your Sixth Brother.”

But Shen Ge’er turned his head away and pointed at the dish of lotus paste cakes on the Grand Madam’s low table, making eager little sounds, looking every bit as though he wanted one.

Fifth Madam gave her son’s hand a light pat: “You little glutton!”

Everyone burst into laughter.

When the room had emptied, Nanny Du gently reminded the Grand Madam in a low voice: “You are getting on in years, Madam, and Jin Ge’er is getting heavier. It would be better to let Yupan and the others hold the Sixth Young Master.”

The Grand Madam was unmoved: “I know what I’m doing.” Her tone paused, and then she could not help defending herself: “Jin Ge’er was so hard to come by, and he’s grown to look so sturdy and lively — the very image of Fourth Son when he was small. Looking at him brings back memories of when Fourth Son was little.” Her expression softened with recollection. “Back then, Second Son was still here…” The Grand Madam’s voice trailed off, and a faint sorrow surfaced in her eyes.

This was the Grand Madam’s wound — like a scar, it bled when touched, and no one dared disturb it lightly.

Nanny Du quickly smiled and changed the subject: “Would you like to try the little undershirt Fourth Madam embroidered with white lotuses for you the other day…”

“There’s no need to redirect me.” After so many decades together, they knew each other through and through. The Grand Madam heard it clearly, but her spirit revived, and she smiled: “Before, I used to look at all the disorder in this household and feel troubled at heart. I often thought — if Second Son hadn’t gone… things in this family might have looked very different. But now, gradually, I’ve come to see it differently. Every matter has its measure of fate. If Second Son had not gone, how could the title have passed to Fourth Son? And if the title had not fallen to Fourth Son, this household would likely not enjoy the standing it does today.” She sighed softly and then began to confide in Nanny Du: “The late Marquis said it himself, in those years. Second Son, for all his fine virtue and talent, had a gentle disposition — kind-hearted and benevolent, always looking before and behind him, not enough drive and boldness. With him to hold the family — no loss of righteousness or honor, and with Yizhen beside him as a steadying hand — the family name would not decline. As for Fourth Son, resolute in character, shrewd and resourceful, with Yuanniang so capable and decisive — no matter how the world changed, they would always find their way. They were meant to branch off and stand on their own. If the Emperor should favor them and grant hereditary privilege to one son, let it be Fifth Son — he was the youngest, and we indulged him more than we guided him, so he would likely never be outstanding. We asked only that he keep clear of wrongdoing and did not expect him to bring glory to the family name — and so the match with Dandan was decided.”

The Grand Madam paused.

“As for Third Son — though his nature was honest, he was too easily swayed, without a mind of his own, always trying to please everyone. The plan was to find him a daughter from a scholarly family, and so a private tutor was specifically invited to take up residence and instruct him. But daughters of scholarly families are not so easy to come by. Those from distinguished clans looked down on him for having no examination degree and for being a concubine-born son. Those from fallen families — I feared bringing the reproach of treating a concubine-born son poorly upon myself. So in the end, a marriage was sought with the Gan family. Gan Shi, in those early days after entering the household, was proper and disciplined — never made a single misstep. I was pleased by what I saw. But the late Marquis said that the way she watched the sisters-in-law and the younger daughters-in-law — her gaze always flickering with something unsettled — she was likely not a woman of contented nature, and if trouble came, it would most likely begin with her. He urged me to keep reprimanding her, when there was cause and when there was none.

“I thought nothing of it at the time. I told myself — she is the daughter-in-law, and I am the mother-in-law. The resident tutor had already said that Third Son had no natural gift for scholarship and could only compensate through sheer diligence. I calculated that on this path of examinations, he would need ten, even twenty years to see it through. And during those ten or twenty years, they would all be living under my eye. If she had any failings, was there anything I could not manage? Besides, I had always treated Yizhen and Yuanniang with kindness and warmth — how could I be stern and cold to her alone?

“Over this matter, the late Marquis said a great deal to me, and I argued back with him no less.”

The Grand Madam let out a bitter smile.

“In the end, every single thing the late Marquis said has come to pass.”

These were words Nanny Du had never heard before.

Yet whatever the case, she was a servant — the Grand Madam chose to speak these things to her as a mark of regard, but she must not forget her own station and her own place, and meddle in what was not hers to touch. Once she overstepped, what remained between her and the Grand Madam would be finished.

Nanny Du could only pick out words that were safe to say: “The late Marquis had eyes that could see through all things. Among the young masters, only the Marquis could be spoken of in the same breath as the late Marquis.”

“Ah!” The Grand Madam shook her head softly, murmuring: “At the time, Yuanniang wanted to move out and establish their own household. Watching Fourth Son stammer and hesitate before me, I was quite put out. I thought — if they want to go their own way, let them. The late Marquis’s intention was always to let them stand on their own. But as it turned out, it was the late Marquis himself who disagreed. He said the court’s situation was turbulent and treacherous, the family’s descendants were few, the one branch far off in Nanjing had no one to rely upon, and at such a time, if Fourth Son were also to move out, the household would lose all its standing and weight. Let them stay a few more years and see how things develop. He even said in jest — if the world was peaceful, all was well; but if it was not, and if the family name was to be revived and restored, the hope likely rested on Fourth Son alone…”

The Grand Madam’s eyes grew moist.

“Sometimes I think — perhaps this was simply fate.”

Before the words were even finished, tears fell in large drops.

While the Grand Madam and Nanny Du spoke of sons and daughters-in-law, those sons and daughters-in-law were speaking of the Grand Madam as well.

“So Mother’s intention is to have Jian Ge’er married at Sanjing Hutong?”

Third Madam’s face flushed red, then turned a dark, agitated color. She paced about the room like an ant on a hot griddle.

Third Master’s expression was outwardly calm, though a barely concealed dejection showed in his brow: “Having it at Sanjing Hutong isn’t really that bad — everyone knows we’ve moved out.”

“How is that the same thing?” Third Madam grew agitated. “The guests who come, the gift money received, the whole scale of the wedding — it would all be different… Jian Ge’er is already being asked to accept a wife who’s the daughter of a seventh-rank deputy commander — that’s already asking much of him — and now on top of that to have the wedding…” She could not finish her words, and with her back turned to Third Master, she sat down on the kang and broke into tears.

—