A room full of guests, the joy of reunion — none of it made it easy for Eleventh Young Miss to ask the question. She held down the unease in her heart until the lanterns had come up in the evening, and the Grand Madam’s expression had taken on a trace of fatigue and everyone gradually dispersed. Only then did she have the chance to speak privately with Zhen Jie’er in the inner chamber of what had been Zhen Jie’er’s own room at Lijing Pavilion.

“What was that about just now?” Eleventh Young Miss asked her. “You suddenly started saying things like ‘worthy of’ and ‘unworthy of’ — what did you mean?”

Zhen Jie’er’s face flushed crimson. She murmured a few words, her voice no louder than a mosquito’s hum — utterly impossible to make out.

Eleventh Young Miss smiled. “If you don’t say it now, there’s no telling when the next chance will come. Think it over — are you going to tell me or not?”

In three days, Zhen Jie’er would be returning to Cangzhou, and after that she would be bound by morning and evening duties, living by the rules as the Shao Family’s daughter-in-law.

“I — I was afraid of worrying Mother,” Zhen Jie’er said, her face growing even redder.

Eleventh Young Miss blinked. “Worried about me? What would you worry me about?”

Zhen Jie’er had assumed Eleventh Young Miss was gently teasing her. She spoke haltingly. “Didn’t Mother say — if not this way, then that way — and to stop always thinking about being on guard against people, and instead think about how to…” Here her face turned the color of the morning clouds and she could not go on.

It was then that Eleventh Young Miss understood.

She felt a wave of embarrassment wash over her.

To be fair, she had been rather flustered herself that day. She had rambled on at length, and some of what she had said she could not even recall herself.

Shao Zhongran had an attendant-companion in his quarters. Worried that Zhen Jie’er would be consumed by jealousy after the wedding, Eleventh Young Miss had suggested that rather than fixing all her attention on the woman, it would be better to find ways to show her own strengths and make Shao Zhongran feel reluctant to part with her.

She had not expected Zhen Jie’er to understand at the time — yet looking at things now, it was evident that Zhen Jie’er had clearly understood very well.

Eleventh Young Miss could not help but smile.

Zhen Jie’er stood up, a little self-conscious. “Let me pour Mother a cup of tea!”

“No need,” Eleventh Young Miss said with a smile. “You made the journey from Cangzhou, and without so much as a moment to catch your breath you were sitting with the Grand Madam, talking and entertaining all the family guests. You haven’t had a proper rest at all. It’s getting late — go to sleep. Whatever else we have to say, we can say tomorrow.”

Zhen Jie’er knew that Eleventh Young Miss had damaged her health giving birth to Jin Ge’er and had been carefully nursing herself back ever since. She did not dare detain her any longer and walked her to the door.

But there were words lodged in her heart that she had to get out.

She could not help but call out, “Mother.”

There was a faint hesitation in her voice.

Eleventh Young Miss, knowing something of Zhen Jie’er’s rather timid nature, smiled and came to a stop.

Zhuxiang signaled to the younger maids with her eyes, and they all stepped back to stand at a respectful distance.

Seeing this, Zhen Jie’er felt a little more courage to speak.

“Mother.” She looked at Eleventh Young Miss with a hint of shyness. “My husband has been sleeping in my room every night this past while.” Then she added, “Just as Mother said.” Her voice had dropped to something barely audible.

Eleventh Young Miss understood.

It had already been one month since Zhen Jie’er’s wedding, and she had not yet conceived — which meant her monthly cycle had come as usual. By convention, the attendant companion should have been asked to serve on those nights. If Shao Zhongran had continued sleeping in Zhen Jie’er’s room through those days, it meant he had refused the companion.

Eleventh Young Miss drew a quiet breath inward, clasped Zhen Jie’er’s hand firmly in both of hers, and for a long moment said nothing.

Yet Zhen Jie’er was content.

The corners of her mouth had curved up high, forming a happy arc.

After Zhen Jie’er was seen off, the household threw itself into the busy preparations for the New Year.

Then Madam Xiang suddenly returned to Yanjing.

She came to pay her respects to the Grand Madam.

“…The Fourth Madam has grown lovelier still after all these years!” Madam Xiang said, exchanging pleasantries with Eleventh Young Miss, but her eyes had drifted to Jin Ge’er, and in them lay a trace of wistful longing. “When I left, there wasn’t even a shadow of him — and in the blink of an eye, the Sixth Young Master is already running around!”

The Grand Madam noticed this, and chuckled warmly. “As they always say, worry only about having a child — never about raising one.” She then asked after the children. “Yi Jia must be twenty-one this year? Which family’s daughter is he promised to? Has a wedding date been set?”

Madam Xiang’s expression grew somewhat awkward.

“Yi Jia is still not engaged!” she said, and gave a helpless sigh. “He failed the examinations two years running. My husband was so furious he sent him to Jiaxing Temple to study. While he was there, matchmakers did come to propose unions, but my husband turned them all away — he says a man cannot start a family before he has established himself. There was nothing I could do. I could only watch as Yi Jia dragged on to this day.”

The Grand Madam smiled in consolation. “Once a man has a family, with someone by his side to care for him, his heart gradually settles. I think, Madam Xiang, you should do your best to persuade my brother-in-law.” Then she asked after the three young misses. “…Are they all well?”

“Thanks to the Grand Madam’s good fortune,” Madam Xiang replied, and there was an almost palpable relief in her manner. “Rou Jin was betrothed a few years ago to the eldest son of Lord Zhou, Vice Minister of Works and a colleague of my husband’s — they were only delayed because Lord Zhou’s father passed away.” As she spoke, she had someone bring out a wedding announcement. “I came this time for two reasons: first, to pay my respects to the Grand Madam; and second — Rou Jin is to be married, and I would like to invite the Grand Madam to celebrate with us.” With that, she produced a large red gilt-sprinkled invitation card.

“Congratulations!” The Grand Madam accepted it with a warm smile, noting that the invitation showed the date as the fourth day of the second month of the coming year. “I will certainly be there to witness the ceremony!”

“I shall look forward to the Grand Madam’s honored presence!” Madam Xiang exchanged a few more pleasantries, then excused herself to go to the Second Madam’s quarters — after all, this was her own sister-in-law, and with an eldest daughter being married off, she had to extend an invitation regardless, though whether the Second Madam chose to attend was entirely up to her.

The Second Madam heard this and her brow furrowed slightly.

“So Yi Jia has suffered because of the Han Family’s Second Young Miss after all?”

Madam Xiang had never been one to yield before the Second Madam. She smiled. “Mainly it is because we are hoping to find a better match for Yi Jia.”

She knew her own brother — did she not know full well what his temperament was like?

Her brother was an adopted heir, and so he desperately wanted grandsons. Besides, failing the examinations from the licentiate level to the provincial level once or twice was entirely ordinary — there were those who had tried ten or eight times before finally succeeding. And her brother, who had himself traveled the path of scholarship and official service, passing from licentiate to provincial graduate to palace graduate step by step — how could he not know this? He would never on that account refuse a family’s proposal of marriage.

She could deceive others, but she could not deceive herself.

The Second Madam offered a faint smile.

In Madam Xiang’s eyes, it seemed to carry a trace of mockery.

Her heart soured, and after a few brief words she rose to leave — no matter how warmly the Second Madam, the Fourth Madam, and the Grand Madam urged her to stay and eat, she was resolved to go. “I have only just returned, and there is so much to attend to. I will come another day to pay my respects to the Grand Madam and the Madams!”

Seeing that Madam Xiang’s mind was made up, the Grand Madam had Eleventh Young Miss see her to the hanging flower gate.

“It seems the rumors going around about Madam Xiang’s eldest son being ill-fated in marriage are true after all,” the Grand Madam said in a low voice, discussing the Xiang household matters with Nanny Du.

Nanny Du thought back to the upheaval surrounding the First Young Mistress not long ago. “Such things depend on how one chooses to see them,” she said with a smile.

The Grand Madam gave a gentle nod. After all, it was another family’s affair — she let it go, and on the third day of the second month, dressed in fresh finery, she went with the Second Madam, Eleventh Young Miss, and the Fifth Madam to the Xiang Family to drink the wedding wine.

Lord Xiang was still at his post, and all the household affairs were managed single-handedly by Madam Xiang. There were only about ten tables of guests, but it was evident they were all close friends and intimate acquaintances — their conversation was easy and uninhibited, their teasing grounded in shared memories, and the atmosphere was warm and convivial.

Since the Grand Madam, Eleventh Young Miss, and the Fifth Madam knew almost none of the guests, Madam Xiang had arranged for them to be seated in a small side room partitioned off from the main flower hall with a folding screen — a world unto themselves. Close enough to hear the sounds beyond without feeling too isolated; yet removed enough to avoid having to make conversation with strangers. It was a very thoughtful arrangement.

Whenever a guest arrived, waves of greeting, inquiry, and delighted exclamation would briefly swell through the room.

Someone stood just beyond the screen, chatting idly: “…Did you see that woman over there — the one with the silk gauze shawl embroidered with four-seasons roundel flowers draped over her arm? That would be the future mother-in-law of the Xiang Family’s Third Young Miss.”

“I hear she is surnamed Gong, from Jingzhou in Huguang. How could she bring herself to send her daughter so far away?”

“A distinguished old family of Huguang, with generations of officials and eminent men who could fill a book. The prospective son-in-law is said to be diligent and devoted to his studies. He spends a few years at the Imperial Academy, then serves a few years at the Hanlin Academy — and by the time he can be posted out to a position, he’s already well past thirty. In some ways that’s better than marrying someone local — if they don’t go out and serve as officials, you feel the son lacks ambition; if they do go out, they are far from home, and the daughter is left keeping a lonely vigil like Wang Baochuan, no different from that at all?”

“What a sharp tongue you have!” another laughed, ribbing the speaker. “To hear you talk, passing the jinshi examination or earning the rank of tanhua sounds simple as anything…”

Inside, the Grand Madam smiled and said, “So the Xiang Family’s Third Young Miss is to be married off to Huguang. I wonder whom the Second Young Miss has been promised to?”

Just then, the Second Madam came in.

Her eyes were a little red, as though she had been weeping.

The Grand Madam, knowing her disposition, pulled her down to sit at her side. “What is the matter?”

The Second Madam replied with a touch of embarrassment, “It is just — watching Rou Jin be married off. A few feelings came over me.”

Everyone laughed warmly.

The Fifth Madam asked about the Zhou Family. “…Where are they from?”

“Yongfeng, in Jiangxi.”

The Fifth Madam gave a soft exclamation. “The First Young Miss was married off to Yongfeng in Guangxi, and now the Third Young Miss is being married to Jingzhou in Huguang… Madam Xiang’s heart is truly broad. But I wonder whom the Second Young Miss has been promised to?”

“I didn’t ask,” the Second Madam replied with a smile. “A daughter once married is like water poured out — I’ll just show up and drink the wedding wine when the time comes.”

The air grew still, and the atmosphere cooled slightly.

The Fifth Madam had also vaguely heard the rumor that the Second Madam had hoped to arrange a match between the Xiang Family’s Second Young Miss and the Second Young Master.

With anyone else she would certainly have made a teasing remark — but with the Second Madam, she hesitated.

Eleventh Young Miss felt a flutter of unease in her heart.

The fact that this match had come to nothing had a great deal to do with her as well.

She went home and asked Xu Lingyi, “Is the Zhou Family of Yongfeng, Jiangxi, a prominent family there?”

“Indeed!” Xu Lingyi replied with a smile. “Every generation of their family has produced officials. From the previous dynasty to the present, they have turned out roughly twenty-something jinshi degree holders. So much so that someone once said in jest, ‘No Zhou, no official.'”

Eleventh Young Miss thought for a moment, then told Xu Lingyi about the Xiang and Zhou families’ betrothal.

Xu Lingyi did not give it much thought. “Lord Xiang is quite a man of foresight,” he said.

As they were speaking, a young maid came in to report. “My lord, Madam — Nanny Fang, who serves the First Young Mistress, has come!”

“At this hour — what could it be about?” Eleventh Young Miss murmured to herself, and went to the main hall. She came back very quickly. “My lord — the First Young Mistress has been found to be with child. Nanny Fang comes on behalf of the First Young Master and the First Young Mistress especially to bring us the happy news!”

—