“Nothing in particular,” Xu Lingyi said. “We just climbed a mountain together.”

“Nothing at all?” Eleventh Young Madam pressed.

“Nothing at all,” Xu Lingyi said. “He failed the examination — it wouldn’t have been appropriate for me to bring up his studies, would it?”

What Xu Siyu needed was so little. Even the smallest gesture from Xu Lingyi could fill him with renewed confidence.

Eleventh Young Madam smiled, shook her head, and sighed as she looked at Xu Lingyi.

Xu Lingyi noticed the sparkle in his wife’s eyes and couldn’t help laughing. “What are you thinking about now?”

“I was just thinking that the Marquis is quite remarkable,” Eleventh Young Madam said, with a hint of playful teasing in her expression. “No matter how much we might say, it cannot compare to the Marquis saying nothing at all and simply taking a walk outside the city with him.”

She was using this seemingly light-hearted approach to tell him to pay more attention to the children.

Xu Lingyi laughed and lay back. “Go to sleep. Who knows what visitors tomorrow will bring!”

Eleventh Young Madam smiled and blew out the lamp.

In the darkness, she fell into a warm embrace.

“Mo Yan,” he murmured, his teeth grazing her ear, “shall we have another child?” His heated lips had already begun trailing kisses down her neck. “A little girl — just like you…”

In Eleventh Young Madam’s mind, the image arose of a small girl with phoenix-shaped eyes, tilting her head and blinking at her just as Jin Ge’er did… and her body began to warm like dry kindling catching the first sparks of flame. She breathed softly and quickened, wrapping her arms tightly around the sturdy body pressing over her, her gaze growing languid.

Xu Lingyi gently cradled her face. “Is that all right?” The richness of his voice was deep, a little husky, carrying in the atmosphere of that night a captivating tenderness that made the heart leap.

“Yes,” Eleventh Young Madam whispered against his ear, her slender legs curling around his waist.

Despite being thoroughly spent, years of habit still brought Eleventh Young Madam fully awake at the fifth watch of the morning.

Her body ached all over, and the arm across her chest made it slightly difficult to breathe, yet she had no desire to move.

She turned her face to look, and found Xu Lingyi sleeping soundly.

She couldn’t help gazing at him quietly.

Asleep, Xu Lingyi’s expression was serene, and he looked several years younger than he did during the day. Near the peak of his left brow, there were two unusually long hairs.

She suddenly remembered a late-night dormitory conversation back in university, when a classmate had said that men with long eyebrows were afraid of their wives… The memory made Eleventh Young Madam press her lips together in a quiet smile.

Perhaps sensing a shift in the air beside him, or perhaps simply because he had slept enough, Xu Lingyi suddenly opened his eyes.

He found Eleventh Young Madam looking at him with a soft, smiling expression — and he was momentarily struck still, as though he had inadvertently glimpsed something that pleased him greatly, his face brightening with warmth.

“Are you all right?” His hand slid along her slender waist and began to move lower.

A faint flush rose on Eleventh Young Madam’s face, and she quickly caught his hand. “I’m perfectly fine!”

“Really?” Xu Lingyi looked at her with a smile.

“Really!” Eleventh Young Madam replied, a little flustered, sitting up as though to cover her embarrassment.

The deep sapphire brocade quilts, shimmering with a soft blue luster, slipped away, revealing her still-youthful figure, and his gaze darkened.

Eleventh Young Madam quickly turned sideways to put on her undergarment.

The pale golden brocade against her snow-white skin made her complexion glow, luminous and flawless.

Xu Lingyi propped himself on one elbow and pressed his warm lips to her back.

Eleventh Young Madam’s body stiffened, and her hands, tying the laces, paused.

Xu Lingyi laughed softly, his lips slowly savoring the smooth, creamy skin, kissing and nipping at her unhurriedly.

“Marquis…” Eleventh Young Madam’s voice broke apart a little. “The maids will be coming in any moment… to help with… washing and dressing…”

“Won’t take long!” Xu Lingyi replied, his tone laced with amusement, as his body pressed closer against hers in complete intimacy.

This man — every time it was the same. Either he didn’t act at all, or he saw things through completely…

Eleventh Young Madam bit her lip, yet could not keep the soft sounds from escaping.

By the time she went to pay her morning respects to the Grand Madam, Eleventh Young Madam’s hands and feet were still a little weak.

The Grand Madam assumed she was exhausted from attending to the arrangements for Xu Siyu’s wedding, and quickly had Nanny Du bring her a cup of ginseng tea. “If it becomes too much, have Dan Yang come and help you. She is most skilled at receiving and entertaining guests. We don’t have many people in the household, so you must support one another.”

Eleventh Young Madam, feeling a little guilty, smiled and agreed. “That is precisely what I had in mind. I was just thinking about how to raise it with Fifth Sister-in-law — it feels a bit awkward with Cheng Ge’er not yet having had his first-birthday celebration.”

She was not speaking against her own feelings.

The sheer number of guests this time — and the complexity of their ranks — had far exceeded her expectations. Outside, the General Steward Bai was managing things, so she need not worry, but the inner courtyard required her to oversee everything. To say nothing of anything else, Elder Grand Secretaries Chen, Liang, and Dou had all sent gifts, and when their wives arrived, she would need to personally receive them. But if she was attending to those ladies, who would accompany Madam Huang, Madam Tang, Madam Zhou, and First Young Madam Lin? And then there was the inner-courtyard banquet to manage, the tea and refreshments — she need not do everything herself, but she would still need to be there to authorize requisitions with the household tablets so the head serving women could draw what was needed. Previously, Third Madam had helped with these matters, but now that Third Madam had set up her own household, it would not be right to impose on her. If she could not keep Fifth Madam at her side, there was no way she could manage, even if she had three heads and six arms.

Before Eleventh Young Madam had even finished speaking, a voice like a silver bell rang out from the doorway. “Even though it is Fourth Sister-in-law who is welcoming a daughter-in-law, it is also I who am welcoming a nephew’s wife. I have been wanting to help Fourth Sister-in-law for some time, but feared you might find me too rough and unrefined, and dared not bring it up. Since Fourth Sister-in-law does not mind, then I shall not stand on ceremony!”

“Fifth Sister-in-law!” Eleventh Young Madam smiled and rose to greet her. “With those words from you, I can truly set my mind at ease.” The two then sat down together beside the Grand Madam and arranged that Eleventh Young Madam would receive the wives of the elder grand secretaries and the board vice presidents, while Fifth Madam would receive Madam Zhou, First Young Madam Lin, and the others. Those such as Madam Huang and Grand Madam Zheng would be brought to the Grand Madam’s side to sit. Zhuxiang would be in charge of the tea, and Nanny Song would oversee the banquet. At this point, Fifth Madam gave an exclamation and asked Eleventh Young Madam, “Which opera troupe have you engaged to perform?”

Custom dictated that if a troupe was engaged, someone would need to be designated to handle the matter of directing the performance.

“I engaged the Xixiang Society,” Eleventh Young Madam said — she had intentionally kept her distance from the Deyin Troupe. “They have many new productions.”

“A wedding banquet is not a casual gathering held for leisurely enjoyment of novelty and amusement,” the Grand Madam laughed. “Certain scenes celebrating conjugal harmony are always expected.” She paused in thought, then said, “I think we should simply engage all three major troupes. Set up one stage at the Dianqun Hall, and another in the outer courtyard. Have younger performers like Xiao Fenfang and Xiao Lianzhu — girls of eleven or twelve — perform at Dianqun Hall, and celebrated performers like Bai Jushuang and Xiang Sanwan in the outer courtyard. Have the steward’s office prepare several dozen ingots of snowflake silver. Whoever performs well gets rewarded on the spot — let the three troupes compete with one another. Give everyone a good show!”

“That is an excellent idea, Grandmother!” Fifth Madam nodded in approval. “With their troupes’ reputations at stake, they will certainly give their all.” She grew animated. “This time it will certainly be very lively.”

“Lively is precisely what we want!” the Grand Madam smiled. “Even if Siyu Ge’er failed the examination, this wedding must still be held with full grandeur and splendor — we cannot let outsiders look down on him because of us!”

It is people who lift each other up, after all.

In that case, she could find some pretext to keep Xu Sijie in the inner courtyard that day.

Eleventh Young Madam nodded.

“Grandmother thinks of everything.” She smiled and asked Fifth Madam, “Then shall we ask Nanny Shi to take charge of arranging these young performers? What do you think?”

Both husband and wife were fond of opera, and Nanny Shi had been steeped in it for years — she understood the world of opera troupes far better than most.

Fifth Madam agreed without hesitation.

The group discussed several more details, and by the time noon drew near, the Grand Madam invited the two women to stay for lunch.

On the way out, they encountered Qiuyu.

“Madam,” she curtseyed, “the Seventh Young Aunt and her husband from Gaoqing have brought their son to offer congratulations to Second Young Master!”

Eleventh Young Madam was very surprised.

When she had sent the wedding invitation to Zhu Anping some days ago in connection with Xu Siyu’s wedding, she had said nothing further, assuming that since Bao Ge’er was so young, they were not planning to come.

“Seventh Young Lady has come!” Fifth Madam was equally surprised. “Just two days ago, she wrote to me saying Bao Ge’er had begun to recognize people — and she didn’t mention anything about coming to Yanjing!” She laughed. “I’ve heard so much about Bao Ge’er in her letters, but I haven’t seen him yet. This time I can finally have a proper look.”

The two women quickened their pace toward the main room.

The Seventh Young Lady, now a mother, still carried herself with the same lightness as before, but the restlessness of earlier years was entirely gone from her brow. Her every movement carried a girlish liveliness — very much like the grace she had possessed before her marriage.

She was cradling an infant of three or four months, and a small boy of five or six years old stood at her side.

Eleventh Young Madam was quite surprised. Although she had already guessed the boy’s identity, she still wanted to confirm it. She pointed to the small boy and asked, “And this is…?”

Seventh Young Lady smiled and answered, “This is my eldest son, Ji Ge’er.” Then she instructed the boy, “Call out your greetings — this is your Eleventh Aunt, and this is Fifth Madam!”

The boy gripped the hem of Seventh Young Lady’s robe tightly and called out in a small, soft voice.

Seventh Young Lady then said apologetically, “He grew up in the countryside and has not seen much of the world, so he tends to be a bit timid. I hope Eleventh Sister and Fifth Madam will not take offense.”

“How can you be so formal with us?” Fifth Madam laughed as she looked over Seventh Young Lady’s adopted son Ji Ge’er. “Small children are afraid of strangers — he’ll be fine when he’s a bit older. This is hardly a strange place, and we are hardly strangers — there’s nothing improper about it at all.”

Eleventh Young Madam stepped forward and lifted Bao Ge’er into her arms.

The child was chubby and white-skinned, and quite weighty.

“A nephew takes after his uncles,” she said with a smile. “He has seven parts of Third Brother’s looks, and three parts of Seventh Brother-in-law’s.”

No sooner had Bao Ge’er settled into her arms than he twisted around, looking for Seventh Young Lady, and began to cry.

Seventh Young Lady quickly came forward and took him back. “I have been the one holding him since he was born. He won’t let anyone else hold him. Even Seventh Brother-in-law can’t keep hold of him.”

Fifth Madam, noticing that Ji Ge’er also bore some resemblance to Zhu Anping, said, “Then doesn’t that mean even your mother-in-law can’t hold him?”

Seventh Young Lady slanted Fifth Madam a look with a smile that clearly implied the question answered itself.

Fifth Madam broke into peals of laughter.

The old lady of the Zhu family had had her heart set on a grandson, so if Seventh Young Lady had raised her son to want nothing to do with his grandmother, one could well imagine how that must have gnawed at the old woman.

Eleventh Young Madam also smiled with pursed lips and invited the two women to sit on the large kang by the window in the west side room, where she and Fifth Madam presented seeing-gifts to Ji Ge’er and Bao Ge’er. Knowing that Seventh Young Lady and her family had arrived that afternoon and were staying at their own residence in Yanjing before coming over first thing in the morning, she asked after their recent plans, then called all the children over to exchange greetings with Ji Ge’er and Bao Ge’er.

Cheng Ge’er clamored to join his older sister Xin Jie’er in playing with Bao Ge’er. Jin Ge’er and Shen Ge’er, who had been playing a game of kickball together just before, had no patience for sitting here and listening to the adults talk, so they grabbed Ji Ge’er and invited him outside to play.

Ji Ge’er turned pale with fright and hid behind Seventh Young Lady, refusing to come out.

Seventh Young Lady smiled as she made excuses for him. “He doesn’t know how to play kickball!”

Jin Ge’er was unbothered. “I’ll teach him. Even my mother learned how to do it!”

As if to suggest that Eleventh Young Madam was quite slow to learn.

Eleventh Young Madam gave a quiet little cough at this.

Seventh Young Lady and Fifth Madam burst into laughter.

—