Some of the manservants flinched and hunched their shoulders; others merely wiped the smiles off their faces.

Jin Ge’er stepped forward, puffed out his chest, and said, “It was my idea!”

Even as he spoke, Xu Sijie’s eyes swept over the group of manservants and found that he recognized not a single one. His expression changed at once. He asked Jin Ge’er, “Where did all these people come from?”

Jin Ge’er said, without any concern, “They’re people who picked up firecrackers for me!”

“Picked up firecrackers?” Xu Sijie stared at Jin Ge’er in astonishment. “Picked up what firecrackers? Where?”

“The stewards wouldn’t give me firecrackers. I saw some manservants in the outer courtyard picking up and setting off firecrackers they’d found on the ground,” Jin Ge’er explained, looking rather pleased with himself. “So I stood on the steps and called out: whoever picks up firecrackers and brings them to me gets rewarded with one tael of silver.” He pointed at the group of manservants. “They all came to bring me firecrackers.”

Following the manservants’ example, picking up firecrackers from the ground to set off — and offering a one-tael reward on top of it.

Xu Sijie was so flustered he didn’t know what to say. “Where did you get silver?” he demanded. Then: “Where is Hongwen?” There was no sign of Shen Ge’er’s wet nurse and maids either. “Where is Nanny Wu? Where has everyone gone?”

Xu Sijie was usually gentle-natured and rarely wore such a stern expression. Shen Ge’er was a little frightened and quickly dropped the incense stick, hiding behind Jin Ge’er.

Jin Ge’er, however, turned his eyes and, answering a different question than what was asked, instructed Shen Ge’er, “Give Fifth Brother your incense stick.” He then held out to Xu Sijie the large handful of loose firecrackers he was clutching. “Fifth Brother, come set off firecrackers with us — it’s so fun!”

Shen Ge’er hurried to pick the discarded incense stick back up off the ground. Meanwhile Xu Sijie looked at his dirty little hands and thought of how carefully their mother always tended to him… never mind Sixth Brother — if her own clothes got dirty, their mother would brush off the dust herself. If she saw Sixth Brother like this, she would be heartbroken… Xu Sijie snatched the firecrackers out of his hands and threw them to the ground, then said, “Come on, let’s go wash our hands,” making no particular effort to address Shen Ge’er.

Jin Ge’er looked at the firecrackers scattered on the ground and let out a pained yelp, then struggled and shook free of Xu Sijie’s hand. “I want to set off firecrackers!”

Before his words were even out, two manservants had jogged forward and picked up the firecrackers Xu Sijie had thrown to the ground and held them out to Jin Ge’er obsequiously. “Sixth Young Master — these are your firecrackers!”  Xu Sijie’s angry expression did not enter their consideration at all.

Xu Sijie was furious, but did not know how to reprimand the two who had overstepped their station. After a moment’s thought he snapped, “Is this any of your business? Sixth Young Master has his own people to attend to him — what are you crowding around here for? Get back to your posts! If the stewards notice, they’ll give you a beating.” His voice lacked force. Even so, two of the manservants, frightened, did slip away — but more stood there, looking uncertain, glancing this way and that.

The manservant who had handed the firecrackers to Jin Ge’er showed no fear at all, and said with a sycophantic grin, “Fifth Young Master, when we came to serve in this household, the stewards told us: the first rule is to follow orders. We were only following Sixth Young Master’s instructions — how can you say we are inciting the young master? …”

Before the words were fully out, a woman’s cold, clear voice cut across him. “So by your reasoning, you’re quite in the right, are you?”

Everyone turned toward the sound.

Xu Sijie saw Hongwen, Jin Ge’er’s chief maid, standing there with beads of sweat on her brow and a sharp, stern expression on her face.

“Get out, all of you!” Her gaze locked onto that manservant like a blade. “This is the main residence — did you think any cat or dog could wander in just because they’d gotten close to Sixth Young Master and started thinking they’d risen above their station, without knowing what they’re worth?” She raised her voice and called out, “Who is supposed to be on duty in this courtyard? Get out here now! Fourth Madam is generous — she let you off for the holiday to share in Second Young Master’s joy, leaving only two people to watch the courtyard. And yet, with even that, you still dared to shirk your duties behind Fourth Madam’s back. Once I go to Zhuxiang and get the duty roster, I’ll see who was on watch today, and I will have your skin…”

She had not even finished speaking before two serving women rushed out from a nearby screen, their faces flustered with panic.

“Miss, Miss,” they both pleaded, “we didn’t slack off — it’s just that Sixth Young Master wanted to set off some firecrackers…”

Hongwen did not let them get the words out and spat at them. “I’m not the lady of anyone’s household — Sixth Young Master wants firecrackers, so you go to Fourth Madam and ask for them. How could you let these creatures from who-knows-where attend to Sixth Young Master? If Sixth Young Master were to get a scratch or a bump anywhere, your deaths — a thousand times over — wouldn’t make up for a single one of Sixth Young Master’s little fingers. Go report to the General Steward Bai at once and have him send people to bind all these who don’t know their place and deliver them to the Marquis. If the General Steward asks why, tell him that Hongwen from Sixth Young Master’s rooms gave the order to have them bound.”

The two serving women turned and scurried out of the courtyard the moment she had finished.

As for the manservants who had been standing and watching, most had bolted the moment Hongwen opened her mouth. But the two who had been fawning over Jin Ge’er went pale, and looked to Jin Ge’er for help.

Jin Ge’er did not spare them a glance. He stared at Hongwen with a face full of admiration. “Hongwen, you’re so fierce when you scold people!”

Hongwen’s heart was in her mouth.

She could say a hundred things, and none of it would matter as much as a single word from the Sixth Young Master — but the Sixth Young Master was still very young and did not yet know how to read people. Those manservants, at first glance, were the sort who were skilled at flattery, always looking for openings to ingratiate themselves with those above them. If the Sixth Young Master were to say now that he wanted to keep them, she would lose all face, inside and out. Yet the Sixth Young Master had come out with those words instead.

Hongwen felt something between the urge to laugh and the urge to cry.

Her thoughts turning quickly, she decided to simply continue keeping a straight face. “What is all this about?”

The manservant who had handed Xu Sijie the incense stick rushed to tell Hongwen the whole story of what had brought them there.

While Hongwen listened, she thought the matter through.

She had only just arrived, but from the scene she had walked into, she could tell that the Sixth Young Master had clearly been deep in the middle of his fun — which was why he had argued with the Fifth Young Master. The Sixth Young Master had refused to listen even to the Fifth Young Master, and she was just a maid. She could not very well directly tell the Sixth Young Master he was forbidden from setting off firecrackers.

With this in mind, she gently coaxed Jin Ge’er, “Young Master, you are a young lord of this household. Since the steward refused to give you firecrackers, there is no need to lower yourself to his level — you should simply go directly to the General Steward Bai and have him reprimand that steward properly. How could you go about like an outer-courtyard manservant, picking up firecrackers off the ground? If the guests who have come to drink the wedding wine were to see that, would they not laugh at you?”

Jin Ge’er listened and his face went red. He dropped the firecrackers he was holding to the ground.

Hongwen quickly took his hand. “Come, let us go find that steward. Let’s see who had the audacity not to give you firecrackers!”

Jin Ge’er didn’t want Hongwen to lead him by the hand. “I’ll go myself. I don’t need you to take me,” he said, and went stamping off.

Shen Ge’er immediately ran after him.

Hongwen called after him loudly, “Sixth Young Master — what kind of thing is it for a young master to go running to question the stewards? Look at Fourth Madam — when has she ever run to see the head serving women? You must walk slowly and composedly!”

Jin Ge’er stopped in his tracks at this and turned to look at Hongwen. “You’re right — Mother never runs!” He thought for a moment and added, “Father never runs either!”

Shen Ge’er, seeing this, stopped as well.

Only then did Hongwen let out a long breath of relief.

She put on a sweet smile and said loudly, “Sixth Young Master, this servant will escort you to find that steward,” then lowered her voice and said to Xu Sijie, “Fifth Young Master, between us we’ve nearly turned this whole household upside down looking for the Fifth and Sixth Young Masters. Please be so good as to send someone to let Seventh Young Master’s wet nurse know, so as not to alarm all the ladies of the household…” She looked at him with beseeching eyes.

Sixth Brother was naughty — the whole household knew it. Even when the house was quiet with nothing going on, he could always stir something up, much less on a day as lively as today.

He nodded. “I’ll send someone right away to let Seventh Brother’s wet nurse know.”

“Thank you, Fifth Young Master!” Hongwen gave Xu Sijie a hasty bow, turned, and led Jin Ge’er and Shen Ge’er out through the courtyard gate.

The courtyard fell instantly quiet, and the sound of drums and gongs from afar became all the more distinct.

He looked more carefully and saw that the two manservants who had been hovering at Jin Ge’er’s side had long since vanished without a trace.

A shadow passed over Xu Sijie’s eyes.

He couldn’t even measure up to Hongwen — unable even to keep a few low-ranking outer-courtyard manservants in line…

Even as these thoughts crossed his mind, he had a vague feeling that something was not quite right. But what it was exactly, he couldn’t put into words. He felt a peculiar discomfort, a dull heaviness in his chest, as though he couldn’t quite catch his breath.

He took a long, deep breath.

In the October midday, the sun shone bright, yet the air held none of autumn’s dry heat.

In the corner of the courtyard stood a begonia, its leaves lush and full, with two small pink blossoms open among them.

Xu Sijie smiled and walked over, bending down to pluck a flower.

From somewhere nearby, the voice of a woman drifted over — soft, sorrowful, and melodious, half-present and half-lost to the air: “…He turns a cold shoulder and treats me cruelly… I suffer in silence, wronged and unheard… My heart is full of grievances, but to whom can I pour them out… I hear the watchtower drum strike the third watch… The night is deep, all is still…”

He froze where he stood.

When he finally straightened up, his gaze turned unwittingly toward the direction of the Dianqun Hall. His eyes had grown somewhat distant, and the corners of his lips moved without him even realizing it.

—