Shi’er Niang did not wait for Xi’er — instead, Nan Yong’s wife arrived.

“What happened?” Thinking of how Nan Yong’s wife, ever since moving to the outer courtyard, never entered her room without reason, Shi’er Niang’s heart tightened. She dismissed the others in the room and asked Nan Yong’s wife in a low voice.

“Just now, the Fifth Young Master came to me and asked about things from when he was small…” Nan Yong’s wife said uneasily.

Madam had asked her to keep an eye on Xu Sijie’s movements — it was to ensure there was someone to report back if the Fifth Young Master suffered any mistreatment in the outer courtyard, not to have her speak out of turn. Though her words today had come from a place of good intentions, she had overstepped her bounds all the same. Now that Madam knew, would she be reproached? Yet thinking that this matter concerned the bond between Madam and the Fifth Young Master, she steeled herself and told Shi’er Niang everything that had just transpired.

Shi’er Niang was greatly startled. Recalling Xu Sijie’s strange manner just a short while ago, she could not help but feel a deep wave of emotion.

She had long been searching for the right moment to bring up the past with Xu Sijie, and had not expected Nan Yong’s wife to resolve this difficulty for her.

When she had first chosen Nan Yong’s wife, it was not only because the woman was honest and dependable — it was also because she dealt with people and matters in a sincere, straightforward way. She had hoped Xu Sijie might be influenced by her, and learn to live his life with both feet planted firmly on the ground. Now it seemed her choice had been quite right. Had Nan Yong’s wife not treated Xu Sijie with genuine sincerity, Xu Sijie would never have thought of her first in his moment of unease; and had she not been able to speak from real experience, she could not have offered him comfort that truly reached him; and had that not been the case, Xu Sijie could not have rallied himself so quickly…

“It is a good thing you were there to guide him.” Seeing that Nan Yong’s wife looked somewhat ill at ease, Shi’er Niang immediately affirmed what she had done. “I have been worrying over this very matter myself.” As she spoke, she told her about Xu Lingyi’s plan to have Xu Sijie offer incense to Tong Shi during the New Year. “It was never brought up before, and now he is suddenly being asked to acknowledge Tong Shi. I was afraid he might not be able to accept it all at once. I wanted to speak with him about it in advance, yet I feared he would press me with questions about the past… The way you handled things has given him some breathing room, and now there are certain things I can say to him.”

Nan Yong’s wife’s heart eased at hearing this, and a faint smile came to her face — though it faded just as quickly, leaving a trace of worry between her brows.

With this, the distinction between legitimate and illegitimate birth would be made plain. Once the people of the household learned of the Marquis’s stance, there would be matters that neither Madam nor she herself could hold back. When that time came, Xu Sijie’s situation would be far more difficult than it was now.

Yet on second thought, perhaps that was not such a bad thing.

A person only truly knows their own strength when they understand their own measure — and only then can they know how much they can accomplish.

When that day came, the Fifth Young Master would be able to settle down and live his own quiet life in peace.

The worry between her brows eased, and she spoke with careful tact: “The New Year is nearly upon us. Households will soon be sending their New Year gifts, the head steward mothers will be coming in to pay their respects, and the Fourth Young Master will have guests to entertain on his side. The household will be so busy there will hardly be time to drink a cup of tea.”

When the head steward mothers came in to pay their respects to Shi’er Niang, they would naturally present the small gifts various households had sent for the children. Since Xu Sijie was being raised in Shi’er Niang’s quarters, whatever was given to him had always been the same as what was given to Xu Sizhun. And with the New Year arriving, if Xu Sizhun were to host a spring banquet at home, he would certainly invite his brothers to keep him company. Xu Siyu was older and had never been one to involve himself in such things, so he would certainly not attend. But if Xu Sijie were not clearly informed of the situation and stumbled in unaware, and something like the Dou Jing incident happened again — that would not only be an embarrassment to the Xu family, it would be a wound to Xu Sijie himself. After all, everyone wishes to be liked.

Shi’er Niang gave a slight nod.

When Xu Lingyi returned, she discussed it with him: “Perhaps I should speak with him these next few days.”

Xu Lingyi thought Shi’er Niang was being overly cautious, and said offhandedly, “That’s fine,” then moved on to ask about the banquet for Madam Xiang the following day: “How many guests in total?”

“About two tables of male guests, and one table of female guests.” Shi’er Niang smiled. “I hear the maternal uncle who sent us the Huiquan water will be coming as well.”

“Then I’ll prepare some fine teas to send him.” As Xu Lingyi spoke, Xiang Shi came to attend upon Shi’er Niang for the evening meal.

“There is no need for you to attend on me here,” Shi’er Niang said with a smile. “From now on, take your evening meal in your own courtyard, and then come to accompany me when I go to pay respects to the Grand Madam.”

Xiang Shi was quite surprised.

Shi’er Niang smiled. “Go now. In winter I usually go at a quarter past the seventh hour; in summer, at a quarter past the eighth. Come around that time and you will be just right.”

Seeing Shi’er Niang’s resolute manner, Xiang Shi curtsied and withdrew.

Xu Lingyi smiled. “You won’t even let your daughter-in-law attend on you.”

“It is difficult to speak freely otherwise,” Shi’er Niang said with a smile. “Why make everyone uncomfortable.”

Xu Lingyi said nothing more. Shi’er Niang had someone retrieve Jin Ge’er from the back garden where he had been playing with Shen Ge’er, then instructed the little maids to set out the meal.

Jin Ge’er ate two full bowls of lion’s head meatballs from the clay pot, and when he asked for a third, Xu Lingyi could not help but ask: “What did you eat at midday?”

“Fried quail,” Jin Ge’er said, and another braised lion’s head disappeared down his throat.

Xu Lingyi glanced over at Shi’er Niang.

Shi’er Niang used her chopsticks to transfer some pea shoots from the pork tripe soup into Jin Ge’er’s bowl, and said helplessly, “At noon there was also wine-marinated duck liver, steamed minced pork with egg, crystal shrimp, braised yellow croaker… He only ate the fried quail.”

In the midst of this, Jin Ge’er quietly hid the pea shoots under his rice with his chopsticks, and went on eating his braised lion’s head over the white rice on top.

Xu Lingyi looked on with a mixture of amusement and exasperation. “One ought to eat a little of everything,” he said.

“Indeed!” Shi’er Niang said, transferring a piece of tofu into her son’s bowl.

Jin Ge’er turned and gave Xu Lingyi a look: “Father, Grandmother said one should not talk during meals!”

Xu Lingyi burst out laughing.

Xu Siyu and Xiang Shi came to pay their respects.

Shi’er Niang had them sit in the main hall, and after the meal, invited them into the west side chamber.

Xu Lingyi asked Xu Siyu of his plans.

“I intend to set out for Le’an in the first ten days of the eleventh month,” Xu Siyu replied.

He was leaving right after the wedding.

So soon — he would not even be spending the New Year at home?

Shi’er Niang glanced at Xiang Shi, whose expression was serene and composed. She had evidently known of this long in advance.

Xu Lingyi also felt it was rather early, and after a moment of consideration said, “There is no great hurry. Wait until after the Lantern Festival before setting out.”

Xu Siyu seemed about to say something, then thought better of it, and finally bowed and replied, “Yes.”

Wen Yiniang and Qiao Yiniang came to pay their respects.

“Our Second Young Madam is here too!” Wen Yiniang said with her characteristic warmth. “What a beautiful bracelet!”

Xiang Shi immediately curtsied to Wen Yiniang and Qiao Lianfang and called out, “Yiniang.”

Xu Sizhun and Xu Sijie arrived.

Shi’er Niang observed Xu Sijie carefully.

He stood behind Xu Sizhun as he always did, and though a smile was on his face, the bright, easy cheerfulness was gone from his eyes.

Shi’er Niang let out a soft sigh, exchanged a few words, and then made her way to the Grand Madam’s quarters.

Xu Lingkuan happened to have brought the Fifth Madam and the children to pay their respects to the Grand Madam as well, and the room at once became lively.

Xu Sizhun took the opportunity to ask Shi’er Niang about the matter of the chi gong score.

“Your maternal uncle says he is looking into it for us,” Shi’er Niang said to him quietly. “As for Wang Yun — has he given any indication of when he will return it?”

“No,” Xu Sizhun replied in a low voice. “But given what happened, I wrote Wang Yun a letter saying I had carelessly dropped the book into water, and asked him to give me a few days so I could copy out a new one to send over. Wang Yun wrote back telling me not to bother returning it — he said I could borrow a copy from Hanlin Scholar Han’s household and transcribe one from that. But it was we who damaged the book. Even if Wang Yun says it is not necessary, we cannot simply not return it.”

Shi’er Niang nodded. “So that means Hanlin Scholar Han’s household has a copy?”

A glint of satisfaction flickered in Xu Sizhun’s eyes. “Then we can borrow it and transcribe a copy ourselves!”

“I’ll have your maternal uncle try,” Shi’er Niang said, smiling as she looked at him — and in the same moment, Xu Lingyi’s warm yet firm voice reached her ear: “There is no need for that. The two families are the closest of friends. I will take Zhun Ge’er with me — it will be a good occasion for him to learn some social etiquette.” He then instructed Xu Sizhun, “Tomorrow, go to the accounts office and have the New Year gifts for the Yongchang Marquis household prepared. In a couple of days, we will go to call on the Yongchang Marquis.”

Upon hearing that an outing was in store, Xu Sizhun’s enthusiasm fell somewhat flat. He gave a dutiful “yes,” and early the next morning went to the accounts office to collect the gift register. That evening, after seeing off the Xiang family’s visitors, he brought the register to Xu Lingyi for his review.

The New Year gifts exchanged between the two households were no more than vegetables, sweets, and similar items — nothing exceeding fifty taels of silver in value.

Xu Sizhun carried the paper box and accompanied Xu Lingyi to the Yongchang Marquis household.

Meanwhile, Shi’er Niang received the New Year gifts from Cangzhou.

As in previous years, the Shao Family had dispatched people to deliver a cartload of Cangzhou specialty products.

Among those who entered the inner courtyard to pay their respects to Shi’er Niang was not only the mother who came every year to deliver the Xu family’s New Year gifts, but also Xiulan.

She had come of age — her hair was dressed in the round bun of a married woman, adorned with bright new silver ornaments. Her expression was visibly stirred, and the moment she stepped through the door, she dropped to her knees and kowtowed three times to Shi’er Niang.

Shi’er Niang laughed. “Who have you married?”

Xiulan’s face flushed. “My husband serves as an attendant at the side of the First Young Master.”

The First Young Master — that was Shao Zhongran.

From all appearances, Zhen Jie’er had settled into life with the Shao Family.

Shi’er Niang smiled and nodded, and rewarded Xiulan with two lotus-shaped silver hairpins. “Consider this a wedding gift.”

Xiulan gave her thanks at once, and passed along a message from Zhen Jie’er: “…The First Young Master mentioned after returning home that the Sixth Young Master is hoping to find a martial arts instructor. There is an instructor in Cangzhou by the surname Pang, a kinsman of the Shao family by marriage. Though his left foot has a slight limp, his equestrian and archery skills are exceptional. A good number of the Shao family’s young men have taken him as their teacher, and he had opened a martial arts school. Recently, his wife passed away, and he has no children. Without the heart to go on teaching, he has closed the school. We were not sure whether the Marquis had already found an instructor for the Sixth Young Master. If not, our First Madam wished to recommend this Master Pang to teach the Sixth Young Master in martial arts.”

Shi’er Niang was surprised. “And what did your First Young Master say?” she asked with a smile.

The mother who had come along smiled and replied, “Our First Young Master himself studied equestrian and archery under Master Pang for two years and holds him in the highest regard. When the Marquis first mentioned the matter, our First Young Master immediately thought of Master Pang — but he feared the Marquis might consider a man from the countryside beneath his notice, and besides, Master Pang was running a martial arts school in Cangzhou and might not be willing to travel north. So he let the thought rest. It was only when he learned that Master Pang’s wife had passed that the idea came back to him. He had us come and ask.” She smiled again. “It was at our First Madam’s instruction — first ask Madam what she thought, and only if Madam agreed would they bring out the First Young Master’s letter of recommendation.” Her smile deepened as she said it.

What sort of reasoning is that!

She herself knew nothing of such matters.

“Leave the letter with me,” Shi’er Niang said with a laugh. “I’ll first ask the Marquis his thoughts, and then send word back to you.”

The two women assented respectfully.

The New Year gifts from the Jiang Family had arrived.

—