“So Jin Ge’er now has two more personal attendants?” Xu Siyu set down the book in his hand and accepted the teacup Xiang Shi offered him with a smile. “And one of them is only three years old?”

Xiang Shi nodded with a smile. “When I went to pay my respects to Mother-in-law, that child called Chang Shun was sitting under the eaves eating sweets. One of Sixth Uncle’s little handmaids was keeping an eye on him. From the tone of Mother-in-law’s words, Chang’an is also going to learn martial arts alongside Sixth Uncle under Master Pang.”

Xu Siyu sipped his tea and said: “Chang’an’s parents are both Mother’s personal attendants who came with her when she married. It is hardly surprising that Chang’an would follow Jin Ge’er. But as for Chang Shun — at such a young age to be brought along as well…” He smiled. “I suspect this was Mother’s intention. When Zhun Ge and Jie Ge were young, Mother was always this way, forever finding ways to gather boys around them to play. Chang Shun must be a playmate Mother found for Jin Ge’er.”

Xiang Shi smiled. “I thought Chang Shun was quite a delightful child. Not only is he fair and clean-looking, he is also completely unafraid of strangers.” As she spoke, her thoughts drifted to children of her own… They had been married four months now, and there was still no movement on her end. Though her mother-in-law had said nothing, both her aunt and her mother had begun to feel anxious on her behalf. In a few days Xu Siyu would be leaving for Le’an, and she would have even fewer opportunities!

Thinking of this, her expression inevitably dimmed, and her voice took on a note of listlessness.

The closer the day of his departure for Le’an drew, the deeper Xiang Shi’s melancholy became. Though her every word was full of things like “study hard in peace of mind, I will stay home and serve your parents well,” he could still feel his wife’s reluctance to part.

Seeing his wife’s spirits fall, Xu Siyu thought for a moment, then said softly: “I will write home often!”

Xiang Shi felt a faint warmth color her cheeks.

Her husband had already resolved that after returning to Le’an, he would apply himself with the utmost dedication — he might not even return for the New Year… What she admired most about her husband was precisely this unyielding resolve.

“Husband, please set your mind at ease!” She lowered her head and murmured softly, “Your wife will be well…” Beyond that, she did not know what more there was to say.

For a moment, the two of them sat across from each other in silence, yet the air in the room was warm and gentle.

Xu Sizhun and Xu Sijie came out of the study together, still deep in discussion about the lantern they had failed to make properly at the Lantern Festival: “…If only we had known it would turn out this way, we should have used layered gauze instead of colored glass.”

“We needed too much of it. Getting colored glass means asking the stewards to run to specialized shops and place orders — too much trouble,” Xu Sijie said with a laugh. “Let’s use layered gauze instead! If it doesn’t work out, I’ll simply try a few more times until I find a solution.”

Ever since the day he had sobbed with his head in Shiyi Niang’s lap, Xu Sijie had done his best to avoid troubling others.

Xu Sizhun naturally disagreed: “What’s the difficulty in that? Just ask Huoqing to get whatever is needed from the storeroom.” As he spoke, he noticed that Xi’er, from Xu Sijie’s quarters, was standing in the corridor talking with a young handmaid who had not yet put her hair up. He recognized the girl — she was stationed in Shiyi Niang’s rooms. The two of them, heedless of the wind in the corridor, cheeks flushed red from the cold, were talking away with smiles on their faces.

“Why not find somewhere else to chat?” Xu Sizhun said with a laugh. “Though spring has come, these past few days the wind has still been quite fierce.”

Xi’er and the young handmaid quickly stepped forward to greet the two of them with a bow.

Xu Sizhun, seeing that Xi’er’s eyes were lit up with a joy she could not quite conceal — quite unlike her usual composed and proper manner — and knowing also that Xi’er had been bestowed to Xu Sijie by Shiyi Niang and was not treated as an ordinary handmaid by either Xu Sizhun or Xu Sijie, teased her with a smile: “What good news does Xi’er have? Share it with us so we can be happy along with you!”

Xi’er had heard from an acquainted young handmaid who had come to congratulate her that her two nephews were soon to enter the household and serve beside the Sixth Young Master, and she was genuinely overjoyed.

So many people had tried to find ways to catch the Sixth Young Master’s eye, and just recently someone had even been paddled for being too eager. Yet her nephews had managed to enter the Sixth Young Master’s quarters without any effort at all… This showed just how much Madam regarded her family.

She had been in the household long enough, and serving as she did in Xu Sijie’s quarters, she had seen clearly the quiet rivalries among stewards, head nannies, handmaids, and older servants, as well as the watching and waiting that everyone directed toward the Fourth Young Master and the Sixth Young Master. Seeing that it was the Fourth Young Master asking, she suppressed the happiness welling up inside her, smiled, and said simply “There is nothing much,” then turned to lift the door curtain and invite the two of them inside.

But the young handmaid from Shiyi Niang’s quarters thought nothing of it.

Being shown such favor by Madam would make anyone grin from ear to ear. Besides, Xi’er had been smiling all this time! She had assumed Xi’er was simply too modest to say it herself, and so, playing along, she said cheerfully: “Xi’er’s nephews are about to enter the household to serve!”

Both Xu Sizhun and Xu Sijie were taken aback.

Xi’er found the young handmaid rather meddlesome and shot her a look, then quickly explained with a smile: “My sister-in-law brought her two sons into the household today to pay their respects to Madam. Madam found the two boys amusing and asked if they would like to come and keep the Sixth Young Master company. The two boys are still very young — Chang’an is only seven this year, and Chang Shun only three. They don’t know any better. Every time they come to the household with their mother, they get sweets and spending money. When they heard they could come and live here, of course they agreed at once without a second thought.” The Fourth Young Master, when he was in the inner courtyard, had only two third-tier attendants; it was only after he moved to the outer courtyard that two more third-tier and four unranked attendants were added. Now the Sixth Young Master already had two attendants, and Madam had helped to add two more… She did her best to make the matter sound light and inconsequential. “But they are so young, Madam only asked offhandedly — how things will actually turn out, we still don’t know.”

Xu Sijie felt that it was entirely in keeping with Shiyi Niang’s character to say such a thing after taking a liking to the children of handmaids like Binju and Hupo who had once served her — he thought nothing more of it and said: “Having Chang’an enter service is reasonable enough, but if Chang Shun comes, someone will probably need to be specially assigned to look after him!” As he spoke, the image of Chang Shun huddled shyly in Binju’s arms came to mind, and he could not help but smile.

Xu Sizhun, meanwhile, thought back to his own childhood — how Shiyi Niang had always liked to have his attendants take him out to play, saying that boys should play with boys, and that if one spent all one’s days with little handmaids playing at tossing sandbags, one would only ever know how to pick up needlework. She had often encouraged him to run and move about, and had secretly joined him in jumping rope. Seeing two amusing young boys and having them enter the household to keep Jin Ge’er company — that sounded very much like something Shiyi Niang would do.

He smiled along as well.

The young handmaid, taking Xi’er’s modesty for genuine modesty and seeing both young masters wreathed in smiles, said eagerly: “Since Madam has agreed, the Marquis will certainly agree too. When the time comes, Xi’er’s two nephews entering service will be a matter as certain as iron!”

Xi’er’s brow furrowed slightly, and her eyes darted to check Xu Sizhun’s expression.

Xu Sizhun gave a slight nod, clearly in full agreement with the young handmaid’s words.

“Sixth Brother is quite a handful — those handmaids and older servants can barely keep him in check. It really is about time to arrange a few more attendants for him.” He said to Xu Sijie with a laugh: “You don’t know this, but a couple of days ago when I went to the heated conservatory to choose some orchids, I happened to run into Jiexiang there, also moving orchids. I heard that Sixth Brother was at Shaohua Courtyard painting bamboo, so I thought to go along and pay my respects to Second Aunt. But when I entered the courtyard, Second Aunt was in a cold sweat, searching with the handmaids and servants for Sixth Brother!”

Xu Sijie gave a start.

Second Aunt was widowed, and so they rarely had cause to disturb her.

“What happened?” he quickly asked. “Does Mother know about this?”

“It is not a serious matter!” Xu Sizhun said, walking inside as he spoke. Xu Sijie followed him in. “Second Aunt heard that Sixth Brother wanted to paint bamboo, and so she had a sheet of fine paper spread on the stone table in the courtyard. Sixth Brother kept running into the bamboo grove to look for a while, then running back to the stone table to paint a few strokes. Second Aunt sat nearby watching. Just as a painting of bamboo was nearly complete, Second Aunt told a little handmaid to go and fetch the snow water that had been buried behind the house the previous year to boil for tea. Sixth Brother heard this and wanted to go and help. Second Aunt told him to focus on his painting. He agreed in the moment — but then slipped through the grove into the back courtyard to help the little handmaid retrieve the snow water. Second Aunt, seeing him disappear into the grove without coming back out for quite a while, quickly sent people to look for him.”

As they spoke, the two settled onto the large kang in the inner chamber.

Always attentive to matters concerning Jin Ge’er, Xi’er personally served them tea.

“He had run off to the back courtyard — where were they supposed to find him?” Xu Sizhun, recalling the scene, very much wanted to laugh, yet felt it touched on Second Aunt’s dignity and should not be laughed at, so his expression turned rather peculiar. “Shaohua Courtyard sits higher than the rest of the compound. Second Aunt’s face went white on the spot. She called in the handmaids who had been attending Sixth Brother and questioned them, but got nothing useful out of them. She was beside herself with worry and had people searching the entire courtyard.”

Xu Sijie listened with his heart in his throat, leaning toward Xu Sizhun: “What happened in the end?”

“In the end, Second Aunt had Huang Xiaomao and Liu Erwu called in to search. Only then did they find Sixth Brother, covered head to toe in mud.” Xu Sizhun laughed. “Second Aunt was at a complete loss whether to laugh or cry. She scolded the little handmaid soundly, then, using the excuse that Sixth Brother had dripped ink on himself while painting, had A Jin go back to fetch him a clean change of clothes and return. She personally helped Sixth Brother wash up and put himself in order before the whole affair was finally settled.”

Xu Sijie let out a long breath.

“If Mother found out about this, Jin Ge’er would certainly get a scolding!”

“Exactly!” Xu Sizhun said with a laugh. “So Second Aunt told everyone not to tell Mother, so as not to cause her worry — and to spare Jin Ge’er a scolding as well.”

The two of them chatted and laughed, and soon shifted to the topic of seeing Xu Siyu off: “…Third Brother’s idea is to go tomorrow to a new restaurant that opened in the south of the city called Li Ji, for a farewell meal for Second Brother. He says places like Chunxi Tower and Tingli Pavilion serve the same things over and over — there is nothing interesting about them!”

“Going all the way to the south of the city?” Xu Sijie said hesitantly. “Is that not a bit far? And who knows whether this Li Ji is any good?”

“The farther the better!” Xu Sizhun said with a laugh. “Third Brother says the place is quite good. His colleagues go there to eat all the time.”

After the New Year, Xu Lingyi had gradually loosened the restrictions on their outings. Going anywhere now simply required notifying the guard post. Xu Sijie, hearing this, could not help but feel tempted.

“What does Second Brother say?” Xu Sijie felt that Xu Siyu, being steady and experienced, would be a good judge — if Xu Siyu agreed, it was probably fine.

“Second Brother thinks it sounds good too!” Xu Sizhun said with a laugh. “Third Brother says we should set off tomorrow at the third quarter of the si hour. Head to Li Ji for the midday meal!”

“Wonderful!” Xu Sijie was now eager as well, and the two of them fell into animated discussion about how to get to the south of the city the next day.

Only then did Xi’er tiptoe quietly out of the room.

The Fourth Young Master had not taken the matter to heart after all!

She stood on the stone steps and let out a long, slow breath.

—