Shen Ge’er’s eyes lit up as well. “Yes! We can go find Grandmother. Grandmother definitely won’t just stand by and watch Fourth Uncle beat you.”

Jin Ge’er nodded. Qiuyu came hurrying out: “Sixth Young Master, Madam asks that you come in quickly!”

Shen Ge’er gave Jin Ge’er a sympathetic look, said “I’ll head back then,” waved at Jin Ge’er, and returned to his own courtyard.

Beside the Fifth Madam, Hexiang was craning her neck at the courtyard gate waiting. When she saw Shen Ge’er, she quickly said: “Seventh Young Master, why are you only coming back now? Fifth Madam has asked about you several times already.” As she spoke, she led Shen Ge’er inside.

“Mother!” Shen Ge’er walked cheerfully into the inner chamber, only to be met head-on by Fifth Madam’s furious shout: “Get down on your knees!”

Shen Ge’er froze and looked up to see his mother’s face dark as iron.

“Seventh Young Master!” Nanny Shi hurriedly shot Shen Ge’er a meaningful look. “Why aren’t you listening to Madam and kneeling down!”

Shen Ge’er startled and quickly knelt, though his expression remained somewhat nonchalant.

Fifth Madam shook with rage from head to toe. “I sent you to learn proper skills, and what do you do instead — you put a laxative in your master’s tea. If I don’t discipline you properly today, you’ll never know your place.” She turned to Nanny Shi and ordered: “Go fetch the bamboo paddle. If I don’t give him a sound beating, nothing will stick.”

Shen Ge’er saw that things had taken a bad turn. His mouth cried out “Mother, I’ll never dare do it again,” while his eyes sent a desperate look toward Nanny Shi.

Nanny Shi gave a slight nod in his direction. She instructed a little maidservant to fetch the bamboo paddle, then helped Fifth Madam to the large kang on the side: “You’ve been fuming ever since you found out Seventh Young Master was paddled on his hands by Master Pang, and it’s been going on ever since. Be careful your inner fire rises, bringing tightness and shortness of breath in your chest. Why don’t you sit down and calm yourself. Seventh Young Master is still young and doesn’t know any better. Whatever there is to say, Madam can simply speak to him calmly. Our Seventh Young Master is not the sort of child who won’t listen to reason. Doing this will only frighten him!”

These words struck right at Fifth Madam’s heart.

Without Jin Ge’er taking the lead, how would her own well-behaved and sensible child ever have thought to put a laxative in the master’s tea?

Even her father had said it — Xu Lingkuan’s nature was lazy and he could not endure hardship. Even if he were to rely on having the Empress and the Crown Prince to secure a rank-three military post, he would likely be the sort to do nothing of substance, and could never command authority and carve out a real standing the way Xu Lingyi had. Better to just let him live an easy, idle life. Whether in the court or in the army, it was best not to drag him in. Since Shen Ge’er was an ambitious child, she ought to pour more of her attention into him. Shen Ge’er was the eldest son — if he made something of himself, the family would be sustained.

Thinking this, her expression softened slightly.

Shen Ge’er was exceptionally sharp, and Nanny Shi was skilled at reading faces. Seeing the shift, naturally one called out “Mother, I’ll behave from now on,” while the other urged “Let it be this once, and never again.” The maidservant who had gone for the bamboo paddle, seeing how things stood, did not come in, and hid outside the curtain listening to the situation.

Fifth Madam let out a long breath, and her expression eased a good deal more.

Shen Ge’er seized the moment and scrambled to his feet, throwing himself into Fifth Madam’s arms and saying over and over: “I’ll never dare do it again.”

Fifth Madam’s heart softened — but then she thought of her father’s words, and her resolve firmed once more.

“Nanny Shi, bring the bamboo paddle!” Her tone was completely resolute.

Nanny Shi dared not say another word, and brought in the paddle.

Heedless of Shen Ge’er’s crying and protests, Fifth Madam struck her son ten times across the palms. With each blow she said: “Let’s see if you’ll remember this. Let’s see if you’ll remember this.” By the last stroke, her own eyes had grown faintly wet.

Nanny Shi quickly carried Shen Ge’er — whose eyes had cried themselves red — back to his room. She wiped his tears, spoke words of comfort, applied medicine, and coaxed him to sleep, keeping busy for nearly two hours before returning to Fifth Madam.

“How is he?” Fifth Madam hurried forward anxiously. “He’s all right, isn’t he?” She had not struck him with full force.

“He’ll be fine!” Nanny Shi quickly reassured Fifth Madam. “Give it seven or eight days and he’ll have recovered!”

Fifth Madam dabbed the corners of her eyes. “Take good care of him these few days — don’t let his hands get wet.” She was heartbroken.

“Madam, rest easy — I will look after Seventh Young Master carefully.” The blows land on the child’s body; the pain is felt in the mother’s heart. Though Nanny Shi did not know why Fifth Madam had been so resolute, she could understand Fifth Madam’s love for the Seventh Young Master and did not want her to grieve. She quickly changed the subject: “Madam, as for Master Pang — besides the thirty taels for medicine and treatment, should we also send over some bolts of cloth? If we send them over now, Master Pang could have a few autumn garments made just in time.”

Fifth Madam felt a flash of irritation at the mere mention of Master Pang’s name. If not for him, her son would never have been beaten!

“Don’t bother!” she said, displeasure evident, “He ought to think about who he is, exactly. My son — it is my place to discipline him, not his place to go pointing fingers and giving orders.”

For Fifth Madam, this was already a concession.

Nanny Shi dared not say more, and respectfully replied “Yes,” then went to prepare what would be sent to Master Pang.

Eleventh Lady then instructed Hupo: “Go yourself. Besides the medicine fees, bring some medicinal herbs as well. On my behalf, offer Master Pang my apology.”

Hupo curtsied and replied “Yes,” then withdrew.

Eleventh Lady lifted the teacup and took a sip, then called out to Qiuyu: “Have the little maidservants bring in water!” She did not so much as glance at Jin Ge’er, who stood there looking visibly uneasy and ill at ease.

Qiuyu hesitated and glanced at Jin Ge’er, softly acknowledged, and went out to summon the little maidservants.

Eleventh Lady rose and headed toward the washroom.

“Mother!” Jin Ge’er could bear it no longer and stepped forward, tugging at Eleventh Lady’s sleeve.

Only then did Eleventh Lady look at Jin Ge’er, and said with cool indifference: “You should rest early too. Tomorrow morning you still need to be up to practice your horse stance!”

“Then, then I…” Jin Ge’er looked up at his mother timidly.

“Your father and I are of one mind.” Eleventh Lady’s tone did not soften one bit. “For these three days, you are to stay quietly in your room and go nowhere. Reflect carefully on yourself. Reading as many books as one likes means nothing if one cannot understand how to conduct oneself properly — the books may as well never have been read. When you’ve thought it through and understood, it will not be too late to go back to your lessons.”

Not only had she dismissed Jin Ge’er’s argument that being confined to his room would disrupt his studies, her tone was even firmer than before.

Jin Ge’er knew there was no hope of asking his mother to plead with his father on his behalf. He could not help but hang his head. He murmured a low response and was attended back to his room by Hongwen.

Eleventh Lady let out a long breath and went into the inner chamber.

Xu Lingyi was leaning against the bed reading a book. When he saw her come in, he immediately sat up. “Jin Ge’er has gone?”

“Mm.” Eleventh Lady nodded.

Xu Lingyi sighed. “Let us hope he takes this as a lesson.” But his heart still ached for the child. “For these few days, don’t go anywhere — stay at home with Jin Ge’er. He’s used to running wild, and being shut inside like this will certainly not sit well with him. He’s sharp as a tack, and the maids and manservants don’t dare oppose him directly. If he can’t stand it and sneaks out…” A helpless look crossed his face. “We can’t simply let it go unaddressed… but surely we can’t have him flogged on top of everything?”

“The Marquis and I had the same thought.” Eleventh Lady sighed. “I’ll use this chance to have a proper talk with him…”

Husband and wife talked about their son for some time before finally settling down to rest.

The next morning, Eleventh Lady set aside her other affairs and went to Jin Ge’er’s room.

Though Jin Ge’er could not go outside, having his mother beside him kept the loneliness at bay. He practiced his horse stance diligently and read aloud from the *Youxue* that Teacher Zhao had taught him, his voice clear and earnest.

His well-behaved manner made Eleventh Lady shake her head in spite of herself. At nap time, she held him in her arms and spoke to him quietly about Master Pang: “…Master Pang did not know you before, and you did not know him. If it were not for the commission entrusted to him by your eldest brother-in-law, why would he have come to our home to teach you?… Anyone else would have just gone through the motions and left it at that. The fact that he is strict with you is precisely because he means well by you. Without that, how would you ever learn true skills… For the two of you to have done that to him — how deeply it must have wounded him… It was truly wrong.”

“Mother!” Jin Ge’er buried his face in Eleventh Lady’s arms in shame. “I — I was wrong.”

Though he was a little reluctant, Eleventh Lady felt a wave of relief within her, and her voice became gentler: “Once your confinement is done, Mother will go with you to see Master Pang. We’ll offer him our apology, and promise it will never happen again…”

Hearing this, Jin Ge’er looked up. “Apologize to Master Pang?” His eyes were full of astonishment.

“Yes.” Eleventh Lady said. “You did something wrong, so naturally you must apologize…”

Before she could even finish, Jin Ge’er was already muttering quietly: “I’m not going.”

Eleventh Lady was taken aback.

She had said so much, and still Jin Ge’er would not acknowledge his fault.

“Why won’t you go?” she asked patiently. “Is it because it feels beneath you? Even the *Zuozhuan* says, who among us has never made a mistake? To know one’s wrongs and correct them — there is no greater virtue. It is not a serious matter to make a mistake, as long as we can change. That makes one a good child…”

His mother’s tone made Jin Ge’er feel deeply aggrieved.

He sat bolt upright. “I’m not going!”

Three words, thrown cold and flat at Eleventh Lady.

Eleventh Lady began to feel her own temper rise.

Such a strong sense of vanity at such a young age — what would he become when he was grown?

“Why won’t you go?” Eleventh Lady also sat up.

Mother and son sat there glaring at each other, face to face in silent standoff. The warmth of moments before had completely vanished, replaced now by a charged and bristling tension.

“Father already confined me to my room. Why should I have to go and apologize to Master Pang on top of that?” Jin Ge’er demanded, his argument delivered with conviction.

Eleventh Lady froze.

She had not expected Jin Ge’er to reason it this way.

Her resolve to make Jin Ge’er apologize only deepened. “Your father confined you to your room as punishment for doing something wrong. My asking you to go apologize to Master Pang is because, having done wrong, you must go and acknowledge it — to make clear that you understand this was your fault. You cannot escape the need to apologize simply because you have already been punished. Otherwise, you do wrong, get punished, finish being punished, and do wrong again. What is the point of punishment at all? One thing is one thing. You must go and apologize to Master Pang!”

“I’m not going!” Jin Ge’er said loudly. “I just won’t do it again!”

With Jin Ge’er’s words, a rumble of thunder rolled in from the horizon.

The air turned heavy and oppressive.

“If you truly intend never to do it again, surely you ought to tell Master Pang as much?” Jin Ge’er’s thinking made Eleventh Lady’s brow knit slightly. “The person you have wronged is Master Pang. If you only say it in your heart, can Master Pang hear it? If Master Pang doesn’t know, does that count as acknowledging your fault?”

No matter the situation, communication and expression are necessary. Jin Ge’er had to understand just how important that was.

“Go and apologize to Master Pang!” Eleventh Lady fixed Jin Ge’er with a stern gaze.

—