Such a Grand Madam felt utterly unfamiliar to Eleventh Lady.

But she was someone who met strength with strength. The more chaotic the moment, the clearer her mind became.

“Mother,” she took the Grand Madam’s hand, her thoughts racing, “I am not trying to stop you. I only wanted to ask Jin Ge’er one thing.”

The Grand Madam startled slightly.

Eleventh Lady had already crouched down, bringing herself level with Jin Ge’er’s gaze. “After you’ve gone with Mother to apologize to Master Pang, then go with Grandmother to change your clothes — is that all right?”

“No!” Jin Ge’er had not expected his mother to still be fixed on this same matter and would not let go. He shrank back toward the Grand Madam. “I am not going to apologize to Master Pang.”

Eleventh Lady caught his arm. “Even with Mother asking you to go, you still refuse?”

“I won’t go!” Jin Ge’er had nothing but irritation the moment he heard that name. He wrenched free of Eleventh Lady’s hand and hugged the Grand Madam’s arm. “I’ve already been confined to my room — why should I have to go and offer apologies to Master Pang on top of that?” As he spoke, he looked up at the Grand Madam, a trace of pleading in his eyes, hoping she would intervene and keep him there.

Eleventh Lady rose slowly to her feet, her expression earnest as she looked steadily at the Grand Madam. “Mother, please let Jin Ge’er go with me to offer our apology to Master Pang first, and then he can come and change his clothes.”

Though her words were said with great gentleness, the meaning she wished to convey could not have been clearer.

The Grand Madam’s eyes went wide, and she appeared genuinely shaken.

It was merely a teacher who taught fists and footwork — whether or not an apology was made was a secondary matter.

Filial piety is the foremost of all virtues. And yet Jin Ge’er was refusing to listen to Eleventh Lady. And on top of that, contradicting Eleventh Lady in front of all these people. For him to dare act this way at such a young age — in a few more years… would he not have eyes for neither father nor mother, no family or ancestral shrine left in his heart?

The Grand Madam looked at this grandson whom she had cradled in her hands since birth for fear he might fall, whom she had held in her mouth for fear he might melt — and sorrow, grief, and disappointment all welled up at once. For a moment, she truly did not know what she could say.

Perceptive as ever, Jin Ge’er immediately sensed the shift in the Grand Madam’s mood.

“Grandmother!” He gripped her arm tightly. “I’m cold — I want to change my clothes.” Without meaning to, he had slipped into a cajoling, coaxing tone.

“Mother!” Eleventh Lady, unheedful of Jin Ge’er’s actions, stepped forward and took the Grand Madam by the other arm. “That premium Laojun Cha you gave me — I have never once brought myself to drink it. Today the kitchen has also just made the crystal cakes and red bean pastries you love. Why don’t I have Hupo brew you a pot of Laojun Cha and bring out a plate of crystal cakes and red bean pastries, and you can rest your feet in the flower hall? Once I’ve gone with Jin Ge’er to offer our apology to Master Pang and he has changed his clothes, I’ll come to pay my respects to you. What do you think?” She spoke in a soft, gentle voice, giving the Grand Madam a graceful way out of the situation.

The Grand Madam looked at Jin Ge’er’s face — tense and uneasy — then at Eleventh Lady, whose eyes held a quiet entrusting and trust. She let out a soft, quiet sigh.

“Very well,” she said, giving a vague nod. “I’ll go sit in the flower hall.”

Eleventh Lady then made a pointed gesture toward Xu Lingyi.

The reason the Grand Madam had grown angry was precisely because she loved Jin Ge’er so dearly. Now that Jin Ge’er had come to be this way, she believed the Grand Madam was more heartbroken than anyone. If Xu Lingyi could go and sit with her and offer some words of comfort, it would ease her heart a little.

Xu Lingyi had truly been afraid that in her distress Eleventh Lady might say something extreme, which was why he had gone forward to block her regardless of his mother’s feelings. But when he saw his wife crouch down and ask their son whether he was willing to go and apologize to Master Pang first before changing his clothes, the corners of his mouth curved upward, and a pleased smile came to him unbidden.

The apology to Master Pang was only the trigger. What truly mattered was that Jin Ge’er should learn through this experience how to yield and compromise. If, in this situation, he gave the answer “I am willing” even against his own inclination, that too would be a form of yielding and compromise — and as far as they were concerned, that would be a victory. If he answered “I am not willing,” then his mother was not someone unreasonable. Having seen the full extent of Jin Ge’er’s stubbornness, he trusted his mother’s stance would shift accordingly.

Now that things had unfolded just as he had hoped — his mother no longer involving herself in this matter — without Eleventh Lady even having to say it, he would of his own accord do his best to salvage his mother’s dignity.

“Mother!” He stepped forward at once and respectfully supported the Grand Madam. “Let me accompany you to the flower hall. Eleventh Lady is here — that is enough.” Then he made a show of lighthearted conversation: “I remember you used to always say that sweets made your teeth ache? How is it you’ve developed a taste for red bean pastries and crystal cakes again? Both of those are sweet things.” The Grand Madam knew this was her son’s considerate way of saving her from embarrassment — how could she rebuff her son’s good intentions? She naturally played along in good spirit: “Shop-bought red bean pastries are of course too sweet and cloying. But the kind made in our household is different. No sugar is added — only a small amount of peanut oil…” Yet she could not help feeling a little distracted and absent.

Watching his father escort his grandmother and walk away, Jin Ge’er was struck by a sense of dread that all was lost.

He ran over and tugged at the Grand Madam’s sleeve. “Grandmother, Grandmother… aren’t you going to take me to change my clothes?”

The Grand Madam sighed, her heart a tangle of mingled feelings, nothing sitting quite right.

“Good child,” she turned and patted Jin Ge’er on the head. “Be good and listen to your mother. First go and offer your apology to Master Pang…” Her heart could not quite let go even so. Her voice paused for a beat, then she added, “When you come back from Master Pang’s, Grandmother will personally dress you in a lovely new set of clothes.”

“Grandmother…” Tears circled in Jin Ge’er’s eyes, trembling on the edge of falling.

Let alone the Grand Madam — even Xu Lingyi, seeing his son like this, felt his heart go soft. He would have been content to let the matter end right there… but if it ended now, would not all of Eleventh Lady’s efforts before this have been for nothing?

Xu Lingyi steeled himself not to look at his son, hardened his heart, and pulled the Grand Madam away: “Mother is here to take care of it — do not worry…” So that the Grand Madam would not weaken and change her mind and make things more complicated. “Mother, I still have some premium Dahongpao that was bestowed from the palace a couple of days ago — would you prefer to swap the Laojun Cha for the Dahongpao…” The two of them spoke as they went, surrounded by maids and matrons, and filed out of the courtyard, leaving Jin Ge’er standing alone in the middle of the walkway.

“Do you know why the grandmother who loves you most and the father who adores you most are both insisting you go and apologize to Master Pang?” Eleventh Lady asked him.

Grandmother… Father… neither of them would help him…

Jin Ge’er clenched both hands into fists, pressed his mouth shut tight, and lowered his head to stare at the tips of his own shoes — which was answer enough to Eleventh Lady’s question.

“Since you still have not thought it through, continue to stand here and think it over carefully.” Eleventh Lady turned away with tranquil composure and went back inside the hall. “Whenever you’ve thought it through, come and find Mother.”

The door was closed tightly once more.

Jin Ge’er raised his head, and tears began to fall in large drops.

The rain came down like an overturned basin — branches were beaten into bows, and the ground was left covered with fallen leaves. In no time, small puddles had gathered across the courtyard.

Jin Ge’er curled up at the doorstep with his knees drawn to his chest, and gave a shiver.

This time, truly, no one came… It had already been a long, long time. His legs had gone numb from standing… Father no longer wanted him. Grandmother no longer wanted him. And Zhuxiang, Qiuyu, Huang Xiaomao, Liu Erwu… In the past, whenever Mother was upset with him, they would all come running to try to talk him around. And then he would go and act coy with Mother. And Mother would always end up unable to help but smile, holding him and showering him with kisses… And then Mother would turn back into that mother — the one whose eyes smiled the moment she looked at him. Not like just now, when her eyes were cold as ice when she looked at him…

The thought flashed through him, and his body went rigid.

Mother… was she not going to want him anymore, either…

As for Zhuxiang and the others — they were there to serve Mother. If Mother was angry, they dared not come, and that was to be expected. But Huang Xiaomao and Liu Erwu were supposed to serve him — how could they not come either… Too terrible. When he got back, he would give each of them ten paddlings, so they would know that coming to his rescue was the most important thing…

With that thought, his hand swiped a furious punch through the air.

As if in answer to his gesture, a brilliant bolt of lightning suddenly split the overcast sky, turning everything silver-white.

Jin Ge’er flinched with a full-body shudder and buried his head between his knees, curling in even tighter.

And so he did not notice a young manservant peering cautiously in that direction, then turning and dashing through the rain toward the study room.

“Well?” The Grand Madam, not even waiting for the manservant to step forward, hurried toward him. “Jin Ge’er still hasn’t given in?”

Rain ran from his temples down his face, yet that young manservant did not dare even raise a hand to wipe it away.

“No.” His voice wavered and trembled — had one not listened carefully, it would have been nearly swallowed whole by the sound of the rain.

“This child, this child…” The Grand Madam moved in circles about the room.

“Mother,” Xu Lingyi’s brow had also taken on a faint trace of anxiety, “please be patient. Things have come to this point — no matter how difficult, we must see it through…”

“I know, I know!” The Grand Madam waved her hand with some impatience. “I am only worried about Jin Ge’er… he has never endured hardship like this before…” She paused mid-sentence: “If I had insisted on having him change out of those wet clothes just now…” Her tone carried a note of regret.

Xu Lingyi quickly said: “If we had helped him change out of those wet clothes, once he saw that we were afraid of him suffering, he would likely only have grown even more brazen and emboldened…”

“I know, I know!” The Grand Madam’s brow knitted tighter and tighter. “I am just saying…” An intensity of anxiety unlike anything Xu Lingyi had ever seen before on her.

Xu Lingyi could not help but give a wry smile.

If Jin Ge’er still would not relent, he was afraid the Grand Madam would be the first to crack…

Eleventh Lady, too, was pacing in circles.

It had already been two hours — and still this child would not give in.

She had known he was stubborn, but had not imagined he could be stubborn to this degree. It was fortunate that she had seized this moment to correct this flaw in his nature — if he had grown a little older, with more contact with the outside world and a broader sense of how vast the world could be, this small main courtyard would likely no longer be enough to contain him. If he then dug in his heels and bolted out of the gates in a fit of temper, there would be nothing for his parents to do but yield.

Eleventh Lady could not help but feel a quiet sense of relief, and found her eyes drifting involuntarily toward the window.

“Madam!” Hupo, who had been standing silently beside the kang, gently accompanying her, softly spoke. “It is nearly time to light the lamps — what do you think…”

She had not dared so much as bring up the evening meal.

“Don’t rush to light the lamps!” Eleventh Lady’s tone held some hesitation. “Wait a little longer…”

Wind howling, rain pouring, night settling in as dark as lacquer — could Jin Ge’er still possibly hold out?

What if it backfired and frightened the child?

Caught between hope and worry, another streak of lightning flashed, accompanied by rolling thunder, splitting across the sky and flooding the room in white.

“Bang, bang, bang!” — Urgent knocking at the door.

“Mother, Mother — I’m scared, I’m scared!”

Jin Ge’er’s voice came through muffled, carrying a note of quiet sobbing.

Eleventh Lady’s face flooded with joy, and she flew toward the hall.

But when her fingertips touched the solid surface of the latticed panel door, her steps gradually slowed, and the smile on her face gradually stilled.

“Have you thought it over? Are you willing to go with Mother to apologize to Master Pang?”

Eleventh Lady’s voice, as it carried out, sounded calm and composed — and therefore felt all the more clear and cool.