Shen Ge’er rubbed his head in puzzlement.
What had gotten into everyone?
Even under house confinement, he was only required to stay in this side room — there was no need to sit here too afraid to so much as twitch!
He was still trying to figure it out when Jin Ge’er quickly raised his head, gave him a rapid wink, and immediately bent his head back down again — clearly telling him to just go along with it.
Shen Ge’er had no choice but to murmur “oh” and follow A’jin to the main hall.
A’jin brought out a red lacquered, gold-painted nine-compartment plum blossom box and set him up with tea.
He knelt on the grand chair and used both hands — bandaged in white cloth — to pick out only the pulled-sugar candy to eat. He looked a little comical, yet somehow quite endearing.
The maids were all watching him with amused smiles when Xu Sizhun and Xu Sijie arrived.
“Fourth Brother, Fifth Brother!” Shen Ge’er jumped down from the chair.
“Your hands?” Xu Sizhun looked at him with some puzzlement.
Shen Ge’er was rather put out.
Why was everyone asking about his hands?
“It’s nothing,” he said flatly. “My mother gave me a beating.” He gave a brief account of what had happened.
Xu Sizhun laughed heartily, then asked with genuine concern: “Did you see a physician? What did he say?”
“I did.” Shen Ge’er was entirely unbothered. “Just some ointment and medicine.” Then he turned the question back: “Shouldn’t Fourth Brother be at school? What brings you here at this hour?”
“We came to see Sixth Brother!” Xu Sizhun said, with tactful understatement.
Xu Sijie simply gave Shen Ge’er a quiet smile by way of greeting.
Shen Ge’er tilted his head and studied Xu Sijie. “Fifth Brother, are you afraid of thunder?”
Xu Sijie was taken aback. “I’m not afraid of thunder!”
“Then why couldn’t you sleep?”
Last night there had been both thunder and heavy rain.
“I slept perfectly well!” Xu Sijie’s expression shifted subtly — his smile stiffened slightly, and a trace of wariness crept into his eyes.
Shen Ge’er didn’t notice.
“I guessed right, didn’t I!” He pointed triumphantly at the area beneath Xu Sijie’s eyes. “It’s dark right here. Stone Mama says that if you don’t sleep well, it shows up dark right there.”
“Oh!” Xu Sijie’s expression relaxed, and his usual gentle smile returned. “I’ve been staying up late to read these past few days!”
“Teacher Zhao said your studies have improved quite a bit,” Xu Sizhun remarked from the side. “Hard work is important, of course, but you mustn’t let it ruin your health. If your body breaks down, your energy won’t keep up, and your studies will end up falling behind anyway…”
Just as they were talking, the curtain was pulled aside and Shiyiniang walked out.
“I thought I recognized your voices!” she said with a smile. “What brings you both here? Jin Ge’er is inside doing his copybook practice!”
The implication was: if you have something to say, say it out here.
Both of them had grown up under Shiyiniang’s care and knew perfectly well how seriously she took schoolwork. After school, there were always assignments to complete. If something came up, it could be postponed, but it was never permitted to be left unfinished. Sometimes dinner would even be pushed back because the work hadn’t been done.
Xu Sizhun and Xu Sijie both considered this entirely natural and took their seats beside Shiyiniang without comment.
Shen Ge’er quietly stuck out his tongue.
Xu Sizhun asked after Jin Ge’er: “I heard he was disciplined quite severely last night — how is he doing?”
Regarding the true reason for Jin Ge’er’s punishment, the Grand Madam, Xu Lingyi, and Shiyiniang had discussed the matter at length the previous evening and decided to describe it simply as Jin Ge’er’s refusal to apologize to Master Pang — so as to avoid unnecessary complications or gossip spreading.
“He’s all right!” Shiyiniang said with a smile. “Just being kept indoors — he’s a little restless, but that’s all.” From the corner of her eye she glanced at Xu Sijie, who sat in silence, and noticed he seemed to have grown noticeably thinner. Everyone else was chatting, but he sat upright in his seat, his gaze unfocused, looking absent and melancholy.
“Have you been going to the bookshop to read as often lately?” Shiyiniang asked him.
The last time she had noticed something unusual about Xu Sijie’s manner, Shiyiniang had called Xi’er in to ask about it. She learned that when Xu Siqin and the others went to the south of the city to see Xu Siyu off, they had run into some of Xu Siyu’s fellow examination graduates. After dinner, everyone went together to browse a bookshop, and Xu Sijie had taken a great liking to it. He had sometimes invited Xu Sizhun to browse there with him. When Xu Lingyi found out, he was rather skeptical: “Can it possibly have a better collection than our family library?”
Everyone has their own tastes.
Some people simply enjoy going to a library — they feel it has a certain atmosphere.
“The children are growing up and have their own ideas. Let’s not hover over every little thing. Otherwise, why did you lift their restrictions in the first place?”
Xu Lingyi said no more. The matter was tacitly accepted.
Hearing his mother mention this, Xu Sijie reddened slightly. “Fourth Brother has been accompanying Father to Weibei Marquis’s mansion a great deal lately, so he hasn’t had time to go out with me. I’ve been going on my own from time to time.”
“And have you encountered anything interesting — or anyone interesting?” Shiyiniang chatted with him.
She hadn’t paid enough attention to Xu Sijie in recent days. Now, with the incident involving Jin Ge’er, she had suddenly been jolted into recognizing the gaps in her sons’ upbringing — she had been strict in the past, certainly, but had left the day-to-day supervision to the maids and serving women. No matter how respectful and deferential those maids and serving women were toward her, there was always a distinction between master and servant. On many things, they would simply turn a blind eye, and Jin Ge’er, seeing this, had grown ever bolder, paying less and less heed to her words, let alone taking them fully to heart. Children are like a crop in season — once the harvest moment passes, it is gone; there is no second season. Everything else could wait, but Jin Ge’er’s upbringing at this particular stage could not. She resolved to devote her energies to him going forward.
“Nothing in particular!” Xu Sijie’s expression flickered with a brief unease. “I just browse around.”
Everyone has their own secrets. Since he didn’t want to say, Shiyiniang naturally respected his wishes. She smiled and changed the subject: “Has the bookshop had any new arrivals lately?”
“Yes!” Seeing that Shiyiniang wasn’t pressing him, Xu Sijie’s manner became quite forthcoming, and his answer was detailed. “There’s a newly appointed scholar at the Hanlin Academy, surnamed Guan, who enjoys playing with stones in his leisure time. He wrote a book on the subject called ‘Pocket Treasures.’ There is also a scholar surnamed Qing who spent forty years traveling throughout the land, and died of illness last year. He has a son who passed the imperial examinations in the fifty-fifth year of Jianwu and is now serving as a prefect in Nanchang. The son compiled his late father’s poetry manuscripts into a book and entrusted several bookshops to sell it. I leafed through it at the time — it was fresh and graceful, quite a delight to read, so I bought a copy. If Mother is interested, I’ll send it over for you to have a look…”
Just as they were talking, Xiang Shi arrived.
“I was clearing out some storage chests at home a couple of days ago and found a small seismoscope I used to play with as a child.” She smiled, carrying a small red lacquered, gold-painted case. “I heard the Sixth Uncle has been staying here these past few days, so I brought it along. I’m not sure whether Sixth Uncle would like it!”
She had heard about Jin Ge’er’s punishment and come to inquire — but since she couldn’t say so outright, she had found this more tactful way of doing it.
“Clearing out storage chests?” Shiyiniang smiled and gestured to Hupo to receive the case. “Are you making autumn clothes for Siyu’s brother?”
“Yes!” Xiang Shi answered respectfully. “It will go over with the birthday gift to the Ninth Miss of the Jiang Family in the eighth month. It’ll be just the right season to wear!”
The Ninth Miss of the Jiang Family had her birthday on the seventeenth day of the eighth month. Every year without fail, Shiyiniang had someone send a birthday gift.
Before the words had even finished, the curtain to the inner room parted slightly, and Jin Ge’er peered out from behind it, craning his neck.
Shiyiniang called out: “Jin Ge’er.”
Before her voice had fully faded, Jin Ge’er was already saying eagerly: “Mother, I’ve finished my practice!”
Much faster than usual!
Shiyiniang noted this inwardly and said “mm” in a gentle tone. “Then take a rest.”
Jin Ge’er was delighted the moment he heard it. He bounced out of the inner room with a skip — but as his eye fell on his mother seated there with graceful, composed dignity, he thought of how much she valued good manners. At once his expression sobered, his smile disappeared, and he walked over with an upright, straight-backed bearing. The well-behaved, proper figure he cut stood in sharp contrast to his usual bright and spirited self.
Xu Sijie never felt Shiyiniang was in the wrong in any of this. If she had seen fit to discipline Jin Ge’er, then Jin Ge’er must naturally have done something wrong. Saying hollow things like “let it go, Mother” simply wasn’t in him.
Xiang Shi knew her place. Unless she was asked, she never volunteered a word.
Xu Sizhun simply smiled and said: “Mother, Sixth Brother is still young. Whatever he may have done wrong, I hope Mother won’t hold it against him.”
He was always generous and forgiving with his brothers.
Shiyiniang smiled and nodded, then told Hupo to hand the case to Jin Ge’er. “Your Second Sister-in-law brought it for you. Take it to play with!”
This time, with no prompting from anyone, he turned to Xiang Shi and thanked her with a respectful bow.
Truly, jade cannot be shaped without cutting and grinding. One good lesson like this, and he had become much more well-behaved.
Shiyiniang gave a quiet nod of satisfaction to herself. Noticing that Shen Ge’er was standing on his tiptoes, eyes gleaming as he stared fixedly at the case in Jin Ge’er’s hands, and thinking of Jin Ge’er’s earlier timidity in her presence, she smiled and said: “Jin Ge’er, take Shen Ge’er to the room and play.”
Jin Ge’er replied with a bright and immediate “yes!” — his voice carrying a barely concealed note of happiness — and took Shen Ge’er’s hand as they went into the inner room.
With their regards duly paid, and Jin Ge’er now occupied in the inner room, Xu Sizhun and the others stayed and chatted idly with Shiyiniang for a little while before taking their leave.
Jin Ge’er spent the entire afternoon in the room with Shen Ge’er, playing with the seismoscope.
When dinnertime drew near, Xu Lingyi returned. “How is Jin Ge’er?”
“Very well!” Shiyiniang smiled. “He finished four full sheets of calligraphy practice in no time at all…” She then told him about Jin Ge’er’s progress.
Xu Lingyi let out a long, relieved breath.
Shiyiniang brought up household matters with him. “…From now on, I’ll handle household affairs only in the morning until midday. That way, I’ll have the afternoons free to spend with Jin Ge’er.”
“That’s entirely your call to make.” Xu Lingyi smiled. “Just make sure things are properly arranged beforehand, or everything will fall into disorder.”
Shiyiniang acknowledged this, and that very afternoon carefully went through all her duties, condensing a full day’s work into a few hours. Worried that the head serving women would complain, she discussed it with Hupo, then announced the arrangement to them the following day.
Those head serving women knew how to calculate.
If Shiyiniang rested in the afternoons, they wouldn’t need to come and seek instructions in the afternoons either — which meant they could arrange their own time as they pleased…
“Naturally, the Sixth Young Master’s studies come first!”
“Madam writes such beautiful calligraphy — with Madam guiding the Sixth Young Master through his copybooks, the results will surely be twice as good for half the effort!”
To Shiyiniang and Hupo’s complete surprise, they all agreed without a word of complaint. What’s more, they promised to make sure all matters requiring instruction would be reported before midday. It took Shiyiniang about seven or eight days to smooth out the arrangement. After that, every afternoon she would do her needlework while keeping Jin Ge’er company at his calligraphy practice, occasionally guiding his brushwork as well. Jin Ge’er also became much more well-behaved — practicing his characters dutifully and making steady, visible progress, earning Teacher Zhao’s unstinting praise. Since Teacher Zhao’s praise was always specific and substantive, Jin Ge’er trusted it, and gradually began to find a real fondness for calligraphy.
—