Two days later, Hupo reported back to Shiyiniang.

“The Fifth Young Master goes to the bookshop regularly and occasionally buys books. After buying a book, he sits in a private room at the tea house next door, drinking tea and reading, or goes into the main hall to listen to the storytelling. When the Fifth Young Master visits the bookshop, he usually goes alone. It’s at the tea house that he has made two acquaintances who also come regularly to listen to the storytelling. One is a young man surnamed Sun, a native of Jiangnan whose father is a supervising secretary in the Ministry of Finance. The other is a young man surnamed Liu, a local man whose father is a private tutor. The three of them do little more than share a table to listen to storytelling, treat each other to a cup of tea, and exchange a few words — there is no other interaction beyond that.” Here her tone paused. “Xiulian’s husband says that on that afternoon, the Fifth Young Master went to a place east of the city called Willow Ditch, to find a man called Liu Kui…”

Shiyiniang’s mind gave a sudden, resounding jolt: “Liu Kui? Who is this person? Willow Ditch? What kind of place is that?”

Hupo had been privy to the events of those years.

“Xiulian’s husband says this Liu Kui was originally one of the four great male opera singers of Yanjing — but he was a compulsive gambler, and borrowed so much from family and friends that they all stopped having dealings with him. The renowned female opera performer Liu Huifang was his son. To pay off his gambling debts, he sold the boy to an opera troupe from an early age. When Liu Huifang later became famous, Liu Kui went to claim him. Liu Huifang refused to acknowledge that he was Liu Kui’s son. At the time, this caused quite a stir — anyone with a little seniority in the opera world knew about it. Later, Liu Huifang’s voice broke and he was swindled out of all his money, after which he moved in with Liu Kui. Eight years ago, Liu Huifang went out to visit a friend and never returned. Not long after, Liu Kui fell ill as well, lingered for a few months, and then passed away. It was the neighbors who helped arrange the funeral. Even now his coffin is still stored at a temple with nowhere to be buried.” She continued: “Willow Ditch is a narrow gully outside Chaoyang Gate, inhabited by people on the lowest rungs of society. After rain, it’s ankle-deep in mud; on dry days, you’re coated in dust. No one goes there unless they have reason to…”  By the end, her voice had taken on a note of hesitation.

So that’s why he bought a pair of shoes on the street to change into before going!

“And what about the pageboys who attend him? Did not one of them notice he was going somewhere he shouldn’t? Not one of them tried to say a word of caution? Where were Siji and the others? To find his way to a place like that, this can’t have been his first time — did not one of them notice anything unusual about him?” As she spoke, Shiyiniang’s agitation began to build. She paced back and forth in the room, visibly angry.

Hupo quickly said: “Madam, the more we do, the worse this may look.” Her voice was very low. “There are some things I didn’t have Xiulian’s husband look into — if you want to know, I’ll go and ask quietly myself.” Then she added: “Siji is a careful and steady person. If the Fifth Young Master managed to keep even her in the dark, he must have planned it out well in advance. The way I see this matter…”

What she was implying was that Xu Sijie had long since taken care to keep this from anyone’s knowledge. If they started digging into it now, it was certain to alarm him.

Shiyiniang thought of how she had asked him again and again, and he had said nothing each time.

At this moment, pursuing who was at fault was clearly unwise. The most urgent thing was to find out how much Xu Sijie knew, and what was going through his mind. His growing thinness surely had something to do with all this.

With these thoughts pressing on her, Shiyiniang felt she couldn’t wait another moment. She rose to her feet and moved toward the door: “Let’s go and see.”

Hupo dared not bring anyone else along, and accompanied Shiyiniang to the outer courtyard.

Xu Sijie had gone to Xu Sizhun’s quarters.

Shiyiniang turned toward Danbo Study.

Xu Sijie was not there.

Hearing that Shiyiniang had come looking for Xu Sijie, Xu Sizhun was taken aback for a moment. He then took Shiyiniang’s arm and guided her to the large kang by the window: “The Deputy Minister of the Ministry of War, Lord Zhuo, has retired from office and returned to his hometown. Father asked me to accompany him to see Lord Zhuo off. But Steward Bai’s man came by just then, saying that two tea houses near the lantern fair had rooms with good views and wanted me to go and choose the better one. I was afraid Father wouldn’t be able to find me if I slipped away, so I sent Fifth Brother in my place.” He then called over his pageboy Wang Shu: “Go and wait at the gate — the moment the Fifth Young Master returns, come back and report to me at once.”

Wang Shu went off on the errand.

Shiyiniang looked at Xu Sizhun, whose smile carried a trace of tension, and felt a flicker of suspicion.

She decided to wait for Xu Sijie to return.

“It must be rather difficult to book a room with a good view for the lantern festival at this point, surely?” Shiyiniang chatted with Xu Sizhun. “And you can still be choosy about which one you want?”

“Those tea houses are very canny!” Xu Sizhun personally poured tea for Shiyiniang and took a seat on the brocade stool beside her. “Every year the lantern fair draws large crowds. Fearing to offend people they can’t afford to offend, the proprietors quietly reserve a few rooms with better views for emergencies.”

“My, how clever!” Shiyiniang smiled. “I wouldn’t have thought Zhun Ge’er would know about things like this!”

Zhun Ge’er reddened slightly: “I heard it from Steward Bai.” He continued: “Steward Bai also said we should prepare well in advance — not only to book rooms under our mansion’s name, but also to find out in advance who has reserved the rooms on either side of us. If anything comes up, those people won’t dare to cause trouble knowing who is next door…”

The two talked on, but after nearly an hour had passed there was still no sign of Wang Shu returning, nor any word from Xu Lingyi.

Xu Sizhun was beginning to grow distracted.

Jin Ge’er came running in: “Mother, Mother, I’ve finished writing my characters!” He looked very pleased with himself. “I finished before leaving the study!”

Since his punishment, Shiyiniang had at first stayed with him from beginning to end as he did his copybook practice, but later would step out several times in the middle. Today was the first time she hadn’t accompanied him at all.

“Oh really!” Shiyiniang smiled warmly and pulled her son close. “Very good, very good!”

“Brother will reward you with a yellow jade Buddha’s hand!” Xu Sizhun chimed in playfully from the side.

Jin Ge’er’s eyes lit up for a moment at the words, but seeing that Shiyiniang had said nothing, he hesitated for a long while before saying quietly: “No, that’s all right. Mother says I mustn’t casually take things from others, and especially mustn’t take things people are fond of!”

“But it’s Brother giving it to you. You’re not asking for it!” Xu Sizhun reached for Jin Ge’er’s hand. “The Buddha’s hand is sitting on my writing desk — go and see if you like it!”

“I’m not going!” Jin Ge’er didn’t move. His voice sounded a little half-hearted.

Shiyiniang gave a quiet nod of approval: “Zhun Ge’er, there’s no need to spoil him like this. He’s done nothing more than what he was supposed to do.” Then she pulled her son affectionately to her side: “That said, since you listened to Mother and practiced your calligraphy with full concentration, Mother does want to reward you — shall we have braised lion’s head meatballs for dinner tonight?”

“Yes please!” Now that his mother had acknowledged what he had done, Jin Ge’er was all smiles. “I want three!”

“When have I ever said you couldn’t have as much as you wanted?” Shiyiniang laughed despite herself.

Xu Sizhun and those waiting in the room all laughed too.

Wang Shu came rushing in: “The Fifth Young Master is back!”

Xu Sizhun’s face broke into an expression of relief, and he leapt to his feet: “Quickly, tell the Fifth Young Master to come in — Mother has been waiting for him all afternoon!”

Such excitement!

Shiyiniang narrowed her eyes slightly and watched him.

Feeling his mother’s unusual gaze on him, Xu Sizhun sat back down with some unease: “Mother, I only meant I was afraid you had been waiting too long…” He looked rather guilty.

Shiyiniang smiled and said nothing.

Wang Shu ushered Xu Sijie in.

Xu Sijie’s face was pale. He called out “Mother,” then lowered his head and stood in silence.

“Weren’t you supposed to go and look at the private room for me?” Xu Sizhun asked, his voice carrying a note of urgency. “How did it go? Which one did you choose?”

“I… I…” His face flushed deep red. He looked at Shiyiniang, then at Xu Sizhun, and stumbled and stalled for a long time without managing to get a single word out.

Sijie had never told her a lie.

Shiyiniang gave a quiet, gentle sigh inwardly, rose to her feet, and said: “All right. I came to the outer courtyard only to see how you two brothers were getting on. Since you two have things to talk about, I’ll head back now. Make sure to plan the lantern festival well — be absolutely certain nothing goes wrong.”

Xu Sizhun breathed a sigh of relief. Xu Sijie, however, looked stricken with shame, and as Shiyiniang walked toward the door, he even reached out to pull the hem of her sleeve: “Mother, I… I…”

Shiyiniang stood still without turning, holding endless patience.

Xu Sijie’s expression was tangled and unreadable, and in the end the words still didn’t come.

Shiyiniang embraced Xu Sijie gently, then walked out of Danbo Studio.

Xu Sizhun grabbed Xu Sijie by the arm and pulled him back toward the inner room, instructing Wang Shu as they went: “Stand guard at the door — don’t let anyone in, no matter who comes!”

Wang Shu acknowledged the order.

With a sharp clap, Xu Sizhun had already shut the partition door.

“Where did you go?” Xu Sizhun’s expression took on a rare gravity. “These past couple of days when I came to look for you, Siji said each time you’d gone to the bookshop. But your personal pageboy said you went to the tea house to listen to storytelling. What happened?”

Xu Sijie stared at the bluestone bricks beneath his feet and said nothing.

“Did you get into some kind of trouble out there?” Xu Sizhun thought for a moment, then said: “Even if you did, you should at least tell me — I can have Gao Pan or Tao Cheng help me handle it discreetly, without alarming anyone in the mansion.”

Xu Sijie said nothing, maintaining his silence.

“Fine. If you won’t tell me, then I’ll have no choice but to… to…” He trailed off — have no choice but to do what, he couldn’t quite determine.

Xu Sizhun was so anxious he was close to stomping his foot. He told Xu Sijie about Shiyiniang sitting in his quarters for the entire afternoon: “…Do you want Mother to be on edge worrying about you every moment of the day?”

“No, no!” Xu Sijie raised his head, his eyes full of panic. “I only didn’t want Mother to worry about me…” Then, thinking back to how Shiyiniang had stood just now, waiting for him to speak, his eyes grew moist against his will. “I can’t say, I can’t say.” He sank to the floor, buried his face in his hands, and broke into muffled, heaving sobs. “I didn’t go there looking for her. I just wanted to know what kind of person she was… where I came from… Mother treats me like her own flesh and blood — I was afraid that if she knew, she would be hurt… and yet I couldn’t stop myself… I never expected her to be that kind of woman… Father must have been deceived by her… If I weren’t… would Mother not want me anymore…”

It was all a tangled mess — Xu Sizhun couldn’t make head or tail of a single sentence at first.

When he pressed Xu Sijie further, the boy only wept silently, lips pressed shut.

In a flash of sudden clarity, Xu Sizhun found himself thinking back to something that had happened when they were young…

He stood there, staring at Xu Sijie, and for a long moment he was speechless.

Shiyiniang stepped outside and immediately instructed Hupo: “Tell Wan Daxian to come and see me!”

Hupo curtseyed and left.

Yet over the next several days, Xu Sijie went to school and came home just as he should, not going anywhere beyond that.

Shiyiniang was still puzzling over this when she noticed that Xu Sizhun had begun going out frequently.

She couldn’t help but frown, and asked Xu Lingyi: “Have you given Zhun Ge’er a great many things to attend to?”

“Isn’t he planning to take the young brothers out to see the lantern fair?” Xu Lingyi was looking through Jin Ge’er’s copybook practice from recent days, his tone entirely casual. “He said he wanted to scout things out in advance to be safe. Since he rarely shows this kind of attentiveness, I agreed.”

—