“They went to Fifth Master’s place…” Eleven murmured thoughtfully, “and came back to Danbozhai — only to start quarreling with each other?”

“That’s what they’re saying over at Danbozhai!” Hupo said quietly.

Eleven couldn’t help pressing her hand to her forehead.

Although Xu Lingyi had said he would handle the aftermath, it appeared that the two of them had still found something out. Otherwise, there would never have been such a commotion.

She rose to her feet. “Let’s go to Danbozhai and have a look.”

The autumn afternoon sun cast its lazy warmth over the tall camphor tree beside the steps of Danbozhai’s main hall. A pot of white chrysanthemums sat atop the beauty’s railing, blooming in full glory.

“Fourth Madam!” Biluo’s expression was somewhat flustered. “How did you come here?” Turning her head, she hurriedly instructed a maidservant who was standing nearby in a daze, “Why aren’t you going to inform the Fourth Young Master and Fifth Young Master at once!”

The maidservant came back to her senses, replied “Yes,” and walked briskly toward the main hall.

“I’m just here to have a look,” Eleven said, her gaze sweeping over the courtyard of Danbozhai. The maidservants all lowered their heads and stepped back, avoiding her gaze.

She smiled faintly.

Xu Sizhun and Xu Sijie had already come hurrying out from the main hall to receive her.

“Mother!” The two greeted Eleven respectfully with a bow.

Eleven looked them over. The former appeared composed in his bearing, though there was a hint of unease he could not quite conceal in his brow; the latter’s eyes were red, as if he had been crying, and his expression carried a trace of anxiety.

They certainly knew that Xu Lingkuan was Xu Sijie’s biological father — and if they didn’t know it fully, they had at least guessed some part of it. Otherwise, they would not have seemed so guilty at her arrival.

Smiling, she followed the two children into the room. They settled in the relaxation chamber by the window on the large kang, where Biluo and Yuhua carefully served tea and refreshments. Xu Sizhun and Xu Sijie took seats on the embroidered stools beside the kang.

After Eleven had taken a few sips of tea, Xu Sizhun spoke. “Mother, is there something you wished to instruct us in, coming over like this?”

“Nothing in particular.” Eleven set down her teacup and dabbed lightly at the corner of her mouth with a handkerchief. She smiled and said, “These past few days I’ve been spending time with your Sixth Brother, trying to rein in that fierce and unyielding temper of his — staying in the room with him every afternoon to wear him down gradually. Today is a day off, and Teacher Zhao has taken him to Baiyun Temple, so I’ve had some free time. I thought I’d take a stroll.”

That day, Mother had stood quietly in the doorway watching him, as if waiting for him to speak first — it was clear she had learned something. Today, at the slightest stir, she had come again… Was Mother intending to bring things out into the open with him? If so, did that also mean she already knew that he was Fifth Uncle’s biological son?

The thought flashed through his mind, and Xu Sijie’s expression became one of anxious apprehension.

Xu Sizhun, for his part, gave a somewhat sheepish smile.

The commotion at the entrance may have been enough to fool Grandmother, who was peacefully enjoying her twilight years in the inner quarters, but it could not possibly have escaped Mother, who presided over the household’s affairs and kept a close watch over all of them. The fact that she had chosen to come at this moment meant she had most likely sensed something.

The question was: how much did Mother actually know about their situation?

By rights, he ought to tactfully bring this matter to her attention. But the matter touched upon the moral conduct of the generation above them, and as a member of the younger generation, he truly could not bring himself to broach it — nor did he know how to begin.

He would stall for the time being.

Perhaps he was overthinking everything.

Like an ostrich burying its head in the sand, Xu Sizhun pressed all these thoughts deep inside himself. Pretending not to catch her meaning, he carried on from where his mother had left off. “Sixth Brother has been much better-behaved these past few days. Not only does he listen attentively during Teacher Zhao’s lessons, he even asks Teacher Zhao about the classical allusions. Teacher Zhao has been absolutely delighted. Once, when they were deep in discussion and enthusiasm was running high, he moved Fifth Brother’s class to the afternoon and pushed mine back an entire day.” Xu Sizhun put on an expression of helpless resignation. “As a result, a single line — ‘the extension of knowledge lies in the investigation of things’ — has not been finished to this day.” He then added, “Since Sixth Brother isn’t at home today, and today is the day Grandmother observes her vegetarian fast, why doesn’t Mother stay at Danbozhai for dinner? Those bream you sent as a gift the other day are still alive in the tank — we can have the kitchen prepare them.”

Mother, though she did not need to wait on Grandmother at mealtimes, surely couldn’t leave Father unattended at dinner either.

Once Mother left, he would have a proper talk with Fifth Brother to make sure he didn’t let anything slip. Living under the same roof as they did, Father must have had his reasons for wanting to keep this secret. Now that they had pried it open, it would only bring disgrace upon the elders — and it wouldn’t bode well for Fifth Brother’s future either.

Xu Sizhun made his calculations quietly.

To his complete surprise, Eleven smiled slightly and said, “Very well! Then I’ll stay and have dinner with you today.”

“Ah!” Xu Sizhun’s smile became somewhat awkward. “Then… then I’ll have the kitchen prepare the bream… Do you prefer it pan-fried, or would you rather have it stewed?”

This was truly shooting himself in the foot.

He silently groaned, and even as he spoke, he cast a sidelong glance at Xu Sijie, signaling him not to breathe a word out of turn.

Xu Sijie was too absorbed in his own worry and fear to notice the look Xu Sizhun had directed at him. He sat there not daring to even breathe too loudly, wishing only that time would stop at this very moment and never move forward again.

“I’m not particular about food,” Eleven said with a warm smile, looking at Xu Sizhun. “Just have the kitchen make whatever they’re best at.”

Not daring to meet Eleven’s eyes, Xu Sizhun replied softly, “Yes,” and actually rose himself to stand at the doorway and give instructions to Biluo. Then he quickly returned to sit with Eleven and keep her company in conversation, attending on her with great attentiveness.

“How is Sixth Brother’s martial training coming along?” He searched for things to say. “I heard Teacher Pang has started teaching Sixth Brother internal cultivation techniques? Before, I had only heard he ran a martial arts hall and never imagined he also practiced internal arts. In my opinion, Mother should have Sixth Brother focus on internal cultivation — it nourishes the body from within and reveals itself outwardly. It’s nothing like external martial arts, which just pack on layers of rigid muscle and make a man look like a brute.”

Ever since the last time he had gone to apologize to Teacher Pang, and with Eleven urging Jin Ge’er along, Jin Ge’er no longer dared to neglect Teacher Pang’s instructions. Seeing his dedication, Teacher Pang — pleased with how quickly he had mastered the essentials of the horse stance — had consulted with Xu Lingyi about teaching Jin Ge’er some internal cultivation techniques.

This had come as something of a surprise even to Xu Lingyi.

Once one had mastered internal cultivation, one’s strength would be generated from within, making progress in external martial arts far more efficient. Because of this, Xu Lingyi had specifically had Shao Zhongran purchase a hundred mu of land and a five-courtyard residence in Cangzhou for Teacher Pang as a gift of gratitude. Eleven, however, understood it as Teacher Pang feeling somewhat embarrassed by the gesture and wanting to help Jin Ge’er make rapid progress in martial arts as a way of repaying Xu Lingyi’s generous treatment. Her own concern was simply whether her son had the innate talent to cultivate both internal and external arts together — she had no wish to force him before he was ready.

Xu Lingyi had chuckled at that. “The man has only said he’s willing to try. Whether Jin Ge’er can manage it, and whether he learns it at all, still depends on whether the boy has the affinity for it.”

Eleven had laughed in turn. “I’ve heard that internal cultivation isn’t something just anyone can practice. I wonder whether your Sixth Brother has that kind of affinity!”

“Sixth Brother is bright and clever — he’ll be perfectly fine!” This, at least, was something Xu Sizhun said from the heart.

The two of them chatted idly, Xu Sizhun desperately wishing the time for dinner would come in an instant so he wouldn’t have to keep working this hard to make small talk with his mother. Eleven, meanwhile, was secretly amused. Xu Sizhun had maneuvered the conversation around to Jin Ge’er as a deliberate diversion — a classic case of feinting east and striking west, attacking one point to relieve another — hoping to keep her from probing too closely into Xu Sijie’s affairs.

She felt both heartened and a little wistful.

Slowly as it had come, Xu Sizhun had grown up in his own way — and he had grown into a child of gentle temperament and good-hearted character at that.

With him being this way… had she fulfilled the charge Yuan Niang had entrusted to her?

Eleven slowly rose to her feet. “When I came in just now, I noticed a pot of white chrysanthemums sitting on your beauty’s railing. The blooms are as large as bowls, with petals gathered together in a round cluster like a snowball — I’ve never seen this variety before. Do you know what it’s called?”

Xu Sizhun and Xu Sijie both rose along with her. Walking with her along the covered corridor, Xu Sizhun explained, “They’re called Snow Clusters. Ji Ting grew them this year. I thought they looked delightful, so I had someone bring a pot over. There are two more on the study desk — if Mother likes them, I’ll have Biluo send some to you.”

“That would be lovely!” Eleven’s reply left Xu Sizhun staring in astonishment. “Why don’t you take Hupo along to pick one out for me?”

Mother wants to speak privately with Fifth Brother. Even if he tried to politely decline with some excuse, Mother would only find a second opportunity to send him away.

Xu Sizhun looked at Xu Sijie with a sympathetic glance, murmured his assent, and headed to the study with Hupo.

Xu Sijie knew perfectly well what was happening.

He called out “Mother,” and his face turned as white and colorless as blank paper in an instant.

Eleven looked steadily up at the oil-green leaves of the camphor tree and said softly, “I still remember the night when the Marquis brought you home. It was a night of bone-piercing cold. And I… was not entirely willing…”

“Mother!” Xu Sijie’s body trembled slightly, like a branch swaying in the wind.

“People always say that blood is thicker than water,” Eleven continued, seemingly unaware of his distress, her tone calm yet bearing a quiet heaviness. “But raising a child means not only providing him with warmth and food — it also means teaching him how to conduct himself, and equipping him with the skills to make his way in the world… I had poured so much of myself into it. What if, when he grew up, he wanted to go back to find his own parents? What would I do?” She turned and looked directly at Xu Sijie.

Xu Sijie’s face flushed a deep red, his lips trembling, unable to utter a single word.

His search for his birth mother had, in the end, wounded her heart…

“But the Jie’er of those days was a beautiful and endearing child.” As if calling to mind the days of long ago, a joyful smile gradually spread across Eleven’s lips. “He would throw himself into my arms and call out ‘Mother’ with happy abandon. He would save the sweets his brothers gave him and set them aside for me to eat. He would break into a bright and eager smile the very first moment he caught sight of me… My heart softened, little by little. I told myself — what does it matter, whose blood runs in his veins? That is no way to live at all. This child is mine. I will raise him well, let him read and write, play alongside his brothers, grow into a fine and accomplished young man, then take a wife, have children, and live a life of happiness…” Her gaze was warm and steadfast as she looked at Xu Sijie. “Jie’er,” she said, with a gravity unlike anything she had shown before, “you are my son. No matter what others say, no matter what you have discovered — I raised you, and that makes you my son. No one can ever take you from my side.”

“Mother!” Xu Sijie let out a sob and buried himself in Eleven’s arms.

All the worry, the fear, the anxiety, the dread of these past many days — they dissolved into tears in that moment, and left him, one drop at a time.

—