Xu Sizhun returned to the Indifferent Studio in a disheartened mood. He lay on his bed but could not sleep; the moment he closed his eyes, his father’s words began to echo in his ears.
Was he simply to leave the matter of Tao Cheng unresolved…
The thought left a gnawing discomfort in his heart.
When he went to the Shuangfu Courtyard in the afternoon for his lessons, he was somewhat distracted.
Master Zhao seemed on the verge of saying something, but in the end asked nothing at all.
Xu Sizhun was the one who would one day take charge of Marquis Yongping’s Mansion. When he was young it was one thing, but now that he had grown older, Xu Lingyi had begun to guide him in how to conduct himself. There were things Xu Sizhun did not speak of, and so Master Zhao found it equally difficult to raise them of his own accord.
Fortunately, after paying respects to the Grand Madam, Xu Sijie and Xu Sizhun returned to the Indifferent Studio together.
“Is it about the matter of Tao Cheng?” On a mid-spring evening, the air was still pleasantly cool, the fragrance of evening primrose drifting through the courtyard. The two brothers sat on the beauty bench under the eaves, eating the cherries that Binju had washed for them.
“Yes.” Xu Sizhun’s brows were tightly knitted. “He was a personal attendant left behind by Mother, after all.”
Xu Sijie had seen Tao Cheng a few times and found him no different from the sort of steward who fawned on everyone he met. He had formed no particular impression, neither good nor bad.
“You can treat him the same as any other steward in formal matters,” Xu Sijie said after some thought. “For whatever he does, you reward him privately with a little extra silver on the side — just the way Mother treats the wife of Steward Qing. When there is work to be done, he does his work. If he makes a mistake, he is punished all the same. But Mother will often give the wife of Steward Qing her own clothes and jewelry as gifts. You could take a page from Mother’s way of doing things. That way, you look after him, while not giving the other stewards cause for resentment.”
The wife of Steward Qing was Hupo.
Xu Sizhun’s eyes brightened. “How did I not think of that!”
Being able to help his elder brother made Xu Sijie very pleased.
“The heart is blinded by what it loves!” he said with a laugh. “Fourth Elder Brother, you worried too much.”
Xu Sizhun nodded and made a sincere admission: “Indeed. Every time I think of not being able to look after even the people Mother left behind, I feel stifled inside…” Then he laughed. “Your words reminded me. I recall that the Grand Madam does the same — whenever she wants to give extra rewards to those close to her, she uses her own private savings. I must think carefully about how to handle Tao Cheng’s situation…”
—
Shiyiniang brought her palm down hard on the soft white soles of her son’s feet. “That is enough!” She then gestured for the maidservant to take away the washing water.
Jin Ge’er gave a loud “ow.”
“Mother!” he puffed his cheeks out, looking deeply aggrieved. “Your hand is so heavy. My foot hurts terribly.”
“It hurts?” Shiyiniang laughed and settled herself on the edge of the heated platform bed. “A child this old, still pestering his mother to wash his feet. If I didn’t give those feet a good smack, you’d have your little tail raised all the way to the sky.”
Jin Ge’er giggled and wrapped his arms around Shiyiniang from behind.
“Mother, today we went to Fourth Elder Brother’s farmstead!” He had come back in the morning, slept for a short while, and then gone to the Xiumu Courtyard to practice his horse stance, and in the afternoon had been copying characters in Xu Lingyi’s study — he had not yet had a chance to share his whispered news with Shiyiniang. “Fourth Elder Brother’s farmstead is so large — the carriage drove and drove and still couldn’t seem to get out of it. And Father scolded Fourth Elder Brother today. He said Fourth Elder Brother should not have given so much silver to Tao Cheng…”
Shiyiniang had known about it long since.
Xu Lingyi had also spent the whole of that morning lying in bed, and while there had been no sighing or lamenting, his spirits had been low throughout.
“You little tale-teller,” she said with a laugh, patting the small hand her son had rested on her shoulder. “Go to sleep now! You have to go to the Xiumu Courtyard early tomorrow morning.”
“All right.” Jin Ge’er obediently burrowed under the blankets. “If I’d known Father was going to spend the night away, I wouldn’t have gone. I nearly couldn’t even complete my horse stance.” He grumbled, then said: “Though I think, while Tao Cheng was certainly in the wrong, Fourth Elder Brother’s mistake was actually larger.”
Shiyiniang was taken aback.
“A hundred taels of silver — you could buy several maidservants with that. Fourth Elder Brother handed over such an enormous sum to Tao Cheng — even the most honest person would have their eyes turn red with temptation. And then Fourth Elder Brother didn’t even make things clear, just vaguely said it was a reward for him. It would be a wonder if Tao Cheng didn’t start using his head to scheme. And then when Father reprimanded him, there wasn’t even a proper way to punish the man.” He spoke with animation, then rolled over to face Shiyiniang. “If it were me, I’d tell him plainly: twenty taels for you to buy wine with, eighty taels for you to buy paper money. Let’s see if he’d dare spend only ten taels on paper money.” He adopted a deep, grown-up voice to drive home his point.
Shiyiniang understood her son’s meaning.
If the portion for carrying out the task and the portion as reward were clearly distinguished, once it was discovered that Tao Cheng had not followed instructions, there would be proper grounds to punish him severely. Because Xu Sizhun’s words had been vague, Tao Cheng could have quibbled in self-defense, perfectly plausibly claiming he had understood the instruction to mean that ten taels were for buying paper money for Nanny Tao, and the rest was his reward. Of course, it was almost unthinkable for a servant to argue back against their master in such a way, but Xu Sizhun’s approach had nonetheless lacked rigor.
“Who did you learn this from?” Despite all this, she was still startled by her son’s early maturity.
“Father did exactly the same when the horse farm at Baoding had to send horses to the Ministry of War.” Jin Ge’er’s expression carried a small, unmistakable note of pride. “Father gave that person two thousand taels. He said that one thousand eight hundred of them were for him to use in handling the arrangements, and the remaining two hundred were for the estate manager to buy wine with. The man was so overjoyed at the time that he even kowtowed to Father on the spot!”
Shiyiniang could not help but burst out laughing. “You, day in and day out, just busying your little head with all this odd and sundry nonsense.” Then she composed herself and spoke seriously: “You see — you knew what to do because you had already seen your father handle a similar situation. Your Fourth Elder Brother had never seen anything like it, and naturally did not know what to do. You must not let this make you smug, or cause you to think less of your elder brother and criticize him. Remember — when a husband and wife are at odds, even the neighbors take advantage; when brothers are at odds, even the servants take liberties. He is your elder brother. For a younger brother to speak like this of an elder brother’s shortcomings is simply not right. You must keep Mother’s words firmly in your heart. Do you understand?”
“I understand!” Jin Ge’er smiled with a trace of embarrassment, slid himself down beneath the blankets, and covered his face.
“Just a moment ago you were praising yourself to high heaven!” Shiyiniang pulled the blankets down, and Jin Ge’er’s face emerged. “What now — you know how to be ashamed? Be careful you don’t smother yourself.”
Jin Ge’er pressed his lips together, smiling.
Shiyiniang went and turned down the lamp wick, then lay half-reclining beside him, patting him gently. “Close your eyes.”
Jin Ge’er chuckled and snuggled his face into Shiyiniang’s arms, and fell asleep in no time at all.
Shiyiniang gazed at her son’s flushed, rosy face in the lamplight, the corners of her mouth curving high. After a long while, she quietly tucked the blankets more snugly around Jin Ge’er and tiptoed out of the side room.
“He is asleep,” Xu Lingyi said, putting down the book in his hands. His expression held a note of wistfulness.
“Is it because of Zhun Ge’er’s situation?” Shiyiniang smiled and sat down beside him. “Zhun Ge’er has a pure and good nature, and this involves his mother’s affairs — it is only natural that he cannot work things out quickly. The Marquis gave him guidance today, and he will certainly turn it over carefully in his mind afterward. Do not be in a hurry, my lord — let us wait and see first. If he still cannot manage it, you will have plenty of time to furrow your brow then.”
These words made Xu Lingyi laugh.
Shiyiniang took the opportunity to tease him: “My lord, you must not do this again in the future. When your heart is heavy, your humble consort is left to read your expression. It was not I who caused the trouble. To suffer these consequences for nothing…”
“Yes, yes, yes…” Xu Lingyi took her hand. “It is entirely my fault…” As he spoke, the smile on his face gradually faded, and the gaze he turned on Shiyiniang grew earnest. “Moyan, this household — it is fortunate to have you…”
This solemnity made Shiyiniang somewhat flustered.
“I have an appointment with Elder Brother tomorrow to go over the accounts,” she said, rising to her feet. “I will go and freshen up first…” Before the words were out of her mouth, Xu Lingyi exerted a slight pull of his hand, and Shiyiniang tumbled into his arms.
“I have not washed either,” Xu Lingyi murmured at her ear. “We can go together…”
The next morning, first thing, a young maidservant came to report that Luo Zhensheng had arrived, and Shiyiniang went to the reception hall in a state that was almost flustered — the bathing room, the bedchamber, every surface was still damp, with Qiuyu and the others occupied either in the bathing room tidying up or changing the drapes, bedding, and covers.
“Has Zhun Ge’er’s wedding date been set?” No sooner had he sat down than Luo Zhensheng asked.
“We asked the Imperial Astronomical Bureau to determine a few auspicious dates, and have already asked Madam Huang the Third to send them to the Jiang family. We are simply waiting for their reply.”
Luo Zhensheng nodded, then asked hesitantly: “Will the Marquis… not be joining us?”
Over all these years, Xu Lingyi had never once involved himself in the properties that Yuan Niang had left behind.
“The Marquis has gone to Duke Dingguo’s mansion.” Shiyiniang thought of Xu Lingyi sitting four-square and composed on the large heated platform bed by the inner room window, reading his book, and felt a faint flush of warmth.
Luo Zhensheng gave a soft sigh and was just about to say something when Xu Sizhun arrived, causing everyone to set the matter aside and turn to speaking of the handover of affairs.
Xu Lingyi, meanwhile, had been keeping close watch on Xu Sizhun.
It was only a few days after Yuan Niang’s dowry properties were handed over to Xu Sizhun that his wedding date was fixed. He summoned Tao Cheng into the mansion, and first gently informed him that he had had occasion to visit Daxing a few days prior and had taken the opportunity to pay his respects at Nanny Tao’s grave. Then he pressed thirty taels of silver into Tao Cheng’s hands and told him to use every last coin to buy paper money and offerings for Nanny Tao, to report the date of his upcoming wedding to Nanny Tao. He then asked whether Tao Cheng was in need of money, and told him that if he was, he need only come to him directly. And, in an unprecedented departure from his usual practice, he did not invite Tao Cheng to stay for a meal.
Tao Cheng departed in a state of burning shame and remorse.
Xu Lingyi breathed a sigh of relief, and turned his full attention to helping Shiyiniang prepare for Xu Sizhun’s wedding: “…The twenty-sixth of the ninth month is an auspicious day. The new quarters will be completely renovated before the sixth month. The curtains, bed hangings, and window gauze of that nature should be changed out by the seventh month. Starting from the eighth month, guests can be invited, and once the ninth month begins, the banquet arrangements can be finalized. I think the schedule is quite comfortable.” He added: “Is there any news from Yuhang?”
“Elder Brother has already sent someone to Yuhang.” Shiyiniang smiled. “The sister-in-law and the others will certainly come — the only question is whether Father will make the journey.”
“Those from Nanjing will all come.” Xu Lingyi spoke of the Xu family relatives. “Have the several courtyards at the Hundred Flowers Pavilion swept and aired early, so there will be no shortage of lodgings when everyone arrives.”
The two of them discussed arrangements for a good while. Shiyiniang prepared a birthday celebration for the Grand Madam, then the Dragon Boat Festival passed, and the new quarters were freshly refurbished.
Shiyiniang instructed the servants to move Yuan Niang’s belongings back in: “The front passageway has flanking rooms on both left and right — whether to use them as a study or as a reception hall, Madam Jiang can arrange to her own taste when she comes in. The second courtyard will be your bridal chamber. Your mother’s possessions will be kept in the third courtyard. On the new year, anniversaries, and days of remembrance, you can go in to pay your respects.”
“Mother!” Xu Sizhun’s expression was moved, his eyes rimmed with red. “Mother has been gone for so many years — I think we had better forget about that…” Though the words themselves were a refusal, his tone held an unmistakable note of hesitation.
If Xu Sizhun were not mindful of her feelings, why would he hesitate? The very fact that he could act thus was already an affirmation of her as his stepmother.
“Let it be as I have said.” Shiyiniang smiled and lifted her teacup.
Xu Lingyi watched her with a complex expression and let out a long sigh.
—