Shiyiniang thought for a moment, then smiled. “Since she’s coming to keep me company, she should stay in the western wing of the rear courtyard.”

In households with daughters, the custom was generally to arrange for them to stay in the western wing of the rear courtyard.

Hupo smiled and replied “Yes,” then moved on to discuss with her how the room should be furnished, how many matrons and maids should be prepared, and so on — neatly diverting the conversation.

That evening, when Shiyiniang went to pay her respects to the Old Madam, she asked Shen Ge’er, “Was Jiayuguan fun?”

“Fun, so much fun!” Shen Ge’er nodded repeatedly.

He had been back for two days already, yet the excitement of the journey had not faded. Whenever anyone brought up Jiayuguan, he would launch into a spirited account of everything he had seen and heard there.

“Their city walls were this high.” He spread his arms wide and ran from one end of the room to the other. “The horizontal plaque was this long.” He ran back from the other end. “Even craning my neck I couldn’t see the corner tower… Sandstorms everywhere… We had to wrap our faces in handkerchiefs… The mutton was delicious… We even saw people with yellow hair and green eyes… We rode camels…”

Everyone laughed and listened to him.

Xu Lingkuan glanced at the hour and laughed, grabbing the back of his collar. “All right, all right — off to bed with you! You can tell us more tomorrow.”

Shen Ge’er bid the Old Madam farewell with some embarrassment.

Shiyiniang walked out with them and smiled at Shen Ge’er. “If it’s so wonderful beyond the pass, why didn’t you stay with Jin Ge’er? With your Fourth Uncle there, could you really have been afraid of being carried off by anyone?”

“It was Father who wouldn’t let me.” Shen Ge’er was quite aggrieved, pouting. “He said they were going too far out, and dragged me back.”

Shiyiniang smiled and looked toward Xu Lingkuan.

Xu Lingkuan’s face flushed red. “Fourth Sister-in-law, it, it was Fourth Brother who said not to tell. He was afraid you’d worry… Nothing to worry about, nothing at all. Fourth Brother is just taking Jin Ge’er to look around the places where he was stationed in his younger years. The Jiayuguan commander-in-chief is personally accompanying them — nothing will go wrong.”

She had known as much. Xu Lingyi would never stay behind in Xuantong just because of Fan Weigang’s entreaties to stay.

Shiyiniang could not help but feel worried.

In winter, the grasslands were short of food and clothing, and raids on frontier garrisons were most common in winter. If they had ventured beyond the pass, could they meet with any danger? And Xu Lingyi had campaigned in the northwest in those years — to the Great Zhou, he was a hero, but to those in the northwest, he was a bitter enemy with blood debts.

“Why didn’t you try to talk your Fourth Brother out of it? This is not something to be taken lightly.” She could not help but darken her expression. “What if something goes wrong?”

Xu Lingkuan murmured and couldn’t get a single word out.

The Fifth Madam, who had heard every word, became anxious and scolded Xu Lingkuan. “How could you be so thoughtless? If Fourth Brother wouldn’t listen to you, you didn’t know to write a letter back and tell Mother? You came back without a word to anyone, and on top of that, you helped Fourth Brother keep it from the household. What on earth am I supposed to say to you?”

Shiyiniang was the elder sister-in-law — it was all right for her to say a few words to him. But this was his own wife, so Xu Lingkuan couldn’t help but defend himself. “The matter is already done. If I hadn’t helped Fourth Brother keep it quiet, was I supposed to go and tell Mother? If something happened to Mother, I would be guilty of a crime no death could atone for.”

The Fifth Madam ignored him and spoke directly with Shiyiniang. “Fourth Sister-in-law, Fifth Brother has a point. The matter is already done — I think no matter what, we cannot let Mother find out about this…”

If she weren’t trying to keep things from the Old Madam, why would she have asked Shen Ge’er about Jin Ge’er when they came out the door just now?

“I feel the same way.” Shiyiniang sighed and asked Xu Lingkuan, “Did my lord say when he would be coming back? Where did he plan to go?”

Xu Lingkuan grinned sheepishly. “He’ll probably set out on the return trip in early spring next year. As for where he’s going, Fourth Brother didn’t tell me.”

Shiyiniang thought for a moment. “I want to write a letter to my lord — how can it reach him?”

“Send it to Jiayuguan!” Xu Lingkuan said. “The Jiayuguan commander-in-chief used to be Fourth Brother’s deputy commander.” Then he tried to reassure her. “Fourth Sister-in-law, you don’t need to worry. The Jiayuguan commander knows that Jin Ge’er is Fourth Brother’s youngest son — even if he lost track of Fourth Brother, he would never let a hair on Jin Ge’er’s head come to harm…”

This was hardly reassuring!

The Fifth Madam quickly cut Xu Lingkuan off. “Fifth Brother, Fourth Sister-in-law has just found out that my lord has gone beyond the pass, and she’s worried. Let her write a letter first, then have someone ride post-haste to Jiayuguan — that’s what matters now. It’s late — go on any longer and it’ll be dawn, and another day will be wasted. The Little New Year is in a few days. Wait too long, and even with money, there won’t be anyone to find to carry a letter.”

“Yes, yes!” Xu Lingkuan promptly agreed. “Fourth Sister-in-law, write the letter quickly. Who knows, Fourth Brother might read it and change his mind.”

Even if he did change his mind, he couldn’t possibly make it back in time for the New Year.

Shiyiniang sighed quietly to herself. She arranged with Xu Lingkuan for him to come early the next morning to collect the letter, and hurried back to her room.

Xu Lingkuan gazed at her retreating figure and murmured, “But how did Fourth Sister-in-law know that Fourth Brother wasn’t at Commander Fan’s place?”

Shiyiniang barely slept that night. Early the next morning, she had Hupo take the letter over to the Fifth Madam’s quarters.

Xu Sijie came to pay his respects, and noticing that she did not look well, had someone bring in a cup of warm goat’s milk. “Mother, you really should drink less hot tea.” Then he said, “The New Year comes every year the same way as always. Even the least experienced managing matrons here have ten years behind them — they could do it with their eyes shut. Mother, drink the goat’s milk and rest a while. There’s the ancestral rites, the New Year’s Eve vigil, and you’ll have to rise early New Year’s morning to go to the palace to pay court. If you don’t look after yourself these next few days, how will you manage when the time comes?” He insisted that she rest. “I’ll come to see you after class!”

Shiyiniang could not bear to refuse his good intentions. She had the young maids bring quilts and spread them on the large kang beneath the window, and lay down there. Xu Sijie watched until she had drunk the goat’s milk, and only then went off to his lessons.

“Fifth Young Master is truly filial,” Hupo smiled. “Here’s hoping you’ll get what you wish for!”

She must be referring to the matter of Yingniang.

Shiyiniang only smiled.

A young maid came in. “My lady, the Third Young Madam of the Liang Family has arrived.”

Lanting?

Shiyiniang quickly sat up. “Please invite her in quickly!”

The young maid went out and led in Lanting, dressed in a scarlet coat embroidered all over with gold.

“In the middle of the day, and you’re already lying down?” Catching sight of the quilt on the kang, she blinked slightly. “Are you feeling unwell?”

“I’m fine!” Shiyiniang invited her to sit in the armchair. “I didn’t sleep well last night, and was going to rest for a while.”

Lanting let out a long breath and accepted the tea from the young maid.

Liang Madam had caught a chill the previous winter and had not recovered even to this day. The management of the Liang household’s affairs had been taken over by Lanting.

“The New Year is almost here — how do you have time to come by?” Shiyiniang said with surprise.

The two of them had known each other since before either was married, and were both frank and straightforward by nature, so there was no need for much formality between them.

“You have that house in Goldfish Lane, don’t you? I’d like to rent it from you. What do you think is a fair price?”

Shiyiniang was astonished. “What do you want to rent a house for?”

Living in Yanjing was not easy, certainly. But between the Liang Family and the Gan Family, a small courtyard could surely be found for someone.

“It’s my third elder sister.” Lanting treated Shiyiniang as her closest confidante, and never tried to put a polished face on any of the embarrassing things in her family when speaking with her. “She wants to come back to Yanjing with her son Wen Ge’er after the New Year.”

“What’s happened?” Shiyiniang immediately clasped Lanting’s hand tightly.

Lanting smiled bitterly. “My third elder sister didn’t want to witness the ugly goings-on at home. When the child was three, she used the excuse of poor health and needing rest to move to the family’s farmstead. For the first couple of years, things were all right — the Jiang Family sent her food and provisions on time, my elder sister tended her flowers and plants in the courtyard, and taught the child to read and write. She was content enough in her own way. But ever since the Jiang Family’s old patriarch passed away three years ago, the money from the family began to be delayed again and again, and the year before last they claimed they could no longer manage it, and asked my elder sister and the child to move back to the old family residence. My elder sister thought the child was growing up and needed to begin his studies, and that he couldn’t go on living like that on a farmstead. So she went back.” Lanting paused here. “But it turned out that her husband had taken in a woman from a pleasure house and installed her in the rooms. My elder sister was afraid Wen Ge’er would pick up bad habits from watching this, and demanded the woman be sold. Her husband simply moved the woman to a place outside. When my elder sister saw the household was such a wretched mess, she steeled herself, and in front of all the Jiang family members announced she was taking Wen Ge’er back to Yanjing to visit family — though in truth she plans to stay in Yanjing permanently, find a good teacher for Wen Ge’er, and wait until there’s some sign of promise from him in his studies before thinking about whether to go back to Jian’an.” She added, “You know what things are like on my side — it really wouldn’t be convenient. And her own family home goes without saying. That’s why I had no choice but to come to you.”

After the Jiangling Marquis Yang Family had fallen, the Third Young Madam of the Liang Family, who had been from the Yang Family, passed away within two years, filled with grief. Barely out of the mourning period, the Liang Third Young Master had taken a second wife. This new Third Madam was not only pretty, but also seven or eight years younger than the Liang Third Young Master, and the young master had since developed a habit of being henpecked. The new Third Madam had been thoroughly indulged and had grown very domineering. She kept a watchful eye on Lanting and lived in the hope of catching her in some fault. If Cao’e were to move into Liang Family property — even as a tenant — she would probably be accused of taking advantage. As for Madam Gan, Cao’e had been desperate to be married off when she was still unmarried, and now that she was married, Madam Gan was even less likely to keep her.

“That house in Goldfish Lane gets refurbished every other year. Every refurbishment means a new set of furnishings. Every new set of furnishings means replacing things. There are paintings, curios, tables, and chairs everywhere — the seven rear storage rooms are all used as storehouses and still aren’t enough. It looks large, but there’s not actually that much space I can offer you.” Shiyiniang thought for a moment. “I have another small property on Si’er Lane. It’s only two courtyards and three bays, but it’s refined and charming — and tucked away from the noise while still being in the heart of things. If you want to rent, why not rent my place on Si’er Lane instead?”

She had long heard that Shiyiniang’s Xiji Shop was doing well, but had not expected she had gone so far as to buy a property on Si’er Lane.

“That would be too expensive — we couldn’t afford it.” Lanting said frankly. “And the reason I had my eye on your Goldfish Lane property is precisely because you still have your dowry household attendants living there. With my elder sister there, she’d have someone to look out for her.”

But the place in Goldfish Lane — even the four stone stools beneath the grape trellis in the courtyard were antiques from the previous dynasty. With Liu Yuanrui’s family living there, they were only there to guard the storerooms. How could she possibly rent that house to Cao’e?

She thought for a moment. “How about this? My dowry attendant Liu Yuanrui — his eldest son has married, and the whole family of seven or eight people is all crowded in there. He came to me not long ago saying he wanted to add an extra room onto the back. So how about this: I’ll rent you only the main rooms and the small kitchen behind them, and you’ll only pay the rent for three rooms. Liu Yuanrui’s eldest son will move to the servants’ quarters at the front. That way, it solves the question of rent, I won’t need to build the extra room, and Cao’e Elder Sister will have someone sturdy nearby to set her mind at ease. What do you think?”

Si’er Lane was right near the Six Ministry offices, with mostly ministry officials living there. It was quiet, and everyone who came and went was of respectable standing — for a woman like Cao’e, living there alone with a small child, it would be perfectly suitable.

Lanting knew perfectly well that Shiyiniang was helping her, but had no way to refuse.

She said nothing — she simply nodded.

—