Shiyiniang had only just risen and was sitting on the kang drinking goat’s milk. Hearing that Jiang Shi had arrived, she was mildly taken aback. “This early!”
Hupo smiled. “Didn’t you tell Fourth Young Madam to come early?”
She had only told her not to be late.
Shiyiniang thought this to herself and had Hupo invite Jiang Shi in, then called Qiu Yu to bring a cup of goat’s milk for her as well.
“I won’t be going to the flower hall until the mid-morning hour,” she said with a smile. “Come over then.”
Jiang Shi respectfully answered, “Yes.”
A maid opened the window; Qiu Yu brought in a sprig of sea-pink in bud and placed it in the water-crystal vase by the window. The room was instantly filled with a fresh, bright, living quality.
Wen Yiniang and Qiao Lianfang arrived together to pay their morning respects.
Qiao Lianfang offered Jiang Shi only a slight nod; Wen Yiniang, however, smiled and gave Jiang Shi a proper bow. “Fourth Young Madam is here as well!”
Jiang Shi, mindful of the account books that had been copied out for her, dared not be careless. She stood and called out “Wen Yiniang,” which served as a return of the greeting.
Shiyiniang then inquired about how Wen Yiniang’s account tallying was going.
Wen Yiniang was not one to sit idle. After she had repaid the money to the Wen family and spent a few days confined to her room doing needlework, she had begun wandering about the household — first helping the respected matrons bring in goods from various places and taking a cut in the middle, and later setting her sights on the osmanthus trees and chestnut trees grown on the property, urging the matrons to sell them on the outside. Shiyiniang, seeing her squabbling with the rough menial women over small gains, had given her the task of auditing the steward matrons’ account books. Only then had she settled down.
“The New Year accounts have all been reconciled with the outer court’s comptroller,” Wen Yiniang said with a smile. “I’ve also tallied this year’s inner court expenses. Once they’re verified with the comptroller in the next couple of days, this half-year’s allocation can be transferred.”
Shiyiniang gave a slight nod and instructed Wen Yiniang, “Remember to check everything against Hupo’s accounts before taking them to the comptroller. This year there’s Madam Zheng’s eightieth birthday, and the eldest son in Nanjing has his fiftieth — apart from what the household affairs office will send, we’ll need to prepare gifts on our own end as well…”
The two of them talked on, while Qiao Lianfang sat nearby with a blank, wooden expression.
In recent years Duke Chengguo’s household had been falling into decline more and more. At the Grand Madam’s birthday the previous year, Madam Qiao had sent over a pair of antique kiln-fired plum vases, then left in a rush without even staying for the banquet. When the birthday gifts were being received, the matron who managed the Grand Madam’s storeroom had frowned over those plum vases and muttered, “These look just like things from our own household.” Nanny Du was then called to come and look.
Nanny Du put on her tortoiseshell spectacles and examined them at length, then pointed to the mark on the base of the vases and said, “These are indeed our own things — we sent them over for Old Madam Qiao’s birthday some years ago. There was a matching set of antique kiln teaware and a pair of square flower vases as well.” She set the items down and smiled at the storeroom matron. “And to think you remembered. Most likely it’s been so long that the Qiao household filed these away as belonging to the Grand Madam and just kept them in storage. Or perhaps their accounts are in such disarray that even they themselves can no longer tell what’s what.”
The storeroom matron laughed. “It seems antique kiln vases have become their best household treasures, buried at the bottom of a trunk.”
Somehow the story got out.
Qiao Lianfang seemed to have had the spine pulled out of her — she lost all her spirit, and barely left her rooms anymore.
After Shiyiniang had finished with Wen Yiniang, Wen Yiniang, without waiting for Shiyiniang to signal with her tea cup, rose to take her leave with a knowing sense of timing: “Once I’ve gone over things with Steward Qing’s wife, I’ll bring it to you.”
“Very well!” Shiyiniang smiled and nodded. Qiao Lianfang followed Wen Yiniang out.
Xu Sijie and Yingniang arrived to pay their morning respects to Shiyiniang.
“How did you two end up together?” Shiyiniang smiled and had a maid bring stools for them to sit on.
Yingniang glanced at Xu Sijie; Xu Sijie looked at Yingniang, gesturing for her to speak first — ever since Yingniang had arrived, his mother had begun selecting clothes, having jewelry made, and telling Yingniang all manner of things about dressing and grooming, and she had brightened up considerably. He naturally wanted to defer to Yingniang. Seeing him yield, Yingniang smiled without standing on ceremony and said, “I got up late, and ran into Fifth Cousin Brother on the way out.”
“And what kept you up late yesterday?” Shiyiniang was very fond of Yingniang’s directness — the kind that comes from having nothing one is ashamed to say. “Late enough that you overslept.”
“I was making a cord tassel!” Yingniang smiled. “Didn’t you give me that cloisonné enamel mirror yesterday? I wanted to attach a flowing tassel to it. Steward Qing’s wife said a plum-blossom openwork-center cord pattern would look best…” She gave a slightly abashed smile. “I’m slow at braiding them, so it took some effort.”
Shiyiniang smiled warmly, her expression gentle and at ease.
The maids and wives in the room all played along cheerfully, and the room filled at once with bright laughter and chatter.
“Have you had breakfast?” Shiyiniang asked Xu Sijie.
“I have,” Xu Sijie smiled. “After paying you my respects, I’ll head over to Listening-to-the-Waves Pavilion.”
Shiyiniang nodded and invited Yingniang and Jiang Shi to join for breakfast, then went with Jiang Shi to the Grand Madam’s quarters.
The Grand Madam did not even look at the banquet guest list. She said to Jiang Shi, “Your mother-in-law has read it — that’s quite enough!” Her trust was absolute.
Jiang Shi smiled and answered, “Yes,” then handed the guest list to Hupo — for it was not the case that just anyone who took the authority token could give instructions to the household affairs office and have them carried out without question. In the past, it was Nanny Du who had served as the inner court’s link to the outer court; now, it was Steward Qing’s wife.
The Grand Madam asked about the plans for the third-of-the-third.
Shiyiniang smiled and looked on at Jiang Shi, giving her space to present to the Grand Madam.
By the end of her account, the Grand Madam was very pleased, and kept Shiyiniang back to speak privately: “Zhun Ge’s wife is a good one!”
“I think so too,” Shiyiniang said with a smile. “That’s why I thought to have her follow along with me and become familiar with some of the household’s established customs.”
The Grand Madam gave an approving sound, then asked after Princess Fucheng’s illness. “…She hasn’t recovered yet? What has the Zhou family said?”
Having handed over the household affairs to Shiyiniang, the Grand Madam would not second-guess her decisions, nor would she press further on such matters.
“They say the thighbone is broken, and she can only rest in bed and recuperate,” Shiyiniang said softly. “When I visited her last year, she said a few words to me, and she seemed in fair enough spirits.”
At her age, one inevitably worried about those of one’s own generation. Though they had not been especially close in ordinary times, Princess Fucheng’s fall and broken leg a couple of days prior still weighed heavily on the Grand Madam’s mind.
“Let her rest!” the Grand Madam said after a moment’s deliberation. “At her age, it won’t heal easily in the short term.” She then instructed Shiyiniang, “Send a card to the princess’s residence. We’ll go and call on her there.”
Shiyiniang agreed, sent a card to the princess’s residence, prepared gifts, and accompanied the Grand Madam on the visit.
Princess Fucheng’s condition was graver than the Grand Madam had imagined. The leg injury was causing her severe pain that left her unable to eat or sleep properly. The imperial physicians had been obliged to prescribe sedating decoctions, and the room was fragrant with the burning of calming incense. The princess was more often in a drowsy haze than not, and her face, once ruddy and full of color, had turned pallid and gaunt.
The Grand Madam was deeply shaken by the sight. On returning home, she had Nanny Du make an inventory of her personal estate.
“If it came to it the way it has for Princess Fucheng, I wouldn’t even be able to leave a word of instruction behind.”
For a moment, the mood in the room fell into quiet melancholy.
Shiyiniang took to visiting the Grand Madam often to keep her company.
The Grand Madam’s thoughts were fixed on Xu Lingyi, longing for him to come home soon. She would often take Shiyiniang’s hand and tell her stories of Xu Lingyi as a young boy; sometimes these sessions stretched to the dead of night, and Shiyiniang, after some reflection, would sometimes simply bed down on the imperial concubine’s daybed beside the Grand Madam’s sleeping quarters.
And so it went until the third of the third arrived, filling the household with guests and laughter, and the Grand Madam’s spirits at last began to lift.
On that day everyone moved out onto the flower-boats. The old women fished from Biyi Lake and brought their catches before the guests for inspection, then took them straight to the kitchen to be prepared. Some had hooked large fish, each made into three dishes; some had caught only a few small ones, just enough for a single fried plateful. Some were delighted, some complained — but none of them were people who lacked for food or clothing, and they all found it amusing rather than anything else, laughing and joking, full of lively spirits. They went on to praise the spring banquet’s spirit of the season one by one. Shiyiniang seized the moment to push Jiang Shi forward: “It was all our Fourth Young Madam’s idea.”
Jiang Shi, through this, earned herself something of a name among the noble households of Yanjing. Whenever someone’s family held a red or white occasion, the host would single out the young woman following behind Shiyiniang for a second look and ask, “This must be the Fourth Young Madam who organized the third-of-the-third Spring Banquet?” Shiyiniang would smile and make the introduction, and gradually more social duties were passed to Jiang Shi to handle. Meanwhile, Shiyiniang herself took some free time and went with Fifth Madam to see Young Master Lu in person.
Fifth Madam had already been somewhat satisfied with what she had heard, but seeing the young man in person — tall, graceful, and handsome — she was inclined toward the match even more. The marriage negotiation soon came to a general agreement.
Cao E arrived in Yanjing with her son Wen Ge’er.
Lan Ting had gone to Tongzhou in person to meet her elder sister, and without passing through the gates of the Marquis of Zhongqin’s mansion, had gone first to the house on Si’er Alley.
Everything there had long been put in order, with Liu Taiping’s wife — who had once served Second Madam — keeping a steady hand over things. Cao E looked around and was thoroughly satisfied.
“I owe Shiyiniang a great debt of gratitude,” Lan Ting said, tenderly stroking Wen Ge’er’s head. “I can only hope that Wen Ge’er will not squander the kind intentions Third Sister has put into all of this.”
Cao E listened and pressed her lips together without saying a word.
Nine-year-old Wen Ge’er had his father’s looks but his mother’s temperament — yet he said with quiet resolve, “Mother, Auntie, you needn’t worry. I will study hard.”
“You must study diligently,” Lan Ting said with a sigh, “but even more, you must learn how to conduct yourself in the world.”
Wen Ge’er nodded.
Liu Taiping’s wife came running in in a rush: “Madam Jiang, Madam Liang — our Madam has come!”
The two sisters were momentarily startled.
Lan Ting smiled. “Shiyiniang really does have a thoughtful heart.”
Even the composed Cao E broke into a small smile despite herself. “If she hadn’t, how could she have sent us that bolt of deep red satin patterned with unbroken good-fortune motifs all those years ago.”
In that moment, both sisters felt a fresh warmth toward Shiyiniang. Without an exchange of words, they went to meet her together.
By the time Shiyiniang returned from Si’er Alley, it was already dusk.
She asked Hupo, “What is Eldest Young Miss doing?”
For the first several days after Yingniang arrived, Shiyiniang had taken her everywhere and the two of them had been inseparable. But in recent days, Shiyiniang had paid her no attention whatsoever — left her alone in her courtyard without a word to the maids or matrons, leaving everyone uncertain how to treat Yingniang, and Yingniang herself unsure where she was free to go and where she was not.
Hupo was quite puzzled by this, but when asked, she still answered respectfully, “Eldest Young Miss has been tending to the flowers and plants in your courtyard every day lately, and when she has free time, she does needlework.”
“Is she comfortable there?”
Hupo was somewhat surprised, and said after a moment’s consideration, “The first couple of days she seemed somewhat at a loss. But then Fifth Young Master had the gardenias transplanted over, and with something to occupy her, Eldest Young Miss settled down.”
—