Although the Second Madam had put in a word, it still took considerable effort before the Grand Madam reluctantly agreed to let Jin Ge’er accompany Luo Zhensheng back to Yuhang.

Jin Ge’er was overjoyed, though he also felt a slight twinge of disappointment: “Father isn’t coming with me?”

“Didn’t you boast to my face that no matter who it was, you could get along well with anyone?” Xu Lingyi said with a laugh. “This time I won’t be going with you — let’s see if you can come back having made a few friends.” He added, “I haven’t been to Jiangnan since sixteen years ago. When you return, give me a good account of everything there.”

Jin Ge’er cheered up at that, and ran off to ask the Grand Madam: “Is there anything you’d like? I’ll buy it for you!”

The Grand Madam hugged Jin Ge’er to her chest and couldn’t bear to let go, as though he were leaving the very next day: “Your grandmother wants nothing — only for my Jin Ge’er to come back safe and sound!” Then she quietly slipped him a sachet. “Take this and don’t tell anyone. If there’s something along the way you want to buy but feel embarrassed asking your uncle for, use this. We don’t need to depend on anyone else.”

“There’s no need,” Jin Ge’er pushed it back. “Father gave me a hundred taels, and Mother gave me two hundred. I have plenty of silver!”

“When you’re out in the world, having more money keeps you safe.” The Grand Madam insisted Zhun Ge’er accept it. “Who ever complained about having too much silver?”

Jin Ge’er disliked this back-and-forth. Thinking it over, he smiled and said: “Very well. If I don’t use it all, I’ll return whatever’s left to you!”

“No need to return it!” The Grand Madam smiled with eyes half-closed. “Keep it for yourself!”

Jin Ge’er didn’t argue further and accepted it cheerfully. He chatted with her: “This time we’re traveling by official vessel. Master Pang says official vessels are extremely steady — even more comfortable than riding in a carriage. It’ll be my first time on one. Before, I only went aboard once when I was seeing someone off with Father…”

Meanwhile, Eleventh Lady was thanking the Second Madam: “It’s all thanks to Second Sister-in-law’s help. Without you speaking up, the Grand Madam certainly wouldn’t have agreed to let Jin Ge’er leave.”

“Even without me, if the Marquis had stepped forward, Mother would have agreed all the same,” the Second Madam said with a gentle smile. “My involvement only made things go a little faster.” She rose and retrieved a name card from the writing desk, handing it to Eleventh Lady. “Since he’s going to Jiangnan, why not have him stop by Taicang to pay a visit to Master Feng Qianying. He’s a master of astrology and has made deep studies of arithmetic, the I Ching, and feng shui. He’s quite a remarkable figure — one should not pass by his door without calling.”

Eleventh Lady felt a flush of embarrassment.

Jin Ge’er had spent some time studying celestial phenomena with the Second Madam, yet seemed to have only managed to distinguish east from west, south from north. The arithmetic she had taught him was based on hazy recollections — nothing beyond memorizing the multiplication table and solving problems like “if there are three birds in one cage, how many birds are in four cages in total?” As for feng shui and the I Ching, she had no idea whether Master Chang or Master Zhao had ever discussed such matters; she herself certainly knew nothing of them, and Xu Lingyi likely didn’t either, nine times out of ten. To send Jin Ge’er to meet such a person… was it really just for the sake of paying his respects and coming home again?

She deliberated, considered that this was the Second Madam’s kind intention and was no great trouble, and accepted with a smile.

When she returned and examined the name card, the signatory read: *Resident of Shaohua, Xu Xiang Shi.*

It appeared that “Resident of Shaohua” was the Second Madam’s literary sobriquet.

She mentioned it to Xu Lingyi.

Xu Lingyi laughed outright: “So you only just found out. Second Brother once personally carved a leisure seal for Second Sister-in-law from precious chicken-blood stone.”

Eleventh Lady opened the name card and pointed to the red imprint. “Is this the one?”

Xu Lingyi glanced at it. “I didn’t expect Second Sister-in-law to still be using it…” His tone carried a note of wistfulness.

Eleventh Lady asked him: “Why doesn’t Second Sister-in-law adopt a child?” Thinking that adoptions generally involved the husband’s brothers’ children first, and that before her marriage Xu Lingyi had had few heirs, Xu Lingkuan had no children yet, the Third Madam had only two sons, and the Nanjing branch had already declined outright — “Is it because there’s no suitable candidate?”

“That’s only part of it,” Xu Lingyi said. “The main reason is that Second Sister-in-law feels she would not be a good mother.”

“Not a good mother? What does that mean?” Eleventh Lady was genuinely puzzled.

The household had no shortage of maids and nannies, and children under five were cared for entirely by wet nurses. She could have gotten by simply glancing in on the child once a day as a token gesture.

A thought flashed through her mind, and she suddenly remembered.

The Second Madam was an only child. After her marriage, she had suffered a miscarriage, and then her husband had died suddenly of illness… Could it be that she believed herself to have too harsh a fate?

Was that perhaps why the Nanjing branch had been unwilling to send a child to be adopted by her?

And though the Second Madam was kind to children, she had never displayed any physical affection — no embraces, no kisses.

“What does Second Sister-in-law intend to do then?” Eleventh Lady couldn’t help asking.

Whether it was the Grand Madam or Xu Lingyi, given the depth of their feeling for Second Master, neither could possibly allow the Second Branch to die without an heir.

“Second Sister-in-law’s wish is that after her passing, we adopt a child into Second Brother’s name,” Xu Lingyi said, his expression tinged with sorrow.

Eleventh Lady could not help but glance toward the northwest corner of the room.

—

When everyone learned that Ying Niang would be returning to Yuhang right after the Dragon Boat Festival, they were all taken aback.

“So soon!” Xiang Shi’s expression showed a trace of reluctance. “Didn’t you say you’d stay and keep us company for a while?”

Ying Niang had a lively disposition and was industrious — when idle, she was either tending flowers and plants or doing needlework, and whenever she saw Xiang Shi come to pay her respects, she would often help hold little Ying Ying. Though Xiang Shi spoke little with her, she had formed a very favorable impression of her.

Eleventh Lady fastened an artemisia sachet to Ying Ying’s chest and smiled: “If I kept her here with me, what would her mother do? She’s come to stay with me for several months now — that’s enough.”

Xiang Shi dared not ask further, assented obediently, and went to see Ying Niang with Ying Ying, presenting fifty taels of silver as a farewell gift.

The Grand Madam, Fifth Madam, Jiang Shi, and Xin Jie’er and others sent earrings, hairpins, and other jewelry. Only Xu Sijie, in addition to fifty taels of silver, presented Ying Niang with an embroidery hoop: “Didn’t you mention last time that the hoop had gone loose and was no longer taut? So I made you one.”

Ying Niang was quite astonished. “You know how to make these?”

Xu Sijie smiled bashfully. “It’s nothing remarkable — it was bamboo strips left over from making lanterns. Just something I put together on a whim.”

Ying Niang smiled. “What else can you make?”

“A little of everything,” Xu Sijie replied with a sheepish laugh. “Though none of it especially well.”

“Better to pick one thing you love and study it properly,” Ying Niang couldn’t help lecturing him. “My great-aunt always says: in a person’s lifetime, if you can master even one thing, it will serve you well forever.”

Xu Sijie nodded and walked away, his face flushed.

Ying Niang watched him go and suddenly felt she had been too harsh. She quickly called out: “Fourth Cousin, I’ve always spoken without thinking at home — don’t take my rambling to heart.”

“No, no!” Xu Sijie replied. “First Cousin has a point. I need to go back and think carefully about what to commit to.” Then, thinking of all the things he enjoyed and couldn’t bear to abandon, he paused and added, “At the very least, I should rank them in order and do each one properly.” His tone was sincere.

Ying Niang laughed, finding Xu Sijie quite endearing. She waved the hoop in her hand. “Thank you, Fifth Cousin!” She spun around and ran into the main room.

Xu Sijie thought of how he might never again see this cousin whose smile never seemed to fade, and felt a sudden pang of wistfulness settle in his chest.

—

Eleventh Lady watched through the green gauze curtain of the carriage as the great boat slowly pulled away from the dock at the Tongzhou River, and the tears she had been holding back finally fell.

“Master Pang is with them, and those guards were all hand-picked. He also has my name card — nothing will go wrong,” Xu Lingyi draped his arm around his wife’s shoulders to comfort her. “Jin Ge’er will be back by New Year’s. Seven months — it’ll pass in the blink of an eye.”

Eleventh Lady nodded, wiped her tears, and said with reddened eyes: “Let’s go home.” Her nose was stuffy and her voice came out muffled, but her tone was firm.

Having made the decision, she would not waver or hesitate.

Xu Lingyi felt the change in her, and a flicker of warmth passed through his eyes. In a gentle voice he said: “You stayed up half the night talking with Jin Ge’er at the inn — come lean against me and sleep for a while.”

Eleventh Lady was indeed tired. She closed her eyes, and amid the monotonous sound of the carriage wheels, fell asleep before long.

She didn’t know how much time had passed before she suddenly woke.

The carriage had stopped. She was still inside it, and the surroundings were quiet. The candlelight of a large red lantern filtered in through the carriage window, and Xu Lingyi sat silently beside her, fanning her.

“You’re awake!” he said with a smile. “Hungry? Let’s go in for dinner.” He set down the fan, lifted the carriage curtain, and said, “This is the Dongsheng Inn. We’ll rest here for the day and set out early tomorrow morning — we’ll be back in Yanjing by dusk.” He stretched out his hand toward her as he spoke.

Eleventh Lady took his hand and stepped down from the carriage, only then noticing that they had stopped in a small courtyard. It was deserted and perfectly still.

“Where are Jin Ge’er and Jie Ge’er?” Both boys had come with them to see Jin Ge’er off.

“I sent them ahead to rest,” Xu Lingyi said, leading her toward the main room. “You were sleeping so soundly I didn’t want to wake you.”

Eleventh Lady tilted her head back to look at the sky.

It was a grey-blue twilight — no moon, only a scattering of small stars.

“What hour is it now?”

“Just the beginning of the first watch.” Xu Lingyi pulled out his pocket watch and studied it under the light of the eaves.

Zhun Ge’er had left the dock at the start of the afternoon’s final watch… that meant she had slept for over three hours. They hadn’t been rushing; the steward yesterday had said they should arrive at the inn around the start of the evening watch… which meant he had been fanning her in the carriage for over an hour.

“Why didn’t the Marquis wake me?” Eleventh Lady said with mild reproach.

“You were sleeping so peacefully, I didn’t want to disturb you.” Xu Lingyi led her inside by the hand.

Qiuyu was already waiting. Seeing them enter, she quickly called for dinner to be laid out.

They had barely taken a few bites when a commotion broke out outside.

Xu Lingyi glanced at Qiuyu, who immediately went out at a brisk pace, then quickly returned.

“Marquis, Madam — it’s the Second Young Master!” Her face was bright with delight. “The Second Young Master is on his way back to Yanjing and also stopped at this inn. If Mozhu hadn’t gone to the kitchen to fetch wash water for the Second Young Master and spotted one of the guards, we’d never have known they were staying here too.”

“Invite him in at once!” The husband and wife spoke in unison. Qiuyu had already lifted the curtain, and Xu Siyu — tall and slender — walked in.

“Father, Mother!” He didn’t bother looking for a cushion and simply knelt on the floor before them.

“Get up!” Xu Lingyi said. “What brings you back so early? Weren’t you supposed to return at the end of the sixth month or the beginning of the seventh?”

—