Xu Lingyi laid out the three conditions.

Jin Ge’er scrunched up his little face, thinking it over. “I cannot reveal my identity — but can I bring someone to help me? A single tree cannot make a forest, after all!”

“That is fine. When you go to Jiayuguan, you may take Master Pang and the others with you.” Xu Lingyi smiled. “However, after two years, you may only take one person with you. During these two years, think carefully about whom you want at your side.”

Jin Ge’er nodded, his expression growing somewhat serious. He continued: “Changing garrisons every three years — how many garrisons will I need to rotate through?”

“Three.” Xu Lingyi said. “You must know the endless yellow sands, and also know the vast mountains. Your final post will be in Huguang.”

Huguang had the Miao people.

Jin Ge’er counted on his fingers. “Would that not take eleven years?”

“What? Do you think that is too long?” Xu Lingyi smiled. “I think it is too short. I am planning that once you have rotated through the three garrisons, you would spend some time as a clerk at the Five Military Commissions. Only by standing at a great height can you see far. When you understand how things work at the bottom, and then look at the broader picture from above, you will not lose your bearings when you find yourself in the thick of it.”

Jin Ge’er let his shoulders droop. “Then — then how long before I can become a commander?”

“That depends on your fortune.” Xu Lingyi said. “Fifteen or sixteen years at the earliest, twenty-five or twenty-six at the most.” Then he said gravely: “Jin Ge’er, wanting to become a commander is a fine ambition — but you must also know whether you are capable of bearing it. It is like having the strength of fifty jin, yet insisting on lifting a stone block of a hundred. At first, you can strain to hold on, but after a while, you can only let go. If you are clever, the stone block falls to the side and merely leaves a great pit in the ground — but if you are not careful, that stone block may well come down on your own foot. You must think carefully.”

Jin Ge’er grinned. “Father, don’t worry. I am not the sort to suffer punishment for the sake of appearances.”

Xu Lingyi could not suppress a laugh.

When had his son ever been complaining about the length of time — he had clearly been haggling with him all along. And he had fallen for it. As they say, concern breeds confusion.

He thought this idly to himself and asked Jin Ge’er: “Do you have any other questions?”

“Yes, yes, yes.” Jin Ge’er smiled. “Securing a post — do gatekeeping and storehouse-keeping count?”

“They do not.” Xu Lingyi smiled. “The minimum would be something like a standard-bearer.” Then he added: “Only you could think of gatekeeping and storehouse-keeping — those positions are reserved for aging, infirm old military household men.”

Jin Ge’er rubbed his head and smiled, then said loudly: “Father! Then it is settled. If I meet your conditions… you must not block me from going to Jiayuguan.”

Even at this point, Xu Lingyi kept something in reserve. “Becoming a commander is fine — but whether it will be Jiayuguan specifically, that is harder to say. These things depend on circumstance as well, do they not? Just because you want to be the commander of Jiayuguan, would we drag out the sitting commander and send him home to retire? You want to pacify the four seas — but do others not hold the same ambition?”

Jin Ge’er thought of the passionate, spirited moments when he had stood on the walls of Jiayuguan on his western trip, looking out across the pass — inside and outside — and nodded earnestly: “Father, I understand. If there is no vacancy, I will not do anything rash.”

Which was to say: if there was a vacancy, he would fight for it.

Xu Lingyi smiled. “Then it is agreed. After the third day of the third month, you will set out. Spend these next few days at home making your preparations. On the Jiayuguan side, I need to send word ahead, and there is also the matter of your grandmother…” At these words, he could not help furrowing his brow.

The Grand Dowager’s spirits had been declining more and more with each passing year, and the more her spirits declined, the more she depended on those around her. She had never once asked where he was going before, yet now she asked after him every few hours. In addition to paying his morning and evening respects, he now took his midday meal with the Grand Dowager as well. If the Grand Dowager learned that Jin Ge’er was leaving for Jiayuguan, he feared she would refuse to consent no matter how much he pleaded.

After seeing his son off, Xu Lingyi paced back and forth in the study.

He had managed, with considerable effort, to persuade Shi’er Niang — now he faced the Grand Dowager. Having Shi’er Niang speak to the Grand Dowager would not do. It was not that she lacked the words — it was that her heart was surely still full of sorrow, and asking her to go and persuade the Grand Dowager on top of that would only be adding frost to snow.

As he thought this through, a certain person came to mind.

Xu Lingyi went at once to the Grand Dowager’s quarters.

The Second Madam was reading aloud from a Buddhist sutra to the Grand Dowager.

Her voice was gentle and unhurried, and the Grand Dowager very soon closed her eyes.

The corners of the Second Madam’s mouth curved upward. Without reducing her voice, she read through another page before softly laying the book down on the pillow.

Jie Xiang, who had slipped in behind her and had been standing to the side with bated breath ever since, made gestures toward the Second Madam to tell her someone outside was asking for her.

The Second Madam gave a slight nod, quietly straightened the Grand Dowager’s quilt, and then walked out.

“My lord?”

Seeing Xu Lingyi standing with his hands clasped behind him in the hall, she could not help looking somewhat surprised.

Xu Lingyi smiled ruefully. “Second Sister-in-law, there is something I would like to ask for your help with.”

The Second Madam made no reply, but after a moment’s thought said softly: “Is it about Jin Ge’er?”

Xu Lingyi was somewhat taken aback.

The Second Madam smiled. “I have been calculating the timing. It seemed about right.” Then, turning passive into active, she moved toward the reception room to the east. “Let us speak over here.”

Xu Lingyi nodded and followed the Second Madam into the eastern side chamber.

On the third day of the third month in the eighteenth year of the Yonghe reign, the Marquis Yongping household appeared no different in the eyes of the ordinary manservants and maids. The Fourth Young Mistress, as mistress-heir, presided over the spring banquet. She did not dazzle as she had the very first time she hosted the spring banquet, but carried on the manner and customs of the two years before — hosting the banquet in the flower hall, strolling through the rear garden to view the scenery, and inviting a celebrated performer to sing at home. Only this year, the matter of decorating the garden was handed to the Fifth Young Mistress, who had erected flower pavilions and, together with Ji Ting’s wife, constructed a flower mountain — the scenery was more worth seeing than in years past.

Yet in the eyes of the higher-ranking stewards, subtle changes had taken place.

First there was the Second Young Mistress — the Fourth Madam had her take her daughter to Le’an to look after the Second Young Master. Then there was the Fifth Young Mistress, managing the household’s flowers and plants together with Ji Ting’s wife. In any other household, overseeing flowers and plants was flowers and plants — nothing remarkable. But their household happened to have one of the finest hothouses to be found anywhere, and a capable man like Ji Ting, and a mistress like the Fourth Madam who was so fond of tending to things herself. Only someone she truly liked would be given responsibility over the flowers and plants. The household’s expenditure on flowers and plants sometimes exceeded even that of the needlework room. Finally, there was the Sixth Young Master — they said that reading ten thousand books is no match for traveling ten thousand li. Having completed his studies of the Elementary Learning and the Analects, he was said to be setting out to travel and see the world. His first destination was the Xuantong commandery. Others might not know it, but the stewards of the Xu household were well aware of the deference with which commanders across the various provinces treated the Xu family, and that when disputes arose, the Xu family did not go to the provincial administration, but to the military commander or garrison commander.

Seeing all this, many people could not sit still. Not only did they draw closer to Steward Bai, they also drew closer to Wan Da Xian.

Steward Bai remained his customary, unruffled self: “Whatever arrangements the Marquis makes — does he need to inform me beforehand? It is more important to do the task before you well. The higher you reach for, the more careful you must be about how far you fall.”

Wan Da Xian remained his usual stolid, plain-spoken self: “All I heard was that we need to pack a few more years’ worth of winter clothes for Chang An and Chang Shun — spring comes late over there.”

Everyone was left puzzled, and an unsettled air came over the household.

Over the past two years, Shi’er Niang had handed most of the household affairs over to Jiang Shi. Jiang Shi was the first to sense it.

Since that time when Shi’er Niang had “enlightened” her, she had never again spoken of the Xu household’s affairs to her own family. Even when her eldest sister-in-law asked privately on several occasions, she insisted there was nothing to report. Particularly when she caught the occasional flicker of disappointment on her eldest sister-in-law’s face, she felt all the more guarded, and was even less inclined to say anything.

Her father-in-law was in good health; her mother-in-law was still in the prime of her years. To speak of what lay ahead was too soon by far. Now, with these developments in the household, she ought by rights to make an example of someone to suppress the lot of them. But she had the name of mistress of the household without the substance — in the inner household, whether the high-ranking steward matrons or the senior maids in various quarters, all were her mother-in-law’s people. With her mother-in-law’s backing, not a single one of them dared to defy her — but when it came to her Sixth Uncle-in-law, she had no idea what her mother-in-law was thinking and could not venture to probe the matter. If she were to assert her authority and her mother-in-law pulled the rug from beneath her, the loss of face would be the smaller matter — she feared those steward matrons would never look up to her again. Yet if she let things go on like this, the household would likely descend into disorder.

She wanted to find someone to talk it over with.

Her husband — at the thought of Xu Sizhun’s careless, indifferent manner, she wilted before she had even opened her mouth, as though nipped by frost. He would probably say, “You are overthinking it. Mother handles these matters. You just need to follow Mother’s lead when the time comes.”

Nanny Yuan Bao Zhu — she was a companion-maid, and however great her abilities, without the support of her mistress, she could not take a single step.

Her eldest sister-in-law — her heart stirred at the thought. The two of them got along well, and Fang Shi was discreet.

At this, she called loudly for Bao Zhu to come in. “Prepare the carriage. I am going to San Jing Alley to see the First Young Mistress.”

Bao Zhu went at once.

On the way out, she ran into Ying Niang and Ji Ting’s wife, who were leading a group of rough-work matrons bringing flowers and plants to Ying Niang’s quarters.

“What an unfortunate time!” Ying Niang smiled. “I was just about to ask Fourth Sister-in-law how she would like the flowers arranged!”

Jiang Shi smiled. “You are the expert in these matters, Fifth Sister-in-law. You decide for me.”

Ying Niang smiled: “Then I will decide for Fourth Sister-in-law!” She laughed broadly and truly did add a couple of flower stands to her reception room — one with bamboo orchid, and one holding a fish tank — which lent the room a pleasant, lively air.

Xu Sijie then chided her: “Everyone has their own tastes. You should not move other people’s things about.”

Ying Niang was unconcerned: “It is just a decoration. If she likes it, she can keep it a few more days; if not, she can swap it out.”

Xu Sijie smiled slightly, watching Ying Niang’s bright smile, and thought of how she had secretly made him a spring robe that she had only brought out to give him on the third of the third month — and his heart went soft and warm. Gently he said: “Eldest Sister-in-law is the mistress-heir’s wife. In time she will be presiding over the entire household. If she has no authority at all, how will she manage those steward matrons?”

“I know!” Ying Niang placed a small pot of sunflowers on her own windowsill and turned to Xu Sijie: “Second Sister-in-law is a very kind person. When I first married into the household, my bridal sedan jolted me about terribly — she quietly slipped me a bottle of jasmine dew.” At this point she smiled. “She also told me that when she first married in, it was Mother who slipped her the flower dew.”

“Really!” A husband always hopes his sisters-in-law get along well, and upon hearing this, he immediately put on an expression of great interest. “So that actually happened — why did you never tell me? And did Mother slip flower dew to you too?”

“You were so busy then… you didn’t have any thought to spare for how I was doing…” Ying Niang flushed and could not continue.

Xu Sijie’s face also flushed crimson. He looked about him, searching for something to say: “Right — Sixth Brother is about to set out. What do you think we should send him as a gift…”

—