The news swiftly reached Xu Lingyi’s ears.

He found it quietly puzzling.

His son was young, but his training combined both internal and external cultivation — under ordinary circumstances, three or five men could not get near him. How had he let some street ruffians land a blow? What’s more, those who made their living on the streets had the sharpest eyes of anyone. Seeing the boy’s fine clothing and the guards at his side, how could they have simply moved against him without a second thought? Or had Jin Ge’er been arrogant and high-handed and actually provoked the confrontation himself?

He sat in silence for a moment, then asked the maid Deng Hua: “When did that singing father and daughter arrive at the mansion?”

Deng Hua answered respectfully: “After Sixth Young Master and Second Young Master met up, Second Young Master went out for a while, and when he returned, he brought that singing father and daughter with him.”

“Second Young Master?” Xu Lingyi paused, slightly surprised.

“Yes!” Deng Hua said. “From what I heard, Sixth Young Master asked Second Young Master to find a place for that father and daughter to stay, but Second Young Master had nowhere suitable to put them, so he brought them back here.”

Xu Lingyi sat quietly for a moment, then instructed Deng Hua: “Where are that singing father and daughter now? Bring them here — I want to see them.”

Deng Hua went to the servants’ quarters and called for the singing father and daughter to come over.

The father appeared to be a little over thirty, with fine, gentle features. Though his face was sallow from hunger and his frame gaunt and bony, there was a trace of proud bearing in the set of his brow. In the dead of winter, he wore an autumn padded robe on his back, a pipa slung behind him, standing straight as a reed. He looked less like a street performer and more like a man of learning. His daughter appeared to be about twelve or thirteen, pressed close behind her father, her head lowered, her body trembling — clearly very frightened.

“Raise your head when you speak!” Xu Lingyi’s voice was neither loud nor soft, yet it carried the distant rumble of thunder beneath its surface. The daughter hurriedly looked up.

Father and daughter shared a striking resemblance, perhaps seven or eight parts alike. The girl’s face was very pale, a pair of clear autumn-water eyes gazing pitifully at Xu Lingyi, delicate and wretched, and indeed possessed of some prettiness.

“What are your names?” Xu Lingyi asked mildly.

“Fallen to such a state, it would be a disgrace to my ancestors to speak my family name.” The father appeared composed and unsubmissive, yet his voice trembled slightly, betraying his fear.

Xu Lingyi said: “By the sound of you, you are still a man of learning.”

The father made no response, only lowered his head, looking deeply ashamed.

Xu Lingyi asked further: “I hear you are people from Jiangnan — how did you end up stranded in Yanjing? And how did you come to blows with those men?”

“We came to seek a relative and found no one, and ran out of travel funds, so we took to singing for a living.” The father’s face flushed crimson as he spoke. “Those men demanded my daughter sing bawdy songs. She does not know any such songs, so they insisted she pour wine and keep them company. However fallen I may be, I am still a man who has read books — I had no choice but to let my daughter appear in public, but to have her keep drunken men company was something I absolutely could not allow.” His eyes filled with indignant fury, and his daughter’s eyes brimmed with tears. “And so the quarrel broke out…”

“The Dowager Lady has given you some silver to cover your travel expenses,” Xu Lingyi said, pressing no further. “Take your daughter and go home.”

The father looked astonished.

“Father, does this mean — does this mean we can go home?” the daughter asked her father, overcome with emotion.

The father seemed as though he had been swept off his feet by this immense joy, and it was a long moment before he collected himself. He nodded to his daughter: “We can go home.” Then he bowed respectfully to Xu Lingyi and said simply, “A great kindness needs no words of thanks.”

From beginning to end, he maintained a dignity that was stern on the outside while shaken within — and then, following Deng Hua, he withdrew.

Xu Lingyi called Head Steward Bai in. “Go and look into it — who exactly are the men who brawled with Jin Ge’er?”

Head Steward Bai answered and went off.

By afternoon, he returned with his report for Xu Lingyi.

“It is Chen Ji, son of the Grand Canal Transport Commissioner Chen Bozhi,” Head Steward Bai said carefully. “His father rendered meritorious service in clearing the Grand Canal’s waterway, and the Emperor specially extended grace to his son, granting Chen Ji the rank of Regional Military Commissioner of Third Grade. Chen Ji came to the capital on imperial summons to present his gratitude in person.”

Xu Lingyi nodded, his expression perfectly calm. “What did the Shuntian Prefecture say?”

“They arrived after the brawl was already over,” Head Steward Bai said. “They said they saw nothing.” He added, “The Five-Ward Constabulary says they arrived even later than the Shuntian Prefecture.”

Xu Lingyi burst into laughter, gave a wave of his hand, and said: “Understood.”

Head Steward Bai, rather than withdrawing as he usually did, lingered with a look of hesitation on his face.

“Is there something else?” Xu Lingyi said pleasantly.

Head Steward Bai wavered for a moment, then said quietly: “My Lord, do you think it might be worth having a word with the Shuntian Prefecture? Sixth Young Master’s temper may be a little rash, but anyone witnessing such a scene would surely be moved to righteous anger… and after all, it was still a good deed he did…”

Xu Lingyi neither agreed nor disagreed, but instead said abruptly: “After the new year, the head steward in Shanxi will be sixty-three. He brought up the matter of retirement again this year. You discuss it with Sizhun and draw up a few candidates for me to review. Let’s have the new head steward for Shanxi settled before spring.”

Head Steward Bai understood that Xu Lingyi was signaling him to let the matter drop, and answered respectfully at once: “I’ll go discuss it with Fourth Young Master right away.”

Xu Lingyi said nothing further.

After Head Steward Bai had gone, he stood with his hands clasped behind his back, gazing at the snow beyond the latticed window for a long while, before finally returning to the inner rooms.

“Where is Jin Ge’er?” he asked about his son the moment he sat down.

Eleventh Madam took the hot tea offered by a young maid and set it at Xu Lingyi’s side. “He said someone was still making trouble for that singing father and daughter, and wanted to personally escort them out of the city.” She settled beside Xu Lingyi. “But I always feel something is off. Knowing Jin Ge’er’s temperament, if he had rescued someone, he would most likely have tossed them some silver and left the rest to his attendants. Yet this time he went out of his way to bring that father and daughter back to the mansion because they had nowhere to stay.” She shook her head. “No matter how I think about it, it doesn’t feel like his way of doing things. And then there’s Siyu — always so steady, yet on his very first day back, he clearly knew the Dowager Lady would be holding a welcoming banquet for him, and still spent the entire night away because of a classmate…” She looked at Xu Lingyi with a trace of worry. “My Lord, could there be something behind all of this?”

“It’s the new year, the children are all home, a rare occasion for the whole family to be together — stop letting your imagination run wild.” Xu Lingyi smiled. “Go and change your clothes. Let’s go to Mother’s for dinner.”

Could I be too sensitive?

The thought flickered and was gone.

Eleventh Madam went to change, and together they went to the Dowager Lady’s quarters.

Everyone was already gathered except for Xu Siyu and Jin Ge’er.

“These two children — I told them to come back early. How is it they’re still not here at this hour?” the Dowager Lady murmured.

“Grandmother, Sixth Brother is worried that the other party won’t let the matter rest.” No one had spoken yet when Xu Sijie, who rarely offered his opinion, suddenly smiled. “Seeing a thing through to the end — Sixth Brother is only making sure the good deed is done properly. As for Second Brother, with the new year almost here and him having traveled from so far away, someone clearly came to him with an urgent matter. Second Brother couldn’t very well just leave it unattended.”

Everyone’s gaze fell on Xu Sijie.

The Dowager Lady simply nodded: “You’re right about that.”

Ying Niang noticed that Xu Lingyi’s gaze had cut sharply toward Xu Sijie.

Her heart hammered wildly.

Had Father-in-law seen through something?

“Grandmother,” she quickly moved to the Dowager Lady’s side. “You mentioned before that you’d like to embroider a spectacle case. I made one in green trailing-vine blossoms and one in crimson spray-branch blossoms — which do you prefer, the green or the red?”

“Both are lovely, both are lovely.” The Dowager Lady smiled. “Though your mother-in-law made me one in deep sapphire blue with all-over gold — truly beautiful.” With that, she had a maidservant fetch it, and proudly presented it to Ying Niang. “Look — isn’t it lovely?”

Ying Niang was just about to offer her admiration when Xu Siyu and Jin Ge’er came through the door one after the other.

The Dowager Lady immediately forgot all about the spectacle case, beckoned them both over eagerly, and took Jin Ge’er’s hand. “Have you seen the people off? Did you get too cold?” She also asked Xu Siyu: “Have you finished your business?”

The two answered at the same moment — one saying “They’ve been seen off” and the other “It’s all taken care of.”

Xu Lingyi rose to his feet: “Then let’s eat.” He stepped forward and offered his arm to the Dowager Lady.

Everyone clustered around the two of them as they made their way to the east side room.

Xu Sizhun pulled Xu Sijie aside and asked in a low voice: “What happened? Why were you covering for Second Brother and Sixth Brother?”

“I’ll tell you later!” Xu Sijie answered quickly.

Xu Sizhun asked no more questions. When the meal was over and everyone moved to the west side room for tea, Xu Sizhun and Xu Sijie fell behind as if by unspoken agreement.

“I can’t tell Fourth Brother right now,” Xu Sijie said quietly. “Let me ask Second Brother and Sixth Brother first — if they agree, I’ll tell you.”

Xu Sijie had never spoken ill of others behind their backs, and was genuinely faithful and trustworthy with people. Xu Sizhun greatly admired this quality in him.

“Very well.” He asked nothing further, but while everyone chatted about their plans for the new year, his attention kept drifting to Xu Siyu and Jin Ge’er.

Halfway through the tea, Xu Siyu rose and excused himself to use the privy. A moment later, Jin Ge’er followed him out.

“How did it go?” Xu Siyu waited for Jin Ge’er around the corner by the side room. “What did Fifth Uncle say?”

“Fifth Uncle laughed at me thoroughly.” Jin Ge’er looked a little abashed. “He said there’s no need for all this fuss. If the Shuntian Prefecture can’t trace anything, so be it. If they do trace it, and no innocent parties were harmed, then it’s a situation where neither family can afford to offend the other — they would have no choice but to turn a blind eye. There’s no need for us to find anyone to smooth things over; doing so would only startle a snake in the grass and show weakness at the same time. He told us to stop worrying, carry on as normal, and deal with things if they come up.”

Xu Siyu scratched his head in spite of himself. “That feels far too passive. Right now we’re in the dark and they’re in the open — we have every advantage. We can’t just sit here and let them find their way to our door.”

“I was thinking the same thing!” Jin Ge’er said in a low voice, conspiring with Xu Siyu. “Second Brother, what do you think — should I send in a request to enter the palace tomorrow?” He added, “I’ve been helping the First Princess assess the candidates these past few days, so I should report the results of my assessments to her.”

“That’s a good idea, a very good idea,” Xu Siyu said with a smile. “You can say that because of the beating from Chen Ji, you have a visible wound on your face. Although you managed to come up with a story to explain it away, you might not be able to move about as freely as before for some time. The First Princess is sure to ask you exactly what happened — just tell her the full truth.” He added, “It would be best to let Prince Yong know about the Bureau Director’s nephew as well. With Prince Yong involved, it would be far more effective than what you could manage on your own.”

Jin Ge’er gave a nod.

Seeing that Jin Ge’er was no longer insisting on handling the First Princess’s affairs himself, Xu Siyu let out a breath of relief.

Jin Ge’er asked Xu Siyu: “Those singing father and daughter won’t give us away, will they?”

“They won’t.” Now that Jin Ge’er had agreed, Xu Siyu felt the weight lift from his shoulders. “Their misfortune was real and true. The only thing that changed is that the person who rescued them is you instead of Fang Ji. You can rest easy.”

With matters resolved, a lightness spread across Jin Ge’er’s brow.

“Second Brother, you go in first. Two of us disappearing at the same time — better not let them notice anything.”

“Alright. Come back inside soon — it’s very cold out here.”

Jin Ge’er nodded, lingered outside for about half a cup of tea’s worth of time, and then went back in.

—