Both Xu Lingyi and Eleventh Madam were a little surprised.

“Do you know why she wants you to come?” Eleventh Madam asked her son with concern.

“She says we’re going skating on the western lake,” Jin Ge’er said with a smile. “She also told me to come to the palace on the twelfth for the lantern festival.”

Getting along so closely — was this a good thing or not?

Eleventh Madam glanced toward Xu Lingyi.

Xu Lingyi had already reminded Jin Ge’er: “Don’t forget your manners.” This was his understated way of giving his consent.

Children never dislike having fun, and the imperial household conducted itself with a grandeur and formality that ordinary households could not compare to. When Jin Ge’er heard it, his heart stirred right away — only, thinking of how his father had been keeping him close these past days and fearing his displeasure, and seeing now that his father agreed without any fuss, he was beaming with delight. “Father, rest easy — I won’t say a word I shouldn’t.”

In handling people and situations, Jin Ge’er, young as he was, had quite a good sense of proportion. Xu Lingyi recognized this in him.

He gave a slight nod.

Jin Ge’er’s spirits lifted another several notches. He talked with his mother: “…The western lake is enormous. The skating lake is bigger than the one at our home — standing at the edge and looking out, everything is crystalline and dazzling, like a world of glass. Very beautiful.” He also said, “The First Princess told me that this year the palace lantern festival will be held in the imperial garden in front of the Hall of Celestial Peace. The Imperial Household Department has already been ordered to make a thousand lanterns…”

That trip to Baoding — Xu Lingyi had sketched landscapes for Eleventh Madam all along the way. Shaped by his father’s influence, Jin Ge’er, wherever he went, also loved to come home and tell his mother what he had seen and heard.

Eleventh Madam listened with a warm smile. The following day, she and A Jin prepared furs and padded robes for Jin Ge’er to skate in. On the morning of the sixth, she sent him cheerfully out the door.

When Jin Ge’er came back, he pulled Eleventh Madam aside at once: “Mother — that day, the person hit on the head by the First Princess’s ball was Wang Xian, the son of the Commandant of the Changning Guard.”

“How did you come to know?” Eleventh Madam had always followed the First Princess’s marriage prospects closely, hoping she would find a man of good character and integrity. “And what was he doing in the imperial garden?”

“He was originally on duty in the Imperial Guard and had been ordered by Commander Ouyang to wait near the Hall of Celestial Peace for Eunuch He. Today when we went skating, we saw him again — he was on duty at the western lake gate.”

Eleventh Madam thought for a moment, then said hesitantly: “You didn’t ask him to pull your ice sled for you, did you?”

When the imperial princes and princesses went skating on the western lake, the eunuchs, hoping to shirk their duties, would often order the Imperial Guards on duty in the park to pull the ice sleds for them.

“Mother, you really are something — you guessed that too!” Jin Ge’er laughed and hugged his mother’s arm. “The Eighth Prince did ask Wang Xian to do it. But I could see the First Princess’s expression didn’t look right, so I sent Wang Xian off to hold the starting flag for us instead.” During skating races, someone was needed on the side to wave a flag to signal the start. “Except the First Princess played for a little while and then stopped. We spent the whole afternoon in a side hall of Chonghua Palace roasting broad beans. It was terribly dull.”

Eleventh Madam could not help smiling.

Two days later, a pair of young men from the Xiaoling Guard came to call on Jin Ge’er.

“One is named Xie Yan, the other Wei Xun,” Amber said quietly. “Master Xie is the grandson of Princess Yong’an — he is eighteen years old. Master Wei is the son of the Lady of Jiangdu Commandery — he is sixteen years old. They received their appointments as Commanders at the same time as Sixth Young Master, and from what was said, they were also at the palace on the sixth for the skating.” She smiled. “Both gentlemen were very courteous, handsomely presented in a refined way, and they even brought eight-item gift boxes as a calling gift.”

So Jin Ge’er already had friends coming to call!

Eleventh Madam marveled inwardly, then instructed Amber: “He rarely has friends who come to visit — we must not fall short on courtesy. Go over there more often and check. Whatever they want to eat or drink, just have the kitchen make it — the expenses come from my account.”

Amber answered cheerfully and withdrew. In a little while she came back to report: “Madam, you’re just a little too late!”

Eleventh Madam was puzzled.

Amber covered a smile behind her sleeve: “When I went over, I saw a steward from the household accounts standing there giving instructions to the several attendants by Sixth Young Master’s side. He was already telling the kitchen to see to the guests properly, and saying the expenses would come from the Marquis’s account.”

Eleventh Madam also began to laugh.

That evening Jin Ge’er came to pay his respects.

“Mother, Wei Xun has invited me to go admire the plum blossoms in the western suburbs the day after tomorrow!” He gazed at her hopefully. “I didn’t dare agree on my own!”

“Don’t pretend to be helpless with me.” Eleventh Madam smiled and tweaked her son’s nose. “Wait until your father comes home — I’ll mention it to him.”

“What do you want to tell me?” Speak of the devil. Xu Lingyi came in, shaking the snow from his cloak.

“Father!” Jin Ge’er circled around Xu Lingyi like an eager little dog. “A friend invited me to go out… actually, I don’t particularly want to go, but this is the first time they’ve asked, and turning them down doesn’t feel right… yet if I don’t turn them down, I’m afraid of making you unhappy… I’ve been going back and forth about it, and in the end I just hedged and said I’d have to see if anything was happening at home… Father, Xie Yan and Wei Xun both seem like genuinely good fellows, and we get along well…”

Xu Lingyi looked at him with both amusement and mild exasperation, and yet at heart was still indulgent toward this son: “Going is fine — bring your guards, and do not leave them behind to wander off on your own. If you can’t manage that, don’t ever think about going out again.”

“Absolutely, absolutely.” Jin Ge’er agreed eagerly, then muttered: “When have I ever gone off and left my guards behind?”

“Your guards were sitting in the teahouse having a drink while you went and wandered the street on your own.” Xu Lingyi gave Jin Ge’er a look laden with meaning. “Does that count as leaving your guards behind?”

Jin Ge’er’s mouth fell open.

Xu Lingyi had already said: “It’s getting late. Since they’ve asked you for tomorrow, go to bed early tonight and get out early in the morning — winter days are short.”

Jin Ge’er did not dare say another word. He bowed and withdrew. The next morning, obediently seated in a black-lacquered flat-roofed carriage, he was surrounded three layers deep by more than thirty guards as they went to the meeting point. Xie Yan and Wei Xun brought even more people than he did. Jin Ge’er breathed a sigh of relief. The whole party set out in a grand and imposing procession toward the western hills.

When he came home, he mentioned that they were planning to go riding in the western hills in a few days.

Eleventh Madam was quite surprised: “It’s the new year and the water is freezing — why go riding? Wait for spring to come, when the weather is warm, and we’ll all go to the western hills for an outing. Won’t that be much nicer?”

“It’s a gathering among friends,” Jin Ge’er smiled. “I’ve already said yes — it wouldn’t be right not to go.”

“Friends?” Eleventh Madam was somewhat surprised. “What friends? What are their names? How did you meet? How old are they? What do their families do?”

Jin Ge’er laughed. “I met them today while admiring the plum blossoms in the western suburbs. They’re all four or five years older than me, all on duty at the Western Hills Garrison — some are Commissioners, some are Assistant Commanders. We all talked well together, and so we made plans to go riding together.”

Hearing this, Eleventh Madam felt a little reluctant to let him go.

The Western Hills Garrison was the Emperor’s own personal troops — Commissioners and Assistant Commanders there outranked those of the ordinary Regional Commander offices by a full grade. Being only four or five years older than Jin Ge’er, they were unlikely to be children of ordinary titled households.

Jin Ge’er quickly went to her and put his arm around her shoulder: “Mother, I rode from Yanjing all the way to Jiayuguan, and all the way back from Jiayuguan to Yanjing — and I came back perfectly fine, didn’t I? What’s more, I’m going riding with friends — the whole idea is to have a good time. Being too competitive and aggressive puts people off. Don’t worry about me — I’m just going to add to the fun.” He added: “Father was worried about making you anxious and said I could go, but only with your consent. Mother, please let me go. If I back out now, I’ll be going back on my word — who will want to be friends with someone like that?”

Eleventh Madam’s reluctance was less about the riding and more about not wanting Jin Ge’er to get too close to the Western Hills Garrison.

“Since these are new acquaintances, keep your eyes open,” she said. “Those worth befriending, we befriend — those who aren’t, we just keep on pleasant terms with on the surface.” She also asked: “Are Xie Yan and Wei Xun going?”

“No.” Jin Ge’er smiled. “They don’t ride. But Wei Xun has invited me and Xie Yan to his house on the eleventh to admire the snow.”

Admiring snow was certainly safer than riding.

Eleventh Madam smiled and nodded, teasing her son: “You have quite a busy social life!”

“Naturally.” Jin Ge’er puffed out his chest. “The Ninth Prince even invited me to be a guest at Prince An’hui’s household, but I found him always brooding and gloomy, so I didn’t agree.”

Prince An’hui was the Emperor’s fourth son.

“You’ve met Prince An’hui?” Eleventh Madam had never seen him herself. “When did you meet him?”

“On New Year’s Day when I accompanied Father to pay our respects to the Emperor.” Jin Ge’er said. “He looks a great deal like the Crown Prince, but without the Crown Prince’s vitality — he seems to look two or three years older than the Crown Prince to me…” Mother and son were talking when a young attendant ran in: “Sixth Young Master, Sixth Young Master — there’s a young eunuch here to see you.”

“A young eunuch?” Jin Ge’er was startled. “At this hour?”

The attendant nodded: “He says he is from Prince Yong’s household, and has come on behalf of the Ninth Prince to bring Sixth Young Master a letter.”

“Mother, let me go and have a look!” Jin Ge’er said, following the attendant in a hurry to the outer courtyard. After about two sticks of incense burned down, he came back.

“What did the Ninth Prince want?” Before her son could even open his mouth, Eleventh Madam had already asked.

Jin Ge’er twisted his lips: “He wants me to say something to Her Majesty the Empress — to ask if the Eleventh Prince can come to our house to play!”

“What did you say?” Eleventh Madam pressed anxiously.

She was worried Jin Ge’er might have rashly agreed — Xu Lingyi’s position was far too sensitive. Inviting two young princes to the house to play would have untold numbers of people reading all manner of things into it.

“I told that little eunuch: everyone knows my Father is famously by-the-book. He would never do anything improper. If he knew I was inviting princes to the house to play, he’d give me a good hiding.” Jin Ge’er said. “Besides, I’m going riding in the western hills the day after tomorrow, and the day after that I’m going to Wei Xun’s house for the snow-viewing. If the two of them can slip out quietly and come along, then fine — if not, there’s nothing I can do about it.”

A well-placed “nothing improper is ever done” — Eleventh Madam smiled and pulled her son into a warm embrace, praised him thoroughly, and then said: “When you go to the palace for the lantern festival, why not explain it to them properly in person while you’re there?”

“Mm!” Jin Ge’er nodded with a smile and asked Eleventh Madam to prepare two and-field jade ornaments for him. “They both love and-field jade — a gift like that will put them in a good mood.”

Eleventh Madam searched through the storeroom for the right and-field jade pieces. Meanwhile, Jin Ge’er was out having a thoroughly enjoyable few days. He went to the palace for the lantern festival, and then the friends he had made riding together had booked several private rooms in a teahouse on the main eastern street and invited Jin Ge’er to watch the lanterns on the fifteenth. By the seventeenth — the final day of the new year festivities — the Prince Consort of Princess Suiping had reserved the second floor of Chunxi Restaurant and sent a formal invitation to Jin Ge’er. From this house to that, and then Jin Ge’er naturally had to reciprocate; he consulted Xu Lingyi and borrowed Eleventh Madam’s house on Jinyu Lane, hired the four most celebrated performers in Yanjing to put on a private theatrical performance, and called it a “Golden Oriole Banquet.” Someone heard about it and came up with an even grander idea, clamoring that they must also have everyone over to their own country estate in a few days. Visiting back and forth, by the middle of the second month it had still not died down — indeed, it only kept escalating. Someone even had gold leaf applied to a whole roasted suckling pig and called it a “Golden Feast,” spending ten thousand taels of gold on a single banquet, an extravagance that left everyone speechless.