“Elder Brother knows,” said Shiyiniang with a sigh. “There are things Elder Brother himself told me — he asked me to speak to Fifth Sister. I’ve also tried to broach the subject with her indirectly, but Fifth Sister only says that Zhuotao had served Xin Ge’er since childhood and he can’t part with her for the time being. Since she’s been delayed in years and can no longer easily make a match, and since she herself is seldom in Wendeng, she let Fifth Brother-in-Law take Zhuotao in. As for the matter of Zhao Sheng, she says there was no suitable person to be had, and that Zhao Sheng at least came from our household and is a known quantity — better him than a stranger.”

“How could Fifth Sister do this?” Without waiting for Shiyiniang to finish, Twelfth Sister had already spoken. “We’re family — what is there to hide? How can we help her if she acts this way?” She paused, then said with a helpless air, “But Fifth Sister always cared greatly about her reputation even back when we were at home together, and we are only younger sisters after all…”

“Quite so,” said Shiyiniang. “I had no choice but to relay everything Fifth Sister said, word for word, to Elder Brother. Elder Brother also had no recourse — he said even a lawsuit needs a plaintiff to come forward, and if there is no plaintiff, are we to overstep and interfere ourselves?”

The two sisters faced each other in silence.

“Enough — let’s not speak of this any further,” said Shiyiniang. “Household affairs are impossible to arbitrate clearly. Fifth Sister is about to receive a daughter-in-law — how she wishes to live her life is her own concern and arrangement. You’ve made a rare trip out — stay for the evening meal before you go.”

Twelfth Sister let out a long breath and put the matter from her mind for the time being.

“How is Ying Niang?” she asked with a smile. “The last time I saw her was at Zhuang Ge’er’s one-year celebration!”

“Very well.” Shiyiniang smiled and sent Leng Xiang to ask Ying Niang to come and keep them company. “Zhuang Ge’er can walk around now and runs all over the place. She follows him about every day without daring to blink. Only yesterday she was clinging to my arm saying how much she missed Fourth Sister-in-Law, and that she wanted to show me every filial respect she could. Which goes to show — a woman only truly understands a mother’s hardship and difficulty once she’s become one herself.”

Twelfth Sister smiled and nodded.

Ying Niang arrived.

“Why didn’t you bring Zhuang Ge’er along!” Having grown up in Lvyun House in Yuyao, Twelfth Sister was very fond of liveliness. Besides, Wang’s household was full of sisters-in-law and female relatives of all kinds, and she liked to help whenever any of their households had matters to tend to — everyone liked her, and the house was often packed with visitors. To her eyes, three people sitting down to a meal seemed quite quiet. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen him.”

“He can’t sit still now,” Ying Niang complained, though her eyes were full of tender warmth. “Even eating a meal requires the wet nurse to chase after him with a spoon. I didn’t bring him.”

“We’re all family here — what’s the need for such formality?” Twelfth Sister smiled. “That’s how every child grows up.” Then she teased, “I didn’t call you here just to see you, you know — it was to see our Zhuang Ge’er!”

Ying Niang laughed and had a maidservant fetch Zhuang Ge’er, and the several of them played with the child, and before they knew it the afternoon had come. Twelfth Sister, mindful of Wang Ze at home, made her way back.

After the Mid-Autumn Festival had passed, when Shiyiniang came to bring Twelfth Sister’s Mid-Autumn gifts, Twelfth Sister drew her close for private words.

“I looked into it,” she said quietly. “Apparently, years ago when Fifth Brother-in-Law was at his post, and Fifth Sister needed to stay in Yanjing to look after the children, she wanted to buy a woman to attend to Fifth Brother-in-Law at his side. But the ones she liked were too expensive, and the cheaper ones were not yet trained — she feared they would only cause trouble once in the household. After turning it over every which way, Fifth Sister hit upon Zhuotao, who had grown older without marrying. She reasoned that Fifth Brother-in-Law had had Zhuotao under his nose for so many years without ever giving her a second glance — so she simply let Fifth Brother-in-Law take Zhuotao in.” At this point, her expression turned bitter. “Who could have known that this very Zhuotao, once she followed Fifth Brother-in-Law, would win his favor so entirely that Fifth Sister no longer goes, and Fifth Brother-in-Law no longer presses her as he once did? Worse, he brought Zhao Sheng to Wendeng and made him grain and tax secretary.

“Fifth Sister could not swallow her pride. That one time she went to Wendeng over the New Year, she demanded that Fifth Brother-in-Law dismiss Zhao Sheng. But Fifth Brother-in-Law said that Zhao Sheng had been perfectly content at the Luo household — it was only to help him that he had come to Wendeng. Now that he had finally helped him establish a footing there, what possible reason was there to dismiss him? He also said that Zhao Sheng was after all from the Luo household and a known quantity — better than hiring some outsider.

“Fifth Sister had no choice but to stay there for a while. She tried to find something to fault Zhao Sheng on, but in the end found nothing on Zhao Sheng. Instead, Zhao Sheng found something on her!”

Shiyiniang’s expression grew intent as she listened. “These words — where did you hear all this?”

“I was very worried about Fifth Sister, so I wrote a letter back to Yuyao,” said Twelfth Sister. “It was Elder Sister-in-Law who told me!”

In that case, nine times out of ten it was true.

Shiyiniang pressed: “Zhao Sheng found something on Fifth Sister — how do you mean?”

Twelfth Sister’s expression darkened. “Someone gave Fifth Sister a thousand taels of silver and asked her to help settle a lawsuit. Fifth Sister said a word to the criminal law secretary, and the matter was handled. Somehow Zhao Sheng found out, and told Fifth Brother-in-Law. Fifth Brother-in-Law pointed at Fifth Sister’s nose and told her to get out… Fifth Sister couldn’t keep her dignity, so she brought up how their mother had once supported Fifth Brother-in-Law through his studies, and said that if not for the Marquis, he wouldn’t have been able to buy a house in Yanjing… Fifth Brother-in-Law was so enraged his face turned purple, and he slapped himself twice on the face right then and there. From that point on, he has never spoken another word to Fifth Sister.

“The servants all read which way the wind was blowing, and Fifth Sister had not a single person to talk to as she came and went. It became impossible for her to go on living in Wendeng, and so she brought Xin Ge’er and Dian Jie’er back.”

Shiyiniang’s expression grew increasingly grave. “Before all this — had Fifth Sister done similar things in the past? Taking people’s silver to help settle lawsuits?”

Twelfth Sister nodded. “Elder Sister-in-Law said that when Zhao Sheng was serving Fifth Brother-in-Law as grain and tax secretary, Elder Sister-in-Law had once written to Fifth Brother-in-Law to question him about it, but Fifth Brother-in-Law said that the former grain and tax secretary had once coaxed Fifth Sister into swapping quality government farmland for newly reclaimed inferior civilian land, then selling it for personal profit… Elder Sister-in-Law wrote to ask Fifth Sister about it, and Fifth Sister said the neighboring county magistrate did the very same thing — how had it become a grave crime when it was her? She also said, who wouldn’t want to be like Elder Brother and be an upright official — but you need the financial backing for that. Fifth Brother-in-Law’s family, far from subsidizing them, expected money sent home every year. Fifth Brother-in-Law’s annual salary amounted to no more than forty-five taels of silver when converted — with a whole household of people to feed, was that enough to eat and drink? If she didn’t do it this way, how could they get by? She also said Elder Sister-in-Law herself managed a household and should understand the hardship better than anyone else — which left Elder Sister-in-Law with nothing to say and no further room to interfere.”

“No wonder she stopped going to Wendeng!” Shiyiniang murmured. “It wasn’t that she didn’t want to go — she went, and there was not even a foothold for her anymore… This truly is dying to keep face while suffering in real life. All these years, everyone assumed she was avoiding hardship by staying out of Wendeng.”

Twelfth Sister sighed along with her, then said: “After Fifth Sister returned to Yanjing, Fifth Brother-in-Law sends someone every year with two thousand taels of silver for Fifth Sister to use. At first Fifth Sister thought this arrangement was fine — out of sight, out of mind, she could concentrate on raising the children in Yanjing. Once Xin Ge’er had gained a degree, she’d have something to depend on. If she lived carefully, she could even save a little each year. But as time went on, Fifth Sister became discontented. She thought: if Fifth Brother-in-Law can send two thousand taels a year, then Zhuotao, living with him in Wendeng as a concubine, must be living in splendor. So she went to Wendeng again.”

Shiyiniang leaned forward urgently: “And then?”

Twelfth Sister exhaled a long breath. “Zhuotao rarely went out. At home she wore coarse cloth — spinning yarn, weaving cloth, growing vegetables, raising chickens, like a countrywoman. She attended Fifth Brother-in-Law with soups and broths, more virtuous than a proper wife. The people of Wendeng praised Fifth Brother-in-Law for running a well-ordered household. They say the Huang family’s willingness to form a marriage alliance with Fifth Brother-in-Law was also because they admired his household’s orderly ways.”

Shiyiniang was quite speechless for a moment. “Then how did Fifth Sister manage to call Zhuotao back?”

Twelfth Sister lowered her voice: “Word has it that last spring Zhuotao had a pregnancy that she lost. Fifth Sister could see that if things went on like this, Zhuotao would be the only one in Fifth Brother-in-Law’s eyes. Using the pretext that Zhuotao needed to recuperate, she called her back. Then she bought a fair-complexioned young girl and sent her to Wendeng. This year she used Sheng Ge’er’s upcoming wedding as an excuse — saying she couldn’t manage alone — and kept Zhuotao at home.”

“Has Fifth Brother-in-Law sent anyone to ask for Zhuotao back?” Shiyiniang thought for a moment and asked Twelfth Sister.

“No!” Twelfth Sister’s eyes also held some puzzlement. “Which is why Fifth Sister this time intends to stay in Wendeng through the New Year before coming back. For one thing, she wants to lead the new bride to pay calls on the wealthy gentry families in Wendeng. For another, she wants to see whether the one at Fifth Brother-in-Law’s side is behaving herself.”

She probably also wants Zhuotao to see — that without her, Qian Ming’s life goes on just as well.

After seeing off Twelfth Sister, Shiyiniang wrote a letter to Luo Zhensheng asking about Qian Ming’s reputation in official circles. She then turned to the business of preparing for the Mid-Autumn Festival, and to preparing for Xu Siyu’s special examination in the ninth month.

Xu Siyu was even more nervous than he had been at his first examination.

The Grand Madam, disregarding her advanced age, even had Second Madam and Shiyiniang accompany her to the temple to worship the Bodhisattva and make grand vows.

Xu Sijian, upon learning of it, teased Xu Siyu: “If I were you, I’d just take it casually — no need to be so earnest. We are, after all, the Empress Dowager’s nephews and the Emperor’s cousins now. Say nothing of other things, but getting a substantive rank-four commander shouldn’t be too difficult, should it? And if Second Brother passes the examination, starting from rank seven-B, it would take at minimum ten years in the Six Ministries to reach department head and reach rank four. Or if posted to the provinces, a deputy commissioner is only rank four-B — that would take twenty years…”

“What nonsense are you talking?” The Grand Madam reached for the round fan at her side and brought it smartly down on Xu Sijian’s head.

Xu Sijian clutched his head and bolted.

Everyone burst out laughing.

“It’s different.” Xu Siyu laughed. “Enshrinement by imperial favor may seem fast, but advancement afterward is very difficult. The examination path into officialdom is slow, but each step is firm — one’s heart is at ease.” His gaze toward Xu Sijian, however, carried a flash of gratitude — he knew Xu Sijian had said it to cheer him up. But now that Xu Sijian had made a scene, his heart genuinely felt much lighter.

On the day of the examination, it turned out to be the most relaxed of all.

When he received the exam paper, he found that one of the questions overlapped with a policy essay he had worked on just days before. His confidence surged even further, and he wrote the paper with great flourish. When he emerged after three days and saw Xu Siqin, Xu Sijian, Xu Sizhun, and Xu Sijie waiting to receive him, he broke into a broad, bright smile.

—