Seeing Shiyiniang come hurrying over, Xu Sijin immediately pushed through the crowd surrounding him.
“Mother!” He spread open his arms to embrace her, but then remembered his father’s repeated admonishments that he must not act like an unweaned child clinging to his mother in front of others. He immediately changed course, sweeping his robe aside as he dropped to his knees before her. “I’m back!”
Everyone in the room either dipped into a curtsy or bent in a bow, and the courtyard filled with the rustling sound of people paying their respects.
Having already seen her son once before, Shiyiniang felt less of the shock and more of the pure joy.
She stepped forward and took her son’s hands, smiling as she asked him, “After the prisoner presentation ceremony Lord Gong handed over his seal of command — why did it take you this long to return? Grandmother has been asking after you several times!”
Xu Sijin rose with her support and steadied her with his arm as he explained, “Lord Gong departed the capital yesterday. He was originally the Military Commissioner of Guizhou, and there were official matters he needed to brief me on. He also showed me tremendous grace in his mentorship, so I escorted Lord Gong first before coming back.”
Shiyiniang nodded. “Let’s go see Grandmother first.”
She let her son support her, and as he led her toward the Grand Lady’s quarters, she spoke with him along the way. “When do you take up your post? How many days can you stay at home?”
When the Board of Personnel issued the formal document, it would state the date by which one must arrive at one’s post. Failure to arrive by the deadline meant, at the very least, losing one’s position, and at the worst, imprisonment.
“The Emperor has graciously permitted me to stay home for two days,” Xu Sijin said. “I need only be at my post by the twenty-second of the seventh month.”
The court had regulations stipulating that postings over two thousand li from the capital required one to arrive within fifteen days. The Board of Personnel’s allowance for Xu Sijin to arrive by the twenty-second was already quite generous.
An official required his own staff — advisors, guards, personal servants, maids, a cook, gatekeepers — and they all had to be loyal and capable. Otherwise, once they went to the post, they might abuse the master’s name to bully the people, ruining his reputation. Getting impeached by a censor was the minor consequence; worse was offending someone one could not afford to offend, and losing one’s career or even one’s life.
When Xu Siyu had taken up his post, the family had been keeping an eye out in advance, and with Lord Xiang’s assistance, the staff was confirmed the moment the official document arrived. But the news of Xu Sijin’s appointment as Military Commissioner of Guizhou had come far too suddenly for the family to have made any preparations at all. Although Xu Sijin was not afraid of making enemies, if innocent people were harmed as a result or if he incurred someone’s fierce enmity, the cost would far outweigh any gain… Shiyiniang had asked Xu Lingyi to help Jin Ge’er think through the matter, but Xu Lingyi said he should first ask Xu Sijin about it himself, adding that if Xu Sijin went to Guizhou without even a few reliable people around him, he would simply come back in defeat — better not to go at all.
She was feeling rather anxious on Xu Sijin’s behalf and was just about to ask him about it when Shen Ge’er, who had been walking behind them, suddenly bounded forward.
“Sixth Brother, I want to go with you to Guizhou.” Xu Sizhun and the others had held their tongues because of what their mother had said and did not dare speak. But Shen Ge’er had always been close to Shiyiniang, having grown accustomed to speaking freely around her, and in his urgency he threw all caution aside. “I want to be tempered at a garrison too, just like Sixth Brother, and build my achievements through real merit.” He said this with a look of undisguised envy.
Cheng Ge’er had long been itching to say something but had not dared. Seeing his elder brother speak up, he found his courage too. “Sixth Brother, take me along as well! I want to go to Guizhou too.”
Xu Sijin was a little surprised, but quickly smiled. “With a father’s sons fighting side by side and brothers hunting tigers together — of course I’d want you both to come. I just worry that Fifth Uncle and Fifth Aunt may not agree. As long as Fifth Uncle and Fifth Aunt consent, I’ll take you both to Guizhou right away.”
The two brothers cheered.
“You’re all grown up — why are you still whooping and hollering like children who can’t hold themselves together?” The Fifth Madam suddenly emerged from the Grand Lady’s courtyard and scolded her two sons. “Look at Jin Ge’er — he’s only two or three years older than you, yet he carries himself with so much more composure…”
Shen Ge’er and Cheng Ge’er’s faces fell with embarrassment.
Shiyiniang quickly came to their rescue. “Isn’t it because Jin Ge’er just came back? They’re simply excited!”
Xu Sijin stepped forward nimbly to greet the Fifth Madam. “Fifth Aunt, how have you been? In his last letter to me, Seventh Brother mentioned you always have trouble sleeping in summer. The hot season is here again — has it been any better? I have a colleague from Hunan who says the bamboo sleeping mats made from the bamboo of Junshan Mountain in his homeland are wonderfully cool. Next time I’ll ask him to bring back a mat for you to try and see if it helps you keep cool.”
The Fifth Madam had simply been worried that Xu Sijin, having become a Military Commissioner at such a young age, might look down on Shen Ge’er and Cheng Ge’er for still being so childish. She had not truly meant to scold her sons so harshly. Xu Sijin’s warm and considerate words made her feel quite respected, and that small kernel of worry dissolved completely.
She said with a pleased smile, “You’re too kind to trouble yourself,” then turned to Xu Sijin and Shiyiniang and said, “Grandmother heard Jin Ge’er had returned and couldn’t sit still for a moment — she absolutely insisted on going out to meet him. The weather is so hot that everyone was afraid to let the Grand Lady go out. I was just about to go and check whether Jin Ge’er had passed by yet…” Just then, a chorus of animated voices broke out from within the courtyard.
“Oh no!” The Fifth Madam’s expression shifted. “It must be that Second Sister-in-law couldn’t hold Grandmother back either…”
Before she had finished speaking, Xu Sijin was already taking two steps at a time into the courtyard.
Everyone hurried after him.
The Second Madam and several of the maids attending the Grand Lady were standing on the steps trying to reason with the Grand Lady, who had her walking stick and was clearly intent on coming out.
“Grandmother! Grandmother!” Xu Sijin came flying over. “I’m back!”
“Oh, oh!” The Grand Lady pulled Xu Sijin into her arms before he could even kneel to kowtow. “Our Jin Ge’er has finally come back!” Then, as if suddenly remembering something, she stepped back two paces and carefully looked him over from head to toe. “I heard you captured the Doyan forces — were you injured? Are you eating well enough in the military camp? Is Chang’an taking good care of you? Has Gong Dongning treated you well? You’ve accomplished such a great feat — when the Emperor received you, what did he say?” One question followed another in quick succession, her urgency plain to see.
“Grandmother, I’m perfectly well — don’t you worry.” Xu Sijin said, rolling up his sleeve to reveal a muscular arm. “Does this look like someone who hasn’t been eating enough?” Then he steadied the Grand Lady and guided her back inside. “The Board of Personnel and the Board of War have both issued their documents. I have to be at my post by the twenty-second of this month, so I can stay home at most two days. I’ve been dreaming about the red-braised lion’s head meatballs from home all these years I’ve been away — can you have the kitchen make a bowl before you start asking me all these questions?”
The moment the Grand Lady heard he could only stay two days and that he had been dreaming of red-braised lion’s head meatballs, her heart ached for him so deeply that she could no longer think of anything else. She gripped Xu Sijin’s hand and called out loudly to Lu Zhu, “Quick, go — the Sixth Young Master wants red-braised lion’s head meatballs!”
Lu Zhu went at once.
The Grand Lady broke into a satisfied smile and allowed Xu Sijin to help her settle onto the wide kang by the window in the sitting room.
Xu Sijin fetched a brocade stool for himself and sat down in front of her. “Grandmother, I noticed you have so many white hairs now. Haven’t you been drinking your walnut porridge properly?”
“Nonsense, of course I’ve been drinking it!” The Grand Lady scolded lightly, her brow furrowing with sudden worry. “I don’t know why, but I just keep getting more and more white hairs. Your Second Aunt offered to dye my hair, but after it was dyed, the roots that grew in were white again — it looked even more obvious, black and white side by side, like some sort of strange creature. I decided to just leave it.” Then she added with concern, “Do I look frightening?”
“Not at all!” Xu Sijin said earnestly. “I think it looks very becoming. The silver shimmer gives you such an air of great dignity and wisdom.”
The Grand Lady’s eyes crinkled into half-moons as she laughed, saying over and over, “I think so too. But everyone kept telling me to dye it, so I had to go along with them. Thank goodness you’re back — otherwise there’d be no one to take my side!”
What did any of this have to do with anything?
Everyone exchanged glances and couldn’t help but smile wryly.
Xu Sijin began sharing amusing stories from his time at the military camp with the Grand Lady, who laughed so heartily she could hardly stop. Then Xu Lingyi led Xu Sijin to pay homage at the ancestral hall, and when Third Master and the Third Madam received word and hurried over with their son, daughter-in-law, and grandchildren, the entire third branch of the family gathered at the Grand Lady’s quarters. The men and women were seated separately at six banquet tables; Hupo led the servants in setting up ten additional tables within the Grand Lady’s courtyard to reward the head matrons and senior maids of the inner household; Bai the Head Steward led the servants in setting up over twenty tables in the outer courtyard’s banquet hall to reward the notable stewards of the outer household. After three rounds of wine, Bai the Head Steward and several of the senior stewards came in to toast Xu Sijin. The Grand Lady, speaking from behind the screen, laughingly scolded Bai the Head Steward for having no consideration, and Bai the Head Steward bantered back with the Grand Lady in a playful exchange that drew wave after wave of merry laughter, making that midsummer evening with its gentle breezes feel all the more warm and festive.
After the banquet, the Grand Lady refused to let Xu Sijin sleep anywhere but her room. Xu Lingyi naturally had no objection, and after giving Xu Sijin a few words of guidance, everyone dispersed for the night.
Shiyiniang told Xu Lingyi about Xu Sijin’s promise to take Shen Ge’er and Cheng Ge’er to Guizhou. “…I don’t know whether Fifth Sister-in-law can bear to part with the children. I certainly couldn’t have, when I was in her place.”
Xu Lingyi smiled when he heard this. “What mother doesn’t want to keep her children tied to her side? Danyang naturally cannot bear to part with them. But this concerns the boys’ future — it isn’t simply a matter of whether she can bear it or not. Besides, there is Old Marquis Sun to consider. And the heir of the Marquis of Dingnan is not a foolish man — he won’t let Danyang act rashly.”
“So you intend to ask Old Marquis Sun to speak to them?”
“Let’s see how tomorrow goes,” Xu Lingyi said. “Danyang may well come around to it herself.”
The two chatted a while and then rested for the night.
The next morning, Hupo quietly told Shiyiniang, “There was a commotion at Fifth Madam’s quarters all night long. Apparently the Seventh Young Master and Eighth Young Master both want to go to Guizhou, but the Fifth Madam said the Seventh Young Master is the eldest son and must stay home — she’ll only allow the Eighth Young Master to go along. The Seventh Young Master refused to accept it and kept insisting he’d go tell Old Marquis Sun — it exhausted the Fifth Madam completely!”
This was only natural.
The eldest son could benefit from the hereditary privilege, so naturally one had to find a way to carve out a path for the second son.
While she was still mulling this over, Xu Sijin came to pay his morning respects.
“Father, help me find an advisor!” he said directly, appealing to Xu Lingyi without preamble. “I have a few people around me already — they’d be fine as guards, personal servants, a gatekeeper, or a cook — but finding an advisor presents more of a difficulty.” He added, “When Lord Gong was leaving he also asked me about this. I thought he was about to recommend someone, but it turned out he only asked the question. From his manner, I don’t think he truly had no one in mind — most likely he was just avoiding the appearance of partiality out of concern that I might read too much into it.”
“And what is your own thinking?” Xu Lingyi asked at his leisure.
—