In the autumn of the twenty-fifth year of Zhaoming, a long queue of ships waiting to enter port formed at the Tongzhou docks. This year the water level was shallow, making navigation extremely difficult. If not for the heavy rains of the past few days, the boats probably wouldn’t have made it to Tongzhou before having to anchor ashore. The boat families traveling north along the Grand Canal had waited nearly half a month before finally getting this rare high-water period, so naturally everyone was anxious to proceed. Looking out from the passenger dock at the Great Sage Temple, one could see nothing but densely packed boat tops stretching on for several miles.

All were travelers. Though no one wanted to wait, they had no choice but to follow the first-come-first-served order and disembark at the docks in turn. Fortunately, Tongzhou was already in sight—just another forty-some miles and they’d reach the capital. It wasn’t like being delayed halfway where calling to heaven brought no response and calling to earth brought no aid. Some impatient passengers took small boats ashore alone, entrusting their trunks to family members while they went ahead to the capital to conduct business.

“This year just happens to be when the court is compiling the great census,” the old boat woman chatted with the rough servant woman while wiping the floor. “Which of the high officials coming from the south can endure the hardships of the land route? Don’t they all have to come through Tongzhou by water? Now that we’re delayed, plenty are sweating with anxiety at their temples. Haven’t they left their trunks with their servants and personally carried their golden registers ahead on small boats with just a servant boy to enter the capital? Delaying the court’s registration—that’s no small crime…”

Before the rough servant woman could respond, her expression suddenly became serious. She quickly raised a finger toward the old boat woman, and both fell silent, holding their breath as they listened to the unhurried, light footsteps accompanied by creaking sounds slowly approaching from the direction of the cabins.

Before long, a young lady dressed in a lotus-pink spring silk jacket and skirt with a gentle, graceful appearance passed through the corridor.

Though her attire wasn’t ostentatious, her bearing naturally carried an air of serene grace. The silver clustered flower ornament on her head was finely crafted—though made of silver, one could tell from the workmanship alone that it exceeded the value of the silver itself. Compared to her, even ordinary official families’ young ladies would seem to lack several degrees of tranquility.

The two old nannies gazed at this young lady, their faces showing expressions of admiration.

Only after she’d walked far away did they lower their voices to discuss: “I wonder who has the fortune to marry such a young miss back home…”

“Isn’t that the truth?” The old boat woman spoke in a full Beijing accent. “I always tell my son, it’s better to marry a wealthy family’s maid than a poor family’s daughter—”

That young lady turned several corners and stopped in the winding, maze-like boat corridor. She cocked her ear to listen to the sounds from where she’d come, then smiled faintly and knocked on the cabin door. Seeing it was only ajar, she gently pushed it open and entered. “Miss, you’ve just woken too? I came late—I thought Miss would sleep another half hour or so. When Madam was eating lunch, didn’t she say ‘Seventh Miss hasn’t been sleeping well lately’? How did you respond? Yet here you are, rising so early again to look at the scenery.”

This was a small suite with front and back rooms. The small door leading to the inner room was hung with pale red silk curtains, through which one could vaguely see the low couch inside still covered with rumpled bedding. The outer room had only two sets of tables and chairs plus a few small cabinets—no superfluous furniture. Though they were on a boat, because the furnishings were simple, it didn’t seem cramped or narrow.

Sitting on the circular chair by the window was a young lady in her early teens, casually dressed in a tribute satin jacket and purple silk skirt. Aside from a pair of jade bracelets on her hands, she wore no extra adornments, which made her eyes appear all the more like shimmering autumn waters. Her face was somewhat thin. At the moment, she was propping her chin, staring blankly out the window at the waterway. Hearing the question, she turned her head with a smile to explain.

“I was planning to sleep a bit more, but the sound insulation in this boat corridor isn’t very good. The talking from outside drifted over in twists and turns, and I found it interesting, so I didn’t fall back asleep.”

Strange to say, though this young lady’s features weren’t particularly stunning and her attire wasn’t overly luxurious, compared to the maid before her, she certainly possessed something extra that made the graceful young servant girl seem somewhat common by comparison.

This young lady smiled absentmindedly again before asking, “Where is your Sister Lixia?”

“Sister Lixia is embroidering in the cabin. She said you love spaciousness, and one more person would make this room too small, so she sent Qiqiao over to serve Miss instead.” Qiqiao said with a smile, retrieving a bowl of purple grapes from the small magnetic cabinet. “These fresh grapes just came this morning. Have a couple, and the servants’ good intentions will be fulfilled… I just came from the stern and heard a boat woman from the capital telling stories—this truly is at the foot of the Son of Heaven. Even a boat woman speaks of nothing but court affairs…”

While chatting with Seventh Miss, she served her a few grapes. Seeing Seventh Miss wave her hand to indicate she’d had enough, she put the grapes away and asked again, “Would Miss like to read? Play chess? Embroider?”

Seventh Miss found her bothersome yet amusing. “We’ll be docking shortly. Call Lixia over and let’s organize the trunks together properly, so we don’t end up flustered and forget things when we disembark. I’ll go pay my respects to Madam and Master and won’t get in your way, all right?”

Qiqiao giggled. “Miss is still so considerate. That’s actually exactly what this servant meant…”

While chatting with Qiqiao, Seventh Miss left the cabin.

This was a private boat that a Jiangnan salt merchant used for traveling north and south. Because the Yang family was traveling to the capital en masse, Grand Madam found the official boats too cramped and too old, so through the mediation of the Zhejiang Provincial Administration Commissioner Shi family, she “rented” this boat from the salt merchant whose name she didn’t even know. As for how the rent was calculated, that wasn’t something Seventh Miss concerned herself with.

It was said that the Lianghuai salt merchants were the wealthiest under heaven, and this was certainly true. Though Seventh Miss was accustomed to a life of wealth in Suzhou, upon boarding she surprisingly found little to criticize. Though this private boat was unassuming, it was exquisitely decorated and cleanly arranged, with clear divisions between inner and outer cabins, making it extremely convenient for the womenfolk to move about. During this half-month journey, even Grand Madam hadn’t complained much.

That said, with Tongzhou right before them, the party had waited two days without docking, so this noblewoman was naturally becoming somewhat anxious. Seventh Miss had barely stepped outside her cabin when she heard the complaints.

“I said from the start we should hang out the banner of Left Pillar of State, Grand Secretary of the Huagai Hall—we would have landed yesterday and entered the capital today… But this master of ours, when it comes to extravagance, he’s more lavishly wasteful than anyone, yet at a time like this he’s more modest than anyone, full of talk about ‘don’t be ostentatious when first entering the capital’… Second Brother is probably waiting anxiously to death on shore!”

Then came Seventh Yiniang’s soft Wu dialect: “Isn’t that the truth? Master is really being too cautious. I’ve watched these past few days—quite a few boats have rushed to dock, and judging by official rank, they’re just fourth or fifth-rank ministers or censors.”

Twelfth Yiniang Shuxia laughed as she defended Grand Old Master: “When first entering the capital, we’re unfamiliar with everything. Besides, this time entering the cabinet, from what Master says, it’s blocked several gentlemen’s advancement…”

“That’s also true.” Grand Madam immediately changed her tune. “Our family’s foundation in the capital is still shallow after all. Better to avoid trouble than seek it—Seventh Yiniang, don’t underestimate these censors. If we offend them, that would be real trouble!”

Seventh Miss smiled knowingly and pushed the door open to pay her respects to Grand Madam.

Ever since Prince Lu’s rebellion in the fifth month of the twenty-fourth year of Zhaoming, the court had never quieted down. It wasn’t until the late emperor’s death this April that the turbulent situation finally settled somewhat. But unexpectedly, before the national mourning ended, there was another family mourning—Imperial Tutor Qin passed away in June this year. Though his children and Grand Old Master only needed to observe three months of mourning, Grand Madam, as a married daughter, had to observe one year of齐衰mourning. Now that the three months of deep mourning had passed, she only dared wear blue cotton clothing with a single silver hairpin for decoration, which actually made the two yiniangs beside her appear wealthier than Grand Madam.

Seeing Seventh Miss, everyone smiled. “Little Seven must be impatient to disembark, right?”

“After all, she’s a pampered daughter—it’s only natural she’s not used to living on a boat.”

Seventh Miss’s face reddened slightly. She hadn’t expected that in this life, though she didn’t get carsick or sedan-sick, she would actually get seasick. She’d been miserably ill for several days after boarding, only gradually recovering these past few days.

“Who would have thought there’d be so many boats congesting the Tongzhou docks?” She sighed, rarely showing helplessness. “I thought we’d enter the capital several days ago—it’s fortunate Ninth Brother didn’t come along. Otherwise, with his temperament, he’d definitely have lost patience long ago…”

At the mention of Ninth Brother, Grand Madam’s face immediately clouded with longing. “Ninth Brother has never left my sight since childhood! Those first few days I truly couldn’t eat or sleep well, afraid that Fourth Yiniang was too old and wouldn’t think things through, wronging our family’s delicate young master!”

With the new emperor ascending the throne and changing the era name next year, by convention there would be an additional imperial examination. Grand Old Master intended to have Ninth Brother try his hand at it, but worried that if he first traveled with everyone to the capital and then had to depart again for the northwest examination before settling in the capital, he simply had him stay at Hundred Fragrance Garden. He would set out for the northwest in April next year.

For this, they specially left the Dong couple, experienced old hands, to look after him, and entrusted Fourth Yiniang, remaining in Jiangnan, to manage Ninth Brother’s daily life and supervise his studies. Even so, Grand Madam had recited Ninth Brother’s name thousands of times throughout the journey, constantly worried that something might go wrong with her son out of her sight.

“Alas.” The more Grand Madam thought about it, the more unhappy she became. “I only have this one son and daughter left in the household, yet we had to leave our son in Suzhou! Master really gets more eccentric with age…”

She took Seventh Miss’s hand and complained to her about Grand Old Master.

Usually at Hundred Fragrance Garden, whenever Grand Madam was unhappy, she could go three or four days without seeing Grand Old Master. Now everyone was living on the same boat—you couldn’t avoid each other when you looked up or down. In just this half-month journey, both husband and wife had accumulated a bellyful of grievances. Grand Madam, growing older these past years, increasingly couldn’t keep things to herself. Disregarding the yiniangs sitting nearby, she pulled Seventh Miss over and started nagging.

Both Seventh Yiniang and Twelfth Yiniang gave Seventh Miss sympathetic smiles.

Though Seventh Miss’s head ached from listening, she had to soothe Grand Madam with a few words, then laughingly changed the subject. “Second Uncle is probably waiting anxiously on shore too, but after waiting these two days, I’m afraid by this evening it should finally be our turn to dock.”

The new emperor had just ascended the throne, and personnel matters had already undergone great changes. Just among the Yang family and their closely associated relatives, everyone had experienced various rises and falls. After Imperial Tutor Qin’s death in June, Grand Old Master had repeatedly memorialized claiming illness and requesting to retire to the northwest to live out his days. Yet the Crown Prince repeatedly rejected the memorials and unexpectedly gave Grand Old Master this cabinet minister position—not only were outsiders surprised, even Grand Old Master himself was deeply astonished.

If one said the Yang clan was greatly prospering, when palace consorts were enfeoffed, Sixth Miss only received a consort position and didn’t seem particularly favored. It was said His Majesty focused entirely on governing the country and didn’t favor any of the harem consorts—the enfeoffments were simply based on family background and origins… Even this consort position was something the Empress fought hard to secure.

Yet Grand Old Master was clearly Great Qin’s youngest cabinet minister. At just over fifty years old, he had entered the hall and cabinet, becoming a minister—this honor was truly too dazzling. No wonder the Yang family, though they’d accepted it, did so trembling with trepidation, not daring to make a single misstep. Even at the Tongzhou docks, they didn’t dare use any privileges.

Grand Madam also showed a slight smile. “Isn’t that right? Just last night a small boat brought your Second Sister’s steward to pay respects, saying that if not for the mourning in their Sun family, your Second Sister would definitely have come in person to welcome us!”

In the winter of the twenty-fourth year of Zhaoming, the old Duke of Dingguo finally couldn’t hold on and died from prolonged illness. Though Second Miss was now properly the Duchess, she and the Duke both had to observe three years of斩衰mourning. Until the first anniversary, unless there was important business, they couldn’t easily leave home.

“Speaking of sons-in-law, we have plenty, but they’re all busy.” Seventh Yiniang picked up the conversation to chat with Grand Madam. “Just when we need sons-in-law to step forward and handle things, not one son-in-law can conveniently appear. Eldest Son-in-law is in Fujian, needless to say. Second Son-in-law is mourning at home. Third Son-in-law just finished mourning and returned to Jiangnan. Fourth Son-in-law is in Jiangnan. Our Fifth Son-in-law, he’d barely married when he went down to Guangzhou. We thought he’d return to the capital in March for a long stay, but unexpectedly he didn’t even stay ten days before the Emperor sent him back to Guangzhou… Ah, they’re all accomplished!”

Grand Madam’s expression showed mixed joy and worry. “Isn’t that exactly it? Married last October, and within three days received an imperial command. I thought with no war on the western front, Fengjia could have a few leisurely years, but who knew being too highly regarded by His Majesty isn’t good either… Since the wedding, he’s only lived at home for half a month in March.”

Twelfth Yiniang immediately covered her mouth and laughed. “This is Fifth Miss’s good fortune—she conceived in just that half month! Not even half a year after entering the household and already pregnant. Can any of the Xu family’s sisters-in-law claim such ability?”

Grand Madam’s face brightened with joy, though her mouth still said laughingly, “We can’t put it that way. The Xu family’s sons have spent many years at the border, little time at home… The several sisters-in-law have all suffered through hardships.”

Though she said this, the pride in her tone was unmistakable to all.

Watching this, Seventh Miss couldn’t help but smile faintly, lowering her head to slowly caress the sweet white porcelain cup as she listened to Seventh Yiniang and Grand Madam chattering about how all the Yang family daughters were blessed. Even Chu Miss had borne a son—now they were just waiting for Fifth Miss’s child to be born and for good news from Sixth Miss.

Just as the conversation was lively, the boat suddenly trembled slightly. Everyone thought the boats ahead had left port and their spirits lifted, but after a while, shouting and cursing could be heard faintly from the bow.

Grand Madam frowned and gave Lidong a slight nod. Lidong understood and left the room, returning shortly to report: “Someone is trying to cut in line and enter port first. Our boatmen are arguing with them!”

Everyone had been cooped up on the boat for two or three days. If Seventh Miss felt uncomfortable, the other womenfolk were only more delicate. Following the queue in order might be frustrating, but it was proper. There wasn’t much to complain about. But now that it was their turn and someone still wanted to cut in—that felt quite unpleasant. Even Grand Madam, despite her composure, couldn’t help but become angry. “Who dares to be so bold? Didn’t they see our hall name?”

Though Grand Old Master insisted on maintaining a low profile, given the Yang family’s status, when traveling they should display a banner. Since they were coming to the capital to assume office, even displaying “Grand Secretary of Huagai Hall, Left Pillar of State First Rank” would be entirely proper. Yet Grand Old Master only had them display the Baoxin Hall Yang hall name. Throughout the journey there had been no shortage of people without eyes, and Grand Madam had long accumulated a bellyful of anger. This final straw had finally crushed her patience.

Lidong looked embarrassed and hesitated for a moment before carefully answering: “Replying to Madam… it’s a boat from Duke Pingguo’s Xu family. The people on the boat said some rather unpleasant things. From what I heard, it seems they don’t recognize our family’s hall name.”