Entering the seventh month, Xu Fengjia became busy again.

Though he had not yet embarked on long-term assignments away from the capital, he frequently traveled to the outskirts of Beijing on business, either going to Hebei or making short trips to Shanxi. After all, he was a trusted confidant close to the Emperor’s side, and the Emperor was a sagacious ruler of great talent and bold vision who governed diligently. Throughout the year, there were countless confidential matters to entrust to Xu Fengjia’s handling.

Seventh Miss was not idle either. With her imminent assumption of household management duties, Mingde Hall gradually saw an increase in foot traffic. Throughout the Xu household, from top to bottom, there were hundreds of stewards. The household servants resided together near Coal Lane, virtually forming an entire Xu Family Alley. Many stewardess mothers who had fallen out of favor under Fifth Young Mistress were racking their brains, desperate to secure a position for themselves within Mingde Hall.

Not to mention she already had a group of talented individuals she had her eye on who also required orientation training. Then there were the old stewardess mothers originally in the household whose temperaments she needed to familiarize herself with… Though she had not yet extended her reach beyond Mingde Hall, from the moment she opened her eyes to when she closed them, she had scarcely a moment of leisure.

After the Mid-Autumn Festival, Xu Fengjia accompanied the Emperor to the Inner Three Passes to test artillery. His movements were normally so vigorous that he always caused various commotions when rising early, disturbing Seventh Miss’s sleep as well. Now without anyone to disturb her, Seventh Miss surprisingly enjoyed a rare good night’s sleep. When the chiming clock struck past six o’clock and the little bird inside the clock body jumped out to announce the time, she lazily opened her eyes, lifted the newly changed brocade bed curtains, and looked through the one glass window in the corner of the room that was uniquely uncovered by window screens to observe the sky outside.

The seventh month was already early autumn. The capital was unlike Suzhou—once autumn arrived, the weather turned cool. The several maids and older women walking about outside Mingde Hall had already changed into satin autumn garments. In the distance, she could still see a corner of the courtyard wall where two young maids struggled out carrying an enormous copper kettle, then turned to where Seventh Miss could no longer see them.

This was Lixia arranging to prepare hot water for her washing. Seventh Miss exhaled, lazily half-sitting up, removed her sleeping robe, dressed herself in an inner garment, and stepped into embroidered slippers covered with flowers and grass. Sure enough, before long, Lixia and Zhongyuan entered the room quietly, one setting up a screen to serve Seventh Miss while she changed clothes, the other busily opening doors and windows. They then guided Seventh Miss into the washroom, where two basins of gently steaming hot water had already been prepared—brought in through the hidden door by young maids who had already withdrawn from the room by the time Seventh Miss entered.

After Seventh Miss had washed and changed into casual clothing, Little Pearl River’s younger sister—named Little Huangpu—was already waiting in the western third room. Seeing Seventh Miss emerge, she quickly opened her hairdressing bundle, took out a clean peach wood comb, and softly asked Seventh Miss, “Young Mistress, what style would you like today?”

Before Seventh Miss could speak, Zhongyuan laughed, “Just choose something simple that uses little hair oil—Young Mistress never dislikes those. Best if it only requires one hairpin, then that would be perfect.”

The three or four maids in the room immediately laughed. Seventh Miss was good in every way, except when it came to hairdressing—she was nothing like a young lady from a great family, wishing she could simply braid two plaits and be done with it every day.

“Ugh, balancing all that oil on one’s head, then having to apply wood shaving water, pulling the scalp painfully—spending all that effort to style one’s hair and put on elaborate hair ornaments, only to take it all down again after three or four hours. With one’s whole head sticky and messy, should one wash it or not?” Seventh Miss laughed while defending herself. “Besides, there are only those people in the entire courtyard—even if I went disheveled and unwashed, what would it matter?”

Though Little Huangpu was young, she was not at all shy. She winked at Zhongyuan and laughed softly, “Young Mistress is right—with His Lordship away from the capital, you have no heart for dressing up!”

As she spoke, her hands never stopped moving. She divided Seventh Miss’s hair into several sections, applied a bit of hair oil, first creating a bun at the back of the head secured with a gold hairpin, then smoothing both temples. The remaining two strands of long hair were bound left and right into braids woven with gold thread and set with pearls. From the large silver platter that the young maids had delivered early that morning, she carefully selected a freshly bloomed white chrysanthemum and pinned it into Seventh Miss’s hair bun, laughing as she explained, “The Grand Consort taught this to my older sister. She said that palace ladies who wear flowers always hide them within their hair—not obvious at first glance, ordinarily invisible, but when one approaches close to the hair, one can smell the flower’s fragrance. Most elegant indeed.”

She had only been serving for a few days but had already figured out Seventh Miss’s temperament—minimal use of sticky wood shaving water when styling hair, even less hair oil, skillful hands, and beautiful results. As for being articulate and knowing proper conduct, that went without saying. She had instantly become a new favorite in Mingde Hall, and even Seventh Miss gave her special regard due to Little Pearl River. Hearing Little Huangpu speak thus, she looked at herself in the mirror and laughed, “This flowing tassel bun—it wasn’t as if no one styled it when I was in Jiangnan, but compared to your skill, none were as delicate and refined.”

As they were talking, Guyu and Chunfen carried Fourth Young Master and Fifth Young Master in to pay respects. The two little young masters saw Seventh Miss’s new and clever styling and reached out their hands wanting to grab her braided hair to play with. Seventh Miss laughed and teased them for a few sentences before leaving the western side room. Shangyuan and Duanwu were busy setting out a small breakfast table, and Lixia personally brought in a small bowl of piping hot medicinal soup from outside, urging Seventh Miss, “Dr. Zhong said this medicine is most effective when taken before breakfast…”

Quan Zhongbai had been traveling abroad this past half year. Seventh Miss only regularly had Dr. Zhong come in to check her pulse and prescribe preventative formulas. She never skipped her daily tonic medicines, and just at the end of the seventh month, she had Dr. Zhong come once more and changed to another body-strengthening medicinal soup to drink each morning upon rising.

After drinking the medicine, Seventh Miss had Guyu and Chunfen hold the two children and sit on the kang while she sat cross-legged before the kang to eat breakfast, half-listening as Guyu and Chunfen reported on Fourth Young Master and Fifth Young Master’s activities from the previous day. Laughing, she instructed them, “Your rest days are coming up soon. If you want to return to your parents’ homes to visit, don’t forget to tell Stewardess Xin so she can arrange transportation for you.”

Both Guyu and Chunfen looked delighted. “We’ll go tell Stewardess Xin later.”

Ancient servants’ duties were naturally different from modern companies and had no fixed working hours. Diligent servants had eyes for work and busied themselves ceaselessly all day. The lazier ones might slack off even under their masters’ eyes. Even rest days depended entirely on each master’s pleasure. When Seventh Miss was still an unmarried young lady, she simply followed the general flow. But after taking charge of Mingde Hall, she established work schedules for the stewards and others in Mingde Hall: besides normal rest between duty shifts, one day off per month. Days could be saved up or advanced by one or two days. Minor illnesses requesting sick leave would be offset against vacation days. If unable to come to work for three days or more—for illness, Stewardess Xin would arrange for a physician; for family matters related to weddings or funerals, separate leave and rewards would be given. Only unauthorized shift swapping was forbidden. Maids living in the quarters behind Mingde Hall were not permitted to leave Mingde Hall when off duty, and when on duty without instructions, were absolutely forbidden from wandering about. Entering and leaving Mingde Hall required traveling in pairs. Even on holidays returning home, gossiping with neighbors was strictly prohibited. As for the stewardess mothers who did not live in Mingde Hall, they entered when going on duty and left the estate when off duty. Without instructions, they were not permitted to walk about various courtyards in the estate. Anyone found wandering about spreading gossip would be dismissed from service immediately upon investigation.

She never withheld the servants’ monthly wages, and rewards were given for the four seasons and eight festivals—though not excessive, certainly not meager either. Moreover, favored maids like Bailu had all been arranged respectable positions starting from autumn, and their dowries were all considerable. The young maids were very motivated, each hoping to become the next Bailu or Lixia. There was absolutely no quarreling, gossiping, or troublemaking. Among the stewardess mothers, she first selected honest ones, and the occasional troublemaker had been subdued by Seventh Miss’s overt and covert methods—she provided such good benefits, giving one day off per month that could even be saved for consecutive rest. In these past months, Bailu had been casually gossiping among the servants, yet had never heard a single piece of scandalous talk from Mingde Hall. Even old hands like Guyu and Chunfen from Fifth Young Mistress’s service had nothing but praise for Seventh Miss.

Seventh Miss paused, then instructed them, “Since you rarely return home, go pay respects to Madam as well and tell her about Fourth Young Master and Fifth Young Master.”

She glanced at Fourth Young Master and Fifth Young Master, sighing inwardly. Seeing Fourth Young Master curiously rolling his eyes, staring at her hair bun, she turned her head slightly and asked with a smile, “What is Shou’ge looking at?”

Instead, Fifth Young Master spoke up, “Seventh Aunt, chrysanthemum fragrance.”

Everyone immediately laughed. “Don’t think the child is young—he notices quite a lot. He even has to ask where a flower is when he smells its fragrance.”

After breakfast, nearly at the hour of Chen, Seventh Miss entered the western third room again, casually applied rouge, and had Little Huangpu draw her eyebrows before bringing Shangyuan and Duanwu to Leshan Residence to pay respects. Then she went to Qingping Garden, where Madam Xu had just risen. Seventh Miss served her breakfast while listening to Madam Xu chat idly with an old stewardess about planning to stay at Xiaoshan Mountain for a few days to soak in the hot springs there.

Ever since entrusting the ring to Seventh Miss, Madam Xu had truly let go, managing nothing, only caring for her health and enjoying her grandchildren. These past months, her sleep had gradually improved and her spirits slowly recovered. When planning her travels, she was especially energetic. Just then, Duke Pingguo Xu Heng also came in to see Madam Xu. Hearing her plan to depart in the eighth month, he laughed, “I think you should just go this month and stay longer, so you won’t be absent during the eighth month accounting when my daughter-in-law might have questions for you.”

Madam Xu looked at Seventh Miss and smiled, “Then daughter-in-law, you say when you want Mother to go, and Mother will go then.”

Only after seeing daughters-in-law bow and scrape before mothers-in-law would one realize how rare a mother-in-law like Madam Xu was. Seventh Miss sighed inwardly but only smiled outwardly, “If Mother wants to go in the eighth month, then the eighth month is fine. If anything comes up, I can ask the old stewardess—I’ll surely need to borrow her services again then.”

Madam Xu looked at Duke Pingguo with a proud smile. “My daughter-in-law is capable, so this mother-in-law doesn’t need to stay by her side to watch over things!”

Duke Pingguo stroked his beard, glanced at Seventh Miss, and also smiled. “Mm, Yang Shi speaks with no small confidence!”

Seventh Miss only smiled.

#

Coming out from Qingping Garden, she had only been back at Mingde Hall a short while when Little Min River from Zhishan Hall entered the room.

“Our Young Mistress’s brother sent a bag of mushrooms,” Little Min River said to Seventh Miss with a smile. “They’re nothing special really, but our Young Master knew that when His Lordship was in the northwest, he most loved eating three-colored mushroom soup, so he presumed to send them. Please don’t look down on them, Sixth Young Master and Sixth Young Mistress.”

First Young Mistress’s brother served as an official at a frontier garrison that bordered Mongolia. Grassland specialties like mushrooms were naturally easier to obtain there.

Seventh Miss quickly stood up and thanked First Young Master for his thoughtfulness with a smile. “Thank you so much, Elder Brother, for thinking of us. Unfortunately we have nothing good to send in return.”

She sat down and chatted idly with Little Min River for a few sentences before dismissing her, “Little Huangpu is in her own room. Since you rarely come out, go find your sister to talk.”

Ever since Seventh Miss told First Young Mistress about Assistant Minister Jiao’s news, First Young Mistress herself was fine, but First Young Master frequently sent servants with garrison specialties for Xu Fengjia to sample. The underlying meaning was obvious.

After dismissing Little Min River, Stewardess Lin Shan came to pay respects.

“The jewelry ordered last month has arrived. I happened to be coming in to report, so I brought it for Young Mistress…” She normally managed the storage of gold and silver vessels, and when there were no banquets, also oversaw matters like melting down gold and silver basins and bowls and forging jewelry. She had plenty of pretexts for visiting Mingde Hall.

In these past months, more than half of the eleven stewardess mothers Seventh Miss had supervised often came to chat with her.

After seeing off Stewardess Lin Shan, Stewardess Sheng Jin came to consult Seventh Miss, “In the ninth month, the household will release a batch of young servants and maids for marriage…”

Shangyuan, Zhongyuan, Xiayuan, and Duanwu’s ears immediately perked up.

Stewardess Sheng Jin managed teaching rules to the household’s young maids and arranging marriages and filling vacancies for maids in various courtyards. This was directly doing a favor for several maids—knowing the news early meant they could select people earlier.

Seventh Miss couldn’t help but laugh. She waved her hand and told Stewardess Sheng Jin, “Stewardess, just chat with these maids of mine.”

These maids were also in their early twenties, all at the age when romantic feelings awakened. Seventh Miss naturally wouldn’t obstruct them or delay their marriage arrangements any further.

After her afternoon nap, several first and second-rank stewardess mothers found pretexts to come and sit with Seventh Miss. Staying busy until evening, Xu Fengjia returned.

As soon as he entered, he laughed loudly, “Look what I’ve brought you!”

Seventh Miss quickly jumped down from the kang, helped Xu Fengjia remove his cloak, and instructed Lixia, “Bring water. Nanny Wang, attend to His Lordship’s washing. Shangyuan, go to the small kitchen and ask if the mushrooms have soaked enough. If they have, make a soup for dinner tonight.”

Only then did she ask Xu Fengjia with a smile, “Well? What good things are there at the Inner Three Passes? Worth you showing off to me like this.”

But Xu Fengjia didn’t answer Seventh Miss’s question. Instead, he twitched his nose and laughed, “Wonderful! I’ll have a culinary treat today. Who sent the mushrooms? If you hadn’t mentioned it, I wouldn’t have noticed, but now that you have, I feel the whole room is filled with their fragrance.”

“Someone just brought a bowl to check the quality, and in just a moment the whole room has this smell? Even a dog’s nose isn’t this sensitive!” Seventh Miss mocked him. “Our General Xu’s nose is even sharper than a dog’s—” Before Xu Fengjia could reach out to catch her, she dodged away with a laugh. “Elder Brother sent them. This time he gave another bag of the finest mushrooms. According to Stewardess He, even those rewarded from the palace aren’t this good.”

Xu Fengjia touched his nose and said thoughtfully, “Elder Brother and Sister-in-law are truly very courteous.”

He eagerly pulled a stack of papers from his chest and placed them in Seventh Miss’s palm. “Knowing you love calligraphy, guess what this is?”

Upon closer inspection, Seventh Miss saw it was a large bundle of rubbings from inscriptions left by literati and poets over the years in the Juyong Pass area. Flipping through roughly, there were ink treasures left by Tang Yin, Wang Yangming, Li Dongyang, Li Mengyang and other masters from the previous dynasty. Her eyes lit up. Just as she was about to speak, someone outside laughed, “The Grand Consort has bestowed autumn gifts. Your Lordship and Young Mistress, please quickly change clothes and come out to receive the grace.”

When the Grand Consort had bestowed gifts, Xu Fengjia and Seventh Miss absolutely had to be present. The two hurriedly changed clothes and went out to the central courtyard to receive the rewards. Duke Pingguo and Xu Fengjia pulled the reward-announcing eunuch aside to chat for a few sentences and sealed two thick red packets before the couple returned to their room to sit down and eat that bowl of three-colored mushroom soup whose fragrance already filled the room.

After dinner, Fifth Young Mistress sent someone to deliver Mingde Hall’s share of gifts.

“One white jade hand warmer, one hydrangea-patterned glazed lamp, one Dali marble figure screen, one Western floral and bird large mirror stand, one pearl-set gold chiming clock are bestowed upon Young Mistress. Two phoenix-tail silk garments, one sable fur, and two kesi silk overcoats are bestowed upon Your Lordship.” The deliverer, Stewardess Wang Yide, was all smiles, especially courteous to Seventh Miss. After kowtowing several times, she proudly announced the list to Seventh Miss. “Fifth Young Mistress says the screen, chiming clock, and mirror stand are all heavy and have been placed in the side courtyard first. They’ll be moved in tomorrow during daylight so nothing gets bumped or broken. What does Young Mistress think?”

Stewardess Wang Yide, relying on her seniority, was always indifferent even when speaking to Fifth Young Mistress and had never been this attentive to Seventh Miss before.

Before Seventh Miss could speak, Xu Fengjia asked from behind her, “Why is Auntie being so generous this time? Did all the households receive mirror stands, screens, and chiming clocks?”

Although glass was no longer a rarity at that time, glass mirrors were still extremely rare items, all imported goods with no domestic production. Just this one mirror stand alone could purchase ten to twenty qing of prime farmland—and that was if you could even find one for sale. Grand Consort Xu was being very extravagant with this gift.

Stewardess Wang Yide seemed to have been waiting for exactly this question from Xu Fengjia. She kowtowed several more times before replying with a smile, “All the male family members in each household only received phoenix-tail silk and sable fur. The female family members received hand warmers and glazed lamps. The Grand Madam, Duke, and Madam all received kesi silk garments. As for this screen, mirror stand, and clock—only Young Mistress received them. They’re uniquely yours!”

She pronounced those last four words especially loudly.

Xu Fengjia looked at Seventh Miss again, thought for a moment, but his expression darkened.