Wei Yanqing had chased after Ming Huazhang the entire way. He was careful about his physical condition in daily life, but he had not exercised strenuously in a long time, and how could he possibly keep pace with Ming Huazhang? He arrived winded and gasping — and then the scene before him shocked even the breath from him entirely.
Jiang Ling was still wailing under Ren Yao’s pursuit. Ming Huazhang scanned the situation with an expressionless face, then said, “All right — you two, stop it.”
Jiang Ling immediately bolted behind Ming Huazhang for cover. Ren Yao came charging with her fists still clenched, but Ming Huazhang stood his ground, did not step aside, and looked steadily back at her as he said, “Enough. We are in the Wei family’s home. Don’t let Proprietor Wei see us making a spectacle.”
Ming Huazhang’s gaze was still and cold. Even with Ren Yao’s fist surging toward him, he showed no agitation — no intention to dodge or defend. In the end, Ren Yao pulled up short and shot Jiang Ling one final ferocious glare before stalking away without a word.
Ming Huashang knew she would be next. She was already braced for it, and walked proactively to Ming Huazhang’s side, pressing herself against him with every outward appearance of being frightened, though in reality it was as much a gesture of appeasement: “Elder Brother, you’ve finally come! We were walking through the garden looking at the trees when we heard someone screaming from this direction. I followed Wei Da-langjun over to see. Third Young Miss Wei seemed to be in some kind of state, saying she saw a ghost, and kept attacking a puppet — I was so frightened.”
Ming Huashang looked every bit the terrified girl, but not a single word she said was wasted — each one neatly cleared her of any blame. She hadn’t done anything she wasn’t supposed to. She had simply followed the sound and Wei Moyuan here — it was hardly her fault, was it?
Ming Huazhang gave Ming Huashang a quiet look. She immediately widened her eyes and put on her most docile, fragile expression. Ming Huazhang let it go without pressing her, and said, “Proprietor Wei, you told us not moments ago that your second apprentice took her own life and her spirit has already been escorted on to the next world. And now your third apprentice has an episode. What exactly is happening in your household? Are you trying to tell me something? Or perhaps everything you said was fabricated, and there is truly something wrong with the Wei family’s puppets? In that case, perhaps we should simply void the contract…”
Wei Yanqing heard the order he had so painstakingly secured being threatened with cancellation, and his heart lurched: “Master Cui, please — this is all a misunderstanding.”
He turned to the cowering Wei Moyuan and the disheveled Wei Zhùyàn, his expression going cold and sharp: “Look at both of you — what an embarrassment you’ve made in front of distinguished guests! Explain yourselves — what happened here?”
Wei Yanqing had been all cultured warmth and gracious courtesy in front of Ming Huazhang, the very image of a good-tempered, well-preserved middle-aged man. But the moment he dropped the smile and turned toward the people of his own household — whether the two apprentices, Wei Moyuan and Wei Zhùyàn, or the maids and servants standing nearby — every one of them immediately lowered their heads.
Wei Yanqing’s private manner was evidently far sterner than the gentle face he showed his guests.
Wei Zhùyàn still appeared dazed and absent. Wei Moyuan stepped forward and took the blame: “Master, the fault is mine — I failed to look after Apprentice Sister, and caused a disturbance to our guests. If punishment is due, please punish me, and spare Third Apprentice Sister.”
“No!” Wei Zhùyàn heard that Wei Moyuan was going to be punished and raised her head. “This has nothing to do with Elder Apprentice Brother. I saw her. She appeared right here in my room and said she would take me away. I was terrified and I hit her as hard as I could — but she wouldn’t leave. Even when her head rolled off, she still wouldn’t leave!”
Those standing nearby exchanged uneasy glances. Wei Moyuan’s face was etched with anguish: “Zhu Yan — there was no one else in this room. You have been suffering a delusion.”
“A delusion?” Wei Zhùyàn was momentarily still. She looked at the puppet lying in pieces on the floor, vivid as paint — then suddenly let out a great cry and clapped her hands over her head. “No — it wasn’t a puppet! It was her — it truly was her. She entered the puppet, and she spoke to me!”
Wei Moyuan looked at Wei Zhùyàn in this state and felt something break in him. Heedless of every watching gaze, he wrapped his arms around her as she raged: “Apprentice Sister — do not be afraid. No one will harm you!”
Ren Yao couldn’t help glancing at the puppet on the floor. Slender and finely crafted, if you added the head that had come loose, the whole figure would reach roughly to her shoulder. The clothing was not painted on — like a real person, the puppet was dressed in an actual layered gown.
But however convincingly lifelike it was, the gap between it and a living person was vast. No one could mistake it for a human being, let alone hear it speak.
In broad daylight, Ren Yao felt a chill that had no right to exist. She hugged her own arms and asked, “Who is she — the one she keeps talking about?”
Wei Yanqing looked at the disarray of the courtyard and let out a tired sigh. “A misfortune of our household — my poor, ill-fated second apprentice, Wei Baixuan.”
“Wei Baixuan?” Ren Yao frowned. “But is she not dead?”
“She is,” Wei Yanqing said. “But Zhu Yan and her Second Apprentice Sister were deeply close. She has refused all along to accept that Bai Xuan is gone. She keeps saying she can see Bai Xuan’s ghost. I had a physician come and look, and he said it is most likely a delusion from shock and grief. In a day or two — actually, tomorrow — I will bring in a high monk to perform a rite of exorcism on her behalf.”
The explanation sounded reasonable, but the way Wei Yanqing had spoken of it — and the way Wei Zhùyàn was behaving — didn’t look anything like the bond of two people who had been deeply close. Ming Huashang asked, “Could someone be intentionally disguising themselves as a ghost to frighten the Third Young Miss? Has anyone been coming to her quarters lately?”
Two maids huddled together behind a courtyard pillar, trembling. Feeling Wei Yanqing’s gaze turn toward them, they hastily shook their heads: “Third Young Miss said she wanted to sleep and sent us away. We waited outside the courtyard the whole time — we did not see anyone come in.”
“This is nothing more than Zhu Yan’s delusion.” Wei Yanqing stated it without a flicker of doubt. “Bai Xuan is gone. She has been dwelling on it too deeply, and that is why she sees things that are not there. Escort the Third Young Miss inside to rest. Moyuan — you clear all of this away.”
He finished giving his instructions, then turned back to Ming Huazhang with the same warm expression as before. “Master Cui, it was all a misunderstanding — I hope you have not been too unsettled. There are still a few details on the commission that need to be finalized — if the Young Master would please step this way, we can discuss them in the main hall.”
Ming Huazhang quietly rubbed his finger joints, saying nothing for a moment.
Wei Yanqing was clearly in a posture of concealment — he had no intention of allowing them to probe further, and yet there were still many unresolved questions in this case. They would need to find some way to separate him from the group and get someone alone to draw out information.
But Ren Yao was no good at concealing herself — whether deflecting people or pulling out information, none of it was in her range. Trusting Jiang Ling not to accidentally sell them all out was already asking too much. As for the one real candidate — Xie Jichuan was standing with his head slightly bowed, every ounce of his attention fixed on the stain on his sleeve. Even if the sky fell at this moment, he was unlikely to notice.
As Ming Huazhang was weighing his options, Ming Huashang behind him suddenly tightened her grip on his hand. “Elder Brother, I don’t feel well.”
Ming Huazhang looked down. Ming Huashang had a hand pressed over her heart, brows knitted, and said, “My chest hurts a little — it’s tight, and I can’t quite catch my breath.”
As she said this, she swayed as though about to faint. Ming Huazhang extended his arm and caught her — slight as a reed, seemingly full of ailments. For a moment he didn’t know what to say.
Wei Yanqing looked on with concern. “What is wrong with Miss Cui?”
Ming Huazhang was inwardly rather exasperated, but he cooperated all the same: “She has had a weak constitution since childhood — her heart cannot withstand sudden frights. The running just now may have brought on the old illness again.”
Wei Yanqing immediately said, “The fault lies entirely with our poor hospitality. I will send for a physician at once.”
“It is all right.” Ming Huashang leaned against Ming Huazhang, looking fragile and gracious in equal measure. “This happens to me often enough. Just give me a quiet room to rest for a little while and I’ll be fine on my own.”
Wei Yanqing could not possibly allow anything to befall a Cui family daughter under his roof. He immediately sent servants to prepare a guest room. Ming Huazhang turned to Ren Yao and said, “Stay with her. I’ll go discuss the commission with Proprietor Wei — I won’t be long.”
From the moment they had entered the Wei residence — or more precisely, from the moment they had entered the Xuan Xiaowei’s secret meeting place — Ming Huazhang had moved with a calm and steadiness that seemed beyond his years: commanding, systematic, issuing instructions with composure. Both Ren Yao and Jiang Ling were people accustomed to being the center of attention wherever they went, yet in Ming Huazhang’s presence they seemed to fall naturally into compliance, accepting his lead without quite knowing how it had happened.
Ren Yao gave a nod and guided the “ailing” Ming Huashang away.
Ming Huashang maintained her delicate, suffering air the whole way — the picture of a fragile beauty in distress. Once she was seated in the guest room, the serving girl saw she still had a hand over her heart and looked worried: “Miss Cui, is your chest still hurting?”
“Mm.” Ming Huashang gave a weak nod. “An old ailment — I just have to endure it a little. Is there anything new you can tell me? If I have something else to think about, the pain becomes easier to bear.”
The maid was rather flattered. She thought hard, then said, “I tend to these inner quarters day in and day out — there’s nothing much that changes. Nothing very new to speak of.”
“Then tell me what is happening around you.” Ming Huashang lowered her voice and asked, “I heard that the eldest apprentice here had a marriage contract with the second apprentice, but today I saw the eldest apprentice embracing the third. That seems…”
Gossip is, it seems, a universal human weakness. The maid’s eyes brightened noticeably. She knew perfectly well that she ought not — and yet she couldn’t help herself, and whispered to Ming Huashang, “Miss Cui, these are things regarding the master’s family, and I really shouldn’t say. I’ll only tell you — and you absolutely must not repeat it to anyone.”
Ming Huashang nodded eagerly. Ren Yao stood beside the couch, silently admiring how naturally at ease Ming Huashang seemed in any company, while sharpening her own focus to listen to what the maid was about to say.
The maid said: “The Proprietor’s fate has not been easy, they say — built up such a big business, and never had a child his whole life. Da-langjun was a boy the Proprietor took on as an apprentice when he was still in the theatre world. He went through a lot of hardship in those early years, following the Proprietor from poverty all the way to the business they have now. That’s why the Proprietor trusts him most — the household will certainly go to him in the end. It’s a pity that Da-langjun, steady and solid as he is, has no gift for commerce. That’s not an insurmountable difficulty, really — the Proprietor has opened his connections, and as long as Da-langjun deals honestly, the noble patrons are willing to keep doing business with the Wei family. But the real problem is that Da-langjun cannot make puppets. The Proprietor taught him for many years, and Second Young Miss — who came into the fold later — had already mastered it, but he still only manages the most basic work.”
Ming Huashang nodded slowly. “So that is why Proprietor Wei wanted the eldest apprentice to marry the second — so they could carry on the Wei family’s craft together?”
“Exactly.” The maid continued, “Da-langjun and Second Young Miss grew up together from when they were young — if they could be a couple on top of that, it would really have been a good thing. But you can’t plan for matters of the heart. After the Proprietor had trained Second Young Miss, he had no intention of taking on more apprentices — but then one time when the Proprietor went to the temple to offer incense and pray for guidance, the oracle he drew said he was destined to face one great calamity and one great blessing in his life. The calamity would come in the form of a man, who would bring about his complete ruin — and the blessing would come in the form of a woman, who would help him rise again and secure prosperity without end. After he left the temple, he happened to come across a little girl who had wandered and gotten lost. He waited several days without finding her family, and eventually took her in as his third apprentice — which is Third Young Miss, Zhu Yan.”
Ren Yao raised an eyebrow — she had already guessed where this story was going. “So after the new apprentice sister arrived, the eldest apprentice brother fell in love with the youngest?”
“That’s right.” The maid sighed. “Third Young Miss came to the Wei household when she was very small. Back then the Proprietor was busy with business, and Second Young Miss spent her days in the workshop carving puppets — it was really Da-langjun who raised Third Young Miss. Third Young Miss grew more beautiful every year, and her nature is lively and charming — she knows what to say and how to say it. Everyone in the household loves her. And ever since she arrived, business has been getting better and better, so everyone feels she brings good fortune. Even the Proprietor, who is so strict with his apprentices, cannot bring himself to scold or punish Third Young Miss — he spoils her nearly as though she were his own daughter. Compared to that, Second Young Miss was always too quiet and contained.
Ming Huashang asked on hearing this, “Are you referring to Wei Baixuan? What kind of person was she?”
The maid looked a little pained. “Second Young Miss was another one who had suffered. She was only five or six when she was kidnapped and sold — she changed hands many times, first serving as a maidservant in a wealthy household, then sold on again after she fell afoul of the head housekeeper. If the Proprietor hadn’t bought her back from the broker, she would have been sent off to a pleasure house. Because of all that, her nature became very closed-off and quiet — she never spoke unless spoken to, and kept to the workshop day and night. People thought her strange. Second Young Miss’s looks were perfectly ordinary by the standards of common women — and next to Da-langjun and Third Young Miss, she was even less remarkable. If Third Young Miss had never come, Second Young Miss and Da-langjun wouldn’t have been a bad match at all — but then the Proprietor went and took on another apprentice. Those of us who served here could all see that Da-langjun and Third Young Miss were better suited. Poor Second Young Miss — all her feelings went unreturned.”
Ren Yao listened, feeling a pang. Ming Huashang asked, “Did Second Young Miss care for Da-langjun?”
“Of course she did.” The maid answered without a moment’s hesitation. “When Second Young Miss first came to the Wei household, she was as shut-up as a corked gourd — nobody liked her, and the Proprietor lost his temper with her the moment he saw her. It was Da-langjun who stepped in to help and smooth things over time and again. Later, when Second Young Miss took to carving puppets and began to show her skill, the Proprietor’s temper cooled. Second Young Miss never said it openly, but anyone with eyes could see that she had always cared deeply for Da-langjun. But Da-langjun’s warmth toward others was all in his nature — with everyone he was kind and decent. Only with Third Young Miss was it something real.”
What a perfectly ordinary triangle of feelings — and yet utterly without remedy. Ming Huashang asked, “If you all knew that Da-langjun loved Third Apprentice Sister, Proprietor Wei must certainly have known too. Why would he still arrange for Da-langjun to be betrothed to Second Apprentice?”
The maid glanced around nervously — there was visible fear on her face, and yet she could not suppress the pull of the telling, and leaned close to Ming Huashang. “Because the Proprietor says that seniority must be observed and that the proper order cannot be upended. But from what the Proprietor’s own servants say, it seems Second Young Miss used leverage.”
Ming Huashang raised an eyebrow. “Leverage?”
“Yes.” The maid dropped her voice further. “By now the Wei family’s puppets may still carry the Proprietor’s name, but most of them are actually made by Second Young Miss’s hand. She has a real gift — her craftsmanship has even surpassed the Proprietor’s. The custom-ordered puppets that the nobles commission — it’s Second Young Miss who carves them all.”
There were plenty of merchants in Luoyang who made puppets, yet the Wei family had stood apart from all others for one reason: their puppets were wrought with extraordinary skill, and could even be made to fit a patron’s specific desires. Ming Huashang had assumed this was down to Wei Yanqing’s own exceptional talent — only now did she learn that it was all the work of Wei Baixuan’s hands.
Ren Yao had initially felt a great deal of sympathy for Wei Baixuan — she herself was someone who expressed feeling through action rather than words, unable to say what she meant, and so she had understood her. But now, she wondered whether she had drawn her conclusions too early.
This might be a case in which everyone was complicit in their own way.
Ren Yao asked, “How did she apply the leverage?”
“With her craft, of course.” The maid said it as though it went without saying. “The thing the Proprietor cares most about is the Wei family’s name and reputation. Second Young Miss had made so many puppets for the household — all she wanted was for Da-langjun to marry her. How could the Proprietor possibly refuse?”
Ren Yao was briefly speechless. The maid had spoken of how deeply Wei Moyuan and Wei Yanqing were bonded through shared hardship — a devotion between master and apprentice — and she had taken it as genuine. Yet, it seemed, that bond had its limits as well.
Ming Huashang said with a sigh, “The word love — even the most clear-eyed people, once they fall into its web, can no longer find their way out. But if Wei Baixuan had gotten what she wanted, why did she still take her life?”
“Because Da-langjun and Third Young Miss would not accept it.” The maid, too, found the whole affair pitiable, and shook her head. “Da-langjun was the Proprietor’s apprentice from the time of the theatre troupe. He cannot make puppets, but he has a beautiful singing voice. Unfortunately, once the Proprietor’s voice was ruined, he became deeply sensitive to hearing anyone else sing — and Second Young Miss was as silent and still as a plank of wood: the Proprietor said jump, and she asked how high. Da-langjun spent those earlier years very much alone — until Third Young Miss arrived. Third Young Miss took a great interest in all the old opera texts, and servants had stumbled upon Da-langjun and Third Young Miss performing together more than once. The two of them — he handsome, she charming — singing lines that seemed written for the two of them alone. Da-langjun was kind, Third Young Miss was beloved, and nobody had the heart to tell the Proprietor. If anyone walked in on it, they simply looked the other way. But one day, Da-langjun and Third Young Miss had dismissed all the attendants and were performing together in a room, and Second Young Miss walked in on them.”
Ming Huashang’s brow moved, almost imperceptibly. “That day was…”
“The very day before Second Young Miss took her life.” The maid seemed to recall something and looked unsettled. “Da-langjun had sent everyone away, so we don’t know exactly what happened — we only heard that afterward it erupted into a quarrel. Da-langjun was very agitated. He said he was going to tell the Proprietor and dissolve the betrothal — that Third Young Miss was the only one in his heart, and he would never marry Second Young Miss. Second Young Miss flew into a rage as well, and said she would go and report them to the Proprietor — that she would tell him they had been secretly practicing opera all this time.”
Ren Yao inhaled sharply. The Wei family’s affairs had taken one unexpected turn after another, and she had run out of words: “And then?”
“And then Second Young Miss went to find the Proprietor,” the maid said. “We don’t know what she said, but the Proprietor also grew furious. He had her dragged off to the workshop to reflect on herself — said she needed to calm down. Afterward the Proprietor called in Da-langjun and Third Young Miss and gave them a severe scolding, threatening that if they did not comply, he would drive them both out of the Wei household. We couldn’t understand how everyone had been fine, and then suddenly the Proprietor and all three apprentices were furious at once. For those two days, all of us serving them tiptoed around and were afraid to breathe too loudly, for fear of catching the worst of someone’s temper. The next day, the person delivering meals to the workshop found that the food hadn’t been touched. The Proprietor assumed Second Young Miss was just being stubborn and paid it no attention. But later that evening, Da-langjun grew worried she might have starved herself, and had someone force the door open — and that is when they found her. Second Young Miss was lying on the ground with a knife in her throat, still bleeding. Dead.”
Ren Yao felt the weight of it settle over her — but Ming Huashang had noticed that the maid’s expression was not quite right. Without letting it show, she followed up gently: “However much it is a pity that Second Young Miss should die so young, she was consumed in that moment by feeling and could not see past it — there is little anyone could have done. The Proprietor has already arranged rites of passage on her behalf, which is at least a measure of closure — a resolution of her bond with the Wei family.”
Sure enough, after Ming Huashang finished speaking, the maid’s expression grew strange and conflicted — clearly holding something back. Ming Huashang said, as though puzzled: “What is it? Have I said something wrong?”
The maid let out a sigh. She had found Ming Huashang to be the kindest and most gentle-natured young lady she had ever waited upon — and she had heard she was from the Cui family as well. The maid had taken a genuine liking to her, and could not bear to see her come to any harm, so she set aside Wei Yanqing’s strict orders and said in a hushed voice, “Young Miss, you are a good person — I don’t want to see you frightened. Let me say a few more words, even if I shouldn’t. The Wei family’s puppets… there is something deeply wrong with them. You would do best not to buy any. After Second Young Miss died that day, she was surrounded by fallen puppets — it truly looked as though the puppets had killed her. But more disturbing than that: after Da-langjun found the body and went to call for help, when the Proprietor arrived — the body was gone.”
Ren Yao and Ming Huashang both stared. Ming Huashang said in disbelief, “Gone?”
“Yes.” The maid’s face had gone pale. She kept rubbing her hands together. “The whole thing was so deeply unsettling that the Proprietor brought in Daoist priests to perform rites, and had a talisman paper pasted at the workshop door. After that, peace left the Wei household. First the puppets were found in strange places — none of us took it seriously at first, thinking someone had simply forgotten to put one back. But then a puppet carrying a knife appeared at Third Young Miss’s bedside — and wasn’t that exactly what had supposedly happened to Second Young Miss? After that, sightings happened in broad daylight — Third Young Miss kept screaming that she was seeing a ghost. We thought Third Young Miss had lost her grip on her senses, but then one day a puppet appeared, seated in the main hall in the seat of honor, staring out at the crowd — and then suddenly blood began to pour from every orifice of its face. The Proprietor and the steward both saw it. So did the guests. The Proprietor called in monks and Daoist priests alike, but nothing worked — and today, those things have appeared again.”