On the way back from the palace, Seventh Miss remained lost in thought the entire journey. It wasn’t until she entered Mingde Hall that she summoned Xiao Huangpu to speak with her.

“I’ve already mentioned it to Noble Lady Ning during this palace visit.” She absently stirred the osmanthus dew in her tea bowl, watching the transparent gelatin slowly disperse, while instructing, “After Noble Lady Ning gives birth, she’ll naturally arrange for you to enter the palace. However, when the time comes, we’ll inevitably need to transfer your servant documentation to the Yang family so Noble Lady Ning can properly request you.”

Though the Xu family was related to Sixth Miss, they weren’t her natal family. Having the Xu family send someone in would be too conspicuous. That Seventh Miss arranged it this way clearly showed she had taken Xiao Huangpu’s palace entry to heart. The young maid was immediately overjoyed and knelt down to kowtow to Seventh Miss. “I will never forget Madam’s great kindness in this lifetime.”

Seventh Miss forced a smile and said quietly, “Don’t be hasty. I still have several matters for you to handle.”

She looked at Xiao Huangpu and sighed softly in her heart before asking, “Your second sister, Xiao Jialing, at Leshan Residence—she seems to be quite respectable there?”

With the huge carrot of palace entry dangling before her eyes, Xiao Huangpu’s attitude was naturally different. She glanced at Seventh Miss tentatively and said hesitantly, “She does have some status. After all, Second Sister is skilled with her hands and cautious in her conduct. Though she’s not the Grand Madam’s confidante, she’s still quite relied upon.”

Seventh Miss scratched at the table with her fingernail for a while. She said slowly, “Good. Then tell me—what does your second sister hope for most that the Grand Madam cannot give her?”

Xiao Huangpu immediately fell silent.

Seventh Miss raised her head to glance at her, then smiled to herself. “You can rest assured. This matter won’t be too difficult to handle, but without someone from inside Leshan Residence, it truly would be hard to manage.”

She was in no hurry and lowered her head again to trace the patterns on the cup lid with her fingernail.

After a long silence, Xiao Huangpu said quietly, “Second Sister is different from me. I want to marry outside. What Second Sister wants is to secure a respectable position within the household and marry into a respectable family—that would be enough.”

This was actually the most proper desire for a young woman at this age. Seventh Miss couldn’t help feeling puzzled. “The Grand Madam can’t even give her this?”

“The old lady is advanced in years and watches her attendants very closely. She’s said several times that she wants Second Sister to serve her until she passes away before being allowed to marry.” Worry appeared between Xiao Huangpu’s brows. “She says that at her age, she really doesn’t want to bring in strangers around her.”

Though the Grand Madam was a great-grandmother, she was only just over seventy this year at most. If she lived a bit longer to ninety, Xiao Jialing herself would be over thirty without marrying—making marriage much more difficult.

Though the Grand Madam was shrewd and formidable, she was ultimately old. This being the case, how could Xiao Jialing not become alienated from her?

Seventh Miss’s spirits lifted. She instructed Xiao Huangpu, “If you have time these days, bring Xiao Jialing to Mingde Hall. I need to have a good talk with her.”

Xiao Huangpu’s eyes were profound, but she nodded without hesitation. “I will certainly accomplish it.”

Seventh Miss dismissed Xiao Huangpu. “Go play. I don’t need your service here anymore.”

Xiao Huangpu said cheerfully, “Let me help Madam change clothes. Madam must be tired from the palace visit—why not rest for a while?”

Seventh Miss smiled and shook her head. “I still need to visit Leshan Residence and Qingping Courtyard—but changing clothes now would be good. The weather is hot, and these heavy garments are truly unbearable.”

She had Xiao Huangpu help her change clothes before visiting the two elders to pay her respects. The Grand Madam inevitably asked many questions about Imperial Concubine Xu. Seventh Miss took the opportunity to tell the Grand Madam about bringing Prince An out of the palace. The Grand Madam was quite satisfied. “It’s rare that you thought of it. Having Prince An grow close to Fourth Young Master, Fifth Young Master, and even Yu Ning and Yu Tai would be good.”

At Madam Xu’s place, there were even fewer issues. After Seventh Miss greeted her, she returned to Mingde Hall to arrange various matters. That evening when the family sat down to eat together, they spent a rich and harmonious Dragon Boat Festival. The next day, Imperial Concubine Xu sent down rewards—each sister-in-law received a jade mat and a palace fan, while Seventh Miss alone received an additional set of jewelry. Sixth Miss also bestowed some palace heat-relief medicines and small trinkets. Each household also sent festival gifts, which need not be mentioned.

After three or four days of such busyness, with many matters on Seventh Miss’s side, after the Dragon Boat Festival passed and Madam Xu set out to stay at Xiaotangshan, the sisters-in-law naturally saw her off together outside the second gate before each returning to rest.

Since Xu Fengjia had to personally escort Madam Xu to Xiaotangshan and would inevitably spend the night there, Seventh Miss rarely slept well. The next day when she woke up on her own, she wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to skip boxing practice, but felt that having gotten used to practicing the routine, if she didn’t move her muscles and bones, she would feel uncomfortable. After thinking it over, she still went through the motions energetically before coming in to wash up. After smiling and chatting with Fourth Young Master and Fifth Young Master for a few words, she sent them off to their lessons. Around mid-afternoon, Xiao Huangpu brought her second sister into Mingde Hall. Seventh Miss closed the door and spoke with her for about half an hour before going out to pay respects to the Grand Madam.

When Seventh Miss entered the room, she saw Yu Ping whispering something in the Grand Madam’s ear. She frowned slightly but didn’t interfere—after everyone had dispersed, the Grand Madam kept Seventh Miss to talk.

“Yu Ping is truly quite senseless.” The Grand Madam seemed rather embarrassed. “She was unwilling about the Fan family marriage, but now she’s envious of Yu’an’s dowry. Her mother has gone away, so she can only mutter to me privately, wanting a larger dowry. What do you all think should be done about this?”

Though Madam Xu lived year-round at Xiaotangshan, which benefited her health, the household indeed gradually developed a feeling of the Grand Madam’s faction dominating. For Yu Ping to not speak directly with Madam Xu about such matters but instead tell the Grand Madam was truly quite senseless.

Seventh Miss frowned and thought for a moment before saying reluctantly, “Though Xiao Qi is currently managing the household, the ones who truly make decisions in this family are still Grandmother and Father. How to handle this matter should still depend on Grandmother’s, Father’s, and Mother’s wishes.”

She couldn’t help sighing inwardly.

For Yu Ping to be so eager to calculate her dowry as soon as the betrothal was settled showed she lacked composure. The family’s affection seemed to be diminished somewhat by her calculations.

How could the Grand Madam not understand this meaning? She couldn’t help sighing. “Your father-in-law most detests when his children have such thoughts. Even when we divided the household back then, it was done fairly—aside from the ancestral properties and assets reserved for the heir apparent, everything else was equally divided. Though your several uncles are all in other regions now, over these years they’ve visited frequently. Your father-in-law has always worked hard to support and advance his younger brothers.”

Originally, according to custom at the time, with the Grand Madam still alive, the households shouldn’t have divided. However, the Xu family seemed to be an exception. The Grand Madam and Madam Xu had rarely formed an alliance on this matter—as soon as the old Duke passed away, the Grand Madam presided over the household division. Seventh Miss had heard about this matter and nodded thoughtfully, listening as the Grand Madam continued.

“This matter is trivial for Yu Ping—she simply wants some money to establish herself in her husband’s family. Young ladies don’t understand and only think of themselves. If this reaches your father, he’ll feel that the affection between siblings has grown thin, that Yu Ping even has to worry about her own dowry. I think it’s better if you give her a few words of reproach and let this matter drop.”

The Grand Madam was rarely this easy to deal with. Seventh Miss had expected her to throw this difficult problem to her, so she now breathed a sigh of relief. She nodded and readily agreed. “Since Grandmother means it this way, then this matter shouldn’t be reported to Father.”

She paused. “However, Fourth Sister-in-law is Yu Ping’s actual sister-in-law. Some things would be more proper if Fourth Sister-in-law spoke about them. What does Grandmother think?”

The Grand Madam was suddenly at a loss for words.

Seventh Miss had said she wouldn’t report it and had agreed to take on the whole matter. Now to suddenly turn it around—what could the Grand Madam say? Should she forbid the Fourth Young Madam from reproaching Yu Ping and insist that Seventh Miss do it and offend people?

She suddenly felt thoroughly uncomfortable: when someone didn’t care about money, they became very difficult to deal with. Even with the Eldest Young Madam’s temperament, at this point she would inevitably fall into the trap and step forward to reproach Yu Ping for refusing her request.

Such reproach would make the sister-in-law appear lacking in consideration for her younger sister. Then she could say a few words in front of Duke Pingguo… ideally making Duke Pingguo somewhat angry enough to publicly reproach Yang Shi, who would then have to be quiet for a while.

But Yang Shi was slipperier than a glass marble. She agreed pleasantly upfront, then with a Tai Chi cloud hand, pushed the matter onto Mo Shi.

Alas, with Mo Shi’s straightforward temperament, she probably wished Yu Ping could get more dowry! If she asked Mo Shi to speak to Yu Ping, Mo Shi would probably turn around and complain to Duke Pingguo. Then it would become a matter of herself, the grandmother, overstepping and interfering in the younger generation’s affairs.

Confronting this Yang Shi was truly frustrating—it was like fighting a ball of cotton. Whether you hit her or not, she remained light and soft, completely unaffected by force. When she brushed you, it was like a sharp sword hidden in cotton—one strike had Zhang Shi bleeding to this day. If it weren’t for losing Duke Pingguo’s favor over Yu Qiao’s matter, for the Fifth Household to regain the Duke’s favor now was truly easier said than done…

Her thoughts drifted far away. After a while, she smiled. “Speaking of which, I haven’t seen Concubine Mao from your Mingde Hall coming to pay respects to me recently. She also came from my household. When she has leisure, she should come visit and keep me company.”

The matter of concubines was truly her most fatal weakness.

Being stabbed twice in just a few days, Seventh Miss truly felt endless emotion.

Regardless of how outstanding she might be in other areas, mentioning the word “concubine” seemed to make all her advantages pale. Only the words “jealous wife” were written large across her forehead. Whether it was the Grand Madam or the Fifth Young Madam, once they couldn’t find other leverage, just mentioning these two words “concubine” could shift everyone’s attention to her jealousy.

So be it. After all, it was her own choice—how could she not bear a small price?

“Alright.” She agreed with curved eyes, then added somewhat maliciously, “In any case, she has nothing to do at home. Being able to serve at Grandmother’s side would be Concubine Mao’s good fortune.”

The Grand Madam was choked speechless by Seventh Miss’s self-righteous attitude. After a long while, she wearily waved her hand, dismissing Seventh Miss.

Before leaving, Seventh Miss confirmed with the Grand Madam, “Regarding Yu Ping’s matter—will Grandmother speak with Fourth Sister-in-law, or shall Xiao Qi do it…”

The Grand Madam said irritably, “This old woman will play the villain!”

Seeing her aggrieved expression, Seventh Miss hesitated but didn’t turn and leave immediately.

She tentatively softened her attitude slightly and said gently, “Grandmother shouldn’t worry too much. You are the matriarch of the entire household. If you find it awkward to speak, having Xiao Qi do it would be the same.”

With this rare concession from her, the Grand Madam glanced at Seventh Miss and took the opportunity to push the matter onto her. “Good. Since the Heir Apparent’s Wife doesn’t fear the difficulty, you can speak to her—it’s the same.”

She called Seventh Miss “Heir Apparent’s Wife” again, showing the old lady had indeed been angered by Seventh Miss today.

However, since entering the household, Seventh Miss had rarely cared about whether she was being disobedient or not. It was even rarer for her to want to appease the Grand Madam as she did now.

Though she showed no sign of admitting fault, just this small concession already lifted the Grand Madam’s mood—yet she became even more haughty, appearing more angry and calling her “Heir Apparent’s Wife.”

Only someone as perceptive and situated within the situation as Seventh Miss could detect this subtle emotional change. She rolled her eyes and smiled again. “Good. Since Grandmother has instructed it, Xiao Qi will handle it.”

She chatted with the Grand Madam for a few more casual remarks. Seeing the Grand Madam respond half-heartedly, Seventh Miss asked again, “Speaking of which, Grandmother hasn’t gone out for several years. It happens that in the fifth month, Tanzhe Temple installed a new golden Maitreya Buddha statue. Even Xiao Qi wants to go worship. If Grandmother has any intention of going out…”

This was genuinely trying to please the Grand Madam: given the Grand Madam’s status, going out would require great pomp and naturally much trouble. Seventh Miss would certainly have to be busy for a while. This was Seventh Miss expressing that she didn’t mind her own busyness as long as the Grand Madam was comfortably served.

The Grand Madam felt rather pleased inside. She pondered for a moment, intending to put on more airs, but thinking of the golden Maitreya statue, she ultimately couldn’t resist and said indifferently, “Good. Since you put it that way, not going to worship would make us seem insufficiently devout.”

Seventh Miss’s face immediately showed faint joy. “Then Xiao Qi will begin arranging it for Grandmother!”

The Grand Madam pressed her palms together and chanted Buddha’s name several times before saying, “At least you understand filial piety. Grandmother’s heart is comforted.”

Though there was meaning behind her words, judging by her tone, she didn’t seem too angry. Seventh Miss smiled and went along smoothly. “Xiao Qi still has much to learn. Now that Mother is at Xiaotangshan, if I don’t look to Grandmother to teach me, who else can I turn to?”

The Grand Madam suddenly understood: this woman was changing course with the wind and had intentions of reconciling between both sides.

She also smiled amiably. “Mm, understanding this makes Grandmother much more at ease.”

The old and young woman thus exchanged smiles.