In the first month of the fifth year of Chengping, the weather was abnormally warm. Rivers north of the Yangtze actually began thawing one after another, causing excitement throughout the court and countryside. The Great Qin primarily relied on farming, so cold weather in the first month wasn’t feared since rice hadn’t been planted yet. But the Northern Rong most feared early warmth followed by a late spring cold that would freeze all the sprouting pasture grass to death. This year’s abnormal climate was relatively advantageous for Great Qin.
Also because the freezing period for several river channels north of the Yangtze was very short this year and thawing came early, just past the fifteenth of the first month, many boats were already coming and going on the Grand Canal between the capital and Hangzhou. After all, no matter the era, those pursuing profit and fame always bustled about hurriedly, never stopping their footsteps.
Seventh Miss put down her book and looked again toward the scenery outside the window, tightening her grip on the hand warmer—though gradually approaching Jiangnan, the weather wasn’t too cold anymore and even carried a hint of early spring February warmth. But this winter she was particularly sensitive to cold, and even at this point, she still couldn’t do without the hand warmer.
The moment she moved, Lixia said quietly, “Should we close the window to avoid the cold wind?”
Someone beside her said, “Still feeling nauseous? If so, have Quan Ziyin prescribe another remedy. What kind of divine physician can’t even treat seasickness?”
The implication was considerable dissatisfaction with Quan Zhongbai.
Seventh Miss gave Xu Fengjia a withering look. “I’m fine. Don’t assume I have a problem every time I move. I’m a living person who breathes.”
Xu Fengjia laughed heartily and exchanged a glance with Lixia. Both fell quiet again, no longer disturbing Seventh Miss, who continued gazing at the mountains and waters slowly moving past the porthole window.
That she would travel south to Guangzhou with Xu Fengjia while heavy with child was something even Seventh Miss hadn’t anticipated. Right after the Grand Master’s birthday celebration, Xu Fengjia immediately received his new appointment—His Majesty appointed him General of Guangzhou. After spring began, he would head south to Guangzhou to gather the fleet, protect the Guangzhou coastal waters, and especially drive away the Southeast Asian pirates who had been quite active along the coast in recent years.
Since the only people in Great Qin with naval combat experience were probably Sun Liquan and Xu Fengjia, this appointment truly couldn’t be declined. Military orders were absolute—Xu Fengjia couldn’t possibly wait until Seventh Miss gave birth, finished her confinement month, and summer arrived before heading to Guangzhou. Stimulated by past events, he was determined to keep Seventh Miss by his side and never repeat that tragedy. Thus he was set on taking Seventh Miss to Guangzhou to give birth.
This matter naturally caused an uproar in the Xu household in the capital. But because Xu Fengjia’s attitude was extraordinarily firm, and Seventh Miss also preferred going to Guangzhou to live her own quiet life rather than constantly circulating among the noble ladies’ circles in the capital—with the fourth and fifth households gone, Yu’an and Yuping already married before and after New Year, Yuning and Yutai’s marriages not imminent, and no major household affairs requiring management in recent years, plus First Young Madam assisting from the side—Seventh Miss didn’t necessarily need to stay in the capital to manage household affairs. Madam Xu’s attitude ultimately softened and she approved Xu Fengjia’s decision. This enabled Seventh Miss, five months pregnant, to board the river boat. Just past the fourth day of the first month, they sailed downstream toward Guangzhou.
Xu Fengjia had originally intended to hire Dr. Zhong at high wages to accompany them to Guangzhou as his private physician—naturally, the midwife seemed to have been prepared by Seventh Miss long ago—so any issues on the boat could be immediately addressed. Unexpectedly, Quan Zhongbai happened to need to personally go to the Suzhou area to inspect a batch of premium medicinal materials and investigate whether a batch of medicinal plants transplanted from the Western Regions could successfully propagate in Suzhou. He had already obtained leave from the palace. Thus both parties traveled together, and Xu Fengjia even declared, “I’ll abduct you to Guangzhou and keep you there until Yang Qi gives birth before letting you go.”
Whether Quan Zhongbai was interested in visiting Guangzhou, Seventh Miss didn’t really know. Throughout the journey, she actually hadn’t many conditions requiring Quan Zhongbai’s care. Perhaps because she valued nurturing the pregnancy, this pregnancy hadn’t caused Seventh Miss much hardship. The baby was also growing healthily—recently, the child had even begun performing martial arts in Seventh Miss’s belly, happily flipping back and forth.
Only a few days ago when the boat rocked rather violently did Seventh Miss show signs of seasickness. Xu Fengjia immediately ordered the fleet to slow down, and Quan Zhongbai selected and mixed medicines from a cabin full of medicinal materials, preparing a formula to settle her stomach. After Seventh Miss took it, she was fine, but Xu Fengjia still wasn’t reassured. He and Lixia closely attended Seventh Miss on both sides, making her find it both funny and exasperating.
“Alright, I’m really fine.” She sent Xu Fengjia away again. “We’re about to reach Suzhou. You should go watch the two children. There are many boats at the dock—don’t let the children cause trouble.”
During this southern journey, the Grand Madam had been very eager for Seventh Miss to leave both children in the capital. Madam Xu had similar thoughts, but Seventh Miss declined them all. First, reading ten thousand books and traveling ten thousand miles—broad experience from childhood would greatly benefit both children. Second, Madam Xu was getting old after all and might not care for them thoroughly. She might overly indulge them in many ways, spoiling Fourth and Fifth Young Masters, which Seventh Miss couldn’t explain to herself in the future. Third, whether the children were close to her didn’t really matter, but their relationship with Xu Fengjia should be closer—to avoid having the same unspoken knot between father and son that existed between Duke Pingguo and Xu Fengjia, never achieving true intimacy.
As for what the Grand Madam thought, Seventh Miss was too lazy to speculate. Xu Fengjia was their biological father. If he wanted to keep the children by his side, what could the Grand Madam say? How she treated Fourth and Fifth Young Masters was plain for all to see—the two children clung to her no less than to Xu Fengjia. If the Grand Madam dared voice concerns about her harming the children, she herself would lose all face first.
In her current position, she actually didn’t need to care too much about outsiders’ opinions. As long as she could face herself with a clear conscience, that was enough. Therefore, these past months, Seventh Miss had actually become more casual with Fourth and Fifth Young Masters, no longer as cautious as before. She felt this pregnancy proceeded so smoothly largely because she had no worries and concerns.
Xu Fengjia shifted and said lazily, “I’m not going. Lixia, go call those two little troublemakers in. They’ve been wild on the deck all morning without even coming in to see their mother.”
Lixia left smiling. Before long, she brought back two little rascals sweaty all over—both Fourth and Fifth Young Masters were taller and sturdier than their peers. Only five this year, they were even bigger than six or seven-year-olds.
“Mother!” Both children rushed to Seventh Miss’s side, then ran outside to wash their hands before carefully touching Seventh Miss’s belly. Fifth Young Master pointed at Xu Fengjia mockingly: “Father is so lazy—the sun is shining on his bottom and he’s still lying in bed.”
Seventh Miss smiled slightly and said gently, “Shouldn’t you wipe off your sweat and change clothes? Be careful not to catch cold from the wind and start sneezing.”
The two children briefly left again. After a while, they returned neatly dressed with clean faces. Fourth Young Master asked, “How many days can we stay in Suzhou?”
By water route to Suzhou, the route to Guangzhou offered many options. Many people chose the sea route—though slower, it was more stable. Xu Fengjia decided to stop in Suzhou for a few days to rest and let the children familiarize themselves with Baifang Garden, while arranging for ocean vessels to wait in Ningbo, then slowly sail to Guangzhou depending on Seventh Miss’s condition. However, to catch the seasonal monsoon winds, they could only stay in Suzhou four or five days. Seventh Miss originally didn’t want the trouble, but seeing Fourth and Fifth Young Masters so eager, she also felt staying a few days in Suzhou would be nice.
Xu Fengjia casually chatted with Fourth and Fifth Young Masters before saying, “We’ll have at least four or five days. Father can take you to Xiao Xiangxue to see the plum blossoms, but Mother will have to stay at Baifang Garden.”
He asked Seventh Miss, “Where will we stay this time? Have you decided?”
Seventh Miss shook her head. “I was thinking Baifang Garden hasn’t been inhabited for a long time—we’ll just look around and play. For lodging, let’s stay at the special guest quarters where people regularly live. It has more vitality.”
Baifang Garden had been deserted for quite some time, so Xu Fengjia naturally had no objections. Fourth and Fifth Young Masters were already firing questions like rapid shots: “What good food does Suzhou have? Mother, I want to eat braised spare ribs.”
“I want yellow fish noodles.”
“And also…”
As Fourth and Fifth Young Masters chattered, the boat lightly bumped. Lixia pushed open the door and said with a smile, “The boat is docking. Would the Heir and Madam please rise?”
#
Rarely coming to Suzhou, Seventh Miss couldn’t go out on the streets. After Xu Fengjia washed off the dust, he took the two children out to play. Seventh Miss leisurely bathed at Yurong Courtyard, slept a while, then got up to see Nanny Dong who came to pay respects. She asked with a smile about Qiqiao’s recent situation.
Nanny Dong was naturally very respectful toward Seventh Miss. “She’s expecting now. This time she wanted to pay respects, but she wasn’t feeling well, so I didn’t let her come…”
Thinking of past circumstances, Seventh Miss was also happy for Qiqiao. “Good! Nanny Dong will soon see the third generation.”
She also had property in Jiangnan. Two accountants also came to pay respects and present accounts, along with the manager of Xianxiu Workshop, the manager of the fields… Lixia and Shangyuan busily checked accounts while Seventh Miss naturally had nothing to do. After resting at Yurong Courtyard overnight, the next day someone came inviting them to a banquet.
Since the Grand Master’s promotion, the position of Jiangnan Governor-General had long remained vacant—the Li family had long been transferred after their term ended. However, various commanding generals had put down roots in Jiangnan, and Xu Fengjia’s old subordinates from the Taihu area also remained locally. Quan Zhongbai had many matters to handle and no time for socializing. Xu Fengjia explained to various families that Seventh Miss was heavy with child and inconvenient for entertaining. He politely declined everyone else and only accompanied Seventh Miss resting indoors. Even when Seventh Miss urged him to go out, he declined.
Seeing the warm weather, Seventh Miss had the idea to take the two children to play in Baifang Garden. It was just early February, and because of the warm weather, many flowers had bloomed. The garden was truly alive with flying orioles and swallows, birds singing and flowers fragrant. Fourth and Fifth Young Masters were accustomed to the small gardens in the capital—entering here, weren’t their eyes dazzled? They immediately wanted to climb the artificial mountain. Seventh Miss quickly stopped them: “First go to Yuelai Hall to see where your birth mother used to live.”
So she led the children into Yuelai Hall. Since Fifth Miss, no one had lived here, so apart from a large fig tree and an old yellow cat, there was nothing much to see. Seventh Miss briefly introduced things outside the door—this was where the deceased mother used to live, that was her bedroom…
Since the furniture had all been moved to the capital for storage, Yuelai Hall had nothing left but a few empty rooms. Fourth and Fifth Young Masters listened with bored expressions. Fifth Young Master went to tease the old yellow cat under the tree. The old yellow cat meowed and came over to rub against Seventh Miss’s shoes.
Seventh Miss looked at it and recalled the past. For a moment, her voice became distant. “This is the Spotted Tiger that Fifth Sister raised! After all these years of things and people changing, it’s still here.”
Indeed, Spotted Tiger also recognized Guyu and Chunfen, being quite affectionate with them before leisurely jumping onto the fig tree.
The two maids naturally sighed. Seventh Miss counted on her fingers: “Let me calculate—Fifth Sister brought it home to raise when she was eight. This year her spirit age would be twenty-one… it’s thirteen years old now.”
Fourth and Fifth Young Masters, hearing it was Fifth Miss’s cat, became interested and circled around Spotted Tiger calling out loudly. Fortunately the old cat had a good temper and the children’s movements weren’t rough, so both sides played enthusiastically. Seventh Miss watched and smiled slightly, then turned away to wipe her eyes.
Xu Fengjia said nothing, only placing his hand on Seventh Miss’s shoulder.
Seventh Miss leaned into his embrace and said quietly, “If Father and Mother want to sell Baifang Garden later, let’s buy it.”
After a pause, she added, “We’ll bury stone tablets in each courtyard, writing who lived here and what happened to them… In Yuelai Hall, write that it was named after a fig tree and once housed a young miss of the Yang family… then write some words the children want to say to Fifth Sister.”
Xu Fengjia said in a low voice, “Alright.”
After a pause, he added, “Then further inside at Xiao Xiangxue, let’s write your Sixth Sister’s story—a concubine-born daughter becoming an Imperial Consort in the palace truly has some legendary quality.”
Seventh Miss knew Xu Fengjia was trying to cheer her up, but still couldn’t help showing a slight smile. She called to the two children: “Let’s go to Xiao Xiangxue to see if the plum blossoms have withered yet.” Xu Fengjia ordered someone to carry a small warming sedan. Seventh Miss got in, and the group slowly wound their way from Wanhua Liuluo to Xiao Xiangxue.
Seventh Miss pointed things out along the way: “This is Jidi Residence—your uncle used to live here studying. That’s Baiyujin and Juba Xian. Baiyujin often worshipped peonies, Juba Xian has viburnum flowers. Ah, Xike Workshop—see the lotus leaves? Your Third Aunt and Fourth Aunt used to live inside.”
“And Wanhua Liuluo, where we boated. Qili Xiang… oh, we’ve reached Xiao Xiangxue.” Seventh Miss could smell plum fragrance from afar. The two children had already run ahead, both marveling: “This garden is so big! Much bigger than Xiao Cuijin at home!”
The Xiao Xiangxue courtyard was naturally locked. Seventh Miss alighted from the sedan and only looked at the plum blossoms. This section of plum trees had all finished blooming, with only a few trees still holding flowers. The children cheered again—discovering the swing in the plum grove.
Fifth Young Master immediately wanted to swing. He jumped on but immediately jumped off—the hemp rope hadn’t been changed since Sixth Miss left for the capital, who knew how many years ago. Wind and rain had long since weakened it. When Fifth Young Master jumped on, one side split open. If not for his agility, he nearly would have fallen.
After everyone enjoyed themselves, they circled out from the west side, passing Changqing Building. Seventh Miss ordered the door opened and led the children through the south annex. Then circling around from Zhuying Terrace, she led the children into Yuyu Pavilion. Nanny Dong had already opened the Yuyu Pavilion doors and arranged things, letting everyone rest inside.
Seventh Miss was quite tired after this round of activity. But the children weren’t exhausted at all. After pestering Seventh Miss to tell them a few stories about Yuyu Pavilion, they whooshed out again. This time they couldn’t be stopped—they were going to climb the artificial mountain. Guyu and Chunfen hurriedly followed, calling out loudly, begging the little ancestors to be calmer. Seventh Miss briefly dozed. When she opened her eyes again, Lixia and Shangyuan had gone somewhere, and she only saw Xu Fengjia standing in the courtyard with hands behind his back, admiring a pear tree.
With this year’s warm weather, pear blossoms bloomed early. Now the entire courtyard was covered in white snow. Seventh Miss felt playful, tiptoed to Xu Fengjia’s side, plucked a pear blossom, and tucked it by his ear. Xu Fengjia smiled slightly, grasped her hand, and said quietly, “I thought you’d fallen asleep and was wondering whether to wake you.”
Seventh Miss laughed: “What were you thinking about? Not worrying about my difficult labor again?”
Though this man was a great hero, he greatly feared childbirth. Once mentioned, his face immediately paled, especially after Quan Zhongbai said she might have difficult labor. As her belly grew larger, Xu Fengjia sometimes even changed color when thinking of this. Though Seventh Miss herself was also afraid, she didn’t worry as much as he did.
Xu Fengjia frowned: “Such things are truly difficult to predict…”
Indeed, giving birth then meant stepping through the gate of life and death. Once difficult labor occurred, it easily became death for both mother and child. Not to mention the various changes that might occur during confinement. Whether difficult labor would actually occur couldn’t be completely predicted with current medical skills. Xu Fengjia’s worry wasn’t strange. Even when Quan Ruiyun gave birth in the twelfth month with Quan Zhongbai personally presiding, she suffered considerably and nearly wasn’t saved. This frightened both Ninth Brother and Xu Fengjia. If not for Ninth Brother needing to take the imperial examination, he would have wanted to come to Guangzhou too.
But Seventh Miss had already thought it through—she tried her best to nurture the pregnancy scientifically according to modern practices. Now the fetus didn’t seem too large. If she still died in difficult labor, that would be heaven taking her.
“From childhood to now, I’ve overcome so many difficulties.” She consoled Xu Fengjia with a smile. “This last difficult trial—can I not pass it? Do you look down on me?”
Xu Fengjia noncommittally hummed. Seventh Miss continued: “Besides, if I fail before this last trial, I won’t be willing to accept it. Most likely I’ll ask for another chance and start over. I’ve spent one life surviving, waiting until after giving birth to stop merely surviving and start living. Heaven won’t make things difficult for me!”
Perhaps her confident demeanor infected Xu Fengjia. The young general’s expression cleared slightly before he reverted to his old ways and mocked Seventh Miss: “You call that surviving? Living in luxury—if you’re surviving, then the border people in the northwest are fighting for their lives!”
Seventh Miss smiled slightly, too lazy to respond. She just leaned on Xu Fengjia’s shoulder and asked with a smile, “Do you remember what you asked me here?”
Once she had been very unhappy. For her, life was only suffering that had to be endured during survival. Once she wanted to give up, to use death to end the seemingly endless killing and struggle. Once she wanted to escape, to use a numb Peach Blossom Spring existence, to demand of herself to be a bloodless mistress and settle for loneliness.
Even now, her life still carried gray tones. She hadn’t enjoyed life’s pleasures or youth’s flavors before already having to prepare for childbirth, and this battle—she had no certainty of victory either.
Even if she survived, her future remained full of regrets and unknowns. The Xu household was deeply mired in the political center. Wealth and honor had to be sought amid danger. In the future, the Yang family, Sun family, Niu family… countless political storms remained poised but not yet unleashed. Perhaps any one could be the Xu household’s burial ground. And the Grand Madam, Fourth Young Madam, the Empress in the palace, Noble Consort Niu… would all be enemies to her or her relatives.
Moreover, she always felt she hadn’t yet begun to understand Xu Fengjia. In the past period, she’d been too busy. Perhaps the two still didn’t quite fit together. After passing through this time of being in the same boat and sharing common enemies, as their understanding of each other deepened, they might share the bed while dreaming different dreams, turn on each other within the same room…
But suddenly at this moment, Xu Fengjia embraced her from behind and asked quietly by her ear, “Yang Qi, have you… ever actually liked me?”
His voice was hoarse and low, his tone full of laughter.
At this moment, an indescribable warm current surged through Seventh Miss’s heart. She knew the future still held decades of time for her to leisurely learn to love someone, for her and Xu Fengjia to slowly understand each other.
All storms had passed. In the future, she would not merely survive—there was a life waiting for her to unfold.
She said with a smile, “Xu Fengjia, I plan to spend the rest of my life answering that question for you.”
End of Text