Duan Shi had endured another sleepless night. Early the next morning, someone came from her aunt’s household to fetch her. She sought permission from the Old Madam and hurried off to see her aunt again.

The Guan men had gone to their offices; no one was home. Guan Niangzi and Duan Shi had barely drunk two sips of tea before the aunt pulled Duan Shi into her own inner chamber to speak in private.

Duan Shi’s hand was gripped very tight, and her heart tightened in response — she had a premonition of something ill.

Sitting down by the bed in the inner chamber, Guan Niangzi said, “In this world, I suppose it’s just the two of us who are in the same situation. Only the two of us can sit down and discuss this properly.”

“What’s happened?” Duan Shi asked, startled.

Guan Niangzi said, “Your husband and your father-in-law are both in the Court of Judicial Review’s prison! What on earth are we to do? Think about it — who is the President of the Court of Judicial Review right now? You can’t kill a snake, it will only turn to bite you! Your family is gone, and my family will be next. That one strike on your family — and now it’s my family.”

“Is there no one else who can intercede?” asked Duan Shi.

“Who would dare get involved with us at a time like this?” said Guan Niangzi. “No one has any leverage to help. When your father and brother got into trouble, I sent generous gifts to the Mu family and to Yongping Princess — they both sent them back. And I earned your uncle’s scolding for it.”

Duan Shi’s tears were close to falling. She raised a hand to wipe her eyes and said, “That doesn’t mean we do nothing. I’ve been asking around these past two days — among the regional officials the Censorate has brought back, most are dismissed from their posts. At most they become commoners. That’s not too severe.”

“And if the worst happens?” said Guan Niangzi.

Because of the treason case and old enmities, any hope of finding someone to intercede was virtually impossible. Every path Duan Shi could think of had been blocked. She said, “At worst, I still have my dowry. I could take my child and go. I’ve thought it through — I can still separate my property and establish my own household. Whatever becomes of the Bian family is their concern. I’ll only look after my son.”

“How can you be so foolish?” said Guan Niangzi. “What if this isn’t about the Bian family — what if it’s about us? We’re the ones who made enemies of the Zheng family!”

“That can’t be,” said Duan Shi.

“Several lives have been thrown in,” Guan Niangzi said through gritted teeth, “and now they’ve risen to power and hold authority in their hands. You tell me — can it be or can it not?”

She was more desperate than Duan Shi. The Bian family had already been dealt with; Duan Shi’s son was still young, and Duan Shi’s thoughts were about raising him. The Guan family had not yet been touched, and she did not want to suffer losses.

“But we’re just two women confined to the inner quarters,” said Duan Shi. “What can we do?”

“If they want us dead, we can’t just sit and wait for it,” said Guan Niangzi. “Women have their own ways — we can do things men cannot!”

Duan Shi was alarmed. “We absolutely cannot harm a court official! That Zhù Ying — she’s not easy to kill either. Elder Brother-in-law already ran into her and came to grief.”

“I’ve thought carefully about this the past two days,” said Guan Niangzi. “You can’t kill her in the street — so there’s only another method to be used!”

“What do you mean to do?”

Guan Niangzi lowered her voice: “I simply don’t believe this person has not one single fault. Inside that household of hers — surely there are servants who have been wronged? Spend enough money, bribe her servants, gather some evidence of her breaking the law. Get her reported! Once she’s caught up in trouble, she won’t have the energy to harm us.”

“Servants betraying their master? How could that work?”

“That’s just a matter of not paying enough! Ten strings of coins won’t do it — what about a hundred? Two hundred?”

“I’m afraid it won’t succeed,” said Duan Shi hesitantly, “and only creates a deeper hatred.”

“Did you think we weren’t enemies to the death before this?”

“Then… what should I tell my mother-in-law?”

“Don’t tell her!” said Guan Niangzi. “Just say you’re working on something!”

…

Guan Niangzi was as good as her word. She sent her niece away and waited for her husband and son to come home.

If there were more time, one could seduce the young men of the household into a life of drinking and debauchery, befriend them over food and drink, lure them into spending themselves dry, then instigate them into wrongdoing — and the household would come undone on its own. Or, failing that, bribe the servants. Servants were easier to bribe: first, their low status made them more prone to resentment and the desire to take revenge on their masters; second, with little property of their own, they were easily dazzled by small sums. The master’s every move depended on servants’ attendance; once servants turned, they could cause all manner of trouble. But this too required time.

But there was no time now, so that patient, long-line strategy would not work.

Guan Niangzi had an idea, but suffered from having no immediately effective method at hand — she still needed the men of the household to act. If the male head of household appeared in person, it would inspire far greater trust. It would greatly shorten the time needed to bribe servants. Whether offering future promises or producing money on the spot, servants would believe a man far more readily.

Guan Niangzi laid out her plan to the father and son. Guan Zongming flew into a rage: “Why won’t you let this go? This has nothing to do with our Guan family! Don’t bring disaster down on us!”

“They’re closing in step by step — don’t you see it?” said Guan Niangzi. “First it was my natal family, then our niece’s family — now it’s our turn! Flesh and blood — there’s no running from it!”

“Mother, don’t get anxious,” said Guan Qing. “Let Father think it over properly.”

Guan Zongming was quiet for a moment, then said, “The matter of Duan Ying has already been settled. What does the Bian family have to do with us? Pass my words along: from now on, no one surnamed Duan is allowed in my house!”

Guan Niangzi was struck as though by a blow!

Her voice came out hoarse: “But I am also surnamed Duan!”

“You are not to go out! No more receiving visitors!” Guan Zongming said to Guan Qing, “Go and talk some sense into your mother!” With that, he swept his sleeve and retreated to his concubine’s room.

Guan Qing was left to console his mother. “Mother, you’re too worried. Collective punishment doesn’t work like this.”

Guan Niangzi said, “National law is one thing! This is a private vendetta! They want to take public office and use it for private revenge. Can we just sit here waiting to die? If you had an enemy, could you let his grandson grow up in peace?”

“Zheng Xi is now the Jingzhao Governor — his authority doesn’t extend to us. The one surnamed Zhù has practically walked through the door.”

Guan Qing said, “Mother, you’re exhausted — rest for a while, and then we’ll talk. Besides, from what I hear, the Court of Judicial Review’s prison uses no torture. Why assume the worst of people?”

Mother and son reached a standstill through half the night. The mother clutched the son’s sleeve and wept; the son could not sweep his sleeve and leave as his father had. When Guan Niangzi had cried herself out, Guan Qing said helplessly, “I’ll ask around again tomorrow, and once we have word, we’ll discuss it further.”

Two knocks sounded on the wooden door. A maidservant asked, “Who is it?”

“Me!”

The maidservant opened the door to find a little maidservant from Guan Zongming’s concubine’s room hurrying over in a flurry.

Guan Niangzi asked, “What is it?”

“Madam! Something terrible has happened!”

“What?”

“Just now…”

Just now, Guan Zongming had gone in a cloud of irritation to rest in his concubine’s room. The concubine received him and spent some time soothing him before his temper eased a little. The concubine said, “The First Madam also speaks out of concern — wait until she’s thought it through, and she’ll come around.”

“She’ll never come around!” said Guan Zongming. “She’ll ruin our whole family!”

“Then… what are we to do?”

Guan Zongming said coolly, “If she won’t change her mind, then I’ll just have to make sure there’s nothing left connecting our family to those surnamed Duan.”

The concubine was frightened. “You — you — what do you mean? First Young Master’s mother’s family, First Madam’s natal family…”

“They’re her relatives — what does that have to do with our Guan family? If she insists on keeping the Duan connection, then she needn’t be part of the Guan family!”

“But First Madam has no natal family to go back to.”

“How is there nowhere to go? Wherever Duan Lin is, send them there.”

The concubine was frightened into silence and carefully tended him until he fell asleep.

The little maidservant heard no more sound from inside the room and hurried over to deliver the news.

Guan Qing heard it and felt as though struck by lightning. Guan Niangzi let out a sharp cry: “Guan Zongming —”

Guan Qing was startled by that cry and flew to cover his mother’s mouth: “Mother! Don’t alarm the others!”

Guan Niangzi was beside herself: “He wants to divorce me… he wants to kill me… he… this beast…”

“Mother, don’t say that — let’s think of what to do! Tomorrow morning, go to Father and admit your mistake. Say that you’ll never speak of this again, and that we’ll all live our days in peace from now on. As for our niece — don’t see her again.”

“And then what? That won’t do — there has to be a plan!”

She wanted to devise a plan again! Guan Qing said, “Mother! Please settle down!” He felt wretched inside. Though it was said that a father’s command meant a son must obey even unto death — who truly wished to be killed by their own father? And over such a reason! Guan Qing felt a flash of hatred for his father’s cold-bloodedness, though he also knew his father was capable of it.

“I’ve seen it clearly now,” said Guan Niangzi. “Ever since something happened with your uncle’s family, he’s had us marked down as a liability. And now he’s stopped pretending. He’s already set his mind on it — and a man who decides to discard something today won’t forget to keep discarding it tomorrow.”

“S-small… tolerance, g-great… flight… must… run away…” Guan Qing stammered.

“Nonsense!” said Guan Niangzi. “Run where? To beg for food?”

“Mother…”

Guan Niangzi gripped her son’s sleeve and said quietly, “We — we must make it so there’s no way he can separate us from him any more! We — we must make him get tangled up with Zhù Ying!”

“You!”

“Listen to me. Submit — submit a memorial impeaching Zhù Ying. You write it, in his name!”

“On what grounds? That person — she’s not extravagant, not lecherous, cares for people close to her. Even those who dislike her can’t find a real fault to pick.”

“What about the inner household? What about at home? Is there any favoring a concubine over the wife? Is there any…”

“She has no wife or concubines!”

“What about her family members? Has anyone in the family done anything unlawful? Pick anything!”

“Nothing. I’ve asked around — her parents are both in Wuzhou.”

“That’s it!” Guan Niangzi suddenly remembered. “Impeach her on this one point — her parents are already dead and she has concealed the mourning period.”

“What? Her parents are dead?”

“I’m guessing! Otherwise — Wuzhou is so far away, and it’s not even her ancestral home. The capital is such a fine place — why not bring her parents here? Most likely they’re dead! If her parents die, she has to observe the mourning period. If she observes mourning, she can’t take advantage of all the good fortune that has come her way lately, can she?”

Guan Qing was dumbstruck. “Mother! This is far too outlandish — making a false accusation against an official…”

“What do you know? There are plenty of people in this world who have concealed a parent’s death! All to avoid the mourning period. Even if they haven’t died yet — let those two old people run another three thousand li and they should well be dead! Even if they’re still alive, it doesn’t mean they can’t die!” Guan Niangzi ground her teeth.

“Mother!”

Guan Niangzi asked with a stony face, “Do you care about your mother at all?”

“Of course!”

“Your mother also had a father and mother once!” Guan Niangzi said through tears.

“I’ll look into things tomorrow and report back to Mother,” said Guan Qing.

“I fear that if we wait any longer, the two of us will have no life left.”

“I’ll move quickly.”

Mother and son dared not close their eyes all night. First thing the next morning, Guan Niangzi fetched a silver hairpin to test her food for poison before eating her morning porridge.

By afternoon, Duan Shi came to the Guan estate again, only to be turned away at the door — they said the Madam was out. Duan Shi had no choice but to wait outside until Guan Zongming and his son returned from their offices. Guan Zongming said, “What’s happened?”

“Today, the Censorate officials went to my niece’s household again and took the household manager in for interrogation.”

Guan Qing’s heart lurched; he looked toward his father. Guan Zongming said, “You are a daughter of a noble family — why are you running about in a panic at the first sign of trouble, like a startled bird? Keep your composure.”

Duan Shi raised her head and looked at Guan Zongming’s expressionless face, then caught the worry in Guan Qing’s eyes. Her heart sank. She gave a bow and left without a word.

Guan Qing hurried after her. Duan Shi said, “I know this is hard for you and my aunt both — we are ultimately people of different surnames.”

“Don’t make yourself suffer,” said Guan Qing.

“Alas.”

Guan Qing returned home and was scolded again by Guan Zongming. He offered no argument and listened obediently. He wanted to ask his father whether he intended to kill him along with his mother to wash his hands of the whole matter — but the words reached his lips and he could not bring himself to say them. Guan Zongming said, “Look at yourself — what a state you’re in.”

Guan Qing became even more deferential.

That night Guan Niangzi pressed him again, and Guan Qing found himself more irresolute than ever. He kept feeling his mother’s idea was too preposterous — a woman confined to the inner quarters trying to interfere in court affairs, it truly was… unreliable. And he was only of the seventh rank; to have a chance to denounce someone at court openly, he would have to wait for a major court audience. The next major audience was still four days away, with a rest day in between.

Guan Qing returned to his room and began packing his valuables — he decided to secretly request leave the next morning, citing his “mother’s illness,” and then take his mother and flee!

He survived another day. The next day he requested leave, without telling his father, and returned home.

But when he arrived, weeping filled the house — Guan Niangzi was dead!

Guan Qing’s vision went dark; he collapsed and was revived only by frantic efforts from the servants. He rasped, “Where is Mother?”

The steward wept as he said, “She was cut down from the roof beam — they’re laying her out in her room now.”

Guan Qing went to the room. He saw the maidservants busy at work, washing Guan Niangzi and changing her clothes. One of the senior maidservants kept saying as she worked, “How could she choose to end it like this? Ah, people who hang themselves — it’s not a pretty sight.”

It turned out that early in the morning, when Guan Niangzi did not come down for breakfast, a maidservant saw the sun already high and pushed open the door — and found her hanging from a roof beam.

Guan Qing asked, “Who came in the night? Were there no attendants keeping watch?”

A maidservant said, “Yesterday… the master came, and they quarreled for a while, and then the master left, telling us servants not to disturb the First Madam.”

Guan Qing drew a long breath. “Understood. Father has something on his mind today — don’t disturb him for now.”

He did not go to look at his mother’s face. He returned to his room and began writing a memorial. He was Guan Zongming’s son — writing a memorial and submitting it in his father’s name was something no ordinary person would suspect. However, memorials still had to pass through review, and if intercepted, it would be useless. So he wrote a second one as well — in case the first was suppressed, he would read this second one aloud at court.

He would not wait for the major court audience. Tomorrow he would say he was going to report his mother’s death to observe the mourning period — this way he could still enter the palace walls — and then he would…

…

Guan Qing wrote with fierce urgency. In that same city, Zhù Ying had not the faintest idea that someone was thinking of her so intently. She had not even gone in person to question Bian Xing — the Censorate already had ample evidence, and the Bian father and son were no men of iron. They had been defiant in the south; the moment they entered the Court of Judicial Review’s prison, they began confessing. Rather tedious, all in all.

She was at home, sharing a meal with her students. The Zhù estate strictly speaking had few formal banquets; the students didn’t drink wine either, but they talked. With clear heads, this was a good chance to ask Zhù Ying about matters of the officialdom.

These scholars from the south — the vast majority of them had no officials in the family who could pass down knowledge. Now that they had a “teacher” who had held office for twenty years, rising from the eighth rank all the way to the third-rank President of the Court of Judicial Review — only a fool would want to drink wine instead of seeking her counsel!

Zhao Su was the most at ease; Zhù Ying felt he now had something of Leng Yun’s manner about him. He opened with, “In all my time in the capital, what strikes me most is that all these elder officials look different from one another, yet are somehow all alike — gradually converging, losing their original character. It’s the younger officials in green and blue robes who still feel alive and vivid.”

“A rock,” said Zhù Ying, “no matter what shape it started as — throw it into a river, and over time, it becomes smooth. Only some still show the outline of what corners they used to have. Others are just… round.”

The students all laughed.

Zhù Qingjun said, “But you’re still… just as you always were.”

“How am I just as I always was?” said Zhù Ying.

“I don’t know — I just feel that way.”

They all laughed again.

Zhao Zhen asked about a few cases at the Court of Judicial Review, and in the course of it mentioned Bian Xing. Zhù Ying said, “That’s the Censorate’s business. The worst thing is to meddle in other people’s affairs without cause.”

“No,” said Zhao Zhen, “we actually have relatives in He’dong County. Everyone wants to know — has he gotten his comeuppance? If he can never go back there, I’m going to burn incense and thank the gods on my aunt’s behalf.”

“Go to the Charity Temple, then,” said Zhù Ying. “They’re distributing cooling herbal broth in the summer heat — short of donations. Go.”

“Oh!” Fan Sheng laughed. “And here he’d just saved up two strings of coins to make himself a new silk robe!”

Everyone teased him merrily — no wine, yet the mood was lively.

As the evening deepened, they finally took their leave. Not one of them knew that tomorrow would bring an unexpected blow.

The next day, Zhù Ying had no idea that a minor official called Guan Qing had lost his mother and was about to deliver her a kick. She rose as usual, ate breakfast, and went to court as usual.

It was not a major court audience today. The Emperor seemed a little more composed than before — perhaps Wang Yunhe had said something to him. Instead of rushing to put certain people in certain posts, he began asking about conditions across the country: “Has rainfall been adequate this year?”

He also asked whether the replacement of some regional officials had affected the livelihoods of the local populace.

The atmosphere was quite calm — until a commotion broke out outside.

A censor naturally stepped forward and went out to assess the situation. Very soon, this censor returned carrying a memorial, and as he passed Zhù Ying, he glanced at her.

That glance left Zhù Ying utterly baffled.

The censor brought the memorial forward and reported to the Emperor — someone called Guan Qing had impeached Zhù Ying for concealing a parent’s death.

Zhù Ying felt a jolt inside, though she kept her composure on the surface. She thought rapidly: could my father really have had an accident? She had no time to work out the cause and effect of the whole situation, let alone begin to understand why this person called Guan Qing would come after her like this.