That day was no different from any other.

The surface of the lake had frozen over in layers of varying thickness. After lunch, Minglan, bundled up round as a dumpling in her winter clothes, crouched by the pond’s edge and peered through the translucent ice at the fat fish gliding freely beneath. After envying them thoroughly, she picked up her empty fish basket and went back to the Shou’an Hall. She let the Old Madam tease her about it without minding in the least, then climbed onto the kang hand and foot, snuggling up against the Old Madam at the kang’s head to soak in the warmth.

“What sort of person goes fishing in the dead of winter — asking to freeze!” the Old Madam scolded, half closing her eyes.

Minglan also half closed her eyes and said lazily: “Sister-in-law has no appetite and said she wanted to eat the scallion-fried sour-and-spicy fish jerky I made last time… but then I thought — winter fish have a cold nature, especially the pond fish that feed on ice algae. Better not have it go wrong and upset her stomach.”

The Old Madam wrapped Minglan’s cold little hands in her own, drifting pleasantly: “Sour boys and spicy girls — I wonder whether Bai-er’s wife is carrying a boy or a girl this time.”

Minglan pressed her small fist to her eye and rubbed, as if she were growing sleepy, and said muddily: “Elder Brother said he wants a daughter — it would make the character for ‘good’ if put together. Sister-in-law said nothing, but I know she still wants a son.” One legitimate heir was not enough — two were proper insurance.

The Old Madam laughed softly: “Your sister-in-law is blessed. Boy or girl — both are fine.”

The two were talking back and forth, an old woman and a young girl, both being toasted on the warm kang until drowsy — when suddenly, a sharp scream came from outside. Minglan jolted awake. The Old Madam also opened her eyes and looked toward the door curtain, as a girl in a serving maid’s dress came stumbling and lurching through, flinging herself at the foot of the kang and bursting into loud wailing: “Old Madam, save us, please!”

“Little Xijuan — what has happened?” Minglan asked, puzzled. This girl was one of Rulan’s second-tier maidservants.

Xiao Xijuan’s hair was disheveled, the powder on her face smudged, and her face was filled with terror: “Old Madam, Sixth Young Miss — please go quickly to save Sister Xique! They are going to beat her to death! And our young mistress too — the master is calling for white silk to strangle her! The First Young Mistress was afraid to intervene and secretly let me out to come find you!” All the while she cried and kowtowed again and again.

“What on earth is going on!” The Old Madam sat bolt upright, her voice sharp: “Were they not going to the temple to burn incense?!”

Minglan was afraid the Old Madam might get dizzy if she rose too quickly, and hurried to reach out and gently pat her back to steady her.

Early that morning, the Grand Hongjue Temple had been holding a consecration ceremony for a newly cast Buddha statue. Since Wang Shi had donated generous amounts of incense money over the years, the head abbot had also sent along an invitation. Wang Shi brought Rulan along to burn incense and pray — and also to seek an auspicious fortune slip for a good marriage.

The Old Madam pressed urgently for details. Xiao Xijuan had not accompanied them and had no idea what had actually happened. She could only weep and beg without being able to explain clearly. The Old Madam decided she must go see for herself, and Minglan quickly called Cuiping to help prepare her outer garments.

Minglan herself would have followed, but the Old Madam held her back. Nanny Fang gently reassured her: “Your Fifth Elder Sister has done something wrong and the master intends to punish her. The Old Madam is going and there will certainly be some harsh words spoken. It would not be proper for you, as a daughter of the family, to hear all that.” Minglan nodded at Nanny Fang and settled herself back onto the kang.

But her heart itched with curiosity, and she beckoned Xiaotao to go and find out what she could, while she herself held a little blue-and-white porcelain hand warmer, using a pair of thin copper tongs to slowly poke at the charcoal inside, waiting with patience for news.

Just as the coals inside the warmer were nearly poked into open flame, Xiaotao finally came running back, breathless. Minglan sprang up like a coil released, set down the hand warmer, and seized Xiaotao by the arm, asking rapidly: “What in the world happened? Tell me quickly!”

Xiaotao dabbed at the fine sweat on her brow, looking like someone still not over a shock: “The main courtyard is completely sealed off — I could not get in at all. I could only ask around outside a little. All I know is…” She swallowed hard, her lips trembling as she said: “The master is genuinely furious this time. By the time the Old Madam arrived, the master had already looped the white silk around the Fifth Young Miss’s neck!”

Minglan was horrified. Xiaotao steadied herself and went on: “I waited quietly for a good while outside, and finally saw the servants carry Sister Xique out — Oh heavens, she was covered in blood, her clothing soaked through — I don’t know if she still has breath. I couldn’t hear anything going on inside, and Nanny Liu came with some older maids to drive everyone away, so I came back.”

Minglan felt her heart thumping rhythmically, as if something were plucking at a string within her. She suddenly grabbed Xiaotao’s wrist and said steadily: “Go find Danju. Bring some silver money, then look through our room for whatever medicine ointments for bruising or wounds you can find. Then both of you go find Xiao Xique as fast as you can — give her money if she needs money, apply medicine if she needs medicine — but do your very best to save her!”

Xiaotao understood the gravity of the situation at once and went immediately. Minglan pressed down her unsettled heart and slowly settled back down, then lifted the teacup from the kang table and took a slow, small sip. Xiao Xique was a good girl. Minglan was quite fond of her character — loyal and devoted to Rulan, always coaxing and soothing her, gentle toward those below her in rank, often quietly helping to cover up small mistakes the junior maidservants made. Minglan did not wish to see her die like this, or be left crippled.

More time passed. The tea in Minglan’s hands had gone cold, and the porcelain was like ice in her grip. She set down the teacup and glanced at the sun outside — it was already tilting toward the west — yet still nothing. Minglan gradually began to lose heart. She waited until the sky had grown nearly dark before she heard a confused rush of footsteps outside.

Hearing the sound of the main hall door curtain being lifted, Minglan hurried out. She saw Hai Shi supporting the Old Madam as she came in, with Nanny Fang helping to bear her weight. Carefully they set her to rest sideways on the warm couch, arranging her comfortably against the soft cushion. The moment Minglan saw the Old Madam’s face, her heart seized — the Old Madam’s complexion was like iron, her breathing uneven, her chest heaving and falling sharply, as though she had suffered a terrible fit of anger. Hai Shi beside her wore an expression of guilt and embarrassment.

“Grandmother, what is wrong?!” Minglan threw herself down on her knees at the Old Madam’s side, trembling as she reached for her hand — she felt it warm to the touch, and the fingers that gripped back were strong. Only then did some of her panic ease.

The Old Madam opened her eyes slightly, her gaze still holding anger — but it softened when she saw it was Minglan: “I am all right. I simply walked too fast and let my temper get away from me.” As she spoke, she glanced over at Hai Shi and saw her hand resting lightly against her lower back, one hand pressed gently there, but standing with her head down and not daring to say a word. The Old Madam’s heart softened a little: “Help your sister-in-law to rest on the couch in the side room — she has been on her feet a long while too.” Minglan nodded and gently helped Hai Shi toward the next room.

Once they were in the side room, Minglan helped Hai Shi onto the kang, arranged the bolster pillow for her to lean against, and poured a cup of tea from the warm flask wrapped in thick cotton padding on the kang table, pressing it into Hai Shi’s hands. Hai Shi thanked her, drank a mouthful of the warm tea, and felt the heat dissolve straight into her body — only then did she feel some relief.

Seeing Hai Shi’s color improving, Minglan pressed urgently: “Sister-in-law, what in the world happened to Fifth Elder Sister?! Father is at the Censorate — why did he come home all of a sudden? Tell me!”

Hai Shi hesitated a moment, but thinking of the argument she had just witnessed between Sheng Hong and the Old Madam, and deciding there was nothing worth hiding from Minglan at this point, she clenched her teeth and told it all in one breath.

When Wang Shi and Rulan had gone up the mountain, the incense offering had proceeded smoothly. Seeing that Rulan had been more obedient of late, Wang Shi had let her walk about in the courtyard on her own. Wang Shi herself had gone to speak with the abbot, but in the blink of an eye, the few older maidservants attending Rulan had been sent away by Rulan herself, with the excuse that only Xiao Xique would accompany her on a walk.

Wang Shi sensed something was wrong and at once sent people to find Rulan and bring her back, but the Hongjue Temple was not a quiet place like the Guangji Temple — it had flourishing incense offerings, vast halls, and crowds of worshippers. A search could not quickly locate her.

Just as panic was setting in, Rulan returned on her own, saying she had only taken a stroll through the rear garden and the woods.

“So nothing happened?” Minglan had basically already guessed what Rulan had gone to do and felt her anxiety slowly abate.

But Hai Shi smiled bitterly and shook her head: “How I wish nothing had happened! When we saw Fifth Sister return unharmed, I thought I had been overthinking it. We ate a vegetarian meal at the temple and came back down the mountain — only to discover that the master had left his office early and was sitting at home waiting. The moment he saw Mother and Fifth Sister, he stepped forward without a word and struck Fifth Sister across the face!”

“But why?!” Minglan’s heart lurched back up into her throat.

Hai Shi set down her teacup, sighing deeply: “It turns out Fifth Sister had long had… feelings… with that licentiate, Yan Jing. They met secretly at the Hongjue Temple. It was meant to be only a few words spoken — but then, as ill fortune would have it, General Gu had also gone there that day to commission a memorial service for his late mother!”

Minglan’s eyes nearly popped out of her head: “He… he… saw Fifth Elder Sister?!”

Hai Shi felt thoroughly dejected and shook her head: “The bad luck is exactly here! General Gu is occupied with official duties and did not go in person — and besides, he has never seen Fifth Sister, so even if he had been there and seen her, he would not have known who she was. It was a senior servant woman from General Gu’s household, sent to add offerings at the ceremony. She came out to give the young monk his monk’s robe and hat, and from a distance she happened to catch sight of them — and this woman had met several of us during a previous visit when she came to present gifts!”

Minglan sat stiff on the kang, not wanting to move a muscle, not knowing what to say. Hai Shi sighed and went on: “That woman must have gone home and reported to General Gu immediately. Around midday, a young manservant came to the Censorate requesting to see Father — and Father came straight home! After questioning everything, Fifth Sister only said that she had already intended to comply with the family’s wishes, and this was her final farewell to the gentleman she loved.”

Having heard the whole story, Minglan nearly fainted. It was a good while before she could produce a single sentence: “…Fifth Elder Sister really was not careful!”

Hai Shi sighed quietly, saying nothing. In truth she agreed with Minglan — if Rulan had already decided to break it off, keeping it tightly concealed would have been that simple. But she had gone and let her future husband’s household see her final farewell. What terrible luck!

“…What happens now?” After a long pause, Minglan asked feebly, and suddenly noticed that Hai Shi’s eyes had begun darting evasively and she could not quite meet Minglan’s gaze. Minglan found this odd and pressed several times, until Hai Shi finally said haltingly: “Just now, General Gu sent a letter…”

Before she could finish, the sound of hurried footsteps erupted from the main hall outside. Cuiping announced from beyond the door: “The master is here.”

Minglan glanced at the unsettled Hai Shi and pricked up her ears to listen. She could hear Sheng Hong apparently saying something in a low voice outside, then Wang Shi’s muffled weeping, and then, all at once, the Old Madam erupted in furious rage: “Don’t even think about it! You call yourself a father — to come up with a scheme like this!”

The voice was angry and piercing. Minglan had never heard the Old Madam this enraged before. She slowly walked down off the kang and stood close to the heavy gold-bronze cloud-pattern brocade door curtain, listening to the sounds from outside.

Sheng Hong said urgently: “Mother, please let me have a word. There is only this one way. In all these days, no one in the household has so much as hinted at anything before others, nor in public has anyone stated clearly which daughter was to be given to the Gu household. Your Elder Son-in-law only ever said it was Hualan’s younger sister — he has never specified exactly which one. And I have never once had a proper conversation with Gu Er-lang, let alone mentioned which girl I intended to give. I suspect that even Gu Tingye himself has no clear idea. And the messenger who was sent to convey this — his words were quite oblique, more like a warning than an accusation. Given that, it would be simplest to make a virtue of the confusion — besides, Minglan was already registered as a first wife’s daughter long ago. If this falls through, the match will turn into a feud. I admit I acted in a panic when I dashed off that letter — I wrote that Ru’er had always been intended for Yan Jing, and that Minglan was the one to be given to the Gu household…”

A sharp crack — a teacup must have been the casualty. The Old Madam’s voice was shaking with fury: “You dare to flatter yourself! The two of you cannot raise your own daughters properly — one after another they disgrace themselves, and in the end everyone else has to clean up the mess. Last time I threw away my old face for you. And now you have the audacity to scheme against Minglan! I tell you both — in your dreams!”

The Old Madam was breathing in great rough gasps and continued: “That arrangement of yours is clever, isn’t it — whatever good comes along, you never think of Minglan. Then a grand and prestigious family comes inquiring, and without asking a single thing you agreed to give Rulan — just like that! Now that something has gone wrong, it is Minglan you think of! I tell you — the man is terrible at managing himself and his household. Whatever he takes it upon himself to start, he does without consulting parents or elders first — as though no proper decorum existed in the world. You, in your private heart, only think of your own daughter. And you” — the Old Madam’s voice cracked further — “you are consumed by greed for official advancement, thinking only of career and status. A fine pair of wolf-jackal black-hearted husband and wife — do you think me dead?!”

There was a dull thud, as though Sheng Hong had dropped heavily to his knees. Wang Shi began crying softly, calling out in a grieving voice: “Old Madam, how can you say that — you wrong your daughter-in-law. Minglan is not born of my body, but these ten-plus years she might as well have been Ru’er — have I ever treated her poorly? Ru’er has committed this terrible error, and I blame myself for not letting her be raised at your side from the beginning to be properly brought up. Old Madam — if nothing else, you must think of Hualan! Life has not been easy for her in her marital home, and it is only thanks to her husband still being considerate of her. Today, if this matter cannot be resolved, and General Gu takes his grievance out on the son-in-law, what becomes of Hualan? She was raised by your own hand — you cannot only cherish Minglan!”

The Old Madam seemed to catch for a moment, then shouted again: “Hualan has already borne a son, and she was married through proper ceremony — would he dare send her back with a letter of divorce? Could you ask a younger sister to sacrifice her entire life so her elder sister’s days might be more comfortable?! That Gu Tingye — you may think highly of him, but I cannot bring myself to!”

She heard Sheng Hong cry out loudly: “Mother, then tell me what to do now — your son is truly at a loss! I was half tempted to strangle that wretched creature to death, at least to set the household’s name in order, and let this whole matter fall apart — I would accept the ridicule, it would be no one’s fault but mine for failing as a father. But that General Gu…” Sheng Hong seemed to choke a moment, “word came a few days ago that Gu Er-lang had already asked Senior General Bo and the Duke of Zhongqin to serve as matchmakers. By the look of things, he is about to come and exchange the birth characters. If we withdraw now, how can the Gu family let the matter rest?”

The rest of what was said Minglan could no longer make out. It was as though her ears were filled with a roaring sound, something swamping her hearing. Past the shock came a numb bewilderment. She walked slowly to stand before Hai Shi and asked softly: “Gu Tingye truly is willing to marry me?”

Hai Shi nodded with difficulty: “Yes. The letter states that he, Gu Tingye, is willing to unite the Gu and Sheng families in marriage. And at the end he added a line — a girl raised in the Old Madam’s presence is always dependable.” In Hai Shi’s view, that line carried a slight edge, as though it were hinting at something. She believed Sheng Hong had seen it too.

The Old Madam had in earlier years borne a reputation for jealousy, but later underwent a complete transformation: after Sheng Laozi passed away, she had been willing to quarrel with her own family in order to hold up her late husband’s household, keeping her own chastity through widowhood, using her own dowry to settle matters for the illegitimate children, arranging marriages, managing the household, until at last the Sheng family had prospered as it now stood. Decades had passed, and those who praised the Old Madam for her integrity and uprightness had multiplied.

Hai Shi also felt she owed apologies to both Minglan and the Old Madam. Recently she had known that the match with the He family had been all but settled — they were only waiting for Rulan’s betrothal to the He family to be finalized before the He family would come to seek Minglan’s birth date for the horoscope. Who could have imagined… Hai Shi sighed inwardly. Seeing that Minglan still had the look of someone who could not bring herself to believe it, staring blankly upward in a daze, she couldn’t help asking once more after a moment: “The fact that Gu Tingye truly said he is willing to marry you?” The tone held something between disbelief and the uncanny.

Hai Shi confirmed it once more: “It is truly so.”

Minglan’s mind was foggy. She bit her lip, tilted her head, and thought for a long, long time. She thought of Gu Tingye’s cold, mocking expression, of his penchant for getting to the bottom of things, of his fiery and ice-cold temperament… Minglan thought she was overanalyzing it. To have come to the ancient world and start imagining herself as someone special — surely not? But after a moment, she felt her own conjecture was actually quite well-founded.

From outside came the sound of the Old Madam’s raging, and Sheng Hong and Wang Shi pleading without end. Minglan slowly sank down onto the small stool, sighing, mouth falling open, mind in chaos, face buried in her hands, staring into nothing.

Grandmother. Father. Mother. And poor unlucky Rulan.

I suspect, I rather think, we have all been played.

…