Zhao Hanzhang immediately rose to follow. “I’ll go back with you, Uncle—I need to pay my respects to Fifth Granduncle.” Then, turning, she said quietly to Fu Tinghan, “My mother has come too. I’m going to go collect her now.”

Hearing this, Fu Tinghan rose as well. “Then let me come with you both.”

Zhao Hanzhang instructed Ting He, “Send someone to the camp to call Erlang back.”

Ting He bowed and left to do so.

Zhao Ming was quiet for a moment, then said in a faintly reproachful tone, “How at ease you are, letting your mother go back to the manor alone.”

Because of the so-called eminent monk’s pronouncement, Madam Wang wasn’t particularly welcome at the manor, especially not among the elders.

Their attitude directly influenced how the women of the manor treated her, so every time Madam Wang returned home, she fell into low spirits.

Zhao Hanzhang simply urged them on. “Then let’s hurry and go pay our respects to Fifth Granduncle.”

The unspoken meaning being: hurry up and go fetch her mother.

Zhao Ming pursed his lips and rose to go out with Zhao Hanzhang.

Xiping county town wasn’t large, and the military camp wasn’t very far from the county office. Zhao Erlang soon came running up, drenched in sweat, followed by nine sturdy young men.

Zhao Ming looked him up and down and felt he’d grown darker again. Not entirely sure, he turned to ask Zhao Hanzhang, “Hasn’t he grown taller again? And darker too?”

Zhao Hanzhang was very pleased with Zhao Erlang and praised him. “Yes, he’s grown taller. He’s only twelve now—if he eats a bit more, by the time he’s grown everyone who sees him will call him a fine, handsome young man.”

Zhao Ming had nothing to say to that. She must have some rather mistaken notion of what “fine and handsome” meant.

Zhao Ming instructed Zhao Erlang, “Get less sun. You’ve grown too dark.”

Zhao Hanzhang disagreed. “It’s not as though he’s deliberately baking in the sun—it’s just normal training. He’s still young, so a bit of dark skin doesn’t matter. Cover up for a while later and he’ll lighten again. What matters right now is learning real skills.”

“He’ll turn thirteen after the new year—that’s nearly old enough to be betrothed. Is that still ‘young’?” Zhao Ming said. “As dark as this, who would want him as a son-in-law?”

He already had a reputation for being simple-minded; if he wasn’t even good-looking on top of that, what family would be willing to choose him?

The longer Zhao Ming looked at him, the more it pained his eyes, and he looked away. “From now on, don’t let him go outside after midday. Let him rest a while, and have someone teach him some etiquette.”

He paused, then asked, “Do you have a tutor there? If not, send him back to the manor to study alongside the clan’s other children. Has he memorized the genealogy and the family precepts? Even though he won’t have the chance for an imperial audience, he still needs to learn the proper etiquette for meeting superiors, elders, and for ancestral rites.”

He went on, “The winter solstice is coming, and there’ll be plenty of banquets then. I’ll take him out and about—if we find a suitable young lady, we should settle the match.”

Zhao Hanzhang was stunned. Zhao Erlang was only twelve, and already they were talking about betrothal?

She caught herself and said hastily, “Uncle, we’re still in mourning. We can’t attend banquets or arrange betrothals.”

Zhao Ming glanced at her. “You needn’t go out—others will still come calling on us. When that happens, won’t he need proper etiquette while attending nearby? You can’t arrange the betrothal itself for these two years, but there’s no harm in looking now. Once you’re out of mourning, the match can be settled.”

“Every family’s finest daughters get promised out before they come of age. If you wait until you’re out of mourning to start looking, what good match will still be left?” Zhao Ming said pointedly. “He was already born with certain disadvantages—if you don’t act quickly, how will he ever carry on the family line?”

Zhao Hanzhang and Fu Tinghan listened in open-mouthed astonishment, both turning to look at Zhao Erlang, who wore a thoroughly blank expression.

Though the boy was tall and sturdily built by now, he truly was only twelve years old, and given the effects on his mind, he was, inside and out, still every bit a young child.

And now they were fretting over his betrothal…

Zhao Hanzhang swallowed and asked him, “Erlang, do you want to take a wife?”

Zhao Erlang nodded without even thinking about it. “Yes.”

Zhao Hanzhang was stunned. “You want to?”

Zhao Erlang nodded. “I want to.”

Fu Tinghan asked, amused, “Do you even know what taking a wife means?”

“I do,” Zhao Erlang said matter-of-factly. “A wife can play with me, and she can have babies. Mother said once I take a wife and have a baby, I won’t have to learn characters anymore—she’ll be busy teaching the baby its characters and won’t have time to bother with me.”

Fu Tinghan couldn’t help bursting out laughing. Zhao Hanzhang said directly to Zhao Ming, “Uncle, let’s not go ruining some other family’s daughter just yet. Let’s wait until he’s a bit older and more sensible before we talk about this again.”

Zhao Ming hadn’t expected that this was the reasoning behind Zhao Erlang’s desire for a wife either, and after a moment of stunned silence said, “As you like—so long as you can convince my father.”

At the thought of their troublesome Fifth Granduncle, Zhao Hanzhang fell silent.

She herself didn’t mind much, being thick-skinned as she was, but she worried Madam Wang wouldn’t be able to withstand the pressure—Zhao Erlang’s marriage would certainly need her approval too.

“Come on, let’s go get Mother.”

Zhao Erlang followed along after them, looking utterly bewildered.

By the time they reached the manor it was already evening. Madam Wang had already paid her respects to the clan elders and returned to the old family residence, where things were now lively, with many aunts, sisters-in-law, and cousins gathered.

As Zhao Hanzhang led Fu Tinghan and Zhao Erlang inside, she heard bursts of laughter coming from the main hall and, taken aback, didn’t dare go forward right away.

A servant woman spotted her and hurried over to bow. “Young lady, you’re back.”

Zhao Hanzhang asked curiously, “Who’s come to visit? Why is it so lively?”

The servant woman said with a smile, “It’s the senior wives of the Fifth and Sixth Households, who’ve brought their children over to play—they’re all your sisters, young lady. The Madam is entertaining them right now.”

Zhao Hanzhang hesitated, glancing at Fu Tinghan.

Fu Tinghan smiled. “Go on ahead—it’s rare for your mother to return home, so there’s naturally a lot of socializing to be done.”

Zhao Hanzhang had the servant woman take Fu Tinghan to the back courtyard, while she herself led Zhao Erlang toward the main hall.

The main hall was filled entirely with women—not only the senior wives of the Fifth and Sixth Households, but aunts and senior wives from various other households as well, though the whole gathering really centered around just those two.

At the moment, the whole group was clustered around Madam Wang, chatting away.

The instant Zhao Hanzhang walked in, the bustling hall fell silent. The young ladies who had been playing inside instinctively stood up and looked toward Zhao Hanzhang.

Even the aunts seated beside Madam Wang rose to their feet—only to realize, once standing, that this was rather awkward, yet sitting back down again would be even more conspicuous.

In that moment of hesitation, Zhao Hanzhang was already smiling warmly, leading Zhao Erlang in bowing all around to everyone present. “Greetings, Aunts, greetings, sisters.”

Madam Wang gave a teasing scold. “Look at what kind of bow you’re giving—people will laugh at you.”

She turned to apologize to the others. “This child has been so preoccupied with matters outside lately that her manners have gotten quite rusty. I’ll have her go back and relearn her etiquette properly.”

The senior wife of the Fifth Household laughed. “There’s nothing wrong with how she bowed—she’s simply following the manner the young men use. I think it looks rather fine.”

The senior wife of the Sixth Household laughed too. “Indeed. Sanniang goes about her business outside so boldly these days, it’s only fitting she’d bow the same way as her brothers.”

Madam Wang was astonished—in the old days, if Sanniang had bowed like this, she, as the mother, would have been pointed at and scolded for it, since failing to raise her daughter properly would have been counted as her own fault.

But now…

Even though she’d already absorbed so many shocks over the course of the day, she found herself momentarily stunned by their tolerance and eagerness to please, and for a long moment couldn’t quite recover herself.