Hua Zhi had very much wanted to soak in a bath, but there was no time — and even if there had been, Fu Dong, that unyielding maid, would never have allowed it.

The wounds on her legs looked severe but were not serious — torn flesh and skin, nothing more. But the pain was real.

Fu Dong wrung out a cloth and wiped her mistress down, then took a fresh cloth to carefully clean the injuries.

Seeing Fu Dong’s reluctance to press too firmly, Hua Zhi simply took the cloth herself and handled it the same way she would treat a wound on someone else — a few quick passes, watching the blood seep through without so much as flinching.

“There’s medicine in the bundle on top of the cabinet — go get it.”

This was the same medicine Shao Yao had used on the road. It worked remarkably well — one moment the wound burned, and the next it cooled.

Hua Zhi let out a slow breath and looked up. Faced with Fu Dong’s tear-streaked face, she felt a touch of helplessness. “Why do you look like that? I said it isn’t serious.”

Fu Dong could not believe it — if it weren’t serious, her mistress would not have gone so pale, would not have had sweat beading her brow from the pain. Yet the Young Miss had endured all of that to be at the Old Madam’s side for her final moments, had organized everything that needed to be organized, and had even made the trip to the Song household.

If only the Hua Family were still what it used to be, she thought. The Young Miss had been so at ease back then — spending her days reading and daydreaming, and that was enough to fill a happy day.

Nothing like this. The marks from the last injury had not fully faded, and now there were new ones. At this rate, the Young Miss would end up giving her very life to this.

Wiping away her tears, Fu Dong went to change the water, wrung out a fresh cloth, wiped her mistress’s face with care, then washed her hands with equal thoroughness.

Hua Zhi let her fuss. Fu Dong’s quiet, undemanding presence gave her a moment’s rest.

And truly it was only a moment — Hua Zhi did not sleep, only let her mind go blank for a short while.

Fu Dong tidied the room with practiced efficiency and stood waiting to one side.

“Are you frightened?”

Fu Dong understood what her mistress meant. She nodded, then shook her head. “This servant heard what happened. The Old Madam refused the First Aunt outright on the spot. Even though it is a little frightening, it isn’t that frightening either. This servant knew the Young Miss would be back soon. Even if the Old Madam had really given this servant away, the Young Miss would have found a way to take her back.”

By the time it came to that, it would have been too late to take her back — Hua Zhi squeezed her hand. Though she also knew that if Grandmother had truly tried to give her people away while she was absent, she would have been driven to her grave not by Hua Jing, but by this granddaughter of hers.

She had always returned respect in kind — and equally, if someone betrayed her, she would repay that in kind too.

“I have no time to see Chen Liang. Go ask him how things have been at Green Moss Lane during the time the household was closed up. Whatever comes up, deal with it yourself.”

“Yes, Young Miss.”

“Go now, and send Bailin in on your way.”

It was not only Hua Bailin who came in — Zhu Shi came with him.

Soft-faced and gentle-looking, dressed in mourning white, she appeared all the more fragile and moving for it. She was genuinely terrified of Hua Jing, and at the sight of her daughter she began speaking in a rush. “Zhier, let your aunt come inside. You have no idea what she is like — she is the worst kind of person to antagonize. If she says something out there, people will believe her, coming from her position. Then what will you do? Let us take a step back. It doesn’t matter. Zhier, please, listen to what your mother says.”

“Mother. Hua Jing drove Grandmother to her death.”

“Your mother — your mother knows.” Zhu Shi wept freely. “But she is gone. You are still here. I cannot think beyond that. All I want is for you to be safe.”

Something softened in Hua Zhi’s chest — but still. “Mother, I cannot retreat. I am not only your daughter. I am also the head of the Hua household. Your daughter can yield, can give way, can surrender a great many things — but the head of this household cannot. A head of household must always consider the family’s interests first. She cannot retreat from every difficulty, or the family will fall — and I cannot allow the Hua Family to fall. I cannot let Grandfather and Father come home to nothing.”

Zhu Shi wept in total disarray — she would have given anything to bear this burden for her daughter.

Hua Zhi hardened her heart and pressed on. “Grandmother held onto her last breath long enough to see me return. She did not do that so I could become someone who tucks her head in and runs. I cannot fail the trust she placed in me. You may not know the saying that one weak soldier weakens a squad, and one weak commander weakens an army — but you should still remember what became of the He Family.”

Zhu Shi’s weeping faltered. How could she forget — no one in the capital could forget. It was the story she had heard most from her own mother growing up.

Though the He Family’s lineage was not as old as the Hua Family’s, at the height of its power it surpassed even the Hua Family, and was by no measure overstated in being called the foremost family in the capital.

But when the He Family backed the wrong side in the succession struggle, every male member was lost. The women were spared only because every court official spoke up for them — for even at the peak of their power, the He Family had rarely done anything beneath them, and had earned a measure of goodwill.

Yet the He Family’s women did not manage to hold things together. The He Family men had good judgment in many things, but poor judgment in choosing wives — those wives were both weak and grasping. They tried to secure their position by marrying off daughters, yet retreated every time someone pushed back against them. In the end, even the daughters they had married out would come back to pick the family clean in order to curry favor with their in-laws.

When a family’s own members began preying on the family itself, the He Family had reached its end. Zhu Shi had heard her own mother warn her against following the He Family’s example more times than she could count, and she had never forgotten it — but the moment it was her own daughter who would bear the consequences, she forgot everything.

Hua Zhi took hold of the hands of this woman weeping for her sake, and said once more. “Mother. I cannot retreat.”

Zhu Shi opened her arms and pulled her daughter into an embrace, weeping without dignity, without composure. She had never in her life felt as useless as she did at this moment.

Hua Zhi gently held her in return. This woman, though she was weak, though her world was ordered as husband first, then son, and Hua Zhi last — those three were still her entire world.

A moment later, Hua Zhi glanced at Lin Shuang. Lin Shuang curtsied and stepped forward, taking the Madam’s weight gently but firmly against herself. “This servant will take the Madam to change her clothes.”

“Take good care of Mother.”

“Yes, Young Miss.”

Hua Bailin, silent until now, had grown somber around the eyes. He looked at his elder sister, hoping for some direction from her.

“You don’t know where to start?”

Hua Bailin nodded. “I’ve already done everything I could think of.”

“Then go keep vigil at Grandmother’s side.”

“Elder Sister—”

“Bailin. A stone that only moves when pushed will never go far — it may stay in place forever, because no one may ever pass that way.”

Hua Bailin lowered his head, deeply disheartened. He had let his elder sister down.

“The person with the most experience in these matters is not me — it’s Steward Xu.” Hua Zhi could not bear to see him like this, and so she pointed him in a direction.

Hua Bailin’s head came up sharply, and he caught a glimpse of the exhaustion his elder sister had not quite managed to conceal. Only now did it occur to him that Elder Sister had only just returned from thousands of miles away in the north, and had not had even a moment to rest.

“Go. Use your head when something comes up.”

Hua Bailin bit down on the tip of his tongue, using the sting to hold back the prickling in his nose, and answered properly before walking toward the door.

At the threshold he turned back. “Elder Sister — will anyone come to pay their respects?”

Hua Zhi answered him steadily. “They will.”

At the very least, the Zhu Family would certainly come.

Hua Bailin seemed reassured by that, and left with a sure stride.

Hua Zhi walked to the bedside and slid open the drawer. Inside, two neat stacks of letters lay in orderly rows.

These were what she had brought back from the north. Aside from one letter she had given to her grandmother, she had held onto all the others — during a period of mourning, there was no place for joy.