Hua Bailin and Yang Sui’an split into two groups. Yang Sui’an took the shortcut through the back gate to return home and make preparations for his mother to leave the Yang Family. If the Yang Family tried to stop him, he and his cousin would coordinate from both inside and outside.
Hua Bailin, meanwhile, rode on horseback along the main road, leading forty servants with imposing presence. Concealed among them was a covered sedan chair, its conspicuous procession drawing the attention of everyone around. More than a few households sent their own servants trailing behind to see what the Hua Family, who had kept a low profile for some time, was up to now.
The Yang Family, seeing this display, was frightened into hastily bolting their gates — one person standing guard inside the door while another rushed inward to report the news.
Hua Bailin dismounted his horse and called out in a clear voice, “Hua Bailin of the Hua Family, here to escort the Hua woman home.”
The moment those words were spoken, an uproar broke out. The Hua Family was in this state and yet they still wanted to take back a daughter who had already been married off? Did they think their daughter was living too comfortably? And the one leading the charge was nothing but a young boy — the Hua Family truly had no one left!
Hua Bailin paid no mind to any of it. His voice, still carrying the freshness of youth, rang out again: “Hua Bailin of the Hua Family, here to escort the Hua woman home!”
The Hua Family’s men let out a unified roar, making their presence even more formidable.
Now everyone could see it plainly — the Hua Family had no intention of letting this end peacefully.
Forced to their doorstep like this, if the Yang Family locked their gates and refused to show themselves, they would no longer be able to hold their heads up in the capital. It also happened that this day was a day of rest, and the Yang men were all at home.
Shortly after, the Yang Family’s main gate swung wide open. Yang Zheng, the Yang Family patriarch and an official of the fourth rank, walked out wearing a freshly pressed formal robe with his hands clasped behind his back, the Yang Family’s male members following behind him. None of them wore pleasant expressions, and the looks they directed at Hua Bailin were far from courteous.
“I wonder for what reason the young master of the Hua Family has come to our door.”
Yang Zheng intended to settle the matter with a single sentence. He assumed that no matter how capable Hua Bailin was, he was still just a child — easy enough to handle. What he could never have anticipated was that Hua Bailin had been personally shaped by Hua Zhi.
Hua Zhi had always taught him one principle: in the face of overwhelming strength, all tricks are paper tigers. She had also taught him that a man must walk a straight and upright path — even when scheming, one must take the open road of aboveboard strategy. The stories she told him were drawn from the finest of five thousand years of history. Even a person of ordinary talent ought to have learned from them how to protect themselves, to say nothing of Hua Bailin, whose natural gifts were exceptional.
He performed the scholar’s greeting, neither servile nor arrogant. “Lord Yang says I have come uninvited — Bailin would not dare claim otherwise. Bailin merely heard that my second aunt has been keeping vigil in mourning for the late Madam for many days and that her health has suffered as a result. My maternal great-aunt has been weeping with worry, so I thought to come and bring my aunt home to recuperate for a time. Yet my aunt is, after all, a daughter-in-law of the Yang Family. Not wishing the Yang Family to say that our Hua Family lacks sincerity, I brought these men along so that Lord Yang might see how earnest we are. I hope that Lord Yang will grant Bailin this small wish of wholehearted sincerity.”
What does it mean to speak blatant nonsense with a straight face? This was precisely it.
But could Yang Zheng refute any of it? He could not. Hua Bailin had laid out his reasoning with evidence, and every single word served only one purpose: to say that the Hua Family wished to bring home their married-out daughter to recover after the ill health she had suffered from mourning — not a word of fault attributed to the Yang Family, and even the so-called gesture of sincerity had been made.
Yang Zheng had no grounds to refuse. He also felt that having a daughter-in-law return to her family home for a few days was of no great consequence. From every angle, he had no intention of making a complete break with the Hua Family right now. To yield here would even earn him the fine reputation of showing grace toward the weak — why not?
He was just about to nod when his eldest son, Yang Qi, suddenly leaned close and said quietly, “Father, we cannot agree.”
Yang Zheng turned to look at him and asked with his eyes.
Unexpectedly, Yang Qi simply shook his head without saying a word. Yang Zheng began to piece it together — it was likely that Yang Qi had done something that had come to the Hua Family’s attention, and the Hua Family, knowing that the Hua woman had been wronged, had come to retrieve her.
He shot a fierce glare at his eldest son, deeply disappointed. Such a shortsighted fool. The Hua Family may have fallen from power, but their in-laws the Zhu Family had not. The countless scholars who stood behind the Hua Family were still there. Who in all of the capital had not seen what happened on the day of the late Madam’s funeral procession?
Fool.
Yet no matter how disappointed he was, he had to stand by his son for now. Yang Zheng put on a smiling face and said warmly, “The young master of the Hua Family has made his meaning clear. However, as you yourself said, Hua Xian is after all a daughter-in-law of the Yang Family. Even if her health is poor, she ought to recuperate here in the Yang household. There is no reason for her to convalesce at her family home — word would get out that our Yang Family is harsh to our daughter-in-law.”
Hua Bailin made a show of thinking it over. “Then would it be permissible for Bailin to visit my aunt?”
If they would neither allow him to take the person away nor let him visit, even a fool would know something was amiss inside. Yang Zheng could not refuse this, and so he could only nod. “Of course it would.”
“Father—”
“Silence.” Yang Zheng commanded in a low voice, then was the first to step aside, gesturing for Hua Bailin to come inside. He appeared thoroughly gracious — and had, along the way, quietly laid a trap.
Hua Bailin, accompanied by Nanny Su, four stout matrons, and four servants, stepped forward and ascended the stairs. When he was still one step away from Yang Zheng, he stopped and made a gesture of invitation, not overstepping by a single inch.
Yang Zheng looked at Hua Bailin with genuine admiration, and compared him internally to his own younger generation. There was a slight measure of comfort in it — at least Yang Sui’an had always been reliable, so he had not been entirely outclassed.
Yang Zheng naturally had no intention of accompanying a junior the entire way. As soon as they passed through the main gate, he left. Yang Qi made a meaningful glance at his personal attendant, who caught the signal and quietly slipped away ahead of the others.
Nanny Su noticed, and without drawing attention, gave the sixth young master’s sleeve a gentle tug.
Hua Bailin understood. He declined Yang Qi’s invitation to visit his study to examine a rare edition, saying, “Please forgive me, uncle. Bailin is truly worried about my aunt. Might we go there first, and I follow you to the study afterward?”
Yang Qi was not at all willing to let anyone in just yet, and so he detained him eagerly. “That rare edition is genuinely exceptional — it was written by the late Elder Sun of the previous dynasty. My uncle paid a great deal to acquire it. I would not be in such a hurry if I did not want to borrow your discerning eye.”
Elder Sun of the previous dynasty had been a towering scholar of lofty character, beheaded and his family exterminated by the former emperor. The great works he left behind had been burned to ash. If that rare edition was truly his, it would be an extraordinary find.
Under ordinary circumstances, Hua Bailin would naturally have wanted to see it. But today was different.
Hua Bailin smiled. “Entrusted by my great-aunt, I must visit my aunt first. If uncle is truly pressed, why not bring the rare edition to my aunt’s room? I have seen a genuine work by Elder Sun at my grandfather’s — I daresay I can recognize it.”
To be precise, he had seen it at his eldest sister’s. It was a true rare edition by Elder Sun — his grandfather had given it to his eldest sister.
Hua Bailin offered a bow, then led Nanny Su and the four matrons into the inner residence. The four servants remained at the inner gate. As he left, Hua Bailin glanced back at them, and they each gave a nod.
The maidservant leading the way seemed to have been given instructions and tried to take Hua Bailin on a roundabout path. Hua Bailin flashed a wide grin. “I still know where my aunt’s courtyard is — there is no need to trouble this elder sister.”
The maidservant was so startled she immediately lowered her head and dared not make another move. The moment the group walked away, she broke into a light run back out through the inner gate, where Yang Qi was pacing back and forth. His expression shifted the moment he saw her. He pulled her aside and asked in a low voice, “Why so soon?”
The maidservant was aggrieved as well. “Young Master Hua said he knew the way and sent this servant off.”
Yang Qi’s brow creased deeply. That boy had only visited a handful of years ago, when he was just this small — could he truly remember?
“Quickly — go to the Old Madam’s and tell her she must find a way to keep them detained.”
“Yes.”