The days grew colder one by one, yet the teahouses and taverns remained as lively as ever. Warm a pot of wine, slice a plate of beef, let the proprietor bring out a dish of peanuts, then sit with a handful of good friends, drinking and chatting — there was no greater ease.

For the past two days, their subject of conversation had been the eldest young lady of the Hua Family — Hua Jing, the eldest daughter-in-law of the Song household.

“Returning to her maternal home and trying to get her niece’s maidservant taken as a concubine for her own husband — now that takes something. They’re both raised by the Hua Family, so how can the difference be this great?”

“You’re comparing her to the eldest young lady of the Hua Family? Careful, or you’ll be sullying that young lady’s name.”

“Didn’t they say the Song heir wanted to repudiate his wife? Has he done it yet?”

“Just talk. Repudiating her now — people won’t be saying anything against the Hua Family, only that the Song family is heartless and ungrateful. The Song family still cares about its reputation.”

“If she really is repudiated she’d have nowhere to go but a temple. The eldest young lady of the Hua Family reportedly made it clear she’s forbidden from ever setting foot in the Hua Family’s door again.”

“That young lady had the nerve to make someone kneel outside during the mourning period. She could very well carry through on that too.”

“…”

At the top of the staircase, Song Chenghao’s face flushed crimson, unable to move forward or retreat. Behind him, his fellow students quietly stepped back one stair, exchanged glances, and one of them said, “I’m thinking of going back for another drink — what about you, gentlemen?”

“Perfect timing — I was thinking the same.”

“I’ve been waiting for someone to say it. One of you is buying me a round.”

The group headed back upstairs, seemingly having forgotten there was such a person as Song Chenghao among them. Not one of them called out to him.

Song Chenghao burned with shame and fury. He lowered his head and bolted outside, galloping home at full speed on his horse.

A servant boy came forward as usual to take the reins. Song Chenghao swung his riding crop without a word, and the boy cried out in pain as his arm and face swelled red.

Song Chenghao let out a cold snort, flung the reins aside, and stormed straight toward the rear courtyard.

Inside the room, Hua Jing was muffling a cough that tore at her chest. Her youngest daughter Song Ling’er wept beside her, eyes swollen red. Both mother and daughter looked wretched.

As the coughing subsided, Hua Jing raised her head. The eldest daughter of the Hua Family, who had always been beautifully imperious, now looked aged by more than a decade — her face twisted, veins standing out at her temples, not a trace remaining of her former composure. “How dare they! How dare they break off the engagement! Where do they think they’ve put the Song family’s dignity!”

Song Ling’er wailed.

Song Chenghao strode in and delivered each word like a knife. “Dignity? Didn’t you rip the Song family’s dignity off and throw it in the privy yourself? Now you remember the Song family’s dignity? Why don’t you go fish it out of the privy!”

“Hao’er…” Hua Jing stared at her son in disbelief. “I am your mother!”

“Because you’re my mother, Little Sister has had her engagement broken off, I’ve been humiliated in public, and Father doesn’t even dare show his face outside!”

Hua Jing clutched her chest and gasped in heaving breaths, still bristling with venom even as she trembled. “Everyone has the right to blame me — but not you or your sister! Everything I did was for this family, for you both. I couldn’t allow anyone to trample over you!”

“Don’t dress it up so nobly. You only wanted to compete for favor. Everything you did was for yourself.” Song Chenghao delivered those words coldly and left without another glance, unable to bear the sight of this woman who had lost every shred of her dignity.

Song Ling’er hesitated, then bit her lip and moved toward the door as well.

“Ling’er!” Hua Jing’s voice cracked with its own shrillness. “You think your mother ruined you too?”

Song Ling’er didn’t dare look back. She leaned against the doorframe, tears streaming down her face, but her resolve didn’t waver for a single moment. “Mother, I’m of age to discuss marriage. I don’t want to grow old unwed in the Song household. I must go ask Grandmother to find me a good match. Please take care of your health, Mother. Leave the matters outside to others.”

“Song Ling’er!”

Song Ling’er walked away without looking back.

Hua Jing stared at the empty window, listening to the moaning wind outside, a chill seeping through her to the bone. She parted her lips to call for someone — and a mouthful of blood gushed out. She stared blankly at the dark red spots scattered across the ground and her clothes, her body swaying several times before she toppled backward.

Snow had begun to fall again, and Hua Zhi simply gave the family school a holiday and sent the tutors home to enjoy the new year properly.

The Hua Family was still in deep mourning and could not call at others’ homes, so Hua Zhi had people prepare two sets of generous new year gifts for Teacher Mu and Mr. Lu to take back with them. She also arranged several additional sets — for the Zhu Family, Chen Dayi’s household, Bai Mingxia, and the Hua Family’s relatives by marriage. The Song family and the Yang family each received one as well. Not a single courtesy was omitted.

“Miss, Xu Jie requests to see you.”

“Wasn’t he sent to deliver new year gifts? Let him in.” Hua Zhi finished the last character and set down her brush.

Nanny Su carefully lifted the scripture she had been copying from the desk and set it aside to dry.

Xu Jie entered wearing barely contained excitement across his face. “Miss, I’ve just returned from the Song household.”

“Something good has happened, for you to look so pleased.” Hua Zhi’s hands were being warmed with a hot cloth by Ying Chun. She looked rather languid.

“The eldest young mistress has fallen ill.”

“Tell me.” Hua Zhi raised a brow. This was indeed good news, though she was not particularly surprised. With rumors flying everywhere, it would have been far stranger if Hua Jing were doing well. Still, she was perfectly happy to hear what had happened.

“Yes, Miss. After delivering the gifts I was about to leave when I heard a maid cry out that the eldest young mistress had fainted. I hadn’t intended to linger, but the Song household seemed afraid something might happen that they’d have trouble explaining, and kept me there. I managed to hear a few things from the servants. They said the young master and young mistress had said something that sent the eldest young mistress into a rage, and the physician later confirmed that the sudden rush of fury had caused her to vomit blood. She needs careful rest and must on no account be agitated again. When I left the Song household, the eldest young mistress still had not regained consciousness.”

The corner of Hua Zhi’s mouth curved. “Bao Xia, go to the main kitchen and let them know — two extra dishes for tonight’s dinner.”

Bao Xia pressed her lips together to contain her smile and nodded eagerly.

“The Hua Family won’t involve itself further. But whether Hua Jing lives or dies is still something we ought to keep track of. Xu Jie, keep an eye on the situation at the Song household.”

“Yes, Miss, understood.”

Hua Zhi went to the ancestral hall. When she had left the old residence, the Old Madam had brought along the spirit tablets of all the Hua Family’s ancestors, and the Old Madam’s own tablet now rested among them.

Incense burned without ceasing in the hall. Hua Zhi lit three sticks and held them clasped before her chest, raising her eyes through the curling blue smoke to gaze at the several hundred spirit tablets arranged in orderly rows.

Born into a family of such distinction as the Hua Family, she had from an early age made it her business to study the family’s history. More than once she had suspected that Hua Jingyan, the ancestor who had built the Hua Family’s prosperity, might also have been a traveler from another world. The way he had protected his family, the ideas he held that were advanced far beyond the world he lived in, the meticulous arrangements he had made for his descendants — all of it was simply too remarkable.

He had not placed the clan above personal bonds, but instead used personal bonds to hold the family together. And so even with friction between the legitimate and lesser branches of the Hua Family, it never threatened the foundation.

Yet sometimes she would think that he was simply a supremely wise man, a man of towering stature who possessed a vision beyond his era.

Because he understood this world too deeply, fit within it too perfectly — something a soul arrived from another world would find very difficult to do. At the very least, she herself had never fully merged with it. Between her and this world, there had always been a distance.

A distance that felt, to her, like home.

Perhaps you all already know — where I came from. Please trust me.

I am Hua Zhi.

The eldest young lady of the Hua Family. Hua Zhi.