Yang Sui’an looked toward his cousin. Sensing his gaze, Hua Zhi glanced over and smiled at him.

Yang Sui’an smiled back. “With my cousin’s support behind me, I have the confidence to stand firm. The Yang Family will most likely be glad to see me gone anyway. As for my grandfather — I will go visit the old man when time allows.”

“Sui’an…”

“Mother, this is for the best. I would rather owe my cousin a debt than depend upon the Yang Family to live.”

Hua Xian stared blankly at her son, then at her mother. What was she to do?

“The eldest young miss is more capable of bearing burdens than you may think, and she is fiercely protective of her own. As long as you remain her aunt, she will protect you. You need not worry about the Hua Family’s situation — they will not stand by and watch you struggle in a fire pit.”

Hua Xian’s heart beat faster. The words “willing to divorce” leaped and trembled in her chest, desperate to come out. In the end she pressed them forcibly back down. She could not be impulsive — she must not be impulsive. She had to think it over again, think it over more carefully.

Hua Zhi had never anticipated that the Third Auntie Grandmother would raise the matter of divorce on New Year’s Eve of all occasions. After the meal, she led the whole household over to the side parlor that had been arranged for the New Year’s Eve vigil.

The room was warm and snug. Six braziers of varying sizes glowed throughout, their tops arranged with seasonal fruits and pastries. Hua Zhi helped her mother to the innermost seat, then turned and told everyone: “Make yourselves at home.”

There was no New Year’s Eve feast of entertainment here, no fireworks, not even the kinds of celebration one might expect — yet because none of those things were present, there was no one who need worry about being overlooked or whose words might go unacknowledged.

It was Shao Yao’s first time spending a New Year’s with this kind of warmth. She pressed close to Hua Hua and let her gaze wander from one brazier gathering to the next. Her mouth, needless to say, had not stopped for a moment.

When she reached for the pastries yet again, Hua Zhi caught her hand. “Give your stomach a rest too. There will be dumplings later — leave some room.”

“I can fit more.” Though she said so, Shao Yao let her hand fall. Zhu Shi, watching the well-behaved display, felt a rush of fondness. She nudged her teacup toward Shao Yao. “A good appetite is good fortune. This one was clearly born lucky.”

Shao Yao grinned her wide, guileless grin.

Hua Zhi lounged languidly with her cheek resting in her hand. Having drunk some sweet rice wine, and now being gently toasted by the brazier, her cheeks had flushed warm and her features had taken on a soft, feminine prettiness. Even her voice had gone gentle. “Who did you used to spend New Year’s with, Cao Cao?”

“Sometimes with my master. Sometimes with the people at the residence.”

Shao Yao rested her arms on the table. Brother Yan spent every New Year inside the palace, keeping the Empress Dowager company. She herself would either muddle through the holiday carelessly with her master, or spend it drinking and feasting with a rowdy band of companions until dawn. A proper New Year’s like this one had never existed in her memory — or perhaps it had existed, in the years she no longer remembered.

“Is your master not here this year?”

“He went to save someone. There was a poisoning — and the poison happened to be something he himself had formulated.” Thinking of this led Shao Yao’s thoughts to the spy lurking within their midst. She wondered whether Brother Yan had found the mole yet. Given Brother Yan’s abilities, surely he could not have gone several days without a single lead.

Hua Zhi changed the subject neatly and steered the conversation elsewhere. Eating and drinking, they watched the old year give way to the new.

On the second day of the New Year, Yang Sui’an returned to the Yang Family to pay his holiday respects. The younger generation of the Zhu Family, led by the eldest among them — Zhu Ziwen — came to call on their aunt.

Zhu Shi had a headache that day. She sent word for Hua Zhi to come and keep the guests company, then retired to rest.

When Hua Zhi caught sight of Zhu Shan, her smile went somewhat stiff. Her great uncle was moving awfully fast. Bailin was still deep in formal mourning!

“Cousin.” Zhu Shan completed her bow, then secretly stole a glance up at this cousin who had become the talk of so many — her eyes full of open curiosity.

Hua Zhi helped her to rise and led her to a seat nearby. With a quick sweep of her eye she noted that Bailin was nowhere to be seen, and was about to send someone to look for him when the boy himself came charging toward her, holding something aloft like a treasure. “Elder Sister, this is for you!”

Hua Zhi looked into the small box — and went still, staring at the hairpin within. She lifted her eyes to her brother’s face.

Hua Bailin rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. “I smuggled out a piece of sandalwood at the time. I ground it down bit by bit. The workmanship is not very good.”

Hua Zhi took the hairpin and turned it in her hands. Then she reached up and removed the pin she was wearing, replacing it with this one. She touched it lightly, then looked up at her brother — her face filled with quiet warmth. “I love it very much.”

Hua Bailin’s face went red. He was pleased, and a little flustered all at once.

Hua Zhi glanced over at Zhu Shan and noticed that the girl kept stealing looks at Bailin. Her heart gave a small, uneasy thump. Surely their great uncle had not already said something to her?

She gave a light cough. “Should you not introduce yourself to your cousins?”

Only then did Hua Bailin notice that the room held far more than just his elder sister. Several cousins his own age were watching him with knowing smiles. That wave of embarrassment passed quickly — being candid by nature, he recovered his composure, and greeted them all with easy directness.

“Has our younger cousin grown taller?” Zhu Ziwen looked him up and down, his gaze making an almost imperceptible circuit between Hua Bailin and his own younger sister.

By now Hua Zhi was fairly certain that Zhu Shan herself was not aware of the plan. The same could not be said for Zhu Ziwen. She considered for a brief moment, then decided to play the same game of ignorance, and smoothly took over the exchange. “Brother, better to ask me than to ask him. He has indeed grown — when we had his clothes altered before the New Year, the maid said he had gained a full inch from the year before.”

“No wonder. He looks quite a bit taller. If he keeps growing at this rate, his build will be remarkable.”

Zhu Ziwen had initially had some doubts about his father’s idea, but now he was beginning to see the sense in it. Above Bailin were an aunt who thought of him as her own and a managing elder sister — neither of them the meddlesome sort. Little Sister, married into this household, would be safe from any harsh treatment. And the Zhu Family had no need of Little Sister for strategic alliances — marrying into the Hua Family was not a bad prospect at all.

With this in mind, Zhu Ziwen said: “Let me have a word with our younger cousin in private. Bailin, why don’t you take your cousins on a tour? Most of them have never been here before.”

Hua Bailin looked at Zhu Shan. “Would you like to come along, Cousin?”

Zhu Shan glanced at her elder brother, then nodded.

Hua Zhi did not object. Two young people with nothing but innocent affection between them — that was a pleasant enough thing in itself. If one set aside the great uncle’s intentions, this kind of easy company between cousins was nothing that crossed any line.

“Our great uncle moves quickly. Does our aunt agree?”

“My mother is not truly a bad person — she simply has a limited view of the world. She can only see what is right under her nose. Do not let her trouble you, Cousin.”

Zhu Ziwen’s smile was gentle and appeared entirely harmless. Yet as the carefully cultivated eldest grandson of the Zhu Family, he could not possibly be simple. Hua Zhi never underestimated anyone. She matched him at the game of pleasantries. “Both our great uncle and you say this — in your eyes, am I truly so petty that I would refuse to let go of this matter?”

“Cousin, have mercy! If our grandfather heard that, he would have my head. Who in the entire capital would dare say that the Hua Family’s eldest young miss is petty?” Zhu Ziwen laughed even as he said it, and this time his laughter was different from the polished performance before — it carried a warmth that came only with family.

“Cousin, there is no need to dwell on this further. What was wrong was wrong. There is no reason to go on being wrong. I offer an apology on my mother’s behalf as well.” Zhu Ziwen rose and made a deep bow.

Hua Zhi quickly stepped aside and did not accept it. “What I said to our great uncle, I say to you as well: from the standpoint of protecting one’s family, your mother made no error. It is only that the three of us were never placed in the category of family in her eyes. There is nothing strange in that, nor anything to blame.”

Hearing those words, Zhu Ziwen understood that no matter how well his mother might conduct herself from this day forward, she would never again receive Hua Zhi’s acknowledgment. Yet Hua Zhi had also said, quite plainly, that she held no blame.

Zhu Ziwen exhaled a quiet breath. Of course she would not bother blaming someone who was of no consequence to her.