Once everything was settled, Hua Zhi turned around — and Master Lu was nowhere to be seen. The study door stood open. She walked in a few steps and found him seated inside, settled in as though it were his own domain.
“Has Master Lu come at this hour because there is something you need?” Hua Zhi sat down across from him and asked.
Gu Yanxi glanced at the tea things on the table that had not yet been cleared away, and thought of the scene he had witnessed upon arriving — the two of them laughing and talking with such ease. For reasons he could not quite name, something sat uneasily within him.
He knew perfectly well that Ah Zhi was not the sort of frivolous person. But it was plain to see, in a single glance, that she admired this newly arrived teacher — and it gave him a sharp sense of threat unlike anything he had felt before. He had never worried about such things previously, because he knew Ah Zhi well: proud as she was, very few people in the capital could earn her regard.
And yet, here was one such person.
Like Ah Zhi, this man had no reverence for imperial power. Like Ah Zhi, he did not much abide by convention. In certain ways of thinking, they could even be called kindred spirits. And those very things were precisely the greatest problem between himself and Ah Zhi — because the imperial power Ah Zhi disdained was the very thing he possessed. He could not set it aside, and could never set it aside. He bore the Gu name.
And yet, from Ah Zhi’s perspective, it was that very imperial power of his that had separated her from her family, with no end to the separation in sight.
In this moment, the sense of threat nearly overwhelmed him entirely.
“Master Lu?” Receiving no response, Hua Zhi called out again in puzzlement. Could it be that the Emperor was failing? That would be good news.
“Is this the new teacher for the clan school?”
“Yes — Zheng Zhi, Master Zheng.”
Gu Yanxi’s lowered gaze drifted back to the small teacup before him. “Impressive?”
Hua Zhi found the question odd, but answered all the same. “If Master Lu is asking about his learning — yes, very impressive. But what I value more is the experience he has accumulated from years of wandering the world. Children who were born and raised in the capital cannot be allowed to think the capital is the whole of the world.”
Gu Yanxi felt an even stronger urge to put distance between Zheng Zhi and Ah Zhi.
“Certain things are fine to say behind closed doors, but do not let outsiders hear them.”
Hua Zhi immediately understood — he must have been standing outside and overheard a good portion of their conversation. Thinking back carefully, she realized he was right. She had been careless. If the Sixth Prince or someone from the inner quarters had been the one standing outside, those words would have been ready-made evidence against them. Perhaps they couldn’t act on it now, but the wheel of fortune turns — who could say what the future held?
Hua Zhi leaned forward slightly. “Thank you for the reminder, Master Lu. I will be more careful going forward.”
“The fault was not yours.”
Hua Zhi’s brow creased slightly. “Does Master Lu wish to find fault with Master Zheng?”
Gu Yanxi raised his eyes to meet hers. “And if I did?”
“To punish someone for what they say — that is not the way of an enlightened ruler.”
“I am no ruler. Whether I am enlightened or not is no concern of mine.”
Something felt strangely off to Hua Zhi. Why did Gu Yanxi seem to be at odds with her over everything? Was it because of Zheng Zhi?
“Does Master Lu dislike Master Zheng?”
Gu Yanxi faltered, overcome with embarrassment. He did dislike Zheng Zhi — but the reason he disliked him… was something he could not say aloud.
How could he let Ah Zhi know that he disliked Zheng Zhi out of jealousy? He was jealous that Zheng Zhi and Ah Zhi were kindred spirits. Jealous that Zheng Zhi had earned Ah Zhi’s admiration. Jealous that what Zheng Zhi excelled at was exactly what Ah Zhi excelled at. Jealous that no matter what one of them said, the other understood it instantly…
He was worried that Zheng Zhi really was that good. Worried that he might earn the whole Hua Family’s approval. And what worried him most was this: Ah Zhi could not marry out of the family, and the Hua Family’s elders would want her to take a husband into the household instead. Ah Zhi was so remarkable — who was to say that Zheng Zhi wouldn’t agree to such an arrangement?
Hua Zhi had no idea he had already thought so far ahead. Seeing that he said nothing, she simply assumed he genuinely disliked Master Zheng, and chose her words carefully: “Though Master Zheng’s words may draw criticism, he spoke them on behalf of the Hua Family. I actually think that having such scholars in Great Qing is a blessing. When scholars become nothing more than mouthpieces for certain people and certain factions, a dynasty has already spent its final days.”
Seeing that Gu Yanxi still wore a dark, stormy expression, Hua Zhi continued. “I will remind Master Zheng to be more careful with his words. The capital is not like other places — the slightest misstep can give offense. He is a sharp man; he will understand.”
Not only was Ah Zhi defending Zheng Zhi, she was calling him sharp as well. Gu Yanxi’s sense of threat intensified. He made up his mind to look into the man’s ancestry going back eighteen generations immediately — and the moment even the smallest flaw turned up, he would have him sent out of the capital.
Hua Zhi watched, wide-eyed, as Gu Yanxi stood and walked out without a word. She could not quite make out what his manner meant — but then the man who had just left came walking straight back in, drew a small case from his sleeve, placed it in her hands, and turned to leave again.
“…”
After a moment’s daze, Hua Zhi opened the case. It was another dark iron hairpin — only the pattern was slightly different from the last one.
She didn’t take it out. She simply looked at it in silence for a while, guessing that this one, too, had likely been polished by Gu Yanxi himself, bit by bit. Just as the last one had been.
Yingchun came hurrying in, and Hua Zhi snapped the case shut.
Yingchun glanced at the case, then said, “Miss, a relative of Concubine Qiu from the Third Household has come. They say Concubine Qiu’s father is on his last breath and wishes for her to come home for a final farewell.”
Hua Zhi disliked entangling herself in the affairs of the inner quarters. When she had no choice but to intervene, she dealt only with surface matters — each concubine was managed by the wife of her own household, and later, using her own busyness as an excuse, she had handed management of the inner quarters entirely over to Fourth Aunt. Still, Hua Zhi had a distinct impression of Concubine Qiu.
One did not become a concubine without exceptional looks, and Concubine Qiu was no exception. At twenty-three or twenty-four, having borne no children, she still had the air of a young girl. Unlike the scholarly air of even the concubines in the Hua Family, who had all learned to read, Concubine Qiu’s full, womanly figure was entirely in a class of its own — and Third Uncle was very fond of her.
“Do you know what her family situation is?”
“This servant asked around. Her father is a minor official of the seventh rank, and her two brothers are both scholars — it could be considered a family of some literary standing.”
Hua Zhi nodded. “Very well. Give her a hundred taels of silver, and select two items from the storeroom — presentable, but not too extravagant — for her to bring home. Have Nanny Zhao accompany her. If the situation is grave, she may stay the night.”
“Understood.”
No sooner had Concubine Qiu left than the Third Madam made her way to the Fourth Madam’s courtyard. Madam Wu was unsurprised by her purpose. She dismissed all the attendants from the room and said, “I know what you’re worried about. But Miss Hua’s decision was the right one. The Hua Family may be behind closed doors observing mourning, but that doesn’t mean we can prevent someone from going home when her father is dying. If we kept her here and left her with such a lasting regret, who wouldn’t grow bitter over time?”
Madam Xia sighed. “I know the reasoning. But once we open this door, I’m afraid it won’t be easy to close.”
“What — are they going to have their fathers dying one day and their mothers dying the next? You know what Miss Hua is like: if anyone dares to play such tricks, she’s perfectly capable of having those men put them aside.”
At the thought of their eldest young miss, Madam Xia laughed despite herself. “Now that you mention it, she really might do exactly that. Fine — I won’t trouble myself over it. Whatever happens, happens. With Miss Hua keeping watch, they won’t be able to turn the world upside down.”
The two sisters-in-law shared a smile. Whatever grievances had existed between them before — after these past months, all of that had passed. As long as the Hua Family was well, everything was well.