Though both were the heads of their respective households, there were two generations between them — and just as much distance in familiarity.
Had the Hua Family’s old madam still been alive, the two would no doubt have clasped hands and exchanged a few tearful words about all the years of unavoidable distance. But faced with Hua Zhi, Madam Sun could only regard her as a junior whose measure had not yet been fully taken.
She needed to observe a little longer. If the young woman truly possessed the boldness the rumors described, that would be welcome, and certain things could be said between them — certain matters discussed together. But if she proved to be merely a girl of modest cleverness and limited means, then she would need to be looked after with care, and those same things could not be said. Knowing too much without the ability to bear it was a harm, not a help — and even for the sake of the generations of friendship between the Hua and Sun families, she could not do that to her.
After a round of warm, familiar pleasantries, Madam Sun said: “Not long ago, the master sent a letter. He mentioned dispatching soldiers to Yinshan Pass and asked me to keep a closer watch over the Hua Family while here in the capital. Do not take it amiss that he only sent men now — there are many eyes on him, and he cannot move freely. He had to wait until the attention had shifted before anyone could give him cause for criticism.”
Speaking of the Sun Family’s years of walking on thin ice, Madam Sun sighed as well. There were times when she truly longed for the years to pass more quickly. She would gladly shave a few years from her own life to see the master hang up his seal and come home to live a few peaceful days. All because of a position that had brought nothing but hardship and no reward, the Sun Family’s old friends and allies had been driven away one by one. Sometimes she could not think of a single door she could knock on for a visit.
Hua Zhi rose and offered a solemn bow. “Hua Zhi gives her thanks.”
Madam Sun drew her back down to sit. “There is no need for that. Their friendship is theirs — you, a young girl, need not carry that gratitude on your shoulders. I tell you only so you can set your mind at ease. When your family’s troubles came, and then after Wan’niang passed — I could only look on and do nothing. The thought still sits uneasily with me. In this capital, there is far too much that cannot be helped. One misstep, and it is ruin with no path back. Now that you are managing the household, you must tread with great care. The Zhu Family can be trusted, and now we too may associate openly. If you are ever uncertain about something, come and ask — no one will think you a nuisance.”
“Yes. I will remember that.” In her heart, Hua Zhi had already weighed her conclusion. Knowing that the Sun Family not only had no wish to distance themselves from the Hua Family but in fact intended to extend greater care, and hearing the tone of guidance in Madam Sun’s words, she now knew exactly how to regard the Sun Family.
“I invited you today partly to draw closer to you, but there is another matter I wished to let you know of.”
Madam Sun nodded with interest. “What matter?”
Hua Zhi raised her eyes. “The Sixth Prince has been residing at the Hua estate for some time now.”
Madam Sun startled. The subject was entirely beyond what she had expected. No wonder — since this had come about, the Sun Family had not received so much as a whisper of it. Gu Yanxi had kept the matter locked away without letting a single word escape.
Madam Sun was no ordinary woman — she had held the Sun Family’s home front steady by herself for many years. The ease in her expression was already gone, and she went straight to the heart of it: “What happened in the palace? Is it connected to the day the Seven Lodges Division washed the capital in blood? And how did the Hua Family come to be entangled in this?”
“Do not worry — it is already over.” Hua Zhi explained the matter to Madam Sun in careful detail, but omitted her own acquaintance with the leader of the Seven Lodges Division, and Gu Yanxi’s intentions regarding the Sixth Prince. She only said that the person she had come to know was the seldom-seen Gu Shizi.
“His Majesty has now permitted the Sixth Prince to remain outside the palace, under the Shizi’s care. The Shizi does not concern himself with ordinary affairs, and seeing that the Sixth Prince was close to me, he placed him in our household. The matter has not been made official, but the Shizi has given his word that any consequences would be his to bear.”
Madam Sun was a person of considerable experience, far beyond what most inner-court women knew of the world. She understood at once that there was certainly more to this than what she was being told — and that she was not in a position to press further. What she could see clearly, and what she understood, was that Hua Zhi had somehow become involved in this kind of affair.
“I take the liberty of calling you Zhi’er. I am grateful that you protected my grandson — and yet I must still offer you a word of caution. Do not meddle in the affairs of the imperial family. Even if things go well, there is no guarantee of reward; one wrong step, and the suffering falls on you. The Hua Family cannot endure another blow.”
A warmth rose in Hua Zhi’s heart, and her smile became more genuine. “I understand. And yet sometimes it is not I who choose the circumstances — it is the circumstances that choose me. Given the situation at the time, I could hardly have thrown the Sixth Prince from the carriage.”
Madam Sun patted her hand. If Hua Zhi had truly been that hardened and unfeeling, then even with the bond of generations between their families, she would have needed to think twice about this association.
“How fortunate my Qian’er was, to have met you. If not, the Sun Family might well have been dragged into ruin.”
“It was simply a matter of chance.”
By now, Madam Sun had already begun to see in her what the capital’s rumors described — that boldness and discernment. Only someone with courage and good judgment would have dared touch this sort of affair. Upon learning the child’s identity, she could either have sent him away politely out of fear, or handed him over outright as a show of loyalty. Instead she had sheltered him, and kept it so quiet that not even the Sun Family had caught a breath of it.
That could no longer be described simply as capability.
“You clearly had a plan in mind when you told me this today. Why not lay it out, and we can think it through together.”
“It is hardly a plan.” Hua Zhi smiled faintly. “Only — the matter is already past, and the Sixth Prince will likely remain at the Hua estate for some time to come. I simply felt the Sun Family ought to be informed, so as to avoid any unnecessary misunderstanding.”
“That is the right thinking. I had planned to send in a card to the palace to visit him in the coming days. The last time I saw him was when he came to pay his New Year’s respects.” Madam Sun smiled with a touch of bitterness. “Which prince has ever had it as hard as he has? Even his visits to his maternal family must be carefully calculated — go too often, and it invites suspicion. My entering the palace to see him must also be timed with care. And for all that calculating and caution, he very nearly lost his life. So what was the point of all that careful restraint? The worst that could have happened was still Qian’er being gone.”
Hua Zhi had no comfort to offer, because in her place, her own reaction would likely have been even stronger. There are things a person guards at all costs — lines that cannot be crossed. For the Sun Family, it was the Sixth Prince. For her, it was Bailin.
Madam Sun closed her eyes briefly, and her expression slowly composed itself. “I will immediately inform the master of this. What steps to take next must be decided by him.”
“I did not tell you in hopes of stirring resentment in the Sun Family toward the imperial house.” Hua Zhi reached out and covered Madam Sun’s hand with hers. “This is in the past now. The Sixth Prince may appear to have been pushed far from that seat — but in truth, it is the best protection he could have. While the others fight each other to the death, the Sixth Prince is in the safest position of all. His Majesty’s care for him may have been neglectful, but that does not mean there is no wish to shield him.”
Madam Sun regarded Hua Zhi for a long moment, then gave a slow nod. “Even so, I must still inform the master. For the Sun Family, there is no matter greater than this.”
“Of course. Your decision is not for anyone else to question.”