The Yang family would not agree to a divorce without taking a substantial bite out of the Hua family first — Hua Zhi had steeled herself for this. But what she could accept was only a divorce, only a formal letter of release. Not a letter of repudiation.
After reassuring Little Aunt, who was so anxious she kept wishing she could swallow her own words back, Hua Zhi went to find Fourth Aunt. This was the kind of matter she could only discuss with her.
“She’s truly made up her mind? She won’t regret it?”
“I believe so. It seems that Sui’an was the one who gave her the courage.” Looking at the small child nestled in Fourth Aunt’s arms, Hua Zhi leaned over to play with the baby for a moment, then said: “I only know that the laws of the Great Qing permit divorce — I don’t know how to go about it. Does Fourth Aunt know?”
Zhu Shi’s brow furrowed slightly. “I know something of it, but the power is still largely in the husband’s hands. The Yang family may well not be willing to hand over a letter of release so easily.”
“That’s what I’m worried about too. But we have to try.”
“Would you like me to make a trip to the Yang family?”
“By rights, it should be my mother who goes — but if she actually went, she’d likely flood the Yang house with her tears. I’ll trouble Fourth Aunt to make the trip. Take Nanny Su with you.”
Zhu Shi laughed despite herself, exasperated. “Who speaks of their own mother like that?”
“I’m only saying what’s true. Have Nanny Su go along with you when you go.”
Nanny Su carried the weight of the Old Madam’s authority. Even though the Old Madam was no longer in this world, anyone with a sense of propriety — particularly those who had previously relied on the Hua family’s goodwill — would still feel obligated to show some deference to that name. And if the other party turned out to be someone with no sense of propriety at all, then so be it — she would meet them on those same terms.
So it was a contest of shamelessness, was it? Who was afraid of whom?
Hua Zhi laid out in her mind a thorough arsenal of entirely-without-shame strategies, her outward expression betraying nothing. She then turned to another matter. “What is Fourth Aunt’s current relationship with her maiden family?”
Zhu Shi was taken aback. “Why do you ask that? Is there something you need the Wu family’s help with?”
“It can hardly be called asking for help — it would be mutually beneficial. I recall that the Wu family had at one point intended to put some distance between themselves and the Hua family. What is their position now?”
Zhu Shi fell into silence. She had come to understand Zhi’er well enough to know that if Zhi’er was speaking of mutual benefit, it would certainly not be a poor arrangement. Yet when she thought of her own family’s behavior, a chill settled in her heart. Every time she looked back on all the love and indulgence she had known in her maiden home, it felt like something from a dream.
Yet, after all — she still bore the name of Wu.
Zhu Shi gave a rueful smile. “Tell me what you have in mind and I’ll send word. I’ll have someone relay the message.”
Hua Zhi’s fingers traced idly along the rim of her teacup. In her heart, she held little regard for the Wu family. To put it charitably, they were avoiding misfortune and seeking safety. To put it plainly, they had abandoned the Hua family in its time of difficulty — and abandoned, along with the Hua family, the daughter they had placed within it.
Yet she could not afford to be entirely unsparing. After all, compared to Second Aunt and Third Aunt’s maiden families, who had drawn a clear line from the very beginning, the Wu family had not severed all ties. When Fourth Aunt gave birth, Old Madam Wu had come in person. It was only after concluding that the Hua family had no prospect of recovery that the Wu family had gradually cut off contact.
For the sake of that first thread of good faith, she needed to make at least some distinction — rather than simply striking them from the list entirely.
“I’ll speak plainly with Fourth Aunt. What I am doing now — the money is a secondary concern. What matters is the network of relationships I am building. I offer up substantial profits to draw people in, and what I am working toward is this: when the moment comes, these people will be willing to act on the Hua family’s behalf. To bring Grandfather and the others home. One ten-thousand taels may not be enough — then one hundred thousand. A hundred thousand not enough — then one million. As long as I can earn enough silver to make it worth their while, what I am planning may yet come to fruition.”
Zhu Shi stared at her, and softly breathed her name. “Zhi’er…”
Hua Zhi looked up and smiled. “I’ve considered many approaches. This is the one most likely to work.”
When this alliance of shared interests grew large enough, it would become a natural coalition — and she would be the pivot on which it all turned. As long as she remained, the coalition remained. The moment she withdrew, this network bound together by mutual profit would dissolve. In time, they would all come to understand just how indispensable she was.
And the allies she sought out would naturally be those whose interests could never come into direct conflict with the Hua family’s. Whether or not Grandfather and the others returned would cost these people nothing — all they would need to do was speak a few words in Grandfather’s favor, and in exchange they would receive handsome sums of silver. Why would they refuse?
She had already made peace with the possibility of outlasting the current Emperor. He would not live much longer in any case. When the new Emperor ascended — whoever that might be, Sixth Prince or not — as long as her network was in place, the Hua family’s people would find their way home.
The move that Yanxi had made with the Sixth Prince was not essential to her own plans, but it was another path — and she would certainly not close it off. If the Sixth Prince succeeded in taking the throne, it would be an enormous gain for the Hua family.
The game she was playing had only just begun — the first stones had only just been set. She could not be certain how the game would unfold from here. But one thing she could be certain of: she would not be the one who lost.
And those who entered this game would come to see that as long as they remained within it, everyone stood to gain. The moment any one of them chose to leave, they would be removing themselves from the board.
Of the four arts — music, chess, calligraphy, and painting — she had mastered only chess. And what she excelled at most was this: luring others into her trap.
Zhu Shi opened and closed her mouth several times before she could get the words out, dry as they were. “I thought you were running businesses simply to earn more silver to use for making connections in all the right places…”
Who could have imagined you meant to make connections like this!
And yet following the thread of Zhi’er’s thinking, Zhu Shi’s heart began to pound so hard it felt as though it might leap from her throat. She managed the inner household, and Zhi’er concealed little from her — more than anyone else in the family, she knew how much silver those few ventures of Zhi’er’s were bringing in. With this scale of benefit laid out before people’s eyes, she could not believe there was a single soul who could hold themselves back.
Only — “Won’t it attract too much attention?”
“It won’t. At their level, who doesn’t understand the value of making a fortune quietly?”
Zhu Shi couldn’t help but press a hand to her chest. She needed a moment — to properly absorb what Zhi’er had just laid out for her.
“I’ll think further on the matter of the Wu family.” Though she said she would think on it, both Zhu Shi and Hua Zhi understood clearly that the Wu family had already been excluded from this network. Zhu Shi felt a bitterness in her heart, yet not a shred of wavering. If the stakes were not so high, she might have given thought to her maiden family. Even if they had abandoned her in her time of hardship, she still might have. But not now.
She was not only a cast-off daughter of the Wu family — she was also a daughter-in-law of the Hua family, a wife to Pingyang, and a mother to two children. She wanted her husband to come home. Her children needed their father.
“There’s no need to dwell on it overmuch. The worst of it has already been weathered — this is a small matter by comparison. If you truly find it difficult to let go, the Hua family can offer the Wu family some profit.”
Zhu Shi only shook her head.
Hua Zhi said no more. In her own heart, she was not particularly inclined toward it either.
Taking her leave from Fourth Aunt, Hua Zhi went to her mother’s room and sat with her for a time. Zhu Shi had truly been missing her — during this period, she was only able to see her children once in the morning and once in the evening.
She knew Zhi’er was busy, and however much she missed her, she did not crowd her way to her side. But now that her daughter had come to her, she inevitably had more to say than usual. Hua Zhi stayed with her through the meal and then personally attended to her, seeing her settled and tucked into bed.
Looking at her mother, sleeping soundly, Hua Zhi found her thoughts drifting back to Little Aunt. A divorce — that was going to be a hard-fought battle.