Knowing that those two households had joined forces, Wu Shi was even more firmly opposed to Hua Zhi going.

Hua Zhi gave a gentle shake of her head. “If I back down this time, what about the next? And the one after that? And on and on, retreating without end? When a person grows accustomed to falling back, how can you ever expect her to stand firm again? I will never allow myself to reach that point. Fourth Aunt — the He Family is exactly the lesson to learn from.”

At the mention of the He Family, Wu Shi had nothing more to say. A family that had once been so formidable and untouchable — when they fell, they had far more left to their name than the Hua Family did now. And yet where were the He Family’s people today? The daughters who had married out were struggling to keep themselves afloat. The old ones remaining huddled in some obscure corner, doing nothing but dragging out their days.

The thought that the Hua Family might one day fall to such a state sent a chill through Wu Shi, and whatever further objections she had would not come out.

She knew she was selfish. But then, how many people in this world were not? Wu Shi lowered her head, too ashamed to meet Zhi’er’s eyes.

Hua Zhi was not surprised by this outcome. When Fourth Aunt had objected, her objections were genuine, and all the care she showed was as real as anything could be — but the moment one’s own interests were involved, everyone would think a little more about themselves. It was instinct, exactly as she had told the Sixth Prince: this was human nature.

“The matter of the divorce papers — do not speak of it in the inner courtyard with the others. I also have no wish for everyone to start avoiding me as though I were a viper.”

“They would dare!” Wu Shi raised her head, a flash of severity crossing her eyes. She was selfish, yes — but the kindness she owed, she would remember. Without that, what kind of person would she be?

“The fewer quarrels the better.” Hua Zhi smiled lightly. “Have the branch families been coming to speak to you about anything?”

Wu Shi hesitated, knowing from the way Zhi’er asked that she must already know something. She hid nothing, and nodded. “There has been some of that, yes. I turned them all away.”

“Looking to get a hand in my business ventures?”

“They’re not quite so greedy as that. Their talk was more along the lines of — we’re all running ourselves ragged, while they sit idle and feel like a burden. I suppose they just want you to let something trickle down to them, give them some kind of livelihood.”

“How do you see them?”

Wu Shi looked over uncertainly — Zhi’er’s tone suggested she meant something more by that.

Hua Zhi took a sip of tea. She did not actually enjoy flower tea — it was too light and flavorless. “When people are idle they start to have too many thoughts. Keep them busy and there’s no time for any of that. It might do some good to give them something to occupy themselves with.”

Wu Shi instinctively reached for her own cup and took a sip, then looked up and said, “But won’t that affect what we have here? Don’t blame Fourth Aunt for being small-minded, Zhi’er — I’ve seen too many people with no sense of loyalty and no gratitude. As far as I’m concerned, I’d rather keep them dependent on us than give them a foothold from which to challenge us.”

“Does Fourth Aunt think they could ever climb over my head?”

Hua Zhi smiled lightly and met Fourth Aunt’s gaze. She did not summon any particular air of authority — she simply sat there. And yet it put Wu Shi at ease. Wu Shi suddenly pressed her hand over her face and laughed. Of course — when had Zhi’er ever been someone easily pushed around? She had been underestimating her. If Zhi’er could hand over the profitable business, she naturally had the means to keep them from stepping out of line.

With her mind at ease, Wu Shi was able to assess those few branch families with some fairness. “Second Aunt, though she’s a little too forceful in manner, is from the same line as us — her and Old Master’s fathers were brothers. She should be more reliable. Third Aunt is a cousin by marriage, one generation removed, but she’s always been close with Second Aunt, so she goes wherever Second Aunt goes. The fourth branch descended from a concubine’s line, so that goes without saying — they’ve always moved in step with the others. What it comes down to is: get Second Aunt in hand, and the rest will follow.”

Hua Zhi nodded. “I understand. Fourth Aunt, would you trouble yourself to pay a visit and invite her over? I would like to have a talk with Second Grand-Aunt.”

“All I’m good for now is running errands. Think nothing of troubling me.” Wu Shi clasped Hua Zhi’s hand in hers, looking at this girl who seemed to have grown from a small sapling into a towering tree almost overnight. “I’m not worried about you being taken advantage of — but I’ll say this anyway: my eldest sister-in-law on the Wu side is nothing but a paper tiger — fierce on the outside, hollow within, nothing to fear. It’s my second sister-in-law you need to be careful of. Don’t be deceived by that gentle, fragile appearance of hers. That woman is truly the sort who devours people and leaves not even their bones.”

“A beautiful snake?” Something more apt would have been calling her a white lotus, but Fourth Aunt likely would not understand that.

“I once saw with my own eyes how she dealt with my second brother’s pregnant concubine — that smiling, placid expression she wore gave me nightmares for a long time afterward. My second brother was not particularly well regarded in the family, so she had little standing with my mother either, while my eldest sister-in-law came from a prosperous family and was the eldest daughter-in-law my mother had handpicked with great care. Yet in all the years my second sister-in-law has been married into the Wu Family, she has rarely come off worse when going up against my eldest sister-in-law — and whenever it looked as though she might lose out, it always ended with everyone knowing it was my eldest sister-in-law who had been in the wrong.”

Wu Shi gave a contemptuous laugh. “And my second brother treasures a woman like that as though she were the world. Just you wait and see how long she can keep up that act.”

Hua Zhi once again felt she had administered that remedy a little too strongly — Fourth Aunt’s tone of undisguised schadenfreude was really something.

“My mother…” Wu Shi dropped her gaze. She could not, in the end, entirely erase the warmth of what she had once known. When you had once possessed it, losing it brought anguish — and resentment was only natural. And yet — that was her mother.

“If my mother says anything unpleasant, would you forgive her this once? Just this once. After that, after that, I will not ask again.”

“She is still an elder. If I were to do anything to her, wouldn’t that only invite criticism? Rest assured, I know where the line is.” Hua Zhi did not simply comply with an empty assurance. What had not yet happened, she did not know how it would unfold — better not to make a promise she might not be able to keep than to give her word and then fail to honor it. Trying her best to handle things well was the most she could honestly commit to.

Wu Shi could say nothing more to that. She pressed her grip tighter around the hand she was holding. “I’ll go over to Second Aunt’s in a moment.”

“There’s no hurry. Let’s wait for Xu Jie to return first. It may well be that I’ve wronged the Wu Family and there’s nothing to it.”

Wu Shi gave a rueful smile. She did hope she had wronged them — but she knew in her heart what the truth was. Judging by the back-and-forth shift in the Wu Family’s attitude, this could not be a misunderstanding.

Hua Zhi turned her attention back to her own matters. The business at Green Moss Lane was doing well enough to be called booming — even in wind and rain, the queue outside stretched long. She was thinking of redirecting the overflow, and planned to purchase the lane along the inner river that ran parallel to Green Moss Lane.

The layout of the capital was impeccably orderly. The lane called Oriole Arrival Lane ran in the same formation and had the same issues as Green Moss Lane. But because of what Green Moss Lane had become, the shop fronts in that area had already risen in price, and buying them at what she had paid before was no longer possible.

Even so, compared to the enormous profits at stake, the upfront investment was well worth it.

She left this matter to Chen Liang as before. Chen Liang hesitated briefly, then said, “If I act as the one making inquiries, the shop owners will likely figure out immediately that it is you who wishes to buy, and the price will certainly not come down. It might be better to find someone else to approach them on your behalf — let people assume that someone else is trying to set up in competition with you. It could save quite a bit of money.”

“That makes sense.” Hua Zhi gave Chen Liang an approving nod — this was genuinely something she had not thought of. “Go first and find out who owns those shop fronts. I’ll find a fresh face to go in on my behalf.”

“Yes.”

Wu Shi had listened to all of this. The admiration in the look she gave Zhi’er was plain — the servants of the Hua Family had been shaped by her into quite a capable lot.