No sooner had Hua Qin and her husband left than Liu Xiang came in and said quietly: “Miss Shao Yao has arrived, together with the young boy. Hearing that you were with a guest, she waited in the side room next door. Also, the old steward has returned and is waiting outside.”

Zeng Han was genuinely not suitable to be seen by others at the moment. She gave a nod. “Have the steward come in.”

“Yes, miss.”

The old steward entered and presented the reply card with both hands. “As Master Jiang had already gone to his office, the Jiang household’s head steward went personally to retrieve the reply card from Master Jiang, and conveyed that Master Jiang will certainly be on time for the appointment.”

Hua Zhi opened the card, looked it over, then placed it into the drawer. “The steward has worked hard — please go and rest. Whatever matters arise can be left to Li De to handle.”

The old steward smiled amiably and agreed.

Hua Zhi said nothing more, rose, and went out.

The door to the neighboring room was shut. Before Hua Zhi had even knocked, it opened from within — Shao Yao’s face nearly pressed right up against hers as she leaned out.

Pushing her face back, the door swung fully open to reveal the small child sitting quietly inside. Dressed all in plain white, the child looked as though he had grown a little thinner, but when his eyes fell on Hua Zhi, they showed the faintest ripple of movement.

He stood, walked over to Hua Zhi without a word, and wrapped his arms around her waist. His head rested lightly against her lower abdomen. He showed no outward emotion, made no tearful complaints, yet his closeness was unmistakably expressed.

Hua Zhi was also caught off guard for a moment, but once she gathered herself she immediately patted his shoulder and stroked his head in response.

Shao Yao was a little put out: “He doesn’t say more than ten words to me in a whole day.”

Hua Zhi paid her no mind. She led the child to the table and sat down, hooked a round stool over in front of her, and pressed the small child onto it.

“I’ve had a room prepared for you. From now on you’ll be living with me. Are you willing?”

Zeng Han’s eyes went suddenly wide and round. He had assumed that once the house and estate were returned to him, he would be going back to his own home — was this person truly still willing to keep him?

“Not willing? Then…”

Before the words were finished, she saw the small child nod vigorously, like a chicken pecking at grain.

Hua Zhi smiled and stroked his head again. “Very well then. There are many children in the household, and the clan school is right here in the front courtyard. Once your family’s case is resolved, you’ll attend school together with the Hua Family children. Also, once your family’s house is returned to you, you’ll need to have someone set up memorial tablets for your father and mother — on the first and fifteenth of each month, and on New Year and other festivals, you must go back and offer incense. As for your family’s estate — my thoughts are that anything that can be sold should be sold and converted into silver for you to keep. But if there comes a time when you need to spend a large sum, I hope you’ll tell me first. I am a good deal older than you and understand the ways of the world better. I won’t necessarily be able to help in every instance, but I will certainly never harm you.”

Zeng Han pressed his lips together and nodded.

“You were fine when we returned to the capital — how is it that in just these few days you’ve lost a whole size?” Hua Zhi looked toward Shao Yao. “Has he been ill?”

“Not ill. I don’t know how he managed to eat so well with the food at Yinshan Pass, yet after coming to stay at the Shizi’s residence with good rice and fine flour, he ends up losing weight.” Shao Yao made a disgruntled face, though she could more or less guess the reason. No matter how well others treated him, it was not as close as the Hua Zhi whom his father had entrusted him to on his deathbed. With Hua Zhi no longer by his side, the child was certainly a little unsettled at heart — even if he looked no different from usual on the surface.

“It’s probably a bit of an adjustment. He’ll likely be fine in a few days. As for coming to my household — it’s fitting. We’re all in mourning here together.” Hua Zhi smiled, then turned to give instructions: “Tell Lan Qiao to make some foods that children enjoy, but they must be vegetarian.”

“Yes, miss.”

“Keeping a full year of mourning is certainly not possible — you’re still small and your body can’t sustain it. Three months will do. I’m sure your father won’t blame you for it.”

Zeng Han, of course, took everything Hua Zhi said as gospel. He was still a child of few words and calm expression, but a child is a child after all — it was not so easy to keep everything entirely contained. The ease and reassurance showing through his expression was visible at a glance.

Hua Zhi straightened his collar for him. Thinking that he had been wearing the same two sets of clothes she had bought him all along the journey, she pulled him to his feet and signaled Liu Xiang to come over and take his measurements. “Mother and the aunts have nothing pressing at the moment — let them sew a few sets of clothing for little Zeng Han. Oh, and — once everyone is out of mourning, we can change into brighter clothes. Yingchun, make note of this. When the time is about right, invite Seamstress Ji to bring some fabric samples into the residence so everyone can choose for themselves. Order a few sets of winter clothes for everyone.”

“Yes, miss.”

Once Hua Zhi had finished with official business, Shao Yao sidled over with a conspiratorial air and began to whisper: “Early this morning, a steward from Prince Ling’s residence went to the Shizi’s residence.”

Hua Zhi was by now thoroughly acquainted with the whole complicated matter of Prince Ling’s residence, and the moment she heard this she knew nothing good had come of it. “What do they want?”

“Armed with the authority of a parental decree and a matchmaker’s words, they came to press Yan Xi into accepting a marriage arrangement.” The disdain in Shao Yao’s eyes was practically overflowing. “Yan Xi didn’t even show his face — he had Chen Qing throw them out of the residence directly.”

“Isn’t he worried Prince Ling will submit a memorial censuring him for being unfilial and disrespectful to elders?”

“It’s not as though he hasn’t been censured before. And who ends up worse off in the end isn’t certain!”

That was true. With Yan Xi’s level of imperial favor, using that kind of charge to censure him truly wasn’t going to topple him. The Emperor was fully aware of that whole sordid account in his own heart — you could see clearly from the way he sheltered Yan Xi that he was displeased with Prince Ling for what he had done. Were it not that all the other brothers had died off and there needed to be at least this one still visible in order to stop the mouths of the public, Prince Ling might not have been able to go on conducting himself so brazenly.

“Who is the match Prince Ling arranged?”

“A young woman from the Wei Family.”

“……” What remarkable timing — first taking over the Hua Family’s scholarly forum, now coming after her man? Hua Zhi tapped her finger lightly on the table, making a mental note, and decided to have Yan Xi go and press Haoyue for information about what fate awaited the Wei Family. No — first she needed to find out which side the Wei Family was actually standing on.

But then: “Prince Ling ought to have long since understood what kind of attitude Yan Xi has toward him. Why would he suddenly think of arranging a marriage for him? Who is stirring things up behind the scenes?”

Shao Yao gave Hua Zhi a thumbs up. “Yan Xi said exactly the same thing. He’s already had people look into it. Prince Ling’s one redeeming quality is that he has a certain degree of self-awareness — he knows full well how deeply Yan Xi despises him. All these years he has operated on the principle of not seeking Yan Xi out unless absolutely necessary.”

Shao Yao suddenly gave a cold laugh. “Come to think of it carefully, those few exceptions were all for the sake of that sickly son of his. Truly a touching display of paternal devotion.”

Hua Zhi pinched her cheek and steered the conversation away from something liable to stir up painful feelings. “You haven’t had any of Fudong’s cooking for quite a while, have you? Go and have her make you lots of things to eat while the seafood business still hasn’t gotten underway — it won’t be much longer before she’ll be busy.”

“Hua Zhi, you’re the best. I’m really going then.” Shao Yao’s eyes lit up at once, and true to Hua Zhi’s wishes, whatever had been bothering her was already long forgotten.

“Go, go — stop hovering here and disturbing me.”

Shao Yao let out a delighted cheer and ran off in high spirits. After being away for so many days, what she had missed most was Fudong’s cooking. And it wouldn’t only be Fudong who would be busy before long — she herself would be tied down as well. Her Master was determined to leave the palace, and she needed to be the one to take over, otherwise there was no way for her Master to leave.

Ah, she truly couldn’t stand that wretched palace for even a moment. They all looked dazzling and splendid on the outside, but at the core not one of them was any cleaner than the next. The innocent, the soft-hearted, the kind — all of them were dead. Either killed by her own hands, or killed by someone else’s. What remained — every last one of them was rotten through and through.