The Old Madam arrived seated on a litter carried by four stout women servants. Hearing her faint, persistent cough, Hua Zhi deliberately slowed her own steps to give her grandmother time to cough it out properly.

Only when the coughing had quieted did she go forward to meet her. “Grandmother, shall we go over? It is nearly time.”

The Old Madam dabbed her lips and gave a small nod. “Very well.”

The litter was carried all the way to the outer corridor of the schoolroom. A maid had already set out three chairs — one placed at a slightly greater distance than the other two.

Hua Zhi explained quietly, “We will not go in and disturb them. The children will lose their focus, and my two sisters will be nervous. I have also invited Master Mu to come — my own level is not adequate for evaluating others.”

“You — always so self-deprecating.”

The maids and women servants were sent to wait at a distance. Master Mu emerged from the other schoolroom, offered his respects to the Old Madam, and took his seat in the chair set apart.

Being so near, they could hear everything within with ease. Setting aside the content of the lesson itself: there was stuttering, long pauses, repeated phrases, and unsteady breath — the nerves were unmistakable. Listening more closely to the substance, it was little more than recitation, with not a trace of personal understanding woven through.

Master Mu looked toward the eldest young lady’s back. He had not thought much of it before the comparison, but with the eldest young lady’s brilliance fresh in mind, the difference between her and the other two young ladies of the Hua Family was vast indeed.

Every trace of the Old Madam’s expectations curdled into disappointment. The corner of her eye caught her granddaughter’s expression — composed and unhurried — and a thought crept into her heart: she had been too greedy. To have one exceptional granddaughter was not enough; she had wanted others in the family to match her. Zhi’er must have known her mind all along, and had gone along with the arrangement without complaint or grievance.

But the longing — she simply could not let it go.

Whatever each of them felt inside, none of the three left early. They stayed until the sounds from within had fallen entirely silent. Then the two young ladies came rushing out, their footsteps quick and unsteady.

Finding three people seated there before them, Hua Ling and Hua Xin flushed scarlet to the roots of their hair — helpless before their grandmother, resentful before Hua Zhi, and mortified before Master Mu. They wished the ground would open up beneath them so they could disappear into it and never surface again.

They could not understand. They had performed perfectly well at home — had even drilled with their maids in preparation. Why had it all come out so badly when the moment arrived? The ones sitting below them were younger brothers not much younger than themselves; they had felt no fear at all.

The Old Madam pressed her handkerchief to her lips and coughed softly a few times. With the support of Nanny Su’s arm, she rose to her feet. Hua Zhi hurried forward to take her other side.

“Master Mu, we have shown you something unworthy of the occasion.”

Master Mu quickly bowed. “The honor is mine. The daughters of other households have no such courage as to stand before a class at all.”

The words brought the Old Madam some comfort. Once seated back on her litter, she inclined herself slightly toward Master Mu, then looked at Hua Zhi. “I will go on ahead.”

“I understand. Please go and rest, Grandmother.”

She patted Hua Zhi’s hand and sighed. At the signal from the eldest young lady’s eyes, Nanny Su directed the stout women servants to lift the litter and carry it away.

Hua Zhi watched until they had left the courtyard. Master Mu returned to the schoolroom first. Hua Zhi, worried the younger children might grow unsettled, paid no attention to Hua Xin and Hua Ling and went into the other room.

As expected, not a single child was reading. The energy and focus had drained out of every one of them. The moment they saw her enter, they hurried to sit up straight, looking at her with wide, imploring eyes.

One of the bolder ones could not help asking, “Elder Sister, will Second Sister and Third Sister be our teachers from now on?”

At that, the rest broke into a clamor: “Elder Sister, we all love you — please keep being our teacher!”

“Elder Sister, I understand what you say. I couldn’t follow Second Sister and Third Sister at all.”

“Elder Sister, I will grow up quickly. When I’m grown I can help you — please don’t leave us.”

“Elder Sister, let’s just call you Teacher from now on. If we call you Teacher, you can’t run away.”

“Elder Sister…”

Hua Zhi’s heart dissolved completely. She had never intended to use these children to measure how much they cared for her, nor to leverage them against her two younger sisters. But to have left the children so anxious and unsettled — that was her own fault, an oversight on her part.

She raised her hand and pressed it gently downward. The schoolroom fell quiet. In a softened tone, Hua Zhi said: “It is Elder Sister’s fault for not explaining clearly in advance. Second Sister and Third Sister did not come to be teachers — they came to try teaching for themselves, to discover where they still need to improve. Now that they have learned that, they will go and work on it, and when they are ready, they may come again. When they do, you must treat them just as you treat me.”

“Will Second Sister and Third Sister teach as well as Elder Sister when they come back?”

“Of course. By the time they return, they certainly will.”

At once the children’s faces cleared with the look of complete understanding, and the smiles came back.

Hua Zhi did not find them easy to deceive — it was precisely because it was she who said these things that they believed her. The children of the Hua Family were sharp.

“Elder Sister has a few matters to see to now. You go ahead and read or practice your writing on your own. And no disturbing the older brothers next door — understood?”

“Yes, Elder Sister.”

Out on the corridor, Hua Xin and Hua Ling were still standing there. Hua Zhi was not surprised to see them.

“Elder Sister.”

“If you are bowing against your will, there is no need. I do not care for that.” Seeing the two look up in startled surprise — as though they had not expected her to say such a thing — Hua Zhi had no desire to lecture them on life or philosophy. She said directly: “Go back. I am going to check on Grandmother.”

As Hua Zhi moved to walk past them, Hua Ling’s voice came from behind — low but still sharp. “Elder Sister, you must be very pleased. Because the two of us made fools of ourselves, you shine all the brighter by comparison. Grandmother will only value you more after this!”

Hua Zhi turned back, her expression still perfectly even. “And what does being valued by her get me? The Hua Family? A Hua Family where every last coin is scraped together and it still must feed hundreds of mouths — that is what you want? Foolishness is not something to blame on others; no one has imposed it on you. As for that so-called reputation for talent — you know full well how much of it rests on the Hua name alone.”

“Even if the name helped, it is still a reputation — and you don’t even have that!”

“Ah, true, I don’t. And then what? What exactly are you trying to prove? That you are more capable than I am? More learned? Then by all means — be that. But what does it do for the Hua Family? Have any of those people who flatter you spared a single word of genuine concern for your wellbeing?” Hua Zhi had never feared pressing where it hurt. She had no patience for people who lacked self-awareness and looked down on the world from a height they had not earned.

“You…” Each word struck Hua Ling until her chest ached, and tears spilled down her face.

“If you wish to strike back at me, go home and read more. If you cannot bring yourself to read, go and embroider — consider it getting a head start on your trousseau.”

Hua Ling and Hua Xin stood staring, dumbfounded, at Hua Zhi’s retreating figure. This person — could this really be Hua Zhi? It could not be possible!

Inside the schoolroom, Master Mu felt both amused and exasperated. If the sisters were going to squabble, did they have to do it here? Look at those boys — the effort of holding back their laughter had their faces contorting. Especially that Hua Bolin — what was there to be so proud of!

Hua Bolin was genuinely proud. That was his elder sister — his.

For years, everyone at home had held up the Second and Third young ladies — praising how gifted they were, what remarkable talent they possessed. And in the end? Compared to his sister, they amounted to nothing. They couldn’t even best her in a war of words!

In his elder sister’s own phrasing: their combat strength was simply too weak.