“Doctor Chu.”

In the courtyard, Chu Shitang stopped and turned.

Hua Zhi made a gesture of invitation, and the two of them moved, one ahead of the other, to just outside the courtyard gate.

“Doctor Chu, is there anything else I should be mindful of regarding my grandmother’s health?”

Chu Shitang was not surprised by the question. When he had said that the Old Madam had stabilized and everyone else had set down their worries, Hua Zhi alone had furrowed her brow.

“To be candid with the eldest young miss — if the Old Madam is able to set aside her burdens and rest and recuperate properly, she may yet recover her health. But to ask the Old Madam to set down her burdens is no easy thing. The illness of the heart must be treated with medicine for the heart. This old physician can only keep her stable for the moment. In the days ahead, it would be best to frequently encourage the Old Madam to let go of the knot within her.”

Hearing this, Hua Zhi gave a rueful smile. To ask Grandmother to set down her burdens — unless Grandfather came home this very day, that was impossible.

“The eldest young miss need not be so burdened with worry either. All things pass in time.”

“Thank you for your kind words. There is, however, another matter I need to trouble Doctor Chu with.”

“Please speak, eldest young miss.”

“I would like to place an order with your hall for some medicinal pills and salves. The medicinal ingredients must be of good quality, and they should be sealed in wax. I will come to settle the bill with you once a month. Would that suit you?”

“May this old physician ask — are you intending to send them to the northern regions?”

“Yes. The cold there is severe, and medical care will likely be difficult to come by. I wish to prepare more and send it ahead.”

“You are most thoughtful, eldest young miss. This old physician will do his utmost.”

“Thank you. Steward Xu — please see Doctor Chu back to his medicine hall.”

Steward Xu agreed at once, and his manner toward the eldest young miss grew even more respectful. The Old Madam herself had not yet thought of how harsh the northern winter would be, yet the eldest young miss was already making preparations — had even thought ahead to that step yesterday. How fortunate.

Watching them walk away into the distance, Hua Zhi covered her mouth as a yawn escaped her. After a full day and night of this, her body was beginning to give way.

She went back inside, sat at the bedside, and felt her grandmother’s forehead once more. Hua Zhi said quietly, “Everyone has been working through half the night. Nanny Su, please arrange for people to rest in shifts. If there are too few attendants, bring some over from elsewhere for the time being.”

“Yes. This servant will see to it at once. Eldest young miss, after a whole night of hardship, please go back and rest.”

Hua Zhi did not try to push herself further. Had custom not prevented it, she might simply have climbed into her grandmother’s bed and lain down right there. “Keep Grandmother well-supplied with water. If her temperature begins to rise again, use the method from before — and inform me immediately.”

“Yes. This servant has committed it all to memory.”

Having never in her life been through hardship or physical exertion, Hua Zhi was practically half-carried, half-guided back to her room by two maids. The moment she touched her bed, she fell into a deep, unknowing sleep.

And on the other side of the compound, the Old Madam opened her eyes the moment Hua Zhi had gone. Nanny Su, overjoyed, was about to send someone to call the eldest young miss back — but the Old Madam stopped her. “Let her go back and sleep properly. In our Hua Family right now, anyone can fall — except her.”

Seeing that the Old Madam was lying uncomfortably, Nanny Su quickly helped her sit up a little, and Nanny Chen tucked a padded cushion behind her back.

“You did not see how frightening it was last night.” Nanny Su’s voice broke as she spoke. “Speaking nothing but confused words, her face burning to the touch, impossible to rouse no matter how we called — if not for the eldest young miss’s method working…”

“Having pulled through, I am all right. I know my own body — it would have been worse if I had kept on without falling ill at all.” The Old Madam comforted her faithful servant of several decades with a voice full of feeling. “Go and let each of the rooms know — there is no need to come and pay morning respects today. Everyone should rest in their own courtyards. They need not come here to attend on me either. Oh, and tell them not to disturb Zhi’er — let her sleep through undisturbed.”

“Yes.”

Hua Zhi woke to find four maids each quietly occupied with their own tasks. Her mind, still thick with sleep, briefly forgot what day it was or where she was.

Ying Chun glanced back, and upon catching her mistress’s eye, set down her needlework and came over holding a robe. “Miss, you are awake.”

“What hour is it?”

“A quarter past the early afternoon watch. You slept without even turning over once.”

“The body was exhausted.” Fully awake now, Hua Zhi extended her arm for Ying Chun to help her change. “How is Grandmother? Has anyone come from that side?”

“Knowing you would be thinking of her, Nanny Su came by in person earlier and said the Old Madam has awoken and all is well — and that you are not to worry.”

After washing up and eating, Hua Zhi walked once more toward her grandmother’s courtyard. While still in the yard, she heard soft, pliant children’s voices drifting from the inner room. In the outer room sat members of each branch of the family.

“Have you slept well?” The First Madam, seeing her looking restored, was relieved in turn. The previous night she had heard some of the commotion, but had not imagined that the Old Madam had fallen ill, and so gravely. Fortunately, her daughter was capable.

“I slept well. Second Aunt, Third Aunt, Fourth Aunt — you have all come.”

Second Aunt spoke gently: “It is right that we attend on the sick. You were the only one exhausted through the night — why did you not send someone to notify us?”

“I did not think of it — I apologize.”

“I am not reproaching you. Only, there is no reason for you to bear it alone.”

These were the women of the Hua Family — gentle and demure on the surface, yet with steel beneath the silk. Hua Zhi responded to them while inwardly sighing. She was not a man; she could not receive this kind of tenderness without reservation. If she were honest, she much preferred women who were frank and forthright.

She entered the inner room. Hua Bailin stood up the moment he saw her. “Elder sister.”

The others in the room each called out their greetings in turn.

All of the main branch’s children were gathered here — six male and four female.

Hua Zhi sat down at the bedside and felt her grandmother’s forehead. The temperature was still slightly elevated, but it was far, far better than it had been the night before.

“Do not worry — much better.” The Old Madam took her hand and held it folded between both her own. The contrast between soft and worn was stark — like the passing of a torch between old age and youth.

“You must rest and recuperate well. Everything else, leave to me.”

“Good, good — let me enjoy my granddaughter’s capable care.” The Old Madam smiled with half-closed eyes, seemingly forgetting she was still confined to her sickbed.

Hua Zhi felt that as long as Grandmother kept smiling like this, this family would certainly be all right. As long as she sat there, even hearts filled with trepidation would not lose hope in the future.

“Grandmother — it will all be well.”

“One can only hope for things to turn around.” The Old Madam let out a long sigh. “Such a great upheaval has befallen the family, and yet your two aunts have not come even once to look in on us. Such cold-heartedness — I don’t know who they take after.”

“If they have already ceased to consider themselves part of the Hua Family, then it can be understood that they do not come. Once a woman marries and has children, she tends to think of herself rather less, and of her children rather more.” Hua Zhi smiled. “As for the elder aunt, it is hard to say — but knowing the younger aunt’s temperament, I suspect she has been hiding somewhere weeping quite a few times.”

Indeed. Of all four children, she had poured her deepest love into her eldest daughter, and it was precisely that daughter who wounded her heart most deeply.

She sighed, and cast those unworthy of her grief from her mind. The Old Madam asked in a warm voice, “As for how the various branches of the Hua Family’s in-laws intend to conduct themselves — that we need not concern ourselves with. But ought our own Hua Family to have some plan in place?”

“My aunts are all my elders, and it is not my place to make decisions over their heads. I will simply share my thoughts — please hear me out.”