After washing her hands, Hua Zhi brewed tea for both her grandfather and her fourth uncle, then settled into her place below them and waited quietly for one of them to speak.

She had not said aloud that she intended to come back at least once a year. Under the assumption that they might not meet again for a long time, her grandfather would certainly have things he wished to entrust to her.

Hua Pingyang glanced at his father, then took a letter from inside his robe and held it out to her. “I’ve written to your fourth aunt, telling her to give the concubines their freedom. They have no children to bind them here — there’s no need for them to stay and endure this with the Hua Family out of obligation. You know how people’s hearts work better than most. Keep your fourth aunt from making things difficult for them. I don’t need them to stay.”

“You enjoyed wealth and comfort together, and now that hardship has come, you’re letting them go free — your fourth aunt may not have the generosity for that.”

“That’s exactly why I’m asking you to be there and talk her through it.” Hua Pingyang gave a rueful smile. He knew his wife. She was not a woman without capacity — she could tolerate a great deal — but she was no doormat either, and she would never allow anyone under the fourth house’s roof to simply take flight in the face of adversity. And yet those women had done nothing wrong by him. A clean and amicable parting was the right thing to do.

Hua Zhi looked down at the thick envelope in her hand. “Fourth Uncle — whose side are you actually on? The way I see it, the concubines are the ones who’ve been given the better end of this.”

“Wife and concubine cannot be placed on equal footing. Your fourth aunt is the mother of my children. She is the one who will be buried in the same tomb as me in the end. She has no way out — and I would not allow it if she did.”

Hua Zhi knew that these words — at once seeming autocratic, and yet unmistakably tender — were exactly what her fourth aunt would want to hear. The women of this era had never once dared hope that a husband might keep only one woman his whole life. To have fewer concubines was already the deepest form of respect a man could offer them. A man like Fourth Uncle, who had only ever let his principal wife bear children, was rare indeed — almost unheard of.

Hua Zhi smiled and nodded. “I’ll make sure to include that line when I deliver the message.”

Hua Pingyang smiled in return. “I couldn’t ask for more.”

“Ahem.” Hua Yizheng cleared his throat gently and produced a letter of his own, holding it out to her. “This is for your grandmother. Now tell me honestly, Zhi’er — how is your grandmother’s health?”

“Why do you ask, Grandfather?”

“The brushwork in your grandmother’s letters has clearly lost its strength. And a single letter was written across several sittings. If she were truly well, it would not have come to that.”

Hua Zhi set both letters down neatly side by side, her voice unchanged. “Nothing escapes your notice. After the cold set in, Grandmother did fall ill with a wind-cold. Physician Chu came to see her, and I also had Shao Yao come to take her pulse. Both said there was no cause for concern. By the time I set out, she was already very nearly recovered.”

Hua Yizheng kept his eyes fixed on her, searching. “Is that truly so?”

“Your granddaughter would not dare deceive you.”

“Good.” The tension visibly left his expression. “Her constitution has always been strong. I was letting my imagination get the better of me.”

Hua Zhi felt a sudden ache at the bridge of her nose for no reason she could name. The match had been arranged by their parents, as it always was in those days — yet after decades of living side by side, they had grown into each other until neither could be separated from the other. Young companions in youth, and in old age, the truest companion of all — nothing, not even a house full of graceful beauties, could compare to that.

A knock at the door. Hua Pingyang went and pulled it open. “Elder Brother?”

Hua Pingyu curled his fingers slightly, his expression carrying a faint trace of awkwardness — yet in front of his younger brother, he drew himself up and said: “I have a few things I’d like to say to Zhi’er…”

Hua Yizheng knew his eldest son better than anyone. The moment he heard his voice, he smiled — a mischievous glint in his eye — and called out to his granddaughter. He raised his voice: “Come in, come in.”

Hua Zhi bowed her head to hide her smile. She had never before noticed that her father, for all his air of a scholar-gentleman, was actually this straightforward — almost endearingly so.

She stood and greeted him, then brewed her father a cup of tea. “I was just about to come and look for you before I leave. Do you have a letter to send to Mother?”

“Yes.” Hua Pingyu produced the letter. He felt his reason was perfectly sound, and the awkwardness from before had all but faded. “Keep watch over her. Tell her that I’m doing well — she doesn’t need to worry.”

“Yes.”

He had said he had things to say, and yet, when the moment came, this was all he could say. He didn’t know how other fathers and daughters spent their time together. When he faced his own daughter, all words felt superfluous.

His daughter was too capable. Whatever he might have thought of, whatever he might have overlooked, Zhi’er had already handled it, prepared it, arranged it — neat and thorough and complete, with nothing left for him to direct or improve upon.

And yet he wished to be closer to her.

Seeing his elder brother’s discomfort, Hua Pingyang kindly stepped in and carried the conversation forward. “So, what is the overall state of things at home right now? Are you keeping all visits to a minimum?”

“Yes. Grandmother has also asked the wives and concubines in every branch to cut off contact with their own families.”

Hua Yizheng gave a thoughtful nod. “Your suggestion?”

“Yes. It’s better for everyone this way.” Hua Zhi looked entirely at her ease, as though this were the most ordinary thing imaginable. “Though I only said to cut off the contact from our side — I said nothing about whether people from their families might reach out to them. Whether anyone does will simply come down to who actually cares.”

Those with truly caring hearts were not many in this world — which was why there was no shortage of broken ones. Hua Yizheng asked again: “What is the mood like in the capital these days? Has anyone been making trouble for you?”

“Everyone in the capital knows that the Empress Dowager intervened to spare us. For now, no one is willing to risk offending her over the Hua Family.” But if the Empress Dowager were to show no further support for the Hua Family over the coming months, the deterrent effect would gradually wear away. Those who bore old grudges against the family might well stop holding back. Everyone in the room understood this without needing it said.

Hua Zhi drank from her now-cooled tea and continued: “Even so, no more than the occasional slight — someone treading on us now that we’re down, a little cruelty of the kicking-while-fallen kind. No one dares try to wipe out the Hua Family entirely. To be called out and punished by the Emperor is one thing, but if anyone were to try something truly extreme against the Hua Family, the scholars of the entire realm would be the first to object. A name built over a hundred years doesn’t lose every last bit of its shelter overnight.”

With checks and balances on all sides, the Hua Family still had ground to stand on.

“There have been no great changes in the capital. The first and third princes were both reprimanded by the Emperor and ordered to remain in seclusion for a month each. They have since resumed attending court. The fourth prince, by a turn of fortune, has come to the Emperor’s attention and is frequently kept at his side.”

Hua Yizheng managed to remain composed. Hua Pingyu’s face had gone visibly red with contained indignation. Hua Pingyang, who had never had the tempering of years at court, could barely hold his fury in check. “The Hua Family suffers this calamity without cause and is exiled to the northern borderlands with no end in sight — and the two princes responsible are punished with nothing more than a month of seclusion?”

“What else did you expect?” Hua Yizheng’s expression remained level. “How reliable is the source of this information?”

“Very reliable. By now, almost no one in the capital is unaware of it.” And her source was Master Mu and Master Lu — two people each with their own distinct channels. She had known of this development earlier than the vast majority of people, and she too had felt the injustice keenly. But what did that change? This was the world of imperial power, where men of letters and men of arms alike brought their talents to lay at the feet of the sovereign.

“The Emperor must be dissatisfied with the first and third princes. Otherwise he would not have elevated the fourth prince to serve as a counterweight against them. Is he using the fourth prince as a whetstone?”

Hua Zhi did not agree with her fourth uncle’s reading of the situation. “I rather think the fourth prince may have entered the game of his own will. He is one of the imperial family — the pull of that seat is not something he can refuse. Even if he had no desire for it, there would be those who would force him to desire it. His brothers want his life. Not competing means only one thing: death.”

“Mind your words.” Hua Yizheng’s correction was gentle but firm — though he did not say she was wrong. In truth, he was privately surprised. For a woman to have a thorough understanding of the inner workings of a household was natural enough. That she had the boldness and the force of character she did could be chalked up to temperament. But this kind of sharpness about court affairs…

“As a rule, don’t speak of such things with others.”

“Understood. I only allow myself to say these things here, with all of you.”

Author’s Note: Readers’ group number: 281120682.