Hua Zhi’s body had always been carefully tended, but ever since the injury she had sustained at the estate, her hands and feet had never again been consistently warm as they once were. In the wind and snow of this journey, they were worse still — often so cold she could not even feel where her hands and feet were.

She had intended to keep her distance from Master Lu, yet she had failed time and again whenever she found herself needing his help. She had always known that a woman’s constitution could not match a man’s, but she had not known the gap was this wide.

Without Master Lu’s help on this journey, she would never have made it to Yinshan Pass; and had she managed to get there, she likely would not have made it back.

She had underestimated the cold of the northern lands.

It was not until they had left the borders of Chenping that she rode alone again.

It was still cold here, but for Hua Zhi, it was no longer unbearable.

Meanwhile, the quiet that had settled over the Hua family residence for many days was abruptly broken. Hua Jing, the eldest daughter of the Hua family, who had married out, had returned.

The moment Old Madam heard the announcement, joy flooded her eyes and the corners of her mouth. She quickly asked Nanny Su to prepare some tea and refreshments, and not wanting to appear too frail, she stopped resting in bed and sat herself upright at the table.

Footsteps approached. Hua Madam smoothed her hair at the temples, and lifted her gaze — warm with anticipation — toward the doorway. “At last…”

“Crash!”

Hua Jing stepped over the threshold and without a word shoved the tall floor vase by the entrance crashing to the ground. Everything of value in the residence had been confiscated during the search; Hua Zhi, finding the rooms too bare, had sent Steward Xu out to find a few items to place in her grandmother’s quarters, and among them had been this pair of floor vases.

A second crash followed. The other one was gone as well.

Old Madam placed both hands on her knees and gripped them tightly. She sat with her back ramrod straight, expression composed, watching her eldest daughter in silence.

When all the breakable objects in the room had been smashed and everything unbreakable knocked to the ground, Hua Jing stood there with her hair in disarray, her features twisted with something savage and wild that made her look utterly unhinged.

“First Young Mistress, you…”

“Get out!” Hua Jing’s sharp voice cracked across the room. Her chest heaved rapidly, the resentment she carried nearly solid enough to touch.

“Daughter of a criminal — ha! I am now the daughter of a criminal! Mother, won’t you explain to me how I became the daughter of a criminal? How is that? I was clearly the eldest daughter of the Chief Scholar of the Hanlin Academy. I married into the Song family twenty years ago — not once has my husband’s family dared speak a harsh word to me. How is it that I am now the daughter of a criminal?”

“Let me remind you — four months ago you were already the daughter of a criminal.”

Hua Jing swept her arm across the table and sent the last intact tea set crashing to the floor, her voice shrill and desperate. “Didn’t you teach me how to manage a husband? Didn’t you pride yourself on Father revering and loving you? When he threw himself onto the road to ruin, why didn’t you stop him? Why didn’t you throw yourself in front of him to stop him? Why must you drag me down with you — why do I have to bear the consequences of what you did wrong? Why, tell me why — on what grounds?”

“On the grounds that your surname is Hua. On the grounds that you enjoyed the Hua family’s wealth and prestige for half your life. On the grounds that you are Hua Yizheng’s daughter.” Old Madam’s grip tightened on the web between her thumb and forefinger until her knuckles went white, her voice steady and even. “Those who enjoyed the Hua family’s prosperity must also share its suffering. If you feared being implicated, you needed only to sever your ties with your maternal family — the punishment does not extend to daughters who have married out. It cannot touch you.”

“Ha! Ha ha ha! Cannot touch me — I have lost my backing and you say it cannot touch me. Before, my husband would slip off to the brothels and hide it from me, afraid I might find out. But now he openly brings women home and talks of taking a concubine — and you dare say it cannot touch me?”

“Then what do you want to do? The Hua family has fallen. Your backing is gone. That is a fact that cannot be changed. Your maternal family can no longer support you. But you have been part of the Song family for twenty years, and have given them two sons and a daughter. Surely you cannot be so helpless without a maternal family to lean on.”

“There is still one other option. Mother — as long as you help me, there is still one other option.”

Old Madam knew instinctively that whatever scheme she had in mind would not be a good one. But this was her eldest daughter — her first child. She could still remember what it felt like to become a mother for the first time. Even though this daughter had grown into someone unrecognizable, even though from the moment she walked in to now, she had not asked after her mother — whose face was gaunt and hollow — not once, and had only driven knife after knife into her heart — she was still the child she had once poured every ounce of herself into loving.

“Tell me.”

“Give me someone.”

“Who?”

“Hua Zhi’s head maid, Fu Dong.”

Old Madam’s fingernails pressed deeper into her palm. “Why her?”

“The type of woman Song Wei favors is exactly that timid, soft little rabbit type. Fu Dong’s looks are first-rate, and on top of that she is an excellent cook.” Hua Jing said this with a face full of excitement, as if it were already settled.

“You forgot to mention one more thing,” Old Madam said. “If Fu Dong were to go with you, given her temperament, she would never be able to escape your grasp.”

“See, Mother understands me best…”

“It is impossible.” Old Madam smiled — whether at herself or at Hua Jing’s wild fantasy, it was impossible to say. “Giving a granddaughter’s personal maidservant to a son-in-law as a concubine — the Hua family is not capable of such disgrace.”

Hua Jing’s expression changed at once. She lunged toward Old Madam and seized her by the shoulders, her voice so sharp it stabbed at the ears like needles. “There is no more Hua family — the Hua family has fallen!”

Old Madam snuffed out the last flicker of warmth in her heart, and looked back directly into her eyes. “I am here. All the descendants of the Hua family are here. As long as they remain, the Hua family will stand again one day. Hua Jing — open your eyes and watch carefully. Watch how the Hua family rises. Now — get out of the Hua family home. From this day forward, the Hua family has nothing to do with you, and its rise and fall will be none of your concern. Get out!”

“Fine, I’ll go! As if I wanted to come!”

Hua Jing turned and walked out.

Passing through the outer room, she caught sight of the wives from the various branches of the Hua family — their dress and appearance nowhere near as fine as before. She smoothed her hair at the temples with practiced composure, let out a quiet scoff, gave her skirts a flick, and swept out at a brisk clip.

“Old Madam!”

A cry rang out from inside. Wu Shi, who had clearly seen Hua Jing pause ever so slightly at the door upon hearing it, watched as she walked on without a backward glance.

Her own gaze went cold. She had never liked this eldest daughter of the family, but never before this moment had she felt such revulsion.

She hurried into the room. The sight of blood on the table and the floor sent everyone’s faces draining of color. Old Madam’s coughing was wrenching and relentless, and the blood at the corners of her lips was a startling, alarming sight.

Wu Shi lifted her skirts and ran to her side, asking urgently, “What happened? Why has Old Madam suddenly coughed up blood?”

Without waiting for Nanny Su’s reply, she was already striding back toward the door. “Go find Steward Xu — tell him to bring Physician Chu to the residence at once. Quickly.”

Thinking of how Zhi’er had gone to such lengths to conceal Old Madam’s illness from the rest of the family, Wu Shi gave a bitter smile. This time, there would be no concealing it. May the Bodhisattva bless Old Madam with safety — otherwise she truly would not know how to account for this to Zhi’er.

Inside the room, Zhu Shi stepped forward and gently rubbed Old Madam’s back. Watching her cough without stopping, with blood still trickling from the corner of her mouth, she felt her eyes fill with tears. “Is there nothing else to be done? Can nothing stop this?”

Nanny Su shook her head. Old Madam had actually improved considerably in recent days; with the medicine tea, she usually coughed only a handful of times throughout the day. This level of severity was something they had never seen before.

Nanny Su did not dare dwell on what it might mean. She first sent someone to Eldest Young Miss’s courtyard to have the medicine prepared and brought over, then beckoned Chen Nanny to come help her support Old Madam back to bed. They propped two quilts behind her and had her recline against them at a half-sitting angle.

After quite some time, Old Madam’s coughing began to ease. Nanny Su retrieved the handkerchief from her hand, and felt a pang of heartache — it was completely soaked through.