Though Su Guiyan was still a young man, the early loss of his mother had made him considerably more mature than his peers. He understood the deeper meaning within his elder sister’s words, and thinking at once of their father’s habitual partiality, he could not help but feel a pang of sorrow.

Su Luoyun seemed to sense her brother’s dejection, and could not help but draw him into her embrace as she had done when they were small, stroking his hair as she spoke: “When I first came back here, I was utterly despairing — I felt as though I would spend the rest of my life sinking into a lightless abyss with no way to turn myself around. Fortunately, I encountered a nun at the mountain temple by the name of Yongjing. She had been born with an eye condition, yet her daily life was no different from that of an ordinary person. I asked her how she endured days without light, and she told me: when there is light within the heart, why fear the darkness before one’s eyes?”

Su Guiyan, clever as he was, found his elder sister’s words somewhat difficult to grasp.

Luoyun continued: “You are the light within my heart. Our mother passed away so early — as an elder sister, I am something of a mother to you as well. If I do not pull myself together, I will one day be unable to face our mother even in the afterlife. And besides, as Nun Yongjing said: though I cannot see, my hearing and sense of smell have both grown sharper than before. Heaven has left a door open for me. If I were to do nothing but wallow in self-pity, then I truly would become a blind and useless person.”

Thinking back to a year ago when she had heard that her brother was gravely ill — how desperately she had longed to grow wings and fly back to him, yet had been utterly powerless to do so — Su Luoyun had resolved then and there that she could no longer spend her days in the countryside lamenting her fate. She had to return to the capital, and protect her one and only blood brother.

Yet the steward of the old estate had refused to let her leave, saying only that the master had given instructions: without his command, the First Young Miss was not to return to the capital on her own.

After all, she had once made such a scene at the Su household over her father’s partiality toward Su Caijian that the whole house was thrown into turmoil. With Su Hongmeng unwilling for his eldest daughter to return, no one dared allow her to leave the old hometown.

Hearing now that her father would be coming back to pay respects at the ancestral shrine and spend the New Year, Su Luoyun had made careful preparations. She knew her father’s temperament — he was a man who valued appearances greatly. If she did not conduct herself with the bearing befitting a young lady of quality, her father would never relent.

And what she needed to do now was return to the capital — the very place where she had once suffered such a thorough defeat — and help her brother through the years until he came of age. Once he had sat his examinations and secured a post in some distant place as an official, he could legitimately set up his own household and family, entirely independent.

If her brother did not pursue an official career, then given Ding Shi’s shrewdness, she would certainly never allow him to inherit the Su family’s business. And the dowry their mother had left them was only so much — and in the years after their mother’s death, with no one managing it, even the boundaries of the farmland had been encroached upon and shifted by others, shrinking the holdings considerably.

She needed to find ways to build something up, to earn her brother a secure livelihood and estate.

As for being blind — well, there was in fact one advantage to it. It had severed her path to marriage entirely. As long as she did not consent, she had a perfectly good excuse to remain in the household until her dying day, and could devote herself without distraction to looking after her brother.

Two years had given her time to feel her way toward a set of methods for managing daily life.

The pebbles set into the floors of the courtyard and main hall were one such method she had devised. What she had not anticipated was that Ding Shi would give her a warning shot the very moment of her arrival — not only having servants lay down the thick felt mat, but deliberately disarranging the furniture and setting a water-filled basin as a trap by the door.

Someone must have been reporting on her daily life in the old estate to Ding Shi, who also knew her proud and unyielding nature — that she would never allow anyone to support her arm when she went to greet her father. That was why Ding Shi had deliberately had the water basin placed at the entrance.

Had she not happened to overhear the gatekeeper mention upon her return that the master had sent someone to open the storeroom for the thick felt, she might well have made a sorry spectacle of herself once inside the hall.

Though Su Luoyun had counseled her brother to hide his abilities, she had no intention of playing the part of a helpless invalid herself. For one thing, a helpless young miss would never persuade her father to relent. For another, if she showed weakness, would that not give Ding Shi even more license to act without restraint?

She was no longer the proud and solitary girl of two years ago. The suffering of blindness had taught her to think with a still mind, and had made her manner of conducting herself far more deep and measured.

Yet things never unfold exactly as one envisions. Although Su Luoyun had comported herself with perfect propriety and grace on this occasion, when she raised the matter of wishing to return with her father so as to be near him and fulfill her filial duties, Su Hongmeng dragged his feet and would not consent.

It was not that he was dissatisfied with Su Luoyun — it was simply that having a blind young miss in the household was not a matter of distinction. Though it was certainly good that Luoyun had become more sensible, it would be even better if she continued to live quietly in the countryside.

He had only just entered official life and had no wish to become a laughingstock among his colleagues. If Luoyun truly understood what was good for her, she would not raise the matter of returning to the capital again.

Of course, part of his thinking was also that Ding Shi had mentioned Caijian’s wedding date was approaching — if Luoyun were to return to the household at that time, who knew whether people might start bringing up the old business between Young Master Lu and Su Luoyun.

Master Su felt that Ding Shi had a point. Though the affairs of young people were nothing binding, if gossiping tongues got hold of it, that would be most unpleasant.

And so Su Hongmeng concluded that it was better for his eldest daughter to remain in the old estate.

When he conveyed this to Luoyun in somewhat softened terms, he was still braced for the little ancestral tablet to make a scene.

But Luoyun simply smiled faintly upon hearing it: “Father is quite right. Only — my younger maternal uncle wrote to me recently saying that after the New Year he will be traveling to the capital on business, and wished to see me. He asked me to return to the capital so we could meet… If you prefer, I can write another letter explaining that Father finds it inconvenient for me to return to the capital, and that we will meet at some future time instead.”

The moment these words landed, Su Hongmeng immediately sat up straight. Though the Hu family’s ancestors had made their living in the incense trade, the business had later declined, with most of their dealings absorbed and taken over by the Su family. By the generation of Hu Shi’s younger brother, Hu Xuesong, the family had changed profession entirely.

This young maternal uncle of Luoyun’s had no talent for writing and letters but was fond of brandishing swords and spears. He had started out as nothing more than a common foot soldier, living in rather straitened circumstances. Then, a year ago, word had it that he saved a person of rank, after which his fortunes began to turn. He had recently been appointed to the Maritime Trade Office, assisting the official there in charge of coordinating vessels along the two major rivers.

Though his post was modest, his authority was considerable — he had direct control over the movement of merchant vessels along those two rivers.

Ever since Hu Shi’s early death, that maternal uncle of the Hu family had never been particularly civil toward Su Hongmeng. If he were to hear that Su Hongmeng had sent his blind niece to the countryside and would not allow her to return, that rough soldier would likely plant himself at the Su family’s gate again, swinging his battle-axe wildly — and in all likelihood, he might well make things difficult for the Su family’s incense merchant vessels whenever he spotted them in future.

Regarding Hu Shi’s premature death, Su Hongmeng could not say his conscience was entirely clear. After a moment’s hesitation, he changed his mind entirely: “…Since your maternal uncle is returning to the capital, he will certainly miss you if he cannot see you. With your younger sister’s wedding approaching, your absence might invite outsiders’ speculation. After the New Year, come back with us.”

Su Luoyun smiled faintly, unsurprised by her father’s sudden change of position. After all, her maternal uncle had once split the Su family’s front gate in two with his axe — if her father did not wish to replace another gate panel, he would certainly think twice.

Ding Shi, seated to one side, lowered her head at Su Hongmeng’s words at just the right moment. But Su Caijian, seated on the other side, felt a rush of anxiety in her heart.

Though her engagement to Lu Shi was settled, her betrothed still had Elder Sister occupying a corner of his heart. If Elder Sister were to marry someone else, that would be one thing — but she had no marriage arrangement, and if the Lu family were to raise again the notion of the two sisters entering the household together, what was to be done?

Caijian had no desire whatsoever to share her husband with anyone — not even her own half-sister.

At this point, Ding Shi swept a glance toward her daughter, cutting off the words that were about to spill from Caijian’s mouth. It was only after everyone had finished their tea and returned to their rooms that she summoned Su Caijian to her through a maidservant.

Su Caijian dropped heavily onto the daybed, burying her face in the cushion as she choked back sobs: “Mother — did Father not agree with you earlier that Elder Sister would not be allowed to return?”

Ding Shi patiently smoothed and arranged her daughter’s hair: “Did you not hear as well? That young master of the Hu family is coming back and wants to see his niece. Your father is worried about that boorish fellow coming to cause trouble. Most likely after a little while, he will send your elder sister back to the old estate again.”

Su Caijian rubbed at her eyes and sat up: “It is not that I am unwilling for Elder Sister to return to the household — it is just that… Young Master Lu, he…”

Ding Pei sent all the maidservants out to the outer room before she spoke with a composed expression: “You cannot hold your composure at all — you take after me not one bit! In the beginning, our Su family did the Lu family a great favor, and the two families have always been on very good terms. The old men of both households settled a childhood betrothal, specifying that Lu Shi was to wed a daughter of the Su family. The Lu family will absolutely never take a blind woman as their future mistress of the house, and Lu Shi himself knows it perfectly well in his heart. Men always want most what they cannot have — if he carries her in his thoughts, that is of no consequence. You know Su Luoyun’s temperament well enough — proud and lofty beyond measure. I expect she despises Lu Shi utterly over the matter of the betrothal. As long as you are clever and attentive, and keep your husband’s affections firmly bound to you, you need not fear that a blind woman will upset the order of your household.”

Hearing her mother’s words, Su Caijian felt somewhat calmer within. She pulled the blanket over herself and murmured in a small voice: “Looking at Elder Sister’s manner just now, she seems to have stopped being angry. If she truly has made her peace with things, her coming back actually doesn’t matter so much…”

As she spoke, she let out a yawn, turned over, and went straight to sleep.

But Ding Shi, watching her daughter sleep so soundly, found her truly lacking in cunning, and could not help but furrow her brows slightly.

After a moment’s frowning, she quickly looked at herself in the bronze mirror, afraid the faint lines on her forehead might deepen. As she spread the soft cream of goose fat and snow jelly across her face, she gazed toward Su Luoyun’s courtyard, her thoughts turning: “Her temper has become this agreeable — has she truly made her peace with things?”

The next day, while accompanying Su Hongmeng to a dinner engagement, Ding Shi brought up the subject briefly and lightly, mentioning only that Lu Shi had been making trouble again recently, and suggesting that perhaps after Caijian’s wedding, Luoyun could be brought into the Lu household as well.

Su Hongmeng’s eyes went wide at that: “That was then and this is now. In the past I bowed my head to the Lu family — but now I also hold a post at the Bureau of Trade and Exchange, and will before long be standing on roughly equal footing with Lord Lu. Why should I fawn over them and send two daughters into their household?”

Two sisters marrying into the same household was hardly a glorious arrangement. If his colleagues came to know of it, would they not be laughing at him behind his back?

Though Su Hongmeng had secured this post through the Lu family’s connections, he considered himself a man of superior ability — far more adept at navigating human relations than Lord Lu. There was no question in his mind that great advancement lay ahead. For an official of Great Wei of his stature to bundle two daughters off into the Lu household — what kind of good was that supposed to be?

Ding Pei was not surprised to hear Su Hongmeng say so. She simply continued to look troubled and said: “Yet the capital is only so large, and I cannot very well keep Luoyun confined indoors. The two of them had some feelings between them to begin with. If some private attachment were to develop between them later, our Su family’s reputation…”

Su Hongmeng started at this, thinking his wife’s foresight was indeed more thorough than his own. He said at once: “Once Luoyun has seen that mad dog Hu Xuesong, I will have her return to the old estate.”

Ding Pei offered a token expression of sympathy for her stepdaughter, then smiled and said no more.

How could such a small and transparent scheme as Su Luoyun’s little ploy have any hope of deceiving her? If the girl truly settled down and behaved, all would be well. But if not — what could a blind young woman possibly do that Ding Pei could not handle?