“Master, please allow Mo Zi to take her leave.” Mo Zi seized this opportunity to propose leaving. “I’ve been out for quite a while and fear the young miss will search for Mo Zi and not find me.”

The female guests were about to arrive, and Qiu Si had no mind to think of other matters. With a wave of his hand, he said, “Go then.”

Mo Zi lowered her eyebrows and eyes and withdrew toward the hall’s exit.

“Miss, please wait a moment.” Wei San, however, called out to stop Mo Zi.

One story, one measure of respect.

Mo Zi didn’t think it worth even the slightest bit of smugness. Reluctantly, she turned around. “Master, what are your instructions?”

“Is this story about real people and true events, or is it a folk legend?” Wei San was fond of poetry, calligraphy, and painting. His interest in the story Mo Zi had told ran deeper than anyone else present.

Mo Zi’s brow furrowed slightly, but the words had already left her mouth. “This story has been passed down since the founding of the Yuling kingdom, over seventy years ago. It hasn’t spread widely and can no longer be verified. Mo Zi heard it from an old woodcutter carrying a shoulder pole, and doesn’t know whether it’s true or false either.”

She was fabricating, and she knew it. But not fabricating wouldn’t work. She could only hope that this already divergent history would continue to diverge in great strides—with no Song, no Yuan, this “You and I” poem wouldn’t affect anyone else’s future.

“That such an exquisite short lyric could fail to spread widely throughout Yuling—what a pity, what a pity!” Wei San sighed. In ancient times, information didn’t flow smoothly, and Yuling and Great Zhou were two different countries, so he had no doubt whatsoever about what Mo Zi said.

“I imagine Lady Zhao wouldn’t feel regret. One short lyric in exchange for her husband’s lifelong devotion—this has made all women under heaven envious.” Mo Zi lowered her head again and gracefully curtsied. “Master, Mo Zi takes her leave.”

From beginning to end, not once had she used a humble self-reference, yet no one noticed at all.

Wei Er watched Mo Zi withdraw from the hall and couldn’t help praising, “Truly worthy of being Qiu Sanniang’s maid. If a rough work maid is already this capable, wouldn’t the senior maids who attend the mistress be even more clever and quick-witted?”

Upon hearing this, Qiu Si said, “Second Uncle overpraised her. It’s the novelty brought by that girl’s Yuling identity—this wager was won rather luckily.”

“Worthy nephew, I also see that girl knows how to advance and retreat properly. Though she has a good appearance, she understands hierarchy. This must be because your mother manages the inner quarters well. This is a good thing. When a great man has high and far-reaching ambitions, only when the household is peaceful and secure can he achieve great things. Though the money house is somewhat risky, my second brother has recently been planning a pawn shop business. If worthy nephew doesn’t mind, our two families could form a partnership.” Wei Da loosened up.

“I’m too busy to handle everything. If my worthy nephew could help, I could actually slack off a bit.” Wei Er also followed Wei Da’s lead.

Qiu Si was no fool after all. He understood clearly that his own maid had earned him face, which was why he got a share of this business. Still feeling overjoyed beyond expectation, he hurried to bow. “Uncles’ high expectations—this nephew dares not fail to live up to them. In all matters, please let the uncles make the decisions. That this nephew can follow along to learn and observe is already completely satisfying.”

“This matter will be entirely at your Second Uncle’s disposal. You should discuss it thoroughly with him.” Wei Da delegated authority.

“Precisely so. Worthy nephew, in a few days you and I will find a good restaurant and discuss matters while we eat.” Wei Er immediately put the matter on the agenda.

Could Qiu Si not agree? He repeatedly assented.

“Third Brother, I see you quite approve of that girl Mo Zi. Why don’t I ask worthy nephew for her and give her to you? What do you say?” Wei Er was as industrious as a bee. Seeing Xiuzhu pouting with a face full of dissatisfaction, he added, “Why not redeem Xiuzhu as well? Then you’d have both a storyteller and a singer.”

“Second Brother, don’t speak nonsense. I absolutely have no intention of taking a concubine.” Wei San said this aloud, but thought to himself—if others couldn’t understand, how could he not?

This woman Mo Zi was quite extraordinary. One story ostensibly told of Grand Secretary Zhao and Lady Guan, but actually alluded to the matter of Qiu Si wanting to give Xiuzhu to him as a concubine. She had also just said that one short lyric in exchange for a husband’s lifelong devotion had made all women under heaven envious. This was most likely also expressing her own meaning. Though he felt somewhat moved by this woman’s hidden cleverness, he couldn’t use Grand Secretary Zhao to compare himself, nor could he force someone unwilling. As for Xiuzhu, though she possessed empty beauty, being narrow-minded and petty-hearted, he already found her utterly uninteresting.

Qiu Si actually said, “Perhaps Third Uncle and Third Aunt’s feelings are as deep as Grand Secretary Zhao and his wife, and Third Uncle fears Third Aunt would be hurt.”

“My third sister-in-law comes from a scholarly family. Though naturally she can’t compare to Lady Guan’s talent, she’s still proficient enough in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. It’s just that her mind is smaller than a needle’s eye—she couldn’t write such a lyric to win my third brother’s acclaim.” Though Wei Er seemed rough and careless, he actually only gossiped about trivial matters, making people think he was the easiest to talk to among the three brothers.

After Mo Zi left Yan Tower, she was still wondering whether her story had the desired effect when she was suddenly pushed by someone who appeared right in front of her.

This person was Ai Liu, a first-rank maid who was supposed to wait below the hall to serve tea. Like Ai Lian, she too had been assigned by the mistress to Qiu Si’s quarters. However, Ai Liu hadn’t managed to sleep with Qiu Si.

“Clumsy oaf with rough hands, thinking that because you’re from Third Miss’s courtyard, you dare run before the masters to show off. Bah! What do you think you are? Reciting a couple of verses and making up a story, getting people to praise you a few times—can that turn you into a phoenix? Dream on in broad daylight! Just you wait—I’ll tell Fourth Mistress and see how she deals with you, you shameless little—” The vulgar words didn’t leave her mouth, because the object of her cursing walked past her as if she didn’t exist.

“You?!” Ai Liu reached to grab Mo Zi’s sleeve.

“If I were you, I’d worry first about how to answer the master. The tea that you should have served—why did I, a rough work maid, have to bring it in?” Mo Zi didn’t turn her head.

These words made Ai Liu feel she was in the wrong. Her movements slowed and she grasped at empty air.

Mo Zi listened to the sounds behind her. Though Ai Liu’s footsteps grew distant, her heart was unsettled. Dealing with those men inside who pretended to be elegant and cared about face was relatively easy, but encountering unreasonable and shrewish women—she feared that no amount of cleverness would help.

She walked all the way back. Someone had already sent word to the inner garden. Mo Zi saw old women and maidservants coming and going between the various courtyards, so busy their feet didn’t touch the ground. By the time she reached their small courtyard, that bustling commotion of reporting news outside seemed very far away, as if it had nothing to do with this place at all.

Mo Zi thought, Zhang Shi’s methods were too childish. Did she think that by not sending someone to report the news, Qiu Sanniang would be left to make a fool of herself? Laughable!

“Mo Zi has returned.” Xiao Yi lifted the curtain to look outside.

With those ears alone, what stirring of wind or grass could escape Xiao Yi?

“I’ve returned.” Mo Zi smiled genuinely, lifted the curtain to enter the room, and asked Xiao Yi, “Is the young miss properly dressed? The honored guests should be at the east gate by now.”

“Mo Zi, come in and help me look.” Qiu Sanniang called from the inner room.

Mo Zi went in and saw that Qiu Sanniang wore a lotus root powder white high-waisted raging waves skirt with an outer robe of silver-blue water sleeves, button-front, plain-faced, knee-length silk garment. She wore no rouge or powder. Her dark hair was arranged in a simple emerging clouds coiffure, secured with the purple butterfly wooden hairpin Mo Zi had made.

Under the plain dress, she radiated astonishing beauty.

“Truly beautiful.” Mo Zi expressed her sincere sentiment.

“See? What did I say?” Qiu Sanniang seductively narrowed her eyes and smiled, asking Bai He and Lu Ju beside her, “Mo Zi understands me best.”

Bai He immediately chided Mo Zi reproachfully, “We thought you’d help persuade her, but instead you took the young miss’s side?”

Mo Zi looked at Qiu Sanniang more carefully. “But she really does look very beautiful.”

Qiu Sanniang raised an eyebrow, extremely pleased with herself.

“The honored guests are from the capital. Won’t Sixth Miss and Seventh Miss take out their finest clothes and jewelry from their trunks to dress up? But our young miss insists on wearing this outfit that doesn’t even have a single pattern—just plain clothes. How can this please people?” Bai He worried.

“I saw that even Ninth Miss was dressed more prettily than our young miss.” Lu Ju had just returned from “reconnaissance.”

“Young miss, didn’t you tell them?” Mo Zi looked at Qiu Sanniang’s air of smugness.

“I was waiting for you to tell them.” The corners of Qiu Sanniang’s mouth curved like a little boat.