Gu Tingye was tall and long-limbed, and he lifted Minglan up high into the air, scattering her wits completely. She had no choice but to cling with both arms around his neck, her slender fingers clutching his collar. Looking past his shoulder, she could see the floor several feet below her — from that height the thick wool carpet spread with its gaudy, rich-colored peonies seemed to sway right before her eyes. She nearly screamed, but the fright had so seized her that her throat was blocked for a moment, and all she could squeeze out in a hoarse gasp was: “Put me down at once!” — you great big [insufferable person]!

The man burst into a resounding laugh, so loud and ringing that even the maids attending outside could feel their eardrums vibrating. His laughter was filled with uncontained joy and elation. Luzhi and the others exchanged glances, barely concealing their astonishment.

After a full four revolutions, Gu Tingye finally registered Minglan’s cry of distress. He saw the girl in his arms trembling like a startled little squirrel, her eyes wide and round, the tiny claws extended, gripping him for dear life — he immediately knew he had gone too far. With a swift and gentle sweep of his arms, he lowered the girl, carefully and tenderly laying her down on the daybed.

“…How do you feel? Are you all right? I forgot myself just now — do you feel dizzy?… What would you like to eat?… Do you want to rest a while?… Quickly, lie down, lie down…” The man began speaking in an incoherent rush, both hands busily stuffing bolster cushions one after another behind Minglan’s back, nearly tipping her from a sideways-lying position straight into the final motion of a sit-up. Minglan had first been spun into dizziness and then subjected to a great deal of fussing, and was understandably short-tempered: “I’m fine. My head is not spinning. I want to eat dinner. I haven’t had dinner yet, so don’t talk about sleeping. You’ve stuffed so many cushions in there — how am I supposed to lie down?”

Gu Tingye quickly stepped back, let Minglan settle into a comfortable position, and then, not knowing what he ought to be doing at this moment, began to pace back and forth about the room with his hands clasped behind him — going around in circles. After no fewer than seven or eight circuits, he came to his senses with a sudden clap of fist against palm: “Right — fetch the physician at once!” And with that he rose, and hurriedly instructed someone to go and retrieve his personal calling card.

Minglan embraced a plump soft cushion, head tilted back, gazing up at the tall ceiling beams above. There on the ceiling were intricately painted and gilded carvings of brilliant color — pomegranate trees laden with auspicious symbols of many blessings, and alongside them countless bats as emblems of good fortune. One of them appeared to be a rather vacant-looking large bat, strutting importantly and leading several round-headed little bats, while behind them trailed a resigned and helpless mother bat. Well — a most auspicious and festive little family scene.

By the time the physician arrived, Minglan had only just finished her evening meal.

Throughout dinner, a certain Gu Someone had been somewhere between clouds and sky — barely eating a few bites, to the considerable alarm of those around him. He lowered his head from time to time and smiled soundlessly at the dishes and bowls; he looked at Minglan, overcome with private joy; then looked at Minglan again, and his brow suddenly furrowed deeply. In the span of a moment, his expressions shifted with extraordinary animation — a rather alarming sight.

Minglan, by contrast, was perfectly composed. She helped herself to her meal with undisturbed contentment, and having been running about outside for the better part of the afternoon, she had a fine appetite — even going back for two more bowls of soup and one extra bowl of rice. She wiped the corner of her mouth, rinsed her hands and gargled — and just then, the physician arrived.

The physician who came was surnamed Zhuo — his face clean-featured and square-set, long trusted by the household of Duke Yingguo. He had also been recommended to the Shen Family, and was currently at the prime of both experience and vigor. Gu Tingye stood to one side looking dark-faced, as though it were not his wife who was with child, but his wife who had been diagnosed with a fatal disease. He had originally wanted to summon the chief physician of the imperial medical bureau, old Dr. Zhang — but as luck would have it, the old physician was on duty in the palace that very night. He could hardly go battering the palace gates down.

From behind the curtained screen, with a cloth draped over the wrist for decorum, Dr. Zhuo examined Minglan’s pulse for a few moments, then immediately smiled, and bowed his hands toward Gu Tingye: “Congratulations, Marquis, congratulations — the Lady is with child. The pregnancy is now nearly two months along.”

Gu Tingye raised his hand slightly and offered a composed word of thanks. “I am grateful for your trouble, Doctor.” His worthless, debt-claiming elder brother had died in the sixth month; then came the reluctant period of mourning, and three months of an uncomplicated marriage — and now it was mid-eleventh month. Very good, very good indeed. Truly Heaven’s favor and human harmony in accord.

His outward manner was composed, but his inner heart was genuinely elated. Once Dr. Zhuo had completed his examination, Gu Tingye invited him to the study and questioned him for the full length of time it takes to drink one cup of tea — enough that Dr. Zhuo was nearly moved to laughter before being permitted to leave — and then pressed a generous fee upon him.

That night Gu Tingye did not go to the outer study for official matters. He completed his washing and preparation early, and then came to bed. Eloquence and sharp words were his strengths — he was well practiced in confrontation and argument — but he was not skilled at gentle consolation, and at this moment could think of nothing to say. He simply held Minglan close and tight. Warm, masculine breath fell softly against the back of her neck; against her back was the firm solidity of his broad chest; and one large hand rested, almost without intent, upon her abdomen. Though not a word passed between them, Minglan could feel the joy that filled his heart.

In this peaceful and beautiful stillness, Minglan grew drowsy. Between waking and sleeping, she heard a soft sigh from behind her — carrying with it some deep and insoluble emotion. She was greatly puzzled, and turned to face him: “Why are you sighing?”

The night was deep and the water-clock heavy; the room was as still as water. After a long pause, Gu Tingye said quietly: “I suddenly thought of Chang Ge’er.”

In the darkness, Minglan’s eyes snapped wide open. Her nearly-sleeping mind cleared rapidly. Heaven alone knew how long she had been curious about this topic, but Gu Tingye had always kept it sealed in silence, and she had had no choice but to restrain herself from bringing it up. She had not expected him to speak of it tonight, on his own.

“…Rong Jie’er has been with me for quite many days now. Though she never speaks of it, I know she keeps him in her heart. Speaking of which — how is Chang Ge’er’s mother getting on these days?” she asked softly, while her heart was quietly clawing with curiosity.

Another long silence. Gu Tingye shifted slightly to lie flat, and then said: “No want for clothing or food — she spends her days peacefully at the estate. That is all.” His voice was full of melancholy.

“Marquis… do you have regrets?” Minglan pressed closer to his chest. In the deep cold of the night, a warm and solid body — how deeply it was to be cherished.

“None.” Two words, delivered with an unexpectedly calm composure.

Gu Tingye extended his arm and let Minglan rest her head upon it. “I first came to know Man Niang when I was sixteen — it has now been more than ten years. What manner of person she is — I understand her clearly.” He paused, and in the darkness there came a soft, quiet sound — as though he were smiling bitterly to himself. “She, though a woman, surpasses most men. When she sets out to accomplish something, her efforts are twice as effective for half the cost; but when she sets out to ruin something, she is doubly impossible to guard against. I… cannot allow you — or our children — or the days ahead — to bear this risk.”

It was now Minglan’s turn to be silent. After a while she said softly: “This is the second time I have heard you speak well of her. Can she really be that capable?”

One large hand came gently to rest upon her face. The tiger’s mouth of the palm was slightly rough with calluses — a faint, barely scratching sensation against the soft tenderness of her skin, with a slight tingling quality. In the coldness of the night, Gu Tingye’s voice was especially remote: “She has extraordinary courage, and quick wits in a crisis. She can endure what others cannot. She is able to project whatever image she chooses and make others believe it without question — even the brothers of the canal boatmen’s gang spoke of her in nothing but praise. She was by my side for nearly ten years, and almost never let her mask slip. Had I not made a deliberate effort to investigate, I fear I would not have known her true character to this day.”

Minglan’s inner world was like an overturned jar of oil, salt, vinegar, and seasoning — a tangle of five contradictory flavors — and she could only murmur dully: “Different trades develop different specialties.” The star student of the performing arts department naturally had two tricks up her sleeve.

Gu Tingye caught the note of melancholy in her tone, and let out a low laugh. He bent his arm and pulled her tightly against him, kneading and rubbing at her for some time with affectionate teasing. “You foolish girl!”

Minglan, being squeezed and pressed until her face was distorted and her words came out mangled, raised her hand to resist — but was not strong enough to succeed. So instead she extended a finger and tickled his waist. Gu Tingye couldn’t suppress a laugh, and promptly slapped one large palm down, pinning that restless little paw in place.

After the two of them laughed and tussled for quite some time, they finally stilled, lying embraced in quiet for a while. Gu Tingye gazed up at the dark top of the bed canopy, on which the faint light filtering through the window paper played and swayed, rippling like the shimmering surface of a moonlit river in spring.

He suddenly recalled that year — when he had first set eyes on her.

That day, a play had just finished. Someone — he no longer knew who — had started a commotion, and a crowd of richly dressed young rakes swept together toward the backstage, intent on catching a glimpse of the then-celebrated male dan actor Chun Xueyu and seeing what he looked like with his stage makeup off. And then — he met Man Niang.

A girl of about ten or so, pretty and slim, stood in the corner of the courtyard waiting for her elder brother. She wore a plain cotton gown and old cloth shoes, her face innocent of powder or rouge. With loose water sleeves she was amusing herself, dancing gracefully on her own while singing in a gentle, clear voice: “I am as the riverside reed grass — drooping over the river, drifting with the water’s flow, floating without root — I beg, my lord, ten thousand times, have pity upon me.” The melody lingered and carried, full of feeling.

The scene caused all the young noble sons to pause and look longer than they had intended. Several made frivolous remarks; he felt compelled to speak up and intervene — urging the crowd to hurry along, lest Chun Xueyu be spirited away by someone else before they arrived.

Those young noblemen, half-mad with enthusiasm for the performance, were indeed alarmed and rushed forward in haste. In moments the crowd had dispersed.

The girl raised her head and looked at him steadily, her eyes full of gratitude. In that brief meeting of gazes, the flush of color swept across her face until it was entirely crimson; she bowed her head and did not dare to say a word. He could not help but feel a favorable impression of her. She was not particularly beautiful — quite inferior, in fact, compared to the two pretty maids his stepmother had recently sent him. Yet she possessed a natural, unaffected shyness all her own — fresh and lovely as willows drooping at a river’s edge, tender and wistful.

He was no devotee of the theater, but those lines of song had lodged deep within him. Only many years later did he realize — Man Niang had told him plainly from the very beginning. She was indeed like river reeds — seemingly fragile in appearance, but in truth tough and unyielding, impossible to bend or break.

“In every other respect she was exceptional; only her heart and intentions were wrong — and she went about things with no scruple whatsoever. What needed to be said to her, I said. What could be given to her, I gave.” Gu Tingye said in a low voice full of sorrow. “It is only Chang Ge’er…”

Minglan listened quietly, and then a sudden hollow feeling opened in her heart. “Not bringing Chang Ge’er here — is it… on my account?”

“No. Don’t take that upon yourself — it is Man Niang herself who refused.” Gu Tingye held her close and gently comforted her. “She keeps insisting she will not marry anyone, and begs me to leave her a point of reliance.” When all was said and done, he had not had the heart to be completely unmoved.

It was truly a classic dilemma.

A wealthy father makes an offer to a poor Cinderella: keep the child, but not the mother. If she surrenders the child, the child can enjoy wealth and splendor and a bright future. If she keeps the child, they can only endure poverty together. The sort of melodramatic television dramas that love to send a pair of siblings down divergent paths, manufacturing tear after tear, until the whole audience weeps together years later.

“What has been decided will not be changed.” Gu Tingye’s voice was steady, decisive as a nail driven into wood. “And I have not washed my hands of the matter entirely. I will ensure his safety; I will see to his upbringing and education. But he cannot be entered in the clan registry. The Gu Family has no such grandson.” At these words, Minglan couldn’t help but lift her head from his embrace. Unfortunately the room was very dark, and she could not make out the expression on his face. So she lay back down again.

He had still, in the end, held something back.

How many geniuses are born without instruction? Even one as extraordinary as Mozart came from a musical family; even without special training, he had grown up immersed in music from all sides. Try placing Mozart in a family of generations of butchers — surrounded day in and day out by blood and flesh — and by the time he grew up, he would likely find the cutting block more familiar than a musical staff. And Gu Tingye himself — had it not been for the old Marquis, unchanging through winter and summer, teaching him fist and foot, blade and sword, day after day and year after year?

Chang Ge’er would grow up in a rural setting, surrounded by the children of farmers and petty traders. Without a capable teacher to lay the foundations, without an outstanding scholar to offer guidance — if he were taught only the ordinary business of household management, he would in all likelihood grow up to become a contented and prosperous small-scale landowner.

That is, if his mother did not pour hatred into him day after day.

This was a society in which class distinctions ran deep, and the finest educational resources were all concentrated in fixed places. It was for the sake of the Sheng Family not being a great noble clan that Father Sheng Hong had expended such effort before he could invite Scholar Zhuang to open a private school at home. Go ask old Master Zhuang whether he would be willing to go to some rural village to teach an illegitimate child of an actress’s lineage — even if Gu Tingye went in person, even if Chang Ge’er were extraordinarily and heartbreakingly brilliant — there was no guarantee the old scholar would not fly into a rage and storm off in a huff, convinced he had been deliberately insulted.

Minglan at last understood why Gu Tingye had sighed. He was feeling guilt. In order to ensure that legitimate heirs would be forever free from threat, he had moved one step ahead to remove the danger — wiping away Chang Ge’er’s name as the eldest concubine-born son from the clan registry, and with it all the possibilities that might have existed for Chang Ge’er. Every last one.

The large hand rested upon her abdomen. Scorching, scalding body heat seeped through layers of fabric and into her skin. Minglan suddenly felt that the small being in her belly had quite a measure of good fortune — long before coming into this world, its father had already, almost without realizing it, been making arrangements on its behalf.

“I had once imagined — if there were ever a conflict between Chang Ge’er and a child of yours. I knew with certainty I would protect ‘him,’ and would never allow anyone to bully ‘him.’ Thinking of it now — Father, he…” In the quiet darkness, Gu Tingye’s voice betrayed an almost imperceptible tremor.

In his childhood he had once overheard the matrons chatting idly about how “the Marquis is truly partial” — how in every way he favored the eldest young master, and so on. Now that he found himself in the same position — he had not expected that he too would be no different! Thinking it through, he was perhaps even less admirable than his father — at least his father had seen to his upbringing and education with care.

“A parent’s heart is always partial…”

Of course it is. What person has a heart positioned squarely in the center of their chest?

Minglan’s heart beat wildly. She sensed acutely the undertone of guilt in Gu Tingye’s voice. Right now, his love and protectiveness for his legitimate wife and legitimate children held the upper hand — but what of the future, one could not know. Some things, left unspoken in the moment, would in time become the seeds of festering harm. At this thought, she immediately said: “Marquis — do you feel that your own childhood holds some resemblance to Chang Ge’er’s?”

Gu Tingye paused, then said with some incredulity: “How can they possibly be the same?” He was a lawfully and properly born legitimate heir, for heaven’s sake — while the other was not even so much as a legitimately acknowledged concubine-born child.

Minglan pressed the point swiftly, keeping her voice warm and soft, deliberately carrying a touch of teasing lightness: “Then… Marquis — do you perhaps feel that Man Niang’s experience bears some resemblance to Stepmother’s situation?”

Gu Tingye’s voice erupted as if he had leaped off the bed: “How can Man Niang possibly be compared to Mother?!”

Bai Shi had been born into a wealthy merchant family, raised in luxury, and had entered the Gu household bringing with her silver that had saved the family — a woman who had made an immense contribution to her husband’s family yet received treatment that was far from equal to it. Whereas Man Niang… leaving aside all else, she had on multiple occasions driven his elderly father to collapse from anger and thrown the whole family into turmoil.

At this thought, Gu Tingye couldn’t help but reach out and give Minglan a firm pinch, half laughing and half scolding: “What nonsense are you spouting! Wait until the child comes — then I’ll deal with you!” His tone was bright and lively, and all trace of the previous melancholy was gone.

That was precisely the effect Minglan had been aiming for. She laughed an adorable laugh and very honestly offered an apology, promising she would never dare do it again. After a good long exchange of words, the two of them finally settled into easy contentment and drifted off to sleep.

Just before falling asleep, Minglan suddenly gave a rueful inward smile. Here was a certain Gu Someone making an emotional confession, deeply moving — and to have wasted it on her, a prosaic little materialist who had been thinking the entire time of how to create a better survival environment for her own child.

Before daybreak, the entire household of Marquis Ningyuan knew that a physician had been called the previous night.

“She is with child?” The Old Madam had just risen and was seated on the daybed having her morning meal, when she heard the news. She set down her chopsticks, dabbed the corners of her mouth with a handkerchief, and said: “What a coincidence. Her aunt had only just said a few words yesterday, and she turns out to be with child. It’s not as though it was said merely to refute the words. Better have the physician take a proper look — make sure it isn’t just a reaction to pique.”

Shao Shi, who was sharing the morning meal, said carefully with an accompanying smile: “I am told the diagnosis was conclusive. The pregnancy is already two months along.”

The Old Madam gently blew across the surface of her bird’s nest soup, her tone mild: “Then it must be genuine. What a pity — if she already knew, why did she conceal it from everyone? What was there to be afraid of? Had she announced it yesterday, she could have given her aunt something to be happy about as well.”

Shao Shi said with a smile: “I heard she only found out last night.” The Old Madam gave a soft sniff or two and said no more.

Zhu Shi, seated at the round table below, smiled and said: “Once Mother has finished eating, shall we all go together and look in on Second Elder Sister-in-Law? I heard just now that the estate’s head stewardesses are already over there to offer their congratulations.”

Beside her, Gu Tingcan’s face showed displeasure. She quickly pushed the food about in her bowl with her chopsticks. “Hmph. What a grand production. Mother and the elder sisters-in-law may go — I won’t be going.” Her manner was reserved, lofty and cool.

“You ignorant girl!” The Old Madam scolded her. “Your First Elder Sister-in-Law cannot appear in company conveniently, and your Second Elder Sister-in-Law is showing considerably already. I was counting on your Second Elder Sister-in-Law to manage the arrangements for your marriage — and now you dare to be obstructive?!”

Gu Tingcan wheedled at her mother: “Mother, please don’t scold me yet. Is Second Elder Sister-in-Law still in a position to manage things on my behalf?”

“Naturally she is not in a position.” Minglan reclined sideways on the kang bed with a serene smile, and then slowly sat up straight in a proper posture.

The Old Madam felt aggrieved. She knew perfectly well it was improper to ask a pregnant woman to manage such matters — but hearing Minglan decline so smoothly and readily, she was nonetheless displeased. “Your sister also has it unfortunate — a fine marriage match found with such difficulty, and no one to help facilitate it. Sigh — I have daughters-in-law, and in the moment when they’re most needed, not a single one can be counted on.” Shao Shi kept her head bowed and said nothing; now that Zhu Shi wasn’t here, she had become the superfluous one.

“How can there be no one to help? Please don’t worry.” Minglan affected a look of pleasant surprise and smiled. “I’ve already thought it through. Are there not several elder sisters-in-law? Setting others aside — First Elder Sister-in-Law of the Xuan branch is the very first one to step up with enthusiasm. You need only give the word, and would either of the fourth or fifth households fail to come and help? They would likely be jostling to be first.”

“This… when all is said and done, they are separate households now.” The Old Madam hesitated.

“Separate households — and yet still one family.” Minglan had prepared her words well in advance. “First Elder Sister-in-Law of the Xuan branch manages affairs thoroughly and well — you know this yourself. When the time comes, with her presiding at the front and me and the other sister-in-laws keeping guests company at the back, with yourself presiding over all — what could possibly go wrong? Outsiders would see that our household remains harmonious as ever, and the occasion would be joyous and lively — wouldn’t that be ideal?”

The Old Madam considered this carefully, and found it indeed to be so. She was an intelligent woman — so long as something was to her advantage, she never made quarrels out of wounded pride. She smiled and agreed on the spot. The atmosphere in the room was once again harmonious. Shao Shi could only bow her head and sigh inwardly. She was a dull-witted person — she could neither see through the Old Madam’s underlying nature, nor fathom the depth of Minglan’s thinking.

Since Gu Tingyu’s passing, the Old Madam had not said a single word about the household management or family finances. As junior members of the family, Gu Tingye and his wife could not properly raise the matter first. Now, with Gu Tingcan’s marriage approaching, one still did not know… and yet Gu Tingye and his wife showed not the faintest sign of anxiety. Strange…

As the messenger returned with word, the first to come and offer congratulations was Minglan’s own family. She had expected nothing more than a gift to be sent over, with perhaps Wang Shi stopping by to say a few words of “take good care of your health,” as befitted the duty of a principal mother. She had not expected that, by the afternoon of that very day…

“Grandmother?!” Minglan stared in astonishment at the dignified, venerable elderly lady standing before her, and hurriedly began to climb down from the kang bed. “How did you come here? You are already so advanced in years.”

“Don’t move, don’t move!” Grandmother Sheng caught sight of Minglan’s agile reach, and was nearly frightened half out of her wits. She called out loudly: “Stay lying down properly — don’t move so quickly, you’ll alarm me!”

Danju stepped forward at once and gently pressed Minglan back. Xiaotao, with her quick wits, dragged a side chair over and placed it at the edge of the kang, letting Nanny Fang support the old lady to the seat beside Minglan. Wang Shi had no choice but to accept a seat further back.

“You little monkey — haven’t seen me in a while, have you? The Court of Hell isn’t ready to take me yet.” Grandmother Sheng, the moment she sat down, could not help scolding: “The first month is the most critical — what are you moving around for! Just wait until I knock you!”

Minglan burst into a grin, wriggling like a little ape and sidling up against the old lady’s side. “You haven’t seen me in so long — Grandmother must have missed me terribly. You found an excuse to come and see me.”

Grandmother Sheng cradled her little granddaughter, alternating between scolding and patting her shoulders: “And here you are about to be a mother yourself, and still this lack of dignity! Sit up straight, sit properly — what kind of example is this! Without you, that little monkey, driving me to distraction, I’d be perfectly at ease — likely to live several more years!”

But Minglan was a person of the sticking-plaster-born variety who never seemed to know fear — and having missed her grandmother so deeply, now that she had her in sight, she clung all the more eagerly. She filled the air with the most outrageous flattery, saying things like “look how Grandmother has gotten thinner, and the wrinkles are more numerous — she must have been pining for me” and quoting poetry about “a day without sight is like an autumn of longing.” This made the old lady simultaneously want to pull her over for a scolding and, in the old days’ way, want to give her a couple of fond smacks.

The grandmother and granddaughter were merrily absorbed in their own antics, so thoroughly that Wang Shi to the side was completely overlooked and her face had gone a distinct shade of green — before they finally properly addressed each other.

“The things you ought to be careful of, you likely know better than I do. But for these days, you must pay attention — what you eat, what is passed around, even the incense in the burners, the silver-threaded charcoal, and the flowers and plants in the garden — all of these you must watch. Particularly the people around you. At a time like this, it is better to wrongly suspect than to let anything pass; if you fear wounding relationships, first send people to the estate, then investigate and deal with them properly afterward…”

“Grandmother, I understand.”

Heaven knew how many times she had said it. The old lady kept reminding her without pause, and Minglan, in order to set her mind at ease, had no choice but to repeat this phrase over and over.

The old lady urged earnestly, then turned to Nanny Cui and said: “You are someone who has been handling medicinal matters all your life. I will not send anyone else — this child I entrust entirely to you.”

Nanny Cui immediately curtsied and replied: “I have received the Old Lady’s words. The Lady has been in my care since she was small. I will stake my life on this: even if the sky should fall, I will protect the Lady and the young master or young mistress unharmed.”

The old lady nodded with satisfaction.

Minglan’s heart was deeply moved — but her ears were also going slightly numb from all the admonishments. Seizing a moment, she deftly changed the subject: “Oh, why hasn’t Quan Ge’er come? I wonder if he still remembers me, his auntie?”

Wang Shi finally had her chance to speak, and quickly said: “That child has been quite mischievous lately — we were afraid he would make too much noise and disturb you, so he was left at home.”

“And little Hui Jie’er? Is she well?”

Mention of her little granddaughter brought a smile flooding across Wang Shi’s face. “If you want to talk about that little girl — she is ten times better than her brother. Never cries, never fusses, obedient and obliging, and smiles at everyone she sees. Your father and Grandmother both dote on her endlessly.”

“How does she compare to First Sister and Fifth Sister?” Minglan said teasingly.

Wang Shi shot her a glance and said loudly: “Why, she surpasses them a hundredfold!”

Minglan laughed with delight, and pointed at Wang Shi, saying in her most impish voice: “Grandmother, listen — listen to her — out with the old and in with the new! Now that she has a granddaughter, she’s forgotten all about her daughters. I’m going to go and report this to First Sister and Fifth Sister — you must testify for me. Her heart has changed — she no longer loves them!”

The whole room erupted in laughter. The maids and matrons turned their faces away to hide their smiles. The old lady hugged Minglan tightly, laughing and calling her “little monkey.” Wang Shi laughed until her face was flushed bright red, pressing her handkerchief to the corners of her eyes — and any faint displeasure she had felt before dissipated entirely.

“On other matters, there is nothing particular to note. But as for Feng Ge’er’s marriage — it has been fixed for early spring of the new year, and you will be in no condition to attend.” The old lady looked at Minglan with gentle affection. “Have your son-in-law come along to drink the wedding wine instead.”

Minglan nodded with a smile. Wang Shi, recalling something, also said: “Your First Sister originally intended to come, but she has been held up by something these past few days. She says once she is free, she will come in person to see you.”

“If First Sister is busy, she need not come — we are sisters, and there is no need for such ceremony.” Minglan was concerned that Hualan would find it inconvenient to go out, and did not want her to have to deal with that mother-in-law of hers.

“It’s all right — she says she can come.” Wang Shi smiled. “She says she’s been through it herself and considers herself an old hand now — she’s probably eager to come and give you a few pointers, so she can show off her expertise a little.”

Another burst of laughter filled the room. No one mentioned Molan.

What was the life of a pregnant woman like? During the critical first month of the pregnancy, even walking about was not to be done too freely. One needed only to eat and sleep — living the life of a pig. There was in fact nothing to deliberate about; one operated entirely on instinct. At this point in time, Minglan was not much different from a small piglet — sleepy after eating, hungry after waking, and murmuring vaguely to whoever appeared before her.

Beyond this, she developed cravings that changed constantly — now sweet, now salty, now spicy, now mild. Sometimes even plain water tasted like it had an odor; sometimes even the smell of food was unbearable.

This was when the talents of former rakish brother-in-arms Gu Tingye showed their full worth. There was nothing Minglan could think of that he could not procure — tucked away in any obscure corner of the city’s markets, from street stalls to restaurants to private home kitchens, from the cuisines of Sichuan, Jiangxi, Huizhou, and Zhejiang — he could name the location and have it delivered in a moment’s time.

Sitting across from her, stealing a glance at Minglan bent over her food with fierce concentration, then another glance at her still-flat little belly, he began to drift into a reverie — an endlessly beautiful fantasy. It was as though his heart harbored a jar of honey.

Five days passed in this way, and Minglan remained as blissful as a contented pig’s head. Then, from that other side of the household, something happened.

Xiaotao came running in with great excitement to deliver news: “Lady Yang Paternal Grand-Aunt has come!” Minglan lay languidly draped on the kang, and said without enthusiasm: “What’s so momentous about that? Go and say that I am feeling unwell and cannot come to pay my respects.”

“No, no, My Lady.” Xiaotao’s cheeks were rosy-red, and on this cold day, there was actually perspiration beading at her forehead. “The Grand-Aunt hasn’t called for anyone — she’s shut herself in with the Old Madam and seems to be giving her a piece of her mind!”

“How much dowry have you arranged for Tingcan?!” The Yang Paternal Grand-Aunt had swept in like a spinning wheel of fire, every trace of composed dignity gone, slapping the kang table as she demanded answers.

The Old Madam felt a twinge of displeasure inwardly, but still arranged her smile: “My, have you started inquiring into your niece’s dowry now? Rest assured — the public princess and marquis will be satisfied, and you will be given due credit. It may not be ten miles of red sedan chairs, but it will be counted among the notable dowries in the capital.”

“What are you talking about?!” The Yang Paternal Grand-Aunt wiped the perspiration from her forehead — cold sweat. “You have been married into this family for decades. You know the Gu Family’s customary practice for dowering their daughters — and are you telling me the dowry you’ve prepared for Tingcan this time vastly exceeds those customs?”

The Old Madam lowered her eyelids, reached slowly for her teacup, and said nothing.

The Yang Paternal Grand-Aunt pressed on with increasing urgency: “I have not come to redress my own grievances! I have not come to settle old scores! However much dowry you wish to give Tingcan is your own affair — but why have you been delaying, again and again, in handing over the household management and the family assets to Tingye and his wife?!”

The corner of the Old Madam’s mouth twisted, and she smiled with a cold edge of mockery: “Oh? Have they finally lost their patience and gone outside making a fuss about it? And here I thought they looked down on this bit of family wealth, every day so magnificent and insufferable.”

The Yang Paternal Grand-Aunt saw her expression and drew a long breath, steadying herself. “I am not joking with you. If this matter is not handled properly, I fear Tingcan’s marriage will fall through as well!”

“What?! How can that be?!” The Old Madam was alarmed, and immediately braced herself upright.

“It starts from this very morning, when I went to the Marquis Han’s residence to collect the betrothal horoscope!”

The Old Madam trembled slightly and sat back down, her expression utterly bewildered.

The Yang Paternal Grand-Aunt smoothed her composure and slowly continued: “A few days ago, the Marquis Han residence sent word about the matter of exchanging betrothal horoscopes. I deliberately waited several days — to let Tingcan keep her poise and show that she is no one’s lesser. Today, I finally went together with Lady Huang from the Shi family to call at Marquis Han’s residence. My intention was to first receive the horoscope of the young gentleman of the Han Family, and then return it with Tingcan’s. But who would have thought… hmph — I walked straight into an embarrassing situation!”

“What? Has the Han Family gone back on their word?” The Old Madam was alarmed and trembling, her voice catching.

“Not quite.” The Yang Paternal Grand-Aunt, recalling the humiliation she had endured that morning before the princess, felt such fury her teeth ached. “I hear that yesterday the palace hosted a banquet, and all the noble ladies of the imperial family were in attendance. Before the meal began, the ladies were gathered, drinking tea and chatting. Someone — who it was I don’t know — mentioned that the Han and Gu families were in negotiations for a marriage. The ladies began offering their congratulations one after another, some even praising Tingcan’s exceptional talents. Grand Princess Qingchang, though she said little, was pleased in her heart. Everything was going perfectly well — and then who would have thought, who would have thought…!”

“For heaven’s sake — do get to the point!” The Old Madam was growing frantic.

The Yang Paternal Grand-Aunt said furiously: “Grand Princess Linxiang suddenly brought up the matter of the dowry! She said that Gu the Commissioner had officially inherited the title for more than half a year, yet has not so much as touched the edges of the Gu Family’s ancestral property. As for the household management and the merit-lands and prosperity-lands received as imperial rewards for service — those remain firmly in your hands, Old Madam. The Marquis Ningyuan and his wife hold nothing but an empty title! You also know that this Grand Princess Linxiang and Grand Princess Qingchang have never been on good terms.”

Both were concubine-born, but Grand Princess Qingning had at least been raised under Empress Jing’an’s roof, which gave her some share of status and name. Grand Princess Linxiang’s birth mother had held the modest rank of Precious Companion; in the end, she had fared less splendidly than Grand Princess Qingchang, who was born of a palace attendant. Thus these two royal sisters had been competing with each other since childhood.

The Old Madam gripped her teacup so hard her fingers seemed nearly embedded in the ceramic. The Yang Paternal Grand-Aunt continued: “Your reputation is tolerable enough — there were those at the gathering who spoke in your defense, saying you did not trust a young couple, and were simply waiting to explain things clearly before entrusting them with the estate. But then someone spoke right to her face in an insinuating, sneering tone, saying: if a birth mother does not trust her own son and daughter-in-law, that is at least understandable — but a stepmother clinging to the family assets is another matter entirely! Is she not afraid of what people might think of her?!”

The Yang Paternal Grand-Aunt had worked herself into such a state that she paused to drink some tea and wet her throat. “By this point, Grand Princess Qingchang still managed herself — she only said lightly that you would be handing things over very soon, and that there was no need for outsiders to discuss it. Unexpectedly, Grand Princess Linxiang made yet another snide remark: ‘Perhaps you are waiting until after your daughter is married off to hand things over? What a considerate family indeed — Sister, you truly are most fortunate in your in-laws!’ The implication of those words — who could fail to understand? Grand Princess Qingchang was so furious she nearly hurled her teacup on the spot!”

The Old Madam’s whole body shook with rage. Her lips quivered violently, yet she could not produce a sound.

“That is not all. Grand Princess Linxiang’s tongue is well known to everyone — the sharpest there is, with no mercy to spare — and few take her seriously. But then, when the banquet began, Grand Princess Qingning came in accompanying the Two Dowager Empresses and the Empress.” The Yang Paternal Grand-Aunt swallowed with effort. “The Empress casually asked ‘What was all the merriment about just now?’ Grand Princess Linxiang immediately repeated the whole affair. To keep the situation from looking bad, several of the grand princesses, junzhus, and royal consorts laughed and helped smooth it over. The Two Dowager Empresses made a few teasing remarks, and the matter seemed to have passed. But then… Grand Princess Qingning said, in a jesting tone: ‘No wonder these two are sisters-in-law — they truly are suited to each other.’ Grand Princess Qingchang barely restrained herself from fainting on the spot.”

The Old Madam sat half-frozen, with nothing more to say.

The Marquis Zhengnan had always been extravagant, and had no gift for managing money. The Marquis household’s inner coffers were hollowed out. The Marchioness Zhengnan was fierce and capable, and had a firm grip on power. She had long made a habit of targeting the dowry money brought in by her daughters-in-law. All the brides who had entered the household over the years came bearing immense fortunes — and naturally, the family’s reputation had not been particularly distinguished as a result. Grand Princess Qingchang had always despised her sister-in-law’s crass and mercenary conduct, and wanted nothing more than to draw a clear line between herself and the woman. To now be spoken of in the same breath as her — she was naturally furious beyond measure.

After this exchange, aunt and sister-in-law were both too exhausted for further speech. After another long silence, the Old Madam said bitterly: “From time immemorial, giving a daughter a generous dowry has been the natural thing to do — and yet they were so… so enraging about it!”

The Yang Paternal Grand-Aunt, having vented her fury to its limit, had actually grown calmer. “Old Sister-in-Law, there is no use trying to muddle your way through with me. If you add the Gu Family’s customary share for dowering a daughter to your own personal dowry on top of that, it would already be quite considerable. How much personal dowry you brought with you, I know to within a reasonable measure. You want to give your daughter a generous dower — fine! Take it from your own portion. Do not use the Gu Family’s ancestral property.”

“Tingcan is the late Old Marquis’s one and only legitimate daughter — what is wrong with giving her a more generous dower?! Even if some ancestral property is included — so what?! When the Marquis Xuanmen married off his daughter a few years ago, he gave away nearly half the family assets! Not to mention how much襄阳侯 provided as a dowry when Pingning Junzhu was married off!” The Old Madam’s temper had risen now, and she would not back down.

The Yang Paternal Grand-Aunt’s own temper flared slightly, and she said loudly: “I am not the only legitimate daughter of my late husband. I only know this: if you wish to include ancestral property, then the head of the household must give the word! Is the head of this household you? The Second Son, Tingye — he is the head! You acted unilaterally, without the consent of the Marquis who is now head of the family, and privately arranged for the Gu Family ancestral property to be given as a dowry — by what principle?! Going forward, when word spreads among people, that a stepmother held onto the family assets and gave half the ancestral estate away as her daughter’s dowry — do you still want your good name of all these years? Does your daughter still want her reputation?!”

“Very well then! The head of the household must give the word!” The Old Madam, like a cornered beast unwilling to yield, pressed on. “How would outsiders know whether the late Old Marquis had given his word or not?”

The Yang Paternal Grand-Aunt gave a cold laugh. “Whether my old elder brother gave his word or not — that I cannot say. However, the two documents drawn up by Tingyu on his deathbed, with all the family members assembled as witnesses, are documents I do know about. Not only does the family know — there are also quite a few outsiders who know. For a man gravely ill and at death’s door, what was the point of still being unable to rest, and insisting on making all that fuss? Do you think outsiders have no minds and cannot draw their own conclusions?”

Why else? It could only have been out of fear that his younger brother did not know the full extent of the family assets, so that the stepmother could not secretly swallow them up.

The argument went back and forth several times, and both women were exhausted. Another long silence.

The Yang Paternal Grand-Aunt heaved a lengthy sigh and said: “I also have a daughter. Your desire to give your daughter a generous dower — who knows that better than I? But a good family looks to reputation. The fact that the Princess can behave as she does is precisely what speaks to her magnanimity. The Han Marquis’s household is truly a fine match. But if you persist in this course, I cannot in good conscience continue to arrange this match with the Princess’s household. You will have to find someone else.”

The Old Madam’s thoughts turned a thousand times, and she suddenly collapsed into her chair, unable to hold back her tears: “My poor child — her father and brothers are clearly useless for support, and I only wanted to give her a little more to protect herself. I never expected to be so thoroughly outmaneuvered!”

The Yang Paternal Grand-Aunt waved her hand, overcome with weariness. “Think it over carefully yourself. For now, the betrothal horoscope cannot be obtained by me for the time being. But it must be done quickly. Once the new year is past, Tingcan’s age will begin to be a concern… sigh — weigh what is more and what is less important yourself.”

A person of considerable years, having endured mockery all morning and arguments all afternoon, the Yang Paternal Grand-Aunt was thoroughly exhausted and had no more patience for words. She drank half a cup more tea, then took her leave. Being familiar with the house, she made her way out swiftly on steady steps. Her family’s own carriage — knowing the way well — was already waiting. She stepped up onto the small double-board carved birchwood step, supporting herself on the arm of the attending matron at the door, and hurriedly climbed into the carriage. She had barely settled in at the entrance, and was just about to shift her elderly frame further inside — when she suddenly caught sight of someone already sitting in the carriage, a shadowy figure in the dim interior, seated composedly in the front-facing seat.

She was nearly frightened out of her senses. Looking in carefully, she cried out: “How is it you?!”