After giving her instructions, Minglan felt somewhat more settled in her heart. Nanny Cui managed her food and drink; Tu Hu kept watch outside; every four or five days, Danju or Xiaotao would go and receive information; Nanny Chang kept the unruly elements in line; Red Xiao had been jabbed at and rebuffed; Qiu Niang had been beaten down to the point of near-monastic detachment; and that Fengxian girl in her isolated pavilion, staring at her own reflection — she didn’t even dare step out the door anymore. Apart from the frequent need to relieve herself, which was very inconvenient, all was normal — nothing should go wrong.

Another month-plus passed. The weather grew hotter and hotter. With the birth clearly imminent, all necessary preparations had long since been made in succession. Even the scissors, cotton cloth, copper basins, and bedding to be used during the delivery had been checked by Nanny Cui repeatedly, as if she intended to split even the firewood used for boiling water into fine shreds and inspect it piece by piece. Minglan, on the other hand, had gradually settled down. She ate well and slept well every day, persevering in her daily walks and exercise, hoping that when the time came, the delivery might go more smoothly.

“It will be around the end of the month — though it could be earlier. If it’s late, it might also be the next month.” The senior physician took her pulse, calculated carefully on his fingers, then had the midwife feel Minglan’s belly. “The Madam need not worry — the Madam’s pregnancy has been healthy. The baby’s size is just right, only…” For his own safety, he added one more line: “Childbirth is after all a dangerous affair — please, Madam, take every possible care.”

Minglan couldn’t help glaring at these physicians — they had managed to say both the reassuring thing and the frightening thing in one breath.

Since there was no knowing when the birth would come, life went on as usual. This day she was chatting with Nanny Chang when, as it happened, Rong Jie’er had a holiday from her lessons and was sitting on a low stool, holding a dish of rose-scented melon and listening in. Then Chang Nian arrived.

“Class is done? Were today’s lessons much? Did you understand everything the teacher said?” Nanny Chang had poured her entire life’s devotion into this grandson. Though she herself was not learned, she pushed Chang Nian rigorously in his studies. Chang Nian answered each question one by one. Since joining the Sheng Family’s private school not long ago, he had already become a model student in the eyes of the teachers — praised as a fine talent. Everything was going smoothly.

“Young Nian has grown quite a bit,” Minglan said with a smile, looking him over.

Having grown up running through city streets and country fields, exposed to wind and sun, he was broader and more solidly built than most boys from official families. At only twelve, the young male student was already half a head taller than Changdong. He was also developing the self-awareness of a young man — he didn’t quite dare look at Minglan directly, lowered his head and bowed respectfully, his dark face flushing red: “I’ve merely grown taller without merit, only causing my grandmother and mother to stay up nights making me new clothes.”

Hearing that voice — the cracking, honking pitch of adolescent change — Minglan laughed. Young Chang Nian had always been open and forthright, but of late he was reluctant to speak much, and when he did speak, it was only quietly and awkwardly. This was probably the reason. Nanny Chang looked at her grandson with tender love — he wore a half-worn stone-blue Confucian robe, and young as he was, there was already a hint of a refined young gentleman about him. She swelled with quiet pride.

“Rong Jie’er is here too — hello, little sister.” Chang Nian spotted Rong Jie’er and greeted her with a smile. Rong Jie’er lowered her head in a perfectly executed curtsy, and said in a soft, gentle voice: “Greetings, elder brother Nian.” Nanny Chang, seeing this, let out a quiet, dry laugh and shook her head.

“With the Madam’s permission — I’ve brought Rong little sister a copy of Changshui Ji annotated by Master Qian Yulin — may I…” Chang Nian bowed with folded hands, and before Minglan could reply, Rong Jie’er’s eyes had already lit up, and her upper body had already straightened with eagerness.

Minglan, seeing this, let out a quiet laugh and waved her hand: “I have more to say with your grandmother. The two of you go to the side room.” A girl not yet ten and a boy just past ten — there was no need for excessive avoidance of each other. Besides, the adults were right next door.

Watching Rong Jie’er follow Chang Nian to the side room with the excited hop of a small rabbit, Nanny Chang’s expression grew complex. Minglan glanced at her and understood — she felt both dislike for the mother and pity for the child’s situation.

Nanny Chang turned her head and said quietly: “Ah, that girl… in so short a time, she’s already so changed — she knows propriety, she knows how to conduct herself. She was unlucky in her mother, but fortunate to meet the Madam — she is blessed.”

Minglan’s lips moved, but she said nothing. She never brought up the subject of Man Niang on her own initiative.

Nanny Chang was by nature careful, and seldom spoke of Gu Tingye’s past. But this time, something seemed to stir in her memory, and she murmured quietly, her eyes distant: “That woman — when she was trying to find out Ye-ge’er’s whereabouts, she used to harass my family every day, and even left Rong Jie’er with me. Later, she found out where Ye-ge’er had gone, and decided to take the child south with her. Well, whatever else that child might be, she’s still Ye-ge’er’s flesh and blood — I certainly wasn’t going to harm her. But that woman insisted on taking the girl away herself, and I thought she was going to take her along on the journey — but then she turned around and deposited the girl right at the Marquis’s household gate. Rong Jie’er was so small back then — thrown into that wolf’s den. What kind of mother could bear to do that?”

From the adjacent room came a burst of cheerful laughter — a little girl and an older boy, laughing freely and without a care. The clear, childish girl’s voice mingled with the half-cracked, honking boy’s voice, and somehow it sounded perfectly harmonious. Nanny Chang couldn’t help but smile, but then deliberately let out a loud, pointed cough. The laughter from the other room cut off abruptly — like a great white goose suddenly grabbed by the throat — and silence fell.

Minglan could practically picture the two children hunching their necks and covering their mouths in embarrassment, and she was instantly overwhelmed with suppressed laughter, pressing her handkerchief to her mouth to stifle it.

Nanny Chang led her grandson home. Minglan waddled clumsily to the door to see them off, saying as they walked: “A few days ago, Manager Hao came to report that the workmen had been inspected and everything approved — the foundation is solid, the walls well-built, the construction work can be concluded. I plan to hold a few tables of wine the day after tomorrow — please, Nanny, be sure to come.” Moving earth in a great household was a serious matter; whether breaking ground or celebrating completion, the almanac had to be consulted, and such a feast could not be declined.

“Good food and drink — of course I’ll come,” Nanny Chang said with a laugh, turning back to look.

The next day, Minglan woke up with her cheeks pink and rosy, and lazily listened to Danju read through the guest list. Since the master of the household was away, it wouldn’t be suitable to make a grand occasion of it — only family relatives should be invited. Then she listened to Liao Yong’s wife recite the menu and the list of dried and fresh fruits and provisions, calculating how much food and wine would need to be purchased for the number of guests, and how many extra seats to reserve. Since the weather was hot, some ice blocks would need to be brought up from the cellars, and people assigned specifically to put the wine and fresh fruit down in wells the morning of the day before; there were also the workmen’s numbers, and how to arrange the workers’ meal tables; this round of work was only a small matter of repairing the garden walls and part of the courtyard — nothing like the large-scale business of raising beams and building houses — so the offerings and the sweet pastries for scattering in celebration could be kept relatively simple. Besides, several feasts had already been hosted at Chengyuan since the branch household had been established, so the stewards and matrons were well practiced, with old precedent to follow — no need to panic.

Just as she was going through everything, someone outside came to report that a messenger had arrived from the Sheng Mansion, and Minglan quickly had Luzhi go out to welcome the visitor.

“Nanny Fang — you’ve come! Sit, sit, sit!” Minglan was both startled and delighted, and was bracing herself on the armrests to get up when Nanny Fang hurried forward to support her, repeating rapidly: “My dear little ancestress — please sit still for me!”

“Is Nanny keeping well? Is the Grandmother well? And what about Quan Ge’er — how many characters can he read now? And little Hui Jie’er — can she call out to people yet?” Before she had even sat down, Minglan was pulling Nanny Fang’s hand and asking one question after another.

Nanny Fang accepted the teacup that Danju offered, while patting Minglan reassuringly and answering with a laugh: “All well, everything is well. Little Hui Jie’er is sharp as a pin — she’s already learned how to coax people. As for Quan Ge’er, he’s started getting up to mischief — charging around every room like a small bull-calf, and no number of people can catch him. The Grandmother doesn’t need the ebony staff much anymore — she has to raise her voice at least several times a day. But her health has actually been growing more robust. Just a while back the physician came to check her pulse and said she’ll certainly live to see Quan Ge’er take a wife!”

Hearing that her grandmother was well and hale, Minglan was filled from head to toe with joy. When she had been young, she had been nothing but a counterfeit little girl — no matter how much she pretended, she had always been a bit too precociously knowing. A real child should be like Quan Ge’er — entitled to act wild, to be naughty, to run amok, and to drive adults into hopping about the room in exasperation, in front of a great-grandmother who adored him.

“Yesterday the Grandmother went to Guangji Temple and had a talisman prayed over for the Sixth Young Lady — for the Madam to carry on her person, to ensure mother and child are safe and everything goes smoothly!” Nanny Fang held out a small sachet, presenting it to Minglan with great care.

Minglan was so moved that she accepted the sachet, tucked it into her front, and felt her eyes growing warm and prickling. She turned her head to conceal the moisture at her eye corners, then smiled and asked: “And Father — is he well? Is the Grandmother well?”

Before the previous new year, Sheng Hong had been transferred from the Censorate to the Ministry of War, serving as Right Vice Minister, jointly handling the logistics accounts for the northwestern frontier routes. Nanny Fang smiled: “Quite well. But these past days the old master has actually been more cheerful, and has had time to check the young masters’ studies, and occasionally comes to have a chat with the Grandmother. And…” she sighed with a smile, “…our old master is the most even-tempered of men by nature. In all those years of serving in office, has he ever made an enemy? Everyone praises him for being kind and honest — yet he was made to specialize in filing charges against people. It truly was hard on the old master. Now, thank goodness — Amitabha!”

Minglan clutched her belly in an effort to contain her laughter. It wasn’t right for a daughter to make fun of her parents, but working as a censor truly was not suited to her father’s temperament. He was born to be the peacemaker who smoothed everything over — asking him to stare at people looking for faults, getting people in trouble covertly was one thing, but filing open charges and making open enemies had genuinely taken a great psychological toll on him. “Then… what about my brother and sister-in-law?” Minglan asked, blinking with great anticipation.

“Like a pair of mandarin ducks — flying wing to wing,” Nanny Fang said with a perfectly straight face.

“Truly?!” Minglan blinked.

From the very start of their new marriage, this couple had not seen eye to eye. Changfeng had naturally found the stern and serious Madam Liu unappealing, and Madam Liu had made equally no effort to conceal her opinion that her husband was frivolous and improper. On the fifth day after the wedding, Changfeng went to his concubine’s quarters, and Madam Liu had been entirely indifferent.

Watching the husband and wife at odds with each other, Wang Shi had been privately delighted. But Changfeng, fool that he might be, would never treat the Wang Shi who had fought with his own birth mother for twenty-some years as anything like a close family member. And his only two remaining supports — Sheng Hong and the Grandmother — had both sided entirely with Madam Liu. Any position Madam Liu took was correct; any action Madam Liu took had deep meaning behind it. And so Madam Liu had obtained ever firmer control over Changfeng’s spending allowances.

Hey — that was a genuine tragedy.

Sheng Hong kept close watch over Changfeng’s studies, disciplining his son meal by meal and portion by portion. The Grandmother held that any marital friction was Changfeng’s fault, and citing Sheng Hong’s own declaration that “the Sheng Family’s eldest must be of legitimate birth,” dismissed all four of Changfeng’s concubines with one stroke, sending them all off to the estate. Changfeng was living a life of misery. He had always been soft-natured and gentle; faced with this predicament, he could not help but feel tears welling up from his very core. Bleak and desolate — not a single kindred soul in all the world. Life had become completely impossible.

At precisely this juncture, Madam Liu extended the warm hand of friendship to the beleaguered Sheng Changfeng.

“That day, the young master had been soundly scolded by the old master again, and was too heartbroken to eat his dinner. The young mistress carried a late-night snack to the study to find him.” Nanny Fang lowered her voice. “No one knows what the young mistress said — but according to the maids, the young master, like a small child, buried his face in the young mistress’s arms and cried his heart out. The next day, the young mistress stopped keeping her face so rigid, stopped saying harsh things. She became warm and gentle — the two of them were as close as honey and sugar. Later the young mistress accepted those concubines back into the household, and the young master, moved by her magnanimity, grew even more devoted to her and proactively sent two of them away himself, keeping only two who were honest and well-behaved. And now, the young mistress is urging the young master to apply himself to his studies.”

Peaks and valleys — a twisting, tumbling tale.

Minglan couldn’t help but clap her hands, admiring her sister-in-law mightily. Sheng Hong and the Grandmother truly had sharp eyes — this daughter-in-law had been worth bringing in!

“Did Sister-in-law coordinate all this with Father and Grandmother in advance?” Minglan leaned in conspiratorially.

Nanny Fang’s expression was deeply inscrutable: “Clever people need no coordination.”

Minglan burst out laughing and, as a reward for such a well-told story — with the hook set early and the prize revealed at the end, driving the fish right into the net — peeled an orange and handed it to Nanny Fang. Who said life doesn’t require wisdom?

Playing the villain’s role one moment and the kind one the next, spending every effort to keep hold of a husband and turn adversity into advantage — compared to Madam Liu’s painstaking ingenuity, the Seventh Young Lady of the Gu household was like a child who didn’t know how hard life was, squandering her opportunities with reckless willfulness.

Nanny Fang and Minglan went on chatting about various amusing Sheng household news, and Nanny Cui came over smiling to listen for a while too, along with Danju and the others chiming in and joking — it was a full room of warmth and cheer. Just then, Xia Zhu came rushing in, her face full of alarm: “Madam — it’s bad news. Young Nian has had an accident.”

Minglan went pale with shock and exclaimed: “What’s happened?”

“This morning when young Nian was on his way to school, two wild horses suddenly burst out from the side and rammed into the carriage. Young Nian was also struck and is now unconscious. Nanny Chang has already sent someone in a great hurry to report to the Madam.”

Minglan’s expression became grave. She said in a composed voice: “Take my name card — go at once to invite Physician Lin.”

Her heart seized tight. If anything happened to Chang Nian, she truly did not know how Nanny Chang could bear it.