The moment the girl was gone, Nanny Cui couldn’t help but say: “Madam, you…”

Minglan waved a gentle hand to silence her and smiled wryly: “Fighting against them — I’m not afraid, and there are ways. If I didn’t care about Kang Zhao’er’s life, it would be simple enough. But… after all, heaven values life. I only let her choose for herself.”

Nanny Cui seemed to understand something, and said quietly: “I see — so just now the Madam was testing her.”

“If she was counting on entering the Marquis’s household and living out her days in wealthy ease — then I would have been sorry, but I’d hand her over to my Second Elder Cousin and say: ‘The ancients praised the beauty of two sisters serving one lord together. Since Yima has this intention, why not let her serve in my cousin’s household as well — then sisters will share one husband, and what a fine tale it will be.’ And then I’d go on with my own business. If she wanted to make a scene, that would be entirely up to her.”

Minglan settled down slowly, moving with a heavy, weary deliberateness. A deep exhaustion showed in her face. “If that had been the case, it would have saved me trouble — but she turned out to be a decent person, and I couldn’t bring myself to send her back to the Kang household to be tortured by Kang Yima any further.”

Nanny Cui, who was kind-hearted herself, couldn’t help sighing: “Ai — she’s a pitiable child too. All of it is the Kang Family’s doing wrong.”

“Grandmother always said: even a small kindness can save a life; even a small act of goodness can recreate a person. I’ll take this as accumulating merit for the child.”

Minglan stroked her swelling belly slowly, her face full of loving warmth. Zhao’er’s dowry would come from her own private funds. She had been frugal and careful in managing the household, and the first silver she had managed to save — she hoped it would go to something meaningful: helping a self-respecting young woman begin a new life.

She was lost in thought for a moment, then composed herself and said firmly to Nanny Cui and Danju: “Pass the word — no one is to say a single thing about Zhao’er’s situation. Tonight, dress her in a maidservant’s clothes and send her out of the household — and then continue as if she were still here. The fine details of how to manage this, we’ll figure out carefully. The most important thing is that the mouths of everyone in this courtyard must be sealed tight.”

Danju and Nanny Cui acknowledged this with full seriousness.

Outside Jiahi Residence, a few small maids peered and watched from behind trees and rocks. Not until the sky had grown dark did one maid run off quickly to Xuanzhi Courtyard, stepped swiftly inside, and whispered into Xiang Mama’s ear. Then Xiang Mama led her inside to make the report.

“How is it?” The Madam sat upright on the couch, her gaze sharp.

The small maid said quietly: “The doors there are heavily guarded. We didn’t manage to get much information until dinner had been brought in. They say the Kang girl was making a terrible fuss, but the scissors have already been taken from her, and she’s now locked up with a dedicated guard.”

The Madam broke into a chilling smile: “It doesn’t have to be scissors — dashing her head against a pillar or hitting a wall would do equally. Aren’t all of those perfectly fine?”

Xiang Mama sent the small maid out, then returned to hear the Madam, lying back on the rattan couch, speaking softly to herself with a low laugh: “Should be thanking Nanny Chang — if not for her one outburst and that humiliation, the Kang Patriarch cares about face, and that Kang Wang Shi might not have been willing to put herself out so fully.”

“These past few days have been tiring for you, Madam — you may rest easier now for a bit,” Xiang Mama said with a smile, adjusting the cushions behind the Madam.

The Madam had just loosened her outer robe when she suddenly asked: “With Kang’s daughter making such a scene, what has that second daughter-in-law done in response?” Xiang Mama thought a moment, then said: “Nothing else of note — only that just now the doorman harnessed a carriage, and it went directly toward the Sheng Mansion.” The Madam immediately laughed: “So she thinks she’s some eight-armed immortal? Turns out she still has to go home and call in reinforcements!”

Crash!

A teacup was flung hard to the ground and shattered, the sticky amber liquid soaking the rust-red thin-pile rug. The maids and matrons in the hall all lowered their heads and pulled in their shoulders, holding their breath.

“Did you know about this or not?!” Sheng Grandmother’s face was thunderously dark, standing with her ebony cloud-headed staff.

Wang Shi was flustered and helpless, pleading her innocence repeatedly: “How could I… how could I… I truly had no idea of this matter.” She was more wronged than Dou’e, she thought.

“It’s all that good sister of yours! Not a shred of true character — not half a trace of true kindness. Couldn’t keep a husband tied down, couldn’t manage her children, had nothing better to do than take out her frustrations on concubines and concubine-born daughters. When she runs out of tricks, she comes crying to her own family — what other skills does she have? Sharp-tongued and venomous — she ought to be brought before the ancestral shrine and publicly disciplined!”

Grandmother had more than a passing desire to do away with Kang Yima entirely, and she didn’t spare a word in her reproach. Wang Shi found this increasingly hard to hear, and couldn’t help putting in a word for her sister: “Isn’t it being said that it was the Gu household’s Madam who took a fancy to Zhao’er? It’s not as if Sister did it on purpose…” Her voice grew smaller and smaller, until it faded completely under Grandmother’s frightening gaze.

“Utterly without reason! You too are the mistress of a household. What kind of girl is a doormat that anyone can just pick up and send off to be someone’s concubine? She has thoroughly ruined every last trace of the Kang Family’s dignity over the generations — and even if she despises the concubine-born children, she has absolutely no business treating them this way! Her intentions are clear — she has already seen her own children well married, so now she can do whatever she likes without restraint!”

Grandmother slapped the table with great force. Wang Shi’s face burned with shame — and she had nothing to argue back with — and she dared not even open her mouth. But then Grandmother’s tone shifted sharply, and she was eyeing Wang Shi with suspicion and glaring hard: “You truly didn’t know? Don’t tell me you were in on this with her!” Wang Shi frantically waved her hands in denial: “Please, Mother, see clearly — I truly didn’t know! I’ve always treated Minglan just as I treat Rulan!”

Grandmother let out a slow breath, then pointed at Wang Shi and said: “You — go find that black-hearted sister of yours and make things absolutely clear. Whatever schemes she has, we want no part of it. If she still values our Sheng Family as kin — she’d better get this idea out of her head at once!”

Wang Shi was startled and didn’t know where to begin. She was inwardly unwilling: “This, this… isn’t it quite improper? Even if Sister made a mistake, since the matter has come this far, we could just let it be…”

The ebony cloud-headed staff struck the ground heavily, and the smooth, polished green-stone floor tiles rang out with a piercing sound. Grandmother began to scold: “You just said moments ago you treated Minglan like your own daughter. If this had happened to Hualan or Rulan, would you still feel the same?!” Wang Shi opened and closed her mouth. Grandmother narrowed her eyes, her gaze imposing: “When your mother-in-law repeatedly tried to bring concubines in for your husband, how furiously did you argue back? And barely had Hualan and Yuan Shao gotten along well before you were prodding Hualan to put those girls in their place. Do you really think I’m old and senile?! If you don’t go, I’ll go myself — and I’ll shake out every one of that woman’s ugly dealings publicly, and we’ll see who comes out looking righteous!”

“Mother — no, no — I’ll go, I’ll go of course!” Wang Shi had no argument left.

“Then why are you still standing here?!”

Wang Shi was bewildered: “Right now? The sky is already dark.”

Grandmother gave her one of those blade-sharp looks and said: “Whenever your sister has something urgent, she’s knocked on the Sheng household door — never mind the hour, even in the middle of the night. She can come — can you not go?”

Wang Shi had no choice. She inwardly cursed her sister for meddling and bringing this trouble down on her, and hurried out to tidy herself up and drive to the Kang Mansion.

The Kang Mansion was situated on the eastern side of the Imperial City. In terms of location, layout, and scale, it far surpassed the Sheng residence. The high entrance beams, the sweeping eaves, eighteen different types of convex carved reliefs — from the bluestone pavement at the entrance all the way inside — ninety-eight bats in total, a number symbolizing the Kang Family’s past glories. But now the servants were slovenly, the halls empty and cold — that old air of splendor was long since gone.

A matron guided Wang Shi through the compound all the way to the inner courtyard, where she saw that Kang Yima had just sat down to her evening meal, flanked by numerous maids and matrons. A richly dressed woman was serving dishes for her.

Kang Yima had known Wang Shi would come sooner or later — she just hadn’t expected her this quickly. Thinking it over, she supposed Minglan must be in a panic, at a loss for what to do, and she felt a surge of private glee. Wang Shi was impatient by nature, and the moment Kang Yima had dismissed the others, she launched into a tumbling, rapid account of everything. But Kang Yima listened while slowly blowing on her teacup: “I thought it was something important — so it’s just this.”

Wang Shi was in a great rush, barely keeping her voice down: “Sister, what exactly are you planning? Aren’t you harming me?”

Kang Yima answered with languid ease: “How am I harming you? I’m protecting your wealth and security!”

“But, but — what do you mean by that?” Wang Shi was baffled.

“Your son-in-law is growing ever more prominent — looks like boundless wealth and honor ahead. And with that, you and your family will bask in the reflected glow. But stop and think — is that precious Gu Marchioness on the same side as you?”

Wang Shi hesitated: “She was raised before my eyes from childhood — I’ve been good to her. How could she not be on my side?”

Kang Yima let out a cold, contemptuous laugh: “If she were truly on your side — respecting you and honoring you — then just a while back she wouldn’t have gone ahead and driven out the maidservant you gave her without even a word of consultation!”

“…But that Caihuan was dismissed by the son-in-law himself…” Wang Shi’s voice had dropped considerably.

“You keep fooling yourself. If she hadn’t stirred things up, would any man even think of it?!”

Kang Yima sipped her tea and continued to wield her eloquent tongue: “She’s only been in the door a short while. Once she’s properly established, do you think she’ll still have any regard for you? She’s only on good terms with your mother-in-law. In the future, you’ll be getting weaker and weaker in the Sheng household — you’ll find it harder and harder to hold your head up!”

“That can’t be right…” Wang Shi said, with less and less conviction. She suddenly remembered something and said quickly: “But then Zhao’er isn’t your own daughter either. How could she be on your side?”

“No matter.” Kang Yima smiled with confidence. “Her mother is in my hands. I tell her to face east — she doesn’t dare face west!”

Wang Shi’s eyes lit up, and her heart began to waver. Seeing this, Kang Yima added more fuel to the fire: “The concubine-born daughters of lesser status need to be taught a lesson now and then — mustn’t let them forget their position and think they’ve flown up into the branches to become phoenixes! After this, whether or not Zhao’er turns out useful, that dead girl will be better behaved, and your words will carry more weight.”

“But how do I explain myself when I go back? My mother-in-law is not easy to deal with.” Wang Shi’s scalp prickled at the thought of Grandmother.

“What’s there to worry about? You go back and cry — say I refused to listen no matter how you begged. At worst I’ll stop coming to your house — you can just come to me in secret. Push everything onto me. When it comes down to it — can she actually repudiate you?” Kang Yima was utterly unconcerned.

“And then… what about my husband?” Wang Shi’s scalp prickled again.

Kang Yima’s face took on an expression of pure contempt: “Men — isn’t it all the same in the end? Do you actually believe in ‘husband and wife’s deep bond’?” This time Wang Shi disagreed somewhat — she thought to herself: you and your own husband have nearly fallen out entirely, while she and Sheng Hong could still exchange some tenderness from time to time.

At that very moment, however, Sheng Hong was not in the least tender. He had barely come home when he was urgently summoned to Shou’an Hall, where Grandmother explained everything to him in full. His face immediately turned green, and he said severely: “What a truly foolish and senseless woman!”

— It was unclear whether he meant his wife or his wife’s sister-in-law’s wife.

“You know all of it now. What do you intend to do?” Grandmother had already put aside her anger and sat quietly.

Sheng Hong thought briefly, then answered with respect: “What does Mother say?”

“Do you want a Kang daughter entering the Gu household?”

“Absolutely not!” Sheng Hong said with furious indignation. Don’t be absurd — one was his own flesh and blood, the other was someone else’s daughter. He had worked so hard to secure such a powerful and well-placed son-in-law. His son’s career prospects, the family’s rise — who knew how much help they would still need. He had just begun to taste the benefits, and here was the Kang Family trying to snatch the meat right off the bone. Was that not infuriating?

Having vented his temper, Sheng Hong felt he had been rather over-the-top, and coughed quietly: “The son-in-law’s household affairs — I’ve heard a little. The stepmother’s conflict with him is pretty much common knowledge by now. And yet this aunt goes and befriends Gu Marchioness — isn’t that an open slap in the son-in-law’s face?”

If the Kang Family had caused trouble on their own and dealt with it themselves, that would have been one thing — but Kang Yima was acting under the banner of the Sheng Family’s name, which would make him unable to face his son-in-law going forward. Most crucially — his relationship with Kang Yima’s husband was average at best. If Kang Zhao’er ever came to be favored, it would only benefit the Kang Family.

“In that case, we cannot stand by and do nothing.” Grandmother smiled. She had known Sheng Hong’s thinking was clear — it was always a pleasure to talk with him. With Wang Shi, it was like walking through a muddy pit — legs mired, neither able to pull out nor move forward.

“Mother is right. Does Mother have a stratagem?” Sheng Hong’s greatest virtue was his openness of mind and readiness to listen to others’ counsel — which was why he had managed to make it this far, with people in officialdom praising him universally as an honest, kind, and truly humble gentleman.

Grandmother was satisfied. She said in a low, measured tone: “Just now, while slipping out, I already had someone escort the Kang girl away in the night — and sent her to Youyang. First, remove the firewood from under the pot — and then we each act accordingly. As for the Kang aunt…” She smiled slightly, looking at Sheng Hong, word by word: “Recently, the Kang Family’s uncle — didn’t he entrust you with a matter?”

Sheng Hong looked up sharply. He had discussed this matter with Grandmother before, and at the time Grandmother’s attitude had been noncommittal — but now she had turned it entirely around in an instant. He was by nature hesitant and liked to get along with everyone, and he wavered: “This… would it not be improper?”

Grandmother laughed coldly: “All these years, we’ve sorted out how many messes for the Kang Family. Never mind bringing up a few matters — just that alone would be enough to strip them of their dignity. Now — it’s simply time to let the people surnamed Kang know: the Sheng Family is not to be bullied!”

Sheng Hong turned it over carefully in his mind. Kang Patriarch was a complete incompetent — the Kang Family’s nephew was also of limited ability. As for the Kang Family’s other branches, some of them did hold official posts, but none of great significance, and the Kang brothers were not exactly on harmonious terms. He gritted his teeth: “I’ll follow Mother’s word.”

After Sheng Hong had left, Nanny Fang came to support Grandmother as she walked to the inner room, and said softly: “Rest easy, Madam — both of them have set off.”

Grandmother settled slowly onto the inner room couch, letting Nanny Fang remove her shoes and stockings. Her face still showed an undiminished disgust, and she murmured under her breath: “The Kang girl can travel slowly — but the great nephew must get word early, by fast horse and light boat, six or seven days at most for a round trip. Hmph — that vicious wretch — I’ll make her feel the pain next! She doesn’t treat other people’s daughters as human beings — we’ll see how she feels about her own!”

Nanny Fang had just brought up a basin of hot water — as usual, for soaking Grandmother’s feet — when Grandmother suddenly thought of something and looked alarmed: “I’m getting old, and things slip my mind. All this commotion, and I still haven’t sent word to Little Minglan!”

“It’s… quite late in the evening already,” Nanny Fang said hesitantly.

Grandmother grew urgent, and barefoot, stomped her feet repeatedly on the footstool: “Little girl is carrying a child, and her husband isn’t by her side. Who knows how anxious she must be inside — without a good night’s sleep, go at once, go at once!”

Nanny Fang laughed: “Yes, I’ll do as you say. You can give me a message to pass along.”

Grandmother thought a moment, and said in a voice full of tender warmth: “Tell her — don’t be afraid. Grandmother is here for everything…”

Hearing that tone — fit for coaxing a baby — Nanny Fang couldn’t help but let out a small laugh. Grandmother shot her a look sideways, then continued: “Tell her to take good care of herself. Giving birth to a big healthy child is what matters most.”

Nanny Fang smiled and agreed, then called a maid to come take over soaking Grandmother’s feet, and went out to give instructions. Just before the door, Grandmother suddenly called her back. She turned and listened quietly.

“If she comes back from the Kang Mansion — say I’m tired and have already gone to rest. Tell her to come back tomorrow.”