She looked up at Liu Shi, who was smiling faintly. Sheng Changfeng followed at her side step by step, like a child faithfully following his mother. Molan felt a hot rush of rage: “Sister-in-law is so skilled at managing a husband — my brother does everything you say now! I dare say he listens to you even better than he listens to Father!”

This had gone too far. Sheng Changfeng’s expression darkened at once: “You know I’m your elder brother — is this the way to speak to your elder brother?! Disgraceful! It’s all because Yiniang indulged you when you were small and never taught you properly!”

It was the first time in Molan’s life that her own full-blood brother had scolded her. Her eyes reddened and she was about to cry.

Liu Shi slowly moved over and took her husband’s hand: “What is there to argue with Fourth Sister about? Fourth Sister is concerned for Yiniang — she spoke a little sharply, that’s all. All right — you hurry on ahead. When the drinking starts later, Father will be there alone — he won’t be able to manage four sons-in-law by himself. You must keep them in check.”

“What if I’m the one who gets drunk?” Sheng Changfeng said with a smile.

Liu Shi said softly: “When you come home, I’ll brew you a hangover soup.”

Sheng Changfeng smiled warmly. He turned to Minglan: “Sixth Sister, stay a while longer and keep your sister-in-law company.” He gave Molan one last glance: “Your sister-in-law is with child. You should behave yourself and not make her upset!” With those words, he turned and walked away.

Molan was nearly faint with fury. Her slender fingers — stained with phoenix flower juice — clenched her handkerchief in a death grip. She could have torn apart the full-blood brother and sister-in-law before her. After enduring for a long moment, she finally stormed out in rage, and no one knew where she went.

Minglan lowered her head and sipped her tea, acting as though she had seen nothing. She only exchanged a few unremarkable words with Liu Shi about everyday matters. Liu Shi had a gift for conversation and was in good spirits. She never touched on a single word about Sheng Changfeng or Lin Yiniang, chatting with easy cheerfulness about small trivialities and amusing domestic incidents. After they had talked for a while, Minglan made an excuse to take her leave. Liu Shi did not try to detain her, and smiled as she rose to see her off.

The fine sandy path beneath her feet was more than familiar — one turn left, one turn right, and Minglan had cut through a shortcut to Shou An Hall, then walked straight in with assured ease. In the inner room she found Sheng Lao sitting on the kang, gazing with gentle affection at the sleeping infant.

Hearing someone come in, she did not turn her head, continuing to watch the child: “Look how soundly this little one sleeps… This isn’t like you — when you were small, even the rustle of a curtain in the wind would wake you.”

Minglan sidled up with a grin, nuzzling close like a devoted little puppy: “This little one takes after his father — once he decides to sleep peacefully, you could carry him off and throw him in the moat and he’d never know.”

Sheng Lao slowly turned and looked at Minglan. Her expression held a smile: “Finished making the rounds?”

“I had to go through the whole lot, didn’t I — I desperately wanted to just fly over.” Minglan settled onto the edge of the bed and leaned her head against Sheng Lao’s arm, sighing: “Grandmother, I missed you.” Then she looked left and right: “Where’s Quan Ge’er? I brought him something.”

Sheng Lao wrapped an arm around Minglan and stroked her hair gently: “I had planned to let him stay and wait for you. But Hualan’s two little boys were craning their heads in at the doorway — once he saw that, he couldn’t sit still. I don’t know where that little rascal has run off to now.”

“Is Quan Ge’er well-behaved?” Minglan put on an elder’s airs: “At least half as good as I was as a child?”

The serene, lean lines of Sheng Lao’s face softened into a smile: “Boys aren’t like girls. From the moment he could run, it took Nanny Fang and a maid just to catch him. But when it comes to memorizing books and writing — that stern little expression he puts on looks exactly like your elder brother.”

“I wonder how Elder Brother is getting on now?” Although Sheng Hong never said it aloud, one could see that with the whole family gathered in happiness today but Elder Brother and Elder Sister-in-law missing, he felt a certain regret. Minglan thought of something: “In Elder Sister-in-law’s last letter she mentioned she’s with child — by my calculation, that should be within these next two months. Everything else aside, I fear that out there, medical care and medicines may be lacking — that’s inconvenient.”

“I’ve been worried about this too.” Sheng Lao’s brows furrowed slightly. “Your father and I have been discussing — we plan to send two capable and experienced matrons. The only problem is the difficulty of traveling there — it’s both remote and hard to navigate…”

Minglan smiled and clapped her hands: “I thought of this too. A while ago I discussed it with the Marquis. He said that after the New Year, the Board of War will be escorting a shipment of weapons and provisions in that direction — passing through Elder Brother’s post. Why not have the household’s caravan travel along with them? It would be safe and reliable, with no fear of getting lost — and you could send as much medicine and supplementary goods as you like.”

“I won’t say it’s any trouble for my son-in-law.” Though Sheng Lao’s tone was mild, it carried a note of genuine pleasure. “Your father likely had this very idea himself. He just loves to put on airs and is too proud to open his mouth.”

“That’s because Father is clever — he knows Grandmother cares about Elder Brother even more than he does, and so he’s happy to save himself the effort.”

Sheng Lao gave a half-mocking, half-laughing sound: “When has that father of yours ever been less than clever?”

Grandmother and granddaughter had not a trace of discomfort making fun of the lord of the Sheng household.

“Elder Brother has indeed married a good wife.” As they chatted along, Minglan came to recount what she had witnessed a little while ago. “Just now, Fourth Sister confronted Elder Brother about Lin Yiniang again — she was quite fierce about it — but Sister-in-law deflected everything, and Elder Brother even reprimanded Fourth Sister.”

Sheng Lao’s expression was one of indeterminate joy or sorrow. She stroked Minglan gently and sighed: “Your brother isn’t a bad person. He just has no backbone of his own. Back then he listened to Lin Shi, and now he listens to his wife. Ai — fortunately your sister-in-law is far better than Lin Shi.”

Minglan nestled like a cat against her grandmother’s lap: “Seeing Fourth Sister so constantly preoccupied with Lin Yiniang — it’s not easy for her either.”

Sheng Lao was silent for a moment, then said: “There is something…” She paused. “Back in the autumn, Molan had a miscarriage.”

Minglan was startled and propped herself halfway up to stare in astonishment. Sheng Lao said: “Molan was caught up in scheming and feuding with the various Yiniangso constantly, always calculating and plotting — she didn’t even know she was with child… Ai — too much worry and strain.” Minglan was quiet for a long moment, and still said nothing — or rather, she did not know what to say.

“Some time before the New Year, Molan came to see your father and asked him to help advance her husband’s career.” The floor heating in the room burned strongly, warm as spring; Sheng Lao’s voice was low and unhurried, like the lingering fragrance of incense from a sandalwood burner: “Your father, softhearted, had been about to agree — but in the end he did not.”

Minglan settled back and leaned against her grandmother, saying quietly: “Father has always loved Fourth Sister dearly. This time he didn’t agree — he must have been beyond his reach.”

“He can’t cross over into that territory — it’s too different a field.” Sheng Lao gave a light huff: “He came to talk it over with me several times. I knew his thoughts — he wanted to see whether Sixth Son-in-law might help. I took no notice.”

Minglan gave a wry smile: “Father is so proud.” No matter how distinguished his son-in-law was, he had to maintain the dignity of the mountain.

“Later, Concubine Ju whispered a few things in his ear — and your father resolved to refuse Molan.” Sheng Lao said.

Minglan took a moment to recall: “Concubine Ju?”

“The Ju Fang who was once in Lin Yiniang’s household.” Sheng Lao gave a faint curl of her lips. “She still has not conceived again.”

Minglan’s heart slowly sank.

On the surface, what Sheng Lao said sounded like casual household talk — but the deeper meaning was profound.

Molan urgently wanted Lin Yiniang recalled home. Was it truly out of deep mother-daughter devotion, unable to bear seeing her mother suffer? Or was it because she had discovered that no one in her maternal family would speak well of her — that people were actually saying unfavorable things about her — and she could gain not even half a benefit from it, and so had come up with this scheme?

The human heart was hard to fathom. No one could say.

“Looking at it now, Fifth Sister is the one living best.” Minglan murmured softly.

At the mention of Rulan, Sheng Lao finally let the expression of detached irony fall from her face, and couldn’t suppress a laugh: “Our Fifth Son-in-law is quite a character. Wasn’t he just about to be posted to an outer region? His mother-in-law wanted to keep Rulan behind to instill some discipline in her — but who knew, his own son had already defected ahead of time and came privately to seek out his mother-in-law. Working it out from both sides, he went and turned the household upside down. Fifth Son-in-law played the pitiful card the whole time — ha — poor mother-in-law, there wasn’t a shred of dignity left for her to put on.”

“He’s clever all right — having my grandmother go and do the dirty work!” Minglan clicked her tongue.

“Never mind — even that is no small thing. As long as he treats Rulan well, that’s what matters.” This time Sheng Lao was unusually lenient, and laughed as she sighed: “Looking at them now, your elder brother-in-law is also a good man. Ai — your father as a husband is mediocre; as a son, nothing more than passable — but as a father he has been not entirely without merit. His eye for choosing his children’s spouses and wives — most of the choices have been sound.”

Minglan thought about it and could not help smiling: “Back then, Father kept insisting that the Marquis was a decent man — he had even seen him personally, as close to swearing oaths as he could get — and yet Grandmother refused to believe him at the time, and Father ended up getting scolded thoroughly.”

Sheng Lao put on a serious face and scolded: “When has any merchant ever failed to say that whatever they’re selling is — good — the very best!”

Hearing herself compare Sheng Hong marrying off his daughter to a street merchant hawking wares, grandmother and granddaughter broke into helpless laughter, clinging to each other. Minglan laughed until tears ran down her face. When they finally wound down, Minglan rested her head against Sheng Lao’s soft midsection and murmured: “Ai — if only you could come and live with me, that would be so wonderful.”

Sheng Lao patted Minglan gently and said in a soft voice: “I have children and grandchildren around me now, a full and flourishing household. If I went to live with you, would that not be slapping your father’s and elder brother’s faces? Ai — no, no, that won’t do.” She sighed again: “And not only that — you must not be too impetuous yourself, always running back to your family home. The Marquis is now a figure of great standing, and you run an entire household single-handedly — so many eyes inside and outside are watching you. You must never give anyone anything to pick at… Knowing you are living well is enough for me. Live your days well — have you taken that in?”

Minglan buried her head in Sheng Lao’s arms like an ostrich, her heart unable to let go.

When the banquet was about to begin, it was not known what Wang Shi had said to Hualan and Rulan — and with Molan who had been crying not long before, and Minglan who had also been crying — all four daughters came to the table with reddened eyes. Compared to the relaxed atmosphere among the women inside, the men’s banquet table outside was a much livelier scene.

Looking at a table spread with splendor, Sheng Hong was both pleased and proud, and with wine cup in hand he grew a little heated with excitement. The straightforward fourth son-in-law Liang Han had already, in company with Sheng Changfeng, drunk each other to the ground. Sheng Hong, smiling, turned his gaze toward the remaining sons-in-law.

Yuan Shao knew Gu Tingye’s drinking capacity. He immediately angled his chin at the man across from him, eyes conveying: mighty man — take the lead for me.

Gu Tingye, utterly at ease, merely raised one eyebrow, meaning: you’re the elder — you go first.

Yan Jing took one look at the situation, saw that things were turning unfavorable, and immediately slumped sideways, slumping over the table propped on one elbow, his body language explaining: this person is already drunk, please proceed without him. To lend greater credibility, he added trembling, drawn-out moaning sounds, undulating and sustained.

Afterward, Gu Tingye told Minglan that in all his years of navigating the drinking arena, he had rarely heard such sound-realistic, convincing fake-drunk moaning.

The meal went on drinking until late afternoon, when the four sons-in-law, in varying states of disarray, took their leave one by one. Minglan supported her swaying, tipsy husband on one side, led the reluctant Rong Jie’er on the other — both of them unwilling to part from her new friend — while the wet nurse followed behind carrying Tuan Ge’er, and in this full procession they made their way back to the Marquis household. Everyone was exhausted that day. Upon returning, they slept hard, and it was dusk before they woke, eating a light, simple supper.

Gu Tingye had not quite sobered up. Having washed up, he moved to kiss Minglan’s neck, laughing in a low, ambiguous tone. Minglan was tilting her head to wipe her damp hair, when she gave one startled sound and was pressed down onto the bed — a rushing, churning flood of kisses rained upon her forehead, her face, her body.

Clothes fell away. Minglan felt the man’s skin burning hot against her, the breath he exhaled scalding. She was caught up in surging, entangling tenderness, and softly yielded herself to him. The two were both exhausted when it was over, and sank into deep, blissful sleep.

Not until the first pale light of dawn did Minglan slowly wake — only to find her husband propped on one arm and lying on his side gazing at her, his eyes warm and deep. Minglan’s face just roused from sleep was as adorably soft as a child’s, still bearing the rosy imprint left by slumber. Watching her clumsily rub her eyes and force herself awake, Gu Tingye felt a tenderness settle in his chest, and he affected a rough, drawling voice: “Mother of the child — what are we eating today?”

Minglan tilted her head, blinking, and smiled: “Father of the child — first go and plow the two mu of land at the east end, and then we eat!”

Gu Tingye assumed a stern face and scolded: “What a heartless woman — on the New Year, telling her husband to go and do labor!”

The two glared at each other for half a moment, then burst out laughing at the same time. Gu Tingye bit her earlobe and said close to her ear with a laugh: “How about we…”

Before the words were finished, there came a sound of hurried footsteps outside rushing toward them. The man was at his height of good spirits and his expression immediately fell.

Through the door, Danju’s breathless, flustered voice came: “Marquis, Lady — just now, the Fifth Master sent someone to report — that, that the eldest master from the Tingyang branch, I fear, is not going to make it. They ask whether our household might have any old ginseng — the older the better…”

Gu Tingye and Minglan stared at each other in stunned astonishment — Gu Tingyang was dying? How had this come about?

There was no time at this moment to ask questions. He was after all a cousin, from the same clan but in a separate household now for only just over a year. They could not be coldly indifferent and pretend not to hear. The couple immediately rose, dressed and presentable with great speed, and then set out beneath the hazy morning light.

Driving the carriage and urging the horses — it took roughly half an hour to arrive at Fifth Master’s residence. Minglan’s memory was sharp — she recognized at a glance the carriage parked outside, which should belong to Tingxuan Elder’s household. At this moment, the Fifth household’s residence was in complete chaos. It was Tingxuan Elder’s personal page who came to lead them inside, and guided Gu Tingye and Minglan in. In the main hall, Gu Tingxuan and his wife were indeed already there.

Looking in, she saw the Fifth Master sitting up in the head seat, both hands braced on his knees, face haggard and gray, his expression gaunt, his head of salt-and-pepper hair in disarray — as if he had aged a full ten years. At this moment Gu Tingxuan was at his side, continuously offering words of comfort. Upon seeing Gu Tingye arrive, the Fifth Master looked blankly for a long while, then gave a faint tilt of his head in acknowledgment — then spoke not a single word, looking lost and utterly bereft of spirit.

Gu Tingye and Minglan first went forward to offer their respects, then asked: “Our household happens to have a root of old ginseng — we have had it brought over with the messenger. We can only hope it may be of use.” Then he added: “We only wonder — Gu Tingyang was perfectly well — how could he have…”

The Fifth Master moved his lips but said nothing. Gu Tingxuan, seeing the awkward scene, gave an embarrassed laugh and came forward to explain: “It was also that brother Tingyang’s conduct was not right — he provoked and angered Uncle, and Uncle… Uncle had him beaten with the plank…” He himself wasn’t entirely clear on the details and could only explain to this extent.

Tingxuan’s wife’s eyes darted about, and she said with a smile: “You’ve probably not eaten breakfast yet, and Uncle has also not had a drop of water. Why don’t we all go and get some rice porridge together? We don’t want Cousin Tingyang to be fine while it’s Uncle who can’t hold on.” So saying, she came to take Minglan’s arm. Minglan smiled her agreement.

The moment the two women stepped out of the main hall, Tingxuan’s wife could no longer contain herself and began talking.

Minglan was unfamiliar with the Fifth household’s layout, but Tingxuan’s wife came here often to visit. The two families’ servants also had many friendly connections, and what’s more, she and her husband had arrived early that morning. Tingxuan’s wife had quickly sent her personal attendant matron out to make a round. Since the Fifth Master had taken ill and Eldest Master Tingyang had fainted, and the Second Master Gu Tingbing and his wife had to stay inside to keep watch, at this moment the household was momentarily unmanaged — not even a word of silence had been given time to be ordered. And so Tingxuan’s wife quickly gathered the news.

“Can you guess what this is about? It would truly dirty my mouth to say it out loud!” Tingxuan’s wife lowered her voice and whispered as they walked, biting at her ear: “…Such a degenerate unworthy son… not even sparing the women in his own father’s quarters…” Since it wasn’t her own family’s shame, Tingxuan’s wife was happy to do Minglan this favor.

In truth, there was nothing remarkable about it at all. It was no more than Gu Tingyang’s old habit of greed and lust for women flaring up again. But having been kept tightly confined by his aging father for nearly half a year, with no outlet, he had gone through all the maids and concubines in the household and grown bored. Incredibly, his attention had turned toward the beautiful servant girls in his father’s quarters.

The Fifth Master was a man of scholarly bearing who always enjoyed the refined pleasure of a fair maiden by his side to assist his brushwork. He kept two serving girls in his quarters to attend to his calligraphy — both quite delicate and lovely in appearance. Their temperaments were, however, very different. One had been successfully coerced into violation by Gu Tingyang. When, several months later, she discovered she was pregnant, she did not dare make it known — and quietly obtained an abortion. Now that she was recovering in secret, Gu Tingyang set his eyes on the other one.

No one had expected that this one was a woman of fierce and unyielding spirit. On the second day of the New Year, Gu Tingyang drank himself drunk and forcibly dragged her off to violate her. She erupted on the spot — hair loose and disheveled, clothes in disarray, clutching a pair of scissors to her chest, she threw herself before the Fifth Master to lodge her complaint. Before the assembled household she spoke every word clearly and plainly, then immediately plunged the scissors into her own throat and died.

On the joyful and auspicious New Year holiday, who could have expected that his beloved concubine would spray blood on the scene before him? The Fifth Master was immediately struck senseless with fury. He had Gu Tingyang bound up and was about to apply family punishment — only to be stopped by the Fifth Old Lady. At this moment, the other serving concubine received word of what had happened. Despite her unsteady, stumbling condition, she rushed over, and upon seeing the woman who was like a sister to her dead by unnatural means, and reasoning that the Fifth Old Lady would likely not spare her either, she threw caution to the wind. There and then, she disclosed everything one detail at a time, the full truth.

The Fifth Master would no longer listen to the Fifth Old Lady. He immediately had his son bound up for family punishment and supervised the proceedings himself. At the same time, he had Gu Tingye’s close personal attendant also bound up, intending to beat him to death as well. In the course of this beating, something truly went wrong.

That personal attendant, seeing that his own death was at hand, and hearing the Fifth Old Lady at his side weeping and cursing that it was he who had led his master astray, roared out in fury — in the year of the late Marquis’s household, the maid called You Lian had also been violated and forced to take her own life by Master Tingyang’s hand!

“That servant shouted it so the entire courtyard heard.” Tingxuan’s wife gave a light cough, her expression a little evasive.

That maid called You Lian had been a gift from Madam to the late Marquis, and was said to have been quite favored. After she drowned herself in the pond, everyone assumed it was Gu Tingye who had behaved improperly toward her — and Madam had cried especially hard.

Originally — a son who had taken his father’s concubine was guilty of an act of defiance and moral corruption, yet the concubine being of lesser consequence while the continuation of the family line being of greater importance, the crime was not punishable by death. A severe lesson would suffice. But the Fifth Master had held his deceased elder brother in the deepest respect and affection. Now he came to know that his own son of wickedness had defiled his elder brother’s honor — thinking of the elder brother’s former kindness and care, the Fifth Master was overcome with a guilt that cut him to the core.

This time the beating resumed. He took to it personally — raising his cane and bringing it down indiscriminately without cease. Though elderly, his constitution had always been well maintained. Add to that, Gu Tingyang had already taken a first round of beating that, while not light, had not been severe — and over the years his body had been hollowed out by drink and debauchery. This second round left him half dead on the spot. By midnight he had developed a high fever, and his life hung by a thread.

Minglan stood there stupefied, unable to come back to herself for a long while.

After finding the household’s manager-matrons and instructing them to arrange food, Minglan slowly followed Tingxuan’s wife back to the main hall. She saw that the men were still in the same positions as before. The Fifth Master sat slumped and defeated. Gu Tingxuan sighed at his side. And Gu Tingye sat alone on the other side — expressionless, like a figure sculpted from salt and rock.

Truthfully speaking — that Gu Tingyang had met with misfortune did not actually surprise Minglan.

As far as she knew, Gu Tingye had long been quietly paying attention to Gu Tingyang’s disgraceful conduct outside, planning to one day bring it to the Fifth Master’s attention. What he could never have anticipated was that events would unfold so quickly — and without him needing to lift a finger himself.

The group sat in silence. Only Gu Tingxuan would occasionally say something out of place, after which he would receive one sharp glare from his wife, and then laugh a few awkward, self-conscious laughs. The room had no floor heating — only some weak charcoal burning in a bronze brazier in the corner. The porridge and refreshments had yet to arrive despite everything. Minglan felt both cold and hungry, and could only endure.

No one knew how long they had sat there when the heavy padded curtain was forcefully swept aside, bringing in a rush of bone-cutting cold wind. A matron with a face full of alarm came tumbling and stumbling in, and fell to her knees with a thud: “Reporting to the Master — the Eldest Master, he… he… he is gone!”

From the courtyard not far away came a cacophony of wailing cries, carried on the wind — as if it were an outcome foreseen long ago. There was an emptiness to it, a desolate sorrow that filled the hall. Everyone fell into silence. No one spoke. Only a scattering of sighs remained.

Minglan watched Gu Tingye closely. The man’s profile was cold and hard, like the gray-blue sky at the horizon — cut into cold and indifferent lines by a steel blade.

He had long wanted to discipline Gu Tingyang. Not only would it settle the score for himself and his father, it would also prevent Gu Tingyang from continuing his scandalous conduct outside and dragging the family name through the mud — but had he ever wished for him to die?

After a long while, the Fifth Master finally stirred, and from his throat came a hoarse, withered sound:

“Prepare the funeral.”

As the Buddha taught — good and evil will each in time meet their due reward.