It was early February, the beginning of spring, and for no apparent reason, a wave of late cold had swept in — a penetrating chill, as though a glass dome had been pressed down over the capital from above. The sun still hung directly overhead, yet the cold still crept upward from the soles of one’s feet. Madam He stood in the doorway looking out at the sky, stamping her feet to shake off the chill, and instructed her matrons to quickly go and fire up the underfloor heating, “and burn two more incense warming baskets in the rooms of the young masters and young ladies — tell the maidservants to keep watch, and make sure none of them catch cold.” She thought for a moment and added an extra instruction: “Over that side too — don’t let it go cold over there, or we’ll have another scene on our hands.”

The matron acknowledged the order with a smile and said a few words praising the Mistress’s virtuous kindness, then turned to go. At that moment, a servant woman dressed in a form-fitting waistcoat came running excitedly to the covered walkway, and called back into the room with a smile: “Mistress, Old Uncle An from the stable came back early, saying that Old Master has already reached the city gate — he is just waiting for a few cartloads of medicinal goods to be unloaded at the shop, and will be right back.”

Madam He’s face broke into delight: “He’s made good time coming back from this journey away — go and tell the young masters and young ladies that their father is coming home. Tell them to bring out the characters and paintings they’ve been practicing, and let the Old Master look at them and feel pleased.”

That servant woman was quite sharp, and went off with a smile to carry out the errand.

With the man of the house away for a long journey coming home, Madam He naturally set about a flurry of preparations: several large tubs of hot water, medicinal herbs steeped for a soothing bath, clean inner and outer garments, the heated bed set burning warmly; thinking that at this hour he would surely not have eaten his midday meal yet, she had the kitchen prepare several of his favorite dishes, and had the children come in bouncing and jumping, then settled them down to wait on the heated bed in the inner room…

After a good while of busy bustling, she looked up and saw that evening had already arrived. A matron came running from outside the gate, her face wearing an expression of both anger and contempt, saying: “Mistress, the Old Master is back — but that unquiet one over there has started a scene again! She has a little maidservant posted at the gate to block the way — the moment she saw the Old Master, she started weeping and wailing, saying Concubine Cao is about to die of illness, and please come at once to have a look!”

These sorts of tricks from that side were nothing new. Madam He was originally inclined to ignore it; in any case, her husband took no pleasure in going over to that side. But at this moment she saw her two beloved children still waiting with eyes wide and eager for their father to return, and anger rose from her heart without restraint.

Madam He’s family was of a military background; from girlhood she had been surrounded by her father and brothers and had absorbed their influence, cultivating a temperament as fierce and direct as sword and blade. Without further words she turned and strode out the door. As she crossed the threshold she gave the heavy padded brocade curtain a good swing, and it struck against the door frame with a deep, resonant thud.

The He household was small and compact, only half a courtyard in depth. In just a few steps Madam He had arrived at the small western side courtyard, and without waiting for the servants in the yard to announce her, she strode directly inside with great strides. She had barely lifted the curtain of the inner room halfway when she saw a woman dressed in plain undergarments half-reclined against the bed, her front garment half-open, exposing half a round, softly pink chest, set off by a rippling crimson-red bodice.

Concubine Cao’s appearance was one of pitiful fragility — her hair in disarray, one hand pressing against her own chest, the other clutching tightly at the arm of the man beside the bed. She was saying in a plaintive tone: “Cousin, Cousin — how cruel-hearted of you — all these days you haven’t come to see me even once…”

The man was still covered in the dust of travel, his voice carrying traces of exhaustion: “I was away on a buying trip. How could I come to see you?”

Concubine Cao fixed both her teary eyes on the man, her voice growing more languid and coquettish: “And before that then? If I hadn’t shamelessly sought you out myself, you would have been unwilling to so much as glance at me, I imagine! Even if I died, no one would have known!”

The man had one hand on her pulse point, listening with his mind elsewhere: “There is nothing seriously wrong with you — some stagnation, a few dispersing medicines will put it right.” Die or not — he had heard her say it so many times over the years, he had long since grown numb to it.

Concubine Cao felt a secret fury rising. With an ordinary man this might be managed, but he was a physician of the first rank — there was simply no way to pretend to be ill and fool him. Seeing that the man was about to rise and leave, she hastily grabbed his sleeve and cried: “Cousin, show me compassion!”

And then half her body draped itself over his, as she said pitifully and in a winding, pleading tone: “…Since Lady passed away at the end of last year, Cousin hasn’t wanted to see me at all. I know that I have been at fault — all these years I have been a burden to Cousin, always needing medicine or supplements. I suppose Cousin has long grown tired and disgusted with me. But this breath of mine simply won’t be extinguished, and I only want to be with Cousin for a long and lasting time; yet Elder Sister won’t permit me to set foot in her rooms…”

Madam He could stand to listen no more. She yanked back the curtain and surged in, grabbed hold of Concubine Cao and tore her bodily off the man, then flung her down hard on the floor, and berated her: “You shameless creature! Have you any sense of shame? Your front open and your chest on display — Lady has barely been in the ground a few months! Husband is still in mourning, and you’re here in such a depraved manner trying to entice him! With such blazing appetite, I’ll go outside and find a few hefty, big-handed strong men for you, to take care of your fire — rather than trouble Husband with making him fall short of the obligations of his mourning!”

Concubine Cao had always been terrified of this principal wife who struck with a powerful fist. She was especially so since Lady’s passing, when she had already experienced at first hand a caning personally administered by the Mistress. Her face flushed scarlet, and she lay collapsed on the ground weeping: “…Mistress, how… how can you say such terrible things! I… I don’t want to live anymore…”

Madam He had not the slightest drop of gentle sympathy for her; she spat on her in contempt on the spot: “The sooner you die the better! I imagine you won’t die — you’ll just be scheming and watching for the chance to harm someone! How much kindness and care Lady showed you — but what did you, you wretched shameless creature, get up to while Lady was at death’s door?! And you still have the nerve to lie there crying! Giving someone a drug, getting a filthy maidservant into the bed — wanting to sneak a bastard child into the family to cause havoc! Lady might have held on for another half year, yet you agitated her so much that she didn’t even last through the new year!”

Concubine Cao covered her face and only kept on weeping: “If Mistress despises me, beat me and scold me as you will — but don’t wrong me with false accusations! I also had the He family’s interests at heart. Husband has so far only one son and one daughter; why not take in more concubines and spread the family branches far and wide? I am no good to anyone myself, so I found a woman who was good at bearing children — but I didn’t know that maidservant harbored wicked intentions. I knew nothing of it…”

Madam He’s fury rose sharply; she swung one foot and sent Concubine Cao tumbling halfway over with the kick, and cursed: “Pfft — who are you trying to fool?! If not for great-grandmother-in-law taking precautions ahead of time, you would have had your way; for that one thing alone I could flay you alive and no one would speak up for you! Something as filthy and degraded as you — even the ground you step on is dirtied by your presence!”

Concubine Cao was pinched by the Mistress’s grip and it hurt sharply; she tried to scramble over to kneel at the man’s feet, but Madam He kicked her over again. Concubine Cao rolled on the ground weeping: “Cousin, are you just going to stand there and watch me be beaten and scolded like this?”

The man stood in the doorway, his expression still as neutral as before, as though the struggle of these two women before him had nothing whatsoever to do with him: “She is the principal wife, you are the concubine. She is disciplining you — take it properly… I’m tired. I’ll be going back first.”

And with that, he turned and walked out the door.

Madam He felt inwardly pleased, and called loudly for all her matrons and maidservants from outside to come in. Seeing that no one would help her, Concubine Cao felt panic rising; she knelt beside the principal wife just about to beg and plead for mercy — when she suddenly saw two matrons enter, each holding one arm of a little maidservant who had been so thoroughly slapped across the face that both cheeks were swollen and split and bleeding. She cried out in alarm: “Qiu’er — how did they beat you into this state?!”

This was Concubine Cao’s only remaining trusted maidservant. It had been she who was sent to the gate to intercept the man just now.

Madam He kicked Concubine Cao aside, walked to sit by the window, and swept her gaze around the room at the assembled servants, then said slowly: “I already made it clear at the end of last year — I tolerate no sand in my eyes; don’t imagine there is any easy advantage to be had…” She pointed at the maidservant Qiu’er collapsed on the floor, and said coldly: “…Greedily tempted by a few coins of loose silver — to dare oppose me! Come here — since this maidservant is so devoted to Concubine Cao, have her household bondship papers transferred to the Cao family!”

Qiu’er’s entire body began to tremble violently. She had served Concubine Cao long enough to know the state of the Cao family — reduced to poverty so extreme that even daily firewood and cooking was handled by the Cao family wives themselves, with neither enough to eat nor enough to wear. The Cao family’s several young men were each afflicted with no fewer than five vices. For a decent girl to go there — she would be walking into a wolf’s den! Most likely once they tired of playing with her, she would be sold off to the lowest brothel!

She was so terrified she was overwhelmed, and trying to beg and plead, she found that she was trembling so violently that she could not even speak; whereupon she was dragged out by two matrons.

The surrounding servants fell utterly silent, none daring to breathe a sound.

“Bring her up here before me!” Madam He called out in commanding majesty. Two servant women seized Concubine Cao by the arms and dragged her forward.

Madam He rolled up her sleeves with two sharp movements, raised her broad, solid palm up high, and what followed was a rapid succession of the sound of flesh on flesh — Concubine Cao was slapped back and forth across the face more than a dozen times, beaten until her face was split and bleeding, her lips cracked and split, and she was pleading for mercy in garbled, unintelligible sounds.

“…In the beginning I still thought you were a decent sort — a young lady of good family who had fallen on hard times, sent to that poor and remote place, where you’d suffered enough. I wanted to treat you well — good food and drink, courtesy and proper decorum…” Madam He, having beaten her fill, slowly lowered her sleeve and spoke in a cold, mocking tone: “Yet you were greedy and incorrigible — utterly without shame, given face and not knowing how to make use of it! That wretched maidservant climbed into the bed a mere seven or eight days ago — how is it that she has been diagnosed as two months with child?”

Madam He continued to humiliate the Cao household before all the assembled servants, speaking with complete frankness: “Hmph — don’t play the fool. Husband and I have already investigated. That wretched maidservant was going back and forth to the Cao family carrying messages and things for you, entangled with your several brothers — the bastard child in her belly, whoever its father may be, is Cao’s blood, one way or another. So much for your family’s fine scheme — trying to use such a means to lay your hands on the He family’s property! Let me tell you plainly: it’s a fool’s dream! Great-grandmother-in-law spotted this long ago, and was simply waiting for you to come looking for your own death!”

Old Madam He, from the moment she saw signs that her daughter-in-law was burning out like an exhausted lamp, had known the Cao family would not be able to wait any longer before stirring up trouble. She had instructed her grandson’s wife to keep a cold and watchful eye, to catch them red-handed and in the act, and in doing so also guard against any unreasonable demands her daughter-in-law might make in her final days.

As it turned out, before He breathed her last she barely had strength left to plead for her nephew, and could not utter another word — as Madam He thought of her perceptive and clear-minded great-grandmother-in-law, she felt both gratitude and deep admiration.

The scheme having been exposed, Concubine Cao had quieted down for a good while, not daring to show herself. And yet, just a few months later, she had reverted entirely to her old ways. Madam He had been storing up this anger, waiting for exactly today’s opportunity to bring it all down upon her!

“You had better stay quietly in place. Lady on her deathbed made me promise to take good care of you! Husband and I both remember this, and we will not leave you short of food or clothing. But if you dare scheme wickedly again — there are more than enough convents beyond the city walls, and more than enough strict abbesses. I have plenty of ways to deal with you!”

After this volley of intimidation and scolding, Madam He felt considerably better. She tossed the weeping and sobbing Concubine Cao onto the bed, and then assigned her two “capable” new maidservants and several “disciplined” new matrons.

With a satisfied heart she returned to her own chambers, to find her husband had already finished bathing and was sitting on the heated bed chatting and laughing with their children. The young son was naughty and mischievous, waving about a sheet covered in crooked, lopsided large characters, insisting that Father say it was good, while giggling and laughing as he scrambled up to play on Father’s shoulder. The elder daughter was quiet and composed, sitting properly on the edge of the heated bed going through the Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor with her father in a back-and-forth exchange of questions and answers; her father’s eyes, even as he held his squirming young son, were full of pride as he looked at his daughter.

Madam He’s heart filled with warmth and happiness.

“All right, you two little monkeys — get down already!” Madam He said in a laughing, scolding tone. “Your father hasn’t even eaten yet!”

She had barely drawn close to the edge of the heated bed when the young son came scrambling up her side like a vine, and said in his little childish voice: “Mother, me and Elder Sister will keep Father company for dinner! I’ll serve Father his dishes and pour his wine.”

“Pfft — with you around, can your father eat in peace?…All right, Shu Jie’er, take your little wild monkey brother back with you!”

Shu Jie’er turned to cover her mouth and laugh softly, then pinched her little brother’s ear and pulled and dragged him away.

Husband and wife smiled and watched their pair of children go out the door, then Madam He quickly had her matrons set up the table on the heated bed and arrange the dishes. She personally carried the warmed yellow wine over and poured her husband a cup.

“Has Husband’s journey gone smoothly?” Madam He had already eaten some refreshments and so did not eat at this meal, only sitting across to keep him company. “Physician Huang from Baoan Tang has come twice now, saying he has a medical formula he wishes to deliberate with Husband; the Yan Guogong household has also sent people, saying the pill formula Husband prescribed last time has been very effective, and the old lady and the old master have found it quite agreeable — they ask that a few more be prepared, and if Husband has the opportunity, they would like him to visit regularly to take their pulses. Oh — and Physician Lin from Shuanghua Lane has decided to retire. He said to think carefully once more about whether you truly don’t want him to recommend you for admission to the Imperial Medical Institute. Of course, there are a great many twists and turns inside the Medical Institute, but there are also several lost ancient formulas and medical texts there; if Husband doesn’t wish to go in formally, you could first register as an associate…”

Madam He was a capable hand at managing all manner of affairs, whether managing the household internally or dealing with outside matters — she could carry the weight of half the family’s affairs on her own.

Physician He took a light sip of wine and set it down, saying with genuine gratitude: “These days you have worked hard. You have had to attend to everything inside and out; you must also take care of your own health. I brought back some donkey-hide gelatin and bird’s nest from this trip, and they are for you to consume yourself — don’t give them away to others this time.”

Madam He smiled: “We are husband and wife — what is there to thank me for? My health is perfectly fine.”

Physician He smiled faintly and said nothing more, and bent his head to eat.

Physician He was now barely past thirty. His features were clear and handsome, and his usual manner was one of calm and indifference; the years had left little trace on his face, yet his eyes had long since grown old — at all times carrying a tiredness and blankness in them.

Madam He looked at her husband for a while, and suddenly found her thoughts drifting back to something from many years ago. When she and her husband had married, both of them had already been of a rather mature age.

Madam He’s father had been a low-ranking military officer stationed in the capital; after she came of age, he arranged for her a well-matched betrothal. The other family had been neighbors of many years as well as colleagues in the garrison — a true and deep friendship between the two households extending across generations.

What happened next, she could not say whether it was for good or ill.

From late in the reign of the Benevolent Emperor of the preceding dynasty, several princes and feudatory lords attempted rebellion one after another. The current Emperor ascended the throne, and then there was the suppression of the rebellion, and a few years later another revolt, and another suppression; within and around the capital, chaos prevailed.

Madam He’s father and brothers distinguished themselves with merit after merit through this succession of upheavals, managing to do the right things and back the right side at every turn. Within a few years they rose in rapid succession, and she went from being the unassuming daughter of a low-ranking military officer to the young lady of the Deputy Commander of the South Gate of the Capital’s Five Military Districts, with her brothers all having secured good positions — and yet her betrothed had died in the chaos of the fighting.

Because of this setback, she had been delayed until past twenty before the He family came to propose the match.

Her husband was a decent man, having mastered a fine command of medicine while still quite young, and the He family was a name of some repute. Although she had heard early on that Physician He had a favored younger female cousin as a high-ranked concubine (the Cao family had made quite a fuss over this several times), Madam He was well past the age for being selective, and so her parents had agreed.

Life after marriage was not difficult. That Concubine Cao was not hard to manage, and what was especially important was that the most powerful figure in the He household, Old Madam He, was still vigorous and sharp-voiced, having long since established one ironclad rule: between daughter-in-law He and Concubine Cao, one of them must stay with her and live out at the He family’s hometown of Baishi Pond.

Without a mother-in-law at her side backing her up, the formidable Madam He could deal with Concubine Cao with ease to spare; and without Concubine Cao at her side, however much her mother-in-law might sigh and lament, it was to no purpose. Only when returning to Baishi Pond for the new year’s celebrations, when both Concubine Cao and her mother-in-law coexisted together, was it somewhat more trying — but fortunately, her husband was a sensible man. He was mostly perfunctory with his mother, and showed no special tenderness toward this Cousin Cao of his beyond what was necessary, going to sit with Concubine Cao’s rooms from time to time as a gesture of consideration for his mother’s feelings.

Over time, Madam He had even come to feel that deep down, her husband actually harbored a degree of aversion toward the Cao family — for Concubine Cao, in order to drive a wedge between husband and wife, had more than once implied with vague hints that her husband had once had the prospect of a very good match.

Concubine Cao had miscalculated. Madam He could not have cared less — she herself had been previously engaged. And knowing this made things even better: it confirmed to her all the more that her husband’s heart actually held a deep aversion toward Concubine Cao. And so when she set about dealing with Concubine Cao, she became all the less inclined to hold anything back.

Scold when there is cause to scold, beat when there is cause to beat. She had grown up in the streets and markets; her family had only two rough servants, and at times had to follow her mother out to buy this or that at the shops. There was no shortage of harsh language she could produce at a moment’s notice. Concubine Cao was no match for her.

Moreover, as long as she had righteous cause on her side, no matter how she dealt with the concubine, Old Madam He would approve entirely, and her daughter-in-law could only stand to one side wiping tears, not daring to say a word.

It was only at this point that Madam He came to understand why Old Madam He had sought her out as a granddaughter-in-law. Faced with such a thick-skinned, shamelessly persistent concubine and cousin, such an endlessly troublemaking Cao family showing up to bleed them dry like sticky toffee, and such a scatter-brained and unreliable mother-in-law — had it been the sort of young lady who held herself to a certain decorum, or was timid, or was prim and proper in bearing, who entered this household, not only would the family have descended into chaos, the husband and wife would have been at odds long since.

Only someone like herself — a family standing respectable enough to give her husband a degree of support in the world, while her own nature was robust and direct: dispatching the concubine in front, keeping the mother-in-law in line in the rear, and then turning back to present her husband with the face of a devoted and harmonious couple.

Then, at the end of last year, the mother-in-law who had always been proclaiming she was about to die yet never did — finally died.

With the help of an onion, she shed a thorough and seemingly heartfelt performance of a grieving daughter-in-law in front of all witnesses, weeping in the most genuinely moving manner — while inside, she felt nothing of the kind. Were it not for such a muddleheaded mother, Physician He — with his character and talent — could long since have married a daughter of a prestigious household and built up his own small family from a position of strength. How could it have come to her?

And her husband, for the passing of his widowed mother, appeared to feel no great sorrow either.

Madam He could understand this. After so many years of grinding wear, whatever tender feeling there had once been was long since used up. As for Concubine Cao — from here forward she would be kept under her thumb. If Concubine Cao was well-behaved, she would not make things difficult for her. But if she dared stir up trouble again — well, there were more than enough convents beyond the city walls…

Thinking of this, Madam He felt her spirits rise greatly. She went on smiling as she served her husband more dishes, and in between, casually shared a few recent pieces of news from the capital.

“…Come the opening of spring next month, the capital will have several happy occasions to celebrate. The most significant, without question, is the marriage of the eldest daughter of the Ningyuan Marquis household…” Before she had finished speaking, Physician He suddenly interjected: “Wasn’t the Gu family’s eldest daughter married off a couple of years ago? How is there another eldest daughter?”

Madam He found it faintly curious — her husband’s manner was naturally unhurried, or to put it less kindly, slow and deliberate; and yet he had actually interrupted someone mid-sentence.

She smiled: “Husband doesn’t know — the one who was married a couple of years ago was Marquis Gu’s own natural-born daughter. The one who is to be married now is the daughter of Marquis Gu’s late elder brother, and is, speaking by the household, also a legitimate daughter of the Marquis household. This eldest Miss Gu has been betrothed to the heir of the Yongchang Marquis household — a truly well-matched union, both noble standing and wealth!”

Physician He propped his chopsticks for a moment, then nodded.

Madam He continued with a smile: “Our household has always kept up the supply of medicinal goods to the Liang family, so this time we must be sure to send a proper gift. Oh my — one must say Old Madam Liang is capable. She personally went to the widowed Lady Gu to obtain this match. Marquis Liang is an honest and straightforward man, not one for charming his way through things; the Liang family’s main branch has in these years been growing ever more flourishing and established. How kind and agreeable Marchioness Liang always is — several times she has spoken with me of her difficulties and nearly wept. Well, she can breathe easy now — having allied with the Gu family…”

She was talking cheerfully on, and had not noticed any slight displeasure on the face of Physician He sitting across from her — only heard him say: “If the Liang family harbors such intentions, does not the Gu family risk being dragged into troubled waters?”

Madam He was momentarily at a loss, then laughed: “What is Husband saying? If it were not a fine match, would Marquis Gu consent? It is that Liang heir who is promising — not the least like his parents in their old-fashioned manner; he is a capable one. Though, that said…”

She paused and lowered her voice: “If you ask me, the match made for the Gu family’s eldest daughter two years ago was the better one.”

Physician He raised his head, hesitating: “One is the hereditary heir of an established marquis title, the other a newly successful top-ranked examination graduate — fresh and rising, but still somewhat sparse in background.” He paused, then said: “Although, the eldest Gu daughter is born of a concubine, so perhaps it evens out.”

Madam He smiled: “Husband, you don’t understand these matters. Though the Liang family holds a title, these years their inner substance has been largely depleted. The family is large, with five branches and six sets of sisters-in-law, and the brothers are not on good terms — feuding over legitimate and concubine-born ranking, constantly at odds; Marchioness Liang has been worn so thin her hair is nearly all white. Just wait and see — the Gu daughter who enters that household will have her work cut out for her. The Chang family is different — their original wife died early; there is only one grandmother at home and an elder sister already married out. The Gu eldest daughter enters as the mistress of the household from the first day. These years, Official Chang’s official career has been one of smooth advancement; among the ladies at social gatherings, who would dare look down on Marquis Gu’s eldest daughter? …Tsk, tsk — everyone says Marchioness Gu dotes on this concubine-born daughter. At first I half-believed it; now looking at this, it seems quite genuine. Truly remarkable.”

Physician He fell silent for a moment, then picked up his chopsticks again, and slowly began turning over the dishes in his bowl.

“With Marquis Gu away at the frontier, and Lady Gu a widowed woman, how is this marriage to be managed?…Two years ago, Marchioness Gu came back from the south in person to take charge of the wedding ceremony.”

Seeing that her usually reticent husband had taken an interest in this topic, Madam He also warmed to it, chattering away sharing everything she knew.

“This time Marchioness Gu is not coming — it will be Marquis Gu’s young son and his second brother handling the matter in their father’s place, sending their cousin off in marriage. Tsk, tsk — Husband has not seen them: the Gu young lord is impressive enough in his way, small as he is, already carrying himself with great dignity; but the Gu Second Young Master — so young, and yet — truly like a painting come to life. That day he wasn’t in a sedan chair but rode on horseback through the Gate of Triumphant Return, and young ladies and young married women went absolutely mad, throwing at him sachets and handkerchiefs and all manner of things! They all say that Marchioness Gu in her day was a beauty of the first order, and the Gu Second Young Master takes after his mother in his looks — which is why he is so remarkably handsome and graceful. Who knows which family’s young lady is fortunate enough to take him as husband — I imagine sleeping on the same pillow as such a face, she’d be smiling in her sleep every night. I’ve heard that Shen Guoqiu and the Duke of Ying, father and son-in-law, are both very fond of the Gu brothers — they’d like to split them one each and claim both as sons-in-law…”

After dinner, over a cup of clear tea, Madam He sat by the low table on the heated bed doing needlework. Physician He stood quietly at the window, and after a moment he said: “It’s snowing,” then pushed open the door and went outside.

In the courtyard there stood an old plum tree; its branches carried clusters of soft yellow plum blossoms, trembling gently. Flurries of snowflakes, fine and small, drifted down from the sky. Physician He stood beneath the tree with his back to the door, his head tilted back to watch the plum petals gathering snow.

Madam He set aside her needlework, and rose slowly to stand in the doorway and enjoy the snow. In the gentle, diffuse light of the moon, the tiny snowflakes caught a silvery shimmer in the air, hazy and softened, like a thin veil of gauze.

She stood there in a daze for a while, and in a half-dreaming state, memory carried her back — to a year that also held a night like this, with fine snow drifting and moonlight pure and bright. A handsome and spirited young man had draped himself across the top of the wall, gazing at her with a look of adoration, while she stood just like this beneath her own old plum tree, head tilted back to meet his gaze.

The young man’s brows had been so dark and upright, his gaze so ardent — in those brilliantly clear, dark eyes there had been nothing but her own reflection. Cold snowflakes landed on her face, and she had not felt them at all; her heart had been warmed through and through by his burning gaze, warm enough, it seemed, to melt the snow of the whole world.

Two childhood companions, the innocent closeness of those who grew up side by side — both families had pledged them to each other in betrothal. What a happy time that was…

“…First thing tomorrow morning, I’ll set out with Father and Elder Brothers — when I come back, we’ll hold the wedding. After that, we… we… will never be parted — even with all our teeth fallen out, even with our hair gone white, we’ll be together, always together, forever!”

“Meimei, I… in my heart there is only you… has always been only you.”

“Don’t worry — I’ll come back safe and sound. For your sake, I will certainly come back safe and sound.”

— The words still seemed to ring in her ears, yet the one who had spoken them in the fullness of spring dreams now lay a cold and stiffening corpse in a tomb, the ardent gaze extinguished forever, that bright and unrestrained laughter gone forever, those fiercely warm and strong arms…

Her eye-rims suddenly filled with a surge of burning heat. Madam He quickly bowed her head to wipe them away.

She had spent many, many years slowly walking herself out of the grief. How many matches her father and brothers had sought for her she had refused, missing the age when plums and maiden blossoms fell, missing better prospects that might have come — and she had never once regretted it.

Then one day she looked up at the nieces and nephews playing in the courtyard, and realized with a start that she still wanted a home for herself, wanted the happiness of children around her knees — and also, so as not to cause further trouble for her father and brothers and sisters-in-law, she agreed to the marriage.

Her husband was a good man, though he did not love her — she knew this very clearly. But he was considerate and gentle with her and with the children; husband and wife treated each other with mutual respect, and their days were wealthy, peaceful, busy, and calm. She was already very content.

For a woman, to have known in this lifetime a love so sincere and true — she had been worth it; she had not lived this journey through the world in vain.

Madam He gathered herself quietly, and looked out toward her husband standing beneath the tree in the courtyard. Her heart gave rise to a faint, wondering guilt —

This calm and quiet man — did he have, somewhere deep within his heart, someone like that for him as well? Someone he would carry with him, imprinted there, for the rest of his life?