“It is a perfectly fine day — what are you in such a temper about? Heng’er is grown now. When you beat the people in his rooms at the drop of a hat, you make him look bad too.” Master Qi had changed into informal clothes and was reclining against the headrest on the heated platform, talking to his wife.

Princess Pingning wore a sage-green pinched-silk cloud-brocade jacket and held a small elegant tureen of ginseng soup, sipping it as she let her face settle into severity at these words. “That disgraceful creature — his maternal grandfather is holding a birthday celebration. Instead of helping to manage the arrangements or taking the opportunity to make acquaintance with his elders and kin, what does he do? He digs out every scheme and trick in the book to try to arrange a private meeting — only to have the girl refuse to give him the time of day. Then he moped about in a daze for the entire day, and when guests were being seen off, his face looked so sour that one would have thought he was being dunned for debts.”

Master Qi also sighed. “Stop being angry. You have already dispatched Chun’er somewhere far away, and no one else knows about this. The girl from that family has a great deal of sense — it is over, let it pass. Ah…”

Princess Pingning raised an eyebrow. “Then what are you sighing about?”

Master Qi looked up at the carved cloud patterns on the ceiling beams and said quietly, “You and I have only this one son. From the time he was small, he has been sensible and obedient, diligent in his studies. When he was seven or eight, he followed a young son of Duke Lingguo’s household to a cricket-fighting match, and you had him tied up and given a thorough beating when he came home. That evening when I went to see him, he was propped up on his sore body, writing the lesson his teacher had assigned.”

Princess Pingning said nothing. Master Qi continued. “Heng’er has never given us cause for worry from his earliest years, and has never asked for anything — until this one time, when he has not bent to your wishes. When I think back on it, several years ago I already noticed how attentive he was toward Sheng’s little daughter. I did not say anything then — I thought it was merely the innocent infatuation of a child who had not met many girls; that given a few years, it would pass. But now — I can see that he truly likes that girl…”

Princess Pingning’s expression shifted several times. She curved her lips into a smile. “They always say a strict father and an indulgent mother — our household has it the other way around. I am the hard-hearted one. But would you truly want our son to take a common-looking concubine-born girl as his daughter-in-law?”

Master Qi fell silent. Princess Pingning glanced sideways at her husband’s face, saw his eyes cast downward, and continued slowly. “True, your nephew is still weak in health — but as things stand, he is still alive and well. I cannot wish for his early death simply so that our son might inherit the title. But that being the case, we must think ahead for Heng’er’s future. I have already gone to the palace to sound out the mood. The Emperor’s inclination still favors the Sixth Prince, though his only worry is that the Prince has no male heir. Now, the Sixth Prince’s Consort’s actions are being watched by the palace too. The Emperor has said nothing — and is that not his tacit approval? As for Princess Jiacheng, I have assessed both her looks and her temperament, and they are fine. Where else would you find such a match?”

Master Qi sighed once more — he had never been a match for this princess of a wife when it came to argument. “One can only hope Heng’er will come around to it.”

Princess Pingning looked at her husband’s kind and gentle face, then remembered the sight of her son kneeling before her earlier that day, weeping and pleading in anguish — and her heart softened a fraction. The husband and wife sat in silence for a while, the only sound the clear, crisp ring of Princess Pingning’s spoon stirring inside the tureen. After some time, her expression eased slightly, and she spoke in a more measured tone. “I do feel for our son. If… he truly cares for her, why not — once the Princess has entered the household — ask for the girl to be taken as a concubine for Heng’er? She is only a concubine-born daughter, after all. It could be arranged…”

She had not finished speaking before Master Qi made a choking sound as if something had gone down the wrong way, and he coughed. He waved his hand repeatedly. “No, no, no — put that idea entirely out of your mind! Sheng himself may say nothing, but his eldest son is clearly a man headed for great things — he has only appeared before the Emperor twice, and has already been praised once. Sheng is a man of calculation. Look at the marriages he has arranged for his son and daughter — one linking him to the nobility, the other to the literary class, each foot planted in a different camp. Would he carelessly give his daughter to be someone’s concubine? He would never want to face me again at court. And for that matter — he has even mentioned to me that his little daughter has been raised at her grandmother’s side from childhood. You know better than I do what sort of person his mother is.”

Princess Pingning was still unconvinced. “She is only a concubine-born daughter — what is so remarkable about that?”

Master Qi looked at his wife sidelong. “I will say one more thing — do not let a few days of flattery go to your head and carry you away. If Sheng truly intended to send his daughter to be a concubine, why would he need our Heng’er in particular? The capital, the frontier territories — there are princes and lords everywhere. If he truly had it in him to swallow his pride and offer up his daughter, he could probably manage to get her made a side consort!”

Princess Pingning thought of the moment she had seen Minglan today — even she herself had looked twice without meaning to. With such looks, becoming a side consort was probably not out of reach either. As she mulled it over, she let out a soft involuntary laugh. Master Qi looked puzzled. “What is it?”

Princess Pingning set down her tureen quietly with a smile. “I was laughing because you father and son are one and the same. Earlier, when Heng’er came to me and pleaded — saying every good word and swearing every oath he could think of until I had no way to fend him off — I said the same thing: that we might as well take Minglan as a concubine for him. He panicked at once and said over and over that it absolutely must not be, that Minglan has too fierce and unyielding a nature — and in the middle of all the broken porcelain on the floor, he nearly dropped to his knees.”

Master Qi made a sound through his nose. “Naturally. One knows what Sheng’s mother was capable of in her day.”

Princess Pingning also sighed. “Speaking of which — among the sisters in that family, that child is the one who stands out most. Gentle and sensible, beautiful in face and bearing. Seeing her so obedient and filial toward her grandmother and her stepmother — I too found her pleasing. What a pity. There is no fate between them.”

After a moment, Master Qi suddenly recalled something and turned to ask his wife, “Given all this, you have decided in favor of the Sixth Prince’s side. But what about that young Rong Feiyan? Her elder brother has come to sound out our intentions several times now.”

At the mention of this, Princess Pingning shook with barely contained fury, the pair of jeweled phoenix-pattern gold bracelets on her wrist clashing together with a bright jingle. “Pfft! Their ancestors going back eight generations were all bricklayers — and this upstart creature, merely young and pretty enough to keep the Emperor amused — that whole family is coarse and vulgar through and through, and they dare come fishing for our household? They can go on dreaming! The Emperor grows older by the day, and she has not produced even one child. Her good days can be counted on the fingers of one hand!”

Master Qi thought for a moment, then cut in smoothly. “Well and good — but do not refuse them outright. Casually push the matter over to the Sixth Prince’s Consort’s side, put on a show of reluctance, and let those two households compete between themselves. That way we offend no one, and yet it lets the Sixth Prince’s Consort see that we are not rushing forward cap in hand — we retain some dignity. Otherwise Heng’er will have no standing at all before the Princess once she is in the household. As for Heng’er’s feelings for the Sheng girl — keep that thoroughly under wraps.”

Princess Pingning smiled. “As you say in all things.”

That night, after returning from the Marquis of Xiangyang’s Mansion, Minglan went straight to Shou’an Hall to sleep. She told her grandmother the whole story of what had happened with Qi Heng from beginning to end, and made plain her own intentions and feelings. Sheng Lao held her little granddaughter in her arms and said nothing — only let out a long, long sigh. The two of them lay awake with their eyes open in the silence. In the deep stillness of the night, as Minglan hovered between waking and sleep, she heard Sheng Lao say softly, “You are a wise child — you know when a road is a dead end. You will not keep walking down it.”

The exhaustion and weariness of the day came flooding in at once. Minglan felt the corners of her eyes grow wet. She pressed her head against her grandmother’s arm and let the fabric of her sleeve absorb every last bit of her weakness and wavering. She told herself: when she woke from this sleep, she would live well again — cheerfully and wholeheartedly.

On the second day of the twelfth month, Wang Shi invited the master dressmakers from the Tianyi Pavilion to come and take measurements for the children’s new clothing. Changbai did not so much as lift his eyes and chose several plain dark colors. Changfeng, as expected, picked out the most costly and dramatic fabrics. Changdong only dared take what was least conspicuous. When the dressmakers arrived at the sisters’ turn…

“By this time of year, even the maids and manservants are already wearing their new winter clothes — and we are only now getting fitted,” Molan said idly, turning the fabric samples over. Her tone was suggestive.

Rulan’s instincts were sharp as ever. She replied at once, “It is not as if you only get new clothes made once a year. Seasonal clothes for all four seasons — when have you ever gone without? Mother has been busy since we moved to the capital, and things were delayed because of that.”

Molan covered her mouth and laughed softly. “Oh, I said nothing at all — why is Little Sister so upset? …Actually, as I see it, with Mother working herself so hard, why not ask someone to help manage the household affairs? She would have things much easier, things would not be held up, and it would be for the best all around, would it not?”

Wang Shi had indeed been rushed off her feet during this period — social calls, banquets, wedding preparations — and the household had inevitably developed some lapses. Lin Yiniang had seized the moment to ask Sheng Hong to let her take on a share of the management. Sheng Hong found this reasonable, but Wang Shi refused absolutely.

Rulan understood what Molan was angling for and sneered. “You had best stop scheming and be content to be a young lady in peace. You should be grateful to have a decent mother — and leave it at that.” Molan put on an expression of great concern. “Little Sister’s words are strange. I am only worried about Mother’s health. When children concern themselves with the household, how can that be called ‘scheming’? Sixth Sister — what do you think?”

The target swung round to Minglan again. Rulan too fixed her with wide, expectant eyes. Minglan felt a headache coming on. This was the one annoying thing about being the middle ground of this domestic drama — whatever happened between those two, she was invariably drawn in.

Minglan pressed a finger to her temple and said with a sigh, “Tianyi Pavilion has fine goods and exquisite needlework — they are undisputedly the finest in all the capital. Precisely because their business is so brisk, those who want new clothing made for the year-end need to place their orders as early as the ninth or tenth month. Since we came to the capital late, just being able to get new garments made now is a great stroke of luck already. As for the maids’ and servants’ new clothes — the household seamstresses rushed those through, and that is also a thoughtful gesture: with Elder Brother’s wedding coming, they want to make sure all of us look our finest before the new sister-in-law. That is why they would not settle for ordinary stitching.”

Molan’s face immediately went flat. “There is more than just that one thing — must everything be done in such a rush? Has Sixth Sister not thought about what comes next?” Minglan smiled mildly. “What comes next? What comes next is that we will have a new sister-in-law.”

Molan bit down on her silver teeth inwardly. The whole household praised Sixth Miss for being easygoing and rarely getting into quarrels — but when she was truly in earnest, one could never catch a single word to use against her.

Rulan broke into a bright smile and took Minglan’s hand. “Sister is absolutely right — come, come, I have more fabric swatches on my side. Come pick some!”

As the wedding drew closer, the Hai Family’s dowry was carried into Sheng Mansion in an unbroken stream — furniture including beds, tables, chairs, and screens, all glowing in the warmth of fine lacquer red; fabric by the dozens of great trunks; various ornaments and furnishings; several acres of land given along with the estate, and an untold number of shops besides. Minglan watched it all with her jaw hanging open.

“…The ancients spoke of a trousseau stretching ten li in length — that is to say, everything a young lady would need for her entire life was prepared: clothing, silver, all of it. Even the chamber pot and the washbasin — and even the burial garments — were all included. Grandmother’s own trousseau was exactly like this.” Nanny Fang said, beaming with a shared sense of pride.

Minglan stammered, “…She needs all of this? Is it really necessary?”

Nanny Fang nodded vigorously. “Once a young lady becomes a daughter-in-law, she loses a measure of standing. But with a generous trousseau, she can hold her head up — because her food, her clothing, her everyday needs are all provided by her own family, not by the grace of her husband’s household.”

Minglan counted on her fingers. “With all this, it is more than enough to support not just one sister-in-law, but Elder Brother and a few concubines on top of it. They say the Hai Family are literary folk — well, clearly the ‘pure’ in ‘pure literary family’ and the ‘pure’ in ‘pure poverty’ are not the same character at all.”

Nanny Fang’s face twitched.

Unmarried girls had little to do at a wedding — they could not stand in for the groom at the drinking, nor could they stir up trouble in the bridal chamber. It was not until the following day that the three Lan sisters finally had a proper look at the new sister-in-law, Hai Shi. After Hai Shi kowtowed to Sheng Lao, she went to the main hall to pay her respects to her parents-in-law.

Hai Shi was dressed in great red brocade with golden medallion embossing and a skirt of flowing-cloud bat-pattern embroidered work. On her head sat a gilded phoenix with spread wings, fashioned of layered filigree and clustered pearls. As she knelt in a graceful bow before Sheng Hong and Wang Shi, the nine-section golden snake-coil bracelets on her wrists did not produce a single sound.

Minglan inwardly exhaled in admiration: what control!

When Hai Shi slightly raised her head, Minglan studied her carefully. She had an oval face, with long and fine features — not as vivid as Hualan, nor as pretty as Yun’er, yet she had a quality of cultivated elegance about her that surpassed them both. As the saying goes, ‘inner learning brings its own refinement.’ Looking at how the young couple moved together, Minglan could see that Changbai was protective of his new wife — and she knew her brother was pleased with her.

Of course, people have different tastes. Wang Shi was less satisfied. She felt her son was so fine-looking that, if not a celestial beauty from the moon palace, he ought to have at least a Wang Zhaojun or a Xi Shi for a bride. She accepted the cup of tea her daughter-in-law offered with an air of great dignity and presented a red envelope in return. Then, catching Sheng Hong’s eye on her, she also slipped a white jade bracelet off her own wrist and placed it on Hai Shi’s — as a token of harmonious union.

Sheng Hong cleared his throat and spoke a few words of encouragement to son and daughter-in-law about ‘a harmonious marriage and the flourishing of offspring.’ Minglan remembered how, when Sheng’s eldest uncle had said similar words to Changwu and Yun’er, Yun’er had blushed so hard she couldn’t lift her head — but this Hai Family sister-in-law received the words with quiet composure, only a faint flush rising on her cheeks, and even the maids and nannies standing in attendance beside her were all perfectly proper and dignified.

Minglan cast a small, pitying glance at Wang Shi. She suddenly had a premonition: this sister-in-law was not going to be easy to manage.

After paying respects to her parents-in-law, Hai Shi exchanged greetings with her younger brothers and sisters-in-law. Hai Shi had prepared five beautifully made tapestry-thick brocade pouches: two in the shape of gourds, one in slate blue and one in indigo blue, and three in the shape of lotus blossoms, in silver-red, petal-lavender, and rose-purple. Going by birth order, Minglan was second to last to step forward — so there was not much left to choose from.

Just a few days later, Minglan’s premonition became reality.

Hai Shi’s training in propriety had been impeccably thorough. She served Wang Shi with reverent attentiveness — morning and evening greetings without fail, and from the time Wang Shi rose in the morning until Sheng Hong and Changbai returned home in the evening, Hai Shi was at Wang Shi’s side the entire day. When Wang Shi ate, Hai Shi stood and served the dishes. When Wang Shi drank tea, Hai Shi first tested the temperature. When Wang Shi washed her hands, Hai Shi held the basin and wrung the cloth. And throughout it all, she maintained a steady and pleasant smile — not the slightest sign of weariness or complaint. Not only did she not complain once, she seemed to find waiting on Wang Shi a genuinely delightful and happy endeavor.

Molan wished desperately to find something to criticize, but search as she might, she found nothing. Rulan tried to put on the airs of a younger sister-in-law, and was gently coaxed back down twice before she gave up. Minglan watched it all with a kind of terrified awe. “Is that truly what a daughter-in-law has to do? Does Elder Sister Hualan do the same in her husband’s family?”

Molan and Rulan thought immediately of themselves and couldn’t help an unnerved shudder.

Even Wang Shi, who had initially intended to put her new daughter-in-law in her place from the start, found she simply could not pick a single fault. When she occasionally tried to manufacture some small complaint, Hai Shi received it with sincere attentiveness and actually thanked Wang Shi for her guidance, her expression so genuinely earnest and her manner so soft and compliant that she was either truly heartfelt, or else the most convincing performer alive.

“Foolish child — no one genuinely enjoys hardship,” Sheng Lao said with a warm laugh, holding her little granddaughter on the heated platform. “But that she can do it to this degree — she has done well enough.”

In truth, Wang Shi soon grasped what she had taken on. A few days of receiving this devoted attention, and Sheng Hong couldn’t help making several pointed remarks — not directly stated, but the implication was clear: something along the lines of how Wang Shi had served his mother in the early days, and now that she was the mother-in-law she seemed quite comfortable accepting that same service from her own daughter-in-law. And it was not only Sheng Hong — older nannies and matrons throughout the household, after marveling at the new First Young Madam, also couldn’t resist letting slip a whispered barb or two in Wang Shi’s direction. With the whispers accumulating, Wang Shi could not possibly miss them.

Wang Shi was, in truth, a little guilty herself. She had grown up in her uncle and aunt’s home until she was a teenager, then had spent barely two years with her own mother before marrying into the Sheng Family. Her aunt and uncle, having no daughter of their own, had treasured her like a beloved child. Her own mother, carrying a weight of guilt toward her, had never been strict with her either. And after she married into the Sheng Family, Sheng Lao had never much played the overbearing mother-in-law — so she had simply charged headlong through life all these years without any correction.

Now, with a living, breathing model of proper conduct at her side every day, Wang Shi felt thoroughly uncomfortable in her own skin. Finally, on the evening of the fifteenth day of the new year, when all the Sheng Family gathered for the festival dinner and Sheng Lao watched Hai Shi bustling about like a spinning top in service, she turned to Wang Shi with a gentle smile and said slowly: “You are more fortunate than I was — you have the blessing of a devoted daughter-in-law.”

These words carried deep meaning beneath their surface, and Wang Shi immediately broke into a cold sweat.

As soon as the New Year had passed, Wang Shi began hinting to Hai Shi that she need not hover in constant attendance. Hai Shi pretended not to understand. Wang Shi endured another few days, then made the hint explicit. Hai Shi steadfastly refused, saying it was against propriety and she dared not be unfilial. Wang Shi nearly coughed up blood — and what was more, with Lin Yiniang stirring things along from the side, Sheng Hong had lately begun nearly every visit to Wang Shi’s rooms with a little comparison of their two daughter-in-law behavior, growing more cheerful about it with each recounting.

In the end, Wang Shi put her foot down with iron resolve and absolutely forbade Hai Shi from keeping her company all day long — ordering her to go and attend on Sheng Lao instead. Hai Shi then divided her attentive filial energy between the two women, and Wang Shi finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Sheng Lao, of course, would never be harsh with her grandson’s wife, and often told Hai Shi to go rest, or sent her to spend time with Minglan playing chess and reading, or to join Nanny Fang and Rulan for a hand of mahjong. After Minglan had won a good string of coins from Hai Shi several times in a row, she immediately decided that this new sister-in-law was both warm and generous. Though Hai Shi had been steeped in serious scholarship since childhood, there was not a trace of bookishness or affectation about her — she was easy and magnanimous with her younger brothers and sisters-in-law, reasonable and affectionate.

Changdong even confided secretly to Minglan that ever since Hai Shi had taken over some part of the household management, life had been much smoother for Xiang Yiniang and for him. The monthly allowances were no longer held up, and the clothing and refreshments that came their way were of a finer quality.

“Sister-in-law, when you first came, you were so perfectly attentive and devoted — weren’t you utterly exhausted? Or is that what all new daughters-in-law must do?” Minglan put on the air of a child who doesn’t quite understand, and cautiously asked.

“It was your Elder Brother who told me to do it that way.” Hai Shi said in a low voice. Having spent nearly two months around Minglan, she knew her to be gentle and good-natured, not the sort to carry tales — and since she was not Wang Shi’s own daughter, Hai Shi spoke more freely with her than with Rulan or Molan. The two of them, sister-in-law and sister, got along quite harmoniously.

“He told me,” Hai Shi said with a playful blink, “that I would be exhausted for no more than half a month — and then I would have passed the test.”