After seeing off her mother and younger sister, Hualan changed into a peach-blossom-colored lightly worn quilted silk jacket with decorative trim, settled onto the kang by the window, leaned against a bolster pillow, and began her needlework. Before long, the sound of the curtain stirring was heard, and Yuan Shao stepped inside. He walked quickly to the edge of the kang, saw his wife, and smiled: “Why are you up again? You should be lying down and resting.”

“I’ve been lying down for most of the day — if I lie any longer, I’ll turn into a puddle.” Hualan gave him a charming look of mild reproach, then set down her needlework basket, climbed off the kang, and began helping her husband remove his outer garments, handing his robe and cloak to a nearby maidservant. Once Yuan Shao had changed into everyday clothes, he helped Hualan back up onto the kang.

Yuan Shao picked up a fresh cup of tea from the kang table and took a slow, gentle sip. He had just passed thirty and wore a short, neatly trimmed beard. His face was square-jawed to begin with, and the beard made him look even more steady and imposing — he had the air of a man solidly in his forties. Hualan studied her husband for a moment and found herself rather missing the fair-faced young man he had been on their wedding night.

“Have your mother-in-law and sisters-in-law gone?”

“Has Gu Second Young Master left?”

After the maidservant had stepped out, husband and wife found themselves speaking simultaneously. There was a brief pause; then Yuan Shao and Hualan exchanged a glance, and both burst out laughing. After laughing for quite some time, Hualan sighed with deliberate theatricality: “They say that villains make the best couples — I never understood what that meant until today!”

Yuan Shao laughed as well: “Who could disagree! Having a wife as an accomplice is truly a wonderful thing!”

“Who agreed to be your accomplice?!” Hualan’s cheeks flushed crimson. She laughed and swatted at her husband, and Yuan Shao caught her little fist with a grin. The couple laughed and played for a while before settling down to speak seriously.

“What did you make of things today?” Yuan Shao said softly, his arm around his wife.

Hualan thought back to the maidservant’s report. She had watched from a distance and, though she could not hear what was being said, could gather the general picture from the manner of things. At first the two of them had spoken with polite civility — but then, at some point, Gu Tingye had said something that caused Minglan to flee in tears. Hualan reflected for a moment, then said: “This marriage cannot slip away now.”

“Oh? You’re certain?” Yuan Shao pressed.

Hualan gave a firm nod and said plainly: “Matters have gone this far — if this marriage does not happen, none of us will be able to show our faces.”

Yuan Shao had always held Hualan’s judgment in high regard, and let out a long breath. Hualan saw his expression and her own face fell slightly, guilt coloring her voice: “It is all my own family’s fault — a perfectly good match, and it has been managed into such a state. And now you’ve been dragged into it as well.”

Yuan Shao laughed and waved it off, comforting his wife: “What does this have to do with you? It was nothing more than a few of the elders being unable to reach a clear agreement in time.”

Hualan placed her pale, slender hands against her husband’s chest, deliberately widening her eyes into a look of helpless distress, and said quietly: “My father is a man of letters — scholars of moral rectitude are the most stubborn of all. Ever since my fourth sister married into the Liang Family, Father has always felt he wronged my brother-in-law’s family, and has been thinking about how to make it up to them by betrothing my fifth sister there — a small way of offering some compensation. But my mother felt that the match my great brother-in-law brought forward was the better one. And my sixth sister was raised at Grandmother’s side from childhood, so her marriage has always been Grandmother’s decision to make. And then, all at once, everyone had their own plans — and the whole thing got twisted into a knot!”

That was not the full truth, of course — but it was the only version Hualan could gently gloss over things with.

Yuan Shao held Hualan’s hand, his expression warm and calm. He smiled: “Your father is a man of letters — naturally he takes credibility and keeping his word seriously. Your mother is a mother — naturally she is devoted to her children. And Grandmother has always been kind-hearted — naturally it takes time for her to come around. Everyone has their reasons. What is there for you to feel guilty about?”

Hualan’s brow remained creased with worry: “My concern is that we may have offended General Gu, and that instead of gaining a relation by marriage, we have made an enemy.”

“I suspect that won’t happen.” Yuan Shao set Hualan’s hand down, picked up his teacup, and took another unhurried sip. His brow was relaxed, his smile easy: “I was a bit worried myself at first, but… looking at things today, there is nothing to fear. When Gu Second Young Master left, I could see his spirits were quite good. He urged me repeatedly to move things along as quickly as possible — best to have the formal betrothal completed before year’s end, so the wedding can be held when the new year opens.”

Hualan was somewhat taken aback: “Truly?!”

Yuan Shao held the tea in his mouth and nodded slowly.

Hualan relaxed her worried expression, gave her husband a light tap, and smiled: “Didn’t I say as much? My sixth sister has fine looks — she is a beauty of the first order. Once Gu Second Young Master had seen her, he was bound to be satisfied with the match! You were still fretting just before!”

Yuan Shao laughed: “Yes, yes, yes — your ladyship’s strategy was flawless.”

Hualan laughed along for a moment, but inwardly she still had no real certainty. She had no idea whether Sheng Lao would ultimately agree.

That evening, Sheng Lao heard an extraordinary story.

She sat in a stupor on the kang. Minglan knelt on the floor below, quietly weeping. Sheng Lao listened until her head ached: “You’re telling me… from the moment we first arrived in the capital, you already knew him?” Thinking of this, she could not help scolding: “Why didn’t you say so sooner?!”

Minglan’s small face was red from crying: “I… I was afraid Grandmother would scold me again… and worried Grandmother would be troubled on my behalf…”

At that time, she had just been severely punished by Sheng Lao for standing up for Yan Ran — it had taken considerable effort for that incident to be smoothed over and put behind them. And then Gu Tingye had jumped out to make more trouble. How could she have dared to inform Grandmother? She feared another round of scolding. Besides, how was she to have known then that she would be entangled with Gu Tingye again and again?

It was like a child who had done something wrong and been forgiven by the adults — only for a new consequence of the same mistake to surface. Naturally she had not dared bring it up. And then the concealment had snowballed, growing larger and larger.

Sheng Lao understood perfectly well the workings of a child’s heart, and could only sigh: “How could you be so muddle-headed?!”

In truth, Minglan was anything but muddle-headed — she had concealed things very skillfully, and not a soul had ever discovered her connection to Gu Tingye.

Sheng Lao’s thoughts were racing, and her heart ached for Minglan. She could not stop herself from pulling the girl up from the floor, drawing her close, and patting her gently, sighing: “…It cannot be blamed on you. Who could have known that the Gu fellow’s scheming would run so deep!”

Minglan sniffled, her nose red, and nodded repeatedly — it was not that our side was incapable, but that the enemy had been too cunning. To think he had launched a sneak attack!

Sheng Lao leaned slowly back, gently closing her eyes. The only sounds in the room were Minglan’s intermittent sniffles, and the faint crackling of charcoal burning in the purple copper brazier with the good-fortune design on the floor.

Minglan slowly wiped the tears from her face. Seeing that Sheng Lao remained silent for a long time, she went and gently tugged at her sleeve, giving it a little shake: “…Grandmother… what do we do now?”

Sheng Lao opened her eyes, swept a glance over Minglan’s face, and asked quietly: “Minglan, when Gu Tingye laid everything out in the open with you — what were your thoughts?”

A look of mild embarrassment crossed Minglan’s face. This time she resolved to speak the complete truth, and, her face going somewhat pink, she said: “…At first, there was a small secret flicker of pride — that someone had gone to such lengths to plan for me. Then, the more I thought about it, the angrier I became — I wanted nothing more than to slap him across the mouth… and then after that, I began to feel troubled. This person is so… formidable. Whatever am I to do?”

To speak the plain truth: a formidable husband was often a mixed blessing — when his firepower was directed outward, all under Heaven was at peace; when it turned inward, it could well mean rivers of blood.

These words made Sheng Lao nod repeatedly — the feelings described were very real. But after finishing her nodding, she seemed about to close her eyes and rest again. Minglan quickly shook her by the arm, asking urgently: “Grandmother, do say something — what are you thinking?”

Sheng Lao’s eyes snapped open, her gaze sharp as lightning. In a cold voice she said: “Go tell your grandfather to come — tell him I have agreed to the marriage.”

Minglan was startled, uncertain and bewildered: “Just… just like that?” That was rather a swift surrender.

“What other way is there?” Sheng Lao’s expression was severe, though the corner of her mouth bore a trace of self-mockery. She let out several cold laughs: “The man has been scheming for so many days — deep-plotting, step by step, pressing right up to our very door. What options remain now?! If this were spoken of outside, everyone would say it is the Sheng Family that gained a tremendous advantage! Very well then — let them have their way.”

Minglan felt guilty, her fingers twisting the corner of her garment as she stayed silent. After a pause, Sheng Lao gave another quiet sardonic laugh: “And another thing! Having someone scheme with all their might just to get to you is still better than someone who takes advantage and then plays the magnanimous one!”

Minglan looked up in surprise. She knew whom Sheng Lao was referring to. She probed cautiously: “Then… should your granddaughter go speak to He Hong…?”

“What is there to say?!” Sheng Lao shot her a sharp look and scolded: “I will handle that — you need not get involved! As for the He Family — apart from my old sister, the rest of them you had best not see again! …Hmph! Now they can freely open their hands to support their relatives without anyone in their way — no one to stop them from playing the generous ones now! As if you cannot do without the He Family! Let everyone know now — the daughters of the Sheng Family are not short of suitors. There are plenty of people with their eye on them!”

Minglan swallowed. Watching Sheng Lao’s proud, fierce bearing, she felt a small jolt of surprise followed by dawning understanding: Sheng Lao was, at her core, an extraordinarily proud person. Perhaps… she had long since grown tired of the He Family’s string of predicaments, and had merely been exercising patience all along.

Sheng Lao eased her manner slightly, steadied her breath, and leaned back against her cushion. In a calm voice she said: “First settle Rulan’s and the Liang Family’s matter, and then let the Gu fellow come to present the formal betrothal gifts. Have things readied quickly. This time, Grandmother will see to it that you receive a generous dowry — and no one had best say a word about it! …Hmph! It’s only a matter of getting on with life. Keep your wits about you — don’t let anyone wrong you, and certainly don’t wrong yourself. Making sure you are comfortable is what matters!”

Minglan said nothing. After instructing Cuiping to go and summon Sheng Hong, she walked quietly back to Musang Studio and sat blankly for a while at the writing desk. Then she suddenly stood up, called for Danju to open the inkstone and grind the ink. Minglan spread out a large sheet of snow-white rice paper, picked up a large brush, saturated it with ink, held her breath and steadied herself — then swept the brush across the paper in bold, sweeping strokes: ink splashing, the brush moving like a dragon. Four characters in wild cursive were inscribed: Difficult to Do Without Confusion!

“Wonderful!” Xiaotao beside her clapped enthusiastically. “Young Miss writes so beautifully! …Er, Young Miss — what does it mean?”

Minglan set down the brush and said serenely: “It means that when you secretly eat the almond candy Danju has hidden away, this Young Miss will pretend not to have seen a thing.”

Then Minglan swept calmly into the inner room, leaving Xiaotao and Danju behind — one standing there with a blank stare, one already rolling up her sleeves, sharpening her metaphorical blade.

(End of this volume.)

Bonus Chapter: A Report on the Journey of Wanting to Marry a Little Swindler

She probably doesn’t know herself — how many strange things there are about her.

At the banquet in the Xiangyang Marquis Household, she was a picture of warmth and deference, cherry lips curled in a light smile as she spoke with a group of noble young ladies. A bee followed a branch that had drifted indoors and hummed its way inside. The other girls cried out and waved their handkerchiefs, huddling together in a cluster. She watched it with obvious interest first — then suddenly noticed the panic of the girls beside her. She immediately put on an equally panicked expression, joined the huddle of girls, gasping and exclaiming in fright, clutching at her chest with a very convincing show of terror.

I narrowed my eyes — she was pretending.

There are girls who genuinely do not fear bees — girls who stand calmly to one side, or quietly slip behind someone else. But she was the only one who put on a performance. She seemed deeply afraid of standing out, and always worked hard to appear exactly the same as everyone else.

After the stage performance opened, I followed her discreetly, looking for a secluded spot to exchange a few words. But as I followed, I found myself witness to quite a scene: my clan sister’s precious son, the pride of the Qi Duke’s Household, the object of countless young ladies’ daydreams in the capital — Qi Second Young Master — was gripping her by the arm, pouring out his lovesick feelings to her.

A young man in the bloom of youth, with jade-fine features and a face full of ardent adoration, honeyed words flowing from his lips. Nine girls out of ten would have been unable to resist, their cheeks flushing pink as they poured their hearts out in return. The remaining one might have put on a stern face and feigned anger.

But she did neither. Her first reaction — her only reaction — was to worry that Qi Heng would implicate her. She threatened, then pleaded, over and over sternly forbidding Qi Heng from giving anything away in the slightest. Heng left in a daze.

She always seemed to carry some great caution, like a wary little squirrel, forever guarding against threats that might emerge from every direction.

It was only later that I learned she was a concubine-born daughter.

I appeared without warning and asked her about Man Niang. She startled — then answered honestly.

I should say: her demeanor was perfectly proper. Her words were clear, her answers direct, without a trace of the timid shrinking one might expect from a young woman raised in the women’s quarters. She was entirely unlike the cowering, self-interested girl I had just seen with Qi Heng. She managed to smooth over the scene for Elder Miss Yu’s family, and at the same time defused my anger.

It seemed… she was a young woman with genuine courage and composure.

That was also the first time I began, dimly, to sense that something might be off about Man Niang.

The next time I saw her was at the rear garden of Guangji Temple. She had lobbed a lump of mud straight at her elder sister — hard, and accurate — then stood with hands on hips in a posture of magnificent defiance. I stifled a laugh behind the garden wall, equal parts startled and amused. The cloud of gloom that had been weighing on me for days because of the business between Yan Hong and Man Niang was swept entirely clean. What a pity — before I had finished laughing for even a quarter of an hour, she managed to say something that sent me away in a rage.

The little brat was a prophet. Every word she had spoken was proven true afterward.

Not many days passed before I left the capital for distant parts. Then my father died. Yan Hong died suddenly. I could no longer bear to hear Man Niang’s tearful pleas and explanations. I drifted alone from south to north. I met many kinds of people — peddlers and laborers, men of the rivers and lakes, and unfortunate noblemen who had fallen from favor. I was bullied; I was looked down upon. I learned what it meant for human warmth to be dictated by circumstances, and what it meant for the world to turn cold and indifferent. I was flung hard to the ground, and had to steel my spine and stand back up.

With the first silver I earned by my own hands, I sent it to Man Niang in the capital. The mistake was mine — I would fill it in myself.

I would provide for her and the child, and ensure they did not go hungry or freeze. But I would never see her again. Having seen through her character and her scheming, I felt a chill run down my back. When she took the child and sought me out, weeping and begging, the dread and wariness I felt only intensified.

Wandering men of the rivers and lakes age quickly. In the small hours of the night, I often found my thoughts drifting back to that little girl who had thrown mud.

Then came the upheaval in the capital — Heaven and earth turned upside down. I had entered the capital ahead of time to gather information for the Eighth Prince, and unexpectedly ran into Yuan Shao. He was a decent sort — he did not look down on my disheveled and worn appearance, and even invited me to his son’s one-month celebration banquet.

My heart stirred. Was Yuan Shao’s wife not also a Sheng Family daughter?

I made a point of waiting in the courtyard along the way to the banquet hall for quite some time. When I turned my head, there she was. Several years had passed, flowers had bloomed and fallen, and the little mud-throwing girl had become a clear and beautiful young woman. The entire courtyard was full of spring, but she seemed to put even the blooming crabapple trees in the shade. I stood looking at her for quite some time before I spoke.

I nodded to myself inwardly: Qi Heng, that young man, had good eyes. He had spotted the signs long before me.

She obviously had no wish to converse with me at length — so whatever I said, she went along with in perfect agreement.

When I mentioned my late father, she assumed a sorrowful expression and sincerely urged me to accept my grief. When I expressed remorse over Elder Yao’s family and said I wished to make amends, she assumed a look of greatly moved admiration. When I offered to help if she should ever find herself in difficulty, her large eyes were plainly brimming with disbelief — yet she put on an enormously grateful expression, barely stopping short of clapping her hands and calling out in praise.

I felt stifled with exasperation.

Finally I put on the air of a senior elder and lectured her a little, and departed with dignified composure while she stared in astonishment.

Qi Heng was right — she was a clever little swindler. I reached this conclusion quite swiftly. …And then I could not resist looking back for one more glance. In this day and age, swindlers do tend to be rather good-looking.

Later, this little swindler ran into river pirates.

I fished her out of the water. She was shaking with cold, gasping in great gulps of air, turning her small head to look around in panicked confusion — and then, among an entire boatload of people, she spotted me at once. Her face broke into a brilliant smile. Something in my chest went unexpectedly soft.

Lake water shimmering, the sound of waves, night dark and wind cold — and only her eyes, bright as stars. I thought: I would never see eyes so beautiful again in all my life.

…And then she asked me to rescue her maidservants. I sighed and closed my eyes.

I knew it. The little swindler would never warm up to someone without an ulterior motive. She had been calling me such congenial things because she needed something from me. I glared at her fiercely — yet could not stop the corners of my mouth from curving upward. I suspected I was not quite right in the head: being put to work and feeling pleased about it.

After considerable effort, I rescued all her maidservants and bondwomen. Before I could even go and claim credit, I heard her through the door talking disparagingly about me — I had been swindled by the Peng Family, and she had the nerve to say the situation was “understandable”?! Then she went so far as to suggest I should just go ahead and marry Man Niang?! When I firmly stated that Man Niang was no longer a viable option, she had the gall to privately roll two little contemptuous eye-rolls at me?!

And that was not even the end of it. Next, she declared triumphantly that I was, deep down, “the most proper and upright sort”?! I have always been perfectly proper and upright — to this day, I have not so much as brushed a single strand of her hair! And furthermore, after what had happened with Man Niang, I had resolved never to be casual in my closeness with any woman again.

I truly felt like wringing her neck right then and there!

But her neck was quite lovely — it reminded me of the candied water-lotus I had eaten as a child in the Jiangnan region, both dewy and sweet. I felt a sudden dryness in my lips… best to spare the wringing, then.

In a moment of distraction, I let the little swindler guess that there was something unusual about Yan Hong’s death. Very well — in this day and age, swindlers tend also to be remarkably clever. Her guess was not quite right, but it was not far off the mark.

Very well. Gu Tingye — you grow more hopeless by the day. I flung out two cutting remarks, and once again departed in a huff.

Then she went south to Jinling, and I went north to the capital.

In the southern outskirts of the capital, a country dwelling. I washed away a body’s worth of dust and set aside half a year’s worth of weariness, and sank into the bed. Nanny Chang, old now, cradled a warming bottle to heat the quilts for me. I lay against the kang and listened to her rambling on and on in her soft Sunan accent, full of fussy care — and I felt as though I were a child again, before my mother had died.

“…Young Master, you look exhausted. Business outside is difficult — don’t run around so much anymore. Nanny has some silver put aside; you could buy some land, and settle into a quiet life.” Nanny Chang’s face was etched with tender worry. She had always thought I was out there running a trade business.

“Once this deal is done, I will be able to settle,” I said. If I didn’t die on the battlefield, that is.

Nanny Chang’s withered face creased with indignation: “It’s all those black-hearted people’s fault! The grandson of the Haining Bai Family, and he has to go out there and earn such a hard-won living! In the old days, the Bai Family’s silver was piled in mountains and filled the seas, but now…”

Nanny Chang launched into her regular recitation of the Bai Family’s former glory. I had long since gone numb to it, and said mildly: “It doesn’t matter. I can earn back the silver myself. What is mine, I will take back.”

Nanny Chang stared at me, and sighed: “You and your eldest sister have the same temperament — fierce and stubborn, swallowing every bitterness inward and letting it fester; when she should have endured a little longer, she would not… and in the end…”

“Nanny, that’s enough.” I cut her off, my expression grave.

Nanny Chang gave a faint sigh, and then said gently: “When Young Master has settled, find a wife quickly — and then have several children. That way I can go light incense for your eldest sister and bring her the good news.”

I smiled: “Have I not already had two children?”

Nanny Chang immediately stiffened her face: “That doesn’t count! You need to properly marry a proper wife first. That woman doesn’t count.”

I sat up suddenly, genuinely puzzled: “Nanny, you disliked Man Niang from the very beginning. Why was that?”

Back then, Man Niang had been all pitiful vulnerability from head to toe, without a single apparent fault, and had always been respectful and polite toward Nanny Chang, often letting tears fall before she had even spoken a word. Yet Nanny Chang had always found her unpleasant no matter how she looked at her, and after I left home, had even moved house to escape Man Niang’s persistent questioning.

Nanny Chang set her face primly and said only: “That woman is a menace — a spider-demon in disguise! Once she wraps her web around you, it’s a ruined life. At least Young Master has finally come to his senses now! Better late than never!”

I pressed: “There must be a reason.”

Nanny Chang huffed and puffed for quite some time before saying: “I’m an old woman — I don’t understand grand principles, and my tongue is clumsy; I can’t explain it clearly. But I have these two eyes. If she were truly good, she would not have egged you on to do reckless things. Just look at you — from the moment she wrapped herself around you, has a single good thing happened?! You’ve even left the Marquis Household now, drifting about outside — it’s all her doing!”

I fell silent. Nanny Chang, though she had never read a book, saw through people with uncommon clarity.

Nanny Chang continued: “Young Master, when you take a proper wife this time, you must not let that woman run wild anymore. She came up from the theatre world — she is well practiced in every sort of act and art. Don’t let her plant seeds of resentment in your new wife’s heart! That woman’s scheming runs very deep. The moment she saw you leave back then, she immediately placed Rong Jie’er inside the Marquis Household, while keeping Chang Ge’er with herself, and then roamed all over looking for you. She has the heart to be ruthless and the willingness to abandon her dignity — an ordinary woman is no match for her!”

“I will not permit her to act recklessly again,” I said coldly.

Nanny Chang rose to her feet with a gleeful bounce, took my clothes and folded them neatly on the table. After a little while, a thought seemed to dawn on her. She turned back and said, with light, tentative curiosity: “Young Master — could it be… you already have someone in your heart?”

I turned away and feigned deep, peaceful sleep. Nanny Chang had no choice but to go out.

Inside the bed-curtains, I lay in quiet stillness. My body was exhausted, but my mind was running at full speed. I resolved to enumerate her faults one by one, deliberately and carefully:

First: she is a swindler — her words contradict her heart, her outward face contradicts her inner one, always playacting and putting on performances.

Second: on the open waters of the great river, she had dared to butt heads with river pirates — that was pure bravery without strategy, pure recklessness.

Third: she is a concubine-born daughter. I had always meant to marry a legitimate daughter.

And most importantly of all: she is blind — she actually had the nerve to look down on me…

Ah — but then, how on earth can I marry her? I need to think this through carefully.

I perked up with great energy and began turning the problem over in my mind — unaware, in that moment, that my thoughts had already veered entirely in the wrong direction.

[Volume Four: When Spring Subsides, the Flowers Grow Brighter — A Heart of Spring Turns Toward the Crabapple Blossom]