The people of the inner residence of the prefectural office were like a flock of sparrows that had been scattered a handful of millet — they stirred and fluttered about early on.

Zhù Ying had not only returned herself, but Su Zhe and Lang Rui, who both lived in the household, had come back as well. Zhù Lian and Xiang Yu were not housed in the inner courtyard, but they needed to move back in. The sparrows gathered around their respective millet: Zhang Xiangu, Zhù Da, and the others around Zhù Ying; Su Zhe and Lang Rui had their own attendants, as well as Su Qingtian and the others; Xiang Yu and Sister Hu had Xiang An; Zhù Lian also had Hou Wu to talk to him.

Su Zhe and the others also paid their respects to Zhang Xiangu and Zhù Da. Zhù Da asked: “Where is Xiao Wu?”

Zhù Ying said: “He was selected to serve as a deputy county magistrate and has gone elsewhere.”

Zhù Da felt a touch of nostalgia: “Oh, he has left…”

Xiang An whispered to Xiang Yu: “Did you see your father?”

The entire inner residence was filled with chattering and laughter.

Zhang Xiangu’s greatest worry, above all else, was Zhù Ying’s safety. The fear of being “found out” had been her deepest dread for decades. Now that Zhù Ying had returned safely, the anxiety of these past months was laid to rest for the time being. She said: “You are finally back! Have you finished with the people up front? Come quickly — wash your face, let us eat.”

The corners of her eyes had grown two deep lines. “Years like a blade” was not quite right — a blade’s edge can only leave finer and finer cracks; the marks of time run deeper still. It was more like the plasterer’s trowel that smears over everything outside the deepest wrinkles and levels it smooth, adding something like a coat of inferior oil, so that what lay beyond the deep furrows took on a faint gloss — like a piece of antique plaything that had been held in someone’s hands for so long it had built up a sheen.

But the joy on her face was vivid and alive. Zhù Ying said: “All right!”

Zhù Da said: “You tell her to wash her face, but here you are keeping her talking!”

Zhao Guafu from the kitchen also brought in a bucket of hot water. Du Dajie busied herself mixing it to the right temperature. Seeing this, Ling Dang went to the kitchen to fetch some hot water for when Huajie returned to her room.

Zhù Ying looked toward Zhù Da. He was wearing a loose Daoist robe, his hair gathered into a knot at the crown of his head, a long silver hairpin threaded through it, gleaming in the sunlight.

Zhù Ying said: “Ding Gui and the others are still on the road behind me. I brought some things back from the capital, and they should arrive within the next day or two.”

Zhang Xiangu said: “Never mind all that — they are not here yet anyway, and things have always been arranged this way. We are not in a hurry for any of it. Go and wash your face. All of you, busy yourselves. And what about the food?”

Zhao Guafu came out carrying an iron kettle: “It is almost ready — everything is in the kitchen. I kept it in the steamer so it would not go cold. Where shall I serve the meal?”

Zhù Ying said: “Let everyone eat in their own quarters.” They could gather properly once everyone had rested.

Zhao Guafu carried the iron kettle back to the kitchen at a quick pace and relayed the message to Qiao Er and the others.

Zhù Ying’s gaze swept over the faces around her — every person was smiling. She also asked the household attendants who had stayed behind at the residence: “Are you getting on well here at the foot of the mountain?”

They all laughed: “Wonderfully well.”

Zhù Ying said: “Good. Your Sister Hu has returned — if you need anything, go to her.”

The female guards laughingly greeted Sister Hu.

Each returned to their place, and the sparrows settled into their separate clusters. Zhang Xiangu and Huajie followed Zhù Ying to her bedchamber. Zhang Xiangu picked up a neatly folded set of clothes she had already prepared, examined them once more, and gathered up the inner shirt and the middle layer robe. She stood outside the screen and said: “You are finally back. This trip of yours — I worried so in my heart…”

Zhù Ying said: “I am a grown person. What is there to worry about?”

Zhang Xiangu lowered her voice: “Stop pretending! Do you think I do not know what I was worried about? Oh… I was afraid you would be found out. How did Flower Sister come to know your identity? Was it not because you yourself were not careful? You went to the capital — nothing slipped out, did it?”

Huajie said from the side: “Godmother, look — Little Zhù has come back perfectly safe and sound. That means nothing happened. She can manage.”

Zhù Ying said: “That is right — I managed. These past months I have been away — nothing happened here either, I take it?”

Huajie said: “Everything is fine. Deputy Administrator Zhang handled things well too. Oh — Shang Peiji from Fulu County has been transferred away. Deputy Administrator Zhang received word first and sent Scholar Qi along with Commissioner Peng to go to Fulu County and help seal the treasury. That — there is no problem with it, is there?”

“No, none at all. What else?”

Huajie said: “The New Year was celebrated very well — we spent it here in the city. After you headed north last year, when the time came for the mountain market, Deputy Administrator Zhang did not go in. It was the marshal and the chief historian who led the merchants in. I also accompanied Godfather and Godmother into the mountain. Deputy Administrator Zhang did try to dissuade us — Godfather said he missed the mountain and simply insisted on going, so we went.”

“Su Feihu? When we met at the relay station he said nothing about this — only that he went hunting quite often. I had been worried he might have trampled crops, or that boredom would make him ill.”

Huajie said: “He was fine. Once he got into the mountain he told the truth — he still misses that village of his, and snuck back to have a look several times. He loved it dearly.”

Zhù Ying said: “Little Sister did right to give him that village. And you all?”

Huajie said: “I was thinking — since the work is treating illness and healing people, it ought to be done both down the mountain and up in the mountain as well.” She had also gone in. “The others are not yet capable of much, but helping boil medicine and such things they can do.”

“Did you take all of them in?”

“No — I was not sure whether I was doing the right thing, so I did not bring the students from down the mountain into the mountain. When we went in, I gave Niang Zi and the others some time off first. I left Wu Ren at the academy to hold the fort. Wu Ren is quite capable.”

“I see. That sounds good.”

As she spoke, she had already finished washing her face and was dressing. Huajie fetched the comb and other items.

Very soon Zhù Ying was tidied up. Zhang Xiangu pulled her to her own room to eat, and Zhù Ying asked: “How are A’Lian’s meals?”

Lin Guafu said: “They have already been sent over to him.”

Zhù Ying estimated that in anticipation of her return, the household must have been busy for several days. Just now her bedroom had been spotless, and the clothes she was currently wearing were clean and fresh. Silk does not withstand vigorous rubbing, nor exposure to harsh sunlight, and in the south it needs to be stored with a little camphor. Taken out after long storage, it tends to carry a strange smell. The clothes bore no odd odor and had been lightly scented — they had been taken out and aired in advance.

She said: “Everyone has worked hard. All of you go and eat. Nothing else today — wait until Ding Gui comes back before there is any more to do.”

Lin Guafu and the others each said: “Yes.”

——

At last, the family could eat together. But it could no longer be the way it used to be — just the four of them around a table, saying whatever they pleased.

First there was Jiang Guafu. She was a servant in Zhang Xiangu’s courtyard, and her wages had just been raised. She felt she could not simply leave her mistress to eat alone. She stayed on of her own accord, saying to Lin Niangzi: “You all go eat first. Come and relieve me when you are done — just leave me something.” Lin Niangzi said: “Understood.”

Second was Du Dajie. Even as head housekeeper, she felt she could not neglect the household. She stayed to attend as well.

Third was Ling Dang. After Huajie sat down, she said to Zhù Ying: “She has been wanting to move into the academy to live. My thought is — what about when the academy has a holiday? Let her come home for the holidays and stay in her old room as before. What do you think?”

Zhù Ying nodded: “Very good.” She glanced at Ling Dang. Inside the house, she was still wearing the clothes she had brought down from the mountain. She had grown a little taller, and strips of fabric had been carefully sewn onto the sleeves and the trouser legs to extend them. The shoulders of the garment looked a little tight.

Zhù Ying said: “These clothes are getting small for her.”

Ling Dang said: “The ladies already made new ones. I wear the new ones when I go out; at home I still wear the old ones. If they wear out, it is no great loss.”

Zhù Ying said: “Fair enough.” Ling Dang spoke in the lowland official dialect, and it was already quite fluent — Zhù Ying could tell that at least in terms of her language studies, the girl’s progress was commendable.

She ate quickly and soon finished. Ling Dang helped Jiang Guafu clear the dishes and wipe down the table. Du Dajie went to brew tea.

Zhù Ying said: “All of you go and eat. I want to say a few words to Mother.”

Only then did they all withdraw. Lin Niangzi also brought over a food box of snacks and pastries and arranged them on the table. Zhang Xiangu said: “Have you eaten enough?”

Lin Niangzi said: “I have already eaten.”

Zhù Ying picked up a piece of pastry and said: “However many pastries are left — if there are enough to share, send some to every room. If there are not enough for everyone, send none at all.”

“There are plenty. Qiao Er and I made a great many.”

“Then the two of you go and distribute them to each room. When you have finished, rest for the evening — you need not come back. We are family and have not seen each other in a long while — I want to speak privately with them.”

Lin Niangzi said: “Yes.”

At last, only the four family members remained. Zhang Xiangu and Zhù Da urged Zhù Ying: “Tell us, tell us — how did it go?”

Zhù Ying said: “Everything at the family home in the capital is fine. Elder Sister-in-law Jin and the others asked me to send you their regards. I also asked Elder Brother Wen to buy more land in the capital for me.”

The old couple were both pleased at the news of the land purchase and said it was good.

Zhù Ying then asked about matters in Wuzhou.

Zhang Xiangu said: “Also fine. Oh — that Jiang Niangzi, she took in a pair of twins, two little girls. She says they will be her children from now on.”

Zhù Da said: “What is she thinking? Why not take a boy? How will the family line be carried on in the future…”

Zhù Ying looked at him. Zhù Da fell silent.

Huajie said quietly: “She took them in from outside — not from the Wuzhou foundling home. She and Xiao Ya each took one, and she said that Xiao Ya is not her maidservant but her adopted younger sister.”

Household registration… changing registrations in Wuzhou was a fairly simple matter.

Zhù Ying asked: “What is the children’s background?”

“Nothing was said.”

Zhang Xiangu said: “Best not to know — that way no one will come looking later. But as for the two of you…”

“What?”

“You are already thirty! You cannot be without an heir! Here you are — surrounded by people all the time, never a free moment. Your father and I have discussed it. If you truly cannot have a child of your own, perhaps we could take in one from outside when they are still an infant. We would say it was born of someone outside and brought to us as soon as it was born — raised from infancy, never told it was adopted. It would be the same in the end.” Zhang Xiangu lowered her voice.

Zhù Ying said: “Do not think up such schemes.” A feeling of discomfort rose in her heart — as if she were still alive, yet someone was already eyeing every coin of her property as though it were an inheritance waiting to be pocketed.

All at once, Zhù Ying understood why emperors grew to dislike their crown princes. Who could bear affection for someone whose very existence turned one’s wealth into a future inheritance? It was as if to say: “Now that he is here, you may go ahead and die.”

Would one not cling to the family estate until the very last breath, not release it to anyone while still drawing breath? That way they would have to obey, dutifully, until the very last moment.

Zhù Da said: “You cannot be unreasonable!”

Zhù Ying said calmly: “If you take someone else’s child and pass it off as your own, someone will inevitably tell the child the truth. At that point, seeking out birth parents is only human nature. What would you do then? Forbid the child from having any contact with them? That is not right. And if they do maintain a relationship with the birth parents, how would that relationship work? What would I gain from any of this?

In a worse case, someone might stir the child up — filling it with resentment that it was wrenched away from its own flesh and blood. While you are young and strong the child may do nothing, but when you are old, what if it treats you cruelly? Could you bear it? And onlookers would say: this is the retribution for seizing another family’s child.

In either case, one would be raising someone else’s child. Why give them the status of an adopted heir? Better simply to give them the status of a student. Heaven, earth, ruler, parent, teacher — these are the five relationships. A student who betrays a teacher is also someone whom others will condemn. And students can be many — one can select the best from many. That gives me peace of mind as well.”

Zhang Xiangu said: “Do not assume the worst of people.”

“Would you dare wager on it? Have we not seen people turn their eyes the other way and refuse to recognize those who raised them?”

Zhang Xiangu sighed: “While we are alive we can still be by your side. But if we were to die, then you would be…”

Zhù Da also said: “People of other surnames cannot be relied upon!”

Huajie had remained silent until now. She said: “Godmother, why speak of such gloomy things? Little Zhù has said it herself — students are a fine alternative. Godfather, if you worry that a male student might prove unreliable and take over the estate, I still have female students to offer.”

Zhang Xiangu and Zhù Da fell silent for a while, then tried to rally their spirits a little: “Then the students — they must be chosen carefully…” Zhang Xiangu also turned to Huajie: “Flower Sister, you only want students too?”

Huajie said with a smile: “The Zhu family already has an heir. My obligations to the family, and to my mother-in-law, can be considered fulfilled. As for myself — I would still prefer to live by my own wishes.”

Zhù Da said: “So you are trading children and grandchildren for official posts.”

Zhù Ying said: “Then shall we trade or not? Let us be clear about this first — if we do, we give up everything that is in front of us. Do not think of clinging to the manor while raising adopted children to carry on the line. So what will it be: jumping at shadows, serving as an official, or having many children and dying together of illness and starvation?”

Zhù Da said sulkily: “If we trade, then the next transaction comes next. Is there something that can be traded for descendants filling the house?”

Zhù Ying could see this matter would require much more wearing down with her parents. She could only throw out a trump card: “Barring unforeseen circumstances, I will be returning to the capital by the end of next year. You should bear this in mind.”

“What?” Zhù Da’s voice rose a notch. Zhang Xiangu pinched him, and he lowered it again: “Then will not the manor up in the mountain be wasted?”

Zhù Ying said: “What do you mean by that? The country estate is still there, is it not?”

“We will all be leaving!”

Zhù Ying made a gesture telling him to be quiet, then said: “Officials are not permitted to own property in the territory they govern. As things stand, it is only because the estate is in the mountain, in a leniently administered region, far from the capital, that the matter has been glossed over. Strictly speaking, this estate may not even be legal. But once I leave the prefectship of Wuzhou, the estate can actually be held openly and above-board.”

This was also one of the reasons she had not pressed to serve another term. Once she was no longer prefect of Wuzhou, was there anything to prevent her from owning a mountain estate in Wuzhou?

That final point moved the old couple. Zhù Da said: “So… for now it still cannot be spoken of openly, is that right?”

Zhang Xiangu complained: “You stubborn old thing — this is all your doing. Sitting there and absolutely insisting on naming it ‘Zhù Family Manor’! Could you not have waited a couple more years before your death? Making a fortune quietly — do you even know what that means? You had to go and make sure everyone knows the place is called Zhù Family Manor!”

Zhù Da hunched his neck and curved his back further under her scolding, and muttered: “I did it for our family!”

Zhù Ying said: “The name Zhù Family Manor is fine, it does not matter. Once we have settled affairs in the prefecture, we will go back into the mountain. That is our home — it needs to be looked after properly. Mother, do not blame Father. That business has its drawbacks but also its benefits.”

If the estate had been given some refined and elegant name, outsiders might have been confused for a time — but the “own people” inside the estate would also have been confused. Planting the banner of “Zhù” firmly in the memory of “one’s own people” was of far greater benefit than harm. Give it no name, and others would start calling it “the Stone City” themselves.

Zhù Da added: “Exactly.”

Zhù Ying asked Zhù Da with concern: “Father, do you like the mountain?”

“I love it!”

“Do you like the temple there?”

“I love it! Your mother and I, when we go into the mountain — the house is bigger and there is more room to breathe, but sitting about with nothing to do is also hard. The temple is wonderful! I even went and sat at the stall for reading fortunes and interpreting divination sticks…” Once Zhù Da’s mouth was open, there was no closing it.

After he and Zhang Xiangu entered the capital, they had stopped engaging in anything like fortune-telling or spirit-jumping. They still enjoyed praying to the deities, but did not want people to know they had once drifted about earning their living at such a lowly trade. Now it was different — the temple was theirs. He considered himself the proprietor, and so it no longer mattered. Having spent half a lifetime in the business of hoodwinking and deceiving, he still felt a deep nostalgia for it.

The four-not-alike temple on the estate had become Zhù Da’s favorite place. He not only helped people there to pray to the gods — at times he also herded some of the homeless orphans from town into the temple grounds and, having nothing else to do, taught them to read.

Zhù Ying was startled: “Father — why did you think to teach them to read?”

Zhù Da said with great satisfaction: “They could not even write down what the divination sticks said. How would that do?”

Zhang Xiangu said: “His eyes had gone blurry with age. He had someone write for him, and the child said he did not know how. Your father wanted to show off, so he taught the child to write. The more he taught, the more children gathered.”

Zhù Ying said: “That is wonderful!”

Zhù Da received his daughter’s approval and was even more pleased: “Is it not?! Your father is not half bad, is he?!” He was fond of children — especially children he did not have to personally coddle. A cluster of children orbiting around him made him very happy.

Zhù Ying said: “That temple was built for you.”

“Yes! Now that is my child speaking!”

Zhang Xiangu gave him a grand roll of her eyes. She asked Zhù Ying: “So when we all leave, what becomes of the manor?”

Zhù Ying said: “I am the one leaving. You do not have to.”

“That will not do! Or perhaps let us all just stop going. We are not lacking for food and clothing now. This official post is nothing but worry. Just retire — isn’t that what they call it, what the great lords do? Rest from service. Come back, hide away in the mountain, and live life properly.”

Zhù Da said: “Not be an official anymore…”

Huajie looked at Zhù Ying with a trace of anxiety. Zhù Ying said: “Why should I give it up? I have come this far! Returning to the capital to continue is what I have rightfully earned! You keep the home fires burning — do not worry. If I am found out, I will come back then. We can talk about ‘hiding’ at that point.”

Zhang Xiangu grew frantic with worry. Zhù Da was still hesitating. He asked: “Can you actually escape if need be? Do not end up like that first time in the capital, stuck in a prison cell…” The moment Zhang Xiangu heard those words, she said immediately: “Let us not do this official business anymore!” If they stopped being an official, everything would resolve itself — they could live with a clear mind, have no more fears, and even have a child of their own.

Zhù Ying said: “The reason we can have any of what we have now is precisely because I still hold this post. The moment I give it up, we return to what we were before. Have all these years of effort been for nothing?”

Zhang Xiangu said anxiously: “What are we to do?”

Huajie finally spoke one sentence: “What can you give us to set our minds at ease?”

Zhù Ying said: “I will arrange things properly for all of you. There are still two years, are there not? This year I do not need to go to the capital — only next year do I return. In these two years, I will manage the estate well. In all these years as an official, I have made some enemies. Once I am no longer in office, how would I deal with them?”

This was something the old couple had not thought of. Zhang Xiangu said: “Those you cannot afford to provoke, you can still hide from. Go into the mountain, and it will not interfere with anything on the outside. Why would they still hound you?”

Zhù Ying smiled: “Why should those people let me go? Two villages fighting over land and water can batter each other until one side’s brains are scrambled. What I have now is far more than a single village’s water and land. Exterminating three generations of a family, executing nine branches of a clan — they have done worse things than that.”

“If only I had known…” Zhang Xiangu said.

If I had known then what I know now, I would still make the same choice. But to Zhang Xiangu, Zhù Ying said something different: “A thousand pieces of gold cannot buy hindsight. Have we not always been taking things one step at a time? At least now I do not have to worry about going hungry tomorrow or dying of a fever.”

To speak of “wealth and splendor” was something Zhang Xiangu did not especially care about. But once the mention turned to starving and suffering from illness, she thought it over and said: “Then we just have to endure.”

“We have always gotten through things this way. Do not dwell on all that. With the little ability we have, let us simply look out for ourselves.” Zhù Ying said.

——

Coming home was supposed to be a joyful thing. But after speaking with her parents, somehow none of them seemed particularly happy.

Zhù Ying had no wish to dampen their spirits — yet some things still had to be said clearly. Many household matters required her parents’ cooperation. If they did not have a clear understanding of things, they might misread the situation, and that would be troublesome.

Zhù Ying left them in their room and headed to the study to review documents and official gazettes. Zhang Xiangu repeatedly signaled to Huajie with her eyes. Huajie nodded and followed behind Zhù Ying into the study.

The study had been cleaned yesterday. No one was currently on duty there. The two walked in. Zhù Ying said: “What is it?”

Huajie said: “Godfather and Godmother have it on their minds day and night…”

“Stop right there. Who does not? But it is not possible. My whole purpose today was to lay things out plainly with them. Have me bear a child and raise a child right now? Have they lost their minds? I have so much to do!”

“All right, we will not speak of that then — I had no intention of persuading you. I will keep an eye on Godfather and Godmother. You are going back to the capital — are you looking to find your place in the order of things there? What do you plan to do? I can go back with you.”

Zhù Ying said: “No — I will not have you held back on my account. I have my own ways of managing. From now on we will need to learn to be apart. Other people’s parents and family stay in their home regions while the official goes out to serve — they manage. So can I.

As for finding my place — Prime Minister Wang actually gave me something to think about.”

“What do you mean?”

“I had several conversations with him and raised a number of things with him. He said: do not speculate and fantasize idly. I thought about it all the way here, and he was right — one cannot achieve anything shut up in one’s own thoughts! Taking action and getting things done is what I have always been good at. And yet I had a moment of confusion and found myself sitting still trying to meditate my way to enlightenment! Things like ‘finding one’s place’ — just keep doing! We are already doing it! For example, your official position, and Xiao Jiang and the others’ — for example, everything I have done in Wuzhou. And the mountain… do whatever seems fitting; tackle problems in whichever way actually solves them!

Do something worth noting, then look back and see what you have done — and in that, find what order there is. To do nothing but talk idly is still nothing more than fortune-telling and charm-work, all mouth and no action.”

Huajie was laughing by the end: “You are being sharp-tongued again.”

Zhù Ying said: “Am I not right? And whatever you do, it must actually be doable and sustainable. Composing moral treatises was never my strong suit to begin with — and it is not the first tool of the trade for getting things done. What truly matters is having strength in one’s hands.”

“Exactly!”