On the way back to the Jin house, Jin Liang’s heart was in his mouth.
These two, who looked so placid and unassuming, had managed to pull off something like that?
He clenched his jaw shut tight, refusing to let any self-justifying words escape.
When they arrived home, they ran into the doctor coming out. Jin Liang clasped his hands together and asked: “How are the injured?”
The doctor, seeing Jin Liang’s distinguished manner of dress, replied with equal courtesy: “No serious damage to the bones or sinews. They’re not young, though, and the man has some old injuries on top of this. They need proper rest and must not take a chill — the weather is still cold.”
Jin Liang thanked him. Madam Jin waited until the doctor was gone before pulling Jin Liang aside and saying: “How did it all come to this?! One moment everything was fine…”
Zhù Ying said: “You two talk. I’m going in to see my parents.”
Madam Jin said: “The doctor has already been and the medicine is simmering on the stove. No need to rush.”
Zhù Ying said: “All right.”
Madam Jin watched her lean, thin figure disappear, and sighed as she pulled her husband aside: “Something’s not right here. Lai Fu says the two of them stirred up trouble at both the Shen house gate and the Feng house gate.”
Jin Liang said: “I heard the whole thing.”
Madam Jin sighed again and said: “This doesn’t seem like something they’d do. Elder Sister Zhang Xiangu talks too much, and Elder Brother Zhù is actually a hard man to draw out — how could they have…”
Jin Liang licked his lips: “Just — don’t ask about this one.”
“How can I not ask? Everything about this is strange. And look at Sanlang — she’s only this young, just out of prison herself, her parents are both hurt, and she’s saying the marriage is dissolved! You always say the Shen and Feng families are no good as people — I agree. The child went to prison and they wouldn’t lift a finger to help. But this way of ending the marriage — I just can’t bring myself to say ‘congratulations.’ You haven’t seen it — they were both beaten so…”
“Enough!”
When Jin Liang lost his temper, Madam Jin was still a little cowed. Her voice shrunk to a near-whisper: “I need to understand what happened, so I can know what to say to comfort them. If you won’t tell me, who can I ask?”
Jin Liang let out a long breath: “It was all for the marriage. You think Sanlang’s all right?”
“Of course. In my eyes, among that whole family, she’s the one with her own mind.”
“At first I thought she was slippery. Then I realized she had her reasons — she’s the kind who can carry the weight. If we had a daughter I’d want to send her to her.”
“Why are we talking about this again?”
Jin Liang said: “The Seventh Young Master was my former master’s young son — he’s never let us down, and even your father, when he had that trouble before, it was the Seventh Young Master who stepped in to help.”
“That’s true.”
“One is a former master; the other is a friend. I hope those two can work well together. There’s no real obstacle — Sanlang has more than enough ability, and the Seventh Young Master has more than enough discernment. Keep things going long enough and they’ll see eye to eye.”
Madam Jin said: “I think they get along well — otherwise he wouldn’t have asked you to keep an eye on Sanlang’s family.”
Jin Liang shook his head: “You know as well as I do that the Seventh Young Master has ability, and has standing. When he puts his mind to being considerate, he’s more thoughtful than anyone. But look how he’s arranged things for Sanlang — I don’t know what’s best for her, but I know he could have made better arrangements. So why is Sanlang still lodging at our house?”
“Well — Sanlang is good, but she’s still an out-of-town youth. Arranging for her to stay with us, with me looking after things properly — isn’t that good enough?”
Jin Liang said: “I feel it could be better — but I’m not clever enough to figure out exactly how. Reading the right books is the honest path, but then the books he’s studying aren’t quite those ones either.”
Madam Jin said: “What of it?”
“Sanlang’s marriage is a burden. Not that she can’t marry, not that she can’t take the Feng girl as a wife — it’s that she needs to make her position clear to the Seventh Young Master. Not with words — with actions. Only when the Seventh Young Master trusts her will he put his whole heart into helping. And Shen Ying comes along making things complicated — wanting things both ways. Sanlang, for all that she’s decisive about most things, has been a little too softhearted here. Today I pushed her to cut the knot cleanly.”
“Well, you didn’t do wrong there.”
Jin Liang said: “Sanlang agreed to handle the dissolution herself. I told the Seventh Young Master, and he was very pleased — he’s not going to have her start as a clerk after all, but will arrange for her to start as an official. The difference between those two paths in officialdom is like heaven and earth.”
“That’s good news.” Madam Jin, being from the capital, knew something about the ways of officialdom — starting as a clerk and later becoming an official was the sort of background that earned you contempt from others. Starting directly as an official, even at a low rank, had a far brighter future than starting from the clerking class.
“But look at her parents. They want to do right by their child, and they went off and did this. I only wanted them to talk to her, and they went and did it themselves.”
Madam Jin said: “That’s true, I suppose — they said they didn’t want to reach above themselves, and the family backgrounds really aren’t well-matched. Could the Feng family really stick to the marriage now? How could they possibly?”
Jin Liang said with a headache: “I just hope Sanlang doesn’t get the wrong idea — as long as she blames me, that’s fine. It’s all gone this far; the very last thing needed is for her to redirect her resentment toward the Seventh Young Master. That would undo all the previous work.”
Madam Jin wasn’t sure, and said: “No… surely not? Sanlang is a well-tempered child.”
Jin Liang said: “That young one is stubborn and has her own strong mind — no one knows what she’s thinking on the inside. The Seventh Young Master has been waiting all this time precisely because of that.”
“What?”
Jin Liang sighed at length, recalling Zheng Xi’s eventual answer after Jin Liang had pressed him: “A person with too strong a will of their own is difficult to trust.”
Still, Zheng Xi was a man of some confidence in himself, and Zhù Ying was so young — given enough time together, proximity would naturally lead to familiarity and trust.
Jin Liang began to worry all over again.
Madam Jin saw that Jin Liang’s temper had come down, and her own nerve came back up. She said: “Look at the state of you! Let me go hear what’s happening.” She opened the wardrobe and took out a set of everyday clothes each for herself and Jin Liang, draped them over the clothes rack. Then she searched out a number of clean white strips of cloth, cut a small slit every inch with scissors, and tore them into strips, one by one.
Clothes draped over her arm, strips in hand, Madam Jin said: “Xiao Ya, bring a basin of hot water and follow me to the front.”
——
Madam Jin brought the maidservant to the front courtyard rooms — to Zhang Xiangu’s room first. Predictably enough, the whole family would be there.
She had guessed correctly.
Zhang Xiangu and Zhù Shenhan were laughing so hard their faces were contorted. Zhù Shenhan held two sheets of paper in his right hand, slapping them against his left palm: “How about that? How about that? Done! We didn’t need to go to the magistrate’s court either — and no one gets to dig up our old history! Ha ha ha ha!”
He had been living in suppression for close to a year, and had finally accomplished something important by his own efforts. His pride was beyond containing.
Zhang Xiangu was covering her face with both hands, giggling: “What lady of the manor? Her brain is no better than your late godmother’s! Like a rubber ball — poke her and she flies ten feet high! We hadn’t even said anything yet, and she was already demanding to dissolve the arrangement.”
Zhù Ying gritted her teeth and asked: “Any other injuries on your bodies?”
Zhù Shenhan said: “Ow, there is a bit — took a kick in the ribs.”
Zhang Xiangu said at the same moment: “Nothing wrong, nothing wrong at all.”
Zhù Ying said: “From now on, if you’re going to do something like this, tell me first. Don’t take beatings for nothing.”
“Is this taking a beating for nothing?” Zhù Shenhan gave the two sheets of paper another shake. “Look at this — look! Done!”
Zhù Ying said: “We could have gone to the magistrate and it would have been just as fine.”
Zhù Shenhan stuffed the two papers into Zhù Ying’s hands. He had both hands free now for gestures: “Our family has a new household register; you’re going to be an official. Our hands have to stay clean! We can’t let them drag out the old story! The Feng family has a daughter of their own to look after — she has even more reason not to talk. Best if she forgets; best if we forget too. She goes on being the official’s daughter she always was; you go on and prepare to be an official. That’s settled. And if they try to find you again, you take this out and show it to them! Let’s see who ends up without face!”
Zhang Xiangu stopped laughing and said: “Huajie — she’s a good person. She just has bad luck. And she has that kind of mother — even if she’s well-fed and well-dressed, I suspect life won’t be easy for her.”
Zhù Shenhan said: “Ugh, yes. But still, it’s better than being with us. She won’t lack for a husband.”
Zhang Xiangu thought: What do you know about a woman’s hardships?
Zhù Ying looked at their faces for a moment, then said: “Don’t go out for the next few days. Rest your injuries.”
“All right. And you?” Zhang Xiangu asked.
Zhù Ying said: “I still have things outside. I was only partway through when I came back.”
Zhang Xiangu was about to say “it’s getting dark”— but hearing it was something left half-done with Zheng Xi, she stood up in alarm: “Then go, go, go — say something pleasant to the man.”
Zhù Ying thought: The marriage is already dissolved — even if I said something unpleasant, short of cursing his eight generations of ancestors, he would sit and hear it out.
She gave a nod: “I won’t be back for dinner.”
“Right.”
Zhù Ying lifted the curtain and stepped out, and came face to face with Madam Jin. Madam Jin said kindly: “The doctor says it’s not the bones or sinews — don’t worry.”
“Good. Sister-in-law — Elder Brother Jin hasn’t gone out, has he?”
“He’s in the back. Just go find him.”
“I’m sorry for all the trouble we’re giving you. I can’t take care of everything at once.”
Madam Jin smiled broadly: “What trouble? Say another word like that and I won’t look after you lot at all!” Truly: “Go on, go on — the hot water is nearly cooled. Let me go see how your mother and father are doing.”
Zhù Ying showed no sign of explosive fury, nor of heading out to do away with anyone — Madam Jin felt there was no cause to make a fuss over Zhù Ying’s comings and goings, and genuinely went to check on Zhang Xiangu and Zhù Shenhan. She brought fresh clothes: “This body of grime and torn clothes — this is mine and my husband’s; newly made, not yet worn more than twice. Put them on first.” She also brought the torn cloth strips to dress wounds with, and called for hot water compresses to alternate with fresh medicine.
Zhang Xiangu thanked her profusely. Madam Jin said: “Your lips are cut — don’t talk for now. Rest your mouth until it heals; then I’ll have company to chat with. Sanlang went to find my husband.”
Zhang Xiangu said: “With Brother Jin keeping an eye on her, I can rest easy.”
——
Jin Liang himself had no idea that Zhang Xiangu placed this much confidence in him!
He stood up to greet Zhù Ying, and said: “How are they?”
Zhù Ying said: “Surface wounds.”
“Oh, well, good. Listen — the capital is not the countryside; people can’t just be killed or beaten here and have it covered up easily. The new prefect of the capital — do you know about him? He’s someone serious. And Shen Ying is a court official…”
Zhù Ying said: “Who said anything about that? A family of spirit-callers — since when were beatings and insults anything unusual?”
Jin Liang had a great many words stuck in his throat.
Zhù Ying found his expression hilarious and savored the sight of Jin Liang’s embarrassment for a private moment before saying: “I’m not worried about my own situation anymore. What are you worrying about?”
Jin Liang said: “You little creature! You have no worry on your face at all — and now you’re getting impatient with the people who worry about you!”
Zhù Ying said: “If you’re truly worried about me, give me something real.”
“What are you plotting? Don’t think I’m going to help you assassinate a court official.”
Zhù Ying rolled her eyes elaborately: “In the future, when you try to guess what someone is going to do — just stop. You are never going to guess right. Stop wasting that brain of yours!”
Jin Liang glared angrily: “Say that again!”
Zhù Ying said: “What more is there to say? Stop creating trouble. Come — let’s talk business.”
Jin Liang nearly gave himself a crick in the neck trying to contain his temper, and managed to squeeze out: “What business?”
Zhù Ying said: “Will Lord Zheng be at the manor tomorrow? I left in a hurry today and didn’t take any of the books. There’s not much time before the examination — I need to move quickly. And going forward, how I get the books from him will need an arrangement too. I need to see him again. His manor is enormous — it can’t be easy to see him at will. And if you’re genuinely worried about me going out to make trouble somewhere, give me something to do — if I have work, I won’t go out.”
At the mention of this, Jin Liang was engaged: “The Seventh Young Master still has a few days of holiday. Tomorrow I’ll take you to the manor — if he’s in, we’ll find a moment to settle your business while he’s there. If not, I’ll find out when he will be in, and we’ll wait at the manor — I know the place well — and get it sorted as soon as he arrives. I promise tomorrow your matter will be taken care of. Oh — even if the books come back with you, don’t rush to read them for the next couple of days. Spend time with your parents.”
Zhù Ying said: “What’s there to ‘spend time’ on? I’m not being separated from them. While I’m here — and on that subject — let me extend my stay a few more days. Ten at the least, half a month at most. Once their injuries are better I’ll go back to my own place. If we go back now, my mother definitely won’t rest — she’ll be up doing housework, which will slow her recovery.”
She had originally planned to move back to the rented rooms within the next two days and get down seriously to studying for the examination. But now with both parents injured, she decided to stay on at Jin Liang’s for half a month, making shameless use of the Jin household’s conveniences. The debt of goodwill to the Jin family was already owed; no need to incur more from anyone else.
She had another concern: the marriage was dissolved, but judging from how badly her parents were beaten, Madam Feng’s anger had run high. During the period of recovery, what if Madam Feng got angrier as she brooded and came back to add another beating — and her parents couldn’t even run?
Jin Liang said generously: “No need to be so polite. You’re welcome to stay right here! Stay until you receive your official appointment! My place has everything — isn’t it better than having to do everything yourself? Once you’re appointed and have a salary, go out and buy a maidservant to look after the household for your sister-in-law.”
Zhù Ying said: “Haven’t thought that far ahead. I’ve already paid a year’s rent on the rooms — leaving them empty is a waste. Just these few days is all right. So — tomorrow I come to find you?”
Jin Liang said: “You’re living in my house — where else would you ‘find’ me? Tomorrow morning, if you can get up early, we’ll go to the manor at first light.”
“Good.”
In a short while Madam Jin had come back, smiling: “You two sit here — I’ll go check on the meal. Sanlang, you eat with your Elder Brother here today. Your parents’ mouths are sore, so I’m having soft rice porridge with braised meat made for them. You’re at a growing age and can’t get by on just that — eat something solid here, don’t go making your parents feel guilty.”
Zhù Ying said: “All right.”
Zhù Ying ate fast; Jin Liang ate fast. The two of them together had a larger appetite than Madam Jin and Jin Biao. Three adults finished first; Jin Biao was still sucking the rim of his bowl, drawing the congee in and then blowing it back out, over and over. Madam Jin raised the back of her chopsticks and rapped them on the tabletop: “Eat your food properly!”
Jin Biao said: “I don’t want any more!”
Madam Jin said: “Then leave it. Put the bowl down — no playing in food. Who taught you that? Disgraceful!”
Jin Biao made a disgruntled noise and put down his chopsticks.
Madam Jin said: “Sanlang will laugh at you.”
Jin Liang said: “That child needs a good thrashing!”
Zhù Ying smiled: “The fact that he can say ‘I don’t want any more’ to you is a good thing. The one to worry about is the child who keeps everything inside and can’t say what’s bothering them — by the time you try to talk to them, there’s nowhere to even begin.”
Jin Liang said: “I spoiled him rotten!” Madam Jin, however, said: “That’s true — a child who’s willing to talk to me is a blessing.”
Zhù Ying stood: “I’m going back. Elder Brother Jin — early tomorrow morning, then.”
Jin Liang said: “Right!”
The moment Zhù Ying was out the door, Madam Jin said to Jin Liang: “I think Sanlang is the steady, sensible kind — she won’t do anything reckless. When I went in just now, she was sitting there talking properly with her parents. It’s her parents who are happy as can be about the dissolution, like the whole thing was no business of theirs at all.”
Jin Liang said: “The in-laws looked down on her — after the dissolution, she can marry someone who respects her properly. Isn’t that better?”
Madam Jin said: “True. Oh my — you really can’t judge people by appearances. I never would have expected those two to be capable of…”
Jin Liang coughed: “Don’t talk about them.”
Both of them were in good spirits. Madam Jin learned from Jin Liang that Zhù Ying was now to be considered “one of their own,” and was genuinely pleased, saying: “From now on we can look out for each other more.” Among Jin Liang’s old friends from the manor and his army companions, many were sharp enough, but none gave her quite the same sense of reliability as Zhù Ying. She truly wanted to keep a good and reliable person in their circle for the long term.
Zhù Ying was also in good spirits. She had come to the capital to make something of herself — and she had chosen Zheng Xi as her patron. The marriage had been resolved. Her parents were safely lodged with the Jin family. All that remained was to study hard, pass the examination, and once she had an official appointment, she would have far more room to maneuver.
Zhang Xiangu and Zhù Shenhan were even happier — they could laugh themselves awake in their sleep.
And even Zheng Xi, far away in the manor, was in good humor that night.
With all these people so content, Shen Ying’s night was miserable.
——
Zheng Xi was at home because he had a few days of leave after returning from his assignment; Shen Ying still had to go to the office. When he came home, the doorman approached with that anxious, furtive look: “Fifth Young Master — Madam Feng has come back.”
“Oh? Did something happen?”
“She’s with the Old Mistress… she’s been crying.”
Shen Ying had no time to change out of his official robes. He strode straight to his mother’s quarters; before he even reached the door he could hear his sister’s sobs. He made a gesture, stood by the window, and listened for a while. He couldn’t make out what was being said inside — only the sound of women weeping, and the faint, unmistakable sound of his own wife mixed in. He knew his wife’s crying all too well — the moment he heard it, his temples throbbed.
He lifted the curtain and went in: “What’s happened?”
Madam Shen, his mother, said: “You! Look what’s become of your sister!”
Shen Ying asked: “Sister? What happened? Who upset you — I’ll settle things for you!”
Madam Feng raised her tear-streaked face, the veil she had held to it long since gone, her expression wild with fury: “You still have the nerve to say that! What kind of a marriage arrangement is this? You told me very clearly — Guanqun’s in-laws were honest, decent people, the young man was capable and knew his place. And now what? They’ve come to my very door to make a scene! I don’t care — you handle this for me. Teach them a lesson, run them out of the capital, and tell them never to bring up this business again! They are not to be allowed to keep claiming kinship — I won’t have my Guanqun saddled with in-laws like these!”
So Zhù Ying had finally broken down and begged for mercy? She’d gone to find her sister and niece and was trying to work things out from the inside? Zhou You’s demotion had been published in the Gazette; Shen Ying had naturally read it. Others might not pay attention to such a minor figure as “Zhù,” but Shen Ying, having some connection to Zhù Ying, would not have missed the item.
So she had tasted some hardship and learned the value of having a powerful backer? Shen Ying asked with interest: “What happened?”
Madam Feng said: “Two beggars came to my gate claiming to be in-laws. I didn’t want to deal with them, but they were cursing so vilely — I thought they were fraudsters trying to extort money. But Guanqun said it was really them!”
“And? Then?”
“And what? Of course the marriage had to be dissolved! I made him sign the cancellation deed!”
Shen Ying’s voice shot out in a cry: “What?!”
Madam Feng said: “What kind of expression is that?!”
Old Madam Shen, his mother, said: “You two, speak properly — one at a time.”
With his mother keeping order, Shen Ying composed himself and worked through the account with his sister from start to finish, then questioned the Feng household servants, and finally pieced together one particular detail: “You beat them?!”
“Am I not allowed to?”
Shen Ying nearly blacked out. He said: “Sister, go home for now — I’ll see to this.”
Madam Feng assumed he was going to take revenge on her behalf and reminded him: “Make sure it’s handled cleanly. People like us — we can’t let rumors spread.”
Shen Ying swallowed the roar that was building in him: “Please go home, Sister.” He was thinking: something was wrong here. The Zhù family of three were all quite proper people — even if they bore a grievance, they would not create a scene quite as ugly as this. He planned to find Zhù Ying, have a frank conversation, and find out exactly what had happened before making any decision.
When Madam Feng left, Old Madam Shen said: “Fifth Son — don’t tire yourself. Your sister relies on you for everything. Goodness — what a mess this has become!”
Shen Ying closed his eyes and stood still for a moment, then said: “Mother — if a good field is left to waste for twenty years and then reclaimed, it won’t grow grain on its own. Someone has to cultivate it. The capital is that field — we’ve been away for twenty years. We need to start tilling again. I found someone to help us till, and Sister has driven them away.”
Old Madam Shen said: “There is no shortage of tenant farmers; but our own family will always be the closest to us. All those who came through the hardships together — without anyone stirring trouble from the inside, your younger sister and brother-in-law will soon be back. Your nephew is home too. Don’t rush — we don’t lack this one person or half a person of unknown worth.”
Shen Ying parted his lips as though to speak, then said: “I’m going to rest.”
Old Madam Shen told her daughter-in-law that there was no need to wait on her further, and sent her back to look after her husband.
Shen Ying’s wife followed him back to their room and started whimpering again. Shen Ying said: “You’re starting that again?”
Madam Shen, his wife, said: “My lord — you’re willing to give your niece’s husband-in-law another chance, yet you won’t lift a hand to help your own wife’s family?”
“I’ve said this many times — don’t bring it up again.”
“Are you really so heartless? I married you, bore your children — have I ever asked you for anything before? All I ask now is that my own parents and brothers be allowed to come home!”
Shen Ying said: “Your father was exiled for a crime!”
“You came home — can’t you help him too?”
Shen Ying said: “My family’s case was an injustice. Was your father’s?”
“Whatever he may have done, he’s still my father — he raised me! And corruption and dereliction — those charges were used as a pretext, everyone knows that.”
These two were, as they say, a well-matched couple. Even in exile, Shen Ying had found a bride from among the families of other exiled officials — educated and accomplished enough to be suitable. One of them had come home; the other was still suffering in exile.
His wife said: “Marriage is to join two families. I married you, yet I cannot save my own family. Your niece’s husband-in-law married into the Feng family, yet suffered a beating.”
“Enough!”
His wife fell back into quiet, melancholy weeping. Shen Ying got up and walked out, and spent the night in his study. The following morning he sent someone to find Zhù Ying. Zhù Ying had moved twice in the meantime; the servant first tried the inn, where the innkeeper directed them to Zhù Ying’s rented rooms. Nobody was at home; a neighbor said they had not been back in months.
The Shen household’s servant also tried the capital prison; from the prison guard they learned: “Well now! You’re relatives? Why only come looking now? Sanlang left for Madam Jin’s house long ago!”
This time the servant had finally found the right place, and knocked at the Jin household gate.
By that time, Zhù Ying and Jin Liang had already come back from the Zheng manor.
——
Zhù Ying and Jin Liang had gone to the Zheng manor early that morning. Zheng Xi had just finished breakfast and had not yet gone out. Jin Liang stood respectfully to one side; Zhù Ying and Gan Ze exchanged a glance and nodded greetings.
Zheng Xi asked: “Have you both eaten?”
Jin Liang said: “We have.”
Zheng Xi set down his chopsticks and asked: “How are things at home?”
Zhù Ying said: “Sister-in-law has already had the doctor in. It’s surface wounds.”
Zheng Xi said: “Madam Feng’s temper has grown increasingly difficult to be around. Dissolving the marriage is no bad outcome. A worthy wife is her husband’s good fortune; a difficult mother-in-law is even more troublesome.”
“Mm.”
Jin Liang spoke up on Zhù Ying’s behalf: “I told her to stay home and be with her parents, but she couldn’t stay put — she had to come ask how to study and how to sit the examination.”
Zheng Xi turned to Zhù Ying to confirm once more: “You’re truly not sitting the jing and rites examination? Not the jinshi?”
Zhù Ying had long since made up her mind: “No!”
Zheng Xi also seemed faintly resigned, and said: “Very well. Bring that book chest over to her.”
Gan Ze went out, called a young manservant, and the two of them came back carrying a bamboo-woven chest and set it on the floor. Zheng Xi said: “Everything you need is in there. The state may prize the law, but the mingfa and similar examinations still rank below the jing and rites and jinshi. Have you truly thought this through?”
Zhù Ying said: “A long journey needs good shoes. Good horses and a carriage before you can travel far; rest stops with food and water along the way are best. None of that do I have.”
Zheng Xi smiled and nodded.
Zhù Ying said: “You have said you can support me, and I’m not afraid to owe a debt of gratitude. But those two examinations are harder to sit. All the finest minds in the realm rush toward them; each character has eight hundred meanings wrung out of it. If I put all my energy into that, I’ll give myself away the moment I open my mouth. Memorization — that I can manage. Pass the mingfa, and I can do everything in that new posting of yours. And there’s still time before the examination — it’s manageable.”
“Jing and rites and jinshi would take you further,” Zheng Xi said. “If you truly have ambition, you should listen to me — one day reach high office, and you will be able to right far more wrongful cases.”
Zhù Ying said: “There’s still you, isn’t there? I’ll just handle the small things.”
Zheng Xi let out a quiet sigh: “All right. Go and study. You don’t have much time left this year.”
“Right — two or three months.”
The mingfa examination was not held at the same time as the jing and rites or jinshi; it waited until the more prestigious examinations were finished, and only then, alongside the mingsuian and others like it, was another round held — a month or two after the jing and rites. The combined pool of mingfa and mingsuian candidates did not equal the number sitting the jing and rites alone; they made do with the leftover rooms, tables, and chairs from the main examinations.
Strictly speaking, Zhù Ying was not fully qualified to sit the mingfa, since she had no ancestral records to submit — which was why Wang Yunhe had expressed such regret and lamentation. In the hands of someone like Zheng Xi, who thought nothing of such technicalities, it was not an issue — he could arrange it.
Seeing her determination was final, Zheng Xi said: “Seventy-five days. Off you go.”
Zhù Ying went to pick up the book chest; it was heavy and awkward. On impulse she opened the lid: inside were no scrolls, only books bound in volumes, and thick sheaves of written pages.
Gan Ze said quietly: “As soon as you two left yesterday, the Seventh Young Master sent people out to find even more!”
Zheng Xi said: “The mingfa examines law and statutes. You’ve already gone through the legal texts; statutes are issued as needed over time and keep accumulating. Beyond that, to be safe, you’d do well to look over some of the more commonly used ordinances and administrative forms as well — they’re not tested, but a general familiarity is useful.”
Zhù Ying moistened her lips — this last-minute addition was something she hadn’t expected. She said: “I’ll do it!” She made a rough estimate: the legal texts she had already read and committed to memory; those were the bulk of the examination. If the remaining texts were roughly the same difficulty as the legal texts, she could work through all of them in two months. The examination only tested law and statutes; the rest was not urgent, so she’d have fifteen days left over to review law and statutes one more time.
Right. That was the plan.
Gan Ze said: “Seventh Young Master — we need to be going.”
Zheng Xi said: “Study well — once you’ve passed, I have things for you to do.”
Zhù Ying answered happily. Jin Liang stepped up and hoisted the book chest onto his own shoulder — making it look effortless — and said: “Seventh Young Master, we’re heading back as well.”
Zhù Ying gave Zheng Xi a formal bow. Zheng Xi said: “Go on.”
Gan Ze leaned in close and murmured: “Seventh Young Master — do you think Sanlang will actually pass?”
With only seventy-five days — even accounting for the legal texts studied along the way, Gan Ze was genuinely worried for this young friend.
Zheng Xi said without concern: “If she fails? That is precisely the time for her to settle down and read the Classics and Histories, and take the proper path from the start. I am hardly incapable of supporting her.”
——
Zhù Ying didn’t know that a thoughtful patron had already prepared a contingency plan for her failing the examination. Jin Liang shouldered the book chest, and she bought two flatbreads from a street stall as they walked, stuffing one into Jin Liang’s mouth and biting into the other herself.
The two of them walked home with breadcrumbs around their mouths — and arrived to find Shen Ying’s servant being sent out of the lane by Lai Fu.
Lai Fu trotted up to take the book chest from Jin Liang’s shoulder: “This is a servant from Lord Shen’s household…”
Jin Liang’s eyes narrowed: “What do they want?”
The Shen servant said awkwardly: “A misunderstanding. All a misunderstanding. General, we’ll be going now and seeing ourselves out.” They had no acquaintance with Zhù Shenhan or Zhang Xiangu; when Lai Fu had opened the gate, the two of them had poked their heads out briefly and retreated indoors. Madam Jin had received them.
Madam Jin also had no kind words for them. She told them in full about Zhù Shenhan and Zhang Xiangu being beaten on three separate occasions; the Shen servants heard it and lost all sense of what to do next — hadn’t they been told that only the Feng family had beaten them once and dissolved the marriage? How was it that their family had beaten them twice as well?
They made their helpless farewells and departed.
Jin Liang said: “Sanlang — let’s go home!”
The Shen servant was left staring at their retreating backs, at a complete loss. After a moment’s pause, he suddenly spun on his heel and ran back to report.
Shen Ying arrived home to a worse report than the day before. He had the doormen questioned and worked out the approximate timing — while Zhù Ying was in prison, the Zhù couple had come to his door asking for help, and had been beaten off!
Shen Ying nearly choked on his own regret. With the whole family watching him, he could not lose composure. He said: “Someone go to the Chen residence and invite the elder young master to come over.” He wanted Chen Meng to act as a mediator, to sound out Zhù Ying’s position. The marriage was almost certainly beyond saving, but there must be no further enmity either — Zhù Ying was plainly headed toward Zheng Xi now, and with Zhù Ying’s sharp wits, even if she never became the Seventh Young Master’s most trusted confidant, she would certainly be a valued operative. He could not have her carrying any resentment and putting in a bad word for him with Zheng Xi.
Chen Meng, when he heard the full account, was left speechless. After a long pause he said: “How did everything pile up like this? All right — I’ll go.”
The following day he arrived at the Jin household. Jin Liang did not accompany Zheng Xi on assignments; when not on duty he lived a very orderly life. He had one rest day in ten; otherwise he was quartered at the camp outside the city. His holiday was nearly over, and he was home packing the bags he would take back to camp.
He left his own bow and quiver for Zhù Ying: “Here — I kept meaning to take you to pick out a bow and never got around to it. This one’s solid; don’t just sit reading all the time — when your head aches, take a break. You haven’t forgotten your fighting skills?”
Zhù Ying took it with a smile.
“Tomorrow I report to the manor to take my leave and head out. The manor’s paths you know, and the gate staff know your face by now too — if anything comes up, go there for help.”
“Understood.”
The two of them were talking easily when Chen Meng came to the door.
Jin Liang was flustered and said: “I’ll go and meet him — you don’t…”
Zhù Ying said: “He’s here to see me. If you block him, he’ll overthink it and suspect you of interfering. Better I go — there needs to be a clear conversation at some point. I won’t kill him.”
Chen Meng had the look of a refined young scholar. Seeing him again, Zhù Ying found him visibly changed from that snowy day when she had first arrived in the capital — there was more gravity about him now.
The two exchanged courtesies. Chen Meng said: “Sanlang — I am deeply ashamed. I have only just learned that there was a misunderstanding between you and my Aunt Madam.”
Zhù Ying said: “Yesterday, my father and mother each took a beating at your honored uncle’s and honored aunt’s households respectively. Your honored aunt had my father sign a dissolution deed; both parties now hold a copy. Black on white, every character clear — what misunderstanding can there be?”
“Misunderstanding — my uncle sent me here to offer his apologies to you.” He had brought servants and a considerable number of gifts.
Zhù Ying said: “Your honored uncle is most generous. Seven or eight days ago he was still generous enough to add another beating — just to make sure we’d stopped coming to beg.”
Chen Meng knew about all of it, and his temples ached. He said: “These small-minded people! Snobs and their contempt!”
He thought of the power-hungry servants in his own household from his childhood, and the more he cursed, the more fiercely he went on. Jin Liang said: “Young Master Chen — you’ve come to my house to curse at whom exactly?”
Chen Meng realized he had lost his composure and said: “Forgive me. I truly came to apologize. Had I known, I would never have let any of this happen. And had my uncle known, he would not have allowed it either.”
Zhù Ying thought: I’ll believe that when I see it! The news of Zhou You’s punishment was in the Gazette, and you lot in the court would know perfectly well why he was punished. That I was in prison — you certainly knew and said nothing. That makes your intentions clear enough. But she said nothing aloud, not wanting to spoil the mood.
She could already guess why Chen Meng had come, but she would not let him off easily. She said: “Whether you allowed it or not — it’s already happened. Now you and I have no further connection. You need not come again. What is that expression — ‘each goes their own way in mutual delight.’ From this point on, bridge and road, each to its own path.”
“Sanlang!”
Zhù Ying said: “Young Master Chen — you are a scholar and a gentleman. If your own birth parents were beaten, could their child forgive the person who had them beaten?”
Chen Meng was silenced, then said: “Why must you be so… unrelenting.”
Zhù Ying said: “Please, Young Master Chen — be on your way.”
Jin Liang coughed once and said: “You two had better get things said plainly. This is already where things stand.” He was desperately trying to signal Zhù Ying with his eyes: Chen Meng was not just Shen Ying’s nephew but the son of the prime minister, and Zhù Ying would do well not to make an enemy of him right now.
Zhù Ying said: “Very well. Then plainly: take your gifts and leave. Our two families will not visit each other’s doors again. We are a small household and cannot presume to count ourselves in the same circle as great families like yours — we ask only that you show some generosity and spare us further attention.”
Jin Liang said: “Young Master Chen — I think we’ve gotten this about as far as it needs to go, haven’t we? The Feng business has nothing to do with you Chens or you Shens — why get involved?”
Chen Meng’s expression shifted slightly. He clasped his hands and said: “It seems I have not done very well as a mediator — I find myself thinking both sides have a point.”
Zhù Ying gestured “please.” Chen Meng, showing excellent composure, returned the bow and departed with his people.
Jin Liang asked Zhù Ying: “And the gifts?”
“Send them back. Not a single coin of his.” Zhù Ying said.
Jin Liang told Lai Fu to hire a cart and return everything to the prime minister’s residence. Zhù Ying said: “No need to tell my parents about this.”
“Understood.”
Chen Meng’s visit did not disrupt Zhù Ying and Jin Liang’s routines — Zhù Ying went back to her reading, Jin Liang went on packing his bags.
The next day, Jin Liang went to the manor to take his leave before departing, and mentioned Chen Meng to Zheng Xi.
Zheng Xi said: “Him? He hasn’t sorted out his own household affairs yet, and now he’s gone off causing trouble for his uncle? You go back to camp. Tomorrow I’ll see Shen Ying and put in a word.”
“Yes, sir!”
Jin Liang went home, packed up his luggage, and told Zhù Ying with satisfaction: “The Seventh Young Master has agreed to wrap up things with the Feng family!”
Zhù Ying said: “You really are…”
Jin Liang said: “I know you’re clever, but some things can’t be handled by cleverness alone. You just stay at my house — if Sister-in-law needs anything, give her a hand.”
“All right.”
And so Zhù Ying stayed in the Jin household, rarely stepping out, devoting herself to study. The Jin household took care of the family of three. Zhang Xiangu felt deeply uncomfortable, and after discussing it with Zhù Ying, handed Madam Jin some money to cover the household’s daily expenses. The two women turned this over between themselves for a whole day; in the end Madam Jin reluctantly accepted two strings of cash.
With that settled, things were quiet again. Madam Jin started counting the days, counting toward when Jin Liang would come home.
Before she had counted her way to Jin Liang’s return, one fifth-hour morning Zhù Ying was fast asleep when she suddenly heard from outside: “Fire! Fire!”
Zhù Ying threw on her clothes and got up. She pushed open the door; with a running jump she cleared the rooftop and looked in all four directions — it was the firewood and charcoal storage area in the Jin household’s rear courtyard that was ablaze! The maidservants and kitchen hands, up early heating water for when Madam Jin would rise, screamed the moment they saw the fire. Lai Fu was awake too; Madam Jin was awake too, clutching her son and giving orders: “Quick! Fetch basins — sound the alarm!”
A brass basin started ringing, and the noise roused neighbors who were already up or half-awake. Voices came from beyond the wall: “Open up, we’re coming to help!”
One neighbor had a well; they were already drawing water and running over with buckets.
Zhù Ying saw that Zhù Shenhan and Zhang Xiangu had also woken and come to watch. She jumped down from the roof and said: “Stay close to me. Don’t get separated. Something is wrong here.”
Zhang Xiangu asked: “What do you mean?”
Zhù Ying said: “The fire is burning wrong.” Setting fires was something she knew intimately. The firewood storage was precisely the kind of place where open flames were forbidden. Madam Jin kept the household in good order — an open flame in the firewood store was impossible. So how had this fire started? The last time she had seen a firewood room in flames was at the prefect’s residence; no one knew better than she did how that fire had gotten started.
The family of three reached the rear courtyard and knocked open the door. Madam Jin’s face was pale: “Sanlang! Elder Brother, Elder Sister!”
Zhù Ying said: “Sister-in-law — take the child somewhere open and away from the crowd. Don’t get trampled. Leave the money and valuables — they don’t matter!”
She swept a quick glance around: every servant in the Jin household was present and accounted for. Then she saw that Lai Fu had opened the rear gate; the neighbors came in orderly enough, each carrying a bucket or basin.
Zhù Ying pushed through to the firewood room first. She squinted and swept the space, sniffed — she smelled oil.
Every fire has an ignition point. From Zhù Ying’s experience, the more flammable the material, the better — otherwise you needed something to accelerate the burn: oil, light gauze or cloth, dry grass, dry branches — those worked best.
The neighbors came rushing in to fight the fire. Zhù Ying did not help. She pulled out a few dry sticks of firewood, extinguished the flames on them, and walked out carrying them.
Zhang Xiangu was outside in frantic anxiety, trying several times to run in and being held back both by Madam Jin and Zhù Shenhan. When she saw her daughter come out, she burst into tears: “With so many people here — what were you trying to prove going in there?”
Zhù Ying shook her head: “Something is wrong. Smell these.”
Zhù Shenhan said: “Smells like oil.”
Zhang Xiangu was the first to say: “Someone set this fire on purpose?”
Madam Jin said: “We have no enemies, old or new!”
Zhù Ying guided them toward open ground and said quietly: “Put out the fire first. There will be traces to find.”
The fire was brought under control quickly. Madam Jin first thanked the neighbors; they all said: “Take better care from now on.” “Got a fright, did you? Quick, check if anything’s missing.”
Suddenly someone exclaimed: “What on earth is this? Did someone drop something?”
Dawn was just breaking; he moved his foot, and in the mud and water the neighbors could barely make out some object roughly half the size of a palm, which had scraped his foot.
None of those present claimed it. It was passed up to Madam Jin, who said: “Perhaps it’s someone’s identification token.”
Zhù Ying had an inkling. She said: “Set it aside for now — let’s check whether anything has been stolen.”
Madam Jin said: “Agreed.”
The neighbors began to talk about dispersing. Then another discovery was made: one neighbor found a short knife at the base of the wall, picked it up, and asked: “Did someone else drop something?”
Again no one claimed it. Everyone thought this very strange — what was happening today?
Madam Jin took the knife, wiped the mud from it, and handed it to Zhù Ying: “Sanlang — what characters are these?”
On the knife was engraved a line of small characters: Presented with respect by the student Luo Deng to the Young Master.
Zhù Ying said: “May I trouble the neighbors to have one more look around — are there any other ownerless objects on the ground?”
In the end they also found a gold hairpin that had been trodden bent. The situation was too peculiar; the neighbors were in no hurry to leave.
Zhù Ying took a dry stick of firewood and walked a circle on the ground — marking several spots that the others could not quite make sense of — then borrowed a neighbor’s ladder, climbed up the top of the wall, and looked all around. Then she went out the rear gate and marked a few more spots in the lane outside. The spacing between the circles started out somewhat irregular, then became evenly spaced, extending outward — until they disappeared into the drainage channel at the edge of the main road. Some circles contained footprints; some were trampled into confusion.
Zhù Ying said: “There’s been a burglar. Please, neighbors — don’t step on the circles I’ve marked. Sister-in-law — we should file a report with the authorities.”
The neighbors all found this fascinating and wanted to see how it played out. They said: “No need for Madam to go herself — we’ll go!”
Zhù Ying said: “Sister-in-law, let’s have someone send word to Elder Brother Jin, check the doors and windows, take an inventory of everything, and be ready for the legal proceedings.”
Before long, the constables from Wannian County had arrived. The neighbors also volunteered to help keep watch, to guard the circles Zhù Ying had drawn, and to help find someone to draft a complaint. It was all very lively.
Zhù Ying was swept along with the rest to Wannian County.
Wannian County had been under heavy pressure from Wang Yunhe lately, and the complaint was accepted without delay. The constables looked at the evidence and said: “Luo Deng?”
Luo Deng was an official; Wannian County knew who he was, and sent for him to come and assist with the inquiry. Luo Deng sent a servant with his calling card to deal with the matter. Wannian County asked: “Do you recognize this item?”
The servant answered with no hesitation: “Our master sent this to the elder Young Master Chen as a gift!”