Zhù Ying’s chair was built of solid, heavy material. When it hit the ground, it produced a thunderous crash. The two unfortunate young guards standing nearby drew their swords halfway from their scabbards, the blades flashing bright!

They had only taken their posts three days ago, and were still jumping at shadows.

Zhù Ying was the first to calm herself. She braced both hands against the tabletop and asked Zhù Yan, “Should you not be at the school? Did you come back with her? Is she in the rear quarters now? Has a physician been called?”

Zhù Yan said, “On the way back to the residence, I ran into Elder Sister Qingye — she is attending to Teacher.”

Zhù Ying drew a quiet breath. “Let us go and see.”

She had not walked many steps out the door before she saw a cluster of people rushing toward the receiving room. The crash just now had been quite loud — those nearby heard it and hurried over, and those farther away, seeing the ones nearby moving, followed suit.

Zhù Ying asked, “What is everyone gathered here for? Go back to your work.”

“Yes.”

Su Mingluan spotted Zhù Yan and thought to herself: should she not be at the school? Why had she come back? And why was the Military Governor heading to the rear quarters? Something must have happened.

She also spread her sleeves wide: “Disperse, disperse — jumping at every little sound.” She went person by person, shooing everyone back to their posts.

Seeing that Zhù Ying appeared unharmed, the others were no longer worried at heart, though they still had their doubts. Liu Ao had gone to attend to something and was returning to report — when she arrived, Zhù Ying had already gone to the rear quarters. Liu Ao looked at Su Mingluan and sensed that her behavior was rather suspicious. It was true that Su Mingluan had a fondness for grabbing authority and managing affairs, but her movements and manner were just a touch exaggerated — she might not have been aware of it herself.

Liu Ao clutched her official documents, exchanged a glance with Liu Yan, and the aunt and nieces slipped away from the crowd toward the rear residential quarters. Since they lived within the administration building, going to the rear quarters was not conspicuous. They quickly located Huajie’s residence — they simply had to watch where the servants keeping watch over the rear quarters were looking.

The two quietly drew near and stood at the door of the sleeping chamber. The room was already packed to capacity. Zhù Ying, Zhù Qingye, and Zhù Qingxue were all inside. Zhù Qingye and Zhù Qingxue were taking turns at the pulse, while Zhù Ying stood by the bed overseeing them. Zhù Yan stood to one side, anxious and helpless. Dajie stretched out a hand toward the teapot, then reached toward the bed, then drew back — it was unclear what she was trying to do. Zhù Tong and Lin Ge stood just inside the doorway, very close to Liu Ao and Liu Yan.

After a time, Huajie had still not regained consciousness. Zhù Qingye and Zhù Qingxue arrived at a conclusion, and said with troubled expressions: “It is not good.”

Zhù Ying said, “Call another physician.”

Dajie said, “Yes!”

Liu Ao spoke up: “Military Governor — the finest physician in all of Nan’an specializing in women’s ailments is lying in there. Her personally trained disciples are in this very room as well.”

Huajie’s students fell into two groups: those who studied medicine, and those who helped manage the schools.

Zhù Ying turned to look. The sleeping chamber was darker than the outside, making it difficult to see clearly. Liu Ao said, “Ershiwu Niang, please come.”

Liu Yan pressed forward: “Military Governor, I also have some knowledge of medicine.”

The crowd stepped aside to make a path, and Liu Yan took Huajie’s pulse. She then carefully asked about her condition in recent days. Zhù Yan and Dajie knew her daily routine best, while Lin Ge and Zhù Tong could also contribute a few details. At Huajie’s age, her movements were no longer as spry as in her younger years, her reactions were slower, she ate less, and her teeth could no longer manage things that were too hard or too chewy…

Liu Yan set Huajie’s hand down gently and slowly withdrew. Zhù Ying followed her out and asked, “How is she?”

Liu Yan said quietly, “A person approaching seventy — she already shows the signs of a lamp nearly out of oil. It would be best to begin making preparations. It would not hurt to have everything ready in advance — it might serve as a good omen, and perhaps she will recover.”

“Very well,” Zhù Ying said.

She called out Dajie, Zhù Qingxue, and Zhù Qingye: “From now on, Qingxue will keep watch here. Dajie, you will help deflect attention. Qingye, you will come every other day. Do not all gather at once — it will look obviously wrong, and she is no fool; she will be able to guess. Do not tell her about her condition. Everything as before.”

“Yes.”

Zhù Ying then addressed the others: “Birth, old age, illness, and death — no person is exempt. Since that is so, let her live in comfort. Whatever she was doing before, whatever she wishes to do now — let her do it. Do not confine her to her room. If she wants to go to the school, she goes to the school. If she wants to go to the medical hall, she goes to the medical hall. No one is to wear a woeful expression in front of her. Do not tell her about her condition, and carry on as before.”

“Yes.”

Liu Yan asked, “What would you have me do?”

Zhù Ying said, “Come to visit her again in a couple of days. It is a sick call, after all.”

Liu Yan understood with a nod, thinking to herself: The Military Governor manages to keep her composure after all.

But then Zhù Ying issued another order: “Lin Ge — go and relay my instructions: begin preparing the coffin and burial garments. It will serve as an auspicious omen.”

Liu Ao said, “The affairs of the Bureau of Rites — shall you issue an order for Academician Zhao to oversee things more carefully?”

Zhù Ying looked at her and said, “You take over for now. Zhao Zhen — he lacks the heart for it.”

Huajie had been put in charge of the Bureau of Rites and the management of schools by circumstance rather than design — because back in those early days in Zhù County, she was the only person who had ever taught in the schools of the local tribes, and could therefore be said to have organized a school before. The school at that time had many young children, and Huajie was patient and gentle with them. Afterward, there was always a shortage of capable people, and so the arrangement had continued. Now was also the time to make things more systematic.

Liu Ao was young, capable, and came from an excellent scholarly lineage — far better suited to the role than Zhao Zhen.

Liu Ao did not decline. She knew the situation in the Bureau of Rites, and the schools throughout Nan’an were due for a thorough, continued overhaul.

——

When Huajie opened her eyes again, night had already fallen. Zhù Ying sat bolt upright at a proper distance of three paces, in a posture of meditative composure. Zhù Yan had stopped crying too, and was gazing at her with anxious, wide eyes. The moment Huajie stirred, both of them were immediately alert.

Zhù Ying stood up: “So determined to work hard!”

Huajie struggled to sit up, and Zhù Yan tucked a pillow behind her back. Huajie said, “How hard have I been working? One moment I just did not know what came over me… I must be getting old. With the Liu family’s young ladies here now, I can take a rest too. I was never really suited to the Bureau of Rites — I was just filling in for lack of anyone better. From now on, I will just stay at the medical hall and mentor the younger apprentices. How does that sound?”

Zhù Ying looked at her hair — far more white than black — and flicked her gently on the forehead: “All right. Whatever you say. But since you did take a fall, you need to rest. Three days.”

Huajie said, “Very well.”

Zhù Ying said, “Rest now. I will leave A’Yan here to keep you company.”

“There is no need.”

“Either her, or me.”

“Her.”

Everything seemed to end in that quiet exchange. Yet Su Mingluan and others had already noticed something unusual: Zhù Ying praying at a temple?

That was impossible!

Then, combining this with the oddities of that day — it was easy to learn, with a little inquiry, that Huajie had been carried out of the school horizontally, and that Zhù Ying had already given orders to begin preparing the coffin. Su Mingluan’s heart gave a sudden lurch. She was afraid of being wrong, and hesitated for a long time — long enough to wear the floor tiles thin — before finally going to Zhù Ying and asking, “Aunt… what is the situation, exactly?”

Zhù Ying said, “She is getting on in years.”

“That is not right,” Su Mingluan said. “I have not said anything to anyone else, but there are too many unusual signs. Never mind that Shiqi Niang has taken over the Bureau of Rites — just look at the two of them, Qingye and Qingxue…”

Zhù Ying raised her hand. Su Mingluan fell silent. Zhù Ying said, “Wait a little longer and see — whether she can recover. If she does, we will speak then.” She had lived through too much in her life — of course there had been genuinely perilous moments, and they had all turned around in the end.

Su Mingluan took a cautious step back, not daring to say more, and as soon as she left, she broke into a run — to find Lang Rui. Both of them had come to Zhù Ying’s household when they were very young; Lang Rui had stayed a somewhat shorter time, but it was still Zhang Xiangu and Huajie who had looked after his upbringing. Who among this younger generation had not, at some point, received Huajie’s care?

The two put their heads together, and Lang Rui said, “Your family and mine both have good things. I will go and ask my father. Aunt is a northerner — do northerners not like auspicious things like lingzhi mushrooms? Let us find some!”

“I will have my people catch some rare birds to present.”

While the two busied themselves, Huajie too had noticed something unusual on her end. It was normal for the people around her to give her more attention as she aged. But when it went too far, that was another matter altogether. The food she was being given was noticeably more refined than before. Zhù Ying ate alongside her as well, claiming she had reached the age for looking after one’s health. But eating finer things together every single time — that was not right.

One day she came back from the medical hall and, seeing the day was still early, wanted to go and take a look at a temple. Zhù Ying was not one who cared much for such places, but Huajie had the habit. Several of the elders she carried in her heart — besides Zhang Xiangu and Zhù Da, who had both died peacefully in their own beds — had all met rather troubled ends, and she always tried to find time to offer prayers for their repose.

At the temple, she found that services were already being offered on her behalf. Since when had Zhù Ying taken an interest in this? Even the memorial services she had arranged for her own parents were purely a matter of “ritual propriety” — not genuine belief.

The unusual signs only accumulated. Though the household no longer required her to manage much, the number of people orbiting around her had multiplied. And they were all making a deliberate show of keeping their distance — yet so many of these young people had grown up before her eyes. She understood them better than they understood themselves.

Zhù Yan was a straightforward child. After Huajie sat with her alone and chatted for a while, the girl confessed everything. When she finished speaking, Zhù Yan’s face had gone pale: “Please do not say it was me who told you.”

“I am a physician myself,” Huajie said, reflecting quietly. “I want to write a few letters. Please help me make sure no one disturbs me.”

“Yes.”

Huajie added, “Do not wear such a mournful expression. If I know earlier, I can make all the arrangements, and then I can close my eyes in peace when the time comes. That is something to be glad about for me. Now as for you — you are still so young, and your studies are still unfinished. The school has someone to manage it now. I will make good arrangements for you.”

“You need not worry about me. Teacher, you…”

Huajie waved a hand. “I am not especially learned, you remember? I once said: if you ever became an official, it would be the same as if I had become one myself. Now I can hardly say that everything you have accomplished is as if I had accomplished it myself — what you have done is beyond me. But I am truly glad for you.

Shiqi Niang, Ershiwu Niang — that you have come to Nan’an, that you see and understand things more clearly than I ever could — I only regret having too little time with you. Since you are here, make this your home. I entrust her to you — please keep her company and speak with her from time to time. I have one young student here; I am putting her in Shiqi Niang’s care. She has been by my side for two years now and is familiar with the school’s affairs.

Xiao Zhu — I am not going home. What earth is not fit to bury a person? I cannot bear to leave Nan’an. I cannot be with your mother at the end, so let me stay with my adopted mother instead. When I am laid to rest, please put those wooden hairpins you made for me in my hair.”

Zhù Ying said, “What you are saying does not sound very auspicious.”

“Xiao Zhu, come here.” Huajie extended her hand and drew Zhù Ying down to sit beside her. To Su Mingluan and the others she said, “If I am partial to anyone, it is only to her. You are all good children. I am entrusting her to all of you.”

“Elder Sister!”

Huajie said, “When old people go on and on, they become tiresome. Half-dead and unable to finish one’s last words — that is the most annoying thing of all. Let me say everything first, and then I will have no more worries and can rest easy and get well. If I do recover, then what I said was just about right for the occasion. If I do not recover, then everything is already said and done. Very well — I am tired. Let me rest.”

Su Mingluan and the others did not dare to move. Zhù Yan was wiping her tears with the back of her hand without being able to stop. Liu Ao and Liu Yan had already guessed most of what had happened. They said quietly to Zhù Ying, “Perhaps we should clear the room — so many people gathered around a sick person is not good for her recovery.”

Only then did Zhù Ying say, “Clear the room.”

She stayed behind and sat with Huajie in silence until dinner. They ate very quietly. Huajie said to Zhù Ying, “Do not be shy — eat more. You need to take good care of yourself.”

It was rare for Zhù Ying to have no appetite.

Huajie said, “I have a few more letters — one for Qingjun, one for A’Lian…”

“Give them to me. I will have them delivered. I will not peek.”

Huajie pressed her lips together in a small smile. “I have nothing else of great importance to ask of you, only a few people — Dajie, let her stay at home and live out her days in peace. Old Hou has already lost the ability to move about freely — you will see to his affairs when the time comes. And A’Yan — she is a good child.”

“I know.”

——

After Huajie had settled her affairs, for two consecutive days she still ate and slept well — though she ate still not very much, and her sleep was not entirely steady, yet there was no deterioration. The administration, meanwhile, had fallen under a kind of pall. Zhù Ying had kept Huajie from being told, out of concern that the news would affect her mood and, by extension, her health. Yet Huajie herself had swept the table clear — she felt lighter for it, while everyone else’s spirits grew heavier.

Seeing that she could still take walks, people gradually settled their hearts a little. Who had not known a person who claimed every day they were about to die, yet lingered on in that half-dead state for many years?

Everyone clung to their hope.

Zhù Ying simply moved over to live alongside Huajie. Huajie found her tiresome, so Zhù Ying took the room next door. In any case, Zhù Ying had now handed off most of the detailed affairs, and had more time on her hands.

One morning, Zhù Ying rose and quietly slid open the latch to enter Huajie’s room — and her expression changed in an instant. The sound of breathing had stopped.

Zhù Ying stepped forward and slowly settled herself onto the edge of the bed. She sat there for a while, and then Zhù Yan, Zhù Qingxue, Zhù Qingye, Lin Ge, and Zhù Tong all came through, taking in the scene. Their hands and feet went numb, and they drifted forward, weightless. Zhù Yan leaned in, then burst into wailing tears.

Zhù Ying said, “Stop crying. Come and help me.”

The assembled women prepared and arrayed Huajie with dignity. The clothes and coffin made in advance proved to be exactly right for use. Liu Ao drafted a funeral oration, and also raised the matter of submitting a report to the court. Since Huajie held an official post, the Court of State Ceremonial would need to issue a statement upon the death of a serving official.

Zhù Ying said, “It is fortunate you are here — I am leaving all of this to you. Also — send an obituary to the Chen household. Tell them my elder sister has died.”

Liu Ao said, “Yes.”

She handled all of this with practiced ease, knowing how much Huajie had meant to Zhù Ying — no one dared to be careless. Liu Ao drafted the document to be sent to the court, counting the days in her heart and hoping the court would reply promptly.

Fast horses sped off in a cloud of dust, but the reply was long in coming. Zhù Qingjun and the others had already arrived to pay their respects at the funeral, yet the court’s ceremonial rescript conferring a posthumous title on Huajie had still not arrived — by her rank, it certainly should have been issued already. Liu Ao asked Xiao Jiang to go and console Zhù Ying, asking her not to be angry yet. Xiao Jiang did not hold a high rank and did not socialize widely, but Liu Ao felt she might be the one most likely to get through to Zhù Ying. If that did not work, she supposed she would have to ask Dajie — though she was not sure what words Dajie might find to offer.

Xiao Jiang muttered a few curses at the court officials under her breath, then said, “Have you written to Academician Chen?”

This immediately reminded Liu Ao: “Right — why has there been no reply? Let me have Ershiwu Niang ask Prefect Chen.”

But Prefect Chen was in the midst of packing up his belongings — he had been reassigned back to the capital. The official gazette had arrived a few days after the reassignment order, so Nan’an was not yet aware of this. Chen Meng’s retirement petition had been approved. Accordingly, two new members were added to the Council of Ministers: one was Shi Kun’s son Shi Jixing, and the other was Wang Yunhe’s son Wang Shuliang. Chen Fang had also been reassigned back to the capital, appointed as Director of the Court of State Ceremonial.

With the change in prime ministers, what was not known in the south was that Zheng Xi had also fallen ill around this time, and the entire court was in a state of some anxiety and unease. Setting aside the factional struggles — whenever there was a change in prime ministers, the positions of those below were bound to shift. It was perfectly natural for official efficiency to decline, especially since the Court of State Ceremonial currently had no presiding officer.

Chen Fang could not come to Nan’an, nor could he make a personal farewell to Zhù Ying. He left a letter behind, having settled a few matters, and then departed in great haste. By the time Zhù Ying received the letter, the first seven days of mourning for Huajie were long past.

Zhù Ying read the letter with a cold expression, and when she finished, she handed it to Liu Ao. Liu Ao read it through and said, “These two — they are not terribly young either, are they?”

“Older than I am,” Zhù Ying said.

“Old men holding power” — while it conveyed steadiness, it also carried a suggestion of decay and stagnation.