Though the summer solstice had not yet arrived, the late-spring weather had already taken on something of summer’s fickleness — clear for a while in the morning, but by afternoon the sky had gradually turned overcast. Along Jiangning’s streets, pedestrians began moving with hurried steps, and housewives took in the clothes they’d hung out to dry in their courtyards, waiting for the rain that might soon fall.
Within the great Su family estate, a similar gloom hung in the air. On the surface nothing seemed amiss, but a heavy, storm-laden tension pressed down on courtyard after courtyard. Ning Yi’s outburst the day before, combined with Su Yu seizing the moment to press his advantage, had opened up too many possibilities for change within this household — possibilities that had been building beneath the surface from the start, yet still erupted with startling suddenness. Ning Yi’s uncompromising stance and Su Yu’s decision to move so swiftly had caught Su Zhongkan, Su Yunfang, and the others entirely off guard. The power of the second and third branches had always been destined to be surrendered eventually, and much of the Su family’s resources were bound to concentrate around Su Tan’er in time — but with Su Yu resolving to act so quickly, all of it now bore down on them at once.
The Su family’s internal balance had never truly been a three-way division of power. Though the family had split into three branches long ago, most of its real authority had never actually been distributed. Whether in business or in family assets, Su Zhongkan and Su Yunfang’s side simply lacked the strength or the nerve to properly divide the family. But now Su Yu intended to have them step off the stage of the Su family’s history entirely, fully cementing the main branch’s dominance. The second and third branches would still keep their own holdings going forward, and even as the family tree spread further, Su Zhongkan’s and Su Yunfang’s lines wouldn’t be pushed entirely out of the inner circle into mere peripheral branches — but in this particular round, they had truly lost the most crucial battle.
They had once hoped that, with the main branch’s bloodline thin, someone among the fourth generation born to Su Wenxing and his fellow good-for-nothings might yet prove capable enough to shoulder the Su family’s future. But now, with Ning Yi and Su Tan’er proving so formidable, even that faint hope had all but vanished.
The second and third branches tried, in these final hours, to get Su Yu to reconsider, or at least buy themselves some breathing room. Meanwhile, the family’s decision-makers, Su Yu among them, were already considering which members of the second and third branches ought to be entirely cut from contention. There was no great commotion on the surface — beneath this overcast sky, most of what was happening lurked under a grave, tense stillness. Only the small vendors who came each day to deliver vegetables and meat, or to collect the night soil, might vaguely sense that something was different about the atmosphere in the Su residence. When asked, they gave only vague answers, since most of the Su family’s own servants probably couldn’t make out the situation clearly themselves either.
Aside from the anxious, unsettled second and third branches, even the main branch — which had come through yesterday’s incident unscathed — seemed weighed down by a heavy atmosphere today. Not only was there silence from Su Tan’er’s quarters, and no major reaction yet from Su Boyong even today, but many of the managers and stewards under the main branch’s employ spent the day not discussing this victory at all, but quietly speculating about the other matter that had set the whole thing in motion: whether son-in-law Ning truly had some improper relationship with that courtesan. Or, put another way — what would the young mistress’s attitude toward it be?
On the surface, the matter had already blown over — the second and third branches could hardly bring it up again. But now, at last, the people of the main branch could finally sit with it, turn it over, and examine it a little more closely. In a sense, even as the conspiracy led by Su Wenxing within the second and third branches had collapsed, the negative fallout of the whole affair had still, in its own way, taken hold.
Su Tan’er, after all, had only just given birth — precisely the moment when a woman is at her most vulnerable and most in need of her husband’s care — and yet it was her own husband from whom such rumors had sprung. Nor had Ning Yi ever addressed the matter directly — whether because he felt there was no need to, or because, perhaps, there really was something to it, and he had simply covered it over with some clever maneuvering. With Ning Yi’s ability and importance becoming ever more apparent to everyone, how he and Su Tan’er would come to some mutual understanding on this matter had, for the moment, become the question on everyone’s mind.
Amid all this silence and speculation, the two people actually involved were, in fact, the first to respond. Though neither husband nor wife was the passive type by nature, the decision Su Tan’er suddenly arrived at still caught Ning Yi somewhat off guard.
It was still afternoon when Xing’er was called into the room; Su Tan’er was reclining in bed, looking over a list concerning the second and third branches. Though she’d only just given birth, it wasn’t as though she’d suffered any serious internal injury from it — some farm women, it was said, went back out into the fields the very same day they gave birth — and Su Tan’er’s constitution was sound enough. With two days having passed since the birth, a little light mental exertion wouldn’t do any harm. The handling of the second and third branches was being led by Su Yu; she was merely glancing over it out of idle interest. When Xing’er came in, she kept looking down at the list for a while longer, but it was clear her mind was elsewhere.
Xing’er poured her a cup of clean water; she took it and drank a sip, paused, then finally asked, “Where’s my husband?” She hadn’t gotten out of bed, and her voice came out a little faint and soft.
“Seems like… Old Master called him over.”
“Oh.” Su Tan’er nodded, set the list aside, and sat holding her teacup for a while before finally speaking. “Xing’er, go find Juan’er in a bit. You’ll be going out this afternoon — I need you to take care of something for me.”
“Of course.”
Even while thinking things over and making decisions, Xing’er could tell Su Tan’er was carrying herself with the same composed manner she used when handling business affairs — though there was something noticeably different about her mood this time. She was clearly hesitating, but finally offered an uncertain smile. “I don’t know if this is the right thing to do, but… go find Miss Nie later, would you. Give her a message for me — tell her, if she’s free tomorrow, I’d like to invite her over to the estate for a chat.”
Xing’er hesitated slightly. “That Miss Nie…”
“Miss Nie Yunzhu.” Su Tan’er smiled. Seeing her expression, Xing’er finally nodded. “Oh, I — I understand…”
Su Tan’er fell silent for a moment, then added, “This is a private invitation, Xing’er, so handle it accordingly. It doesn’t need to be secretive, but don’t let anyone from the household trouble Miss Nie either. There’s no need for any apologies for now — those people meant no good, and it would only embarrass her further. Tell her it’s just me wanting to see her, no one else will be there, and… it would be best if my husband doesn’t know. Just tell her that.”
“Mm.” Xing’er nodded. “But young master… if Miss Nie comes to the estate, he’ll find out eventually…”
“It’s fine if he doesn’t know for a while… actually, it wouldn’t matter even if he did.” Su Tan’er gave a complicated, rather delicate smile. “My husband could never guess what I’m planning to do, anyway.”
Xing’er nodded, waited a moment, and seeing no further instructions from Su Tan’er, turned to go find Juan’er. She’d taken a couple of steps when she turned back, and after a moment’s hesitation, spoke up. “My lady, actually — actually the young master has always been an upright, straightforward person. If he told those people… that Miss Nie is still a maiden, then it must be true. I think… I think you and the young master have always gotten along so well, and if you listen to what those people say, then, then…”
Xing’er and Su Tan’er were close as sisters, but it still wasn’t quite proper for a maid to speak so freely on her mistress’s private affairs. Of the three maids, she was the most outspoken by nature, and having blurted this much out, she found herself unable to finish. Su Tan’er didn’t seem to mind, though. She sat on the bed turning her teacup over in her hands, then turned and gave Xing’er a smile, before her gaze drifted toward the window, and she said, softly and distantly:
“I know my husband’s character too. He’d never lower himself to lying to the people in this household. Inviting Miss Nie over isn’t about confronting her as the lady of the house, or trying to put her in her place. But… Xing’er, that’s not what’s on my mind at all…” She paused. “In the past, I always encouraged my husband to attend those poetry gatherings and literary salons, to make friends with talented scholars… even beautiful women, and I never minded. With his talent and bearing, it would be nothing at all for a woman to fall for him. Any of Jiangning’s Four Great Beauties — Qilan and the others — if my husband had shown the slightest interest, the gossip would’ve spread ten times over by now… and that wouldn’t have bothered me at all…”
She kept saying it didn’t matter, but her tone had grown noticeably subdued, as though there really was something bothering her after all. She went on, “But my husband never did anything improper with any of them… The only exception was in Hangzhou, when that Manor Lord Liu Xigua fell for him. My husband, toward her — perhaps he admires her too, but that kind of admiration, I could never quite grasp it myself. My husband has always treated me, and all of you, so well — I’ve rarely seen any man like him in that regard. And precisely because of that, when it comes to this particular Miss Nie, I honestly don’t know what to think…”
“She’s known my husband for a very long time — he even taught her how to open her shop, and they became friends. How does she truly see him, and how does he truly see her…” She gave a faint, wry smile. “Xing’er, I don’t dare ask him these things, and I don’t want to try to test him either. This Miss Nie… having spent so many years in a brothel and still managed to keep herself pure, and to redeem herself besides — perhaps it’s precisely because she’s this kind of person that she earned my husband’s regard…”
Su Tan’er shook her head. “In truth… in truth, I don’t even know myself how I feel about this Miss Nie right now, and I don’t want to keep guessing at things in front of my husband either. Maybe I simply need to meet her face to face, to finally understand what’s really in my own heart…”
Having said this, before long, Xing’er called Juan’er over. She sought out a steward who knew the address and made her way there. The sky remained overcast, and along the road by the Qinhuai River, traces of yesterday’s disturbance still lingered — the little tower, badly damaged in several places, had not yet been repaired. Though there appeared to be a few guards stationed near the entrance, they didn’t stop her. She knocked on the door, and soon met the very Miss Nie Yunzhu she’d been sent to find.
Having heard her mistress’s words back at the house, Xing’er had felt some curiosity about this Miss Nie. And by the time she’d relayed the entire message and been shown back out of the little tower, she found herself thinking — how could this Miss Nie be such a quiet, elegant, refined woman? A vague sense settled over her that tomorrow’s meeting between her mistress and this woman might not turn out to be such a good thing after all.
But she was only a maid, after all — there was nothing more she could do about it…