A bronze incense burner smoldered in the room, wisps of fragrant smoke curling through the air.
Madam Wang held the noblewoman’s hand. Their eyes met, and both looked as though they might burst into tears at any moment.
A few years were neither long nor short, yet they had exhausted both women’s spirits. Two old friends met again only to discover that each had grown considerably older and more worn than before, no longer resembling the vibrant young women they once were. What could be sadder than that? Yet they could not express this sorrow.
Life had already been hard enough. They had both been clinging desperately to the last thread of strength within them. After finally meeting again, how could they let tears obscure the reunion? For all they knew, it might have been the last time they would ever see one another.
But what they had believed to be hopeless despair had suddenly revealed a path forward. At last, they could set down the heavy burdens that had weighed upon their hearts. At last, they could cry.
Their hands clasped tightly, gripping so hard their knuckles turned white. After a long while, the noblewoman finally spoke apologetically.
“I’ve lost my composure.” Madam Wang gazed at her old friend with sympathy. “When you return, start taking the medicine. Nothing is more important than your life. Only if you stay alive will any of the things you’re worrying about still matter.”
“No matter how many promises others make to you, in the end, none of them truly count.”
A bitter expression crossed Madam Wang’s face. “I understand that better than anyone. Once I’m dead, my husband will be the first to forget me.”
“After that, it will be my children.”
“You and I are not nearly as important as we once thought. Few people truly regard us as indispensable. But precisely because of that, we must value ourselves. Otherwise, wouldn’t this life have been lived in vain?”
The noblewoman was Du Yueniang, the eldest daughter-in-law of the Duke Cheng’s household. She had married at sixteen and borne four children. The children born later had all failed to survive, and the strain had damaged her health. Since then, she had never truly recovered. She and Madam Wang had been close friends in childhood, though after they married, they saw little of one another.
Even so, Du Yueniang, Madam Wang, and Princess Royal had all grown up together. Though time and worldly considerations had inevitably complicated their friendship, genuine affection remained between them.
“I understand now. I’ll take the medicine properly.” Wiping away her tears, Du Yueniang smiled somewhat sheepishly. For a moment, one could almost glimpse the young girl she had once been. “Where did your niece learn medicine? Listening to her explain things, everything was orderly and logical. She’s certainly not making things up.”
Having finally met again after so long, they naturally continued talking. After composing herself, Du Yueniang asked the question curiously.
“I’ve heard the servants mention before that my second sister-in-law from the Gu family had a hard life. After marrying into the Song family, she was ill for years. That child was so devoted to her mother that she learned medicine through caring for her.”
Emotion crossed Du Yueniang’s face. “If I had a child like that, I would die content this very moment. What more could I possibly ask for in this life?”
Madam Wang sighed. “I think she still has a mind of her own in the way she speaks and handles things. She’s sensible and understands propriety. Some people are simply born exceptionally intelligent. A child like that appears perhaps once in ten thousand. If she had been born a man, I daresay she could have earned scholarly honors.”
“Wasn’t your second sister-in-law married to a zhuangyuan?” Du Yueniang asked with a smile.
The noble families were connected through countless marriage alliances and relationships. If one traced the ties carefully enough, almost everyone could claim some kinship. Since the Gu and Meng families were related by marriage, Du Yueniang naturally knew a little about the Gu family’s affairs.
Madam Wang immediately corrected her. “You remember incorrectly. He was a tanhua, not a zhuangyuan.”
The two women laughed into their handkerchiefs.
“Then all the more so. Dragons beget dragons and phoenixes beget phoenixes. It’s only natural that the child of a tanhua should have a good head on her shoulders.”
Madam Wang shook her head. “That’s mostly true in scholarly families, though even then not every child turns out well. As for military noble families like ours, each generation seems less capable than the last. Among the younger generation of the Gu family, only Youli seems to have promise. The others, including Xiaozhou, are all too soft-hearted. None of them have the temperament to plan ahead or accomplish great things.”
Du Yueniang replied, “Children raised in luxury rarely turn out exceptional. Later in life they’ll have to compete, struggle, and fight for their place. As long as they don’t lose themselves in the process, they’ll eventually learn a thing or two about scheming and strategy.”
The two women continued sharing personal thoughts and confidences until little time remained.
Madam Wang clasped Du Yueniang’s hand, and the two parted reluctantly.
“Who knows when we’ll meet again,” Madam Wang said worriedly. “If anything happens to you, you must let me know.”
Du Yueniang nodded through her tears.
After wiping her own eyes, Madam Wang stepped outside and called back the maids she had stationed at a distance to keep watch. Just then, Gu Chunran’s maid hurried over.
“Madam! Miss sent me to find you. Eldest Madam is calling for both Miss Song and Miss Ran to return to the manor. Nanny Zhang has already gone to fetch the carriages.”
Madam Wang’s expression changed immediately as she recalled the maids’ earlier report.
“How is it? Has Eldest Madam already left with them?”
“No. The Princess Royal had someone stop Eldest Madam. Right now, she’s talking with Minister Zhang’s wife from the Ministry of Personnel in the flower hall. They also asked me to tell you to come at once.”
Hearing this, Madam Wang quickly said, “Then take me there immediately.”
Inside the flower hall, the atmosphere was completely silent.
Song Zhiwei and Gu Chunran stood side by side, then knelt and bowed.
“This subject’s daughter, Song Zhiwei.”
“This subject’s daughter, Gu Chunran.”
“Pay our respects to Princess Royal. May Your Highness enjoy everlasting health and peace.”
The Princess Royal appeared amiable and pleasant. “Rise.”
Song Zhiwei stood up and realized that the small flower hall was already packed with everyone involved.
The minister’s wife was there. So were the young woman who had slapped her and the young woman she had rescued from the water. Both had changed into fresh clothing and redone their hair. They stood there looking perfectly presentable once more. Yet the way they looked at Song Zhiwei was vastly different. One glared at her with anger. The other looked at her with apprehension and unease.
Her Eldest Aunt was there too, and behind her stood Meng Qiyue.
Song Zhiwei felt a faint throbbing in her temples as frustration rose within her. She had merely done a good deed. She had never expected any reward for it. Why, then, did it have to be this difficult?
Beside her, Gu Chunran was trembling with nervousness. Her eyes darted around the room. When she noticed Meng Qiyue signaling for her to come over, she instinctively shifted her feet. Yet for some reason, she remembered the expression on Song Zhiwei’s face after saving the drowning girl. She remembered their argument a few nights ago. She remembered the faint disgust in Song Zhiwei’s eyes when she had looked at her. And so she remained rooted to the spot.
Meng Qiyue frowned in confusion, then turned to Song Zhiwei, who stood straight and composed in the hall. She looked very different from when they had first met. She seemed more self-assured, even proud.
Meng Qiyue disliked the way Song Zhiwei looked at her now. The admiration and envy that had once been there were gone. In their place was a faint contempt and ridicule that made her deeply uncomfortable.
Who does she think she is, looking at me like that? Meng Qiyue thought coldly. She was only enjoying a little favor from her grandmother. It had been a matter of mere days. Surely she did not believe that made them equals.
Some people were born different from others. And someone like Song Zhiwei, born of humble origins, ought to know her place. That gulf could not be bridged with a little cleverness. It was a level of society that could only be entered through the efforts and status accumulated over several generations.
In Meng Qiyue’s eyes, Song Zhiwei did not belong there. She was not worthy of socializing with people from that circle. Letting her in only lowered everyone else’s standing.