At the sound of her voice, Xie Yuanmao lowered his head and looked at his youngest daughter, whom he had not seen for half a year. A trace of helplessness appeared in his eyes. In the past, as long as his little daughter made the slightest request, he would have agreed without hesitation. But now, faced with the Third Old Madam and Madam Chen, he was a member of the Xie family once more, no longer the Song Wangzhi of the past.
After the accident all those years ago, he had forgotten everything. He had married a daughter of the Song family and gained a son and a daughter. He had thought he would spend the rest of his life that way. But it seemed as though in the blink of an eye, he had returned to the capital. And Yanling had become nothing more than a dream.
Xie Yuanmao’s gaze darkened slightly. Turning toward the Third Old Madam, he said, “In that case, your son will move into Zhilan Studio as well, at least for the time being.”
The Third Old Madam’s expression did not change, though her hands paused briefly before she turned to Madam Chen and instructed, “Jin’er, make the arrangements.”
“Yes.” Though displeased, Madam Chen could do nothing. Since Xie Yuanmao had spoken and the Third Old Madam had agreed, she could hardly throw away all pretensions of dignity and openly beg him to remain in the principal residence with her. Reluctantly, she could only accept it.
After the gathering dispersed, the Third Old Madam sent Chunping to lead them to Zhilan Studio.
Because of the disturbance upon their arrival, the luggage they had brought from Jiangnan was still loaded on the carriages and had yet to be unloaded. Nanny Gui was therefore left behind to supervise the matter.
Having heard Xie Yuanmao’s decision, Madam Chen smiled and said, “Sixth Master, please don’t worry. I’ve already made all the necessary preparations. The servants need only move your belongings into place.” Her voice was gentle and unhurried, like a spring breeze brushing one’s face, carrying the warmth of sunlight.
Madam Chen truly was a formidable woman. Xie Shuning had no choice but to acknowledge that. That was why, this time, she had to stay a hundred times more alert when dealing with Madam Chen. She could not rely on her mother. Yet she herself was still only a child, unable to handle many matters directly. In the end, she would still need her mother’s cooperation. Besides, if her mother kept undermining her efforts as she had earlier, how could she keep fighting? At least this time, however, she had succeeded in tying her father firmly to their side.
“Father, A-Man even brought along your favorite inkstone.” After a moment’s thought, Xie Shuning looked up at Xie Yuanmao and spoke brightly.
At that, Xie Yuanmao smiled. He praised her, then turned to Madam Chen. “You’ve worked hard.”
By nature, he was a refined and honorable gentleman. Deep down, Madam Song and his two children remained the people he cared about most. But no matter how good a man he was, he was still a man of this world.
Xie Shuning understood clearly that among families of status, wives and concubines often coexisted. Continuing the family line mattered greatly, especially for a branch like the Xie family’s Third Branch, where descendants were few.
“Sixth Master, really now. Between the two of us, why be so formal?” Madam Chen’s tone was half reproachful, half flirtatious.
Xie Shuning frowned. Just as she was about to pull her father away, Madam Song’s grip on her hand suddenly tightened, as though her mother had unconsciously grown nervous. The pressure was slightly uncomfortable. Yet the two fine lines of Xie Shuning’s brows slowly relaxed. Mother was still enduring. Still restraining herself.
Lost in thought, she watched as Madam Chen led the servants ahead of them.
Third Madam’s senior maid, Chunping, lowered her head and respectfully addressed Xie Yuanmao. “Sixth Master, this way, please.”
The group then set off in a grand procession behind her toward Zhilan Studio.
Along the way, Xie Shuning grew inexplicably drowsy. She was only four years old, after all. Having traveled such a long distance while still recovering from a cold, exhaustion soon overtook her. Before long, she could barely keep her eyes open. Holding Madam Song’s hand as they walked, her steps grew unsteady. Her eyelids drooped, and she let out a tremendous yawn.
“Are you sleepy?” Madam Song asked at once, lowering her head to look at her.
Xie Shuning’s mind was already growing hazy. The covered corridor beneath her feet seemed to sway like drifting clouds and soft earth, making it impossible to walk steadily. Pressing her cheek against the cool back of Madam Song’s hand, she muttered, “Can’t sleep… not yet… I can’t sleep yet…” But her words gradually slowed and slurred until they caught between her teeth and faded away.
“Has A-Man fallen asleep?”
“Perhaps the journey has worn her out… and she’s only just begun recovering from her cold…”
Suddenly, her body seemed to grow light, and the voices around her drifted farther and farther away. She closed her eyes. Before her stretched nothing but darkness. A darkness thick and viscous, heavy as ink. Looking down, she saw her hands, long-fingered and pale, the skin so thin she could almost make out the faint blue veins beneath. These were her hands. Then, without warning, a beam of light appeared in the darkness. The thick blackness dispersed like mist, revealing what lay beneath.
A small child in a thin spring tunic was crouched on the ground with his head bowed, quietly sobbing. Slowly, the color of his tunic deepened. A spreading stain seeped outward, as though soaked through with water. Though she could not see the child’s face, Xie Shuning knew.
It was Zhen’er. It had to be her Zhen’er!
Panic-stricken, she rushed toward him, but great billows of black mist surged up to block her way, swallowing Zhen’er whole.
“Zhen’er!” She cried out and jolted awake. Her neck was slick with sweat, clammy and damp. The quilt pressing down on her felt strangely heavy, so heavy that she could barely move. Where was she?
“Madam, you should never have yielded today.” The voice was deliberately lowered. It was Nanny Gui. “That Chen woman is living in the main quarters, while you’re staying here. What sort of arrangement is that?”
A strange melancholy welled up within Xie Shuning. At the sound of those words, she realized where she was, yet she could not tell whether she ought to be glad or sorrowful. So that desperate cry she had uttered moments ago had been nothing more than a dream. But were the scenes now unfolding before her truly real? Utterly bewildered, she slowly closed her eyes again. It seemed that a hand came to rest against her cheek.
“Qinggui, why is A-Man’s face so hot? Has her fever returned?” Madam Song’s voice trembled with anxiety. “And she’s sweating so much!”
Nanny Gui’s voice, however, remained calm and steady. “Please don’t worry, Madam. The floor heating is burning in this room, and the young miss isn’t accustomed to sleeping on a heated kang bed. That’s likely why she’s sweating. I’ll have someone bring water over. Once we change her clothes, she’ll be fine.”
Footsteps gradually receded, only to return a short while later.
Keeping her eyes tightly shut, Xie Shuning carefully regulated her breathing and continued pretending to be asleep. A warm cloth brushed across her forehead and cheeks before gently wiping the sweat from her neck and back.
“Qinggui…” Madam Song said quietly. “You think I shouldn’t have given way today. But if I hadn’t, what would have become of A-Man? She’ll be raised here from now on. If her grandmother took a dislike to her the very first time they met, how could she possibly fare in the years ahead?”
She paused before continuing. “Besides, he lied in his letters first. I was caught completely unprepared.”
The moment she heard this, Nanny Gui understood and let out a sigh. “But if Sixth Master hadn’t suggested moving into Zhilan Studio just now, what would you have done?”
“Since I was testing him, I naturally knew any outcome was possible. I had prepared myself for that…” Madam Song’s voice gradually softened. “It’s rather laughable when you think about it. He knew perfectly well that if I had known the situation here was like this, I would never have brought the two children to the capital. That’s why he concealed the matter of Madam Chen from me. He only wrote that she was the woman his family had once intended for him to marry, never mentioning that he had already married her…”
Yet her heart had always been full of him. Even after discovering something like this, all it had taken was for him to lower his head, plead for forgiveness, and explain himself, saying he could not bear to be apart from them, and more than half of her anger had melted away.