Nanny Chen did not know, but Madam Yu was well aware that there was no mistake in this. She too had once been an unmarried girl. After the new year, Liniang would be thirteen by nominal age. The Marquis of Dingbei's household certainly intended to take a young lady from the Pei family as a bride, and the choice would inevitably fall upon the girls of the eldest branch or the sixth branch—no others, for only the men of these two branches held official rank and honor.
And the more one valued a person, the more certain one was of wanting that person, the more one would test them.
If you could not keep your composure, could not hold back your temper, and gave in to willfulness, the matter might very well fall through.
On such an occasion, Madam Yu noticed that although Liniang sat with graceful posture, she seemed to have many small restless movements. In contrast, her younger daughter Sheniang, two and a half years her junior, carried herself with poise and ease, smiling gently as she listened to others speak.
But Madam Yu was broad-minded at heart. Someone like Liniang would do well enough marrying an ordinary man; there was no need to insist on entering some duke's or marquis's household. Once through the gates of a noble house, one was lost in depths as vast as the sea.
Madam Yu relaxed, but Old Madam Pei was not satisfied. When the Marchioness of Dingbei went to the front courtyard to play cards, she said to Nanny Xiang, "Truly, dog meat cannot be served at a formal banquet. I wasted my effort elevating her last time."
Nanny Xiang did not understand: "If I may speak frankly, why should you have elevated the Fourth Young Lady? The Sixth Master's mother was born of that woman—is she anything good? Would it not have been better to let the Sixth Young Lady have this advantage?"
Old Madam Pei shook her head upon hearing this: "The age is not right. Moreover, the affairs of adults need not be dragged onto the children. Old Sixth has had a hard time of it all these years."
"If we speak of hardship, who has had it harder than you? Back then, had the Old Master not encountered you, how could his official career have been so smooth? Who would have thought he would be so ungrateful—after marrying you, he was good for only a few days before taking a beautiful concubine. With such a large household, fortunately you were magnanimous. No one else would have your breadth of heart." Nanny Xiang felt it was unjust for her sake.
Old Madam Pei rubbed her temples: "Go check on the front courtyard first. I will come to pray to the Buddha."
Nanny Xiang dared not say more.
As for Sheniang and the others coming out, the Marquis of Dingbei's youngest son, Wang Pan, was speaking with Pei Zhen, the second young master of the eldest branch. Yueniang and Sheniang were playing Go nearby, while Yiniang was preparing tea at the side. Liniang and Shunniang were playing backgammon.
Sheniang was naturally talkative and was telling Yueniang an amusing story: "My father said that when he went to take up his post in Huayang, he rode a bamboo sedan chair up the mountain. My father is fairly thin, but there was a secretary traveling with him whose waist was this thick. As they rode up, the bearers kept adding to the fare—originally agreed at eighty wen to carry them up, but by the end it had gone up to two qian of silver. My father said he could never again eat to his heart's content, or else riding the sedan chair would cost even more."
Yueniang laughed until she doubled over.
Just then, Yiniang brought over a teacup and set it beside Sheniang. Seeming utterly without resentment, she said, "Fifth Sister, have a cup of tea I've prepared."
Sheniang first lifted the lid, saw the clear, bright color, then took a sip. The tea was perfectly brewed. She opened her eyes wide and said, "Third Sister has such skill—this tea is truly excellent."
Yiniang—no, He Biyun—her father had failed the imperial examinations for many years and spent his days at home as a carefree idler. Her mother could not bear to see this, and so had devoted every effort to cultivating her, afraid that she would disgrace herself at the Gao family. Even though the household was not wealthy, she had been provided tutors for qin, chess, calligraphy, painting, incense-burning, and tea ceremony alike.
Unfortunately, in the end, she had been suddenly framed by someone, and the engagement with the Gao family had fallen through.
Now she too had accomplished nothing, for Madam Cao managed the household with great cunning, and she could not catch hold of any leverage. None of the elders in the family was willing to help her either. All she could do now was help Yiniang strive to become an outstanding young lady of a good family, so as to wash away her identity as one bearing ill fortune.
As for Sheniang, after drinking the tea, she began telling another case: "There was once a young man who picked up a roll of money on the road one day—thirty taels of silver in all. He thought it was manna from heaven and planned to keep it for himself. But when his mother saw it, she made him return it. When he went to return it, guess what happened?"
As she spoke, not only was Yueniang listening with rapt attention, but even Wang Pan was thoroughly intrigued.
"The owner of the lost money, seeing the young man return it, not only failed to thank him but tried to extort more from him, claiming there had been fifty taels inside and demanding the young man pay him back twenty taels, or else he would report him for theft."
Yueniang could not help but ask, "What was to be done then?"
Just as Wang Pan was listening intently, Liniang suddenly stood up, walked before Pei Zhen and Wang Pan, and said, "Last time we went to your house, didn't you say you wanted to try roasted venison? Someone just happened to send some to my father. Let's go to the small room in front and have someone roast venison for us."
But Wang Pan replied, "You go ahead. I won't go." He still wanted to sit here and hear Sheniang finish telling the case.
"Come on, let's go first." Liniang kept pestering him to leave.
Wang Pan could not fend her off, and so he went out.
Here, Sheniang was saying, "What else could be done? It all went before the county magistrate. After he questioned the matter thoroughly, he said to the owner of the lost silver, 'If someone wanted to hide it, why would they voluntarily tell you, giving you half and keeping half? That shows they weren't trying to deny you your silver. If the amount in this packet doesn't match, then it isn't yours.'"
"In the end, the packet of silver was awarded to the young man."
Yueniang, Shunniang, and the others clapped their hands and laughed: "Indeed, good deeds are rewarded with good fortune. That ending is satisfying."
Sheniang also smiled: "Exactly. This is what they call, 'Seek to take from others, and lose what is your own.'"
The young ladies chatted and laughed together, but Sheniang knew that Liniang was afraid she would compete with her for Wang Pan, so she had pulled him away without a second word. Yet, before the engagement was even settled, she was already acting in such an unseemly manner.
It seemed she didn't have much confidence in herself after all.
Leaving aside the young ladies, let's turn to Madam Yu, who was accompanying the Marchioness of Dingbei in a game of cards. Madam Meng and Madam Lu were also present. Though it was called playing cards, it was also a time for probing each other across the table.
The Marchioness of Dingbei said to Madam Lu, "I visited the Marquis of Xin'an's residence a few days ago and found that your eldest daughter is managing the household. She truly carries herself with great authority, keeping everyone in line from top to bottom."
"Oh, she's still so young. She's just imitating what she's seen others do." Madam Lu was very modest.
The Marchioness of Dingbei thought to herself that she had heard Old Master Pei might soon enter the Grand Secretariat, so the Marquis of Xin'an's household had quickly formed a marriage alliance, and her own family was the same. She had intended to choose the sixth young lady, Shunniang, but Old Madam Pei had directly recommended the fourth young lady.
That fourth young lady spoke without thinking, had no sense of propriety, and couldn't read the room. If she were someone else's daughter, one might praise her as innocent and carefree, but as a daughter-in-law, the Marchioness of Dingbei, like all mothers-in-law in the world, felt it wouldn't do.
Yet her mother-in-law and husband had both said that the two families had failed to form a marriage alliance in the past, which had always been a regret, and that a marriage alliance in the next generation was imperative.
In truth, the fifth young lady was simply a bit too young. Otherwise, she would have been more suitable—she carried herself gracefully, was neat and tidy, and had a hint of cleverness about her.
Thinking of this, she said to Madam Yu, "It's good that your husband is returning. After all, the capital is much better—prosperous and bustling—and your whole family can be reunited."
Madam Yu played a tile, the one of bamboo, before smiling: "Yes, the children have all been looking forward to her return."
In just one round, Madam Yu had let the Marchioness win twice, but she didn't mind spending the money. On this point, the Marchioness of Dingbei did admire her.
In truth, Madam Yu wasn't particularly wealthy. Though her dowry was generous, over the years, with all the social obligations, relying solely on the household allowance was far from sufficient, so she had naturally supplemented it with her dowry.
But she didn't care about such things, because she was now full of confidence. Her husband treated her well, had a bright future ahead, and she had both sons and daughters, so there was nothing to worry about excessively.
Today she had lost again, but it was fine—she was delighted when she saw Pei Yiqing bring her a jade monkey.
"Where did you get this?" Madam Yu asked in surprise.
Pei Yiqing smiled: "I had my eye on this piece of jade long ago. When I returned, I found a jade shop and had them carve it."
Madam Yu raised her hand to her forehead in joy: "Then I'll find a red string to hang it up."
"No need for you to say that. After I showed it to Sheniang, she said she would weave one for you." Pei Yiqing said.
That night, Sheniang turned over in bed. The one keeping watch tonight was Qiuju, who in her previous life had already been married by the time Sheniang wed. Back then, when she went to demand her dowry, it was Qiuju and her husband who accompanied her.
The events of her previous life seemed like fleeting smoke and clouds, yet they constantly reminded her never to repeat the same mistakes.
Seeing Sheniang turn over, Qiuju got up to tuck her blanket in. Sheniang smiled: "I turned over because I couldn't sleep. You go back to sleep."
"If you can't sleep, miss, you can talk with me," Qiuju said.
Sheniang sighed: "Today I saw the Marchioness of Dingbei come to our house. I keep thinking that if things could stay like this forever, it would be wonderful."
Qiuju said, "Miss, what are you saying? I've heard people say that our Old Master might very well enter the Grand Secretariat."
"Grandfather isn't even a Minister yet," Sheniang said. She knew some people were privately speculating, but until things were settled, no one could know for certain.
The key was that she had seen her grandfather, and he looked hale and hearty, nothing like someone plagued by illness.
Qiuju sighed instead: "If only the fourth young lady were close to you like sisters. Anyone could see today that the fourth young lady is likely to marry into the Marquis's household. If she could look after you a bit in the future, that would be better than anything."
"I'm afraid that won't be possible. I have no expectations of her. I'll carve out my own future. But speaking of it, it's strange—why didn't Grandmother keep such a good match for her favorite sixth sister?" Sheniang said curiously.
Qiuju blurted out: "She must have something even better reserved for the sixth young lady."
That was true. In her previous life, her sixth sister had married a top scholar who was handsome and of excellent character. Everything was perfect, except that he didn't love her and died young, leaving her a young widow. It was a case of man proposes, heaven disposes.
At this thought, she pulled the blanket up higher and yawned again, drifting in and out of sleep. In her hazy state, she heard the cloud-patterned board being struck, and Sheniang jolted awake: "Was that three strikes or four?"
Among the common folk, there was a saying that three was for gods and four was for ghosts—three strikes typically signaled a sacrificial offering to the deities, while four strikes heralded news of a death.
Qiuju thought for a moment: "It seemed like four strikes."
Sheniang was startled. About the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, there came the rustling sound of people moving about outside. Nanny Xia also arrived, bringing word that the Old Master had passed away.