Qingyuan was patient by nature. She might panic at the start, but once she had settled, nothing could defeat her.
She no longer wanted to work out what Shen Run had meant by that beast-face jade pendant. If someone did come to the house as a go-between, hinting that the Fourth Miss should go and be the Commander's concubine, such a matter could not be settled in a day, and she had ways of shifting the blame and slipping herself out of it.
She had lost sleep over this pendant, day and night. Now that the other side refused to acknowledge it, she could stop dwelling on it.
She put it away carefully in the box where she kept her dressing-case things. It was not that she had never considered the alternative. If her circumstances in Youzhou made the road ahead too hard, then once she had won justice for her mother, she could go back to Hengtang. In this world every cause had its effect. When the Master's career was blocked a while ago and the whole household was on edge, she had been busy dealing with outside matters, and so she had neglected Madam Hu and Qingru and the others. Now that the dust had settled, the Master was going out through the pass to attack Shibao Fortress, and it would take three to five months at the least, perhaps two or three years. In so long a time, how could that mother and daughter sit idle? And on top of that, Marquis Hou's heir was coming again...
Qingyuan began to wait. She did not step beyond the inner gate, and she returned to the way she had lived at Hengtang. When she had nothing to do, she blended incense and tended her flowers, and little by little she set Danyue Pavilion in Youzhou to rights, until it had the same refined charm as her old home.
On the day the weather turned, a fine, lingering rain fell from the clouds that had screened the sun since noon. It was not the violent storm of high summer. Youzhou's climate was drier than Hengtang's, and after the rain the branches and leaves beyond the railing were washed bright, and the courtyard itself looked clear and fresh.
Qingyuan was at the moon window wiping the leaves of a sword orchid when she caught the muffled voices of young maids outside, rising and falling, too broken to make out. After a while Chuntai lifted the curtain and reported that the Old Madam had sent word asking the Fourth Miss to come over.
Qingyuan set down her cloth, washed her hands, and asked, "Did you find out why she wants me?"
Chuntai shook her head. "It wasn't one of the main-rooms servants. Just some young maid who was sent to pass the message, and she knew nothing." While she spoke she smoothed Qingyuan's hair, chattering on. "Nobody visits the temple without a reason. Miss, you should dress up a little. Maybe the Third Young Master has come."
Qingyuan had half expected as much. She set off for Huifang Garden with Baoxian holding the umbrella. The raindrops struck the umbrella, crisp and loud as a drum. Inside the courtyard gate they saw Qingru's maid Lüzhui standing on the covered walkway, and Baoxian said in a low voice, "The Second Miss is here too. Chuntai was right, there's an honored guest."
Who else could bring the Second Miss out? It had to be the Marquis of Danyang's heir.
Baoxian helped Qingyuan up the steps, turned back to close the umbrella and hand it to a young maid nearby, then freed her hands to see Qingyuan toward the main rooms.
Lüzhui saw them and curtsied with a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "Fourth Miss."
Qingyuan nodded and stepped over the threshold. Behind her, Baoxian picked her moment to needle Lüzhui. "Why are you standing outside, Miss Lüzhui? The rain is heavy. Be careful you don't splash your skirt..."
At the door Yuequan raised the bamboo blind a little higher, saw Qingyuan, and gave her a look. "The Fourth Miss is here. Go in quickly."
The Old Madam was a remarkable woman. When the family had been in dire straits a while ago, everything had been done with the fourth girl first in mind. Now that the realm was at peace and it was time for the girls to think of marriage, Qingru and her sister were always the first to be told. The fourth girl was sent for only when she could no longer be avoided.
The main room was full of talk and laughter. The Old Madam was saying, "Hengtang was such a fine place. Ever since our Taiye's generation we lived there, twenty years! I thought we would put down roots for good, never imagining we'd come back to Youzhou. Chunzhi, you're not an outsider, so I'll tell you plainly: if it weren't for what happened, would I, at my age, have made such a long journey and suffered like this? You only came to Youzhou today, so you don't know the hardships we went through before..." There was no end to her sorrows. She sighed deeply and said she wouldn't speak of it any more.
Li Congxin naturally offered kind words of comfort. "My father always says that rising and falling in officialdom is common. Never mind the great ministers at court; even those of us related to the imperial house can't promise ourselves a smooth life. Now the Military Governor is going out through Jianmen Pass again to retake Shibao Fortress. If all goes well, there will be generous rewards when he returns in triumph, and his career will only grow broader. The Old Madam has more blessings to enjoy than she can count, so please rest easy."
The Marquis's heir spoke in a gentle, courteous voice, and the talk in the main room went warmly.
Qingru never showed her fangs in front of outsiders. She asked sweetly, "Brother Chunzhi, have you come to Youzhou to prepare for the autumn examinations?"
Li Congxin paused briefly and said only that there were matters at the prefectural school that needed his attention. He seemed less committed to the examinations than Li Guanling was, and a little half-hearted about them.
Qingyuan went around the carved screen and saw that the room was packed. The golden-thread blinds outside the window had been rolled up under the eaves, and since it was summer all the furnishings had been swapped for bamboo ones. The room was so cool and airy that even with the dim sky outside, it didn't feel dark inside.
She stepped forward and greeted the Old Madam, then Li Congxin, and said with a smile, "It has been a long time, Third Young Master. I hope you've been well."
She made no show of false warmth. She was as polite and reserved as before. Strangely, though they had been apart only two months, she seemed steadier and more refined than she had been.
Li Congxin was dazed for a moment, like some inexperienced scholar in a storybook, actually dumbstruck before a young woman. When he came to himself he was a little embarrassed, and quickly folded his hands to return the greeting. "I hope you've been well too, Fourth Sister."
Their courteous exchange of bows grated on Qingru. She gave a faint, scornful smile and turned her eyes away.
In her eyes, Qingyuan's reserve was all a game of pretending to refuse while wanting to be pursued. It was like the cat she used to keep: call it and it came, but it always kept a distance. Reach for it and it ran, though never far, only to the space under the table or the windowsill, where it turned to look at you, leaving you itching to touch it and unable to get close.
That was why she hated cats most. In the end that black-and-white cat had been caught by several people together, shoved into a sack, and thrown into the Guanghan Canal. The cat was gone, but now there was a person, and a person could not be disposed of as casually as a cat. That made her resentment all the worse.
Once Qingyuan had taken her seat to one side, the Old Madam said with a smile, "We have the Third Young Master to thank for this business. It was on the strength of your standing as the young marquis that we were able to enter the Commander's residence at all. You and Duke Shen are old friends, aren't you?"
Li Congxin said they were. The handsome young nobleman wore a gentle look and spoke easily. "I have known him for many years, and we're on decent terms. When the Old Madam moved the whole household to Youzhou, I worried that the Military Governor's career might be blocked, so I specially gave the register of names to Fourth Sister." He glanced at Qingyuan as he said this and smiled. "That Fourth Sister could put the register to use means my good intentions were not wasted. When the Military Commissioner returns to Youzhou in a couple of days, I will thank him properly. The Old Madam need not trouble herself over it. I'll see it handled."
When he finished, the faces around the room changed in different ways. "My good intentions were not wasted" was blunt enough. He had come for the fourth girl. As for the Xie family's difficulty, that had merely been the fourth girl putting the larger interest first. That it relieved their urgent trouble was only a happy accident, and he did not want to claim credit.
Qingru grew angrier as she listened and frowned at her mother. Madam Hu, as always, kept her composure better than her daughter. She went on smiling and slowly turned her Bodhi beads.
The Old Madam, seeing the silent exchange of glances, already had a plan that would satisfy everyone. She said at once with a smile, "The Master has gone to war. We had wanted to thank the Commander and the Military Commissioner as well, but feared they wouldn't do us the honor. What you just said reminded me. Third Young Master, go ahead and invite the Commander and the Military Commissioner to a banquet. We will bear the cost, which will show our intentions. It's only that we'll trouble you to see to everything for us. Once the Commander has given his answer, we will hold another banquet to thank you properly. Would that do?"
The proposal was reasonable and let no one take advantage for nothing, and the Old Madam's manner was entirely proper. Li Congxin had no reason to refuse and said with a smile, "That works well. Then I'll repay this favor on the Military Governor's behalf in the name of the Xie household."
Having dealt with the Old Madam, his gaze turned to Qingyuan. She sat quietly to one side and did not speak, so serene she seemed to melt into the damp summer day. Light came in through the window, and as she lowered her head her lashes showed thick and dark. Sitting there so composed, she was impossible to overlook even in silence.
"Fourth Sister..." Li Congxin suddenly called, and seemed startled by his own abruptness, which left him a little awkward.
Qingyuan answered and finally raised her eyes. Seeing him stunned, and seeing Qinghe distracted, she said, "Third Young Master, before you came to Youzhou, did you visit the Earl of Kaiguo's residence?"
Of course! Such an important matter, and not one of them had thought of it. The Old Madam looked as if she had suddenly understood and struck her knee. "I was just about to ask, and the interruption made me forget. Third Young Master, you and Lanshan see each other often. Have you heard anything? We moved back to Youzhou in such a hurry, and I know people must be talking behind our backs. Our eldest girl's marriage to Lanshan... I don't know what the Earl's household intends. In your view, how are things on Lanshan's side?"
A perfectly good betrothal, left unmentioned, left unresolved, was suffocating. It would have been cleaner to have it settled one way or the other. Qinghe sent Qingyuan a grateful look, thankful she had remembered her and asked about the thing she cared about most at such a gathering. Left to the Old Madam alone, they would probably have all dispersed and no one would have thought of it.
Li Congxin said "Oh" and took a letter from his sleeve pocket. "I had meant to hand this to the Eldest Sister privately. Since the Old Madam asks, I'll pass it to her now."
Xiazhi, who attended in the Old Madam's rooms, stepped forward, took it, and brought it to Qinghe. Only then did Qinghe breathe a little easier. But halfway through the breath she began to wonder what the letter said. What if it listed a pile of difficulties and meant to break off the engagement? Where would she put her face then... Turning it over again and again, relief and alarm alternating, her heart was left hanging once more.
Li Congxin saw it all. He knew she had taken the letter but couldn't open it in front of everyone, and that she must be anxious. His words could give her something to settle her nerves, so he said, "Lanshan and I have known each other since childhood. He has always been stubborn: once he sets his mind on something, he sees it through. I met him before coming to Youzhou. He has been devoting himself to preparing for the examinations and will go to the capital before the autumn exams. As for the Military Governor's transfer to Prefect, he said nothing about it, and the Earl's household is carrying on as usual. The Old Madam really can rest easy. Now that the Military Governor has been restored to his post, Shengzhou is far from Youzhou, but news travels faster than the Old Madam might think."
The Old Madam nodded slowly. "That's good... Qinghe is the first of this generation of girls to be betrothed, and to such a fine family. If anything went wrong halfway, it wouldn't set a good example for her younger sisters."
Li Congxin agreed, though only out of politeness, and quietly looked at Qingyuan again. That clear-eyed girl still wore her calm, placid expression, glad that her eldest sister's engagement had met no trouble. The two sisters exchanged a look and smiled, eyes curving.
He felt a pang of wistfulness, wondering when a glance of such understanding would ever fall on him. The young marquis had moved through his share of flowers and knew that when a girl in the inner quarters had no such feeling, even seeing her was hard. Qingyuan might be the most clear-headed and steady girl he had ever dealt with. She always attended with the others, and even the chance to speak across the wall at the academy last time had come only because he had asked Zhenglun. He had thought that after two months her attitude might have softened somewhat, but it seemed not.
Perhaps she was still upset about his mother sending someone to the house, and still blamed him for being too rash. He regretted his impulse too, but if only he could get a chance to speak with her alone, the misunderstanding between them would not be so hard to clear up.
So he thought a moment and said, "Since the Old Madam wishes to host the Marshal and the Military Commissioner in the Xie family's name, I think someone from the Xie family should be present on the day of the banquet. With Zhengze and his brothers here, the younger sisters could come along too. The more people, the livelier. Besides the Marshal and the Military Commissioner, there will be no outside guests. What does the Old Madam think?"
By strict etiquette it was not proper, but military families were more open-minded than civil officials' families. And the Old Madam knew the girls were at an age to think of marriage. More outings and more contact with young men of good families and high officials would help their futures. So she said with a smile, "Since we're all family, there's no harm in letting them go out for some air. Just send a few more people along that day. Now that Zhengze and his brothers are in Youzhou, making friends here is the most pressing thing. In years, the Commander and the Military Commissioner are not much older than they are, so they're sure to find things to talk about."
Once the Old Madam relented, the girls naturally had to go. Among the four sisters, Qingru and Qingrong were both eager. Qinghe, being betrothed, had lost interest in meeting young noblemen. Qingyuan, remembering that inexplicable Commander, still felt uneasy. But she could not decline, and she understood Li Congxin's careful thought. For the sake of the register he had given her, she had to show him this courtesy.
After Li Congxin left, the girls all returned to their own courtyards. Madam Hu said to the Old Madam, "Mother saw it too: the young marquis hasn't given up on the fourth girl. And the second girl has no spirit, going on all day about Brother Chunzhi. It gives me a terrible headache."
The Old Madam leaned on a woven bamboo cushion. "No wonder. The young marquis is so handsome that no girl could dislike him. But when I think of the time the Marchioness asked the Inspector's wife to come to our door, I still choke with anger. Their house looks down on our Xie family far too much. Still, I've thought it over: times have changed. He isn't in Shengzhou now, and even with eight hands the Marchioness can do nothing about her darling son..."
Madam Hu was startled. "Mother, do you mean to make a match between the fourth girl and the young marquis? With the fourth girl's background, I'm afraid the Marquis's house would rather lose a son than let her through the door!"
The Old Madam glanced at Madam Hu, knowing she was partial and thought only of her own daughter. But who in the world has no self-interest? The Old Madam had lived long, seen and endured much, and in her view the best plan was to take every ready-made good prospect in a single sweep.
"The second girl's temper needs a more gentle-mannered husband. I figure if she and the young marquis do come together, the Marchioness will have nothing to say in the end," the Old Madam said slowly. "As for the fourth girl, she has paid for what her mother did, and she mustn't insist on being a principal wife. Given the Commander's methods, I doubt the fourth girl would catch his eye. But if she could go to the Military Commissioner... his wife is a simple-hearted woman with no family base behind her. Pushing her aside wouldn't be hard."
Having heard the Old Madam's wisdom, Madam Hu set her heart at ease. Ginger really does get sharper with age. The Old Madam might not truly let the fourth girl become someone's concubine, since the Xie family's reputation mattered. With that girl's origins, being a second wife would not disgrace her. What became of the fourth girl hardly concerned Madam Hu. She only needed to know that the Old Madam did not oppose Qingru going to the Marquis's heir, and that was enough.