Chapter 127
Lady Liang took Xu Ning and Xu Zhen behind the others. Under the covered corridor, she stopped a palace maid and asked, “Where is the privy?”
“Please follow me, Madam and Young Ladies.” The palace maid did not dare delay and led the three of them to the privy.
Although people had dared to head straight for the privy after drinking at the Empress’s birthday banquet last time, it was still rather improper to rush there the moment they arrived. It was simply too uncouth.
Quite a few people nearby exchanged knowing glances, and more than a few curled their lips in mockery.
When the three returned, they were just looking for a place beside Lady Jiang and Madam Gu when a lady who had yet to find a seat approached them. She was fair-skinned and elegant, with a medium build. Pointing to her companion, she introduced her first. “This is A-Xiang. Her husband’s family is from the maternal family of the Empress’s grandmother. I’m her daughter-in-law’s maternal aunt. My maiden family name is Sui. If we go around the circle, we can all claim kinship with one another.”
Someone nearby helpfully explained to Lady Liang, “These are Madam Huang, wife of the Vice Minister of Justice, and Madam Tan, wife of the Court Physician.”
When she heard they were relatives of the Cui family, Lady Liang hurriedly stopped. Madam Huang took her arm and said, “Since that’s the case, I’ll dispense with formalities with A-Liang.” Her laugh was rather loud, drawing the attention of everyone nearby.
Lady Liang replied graciously, “A-Sui, there’s no need to be so polite with me.”
Lady Sui seized her hand and examined it. “The calluses on your hands show that no kind of work is beyond you. The thing is, I’ve obtained some fine furs and want to have several fur-lined winter garments made as part of my daughter’s trousseau. But there are few skilled fur workers in the south. You must be an expert. Would you be able to come to my home one day and give some pointers to the seamstresses there?”
The ladies who had been looking for seats nearby all stopped, their eyes turning toward the two of them in unison.
Asking Lady Liang to instruct the servants in her household in needlework—what did they take the Xu family for?
Xu Ning and Xu Zhen grabbed Lady Liang’s hands, their own trembling with anger.
Lady Liang gave their hands a discreet squeeze, then stepped forward. “Madam Huang, I may not know what rank your husband holds, but I do know that you ought to salute me when you see me. You’ve taken hold of me and spoken to me without the slightest regard for etiquette. Should I report you to Her Highness for failing to observe the distinction between superior and inferior?”
Madam Huang had not expected someone from a northern fur merchant’s family to be so unflinching. She hurriedly pushed Lady Xiang forward. “You know I’m a straightforward person. I truly regarded A-Liang as a relative, so I didn’t stand on ceremony with her. Help me explain it to her.”
But Lady Liang was not listening. She had received the Empress’s complete instruction in the “Cui Family Principles.” Clenching her fist, she waved it twice in front of Madam Huang’s face. “Her Highness taught me that if you can hit someone, don’t waste time arguing; if you can curse someone, don’t bother playing mind games. Hurry up and salute me and apologize. Otherwise, you’ll have to watch the singing and dancing with a big blue face.”
Madam Huang had never imagined that Lady Liang would be such an unabashedly rough character—one who would raise her fists at the slightest disagreement—and that she would even claim the Empress had taught her to do so.
Seeing that Lady Liang had seized control of the situation, Xu Ning and Xu Zhen began rolling up their sleeves. “With us here, why would Auntie—Mother—need to do it herself?”
The three women really looked as though they intended to make good on their threat. This was Grand Empress Dowager Chen’s birthday celebration. If the matter reached the front hall…
Thinking of the Yao family’s fate, Lady Sui remembered that the entire Yao household had pleaded illness and stayed away from the palace today. They would also have to avoid appearing before the Empress for quite some time.
Lady Sui was Fifth Madam Yao’s younger sister. Lately, she had felt deeply aggrieved on her sister’s behalf. She did not dare voice any resentment toward the Empress or the Empress’s maternal family while in the palace today, but she could not stand seeing someone as coarse as Lady Liang put on airs as though she were an imperial relative.
Even Empress Dowager Xu had to live by the Emperor and Empress’s favor. Though Xu Xian had regained his title as Marquis of Zhenbei and appeared to have won the Emperor’s trust, Lady Sui had heard Madam Huang say that an emperor’s suspicion of military commanders never disappeared. Xu Xian would have to keep his head down and behave carefully. Thus, Lady Sui had never thought much of the Xu family.
Earlier, Lady Sui had sought out Lady Xiang, hoping she might help plead with Lady Jiang. She had not dared ask for much—only a word from the Empress saying that Fifth Madam Yao was a good woman. That alone might have been enough to allow Fifth Madam Yao to resume appearing in public.
Lady Xiang, however, had shown no regard for their family ties. Lady Sui had been left fuming. Then, seeing Lady Liang and the other two return from the privy, she had decided to make them embarrass themselves in front of everyone once more. If Empress Dowager Xu did not want to be disgraced alongside them, she would surely cut off Lady Liang’s future visits to the palace.
Put simply, Lady Sui was bullying the weak and cowering before the strong. She wanted to find a soft target on which to vent her anger.
How could Lady Xiang fail to see through her? At that moment, she truly felt that anything connected with the Yao family brought nothing but trouble. She yanked her hand free from Lady Sui’s grasp. “I don’t know anything about that. You’d better apologize to the Marchioness.” Then she turned and went on ahead.
Lady Liang and the other two were already about to come over. Lady Liang had once again invoked the Empress’s teachings, and Lady Sui lost her nerve. Her face flushing with embarrassment, she bent deeply in a formal bow. “I was out of line. I apologize to the Marchioness. I hope you will forgive me this once.”
Inside, Lady Jiang had been looking for them. When she spotted them, she waved. “A-Liang, you’re a good drinker. Come have a drink with our third sister-in-law.”
Lady Jiang, Lady Ding, and Madam Gu had taken a small table and left a place for her.
Lady Liang did not spare Lady Sui so much as a glance. She walked past her and sat down beside Lady Jiang. “I’m accustomed to the strong liquor of the north. The wine from the south is too weak for me.”
No one else had noticed what happened, but Cui Lanyin had been watching the entire time. Though she could not hear the conversation, she could guess what had occurred from the way things had unfolded.
Seeing that Lady Liang had truly taken her lessons to heart and forcefully beaten back Lady Sui’s attempt to make things difficult for her, Cui Lanyin felt an immense sense of accomplishment.
She raised a hand and summoned Buyu. “Go to the wine storehouse and find some strong northern liquor for the Marchioness.”
Buyu smiled and acknowledged the order. “There are several varieties of northern liquor. I learned how to choose wine from Eunuch Qian. I’ll go myself.”
Cui Lanyin let him leave, then turned to the young men and ladies who were still waiting for instructions. “There are small tables arranged under the rear corridor and in the bamboo pavilion as well. Those who prefer quiet activities may play chess, give drinking-game commands, or fish. Those who prefer livelier amusements can try pitch-pot, boating, and another new game. Go on.”
The young men and ladies were immediately intrigued. Under the guidance of the palace attendants, they headed toward the rear garden.
Although only the unmarried children of each household had been invited today, relatives from every family—whether married or unmarried—still had to come and offer birthday congratulations to Grand Empress Dowager Chen.
Knowing that Hong Ji was at a crucial stage in his studies, Grand Empress Dowager Chen had suggested that Cui Lanzhi stay home and accompany her husband while they studied, so the two of them need not come.
But Hong Ji and Cui Lanzhi had said, “However important it may be, can it be more important than paying our respects to an elder on her birthday?”
Hong Ji had then added, “Grand Empress Dowager Chen is blessed with profound good fortune. I want to borrow some of her old ladyship’s blessings before I sit for the examination.”
Grand Empress Dowager Chen was delighted by this. She immediately had Aunt Gao deliver Hong Ji a superb white-fat jade carving of a horse with the inscription “May you be appointed to office at once.”
When the Cui, Jiang, and Xu families met today, Hong Ji and Cui Su introduced Cui Fu, Jiang Xian, and the others to Xu Gu and Xu Yi. Since Xu Gu was already married, he remained in the front hall with Hong Ji.
After nearly all the young men and ladies from the various households had departed, Cui Su called Xu Yi over. Cui Lanting took Xu Zhen by the hand, and the unmarried members of the Cui, Jiang, and Xu families proceeded leisurely toward the rear garden.
Cui Lanzhi and Lady Dong found Xu Ning and sat with Princess Yongjia and Li Yijin, leaving Lady Liang free to enjoy herself without having to worry about them.
Because Xu Gu’s child was still very young, and the north was in the transition from winter to spring—the season when people were most vulnerable to colds and epidemics—Xu Xian was preparing to return home and therefore left Xu Gu’s wife and child behind in their northern residence.
Xu Ning had married the previous year. Since she had yet to conceive, her in-laws had gradually grown critical of her. Before coming south, she had merely exchanged a few words with her husband, but her mother-in-law had made an enormous issue of it. After hearing what had happened, Xu Xian and Lady Liang had sent Xu Gu and Xu Yi to bring her back home.
Before the family set out, Xu Ning’s in-laws sent her husband to take her back. Xu Xian and Lady Liang said they wanted to bring her along to pay their respects to her aunt. Her husband thought it would do Xu Ning good to get out for a while, so he concealed the matter from his family and sent her out of the city.
Worried that Xu Gu and Xu Ning might not have much in common with the younger children, Cui Lanyin also asked Lady Jiang and Madam Gu to make arrangements.
Yesterday evening, after leaving the magistrate’s office, Jiang Shi had made a special detour to the Xu residence. He said that he would have a day off the day after tomorrow, and that he and Lady Dong would take Xu Gu and Xu Ning into Yingcheng for a look around. They would also dine at Yunlai Restaurant.
In just a few days, everyone in the Xu family had heard of Yunlai Restaurant. After tasting the dishes made by Cui Sheng, the entire family had been unable to stop thinking about them. Once they learned that all of Yunlai Restaurant’s dishes had been created from Cui Sheng’s recipes, Xu Zhen and Xu Yi both wanted to go along.
When they learned that Yunlai Restaurant stood beside the Wuyang River, with a whole stretch of pleasure houses directly across the water, and that diners could admire the view from the restaurant’s windows, even Lady Liang wanted to go and see it for herself.
At first, she could hardly believe it, and summoned one of the senior maids to ask, “Can women really go there?”
The senior maid replied proudly, “They couldn’t before. But ever since Her Majesty the Empress went there herself—and even took a pleasure boat out on the river—women have been allowed to go.”
That day, after dining at the palace, the family had gone to Empress Dowager Xu’s Luju Palace to chat. After Lady Liang repeated Cui Lanyin’s explanation to Empress Dowager Xu, the Empress Dowager abandoned her plan to send people to the Xu residence to instruct Lady Liang and the others in proper rules and etiquette. She merely had Aunt Yu teach them the formal bows and procedures used during palace ceremonies, then told Lady Liang that from there on, they could conduct themselves according to Cui Lanyin’s guidance.
Yet they had been in the capital for only three days. The household had barely begun to get itself organized when it was faced with such an important occasion. Lady Liang and the four Xu siblings had grown nervous all over again. But after learning about Cui Lanyin’s bold exploits, Lady Liang found herself filled with boundless courage.
So when Lady Sui tried to make her look foolish today, Lady Liang had not hesitated to confront her head-on.
There was simply too much for which she had to give thanks. Lady Liang even felt that the word “thank you” had lost its value from being spoken so often. It was only after Xu Xian had said the night before, “We’ll repay them sincerely. However little we can repay, we’ll repay it bit by bit. Our families have shared a friendship spanning generations,” that Lady Liang’s heart finally settled somewhat.
Seeing how Lady Liang interacted with the women of the Cui family, as well as Cui Lanyin’s attitude toward her—and even how Buyu, who was always at Cui Lanyin’s side, treated Lady Liang without any sense of distance—the other women understood.
Lady Liang had caught the Empress’s eye. Whatever the Cui and Gu families did, they would bring the Xu family along with them.
Then someone remembered the Empress’s nickname outside the palace: “Cui the Second Fierce.” Lady Liang had also said that the Empress was the one who taught her. Could it be that the Empress had taken Lady Liang as her disciple?
Lady Liang was someone they absolutely could not afford to offend. The women who had originally been seated at the same table as Lady Sui all found excuses to move to other tables.
Lady Sui was so uneasy that she went to the restroom, then returned and took a seat in the most secluded corner she could find.
Once everyone had chosen their seats, Cui Lanyin ordered the palace attendants to bring in singing and dancing. The performers had not yet entered when a burst of cheering rose from the back, mixed now and then with whistles. Minister Gu’s wife could not help laughing.
“Just what fun game has Her Majesty thought up this time? Look how delighted the children are.”
In the rear garden of the Danyue Residence, the young men and women listened as the palace attendants explained the new game that had been added that day. Once they understood the rules, none of them could contain their excitement.
The last time, many of them had been too shy to let go and had gained little from the game. After returning home, they had actually regretted it.
But that was simply their nature. Even after coming here, they still lost their nerve at the last moment.
Now, with the game giving them a chance to draw closer to the person they secretly admired, it could not have suited them better.
Here we go. [Mischievous grin]
