Lady Feng continued with a smile, saying to them: “…Your cousin rarely visits the capital, so she should stay longer. When you have time, please keep her company. For now, she’ll stay with me in the east courtyard.” Everyone agreed, and Lady Feng immediately instructed Madam Xu to prepare a side room in the east courtyard, letting Cheng Bao Zhi go there first to see if anything else needed to be added, in which case she should send someone to inform her.
After Cheng Bao Zhi left, Lady Feng said: “Your cousin is from Yichun in Jiangxi, a small place where she hasn’t seen much of the world, so you must be understanding. My sister married into Jiangxi, and Cheng Bao Zhi is her youngest daughter. Although you call her ‘cousin,’ she has just turned fifteen this year.” After a pause, she said to Gu Jin Chao, “You have the best temperament, so please accompany her more often.”
Gu Jin Chao agreed.
Soon the full-month banquet began, and she returned to Yan Xiu Hall.
A maid from the outer courtyard kitchen of Yan Xiu Hall had just brought over a basket of red eggs—for the Eleventh Miss’s full-month celebration, every maid in the household received a red egg. Madam Xu distributed the eggs, and seeing Jin Chao deep in thought, followed her into the study and asked softly: “Miss, what’s on your mind?”
Gu Jin Chao found this Cheng Bao Zhi very strange.
A distant relative of Lady Feng had come to stay and was even staying with Lady Feng in the east courtyard. From what Lady Feng implied, she had no intention of sending her away soon. The Cheng family of Yichun—she had never even heard of them. Why would Lady Feng keep such a person in the Gu household?
Gu Jin Chao recalled Cheng Bao Zhi’s eager smile toward Gu Lian.
She told Madam Xu: “It’s hard to say at this point.” She asked Madam Xu to bring paper and a brush, then wrote a letter to Luo Yongping to thoroughly investigate the Cheng family.
She then summoned Yu Zhu and Xiu Qu: “…Go to the stables in the front courtyard and see if there’s a donkey cart tied up there. Chat with the old man who drove it, ask where he’s from and what he does. Just say you’re serving girls from the Gu household.”
Yu Zhu was clever and young—perfect for this task.
Yu Zhu pulled Xiu Qu along. With many carriages parked in the outer courtyard stables, a donkey cart would stand out.
Soon she returned with her report.
“Miss, we found the donkey cart, but the old driver wasn’t there. Instead, a maid was watching it, slightly older than me. I shared my red egg with her. She said she’s the Fourth Miss Cheng’s maid, accompanying the Fourth Miss to the capital to get married. The Fourth Miss’s aunt in the capital is the mistress of a wealthy and prestigious family who can arrange a good match for her.”
Yu Zhu continued: “I noticed the maid was wearing a pink flowered cotton jacket but had a red gold bracelet on her wrist.”
Jin Chao praised Yu Zhu and gave her the remaining red eggs from the basket.
The next day, Lady Feng asked Gu Lian, Jin Chao, and others to accompany Cheng Bao Zhi on a tour of the Gu estate.
Cheng Bao Zhi wore a bright red jacket with silver ruyi patterns, an eight-panel green ramie horse-face skirt, and a pair of gold filigree hairpins inlaid with rubies, but with pink South Sea pearls in her ears. Behind her followed the maid in the pink flowered cotton jacket, shorter than her, with delicate features, called Pei Huan.
Gu Lian nearly burst out laughing at first glance and turned to look at the winter plum tree nearby, suppressing her laughter for a long while.
Cheng Bao Zhi didn’t seem to notice anything amiss and continued chatting with Gu Lian: “…I heard you’re engaged to a Grand Secretary’s son—truly extraordinary. In our Yichun area, the highest official we ever see is my father…”
She talked about her life in Yichun. She was originally from Ganzhou in Jiangxi. Her father was a jinshi from the Dingmao examination but didn’t qualify as a Hanlin Compiler. He was assigned to Yuanzhou Prefecture as a ninth-rank magistrate and was only promoted to seventh-rank county magistrate of Yichun three years ago. She was quite talkative, and eloquent, and would practically elevate people to the heavens with her praise. Gu Lian simply smiled: “Cousin, you’re too kind…”
Cheng Bao Zhi continued her flattery: “Not at all! Whatever Cousin thinks is right. We don’t have so many formalities where I’m from!”
Cheng Bao Zhi then spoke with Gu Jin Chao, though her smile seemed fainter. As she spoke, she looked Jin Chao up and down, her gaze distinctly meaningful. Jin Chao felt uncomfortable under her scrutiny and put down her teacup with a smile: “Cousin, is something amiss?”
Cheng Bao Zhi shook her head, saying slowly: “Chao’er is so beautiful; my cousin-in-law whom I’ve never met must be an extremely beautiful person!”
Jin Chao replied: “Cousin flatters me. I am merely passable.”
Hearing Cheng Bao Zhi’s comment, she felt her hair stand on end.
After touring the garden in the morning, Cheng Bao Zhi returned to the east courtyard. Lady Feng called her over to talk.
“…How are you getting along with your cousins?”
Cheng Bao Zhi bowed, saying very respectfully: “Lian’er is lively and lovely, the other concubine-born daughters are respectful to me, but Chao’er doesn’t talk much… though she is truly exceptionally beautiful.” Compared to Gu Jin Chao, Gu Lian and the others were like green leaves accentuating a bright flower—each beautiful on their own, but merely average when standing beside Gu Jin Chao. If she were a man, she would also be attracted to a beauty like Gu Jin Chao… At this thought, she felt somewhat uncomfortable.
Lady Feng responded with a sound of acknowledgment: “What do you think of the Gu family?”
Cheng Bao Zhi paused this time before answering: “Under your management, it naturally flourishes. The courtyards are grand, and even the maids dress better than the concubine-born daughters in our family. The items you gave me last night—I’ve never seen such things before.” She smiled, “Take these pink South Sea pearls you gave me; I’ve never seen pink ones before. And these gold hairpins must be six taels of gold…”
Lady Feng’s mouth twitched slightly. Given that Cheng Bao Zhi was a jinshi’s daughter, how could she be so inexperienced? But this was good—she certainly couldn’t survive in the Gu family on her own and would need to rely on Lady Feng. Such a person was easy to control.
Lady Feng dismissed Cheng Bao Zhi to rest, then sighed deeply. She spoke to Madam Xu: “What do you think of Cheng Bao Zhi?”
Madam Xu replied: “She is very respectful to you and gets along well with the young ladies. But her family background is somewhat lacking…”
Lady Feng said: “There’s no help for it. The Feng family doesn’t have any suitable young women, or I wouldn’t have chosen from the Cheng family. My sister wasn’t as fortunate as I was. After marrying into the Cheng family, she gave birth to four girls in succession, allowing a concubine who bore a son to rise above her. Unwilling to accept this, she tried to conceive again in her forties, but that pregnancy cost her her life. Cheng Bao Zhi was raised by a wet nurse. Otherwise, no matter how inferior a young lady might be, she wouldn’t be unfamiliar with pea cake…”
Madam Xu sighed: “She is indeed pitiful. I noticed she doesn’t know much about proper dress…”
At this point, Lady Feng frowned, not wanting to discuss it further: “…It gives me a headache. Take Chen Yong’s wife to teach her how to dress properly. A fine young lady wearing bright red and green, with pink South Sea pearls to match… Once she’s properly dressed, bring her to see me. At noon, take her to the west courtyard for the meal, so the Fourth Master can see her too.”
Madam Xu withdrew.
Not long after Gu Jin Chao returned to Yan Xiu Hall, Luo Yongping’s letter was delivered.
Since Jiangxi was too far away, Luo Yongping had first inquired about the Cheng family from the Feng family in Liangxiang and sent what he discovered. When his men reached Jiangxi, a second letter would follow.
After reading the letter, Gu Jin Chao smiled and asked Madam Xu to bring the candlestick. Madam Xu was quite puzzled: “Miss, what did Manager Luo say?”
As she burned the letter, Gu Jin Chao calmly said: “A month ago, Grandmother sent someone to the Feng family, asking if they had any suitable young ladies. They didn’t, so she inquired about families related to the Fengs by marriage and finally selected Cheng Bao Zhi. Now, urgently summoning her from Jiangxi, claiming she’s here to sightsee and visit relatives in the capital—do you believe that?”
Madam Xu was still confused: “You mean…”
Gu Jin Chao said coolly: “If Father is promoted to Vice Minister of Revenue, don’t you think Grandmother would be anxious? Isn’t she afraid we’ll become too independent for her to control? She’s quickly finding a young lady from her own family to marry. She can use a stepmother’s position to keep me in check and whisper in Father’s ear. It’s much easier for her to control a daughter-in-law than to control us.”
Madam Xu’s expression darkened as she listened, having caught a glimpse of Cheng Bao Zhi yesterday: “Such a person… how could she marry into the Gu family! The Old Madam even looked down on our Mistress back then, yet now she approves of this Cheng Bao Zhi?”
Jin Chao smiled slightly: “A jinshi’s daughter, under her control, and very kind to Gu Lian—isn’t this her criteria for selecting a daughter-in-law?”
Thinking of what Cheng Bao Zhi had said today made her deeply uncomfortable.
Madam Xu hesitated greatly. Naturally, they didn’t want such a person to marry into the Gu family, especially as Jin Chao’s stepmother. But marriage was a matter of parental command and matchmaker’s words—they had no standing or grounds for objection. Gu Dezhao’s mourning period was almost over, and regardless, he would need to remarry. This wouldn’t change because of them.
Jin Chao was also pondering this matter. Rather than letting Lady Feng bring in someone like this, it would be better for her to take the initiative and select a stepmother for her father. Whatever happened, this stepmother shouldn’t work against their interests! She couldn’t interfere openly, but her father could certainly have a say in his marriage.
First, she needed to find a suitable candidate, but where could she find an appropriate person on such short notice?
Just then, Lady Feng sent someone to summon Jin Chao to the west courtyard for lunch.
Gu Jin Chao changed into a lotus-colored winter jacket with lotus petal patterns and a light-colored plain skirt before going.
The women dined in the flower hall, while the Gu family masters were in the reception room. She sat down next to Gu Xi and saw Cheng Bao Zhi standing behind Lady Feng, now much better dressed. She wore a pink jacket sprinkled with bright red small flowers, a dark blue plain embroidered skirt, and her black hair arranged in a center-parted bun, adorned with a gold kingfisher feather phoenix hairpin. With light makeup, she could now be considered a beauty.
Lady Feng spoke with the Fifth Madam, asking about her wet nurse’s diet. After a while, she beckoned a maid nearby and asked: “See if the Fourth Master has returned. He left early this morning and hasn’t paid his respects to me yet.”