Yu An quickly entered Mingde Hall.
Shortly after Yu Qiao’s “funeral” was announced, she and Yu Ping had already moved back to Lütian Hermitage. Though neither young lady had ever had smallpox, neither complained about the elders’ decision.
However, this matter naturally had an even more profound impact on the two young ladies. Without anyone needing to warn them, when facing outsiders, both Yu Ping and Yu An wore expressions of grief, seeming to harbor not the slightest doubt about Yu Qiao’s death.
Seventh Miss watched Yu An enter, noticing she still wore a white velvet flower in her hair. Mixed feelings welled up in her heart. Though Duke Pingguo’s actions were overly heartless, they were indeed like a warrior severing his own arm—otherwise these two young ladies’ entire lives would have been ruined by Yu Qiao.
She pushed aside all the chaotic emotions in her heart and produced a warm smile, beckoning to Yu An. “Come, sit beside me. These past few days keeping vigil for your Second Sister must have exhausted you?”
When Yu Qiao passed away, the marriage arrangement with the Fan family hadn’t been finalized, so she had no husband’s family. By rights, brothers and sisters should have taken turns keeping vigil, but the sisters-in-law were all busy, the brothers even busier. It was the two young ladies along with Yu Ning and Yu Tai who had voluntarily kept vigil for Yu Qiao through the seventh day.
Yu An smiled and shook her head, instead showing concern for Seventh Miss. “We’re fine—just sitting stupidly before the altar. It’s Sixth Sister-in-law I worry about. With everything happening so suddenly… you’ve worked yourself so thin, you really should summon a physician to check your pulse for peace of mind.”
Seventh Miss touched her face and couldn’t help laughing self-deprecatingly. “Being that busy, how could I have time to worry about my face?”
The two exchanged glances, sharing an ineffable understanding, both revealing bitter smiles. Yu An then asked with carefully chosen words, “During the soul-summoning ceremony the other day, I kept wondering where Second Sister’s fragrant soul might be… whether there’s any news. If she knows underground how grief-stricken her relatives are, what would she think?”
This was a roundabout way of asking Seventh Miss whether Yu Qiao had actually been found.
Though Duke Pingguo had declared Yu Qiao dead, he absolutely wouldn’t give up hope of finding Yu Qiao’s whereabouts. Just recently, his personal guards had been quite active—living under the same roof, even guessing, Yu An could probably guess that Duke Pingguo wouldn’t give up so easily.
Seventh Miss thought for a moment, then answered Yu An quite seriously. “Not to mention in such a vast world, a single fragrant soul is fundamentally impossible to find. Even if she could find her way home, I fear… you know your Second Sister’s temperament best.”
Yu An’s delicate face immediately showed deep sorrow.
Though Yu Qiao’s fate was currently unknown, to the Xu family, she had indeed already “died.” The very best outcome would be that she and her beloved settled somewhere, or if the sisters reunited in a different place, they would no longer be people of the same world.
“Second Sister, how could Second Sister just…” She swallowed several times before getting the lump in her throat down. “Ah, perhaps it’s for the best. Rather than being… being found, I’d prefer not knowing her whereabouts.”
Seventh Miss’s heart stirred.
Yu An’s thoughts were quite delicate. Though sometimes lacking quickness, her judgment of people was ultimately accurate.
Her understanding of Duke Pingguo would only be deeper than Seventh Miss’s own.
“Tell me, if… if your Second Sister’s soul were found by the Duke—” She drew out her tone.
A flash of alarm crossed Yu An’s face. She looked around, then lowered her voice and shook her head with a bitter smile. “Unchaste elopement is already difficult for the clan to tolerate, let alone that person’s identity is likely not very respectable either. Breaking up the couple would be a small matter. I fear that to preserve Second Sister’s reputation…”
She formed her fingers into a blade and drew it lightly across her throat.
Seventh Miss immediately thought of Xiao Liujiang and the other two. She shuddered involuntarily. “Never mention this matter again in the future.”
Yu An nodded heavily with troubled thoughts. “Sister-in-law can rest assured, Yu An understands the gravity.”
Both fell silent for a time, and the room grew quiet. Yu An looked around, glanced at the sky outside the window, then lowered her head to fidget with the sachet and jade pendant at her skirt, appearing more restless than usual.
Watching this, Seventh Miss’s mood suddenly lightened somewhat.
Regardless of where Yu Qiao had ultimately gone, in the end, she had pursued the life she wanted, even though her methods were extremely irresponsible and indirectly implicated three lives. But this was also Yu Qiao’s own debt to bear.
Who could know whether her choice was right or wrong? No one could possibly know. Though this world held much coldness and much ugliness, ultimately there were still some people who would use every resource around them to strive toward their ideals.
“You know in your heart why I asked you here today to talk, don’t you, Fifth Sister?” Her tone finally carried a trace of lightness.
Yu An’s face immediately flushed red.
Yet she didn’t avoid Seventh Miss’s teasing, instead saying in a voice soft as a mosquito, “I guessed… guessed a little…”
Biting her lower lip, her toes twisting together, she said softly, “However, this matter still depends on what the Fan family says…”
“The Fan family is just waiting for Yu Qiao’s seventh-day ceremony to pass before it’s proper to raise this matter.” Seventh Miss said calmly. “By any reasoning, our willingness to form a marriage alliance with the Fan family is their honor. After Yu Qiao’s unfortunate early death, our willingness to send another daughter—this is no small favor. When Master Fan came the other day to offer incense for Yu Qiao, he already privately asked Father, saying that according to Yangzhou custom, when an elder sister passes away, if there are unmarried younger sisters, many substitute for the elder sister in marriage—”
Yu An’s entire face burned red. She lowered her head and said softly, “But there’s still Third Sister ahead…”
Just from Yu An’s words, one could tell she was completely willing, eager even to marry into the Fan family.
Seventh Miss rallied her spirits, gripped Yu An’s hand, and asked in a low voice, “I heard from Fourth Sister-in-law that Yu Ping doesn’t much value the Fan family’s status, finding fault that Second Young Master is merely a provincial graduate. When you hear her speak of it normally, is this her meaning?”
Yu An’s face was nearly buried in her lap. After quite a while, she nodded almost imperceptibly. “When Third Sister discussed it with Second Sister before, her tone also suggested she didn’t much value the Fan family.”
Seventh Miss couldn’t help smiling.
She carefully instructed Yu An, “When your Third Sister asks you, you absolutely mustn’t appear eager to marry, but don’t speak too ill of the Fan family either. Just remain indifferent. At the appropriate time, I’ll naturally speak on your behalf. If there’s fate, and Yu Ping looks down on the Fan family, this matter has an eighty or ninety percent chance of ultimately succeeding.”
Yu An nodded, then asked Seventh Miss, “That Second Young Master of the Fan family—does Sister-in-law know what his temperament is like… whether he’s… whether he’s…”
She uncharacteristically chattered on, pestering Seventh Miss with countless questions about the Fan family. Only when evening approached and Fourth Young Master and Fifth Young Master returned from school did she reluctantly take her leave.
Seventh Miss saw Yu An off, then immediately got entangled by Fourth Young Master and Fifth Young Master. The two children had recently made some progress in calligraphy and were bursting with pride, eager to demonstrate their brushwork for Seventh Miss on the spot: “Seventh Mother, Seventh Mother, I write better than my younger brother!”
Seventh Miss hurriedly changed into an overgarment to accompany the two children in writing a few characters, and was immediately splattered with ink. She barely managed to wait until Guyu and Chunfen emerged to coax the little ancestors away before standing up with a beaming smile, allowing Xiao Huangpu and others to remove her overgarment and arrange for it to be washed—no need to elaborate.
Soon dinner was ready. Xu Fengjia had also returned to his quarters to wash up in the western third room. Seventh Miss summoned Xiayuan over and asked, “Have the children grown taller this month? Gained weight?”
Since the children passed their first birthday, Seventh Miss had instructed everyone to measure the two children’s height and weight monthly to record their growth. Xiayuan was searching for the figures when someone came to report, “Our young madam asks whether the heir apparent’s wife’s small kitchen has perilla leaves. If so, she needs a bundle or two. She says her stomach has been uncomfortable since this afternoon, and the physician said eating several dishes with perilla leaves would be best. It happens we don’t normally use perilla, so at the moment we really don’t know where to find any!”
Fourth Young Madam was really going to every extreme to secure this pregnancy. Seventh Miss glanced at Duanwu, and seeing Duanwu understand and leave, smiled and said, “She’s gone to ask. If we have them, we have them. If not, send someone to buy some on the street, and ask around various places—they can surely be found.”
Keeping busy this way actually soothed her heart considerably. Thinking of Yu An’s shy and delighted appearance that afternoon, a faint smile couldn’t help hanging at her lips. Even in the midst of all this, she still called to Xu Fengjia, “Go see your sons and practice calligraphy with them!”
Xu Fengjia made a face. “I just bathed—you want me to get covered in ink again? Not going, not going.”
He strolled over to Seventh Miss’s side, stretched lazily, then asked languidly, “What’s this? Nearly dinner time and someone has the audacity to come looking for you?”
The mama under Fourth Young Madam felt somewhat embarrassed, covering her smile as she said, “It’s also this servant’s lack of consideration. Actually, I could have just asked the sisters below about this matter.”
Seventh Miss shot Xu Fengjia a look before smiling. “That’s not how it works. Fourth Sister-in-law’s pregnancy naturally cannot be delayed. Mama, please sit outside for tea. When there’s news, naturally someone will be sent to inform you.”