The next day, before dawn had even broken, Granny Zhou put on the fine clothes she reserved for wedding banquets, combed her hair neatly, and, leaning on her walking stick, went downstairs.
At the time, the waiter was still sprawled out, fast asleep, on the bed cobbled together from tables. Granny Zhou didn’t disturb him—just waited for him to wake and open the door. When the waiter heard the roosters crowing, he got up. Seeing Granny Zhou gave him a start.
He said, “Old granny, are you hungry or something? What are you doing coming down in the middle of the night?”
Granny Zhou laughed and spat playfully. “Sure, I’m a starving ghost reincarnated, out in the middle of the night looking for food. I’m off today to visit relatives by marriage!”
“Good heavens, it’s almost New Year, and you’re still going visiting?”
“I’m heading out of town—stopping by on the way.”
“Oh, oh, then if we’re visiting relatives by marriage, we’ve got to buy a big hunk of fatty pork!”
“I know, we do that back home too. I’ll buy it on the road!”
Qian Jiaoniang had been thinking about Granny Zhou’s matter. She had always been an early riser since she could remember. When she woke, the morning light was still pale, a faint sky filtering in. Right before her eyes was Xing Muzheng’s handsome face, faintly shadowed with stubble. Her heart gave a jolt—she stared at him in a daze for a moment before realizing both her hands were clasped in one of his large ones in front of her chest. What was this about? Was he afraid she might scratch him in the night?
Qian Jiaoniang gently pulled her hands free and tried to get out of bed. But Xing Muzheng’s large frame loomed like a mountain in front of her—she had no doubt that if anyone looked in from outside, they wouldn’t be able to see her at all.
She carefully got up, shivering a bit at leaving the warmth of the covers. The biggest benefit of sleeping beside Xing Muzheng was that his body was like a giant furnace—she used to always need a bed-warmer to sleep soundly, but now she didn’t need one at all.
She stood carefully on the bed, intending to step over this mountain of a man—only to have the quilt catch her foot. She stumbled and fell onto Xing Muzheng. Qian Jiaoniang let out a muffled sound, then looked up into a pair of clear black eyes. Her cheeks turned pink with embarrassment.
Xing Muzheng’s throat moved. In truth, he had woken when she pulled her hands away earlier—he had just kept quiet. Who would’ve thought she’d suddenly throw herself into his arms? He helped her up. “What are you doing?” His voice still had the huskiness of sleep.
Qian Jiaoniang quickly took the chance to get off the bed. “I just wanted to get up—did I wake you?”
“In the future, if you get up, just tell me.” Xing Muzheng propped himself up. “Why so early today?”
“Granny Zhou’s granddaughter, Cuilian, married here. Granny Zhou wants to go see her.” Because of the cold, Qian Jiaoniang dressed quickly. “Cuilian’s a good girl—she was very kind to Chou’er before, and Chou’er always called her Big Sister. I’ll take Chou’er with Granny Zhou to see her, and we’ll be right back… is that all right?”
Xing Muzheng also got up and dressed himself. “If you want to go, then go. If we can’t make it back to Yuzhou, we don’t have to rush. Zhen Hao’s been writing to invite us to spend New Year in Minghu. Tomorrow we could take the water route there instead. If you don’t want to go, we can head straight to Zhangzhou for New Year.”
Qian Jiaoniang knew her sudden departure had disrupted the travel plans. She said, “Either is fine—I’ll follow the marquis’s lead.”
Xing Muzheng fastened his belt, thought for a moment, and said, “Spending New Year in Minghu would be livelier, but with so many people, it’s more chaotic. In Zhangzhou it’s quieter, and I hear their lion dances are excellent. What’s more, the renowned scholar Liu Zihao lives there—his poetry and paintings are unmatched. I’ve long wanted to visit him.”
Qian Jiaoniang rubbed her hands and headed toward the door, smiling faintly. “That’s probably the marquis’s true goal, isn’t it?”
Xing Muzheng called after her. “Where are you going?”
“I’m going to fetch water to wash my face.”
“You stay put—I’ll go.” With that, Xing Muzheng strode out the door.
Neither of them were in the habit of having servants wait on them, but Suier was already outside. She had served in the palace before, where the rules were strict and staying up all night waiting for the masters was common. At Dingxi Marquis’s household, the work was so light that Suier was constantly amazed—she could sleep soundly every night. Because of this, she was always the first to rise in the morning, ready for orders.
Seeing the masters awake, Suier quickly went downstairs to fetch water. When she returned, she told Qian Jiaoniang that Granny Zhou was already waiting downstairs. Qian Jiaoniang washed up quickly and sent Suier to wake Xing Pingchun. By the time Qian Jiaoniang went down to keep Granny Zhou company for breakfast, Xing Pingchun was limping his way down the stairs.
Qian Jiaoniang asked in surprise, “What happened to you? Did you go steal a cow last night to end up like this?”
Xing Pingchun pulled a face. “Didn’t steal any cow.”
The truth was, Xing Pingchun had been punished by Xing Muzheng—two hours of horse stance while balancing a water jar on his head the night before. Xing Pingchun had been ready for it—after all, he knew his father had searched the whole county for his mother for days, and he hadn’t told where she was.
But before punishing him, Xing Muzheng had asked, “Do you know why I’m punishing you?”
Xing Pingchun stammered, “For hiding military intelligence?”
Xing Muzheng said, “No, not for that.”
Hearing that, the jar nearly toppled from Xing Pingchun’s head. “If not for that, then why such a heavy punishment?”
“I’m punishing you for not keeping your composure. You meant to hide it, yet everything you said and did the past few days made it clear you knew your mother’s whereabouts. And if you truly wanted to help her leave, you shouldn’t have gone looking for her.”
Xing Pingchun stared blankly for a long while before asking, “Father… you really mean that?”
“Of course,” Xing Muzheng said with a glare.
“You didn’t want Mother to come back?”
“I do want her back—but you must put her first in everything. With your lack of composure, how will you protect her in the future?”
Shocked, Xing Pingchun obediently held the stance for two hours. He kept thinking his father’s words were really something.
But impressive or not, his calves were shaking now. Even his beloved little black horse refused to be ridden—he just lay across Qian Jiaoniang’s lap wailing the whole way. And no matter how she asked, he wouldn’t say what he’d been up to.
Halfway there, Granny Zhou stopped at the butcher’s to buy a big slab of fatty pork. Normally, she wouldn’t even allow herself a sliver of fat, yet she was willing to spend on meat for her granddaughter. She borrowed a silver ingot from Qian Jiaoniang, but returned the silver note Qian had given her earlier. Qian Jiaoniang refused to take it, but Granny Zhou insisted.
“Now that I’m with you, I have food and drink, and I’ve borrowed a silver ingot from you. If I keep this thousand-tael note as well, I’d be shameless.”
Qian Jiaoniang still refused to take it, so Granny Zhou said she would head home after seeing her granddaughter. Only then, having no other choice, did Qian Jiaoniang take the banknote. After accepting it, she pulled Granny Zhou into a clothing shop nearby and ordered two new jackets and skirts for her, saying it was for making a proper appearance when visiting her in-laws. Granny Zhou wanted to uphold her granddaughter’s dignity and not let her in-laws look down on her, so she only half-heartedly declined before accepting.
Asking for directions along the way, Qian Jiaoniang’s party arrived at Qingyi Alley. Asking the neighbors, they learned that Scholar Zhu’s house—where Zhou Cuilian was married—was right next door. Granny Zhou beamed like a chrysanthemum, got off the carriage, and quickly tidied her hair and clothes. Qian Jiaoniang told Ah Da, Yanluo, and the others who had accompanied them to bring out the betrothal gifts they had prepared. Only then did Granny Zhou realize Qian Jiaoniang had prepared generous gifts for her as well. She looked them over—there were eight or nine kinds in total, all bagged up in sacks—and exclaimed that it was far too much. Qian Jiaoniang replied, “Since we’ve come to visit the in-laws, we can’t be lacking in propriety. I know these are the kinds of things ordinary folk love most—bulky, and respectable too! And here’s this…” Qian Jiaoniang took a gold hairpin from her sleeve. “Grandmother, in a moment, give this hairpin to Cuilian. It’s not easy for a girl living in her husband’s family; we need to help her save face.”
Granny Zhou felt the hairpin burn in her hand. “This—this is far too precious!”
“It’s not, it’s not,” Qian Jiaoniang said. She was the sort of person who would repay one bit of kindness with ten- or a hundredfold in return—especially when Granny Zhou had protected Xing Pingchun; such a great debt of gratitude could never be repaid enough.
While the two were still pushing it back and forth, the Zhu family’s door suddenly swung open, and a bundle was tossed out. “Go on, you’re no longer the daughter-in-law of this family! We have no place here for a sharp-tongued woman like you!”
Along with the words, an attractive young woman was shoved out the door. Granny Zhou froze for a moment, then, focusing her gaze—wasn’t that her granddaughter, Cuilian?
Zhou Cuilian stood outside, sobbing in hiccups, calling into the house in despair: “Husband, do you truly not want me anymore?”
