Chapter 5

Outside, the weight of snow snapped a branch from an old tree. Snow fell with a soft rustle.

I looked at Jiang Mingzhu and softened my tone a little.

“…What His Majesty hates most is insincerity and people who are too clever.”

Because that was exactly the kind of person he was.

As we spoke,

Old Liu lifted the curtain and peered inside, her face full of good cheer.

“Good day, young ladies. Good day, Miss Feng.”

After greeting us, she put a warming blanket and a hot-water vessel in my hands.

“Our master knows a little medicine. He noticed the old injury in your knees and asked me to bring these.”

I thanked her, then felt a smooth, warm jade love token tucked inside the blanket.

Old Liu took my hand and examined me from every angle, then lowered her voice.

“Our master has been alone all these years. Plenty of families have made inquiries, but I’ve never seen him care so much for anyone.”

She held my hand, and I stood awkwardly, unsure what to say.

Then Jiang Bao’er came in.

She shoved Old Liu so hard that the woman tumbled to the ground with a cry.

Her eyes filled with angry tears.

“I knew you had bad intentions too! You only want to marry my father! You’re no different from those wretched maids!

“Sister, you’re so friendly with her. Have you forgotten Mother?”

Before Jiang Mingzhu could reprimand her, Jiang Bao’er turned and ran away crying.

At dinner, Jiang Xiechuan apologized to me. He said he had spoiled the child, had already sent women to look for her, and would certainly make her kneel in the ancestral hall and reflect on her conduct.

“It’s all right. The child simply misses her mother too much.”

My words touched a sore place in his heart. He sighed.

“I’ve thought of finding someone to care for the girls. But every time I met a prospective wife, Bao’er made a terrible fuss. If she didn’t like the woman, I let the matter drop.”

I listened quietly.

“I’ve also asked about you, miss. Not one of the people I asked had a bad word to say. That speaks for your character.

“Half my life has passed. I don’t wish to twist things about until good intentions turn bad. I only want to ask: if you have nowhere to go, the Jiang household may be small, but we would gladly shelter you from the wind and rain.”

I rose and gently laid the jade token on the table.

“If Bao’er still hasn’t been found at this hour, she’ll be hungry.”

Jiang Xiechuan was a clever man too. Taking the hint, he said no more and summoned a servant to ask about dinner.

The woman said they still hadn’t found Jiang Bao’er. He waved his hand.

“Leave her be. Let’s eat.”

I thought I knew where she was.

She was in the rear courtyard of her dead mother’s rooms, hiding beneath the rocks and crying.

Motherless children always found the same sorts of places to cry when they were hurt.

“Why is it you? How did you know I was here?” Jiang Bao’er glared at me.

Like a cat with its fur bristling, she fired questions at me.

It would have been quite intimidating if her stomach hadn’t growled.

I handed her the warm cake I had carried against my chest.

“Eat this, and I’ll stop thinking of marrying your father.”

Jiang Bao’er wanted to ignore me, but crying had made her hungry.

She snatched the cake and took great, sulky bites.

“I hate you. I hate Sister and Father too.

“I’ve seen plenty of people like you. You all say you want to be good to me, but you’re really scheming for something more.”

Her words were defiant, yet tears kept falling.

“I miss my mother so much. Whenever I cried, she always came to comfort me.

“But she was my mother. Why have you come looking for me? What do you want?”

Her temperament was exactly like Rongqi’s.

Wanting people to leave, yet afraid they would.

I sighed and passed her a handkerchief.

“I want you to stop crying. The winter wind will give you chilblains on your face. They’ll look dreadful.”

She was still a little girl. Hearing about chilblains, she stopped even eating her cake and hurried to wipe her tears.

Seeing me smile at her, Jiang Bao’er gave a little huff and turned her head away awkwardly.

“You really don’t want to marry Father?”

“No.”

“He’s kind and rich. Why don’t you?”

“Once I’ve won you over, I’ll be able to earn two wages. When I’ve saved enough, I’ll go back to Suzhou and get married.”

Jiang Bao’er was displeased again.

“…The man you’re going to marry—is he better than Father?”

A little girl’s thoughts took more turns than a mountain road. Caught between laughter and exasperation, I hurried to invent a lie to soothe her.

“He’s a very good man. Richer than your father, and more handsome too.”

I told such lies so often that I had nearly come to believe them myself.

As though someone really had been waiting for me in Suzhou for years.

“…But he can’t be as good-tempered as Father, can he? And Sister has a good temper too.” Jiang Bao’er looked at me hesitantly. “…Actually, mine is very good as well.”

“Yes. Bao’er has a good temper too.”

Seeing I hadn’t understood her meaning, she grew so anxious that she stopped eating and thrust the cake back into my hands.

“Think about it again! I promise there’s nobody in the world better than Father!”

When I turned, I saw Jiang Xiechuan standing behind me.

He must have heard what Bao’er said.

When he remained silent, she stamped her foot in frustration and shook his hand.

“Father, don’t just stand there! Say something!”

Before Bao’er could grow more anxious, a figure rushed out from behind Jiang Xiechuan toward me.

Ignoring the astonished looks around him, he stumbled forward and held me tightly in his arms.

As though he had recovered a lost treasure, he shed two hot tears onto my neck.

I heard his pleading voice, just like the motherless young creature in Canglu Palace twenty years ago, stubbornly clutching my sleeve and demanding a promise to last a lifetime.

“Sister, why haven’t you come back? Don’t you want Rongqi any more?”