The aunt was viciously lambasting her nephew when she heard the Steward's shout and called back, "Since he's back, he's back. Do I have to welcome him?"
The Steward stamped his foot. "Madam, Little Miss Lingyin has blood on her clothes, Miss Lingyue looks like she's been crying, and the Master and Second Young Master look grim. The Eldest Young Master hasn't come back. Something's happened."
Things clattered inside the room, as if knocked over in a hurry, followed by the maids' worried voices: "Madam..."
"Move!" Tears brimming, the aunt lifted her skirts and rushed for the front hall.
She found her husband cradling their unconscious youngest daughter. She nearly broke down.
"She's fine, just asleep," Xu Pingzhi said quickly, and handed the girl to her. "Put her to bed."
The aunt hugged her daughter, checked her elder daughter too, and relaxed, but stayed, asking tearfully, "What happened? You all went out, and now this?"
At that, Xu Lingyue began to cry again.
Xu Pingzhi told his wife everything that had happened that morning. When she heard Xu Lingyue had been harassed by a villainous young master, her brows knit in fury. When she learned Xu Lingyin had nearly been trampled, she clutched her youngest tight, pale with dread. When she realized it was Xu Qian who had saved both girls and been wounded doing it, she froze.
Hearing her nephew had been hauled off to the Ministry of Justice, she gripped her husband's hand. "Ningyan... he..."
"He's fine, already out. This is settled for now." Xu Pingzhi patted her hand. "See? Without Ningyan, Lingyue and Lingyin would be in real danger. He's stubborn, but he's never treated family badly. Would anyone else risk his life for our daughters?"
"You've always resented him, the silver he spends on training, the sharp tongue, how he argues with you. But have you thought about him? Twenty years living off others' goodwill isn't easy. Don't you think he feels it? Women are short-sighted, they like sweet words but never look at what a man does. When Lingyue was shamed, he charged in to risk his life. Thank heaven it turned out. If Ningyan hadn't come back, wouldn't you have grieved?"
Listening, Xu Lingyue couldn't hold back her sobs. She swore she would repay her brother for the rest of her life.
"I..." The aunt sniffled and bowed her head.
Xu Xinnian watched his normally formidable mother, her eyes full of lingering fear and regret. Though she always called the fellow "gold-eater" and "jinx," deep down she'd kept him in her heart; twenty years of raising him had bred affection.
Xu Pingzhi glanced at his son and snorted. "If your son had gone along, he might have been snatched and bullied too."
Xu Erlang: "???"
...
After settling her daughters, the aunt returned to her room, heavy-hearted. Scanning the maids at their winter sewing, she said suddenly, "Lü E, hold back the cloth for one fewer coat each for the Master and Second Young Master. Once the Eldest Young Master's back, take his measurements."
Lü E looked up, surprised. "Madam has changed her mind?"
The aunt snorted. "Do you take me for a stingy aunt who nags her nephew?"
You sure are... every servant thought at once.
...
Xu Qian left the Star Observation Tower, hired a carriage, and reached home an hour later. While heating his bath he saw his waist wound nearly healed. He dabbed on wound-sealing balm, returned to his room, and wrote several hundred characters of chemistry, then, by habit, his diary.
"November 16th, a day to remember. I've finally decided to give up a rich man's dull, easy life. I need power, and I need martial strength. Three ideas:
"One, switch to the Confucian path. Butter up the two Grand Confucian Masters and they'll back me, far better than scrambling up the martial ladder alone. Other transmigrators flaunt poetry; I use it as currency. That's what sets a lucky winner apart.
"Two, charm Caiwei of the Directorate of Celestials into bed. With the Chief Astronomer behind me, even idle I'd live fine.
"Three, sell one magic artifact from the Directorate to buy a chance at opening the door to heaven.
"The first idea drags me back to high-school terror, and I may not be bookish anyway; at nearly twenty, switching paths is late. The second means saying goodbye to three wives and four concubines and the pleasure of listening to songs in the pleasure quarter, too costly. The third still can't beat the Vice Minister of Revenue at the Qi Refining level, and without a patron I can't charge ahead; Uncle's been stuck at Qi Refining's peak for ten years, the perfect proof.
"For now, I'll cling to the thighs of the Directorate and the White Deer Academy and plan the rest. I sense this tax silver storm isn't over."
...
At dusk, Xu Qian vaulted the wall to his uncle's house for dinner. In the front courtyard, Xu Lingyin, bundled like a dumpling in a pale lotus-colored coat, was wobbling in a horse stance, punching and grunting.
"What are you, spazzing out?" He kicked her bottom.
She toppled. "I'm practicing martial arts!" She scrambled up, fists on hips, puffing out her round belly. "Big Brother, are you challenging me?"
This morning's scare must have shadowed her young mind, for the five-year-old had decided to learn.
"Yes, I am," said Xu Qian.
"Father says a man must keep his dignity. It's called... ding... ding..."
"Dignity?"
"Mm!" She glared at him. "I'll fight you!"
She charged on short legs, flailing her fists. Xu Qian held her off with one hand on her forehead; she screamed and swung wild punches but could never reach him, frustration twisting her face.
Finding her a nuisance, he proposed, "Give you a drumstick and we'll call it your loss."
"Okay!" She beamed.
"And your dignity?"
"Big Brother, what's dignity?"
"...You've got a future."
He led her inside; the dinner was lavish, like a festival. The maids kept setting the best dishes before Xu Qian. He glanced at his aunt, in a dim-embroidered gown, delicate features and bright eyes beneath thick lashes, that particular charm of a married woman, like a lush crabapple. She kept her lofty calm, as if his deed today were a trifle. But without her say-so, no servant would dare favor him so.
Xu Lingyue ate in tiny bites, then gathered courage: "Brother, Mother's sewing winter clothes. Later I'll measure you. I... I want to sew a set for you myself."
Brother... oh my... Xu Qian felt his bones melt. His sister had changed into a resplendent lotus-embroidered gown, a goose-yellow scarf of intricate cloud patterns; at sixteen or seventeen, so dazzling a get-up lent her an innocent, unworldly charm.
"All right... won't you say yes?" She blushed and lowered her head.
If I were that scoundrel Baoyu... Xu Qian cursed himself for reading too little of Dream of the Red Chamber and nodded. "Thank you."
She broke into a radiant smile that matched her aunt beside her.
Xu Qian looked away. "Uncle, Erlang, come to the study after dinner. There's something I must discuss."
...
In the study, Lü E served tea and withdrew. Xu Qian sipped, lamenting as always that without MSG his food lacked something.
"What do you make of this afternoon?" he asked bluntly.
Haven't we left it behind... Uncle Xu was bewildered.
Xu Xinnian frowned. "You mean Young Master Zhou may strike back?"
For a Vice Minister's son to stumble over a petty clerk, he'd hardly let it rest.
Uncle Xu waved. "No, no. With the Grand Confucian Master of the White Deer Academy and the white-robed men of the Directorate stepping in, that Zhou won't dare stir trouble."
Reasonable. Vicious young lords were common, but when officials or great powers were involved, they grew cautious, partly from upbringing, partly their fathers' warnings.
Xu Xinnian shook his head. "Father, if Big Brother says so, he has his reasons." He looked at Xu Qian.
Xu Qian said gravely, "Today at the Directorate I learned who masterminds the tax silver case: Vice Minister of Revenue Zhou."