Filial Piety

When Old Madam Lu admonished Qing, she truly was only admonishing him; she could not bear to beat or scold him.

Lin Yunwan could not be bothered to stay any longer.

Without anyone saying so, everyone accepted that Lin Yunwan would raise Lu Chang'gong, while Old Madam Lu would see to Young Master Qing.

"Madam, you never should have pleaded with Mr. Zhang on Young Master Qing's behalf. You should have let Mr. Zhang refuse to teach him, and seen whether he dared fool you again."

Ping Ye was always indignant on her behalf.

Lin Yunwan smiled faintly. "Mr. Zhang has met so many students. What sort of mischievous child hasn't he seen? He never intended to refuse in the first place. He was only using my help."

"Is that so?"

Ping Ye smiled. "I never expected Mr. Zhang to have so many schemes up his sleeve."

Tao Ye smiled too. "Scholars have the most schemes of all."

Lin Yunwan did not deny it. Mr. Zhang had a fierce temper, but he was no hidebound traditionalist. They had best not offend him over Qing, or they would find it easy to invite a god in but hard to send him away.

A moment later, she wondered how, after only a single day, Zhang Feng'an had already come to compete with her for Lu Chang'gong.

Mr. Zhang truly had a sharp eye!

As the mistress and her two maids walked on, they saw a maid at the Second Gate who looked somewhat familiar.

"Who's that? Why has she come to the Second Gate on her own?"

Only when they drew closer did Ping Ye recognize her. She called, "Xiliu, Xiliu."

Wu'er did not respond at first. When she saw Lin Yunwan, she hurried over with a stack of Xuan paper in her arms and paid her respects. "Madam." She greeted Ping Ye and Tao Ye as well.

Ping Ye asked in puzzlement, "Why did it take you so long to hear me calling you, Miss Xiliu?"

Wu'er said awkwardly, "...I... I changed my name. Cousin Miss calls me Wu'er now."

Ping Ye asked, "Which wu? The one for dancing?"

Wu'er said, "The wu in one, two, three, four, five."

Ping Ye frowned. What kind of name was that? It was far too casually chosen. But she could hardly say anything.

Wu'er said, "I'll head back now."

Lin Yunwan nodded, looking thoughtful.

Ping Ye called to her, "Madam, what are you thinking about?"

Lin Yunwan came back to herself and said, "Nothing." Then she instructed Ping Ye, "Keep an eye on that maid from now on."

Ping Ye said she would.

Wu'er returned to the Hall of Longevity. Ge Bao'er had just come back from Old Madam Lu's, but she had not entered the old madam's room. She had only listened by the wall, and she looked furious.

"Miss, what's wrong?"

Ge Bao'er suppressed her discomfort and said, "Nothing."

She had just heard them say inside that Zhang Feng'an did not want to teach Qing, but wanted to teach Lu Chang'gong instead. How was her Qing inferior to Lu Chang'gong?

He was the true blood of the Marquis's Residence!

Wu'er could not guess what Ge Bao'er was thinking. She put down the Xuan paper and said, "I brought it for you." While Lin Yunwan was at the discussion hall, an attendant page at the Gatehouse had called Wu'er over to collect it.

Ge Bao'er put away the Xuan paper, quietly reassured herself with a few words, closed the door, and concentrated on practicing her writing from a copybook.

"From now on, you must never let a page do your assignments for you again. Do you hear me?"

Old Madam Lu kept a straight face and looked stern, but her tone was not scolding.

Children learned to read faces from an early age. Qing was particularly quick-witted, and he knew even better that Old Madam Lu doted on him and could not bear to beat or scold him. He burrowed into her arms and said coquettishly, "I know, Great-grandmother."

Old Madam Lu had been lonely without children around her for so long that she could not resist such antics. She held him close, calling him her heart and her precious flesh.

"Tell me, your mother said that when you were in the countryside, you always obediently listened to your teacher. Why is it that now you've come home, with good food and clothes provided for you, you won't listen to Madam instead?"

Qing sat beside her, stuffing a pastry from the table into his mouth. "Mother doesn't hit me. Before, if I didn't listen to my teacher, he'd hit my palms. It hurt so much." He added with a grin, "Everyone got hit. Later on, I was hit less than most."

Old Madam Lu did not know what to say. She felt sorry that Lin Yunwan's kind and generous heart had kept her from treating Qing strictly, only for things to turn out like this.

Never mind. Zhang Feng'an was a good teacher too. Starting over with him would be just as well.

On the appointed day for her return visit to her family, Lin Yunwan fell ill. It was the beginning of summer, and a torrential downpour had begun. Shut up in a room filled with the smell of medicine, she felt terribly uncomfortable.

"Ping Ye, open the window."

Ping Ye said, "I'm afraid you'll catch a chill. What if it makes your illness worse?"

Lin Yunwan said helplessly, "I really can't bear it." The stifling heat reminded her of the time just before she died in her previous life.

"Then I'll open it for a little while."

"All right."

Ping Ye pushed open the window. Through the pelting rain, the door of the side room used as a schoolroom stood open, and Lu Chang'gong was standing under the covered walkway, reciting his lessons.

Lin Yunwan sat up in bed, and Ping Ye placed a soft cushion behind her waist.

As she gazed out the window, she thought again of her previous life. That child, too, had planted plum blossoms for her in the courtyard of that little separate residence.

"The Eldest Young Master is so intent on reciting that he hasn't noticed the hem of his robe getting wet. I'll go over there."

"Go on."

Ping Ye took an umbrella and went over. Lin Yunwan did not know what she said to Lu Chang'gong, but he still did not go inside. He bowed slightly, said something in reply, and continued studying under the covered walkway.

When Ping Ye returned, she said, "The young master was afraid you'd worry about his studies. He said that if he stood outside, you could see him whenever you liked. He wouldn't go in."

Lin Yunwan smiled.

"I knew he'd be like that. Go and tell him that if he falls ill, I'll still have to worry about him."

Ping Ye assented and went over to persuade him. Lu Chang'gong glanced this way and bowed to Lin Yunwan before going inside.

At supper, Lu Chang'gong came to keep her company and even attended to her as she took her medicine. He truly embodied Filial Piety.

Lin Yunwan went to bed early that night and did not know what happened afterward. According to Ping Ye, he had waited until she fell asleep before leaving.

Lu Chang'gong did the same for several days in a row.

No one could have a heart of iron and stone. After Lin Yunwan recovered, she summoned Lu Chang'gong and asked, "Do you miss your father?"

Lu Chang'gong looked up at her, a little nervous, and did not dare answer.

Even a fool knew that adoptive parents would hardly want their adopted son thinking about his birth parents.

"Just tell me the truth."

Lu Chang'gong clutched the hem of his robe and said quietly, "Mother, I do."

He felt ashamed after saying it.

The Lu family fed and clothed him, and Madam taught him to read, yet he could not forget the debt he owed his birth parents for giving him life.

Lin Yunwan was not angry, however. She smiled and said, "By law, you are a child of the Lu family, but it is only natural to miss your blood relatives."

Lu Chang'gong breathed a sigh of relief and smiled with his lips pressed together.

Lin Yunwan told him to go back to his reading and writing. She needed to pack her things today, for she would be returning to visit her family tomorrow.

Before sunset, a letter arrived from the Front Courtyard.

It was from Lady Guo, asking how she had been. Even Lady Guo's letter paper was fragrant, scented with aged sandalwood.

The scent alone lifted Lin Yunwan's spirits. She opened the letter, read it, and said to her maid, "When I mentioned adopting a child to her last time, she took it to heart after all."

"Lady Guo truly does care about you, Madam."

Lin Yunwan wrote a letter back, saying she would visit her when the day came. Although she did not specify a time, Lady Guo would surely know when she read it.