Chapter 12 A House Full of Strangers

I had no heart for pleasantries.

The moment I crossed the threshold, I said, “There’s no time to talk, Steward.

“Take me to the old lady’s courtyard at once. Something important has happened.”

Seeing how grave I was, he asked no questions and led the way.

We passed pavilions and covered walks that were familiar and strange at once.

The trees and gardens looked the same. More than half the people had changed.

Outside my mother-in-law’s courtyard, I stopped rather than going straight in.

I first drew aside the trusted attendant standing beneath the veranda and quietly told her that Dalang had just been taken away by a palace eunuch.

I was frightened.

“It happened so suddenly. I don’t know whether it means good or ill.

“I want to tell the old lady, but will her health allow her to bear such a shock?”

At first, the attendant looked startled. Then she relaxed a little, glanced toward the inner room, and leaned close.

“Don’t worry, my lady.

“In recent years, the heir has found a skilled imperial physician to attend her regularly.

“She’s had steady treatment all this time.

“She’s much stronger now. She no longer takes to her bed at the slightest disturbance, as she did a few years ago.

“She can bear news like this.”

My heart settled a little, though my worry did not lessen.

I looked toward the latticed window.

“Then please announce me.

“I want to explain it to her myself and discuss what we can do.

“I don’t know why Dalang has been summoned.”

The attendant nodded and lifted the curtain to go inside.

Soon, my mother-in-law’s voice came from within. It sounded older, but steady.

“Let her in.”

I entered the inner room.

She was sitting upright on the bed.

Her hair had grown much whiter, but her complexion was better than it had been in past years.

That reassured me a little. Still, I could not suppress my fear.

Dalang had been taken straight into the palace, without a written summons or any warning.

A youth returning to the capital for the first time, meeting the emperor for the first time, walking alone into those deep, forbidden courts…

I could not know whether he would meet good fortune or disaster.

My heart had not eased for a moment.

I bowed. When I straightened, I could not hide the urgency in my voice.

“Grandmother, Dalang has only just returned to the capital with me. Before he could even enter this house, men from the palace took him away.

“I’m very uneasy.

“Could you find some way to ask what is happening inside the palace, and why he has been summoned?”

The room fell silent.

I had thought she would pity us and help.

Instead, her expression darkened. She slowly shook her head.

“No.”

I stared at her.

She looked up, her gaze clear and sober.

“As the heir’s wife, you should understand the rules of a military household.

“The Marquis of Zhenbei commands the northern frontier forces. The court already views him with suspicion.

“To make secret inquiries into the palace is something we must never do.

“It could even give others grounds to accuse us of a serious crime.

“The situation at court is delicate now.

“Your son is a young provincial graduate with ties to both the civil and military spheres. He is all the more conspicuous.

“If our household makes the slightest attempt to pry into palace affairs now, we will only hand our enemies a weapon.

“It would harm us, and could destroy Dalang.”

She sighed, pressing back the worry in her eyes.

“There is nothing else we can do.

“We must sit quietly and wait for news.

“We must make no move at all.

“We cannot afford the smallest mistake.”

* * *

A chill went through me.

But I knew everything she had said was true.

Panic had driven reason from me.

I could only contain my worry. However anxious, tormented, or helpless I felt, I had to wait.

Just then, light footsteps sounded outside. A maid announced, “Lady Guo has arrived.”

The curtain lifted.

Guo Yinuo wore an elegant silk dress and delicate makeup. Her smile was gentle. Not a trace of calculation showed.

She entered slowly and bowed to the old lady before glancing at me.

Her voice held a hesitation that might or might not have been sincere.

“Madam, I heard that the heir’s wife and his eldest son had returned today.

“I should have come earlier to welcome them, but there was so much to see to in the house that I was delayed.

“I hope my lady won’t blame me.”

Her tone changed. Beneath its softness, every word had an edge.

“Only, my lady and the eldest young gentleman have been away from the capital for years. They’ve lived in Nanshan so long, and returned so unexpectedly.

“For the moment, I don’t know how best to arrange things for them.”

Her words left a chill.

What did she mean, she did not know how to arrange things?

She was merely reminding me that after so long away, I was the heir’s wife only in name. She meant that our sudden return was disturbing the comfortable life she had made for herself.

I looked up calmly, neither haughty nor yielding.

“Why?

“From what you say, Lady Guo, has the House of Zhenbei fallen on hard times?”