Chapter 16 A Future Earned by His Own Hand

At last, he turned and left without another word.

The door closed.

The room was quiet again.

I stood where I was, watching him go.

There was no resentment left in me.

Nor any lingering attachment.

Only peace.

Our bond had run its course.

Whatever love there had been between husband and wife ended here.

Early the next morning, while the sky was still dim, a maid announced visitors.

Guo Yinuo had brought the sons and daughters born to the concubines, along with the concubines themselves, to pay their respects.

The women and children came in one after another and greeted me.

The children kept their heads lowered, each with thoughts of their own.

Guo Yinuo still looked gentle and composed, but her eyes were watchful.

Once the greetings were over, everyone stood below my seat, waiting for me to speak.

I sat upright at the head of the room.

My gaze passed slowly over them.

My voice was calm, every word clear.

“Let me make this plain today.

“By imperial command, Dalang has established a separate household. He will make his own way through his learning.

“As for the succession to the marquisate, I will not have any child in this household registered as my own.

“If you wish to inherit the title, rely on your own abilities.

“Do not look to me for protection.

“I will take no part in your struggles.

“If you want a future, earn it yourselves.

“You may follow Dalang’s example, study hard, pass the examinations, and establish yourselves through official service.

“Or you may follow this family’s ancestors onto the battlefield, fight the enemy yourselves, and win genuine military merit.

“It is all up to you.”

The room fell silent.

Guo Yinuo’s smile stiffened.

Her expression shifted again and again.

The children looked at me with different faces.

Some bewildered.

Some disappointed.

I watched them quietly, knowing very well what lay ahead.

The wealth and honor of this household had never been something one could simply sit back and enjoy.

I had no wish to make life difficult for anyone.

But neither did I wish to be the lawful mother who sheltered all the younger generation, much less to pave anyone’s way.

I wanted only to live my own life well.

* * *

Epilogue: Success in the Spring Examinations, a Young Scholar Enters the Hanlin Academy

Little more than a month after we established our separate household, the metropolitan examination was approaching.

Dalang studied during the day.

At night, he still ate with me.

The little kitchen in our new residence was not as spacious as the one in the marquis’s household, but it was full of the warmth of daily life.

I personally saw to every meal.

“Mother, you needn’t stay with me every day.”

Dalang put down his book and smiled helplessly.

“The examination depends partly on fate. Worrying won’t help.”

“I’m not trying to hurry you.”

I ladled another spoonful of soup into his bowl.

“It’s just that spring in the capital is colder and drier than in Nanshan.

“I’m afraid you’ll study so hard that you damage your health.”

He looked at me, warmth filling his eyes.

“With you here, I can be at ease.”

On the day the results were posted, Qinghe sent a servant to wait outside the examination compound before dawn.

By the time the sun was high, a sudden commotion broke out at our gates.

Messengers came beating gongs and drums, shouting the news.

“The eldest young master of the House of Zhenbei has placed first in the metropolitan examination!”

Astonishment and joy swept through the residence.

The maids and older women all hurried into the courtyard to congratulate us.

I stood beneath the veranda, looking at the red silk announcements hung across the entrance.

My eyes burned at once.

First in the metropolitan examination.

Among all those provincial graduates competing together, he had come first.

Dalang returned from outside.

He wore an indigo robe and was surrounded by well-wishers, but his face remained composed.

He came to me before anyone else and bowed.

“Mother, I’m fortunate not to have disappointed you.”

I reached out to help him rise.

A thousand things I wanted to say became only two words.

“Good boy.”

On the day of the palace examination, he entered the palace early in the morning and did not return until sunset.

He was still calm when he came home.

Before I could ask, he told me softly, “Mother, His Majesty personally determined the rankings. He awarded me third place in the first class.”

Third place in the first class.

The third-ranking palace graduate.

I stood motionless, unable to take it in.

Years of hard study in Nanshan.

And now his name was on the golden list.

Third in the highest class.

“Mother.”

Dalang called to me gently.

His eyes shone.

“From here on, I’ll win my own future.”

I looked at the tall young man before me. Tears rose in my eyes, and all I could do was nod firmly.

“I know.

“I’ve always known.”

Before long, an imperial edict arrived.

Dalang was appointed a compiler in the Hanlin Academy.

The whole capital was stirred by the news.

So young, yet already a third-ranking palace graduate and a member of the Hanlin Academy.

It was a door countless scholars could spend their entire lives trying to reach.

He had opened it through his own learning, without relying on the marquis’s household at all.

The news reached the Zhenbei residence.

I heard that Guo Yinuo stayed in her room all day.

When she emerged, her face looked no different from usual. But afterward, she never again spoke to the concubines’ sons of “inheriting the title.”

Qinghe and I simply shut our doors and happily prepared a table of food and wine.

Mother and son sat across from each other in the warm lamplight.

Epilogue: An Old Dream, a Belated Visitor

Three peaceful years passed.

Dalang gradually made a name for himself in the Hanlin Academy.

He grew steadier with time, yet remained the same young man who cared little for power and held fast to his own principles.

The plants flourished in our new residence.

Whenever spring came, I tended the flowers in the rear courtyard.