Chapter Text
Episode 14: Hui enters the palace
Jiang Xuehui was learning a lot about her sister Jiang Xuening. Ning always insisted that her motives were selfish and that she was not a good person. However, over the past three months, Hui had seen a different side to her. Although Ning was still as prickly and bad-tempered as ever, she seemed to be trying to make amends for her behaviour in the past. These measures were quite extraordinary: she had ensured Hui was included as a study companion of Princess Leyang; informed Hui of the affection of Lord Linzhi; and warned her of the dangers of Xue Shu. Hui had not believed Ning for one moment, when she’d insisted that she was just doing this to take Xue Shu’s focus off herself.
Hui had also decided, from one glimpse, that she despised Xue Shu. This woman had tried to frame Ning for a crime she did not commit. Hui was not close to her younger sister, but she suddenly had a flash of insight that Ning was, in a very strange way, one of the most loyal people she’d ever met.
Since the awkward conversation before Ning had gone to the palace, when Ning had explained why she disliked Hui, Hui had come to realise that Ning’s loyalty was the true source of the difficulties between the two of them. When Ning had first come to live at Jiang Mansion, she had lashed out, and accused Hui of disrespecting Wan Niang. At the time Hui had accepted Lady Jiang’s explanation that Ning had been filled with jealousy and cruelty and had been badly brought up by Hui’s real biological mother.
There was no doubt Ning was jealous, but Hui had come to realise that part of Ning’s resentment towards Hui stemmed from the fact that Ning had loved Wan Niang, and believed she should be remembered and loved by her biological daughter too. Hui had begun to feel guilty that she had not defended her biological mother at the time and had not asked Ning about her. Although Lady Jiang would have been angry, maybe her relationship with her sister would not have started off on such a bad footing. She was also realising that their mother had a tendency to judge Ning unfairly and find fault with her.
The next day, when they headed to classes at Fengcheng Hall, Ning walked behind by herself, while the other girls chatted with Hui. Hui had always felt sad that her sister was so distant, but she now wondered if perhaps Ning held herself apart from everyone, not just Hui.
“Don’t be scared of Mr Xie, Miss Jiang,” said sweet, little Zhou Baoying, earnestly. “He’s rumoured to be very cold and stern, but he’s usually very fair.”
“This is true,” said Yao Xi. “Also, of course you’d know that Mr Xie likes neat handwriting…”
Hui blinked. “He likes neat handwriting?”
“I only passed the exam because Miss Jiang—Miss Ning’er—told us all about his preference for neat handwriting,” said Zhou Baoying. “I’m sure I would have failed, if she hadn’t given us this advice!”
“Unfortunately, Miss Jiang can only write in cursive,” said Xue Shu, in sad tones, shooting a glance back at Ning. “She gets into trouble all the time.”
Hui stopped and stared at her sister.
“Fortunately, older sister’s handwriting is impeccable at all times,” observed Ning, smiling in a benign fashion, and then she met Hui’s eyes, and shook her head infinitesimally.
Hui had a moment of confusion. When Ning had first arrived from Jiangnan four years ago, her handwriting had indeed been poor. However, Hui had seen some of Ning’s recent calligraphy: she was now capable of beautiful writing. Suddenly, she recalled she’d seen a particularly fine example of calligraphy on Ning’s desk, six months earlier. She hadn’t thought much about at the time, but it had been a name. Xie Wei.
Hui began to wonder what was going on. How did her sister know that Xie Wei liked beautiful handwriting? Why was she pretending she could only write in cursive? And most curious of all, why had she written Xie Wei’s name? Hui had seen the calligraphy on Ning’s desk well before Ning had gone to the palace, and so it hadn’t held any particular significance for Hui at the time.
Hui knew that Xie Wei had accompanied her sister from Jiangnan, and that the pair had been attacked by bandits and forced to flee into the wilderness. Since that time, she’d never heard her sister mention Xie Wei again, until Ning had become a study companion.
When they reached Fengcheng Hall, it quickly became evident that Ning was very much Princess Leyang’s favourite. Hui was worried for her sister—she could see that Xue Shu and Yao Xi resented her—and she hoped that Ning had noticed their dislike.
Then Xie Wei strode in, his face set and unsmiling, and stood at the front, surveying them. Hui inspected him curiously; she’d never met him before. Mr Xie would be handsome if he smiled, and he was much younger than Hui had expected: in his late twenties, at the most. However, the sternness about his mouth and features made him look older.
Everyone curtsied and Mr Xie took his qin out of its cover and gave a short lecture about the importance of practice. To Hui’s relief, Yao Xi was asked to play first, rather than Ning, even though Ning was in the front row. Xie Wei was entirely frank about Miss Yao’s flaws and strengths as a qin player. After that, Mr Xie asked Xue Shu to play, and praised her. Of course, Miss Xue could not resist baiting Hui.
As Hui played, Mr Xie’s mouth dropped open a little. After he’d praised her, he looked at Ning with a stony face, said that she had to try harder, and told her to memorise qin scores. Hui couldn’t see her younger sister’s expression, but she could see her sister’s head was drooping. Unexpectedly, she felt protective. Surely this man knew of her sister’s circumstances? Ning hadn’t learned the qin properly because she’d been brought up in the countryside. Was he bullying her? Hui was inclined to dislike him, if so.
After class had finished, Ning slumped over her qin, as all the other girls flocked around Hui. Hui suddenly noticed, out of the corner of her eye, that Mr Xie was standing in the doorway, silently watching, his eyes on her and Zhou Baoying. His expression showed nothing of his thoughts.
Mr Xie strode back in, picked up a qin score, glanced at Ning, and said abruptly, “What are you waiting for? Come to Wenzhou Pavilion to practice qin.”
Ning stood and trotted after Mr Xie, her posture dejected. Of course, Yao Xi took this opportunity to suggest to Hui that Ning was ruining the reputation of the Jiang family, and that she was an unruly bully. Hui made it clear to Yao Xi that she was loyal to her younger sister and walked back to Yangzhi House alone. She and her sister had certainly fought, but she was not letting this nasty piece of work say anything about her family.
Back at Yangzhi House, Zhou Baoying and Fang Miao were sitting out in the courtyard. Hui joined them gratefully when they called her over to have tea with them. So far, they seemed like the nicest of the study companions.
“Can you tell me: is there any reason why Miss Yao might not like my younger sister?” said Hui quietly.
“Oh, that,” said Fang Miao. “It’s because of Zhang Zhe.”
“Who’s Zhang Zhe?” said Hui, with confusion.
Zhou Baoying leaned forward. “He’s an official from the Ministry of Justice. He was engaged to Yao Xi, but she wanted to break it off. You Yue—the study companion whom you replaced—suggested that Miss Yao should break off the engagement by making up rumours about Mr Zhang. Miss Jiang—I mean your younger sister, Miss Ning’er—got really angry and shoved Miss You’s head in that fishbowl over there!” Zhao Baoying pointed at a fishpond.
Hui‘s mouth fell open: even now Ning had a capacity to shock her. “My younger sister shoved someone’s head into a fishbowl?” Then she blinked. “You Yue! I heard Ning saved her younger illegitimate sister from being drowned by servants, and that Miss You beats the girl.”
“Ah,” said Fang Miao. “Maybe that explains the fishbowl! Anyway, Miss Ning’er said that Mr Zhang was a very good man, and he didn’t deserve to be slandered. After that, Miss Yao decided she wouldn’t break off the engagement, but then Mr Zhang broke it off—”
“But who is this man?” said Hui, with confusion. “I’ve never heard of him before! How did my sister know him?”
“Well,” said Zhou Baoying, “Miss Ning’er said she didn’t know him. She told Miss Yao that she didn’t like to hear people spread falsehoods. However, later, when Miss Ning’er was accused of being a rebel, Mr Zhang and this old man from the Ministry of Justice came to Tai’an Hall to defend her. And… Mr Zhang is young, handsome, clever and nice. He didn’t look at Miss Yao once, but he did look at Miss Jiang a lot. Also, he held Miss Jiang’s arm when she almost fainted, because she’d been holding that hairpin to her neck for two hours.”
“Hairpin-to-her-neck?” said Hui, blankly.
“Miss Ning’er was going to stab herself in the neck and kill herself if they didn’t bring in people from the Ministry of Justice,” said Fang Miao. “It was quite extraordinary. Anyway, the next day, after Mr Zhang defended Miss Jiang—um, Miss Ning’er—and she thanked Mr Zhang, they had a long conversation outside Tai’an Hall. The next day he sent the engagement presents back to Miss Yao. Then, Miss Yao came across Miss Ning’er and Mr Zhang sitting together in an antique store two days ago, so she thinks…”
Hui blinked. “Wait… what, my younger sister was threatening to kill herself?”
“Yes! Miss Ning’er also told off the Dowager Empress,” said Fang Miao. “I mean, I wouldn’t do it, but she has no fear! She was so calm!”
“Good heavens!” Hui paused. “Why do you often call my younger sister ‘Miss Ning’er’?”
Zhou Baoying frowned. “I never thought about that before, Miss Jiang. Why do we call her Miss Ning’er, Older Sister Miao?”
“Because Mr Xie calls her Miss Ning’er, Younger Sister Baoying,” said Fang Miao. “He’s always called her that, since the first day. I suppose it’s because he and Miss Ning’er know each other so well.”
“Yes, she was so helpful with the examination,” said Zhou Baoying. “You’re so lucky you didn’t have to sit it, Miss Jiang. Miss You and I would have failed, if Miss Ning’er hadn’t told us about the handwriting and the books Teacher likes to read.”
Hui nodded, but she was curious again: how had her sister known which books Xie Wei preferred? “How very kind of her,” she murmured.
“Of course, Teacher said Miss Ning’er’s paper was the best,” said Fang Miao, “even if she wrote it in cursive. Teacher glared at her for simply minutes, and she was convinced she was going to fail, probably on account of the handwriting, but then she got the top grade! Her essay must have been really, really good, for him to forgive her messy handwriting. She’s very naughty, but so clever.”
Hui frowned. “I do worry that Mr Xie seems quite harsh with Ning.”
“It’s not because he’s nasty; it’s because he really wants her to improve,” said Zhou Baoying. “He got rid of those two teachers who bullied her, and he’s giving her extra qin lessons, so Miss Xue and Miss Yao don’t laugh at her so much—”
Hui’s curiosity was now at fever pitch. “She has these qin lessons often?”
“Every day, or every second day, except for that time that Mr Xie was sick and didn’t teach us,” said Zhou Baoying.
“That was weird, he didn’t look that sick when we saw him playing Go with the Emperor,” said Fang Miao. “Didn’t you think Teacher was staring at Miss Ning’er strangely when we saw him then? Actually, he often stares at her strangely and fiercely, but Miss Ning’er told me that it’s because he has an eye disease.”
Hui hid laughter behind her hand. “I don’t think Teacher has an eye disease! Ning is so cheeky!”
“Anyway, it’s more convenient that we call you Miss Jiang, because you’re the older sister, and we call your younger sister Miss Ning’er, just like Mr Xie does,” said Zhou Baoying.
“That’s a good idea,” said Hui, as her mind whirled. First, she’d never heard of Mr Zhang before, and wondered whether her parents knew Ning was meeting this man. Secondly, what was the relationship between her sister and Mr Xie? Something very strange was going on.
When Ning returned from her qin lesson, her misery had disappeared. She seemed genuinely surprised when Zhou Baoying and Fang Miao pointed out that Mr Xie had come up with the name ‘Miss Ning’er’ but shrugged it off and said that she didn’t mind what people called her.
Hui was perversely pleased to see that even her scheming sister had blind spots. In her view, the name ‘Ning’er’ indicated that Mr Xie had affection for her.