Chapter 415

**Chapter 420: Undercurrents (Part 2)**

Eleventh Miss never felt strongly about birthdays.

In the past, her parents would give her an expensive gift, but aside from that, it seemed no different from any other day. Others could say things like "a child's birthday is the mother's day of suffering" to their mothers, but she had no one to talk to, so naturally, she held no special expectations.

Later, when she lived with Xu Lingyi, the first year was her coming-of-age birthday. He gave her a jade pendant engraved with *Three Rams Herald Prosperity*. The jade was of excellent quality, and the carving was delicate. She liked it very much and wore it often. The second year, he asked her, “Is there anything you’d especially like?” In her understanding, gifts were meant to be given by others—asking for them herself would strip them of their meaning. So she smiled and replied, “It’s just an ordinary birthday; my lord needn’t go to such expense.” Xu Lingyi didn’t press further and gave her a few days early a delicate gold hairpin shaped like a Buddha’s hand cradling a basket—nothing particularly special. This year, he asked the same question again, this time with an air of obligation.

Eleventh Miss chuckled and said, “I don’t need anything. My lord needn’t trouble yourself.”

Xu Lingyi nodded without another word. Two days later, he gave her another gold hairpin, this one adorned with orchids.

When the two hairpins were placed side by side, their length, craftsmanship, and weight were nearly identical. If not for the different floral designs, they might have passed as a set. Eleventh Miss suspected that Xu Lingyi might have bought ten or eight at once, each with only slight variations in design, so he could simply pull one out each year as an obligatory gift.

So she had Amber ask the outer courtyard’s storeroom to make her a long sandalwood box lined with crimson velvet. She laid the two hairpins side by side inside.

“Let’s see how many hairpins I can collect!” she chuckled, eyeing the empty space in the box before closing it and handing it to Amber. “Put it away.”

Amber smiled and complied.

Lady Zhou came to visit.

“This child is quite mischievous!” she remarked, noticing that Eleventh Miss, rather than filling out like most expectant mothers, had grown even thinner than before. Sensing she hadn’t yet recovered, Lady Zhou asked with a smile, “Do you prefer sour or sweet flavors?”

“I like both sour and sweet!”

The two exchanged lighthearted words before Lady Zhou produced a red lacquered box trimmed with gold. “Your birthday is in a couple of days, and I might be too busy then. Consider this an early celebration!”

Eleventh Miss’s birthday happened to fall on the Dragon Boat Festival.

She thanked her with a smile, had Amber take the gift, and invited Lady Zhou to stay for dinner.

“In your condition, you should rest properly!” Lady Zhou insisted on leaving. “Once the baby is born, we’ll have plenty of time to gather.” Then she paid her respects to the dowager and returned to the princess’s residence.

No sooner had Lady Zhou left than Lady Lin arrived.

“With so many households living together, even a simple meal requires steaming five large baskets of buns. And we still have to send bamboo mats and palm fans to Huijie. I won’t be able to come on your birthday. Once things settle down, we’ll sit and chat properly.”

She gifted Eleventh Miss a pair of velvet flowers embroidered with the Five Venoms.

The spider and scorpion were so lifelike that Xu Sijie, upon seeing them, ducked behind Eleventh Miss and screamed, making everyone laugh.

Eleventh Miss picked up the hairpin to show him. “It’s fake,” she reassured him, then encouraged, “Go on, touch it—it’s just fuzzy! Go ahead!”

Timidly, he extended a tiny finger to poke it. When the spider’s legs trembled, he buried his face in Eleventh Miss’s arms again. After a moment, he peeked out and worked up his nerve to touch it again. Finding that the spider only shook but didn’t move, he grew bolder, stroking its back with his fingertip. Just as Eleventh Miss had said, it was soft and fluffy—quite amusing. Emboldened, he grabbed the hairpin for a closer look.

Just then, Xisi entered with a plate of golden apricots. Xu Sijie’s eyes lit up with mischief, and he suddenly thrust the hairpin toward her. Xisi, confronted with what looked like a pitch-black spider, didn’t stop to check if it was real. She turned pale, let out a shriek, and dropped the plate with a crash, shattering it into pieces. The round apricots scattered across the floor.

Lv Yun yelped and dropped to her knees, followed by several maids who scrambled to gather the fruit.

Xu Sijie stood frozen, realizing what he’d done.

Eleventh Miss didn’t have the heart to scold him. She pulled him close and soothed Xisi, who was trembling and near tears. “It’s all right, it’s all right. Just wash the apricots again.” Then she leaned down to whisper to Xu Sijie, “See? You caused trouble. Don’t scare people like that anymore.”

Only then did Xu Sijie snap back to reality, nodding repeatedly. He hurried over to Xisi, tugging her hand and holding up the hairpin. “Look—it’s fake!”

Xisi leaped back a few steps before finally daring to look properly at the object in Xu Sijie’s hand.

Seeing it was just a fake spider, she stopped crying and smiled: "Young Master Xu, you nearly gave me a heart attack!"

Xu Sijie lowered his head in embarrassment.

A young maid hurried in and announced, "Lady Wen is here!"

"Let her in!"

Lady Wen swept the curtain aside and stepped in, followed by Qiu Hong, who wore her hair in double buns and a water-red dress with green wave embroidery.

"What’s all this?" Her smiling gaze swept around. "Who’s been careless?"

Eleven Miss gestured to the stool by the kang for Lady Wen to sit. "Sijie scared someone with the five-poison hairpin Lady Lin sent!" She said matter-of-factly, then smiled. "What brings you here today?" Though she knew exactly why, she glanced sidelong at Qiu Hong—who was crouching with the other maids, quickly and deftly picking up apricots.

"Your birthday’s coming up," Lady Wen said, following Eleven Miss’s gaze with a smile. "I wasn’t sure what to give you. Then I saw Amber embroidering handkerchiefs for you. You know my needlework is poor, so I had Qiu Hong make a few for you. They’re a bit rough around the edges, but it’s the thought that counts." She took out several handkerchiefs.

White, pale blue, seafoam green—all in Eleven Miss’s usual quiet colors, some with a few quick stitches forming a little yellow duck, others meticulously embroidered with twin lotus blossoms in a corner.

Eleven Miss raised an eyebrow.

Lady Wen admitted freely, "Binju helped sketch the patterns."

Eleven Miss accepted them with a smile.

Lady Wen called Qiu Hong forward. "Come pay your respects to Madam. Her needlework is among the finest in all of Yanjing. For her to accept your work is a great honor."

Qiu Hong flushed pink and stepped forward to bow.

Only then did Eleven Miss examine her closely.

Pale-skinned with delicate features, and a slightly shy expression.

Eleven Miss praised her, "These handkerchiefs are beautifully embroidered!"

"Yes!" Qiu Hong replied nervously. "I spent days on them."

An earnest reply.

Eleven Miss chuckled and had Amber bring out a pair of gold rings with plum-leaf designs from her vanity as a reward for Qiu Hong.

Qiu Hong dropped into a quick curtsy in thanks and retreated behind Lady Wen.

After chatting for a while, Madam Huang from Yongchang Marquis’s household arrived, and Lady Wen rose to take her leave.

Once outside the main courtyard, Qiu Hong clutched her chest and exhaled deeply. "That terrified me!"

Before she could finish, Lady Wen pinched her ear. "What did I tell you? Not only did you fail to flatter Madam, but you even said, 'I spent days on them'..."

Qiu Hong ducked away. "I—it was my first time speaking to Madam face-to-face..."

"Useless!" Lady Wen fumed. Then she noticed the pearl hairpin on Qiu Hong’s head had slipped off unnoticed and widened her eyes. "Pick that up! That’s sixty taels of silver!"

Qiu Hong gasped and quickly bent to retrieve the hairpin, inspecting it for damage and wiping off the dust with her handkerchief.

Lady Wen rolled her eyes and turned, entering her own courtyard.

Qiu Hong heard someone giggle.

She looked up and saw Cui Er, one of the concubine’s maids.

"It's you!" Qiu Hong stood up, looking somewhat embarrassed.

"You look so pretty today, Sister Qiu Hong," Cui Er gazed at the beaded hairpin in Qiu Hong's hand, her face full of admiration.

"Oh!" Qiu Hong carefully tucked the hairpin into her pouch. "Since I was visiting the mistress, Lady Wen specially rewarded me with this hairpin."

"Sister went to see the mistress?" Cui Er asked curiously. "Why did you go to see her?"

"The lady had me embroider a few handkerchiefs for the mistress..." The two stood there chatting for a long while before finally parting.

Eleven Miss's courtyard was bustling.

After seeing off Madam Huang, several head maids arrived in succession. Some brought handmade shoes and socks, others offered crafted five-pests amulets, and some presented colorful silk threads woven with calamus and perilla leaves into ornamental knots.

"What a coincidence that your birthday falls on the same day as the Dragon Boat Festival, a festival celebrated nationwide," said Auntie Yu, the head maid in charge of the storeroom. Ever since Eleven Miss had reprimanded her for Wang Ma overstepping her authority, she had been exceptionally deferential. "We're just sharing in your good fortune by combining birthday gifts with Dragon Boat Festival tributes."

The other older women joined in with cheerful laughter.

"You've all gone to such trouble," Eleven Miss smiled and had Lü Yun bring footstools for them to sit.

After some polite refusals, the older women perched on the footstools, their words sweet with flattery.

Xu Sizhun arrived.

The older women greeted him with beaming smiles.

Xu Sizhun gave a slight nod, shaking his slightly sore arm. "Finally finished copying the four large calligraphy sheets assigned by the tutor," he said, his face breaking into a relieved grin.

On that late spring afternoon, the sunlight was warm enough to make even lined jackets feel too hot.

Eleven Miss took out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from Xu Sizhun's forehead and had Lü Yun bring him a cup of warm water. "Wet your whistle. Sijie is waiting for you to play cuju!"

Xu Sizhun's eyes lit up at this. After hastily gulping down a few sips of water, he dashed off to Xu Sijie's side.

The older women showered praise: "Under the mistress's care, our fourth young master becomes more lively and mature every day."

"It's the Marquis who found an excellent tutor for him," Eleven Miss replied modestly.

Meanwhile, Xu Sizhun and Xu Sijie went out through the back gate to the garden, where they played cuju on a brick-paved clearing near Biyi Gate. Seven or eight servant girls clapped and cheered, drawing nearby maids and older women to watch.

Soon, both boys were sweating profusely.