Chapter 91 — Piercing Through (Pink Vote 750 Bonus Update)

"Are you all right?" He wiped the sweat from his brow; his Hangzhou silk straight-cut robe, soaked through with perspiration, clung tightly to his body, revealing the rings of fat beneath. "Who was blind enough to dare rob the Dou Juan folk? And why are the officials and Young Master Ji, Young Master Wu, and Twelfth Brother all here?"

Dou Yan cared only about the ten-thousand-tael silver draft.

She looked up and saw Chen Yanzhou following close behind her third cousin.

Chen Yanzhou nodded at her with a smile, signaling that he understood what she meant.

Dou Yan breathed a sigh of relief.

Her third uncle, who had been whispering with Ji Yong for some time, left him and came over, his face dark with gloom.

"Shouyuan," he said in a low voice, "you go back first. Your third cousin and I will handle things here."

After half a day of alarm and fright, Dou Yan felt tired; besides, this matter would not be resolved in a moment anyway.

She hesitated. "It is only the reward I promised the Chen guards..."

A man like Chen Lanxu, if he walked the straight path, became a guard, an escort, an instructor; if he walked the crooked one, a local ruffian, a hired thug, or even a highway robber who killed and plundered. Since a reward of ten thousand taels had already been promised—and it was Dou Zhiwei's money paying for it—there was no need for the Dou family to offend anyone over it.

"I brought it," Dou Xiuchang said hurriedly, drawing a small black-lacquered box painted with gold from his bosom. "Here are ten thousand taels in silver drafts." He handed it to Chen Yanzhou.

Dou Yan said, "Then I will trouble Uncle Chen to give the drafts to Guard Chen." Then, to Dou Zhen: "Third Uncle, Guard Chen acted out of chivalry. Could you speak to the officials and have them leave first? If there is any trouble, they can come to our Dou family."

Dou Zhen thought it over. "Very well," he said. "Too many people, too many tongues. Let us send these men of the rivers and lakes on their way first."

Dou Xiuchang hurried off to negotiate with the yamen.

Dou Yan summoned Sulang into the carriage and said to Dou Zhen, "Then I will go back first." But her gaze lingered for a moment on Chen Yanzhou.

Chen Yanzhou understood. After Dou Zhen went to arrange the escort for Dou Zhiwei's carriage, he stepped forward a few paces and said in a low voice, "When matters here are finished, I will return to Dou Juan with the young masters."

Dou Yan nodded and, escorted by Ji Yong's guards, entered the city.

Another steward of the Dou family was waiting for her at the city gate. Seeing her carriage, he came forward at once and said urgently, "Hurry, to the East Residence—the Dowager is still waiting for the Fourth Miss!"

Dou Yan asked Suxin, "Does Aunt Cui know about my business?"

"I only caught Honggu and asked her a question or two; I did not dare meet the old lady face to face," Suxin said. "I also instructed Honggu to say only that you had business and it was too late, so you would spend the night at the farmstead and return tomorrow afternoon."

"Mm!" Dou Yan glanced at Suxin with approval.

The carriage rattled along and soon stopped at the second gate of the East Dou residence.

Mama Liu and Granny Wang, who served at Ji Shi's side, were both waiting at the second gate.

At the sight of Dou Yan they crowded forward, seizing her hands and looking her over. Seeing her clean and neat, her expression natural, they all let out long breaths in unison and urged her repeatedly to go see the Second Dowager: "The Dowager was so frantic her eyes went red. She gave the Third Master a proper tongue-lashing."

Third Uncle managed the household, so he was the one scolded. Grandmother lived with her and was an elder—she had probably been scolded roundly too, had she not?

Dou Yan guessed as much, murmured, "I have made the old lady worry," and went with Mama Liu and Granny Wang to the Second Dowager.

Ji Shi was pacing distractedly before the Second Dowager's door. At the sight of Dou Yan she said not a word but burst into tears: "Whose sin is this, that you should suffer so! Why did the Bodhisattva not strike her dead with a thunderbolt!"

Dou Yan had never heard Ji Shi curse anyone.

Her eyes reddened at once. She called out "Sixth Aunt," a note of grievance in her voice that surprised even herself.

Ji Shi grew all the more grieved and said fiercely, "What is the Pang family but a pack of nobodies? They think that by attaching themselves to Wang Xingyi they have become Shaanxi's grand coordinator! To call them nouveaux riches is to flatter them—things I would not deign to tread on for fear of dirtying my shoes—and yet they dared set their sights on you! If we do not deal with them properly this time, they will think the Dou family is afraid of them!" With that she took Dou Yan's hand and led her into the hall.

It seemed everyone was a clear-eyed sort; the moment they heard Pang Kunbai was involved, they knew what the Pang family intended.

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Sisters, brothers, I have just returned. Little Zhizhi said she had not eaten her fill for several days, so this morning I first cooked her a good meal and had no time to write. Now I am making up the bonus chapter; I will start writing the regular update after dinner, so it may be a little late—better to read it tomorrow morning when you get up. Tomorrow I will send Little Zhizhi off to the canteen and get the bonus chapter and regular update schedule back on track.

o(n_n)o~

ps: The competition for pink votes is fierce beyond words. I beg you all to lend your support, so I need not feel so stifled and can lift my spirits a little...

Thank you all.

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