Chapter 94 — Aftermath

Dou Yan came out of Dou Yong's study.

He smiled and asked Dou Yan, "What? Leaving already? You are not staying a while longer?" As he spoke he lifted his eyelids slightly and cast a glance toward the study.

Do not look at what is improper; do not listen to what is improper.

How is this man so fond of prying into other people's business? What has become of all the books he has read?

And him a provincial graduate!

Displeased, Dou Yan gave him a faint nod and went to Lady Ji's rooms.

Ji Yong turned back and saw Wu Shan sitting there ashen-faced, wooden as a statue.

He called out to Wu Shan, but Wu Shan slammed the study window shut with a bang.

Ji Yong frowned, thought for a moment, and followed Dou Yan into Lady Ji's chambers.

Dou Yan was in the middle of taking her leave of Lady Ji.

Lady Ji took her hand and smiled with great tenderness: "Come sit with your Sixth Aunt whenever you have the time." As though she would never see her again.

A pang of guilt rose in Dou Yan's heart.

Sixth Aunt had treated her like a daughter, and she had failed to honor that kindness.

"I fear I shall make such a nuisance of myself that you will drive me out," she joked with her sixth aunt.

But Ji Yong asked her with a grin, "Did you not say you asked Wu Shan to paint a fan for you? Where is the fan?" He looked her up and down. "Surely Wu Shan is not incapable of painting? Shall I paint one for you? I am not bad at painting myself—I studied under Zhou Liuyi, the famous scholar of Jiangnan!"

Dou Yan felt a headache coming on, but for Sixth Aunt's sake she could not be too rude. She smiled and said, "Fourth Brother Wu said that once it is finished he will have a servant send it to the Western Mansion."

"Is that so?" Ji Yong was about to say more when Lady Ji cut him off with a warning note in her voice: "Jianming, did you not say you were going to Mount Tai in a couple of days to watch the sunrise? Have you finished packing? Is there anything you have not yet put together?"

Ji Yong pursed his lips and said no more.

Dou Yan caught a flicker of helplessness cross Lady Ji's face.

She rose quickly. "Sixth Aunt, I shall be on my way. As for the jasmine you wanted, I shall have them sent over at dusk."

"Thank you for the trouble, Shouyuan," Ji Wan said, and had her chief maid Caishu see Dou Yan out. Then she could not resist saying to Ji Yong, "What did Grandfather tell you? He told you to 'speak less and observe more.' Do not go breaking Grandfather's heart!"

Ji Yong muttered, "I know," but could not resist adding, "Do you not think that Wu Shan has no grace or bearing about him at all? He is utterly unworthy of Shouyuan. Who arranged this match? They might as well be playing a lute with the strings all in disarray!"

Lady Ji was so angry she could not speak for a long while. "What nonsense are you spouting? Whether he is worthy or not, what business is that of yours?"

Ji Yong said nothing.

Her expression softened, and she said gently, "Sometimes one cannot judge by appearances. Do not be so quick to draw conclusions."

Ji Yong gave a vague "oh," bowed respectfully to Lady Ji, and withdrew.

Lady Ji watched her nephew's upright figure, straight as a pine, and heaved a long sigh.

Meanwhile, Dou Yan was instructing Sulai: "Make frequent trips to the Eastern Mansion these next few days. The moment you hear any news, come and tell me at once."

Young as she was, Sulai was clever and quick-witted. In the past it had not been convenient to plant her own people in the Eastern Mansion, but with Sulai there the flow of information had grown far smoother.

Suxin hesitated. "Miss, in a matter like this, ought you not consult Aunt Cui? Or perhaps Seventh Master in the capital?"

She too thought the Wu family a fine match.

Dou Yan had no choice but to make an excuse: "The Wu family is close to my Fifth Uncle, and my Fifth Uncle has his heart set on becoming Chancellor and entering the Grand Secretariat. He means to contend with Wang Xingyi. I only want to live my days in peace and quiet; I have no wish to be mixed up in any of it."

Sulai tilted her head. "But what if Fifth Master wins? The popular romances all say that one who helps a dragon to the throne may become Chancellor. If we help Fifth Master now, surely Fifth Master will treat you very well in the future..."

Before she could finish, her elder sister Suxin rapped her on the head. "And what if Fifth Master loses? We do not covet what belongs to others, and others will not covet what belongs to us. As the young lady says, we help no one and live our own lives in peace. Say another word of such scheming talk, and I shall make you stand in horse stance as punishment."

Sulai stuck out her tongue and clung to Dou Zhiwei's arm.

Dou Yan thought of her daughter, Yinjie, who had clung to her arm and wheedled in just the same way whenever she was scolded, and could not help smiling. She put an arm around Sulai's shoulders.

Suxin scolded her with mock severity: "Miss, it is all your doing—you have spoiled her rotten!" Yet the smile in her eyes spilled all the way to the corners of her mouth.

Dou Yan laughed aloud, then suddenly realized she could no longer recall her children's features clearly. Deep in her memory there remained only the image of someone being spoiled or someone being respectful.

She looked out of the window, and tears came without warning.

Sulai and Suxin exchanged glances, and Sulai shrank back a little.

Dou Yan wiped her tears. "It is nothing, nothing—I was only thinking of things that happened long ago!"

Sulai drew a small embroidered pouch from her bosom, took out a piece of osmanthus cake, and said cautiously, "Miss, my sister bought this for me. Whenever I miss my father, I eat a piece of cake and feel better. You eat a piece too, and you will stop thinking of those old things."

With tears in her eyes, Dou Yan put a piece of the osmanthus cake in her mouth and smiled. "Delicious, truly!"

Sulai broke into a smile, bright as sunlight, chasing the gloom from the depths of her heart.

Suxin, meanwhile, turned her face aside and wiped the moisture from the corners of her eyes.

Dou Yan pulled herself together and said, "Let's go see Old Chen. I asked him to bring Chen Lanxu and Duan Bing in as our guards, but I have no idea how that's coming along. With so few people about me, I don't feel quite easy whenever I go out. And that monthly stipend of ten thousand taels—I need it in hand soon, or else when the men arrive there'll be no silver to settle them in."

Sulan clicked her tongue. "More silver? Didn't you already give them a handsome fee, Miss?"

"A fee is a fee, wages are wages—how can they be the same?"

The three of them chatted and laughed all the way back to the East Mansion.

Grandmother was sorting through trunks and boxes, shaking her head at this one and then at that. Dou Xin teased her: "Are you making autumn clothes or winter clothes?"

Honggu stood by, smiling with her lips pressed together.

Dou Yan suddenly understood.

Grandmother was getting together her trousseau.

Fine sweat broke out on her forehead. She took Grandmother by the arm and led her out to the hall.

Grandmother chuckled and instructed her: "Write a letter to your father for me, and have him find a few tailors and embroiderers from Jiangnan. We'll make ourselves some fine new clothes to wear."

Surely there was no need for such a grand affair?

Seeing Grandmother so full of zest, Dou Yan agreed all the same.

She would treat it as humoring the old lady.

Grandmother then began telling her which shop made the best shoes and which shop the best false hairpieces. Where the old lady had dug up such intelligence, Dou Yan could not guess, yet it filled her heart with a thick, warm glow. They talked on in this vein for perhaps the time it takes to drink two cups of tea, when Ganlu came in and announced: "Old Chen asks the young lady to come to the study."