Chapter 101 — Trance (Bonus Update for 900 Pink Votes)

The He family had been illustrious since the previous dynasty. In the present dynasty they had grown all the more prosperous—oil poured on a roaring fire, brocade laid upon brocade—a power in their region. In food, clothing, housing, and travel, few families could match them, and the sisters in the household were all the more delicate and precious, spring orchids and autumn chrysanthemums, each with her own grace. Yet compared with Dou Yan, they always seemed to lack something. To speak honestly, Dou Yan was pretty, but one could hardly call her a peerless beauty; her clothes were elegant, but one could hardly call them ingeniously designed—she could not even compare with Ji Yong, whose seemingly ordinary robe of true-blue cotton had a fine, even, firm weave that seemed to carry a nap; it was the twill produced especially in Jiading, costing three taels of silver a bolt even undyed, and dyed true blue it was likely dearer than the gold-flecked garment He Yu himself wore. This was the customary dress of the sons of established great houses. It was only that he disliked such posturing and disdained to bother with it.

But for some reason, Dou Yan possessed an air his sisters did not have.

Just as she could ignore Ji Jianming when she did not wish to deal with him—without forcing herself, without feigning, without pretending—so too did she refuse to bend. Yet among his sisters there were the gentle and the resolute, the extraordinarily clever. There were those skilled at reading the winds of circumstance; in a situation like this, no matter how much they disliked it, fearing their father's or brothers' blame, fearing the loss of their mother's affection, they would endure any grievance and make some show of compliance. No one could express her true feelings as boldly, as frankly and honestly, as she did.

The thought flashed through his mind and gave him a small shock.

His sisters were more like a flower arrangement, a fine painting—pleasing to the eye, yet always lacking a measure of vitality. Dou Yan was more like a tree, a stand of bamboo: tall and upright, lush and thriving, following the turning of the four seasons, growing and withering of itself, free and natural, impossible for anyone to shake.

"Fourth Miss," He Yu suddenly cut into Dou Yong's words and earnestly invited Dou Yan, "why not set aside your trifles for a day tomorrow and come with us to Zhaojue Temple for a vegetarian meal? A little leisure stolen from busy hours is all the more delightful!"

Dou Yan, of course, declined politely.

There was no reasoning that would have her refuse Ji Yong and yet agree to He Yu.

Ji Yong's expression improved considerably.

A flicker of disappointment crossed He Yu's face.

Dou Yan reflected that Dou Yong and the others had had a tiring journey, and had not even had time for a few intimate words with Lady Ji after coming through the door, so she rose to take her leave: "I shall go pay my respects to the Second Old Madam, and take a look at Ming, my cousin's boy, while I am about it."

Ming was the son of Dou Huanchang.

Lady Ji, mindful that the honored guest He Yu was still in the house, admonished her a few times—"come over and play whenever you have the time," and the like—and had Caishu see her out. Then she exchanged a few idle remarks with He Yu, and they dispersed, each to her own room to rest.

She, however, shut herself in the inner chamber with Old Woman Wang to talk.

"Did you see the Han family's young lady?" Lady Ji could not hide the delight and curiosity in her face. "What is her temperament like? How does she look?"

Dou Yong was seventeen this year, long past the age for discussing a match. Lady Ji did not think much of the girls of Beizhili, and had set her heart on finding him a wife from among the Ji family's connections by marriage.

The Han of Huzhou were her sister-in-law's family—that is, the natal family of Ji Yong's mother—and they too were generations of officials. They had produced not only jinshi, but once a zhuangyuan and a bangyan as well; they were one of the few great houses of Jiangnan, and moreover had intermarried with the Ji for generations, their ties exceedingly close.

She had written several times asking her sister-in-law to help arrange a match for Dou Yong. Her sister-in-law, never having seen Dou Yong, had each time declined with great tact. This time Dou Yong and Dou Huaide had gone to the capital in fact to be looked over by the Han family.

When Lady Ji first heard Dou Yong say that Dou Heng had told her to bring her two sons to the capital again once spring came, she knew the match was all but settled, and could not wait to pull Old Woman Wang aside and question her.

Old Woman Wang smiled with pursed lips, bent her knees, crossed her hands, and made Lady Ji a curtsy: "Your humble servant congratulates the mistress—you are soon to be a mother-in-law." Then she said with a smile, "No wonder you entrusted this matter to the Seventh Madam. The Seventh Madam handles affairs beyond reproach! The Tenth Miss of the Han family she introduced is not only gentle and generous in temperament, but also most dignified in appearance, and in her dealings with people she is so steady and well-balanced that no fault can be found with her. I made a few private inquiries as well, and they say the Tenth Miss has been devoted to calligraphy since childhood, and writes the court style better than the young gentlemen of the Han family. Only in needlework is she not especially skilled. But the Seventh Madam said rightly: no one is perfect, and no gold is wholly pure. In a house like ours, skill or lack of skill in needlework is of no great consequence; what matters is that she can support her husband and raise her children..."

Lady Ji nodded again and again: "My sister-in-law speaks truly. A person without a flaw is not real. What I fear most is the wholly perfect person without a single fault—such paragons are usually putting on an act..."

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Sisters, happy Women's Day!

Today's update will be a little late—my workplace is organizing a dinner...

ps: On Women's Day, this person still carrying a heap of debt begs for pink votes~~~~(_

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