Chapter 159 — A Guest from Afar

Dou was not about to stand on ceremony with her, and hurried out of the flower house to her grandmother's.

"Shouyuan." The moment her aunt-by-marriage saw her come in, she caught her up in her arms, tears in her eyes. "Are you well?"

"Well!" Dou got out the first word, and then the tears came pattering down.

She had not seen her aunt-by-marriage in ten years.

The two of them held each other and wept.

The others nearby were quietly wiping their eyes as well, until at last Zhao Zhangru ran up and pulled at her mother and Dou Yan: "This is plainly a happy occasion, so why is it that the moment it reaches the two of you, it turns to weeping!" She said it, but her own tears fell no less freely than Dou Yan's.

Dou Yan burst out laughing through a face full of tears, and called out to Zhao Zhangru: "Third Cousin!"

The little girl of former days had grown into a young woman, slender of figure and lovely of face. Had Dou Yan met her on the road, she would surely not have recognized her. Her aunt-by-marriage, by contrast, had changed little; if anything, she looked younger than before, her complexion brighter and more glowing.

Zhao Zhangru put on a show of distaste and tossed a handkerchief to Dou Yan: "Hurry and wipe your tears! It is a good thing you wear no rouge, or it would all be running down your face!"

That mischievous look, that merry tone—just as when they were small.

It was as though time had turned back.

She was tugging her along to watch the ants move house.

Dou held out her hand and took Zhao Zhangru's.

Zhao Zhangru giggled.

Her grandmother smilingly beckoned them to sit and talk.

The maids brought fresh tea and sweets.

Dou Yan had a thousand things to say, yet did not know where to begin, and could only hold tightly to Zhao Zhangru's hand.

Seeing this, Madam Ji smiled and said: "Shouyuan, I have good news for you. Your uncle has been promoted to Prefect of Qingyang!"

"Truly!" Dou Yan looked at her aunt-by-marriage in joyful surprise.

Her aunt-by-marriage gave a slight nod, and said with due modesty: "Your uncle has been diligent in his office. This time he is promoted to Qingyang."

Dou Yan could not keep from rejoicing inwardly.

In her last life, her uncle had not been promoted to Prefect of Qingyang until he was past fifty. After that he had advanced no further.

In this life it had come ten years early.

And it had come just after Wang Xingyi was transferred to be Grand Coordinator of Yunnan.

Clearly, with Wang Xingyi's suppression gone, her uncle could at last raise his head.

In this life, at last, something had changed.

"Aunt," Dou Yan said, beaming, "we ought to celebrate Uncle's promotion properly."

"What is there to celebrate?" Her aunt-by-marriage had always been low-key, and she smiled as she said it. "We should not want people to laugh at us."

"I only wish Uncle ever smoother sailing in his career," Dou Xin said. "Let us simply have a feast among the family." Then she instructed the maids to lay out a proper banquet, and to fetch two jars of the finest Jinhua wine.

It was, after all, only a promotion to the fourth rank.

Ji Lingze felt that Dou Yan was being a little frivolous.

Zhao Zhangru, meanwhile, jumped up: "I will go and help!"

"Zhangru!" Her mother's face went stern.

Her grandmother hurried to smooth things over: "It is rare enough that Shouyuan is in such high spirits. It is all for her uncle's sake—do let the girls have their way."

Madam Ji and the others all smiled indulgently.

Zhao Zhangru, never shy with anyone, took hold of Ji Lingze, whom she had only just met: "Cousin Ji, come along too." She whispered to Ji Lingze, "Shouyuan has all sorts of good things there—today we simply must eat and drink and carry off all we can get!" This set the ever-proper Ji Lingze to stifling a laugh, and smiling, she went out of Aunt Cui's courtyard with Zhao Zhangru and Dou.

On the way they met Suxin, who said with some worry: "You instructed that we take gifts only from family and close kin, but the stewards of the estates and the managers of the shops are so very sincere about it..."

Dou was not one to bend the rules, but to bar such gifts so bluntly at the door would spoil the mood.

She thought it over, then said, "Accept all the gifts, see what they are worth, and then give each person a red envelope of about the same value as their gift."

That was the best way.

It would not embarrass anyone, and it would show the Dou family's generosity.

Suxin answered happily and went off.

Zhao Zhangru whispered to Ji Lingze, "See! Didn't I tell you!"

"Indeed." Ji Lingze nodded with a smile, but lowered his head in thought, and went with them to Dou Zhiwei's main chamber, stumbling one step high and one step low.

※

Someone in the comments asked me why I am not posting extra chapters this month.

Before I started this story I knew I would be attending training camp in March or April, but the exact dates had not been fixed. Afraid that it might coincide with the paywall launch, I rushed to post the new story in January before I had even sorted out the plot. Many of you who have been following know that I revised the opening several times o(n_n)o~. Yesterday I got the notice about the training camp, and I actually breathed a sigh of relief—if it had been March, things would really have been a mess. I instantly felt as if Heaven had not abandoned me, o(n_n)o haha~

The training camp lasts ten days, and my time there will not be my own. The only thing I can guarantee is that I will not miss any updates. That is also why I did not dare promise extra chapters before.

I ask for everyone's understanding for the inconvenience.

Thank you all!

ps: I am the only one in the whole class writing on a laptop during lectures. The instructor probably thinks I am putting on airs, because he keeps eyeing me. I do not know whether he will make things hard for me...~~~~(_

※