Chapter 197 — Schemes

The maidservants were easy—Dou Yan would surely be married from the Guimeng Temple Lane house, where everyone was her own people. And Dou Zhiwei's personal maids had never faced such a thing before; on the pretext of some custom or rite, with a little clever maneuvering, they could be drawn away.

As for the Fifth Madam, one had only to say some guest wished to see her, and contrive to keep her lingering in the reception hall.

The trouble was the Sixth Madam and the Zhao aunt—they would stick close to Dou Zhiwei's side and never leave her...

Wang Shuying pondered.

If only Mrs. Cai, the woman of full blessings, would lend her a hand!

Then she could find an excuse to draw the Sixth Madam and the Zhao aunt away.

And Dou Yan... before the wedding she must drink lotus-seed and lily soup... a bowl of lotus-seed and lily soup laced with sleeping powder... The kitchen had her people in it; one need only coax Gao Sheng's wife into carrying it in...

Wang Shuying lay in bed tossing and turning, thinking it over for a long while. The thing was not entirely unworkable, she decided—but if she truly acted on the plan, there were still so many holes in it that she could not bring herself to a decision.

Just then word came from Willow Leaf Alley: Mrs. Gao had invited that Liu Qingzhuo to dine at the house tomorrow, and wanted her to bring Dou Ming over for a look.

Wang Shuying's mood soured at once. Listlessly she answered, "I know," and went again to Dou Ming's room.

Dou Ming sat on an embroidery stool by the window, a pipa in her arms, staring blankly into space.

Wang Shuying tiptoed over and said in a low voice, "Your eldest aunt wants us to come for a meal tomorrow. She says Liu Qingzhuo will be there too, so you can take a look at him..."

Dou Ming's knuckles went white where she gripped the pipa.

Wang Shuying sighed. "This is your decision to make. I will always be on your side. Even if it were a mountain of knives or a sea of fire, your mother would bear it with you."

Dou Ming said nothing.

Wang Shuying went out.

A moment later, a clangor of pipa notes came from behind her.

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When Dou Huaiying returned home and heard from Wang Shuying that the Gao family had proposed a match for Dou Ming—the man barely twenty-two and already a provincial graduate—he was thoroughly pleased. He ordered Gao Sheng to take three hundred taels of silver to outfit Dou Ming, and told Wang Shuying to pass along his words: "A talented man and a beautiful woman. Only a man of surpassing learning can uphold a household. Looks and family background are not what matter most."

Dou Ming lowered her eyes and assented, yet she tossed and turned the whole night without sleep.

She knew that once she gave her consent, the match would be settled, her whole future fixed, with no possibility of going back.

Liu Qingzhuo was of medium height, stoutly built, with a plain, honest face. He wore a brand-new straight-cut robe of sapphire-blue Hangzhou silk, and at first glance he looked like a country lad come to the city to make a living, without a trace of a scholar's refinement or elegance.

Dou Ming was deeply disappointed.

Wang Shuying, all the more, took Dou Ming by the hand and led her away from behind the screen at the back of the flower hall. On the pretext that the matter still had to be discussed with Dou Juanren, she hurried back to the Crane Cry Temple Lane right after lunch.

Before Wang Shuying could say a word, Dou Ming shut herself in the study.

Wang Shuying laughed coldly in her room.

By what right should her Ming-jie be betrothed to such a man? Was Gao Mingzhu, whom Wang Nan married, so charming with her bright eyes and white teeth?

She twisted her handkerchief and brooded.

Mrs. Cai was, after all, the mother-in-law of the Fifth Madam and had managed the household for many years. Her husband was honored as a scholar of the Hanlin Academy, his connections were wide, and most of the official families knew her well. She herself was a smooth, versatile woman who could turn her hand to anything, and she commanded considerable prestige among the official families of the capital. Wang Shuying, by contrast, was merely an obscure woman of the Dou family. She could neither help Cai Bi rise in office nor bring him any glory. What reason did Mrs. Cai have to help her?

Wang Shuying thought of the rumors in the capital about Cai Bi's snobbery, and her heart began to pound.

There is nothing in this world that cannot be bought; it all depends on the price you are willing to pay.

Her gaze could not help falling on the three hundred taels in silver drafts that Dou Huaiying had given her to outfit Dou Ming...

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Sisters and brothers, here is the make-up update for May 9.

o(n_n)o~

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