Chapter 4 — Rebirth

Her mother burst out laughing, drew out a handkerchief and wiped her tears, and said to the wet nurse, "This child—struck silly!" Then she gently embraced her and kissed her little cheek. "Your papa will be home soon. Are you happy?" Joy overflowed from the corners of her eyes and the tips of her brows, beyond all concealment.

Dou Yan gave a cry of "Ah!" and made to jump up.

How could she have forgotten something so important!

What had happened between her parents in those years, she did not know in detail. But according to Tuoniang, her father had met her stepmother while in the capital for the provincial examination. Her poor mother knew nothing of it; when she saw her father's letter saying he wished to travel about the capital for a time, she suspected nothing, only waited eagerly at home day after day, and even fretted that her father might not have silver enough to spend, and thought of quietly sending her own attendant Yu Daqing to bring him some. Later, somehow, her grandfather got wind of it, and she earned herself a scolding, and that was the end of it.

The provincial examination was in the eighth month. Snow was already drifting outside, and by now it must be deep winter, and still her father had not returned. But her grandfather was still alive, so he could not possibly spend the New Year away from home. That meant there was still time to warn her mother.

But her mother held Dou Yan fast, and though Dou Yan struggled several times she could not get to her feet. Frantic, she cried out "Mama!"

"What has come over Shouyuan today?" Her mother was utterly baffled by her daughter's unaccustomed fussing, and turned a stern gaze on the wet nurse.

The wet nurse grew a little tense. "The Fourth Miss and I slept till the chen hour before rising. She had a bowl of millet gruel, a meat bun, and a steamed roll..."

"Didn't I say that every morning when she rises, Shouyuan is to have a cup of warm water first?" Her mother cut her off in a low voice. "Did you give her water this morning or not?"

"I did, I did!" the wet nurse said hurriedly, all her former ease gone. "Just as you instructed, I first warmed her under the quilt and put a little lined jacket on the Fourth Miss, and only then did I serve her the warm water..."

Ai ya! What was the use of talking about all this now?

She had grown up with her grandmother on a country estate until she was twelve. In summer she went with the estate laborers' children to catch fish, and when she was thirsty she drank from the little river; in winter she went up the hills to catch sparrows, and when she was hungry she roasted them and ate them—and she had lived to adulthood hale and whole.

Dou Yan shook her mother. "Mama..." She wanted to tell her, "Papa is bringing a woman home." But the moment she opened her mouth, it was as though something blocked her throat, and the whole of what she meant to say came out as two muddled words: "Papa... woman..."

Seeing Dou Yan speak, her mother turned back, looked at her with a smile, and said patiently, "Shouyuan, what is it you want to say?"

"Mama," Dou Yan said with difficulty, "Papa... woman..." This time the words were clearer, but still she could not make herself understood.

Sweat stood on her forehead in her franticness.

Her mother's brows and eyes bloomed with delight, skipping clean over the word "woman." "So our Shouyuan misses her papa too! Gaosheng has brought back word that your papa will arrive in the next day or two, and that he has bought ever so many fireworks for the New Year, and lanterns and incense candles. Fireworks from the capital, mind you! They burst into a myriad of reds and purples—never mind Zhending County, there's none to be had even in Zhending Prefecture..."

At a time like this, who cared about fireworks!

Dou Yan was frantic beyond bearing, and simply went on repeating "Papa," "woman."

Her mother's expression gradually stilled, and she said gravely, "Shouyuan, what is it you want to say?"

Dou Yan heaved a great sigh of relief, drew a deep breath, and said, one syllable at a time: "Fa...ther... brought... a... wo...man... home..."

A child's voice, high and piping, yet clear and ringing.

As though she had been slapped across the face, Mother's features twisted into shock, disbelief, and blank bewilderment.

The wet nurse and the maids exchanged looks, their faces stiff with alarm.

A dead silence fell over the room.

The padded door curtain whipped aside with a sharp swish, and a little maid, her hair done up in three loops, came running in breathless: "Seventh Mistress, the Seventh Master is back, the Seventh Master has come home from the capital..."

"Truly!" Joy leapt to Mother's brows in an instant. She hitched up her skirts and ran for the door, got two steps, stopped, stood thinking a moment, then turned back and swept Dou Yan up into her arms. "Let us go and meet your father together!"

It seemed Mother's suspicions had been roused after all.

Dou Yan breathed easy, flung his arms round her neck, and answered with a loud "Yes!"

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