Chapter 18 — Spring Warmth

Zhao Biru took Dou Zhiwei by the hand and slowly made her way back.

Dou Yan asked Zhao Biru, "What is my favorite thing to eat?"

Zhao Biru was taken aback, but answered meekly all the same: "Anything sweet and crisp—you like it all!"

Dou Yan asked again, "When was the last time you came to our house?"

Zhao Biru's glance at Dou Zhiwei grew even more bewildered. "The day before the Start of Winter. Father told me and my sister to come ask Auntie whether Uncle had returned. On the way we brought Auntie a painting, the Ninefold Cold, and Auntie rewarded us with a pair of pearl flowers. My sister even played cat's cradle with you for the longest time. Has something happened?"

Dou Yan shook her head.

The two families were so close—so why, when her aunt wanted to take her off to play with her cousins, had she bitten her?

Back in the main courtyard, the serving maids were all standing beneath the covered walkway. Seeing Dou Yan and Zhao Biru, they came forward with smiles and respectfully saluted Zhao Biru. "Miss Cousin, please sit awhile in the side room. The Young Madam is talking with the Mistress just now."

Zhao Biru cast a puzzled glance at the lattice windows of the main house, then meekly followed Hanxiao to the side room. Dou Yan darted like a wisp of smoke into the inner chamber, and there heard her aunt saying indignantly, "...the sheer nerve of it! If anyone from the Wang family dares to come, you are to say nothing at all—don't lower yourself by speaking to them. I will deal with that woman Gao myself!"

There was a catch in Mother's voice as she said, "Sister-in-law, what need? Make a great uproar, and we only give the Wang family something to talk about. Whatever is said, the fault lies with Wanyuan."

Her aunt gave a long sigh, and only after a good while said, "Sister, your heart is too soft!"

Mother smiled. "Husband and wife are one flesh. If he loses face, mine looks no better. I know your kindness, Sister-in-law, but please, when you go back, say nothing to my brother—it is only the taking of a concubine. Am I to drag my own brother into it, to gild the Dou family's face?"

"I know," said her aunt. "When the time comes, I will slip over quietly by myself."

"Thank you, Sister-in-law," Mother said. "To my mind, the quieter this business is kept, the better."

Her aunt nodded. On the twenty-second day of the twelfth month, she came alone, just as promised. When the First Madam asked, her aunt said only that her husband meant to shut himself in and study; the First Madam did not press her, but took her by the hand to the flower hall, where she paid her respects to the Third, Fourth, and Sixth Madams and the other in-laws. Two more tables of ma-jong were made up, and the gambling began. The Dou womenfolk took their seats at the tables or gathered to watch the tiles, laughing and chatting, a lively hubbub.

Outside, only a few of Father's elder brothers had been invited; they sat talking and drinking tea.

No one came from the Wang family.

The sedan chair carrying Wang Shuying stopped directly at the flower hall. Wang Shuying, in a brocade jacket with a woven pattern of pink monthly roses, was helped down by a maid and offered tea to Mother in the flower hall, and so the ceremony was complete.

Granny Yu led Wang Shuying away to the Qixia Courtyard. In the flower hall the others went on with their cards, their talk and laughter, and the merrymaking lasted till the third watch before they dispersed one after another.

Wang Shuying let out a breath of relief.

The maid supporting Wang Shuying pouted her lips high and said resentfully, "Miss shouldn't have talked the Young Madam round. See for yourself—does this look like a wedding to you?"

"Hold your tongue," Wang Shuying scolded with a frown. "I am being taken as a concubine—is that any sort of glory? If the Young Madam had come, she would only have been insulted for nothing. Watch your words from now on. If I hear such insolence from you again, I will send you straight back to Nanwa."

At that the maid's eyes reddened at once, and she dropped a curtsy. "This slave will never dare again."

Wang Shuying was still uneasy, and warned her over and over: "When you live under another's roof, you must bow your head. Keep quietly to yourself and mind you stir up no trouble."

The little maid murmured her assent.

Someone announced, "The Seventh Master is here!"

Wang Shuying's eyes lit up.

Dou Huaiying strode quickly in.

Wang Shuying hurried to meet him and curtsied. "Does the Seventh Madam... know?"

"She knows!" Dou Huaiying laughed. "It was she who urged me to come."

At that Wang Shuying was a little moved. "Thank the Seventh Madam for preserving my dignity. I shall honor her as I would my own elder sister."

"And did you not honor Guqiu as your own elder sister before?" Dou Huaiying teased. "I told you long ago—Guqiu is a most virtuous woman."

Wang Shuying's smile faltered. "In this matter I behaved ungenerously. I owe Sister Guqiu a great deal, and I feared she would be vexed with me. Even if in my heart I honor her as an elder sister, I cannot know whether she counts me a true younger sister... It seems I have been oversuspicious. After all, I am not so broad-minded as she."

Dou Huaiying chuckled, looking quite pleased with himself.

Wang Shuying's gaze darkened a little, but she quickly recovered her smile.

The Kitchen God was welcomed and the dust swept from the house, and then it was New Year's Eve.

The Eastern and Western Dous returned together to Beilou Village to make offerings to their ancestors.

Wang Shuying followed behind Zhao Guqiu with downcast eyes and a meek air. Whenever anyone's gaze fell on Wang Shuying, Dou Ji—tugging at her mother's skirt—would call out sweetly, "Concubine Wang," and the company, understanding at once, would praise Wang Shuying's good looks, whereupon Granny Yu would put in, "She is a daughter of the Wang family of Nanwa," and Wang Shuying would flush purple with shame.

Mother then gave Granny Yu a sharp word or two, and after that, when relatives asked about Wang Shuying, Granny Yu said no more.

Dou Yan only wished she were older.

Wang Shuying cast Mother a grateful glance.

Mother took no notice, and went on laughing and talking with the kinswomen of the clan.

But Wang Shuying's origins got out all the same.

Through the New Year, Wang Shuying kept to the house and would not go out to pay calls on the relatives: "They are all lawful wives. It does not become me to go along."

Granny Yu coaxed her with a smile, "What becomes you and what does not? With Concubine Wang at her side, the Young Madam has someone to keep her company, and someone to pour her tea besides."

Wang Shuying looked deeply embarrassed. Father frowned despite himself and turned to Mother. "Is this your doing?"

Mother lowered her head and took a sip of tea. "Since it has come to this," she said coolly, "let Concubine Wang stay at home. Better that than risking a disturbance to the child in her womb."

Father opened his mouth, but no words came.

Mother carried Dou Yan out the door.

Father hurried after her at once. "Carrying on like this will only make a spectacle for the relatives," he said in a low voice.

"I understand," Mother said, her face expressionless. "When the child is born, shall I tell the relatives it came early?"

"You—!" Father glared at her in fury.

Mother had already climbed briskly into the carriage.

Father stamped his foot, and only after a long moment did he reluctantly board the carriage.

Dou Yan buried herself among the big bolster cushions in the carriage and heaved a deep sigh.

Mother's worries were not without reason.

Such matters were trivial enough, yet they chafed at the heart.

Like a flea that lands on your body: ignore it, and it bites you until you itch all over; treat it as a serious matter, and you find you cannot even speak of it.

Hadn't Father said he was going to send Wang Shuying off to the country estate?