Chapter 34 — Chaos

When Gao Shi stepped outside, her wet nurse hurried to meet her. Seeing her face ashen, the nurse's heart skipped a beat, and she asked in a low, anxious voice, "What happened?"

"Mad, mad! They're all mad!" Gao Shi was trembling with fury. As she spoke, she swept her eyes over the courtyard.

The courtyard was silent. Beneath the eaves, the great red lanterns cast their light on the blooming hostas beside the steps, lending even the flowers a touch of added brilliance.

She came from a great family; an empty courtyard did not mean there was no one in it.

"Go fetch the coachman and tip him a tael of silver," Gao Shi instructed the nurse. "We set out for Nanwa at once."

The carriage and its driver both belonged to Squire Li of the same village, who, upon hearing that Wang Xingyi had been restored to office, had insisted on lending them to the family. It had been agreed that they would return tomorrow evening; now the man would have to drive through the night, so a tip was unavoidable.

The nurse knew something had gone awry, but she had come out of the Gao household and understood propriety. She asked nothing, summoned the coachman, made the excuse of urgent family business, and left the Dou house first.

On the road, they encountered Dou Juan's carriage.

The nurse gave a little "oh" and smiled. "That may be the Seventh Master of the Dou family, returned!"

The implication being: ought they not greet him?

But Gao Shi seized the nurse's arm and ordered the coachman, "Do not stop!" Her voice was somewhat hurried.

The two carriages passed each other.

Gao Shi let out a long breath and murmured, "How could I have the face now to greet anyone of the Dou family!"

Only then did the nurse lean close to Gao Shi's ear and whisper, "What is it?"

Gao Shi had been in this nurse's care since birth, and had afterward endured ten hard years at her side in the Wang household; the woman was like kin to her. She concealed nothing, and recounted the whole affair from beginning to end.

The nurse was dumbstruck. "What's to be done? What's to be done?" she fretted. Then, thinking of Gao Shi's rush to Nanwa by night, she took her hand and admonished her without cease. "On the nineteenth day after you and the Elder Master were wed, he followed the Master to Xining Guard. Between you and him there is only obligation, no affection—do not lose your head. This is a matter between brother and sister; a word of advice is all very well, but whatever you do, do not stand alone and hold the line against them. You know the Old Madam's temper. All these years, but for you, how could the Wang family ever have bought land? How could the young mistress have carried on her trade? You have tended the Old Madam more devotedly than a own daughter, yet whenever the Old Madam speaks of family affairs, she always puts the young mistress ahead of you. That Pang woman married in against her will; when the family had not a coin to its name she already looked at you askance, and relying on the Second Master's doting compliance, she would insist on contesting precedence with you. Now the Master is restored to office, and heaven knows what she is scheming! Do not let it come to pass that the whole household finds you an eyesore."

"Every mother dotes on her daughter—my own mother dotes on me, does she not?" Gao Shi offered a feeble defense, then said, "The reason I must hurry back is to persuade the Elder Master to have my father-in-law intervene and bring my sister-in-law home by force. Otherwise, if Pang is allowed to keep stirring the pot, even should my sister-in-law be brought back, I fear it will by then have become a scandal known to all—and that would be a mortal disgrace!" Her expression was helpless.

The nurse nodded again and again. "So long as you know your own mind, I am at ease."

Over there, Dou Yan saw a carriage pass by and could not help turning to look back.

This whole side of the street belonged to the Western Dou household. Who would be passing through at such an hour?

The thought had scarcely crossed her mind when she heard Gao Sheng say, "Seventh Master, that looks like the Wang family's carriage."

Dou Huaiying was startled for a moment, then relaxed. "They may have some matter to discuss with Wang Zhibing. We need only pretend we saw nothing."

Gao Sheng grinned and answered "Yes," and the carriage did not stop until it had entered the inner gate.

Stewards and menservants crowded forward, and the chief steward said with a smile, "Seventh Master, the Sixth Master came at the hour of you and has been waiting for you in the study ever since."

Dou Huaiying carried Dou Ji and went to the study.

Dou Heng was sitting at his ease in a reclining chair, reading, with tea and fruit set out on the small table beside him.

Hearing the stir, he looked up and said to his father, "You're back," then, "Been fishing again?" His tone was so natural that a stranger would have taken him for the master of the study.

Father smiled and said nothing.

Sixth Uncle seemed about to speak, and thought better of it.

Father said quietly, "I know what I am doing!"

"So long as you know."

The two of them, like men trading riddles, soon changed the subject.

"What did you want with me?" Father asked. "Waiting all this while, and you could not even leave a note?"

"I only wanted to ask whether you mean to sit for this year's provincial examination." Sixth Uncle poured Father a cup of tea. "If you are going, it is time to set out." Then he tugged at the tip of Dou Zhiwei's hair and said with a smile, "Little tail, did you go fishing with your father? Was Uncle Feng's cooking good?" And he casually handed her a cup of tea.

It seemed Sixth Uncle not only knew that Father had secretly gone to visit Grandmother, but was fully aware that after seeing Grandmother, Father would go have a heart-to-heart with Feng Baoshan!

Dou Yan politely called him "Sixth Uncle," answered "It was good," and sat quietly sipping her tea.

Father hesitated. "If I go, what becomes of Shouyuan? With no one to manage the inner quarters, I am uneasy."

Sixth Uncle was unconcerned. "Send her to my house and let your Sixth Sister-in-law look after her."

"We shall see when the time comes!" Father was still reluctant.

Sixth Uncle did not press him. He pointed to several large bundles of books on the desk. "This year's new examination essays, brought back by Fifth Brother—one set for every degree-holder in the family."

Father said, "So Fifth Brother has made up his mind that every one of us who has passed the provincial examination is to sit for the metropolitan examination?"

Sixth Uncle laughed. "Zijun says he will not go. He is afraid of coming back with only the lesser degree!"

Zijun was the courtesy name of their second cousin Dou Yuchang. In the end he did indeed earn only the lesser degree, and for fear of being mocked, he refused on any account to take office, and at last stayed home to help Third Uncle manage the Dou family's affairs.

Father roared with laughter and told a maid to fetch Tuo Niang, so that Tuo Niang might put Dou Yan to bed, while he and Sixth Uncle fell to reading the examination essays.

Dou Yan tried hard to recall the events of her former life.

Father and Sixth Uncle went together to the capital for the provincial examination, both passed as juren, and then stayed on in the capital, not returning until the sixth month of the following year. In the metropolitan examination, Father placed thirteenth in the second class, while Sixth Uncle failed outright.