Chapter 40 — Striking the Mountain

Dou Yan watched Ji shi's every move.

When she had first entered the marquis's household, she had given those stewardesses and stewards of the Wei family no small number of looks just like that.

Yuzan was a little maid who had risen by sheer chance; how could she withstand a scene like this?

Left to stand idle with nothing to do, listening to the veiled mockery of the maids at Ji shi's side and the cold glances of the old women attending her, Yuzan decided to go find Tuo Niang.

To her surprise, Tuo Niang was not there!

Seeing that the maid in green who lived next door to Tuo Niang had a kind face, she asked, "Sister, do you know where Suxin, the one who attends the Fourth Young Lady, has gone?"

The maid was putting on earrings before her mirror. At the question, she said, "Yuzan has gone to Zhending Prefecture with Steward Wang."

Yuzan was struck dumb.

The maid put away her mirror and came over smiling. "Are you new here? Your face is unfamiliar. Steward Wang is our madam's dowry steward. Our madam cannot stomach the food of Beizhili, so the old lady of the Ji household often has the Ji shops send things over for her. Steward Wang was going into the prefecture to fetch some things for the madam. The madam saw how much the Fourth Young Lady liked Seventh Sister's doll, and Suxin is the one who pleases the Fourth Young Lady best of all her attendants, so she must know her likes and dislikes. She had Suxin go along with Steward Wang to the Ji shops in the prefecture to pick one out. She ought to be back by tomorrow afternoon."

Yuzan's eyes went red with envy.

The Ji shops in Zhending Prefecture even sold Western trinkets. Daqing's wife had gone once and spent over twenty taels of silver on a little gilt rouge box painted with a Western beauty. Daqing's wife treasured it like a jewel, hiding it away and bringing it out only at New Year to show off. She had said that if they ever came into money, she would go and browse there properly again.

Suxin actually got to go browsing through the Ji shops with the Sixth Madam's dowry steward escorting her. The shop clerks, out of respect for the Sixth Madam, would surely usher her in and see her out with every courtesy. Compared with Daqing's wife, she was more grand by heaven knows how many times.

How did she come by such absurdly good luck?

When all was said and done, in what way was she not a match for her? She only knew how to cling to the Fourth Young Lady and never let go...

As Yuzan thought, a flash of inspiration struck her.

That was it. If that blockhead Suxin could win the Fourth Young Lady's favor, then with her own cleverness, the Fourth Young Lady would be hers for the taking.

At that thought, she thanked the maid, left her bundle in Tuo Niang's room, washed her face at the water basin, and hurried off to the main chambers.

Ji shi stood in the shade of the trees with Dou Yan, directing a little maid to pick balsam flowers. "...Crush them in a small bowl, add a little alum, and leave it overnight. Tomorrow we can dye our Shouyuan's nails." As she spoke,

the small hands, still round with baby fat, were white and tender. Her skin seemed as though it would break at a breath, her tiny nails delicate and neat. When she spread her hand, little dimples appeared on the back of it, and Ji shi's heart melted to water.

Yuzan hurried forward and saluted Ji shi and Dou Yan. "Sixth Madam, Fourth Young Lady!"

"Oh, you have come." Ji shi's tone was kindly, a world apart from her coldness of moments before. Yuzan felt overwhelmed by the favor, hastily answered "Yes," and said ingratiatingly, "This slave saw that Suxin was not in the room and thought the Fourth Young Lady must be short-handed, so I set down my bundle and came straight over."

Ji shi nodded.

Dou Yan smiled at her.

Yuzan's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, finally settled.

Everyone said the Sixth Madam of the East Mansion was kind and gentle; perhaps just now something had displeased her, and Yuzan had simply happened to catch her at a bad moment.

A little maid came over carrying a glass cup filled with balsam flowers. "Sixth Madam, will these do?"

Ji shi looked hesitant, as though she could not quite make up her mind.

Yuzan at once said eagerly, "Sixth Madam, when our mistress was alive, I often helped pick balsam flowers." As she spoke, she began sorting through the flowers in the glass cup. "You see, this one is a little too tender..."

"It seems you do have a good eye." Ji shi praised her.

Yuzan was beside herself with delight.

Once the balsam flowers were chosen, Ji shi took Dou Yan back inside.

Yuzan hurried to follow.

The Third Aunt came over. "Sixth Sister-in-law, busy as ever!"

She stood at the doorway greeting Ji shi and did not go in.

Ji shi glanced at Dou Yan, hesitated a moment, then instructed the little maid, "Take the Fourth Young Lady to her room." Then she smoothed her temples and went smiling toward the Third Aunt.

Dou Yan went inside with the little maid and Yuzan.

The little maid set the glass cup on the kang table and said with a smile to Dou Yan, who stood by the kang, "Fourth Young Lady, I am going to fetch the jar of alum. Stand here and do not move." Then she asked Yuzan, "Sister, keep an eye on the Fourth Young Lady."

"Go on, I am here," Yuzan said, all smiles.

The little maid went pattering off to the inner room at the back.

Yuzan crouched down and talked to Dou Yan. "Fourth Young Lady, would you like to go on the swing? Send Suxin back to the mansion and I will take you on the swing, and every day I will play cat's cradle and toss sandbags with you too. How about that?"

Dou Yan could not be bothered with her.

Yuzan talked on and on to herself, and Dou Yan gave no response at all. She felt very foolish, and because she had been standing for so long before and was now crouching, her legs went weak when she rose. Her hand came down on the kang table, the table tipped, and with a crash it overturned on the kang. The glass cup that had been set on it rolled off onto the floor and shattered into several pieces with a crack, and the balsam petals inside scattered everywhere.

She was struck dumb.

"What happened?" The little maid, hearing the noise, came rushing in clutching a small cloisonne jar. Seeing the shattered glass cup, her face went white with fright. "How could this happen?"

The maids who had been standing in the side corridor all came rushing in as well.

Everyone's eyes turned to Yuzan.

"It wasn't me, it wasn't me!" Yuzan denied it instinctively. Out of the corner of her eye she glimpsed Dou Yan standing nearby, and at once she clutched at the straw, "It was the Fourth Young Lady... yes, it was the Fourth Young Lady who knocked it over by accident..." Ji shi's face turned ashen, and she ordered Cailan, "Go and fetch Old Mother Yu from the West Mansion."

The servants in the room hardly dared breathe, but seeing Wang Yu make a gesture, they all breathed a sigh of relief and slipped out one after another.

Only then did Ji shi give vent to her temper, "That Yuzan, a thousand deaths would not be enough for her!"

She had first suppressed her anger and then given rein to it, hoping to catch Yuzan off guard in her triumph and find an excuse to punish her. Yet before she could even lift a finger, Yuzan had committed such a sordid trick.

"No wonder Suxin came to blows with her." Wang Yu was rather moved by it too, but still she counseled Ji shi. "Thank goodness it was discovered early; otherwise, who knows how many silent grievances the Fourth Young Lady would have suffered!"

Ji shi thought of Dou Yan's soft little hands, her eyes reddened slightly, and she asked softly, "Where is Shouyuan?"

"Caishu and Cailan have taken the Fourth Young Lady to pick balsams in the courtyard!" Wang Yu smiled. "She is playing quite merrily."

A trace of a smile rose in Ji shi's eyes. She hesitated, then said, "Tell me—how would it be if Shouyuan were raised in my rooms?"