Chapter 55 — Entering the Door (Pink Ticket 270 Bonus Update)

In Qixia Court, the scarlet wedding candle crackled and threw off a spark.

"This is too much, simply too much!" She stood in the middle of the room, her face dark with fury. "By what right does the East Household have to put itself above the West in every single matter? I am now Yuanzheng's lawful wife in the full sense of the word—by what right does she keep Mingjie in her chambers and refuse to let her go?"

"Madam, lower your voice, please, lower your voice." Nanny Hu hastened to warn her, casting a glance around; seeing no one about, she lowered her own voice and said, "This is no time to lose your temper—the Seventh Master still needs the Fifth Master's support, you have only just been elevated to wife, and you have no son to shield you... Endure a moment's anger, and you spare yourself a hundred days of sorrow!"

"I know!" Wang Shuying's expression eased a little. "If I did not think so, I would not have swallowed my anger today."

Nanny Hu breathed a sigh of relief and, smiling, deftly changed the subject. "Today is your good day, and it grows late—the Seventh Master should be here soon. Why not let me help you remove your makeup and then bring you a cup of lily and lotus-seed soup..."

Wang Shuying blushed.

Qiongfang came in beaming, a box held in her arms. "Seventh Madam, these are the meeting gifts received today. Where would you like them put?"

At the mention of it, Wang Shuying's anger flared again.

The Dou family lived in silks and brocades; on ordinary days they tipped a presentable serving woman with bolts of satin and golden rings and silver pins. Yet the meeting gifts from the Second Madam and the rest had turned out to be trinkets as common as gold-mounted jade hairpins—as though they did not hold her worth a glance.

"They are nothing fine. Must I hide them away as though they were treasures?" Her voice came out rather sharp.

Qiongfang's flattery had landed on the wrong spot; instead of a reward she got a scolding.

Nanny Hu quickly shot Qiongfang a look, then smiled and soothed Wang Shuying. "The Dou family are no newly rich house. The more it is a matter of outward show, the more they keep it low and restrained. Do not slight these things. Who knows but every one of them may be an old piece with a history and a meaning? It is only that we have no time today. Some idle day, Madam, bring them out and look them over carefully."

Ever since Zhao Guqiu's death, West Dou had had no one to manage the household. Over the years it had fallen into utter confusion, every soul nursing his own designs; and then a few days past, half the property had been carved away by Dou Yan, and those who had once fawned on her wholeheartedly had begun to wait and watch. At such a time, every eye in the household with sight enough was surely fixed on Qixia Court. The least oddity on her part would be exaggerated beyond all measure... Better to take this pretext and descend the steps with grace!

Wang Shuying thought it over, gave a soft "Mm," and was about to scold Qiongfang a little more when a young maid announced, "Gao Sheng is here!"

Everyone in the room was taken aback.

Wang Shuying said doubtfully, "Show him in!"

Gao Sheng stood beyond the plum-blossom lattice doors of the inner chamber and said, his voice gentle and respectful, "Seventh Madam, the Seventh Master says it is too late tonight, and he will rest in the principal chamber. He asks you to retire early as well. Tomorrow at the mao hour you are to pay your respects to the Old Master; at the chen hour the Third Madam will come. He asks you not to be late." That said, he clasped his hands, bowed, and withdrew.

Wang Shuying's mouth fell open and for a long while would not close. Then her face flushed crimson and tears welled and circled in her eyes. "What does he mean by this? If he wanted an excuse, why say the hour is too late? It is only the first watch... and he rests in the principal chamber... is he not making me a laughingstock for nothing?"

Nanny Hu too sensed that something was wrong with Dou Huaiying. She said hesitantly, "Madam, shall I go and have a look?"

"No need!" Wang Shuying set her jaw. "I will go and invite him myself."

On the very first night of her entry into the house, Dou Huaiying slept elsewhere. How was she ever to hold up her head in the Dou household again?

Nanny Hu accompanied Wang Shuying in haste to the principal chamber.

Dou Huaiying had already changed into everyday clothes and was writing at the painting desk.

Seeing Wang Shuying, he was not surprised. He only smiled faintly and said, "You have come."

Gazing at Dou Huaiying's handsome face in the lamplight, the reproaches she had rehearsed on the way there suddenly scattered like smoke. She adjusted her sleeves uneasily, and her voice softened. "Are you very tired today? Why sit alone in the principal chamber writing?" As she spoke she walked toward him, and caught the smell of wine rising from him. She smiled. "How much has the Seventh Master drunk? Why are you all over the smell of wine? Let me have a bowl of sobering soup sent to you." And with that she rolled up her sleeve to grind ink for him.

Dou Huaiying stopped her. "I have Gao Sheng to attend me here. Go and rest—tomorrow you will have much to busy yourself with." His voice was milder than the evening breeze blowing in at the window, but he had lowered his head and went on writing, wholly absorbed in his characters.

The refusal was so plain that Wang Shuying's face burned red. But she had never been one to wait. She thought for a long moment, then stepped abruptly forward and clasped Dou Huaiying's waist from the side.

"Yuanzheng..." In the lamplight her eyes were soft enough to drip.

Dou Huaiying's body went rigid. Slowly he set down his brush, and gently but most firmly prised her arms from around him, one finger at a time. "Yingxue, I have told you: apart from the name and the place, there is nothing else I can give you... You know this too... Would it not be better for us to treat each other with courtesy and respect?"

He turned. His ink-black eyes rested on her quietly, his expression utterly serious.

Wang Shuying was dumbstruck.

Of course she knew... but she had thought time would thin it all away... What is a thousand miles of longing compared with warm jade in one's arms...

Dou Huaiying strode out.

The tuberoses of the Dou mansion were already in bloom, and their heavy fragrance struck him full in the face.

Suddenly he remembered the time of his own marriage.

The weather had been just like this.

The tuberoses had blazed in wild bloom, crystalline as jade under the moonlight.

His wife had called "Yuanzheng" in her clear bright voice, and asked him, "Am I pretty?"...

He did not remember how he had answered. He remembered only that she had flung herself upon him in surprise and delight, burning through him like a flame... and at his ear her silvery laughter: "They all say I have no shame, but I just like you—I just want to marry you!" That sweet, guileless voice, brimming with unquestioning joy and contentment...

The scent of the flowers was so heavy, like the decay of blossoms at their utmost flowering, stirring dread and fear in the heart.

He broke into a run toward the outside...

A peal of thunder rolled, and the rain came down in sheets... Dou Yan was startled awake by the stirring beside her, and through her drowsiness heard her grandmother giving orders to Honggu: "...Go and see whether the foals in the stable have been frightened. See whether the kitchen windows are shut. The straw in the woodshed must be gathered up too, so the rain does not spoil it."

Honggu answered with a yawn, threw on her clothes, and went out.

Grandmother turned back, saw Dou Yan burrowing about under the quilt, and smiled and patted her lightly. "Shouyuan, don't be afraid. Aunt Cui is here!"

Dou Yan, instead, woke fully.

She stared up at the roof beams, a flicker of blank bewilderment crossing her face.