Chapter 79 — A Visit (Bonus Update for 630 Pink Votes)

"What brings you to see your great-aunt today?" the Second Matriarch asked with a beaming smile, taking Dou Yan's hand. The senior maids on duty in her chambers brought out melon and fruit, tea, and pastries, all smiles as they attended to Dou Yan.

Dou Yan nodded her greetings to the maids and told the Second Matriarch about her trip to Zhending Prefecture to offer incense for Bie Gangyi: "...When you see a good deed through, you see it through to the end. The two elder Bie sisters had no one to rely on, so I gave Bie Gangyi my word that if he passed from his illness, his two daughters could come to me for shelter. He was still in good health before, so I kept the matter quiet—it would have been inauspicious to speak of it."

The properties of the East and West Dou households were still managed together and had never been formally divided. The Second Matriarch was the highest-ranking woman in the Dou family, so paying her respects first was only proper courtesy—and it would also spare Bie Suxin and Bie Sulan trouble later when they moved about the inner quarters.

The Second Matriarch was somewhat taken aback. She pondered a moment. "Does your father know?"

"I thought I would speak to you first," Dou Yan said. "Once you agree, it will not be too late to tell Father. And there is Sixth Aunt as well—once the girls enter the household, I expect we shall have to ask her to teach them the rules."

The Second Matriarch was well pleased. "This is a good thing, a deed that accumulates blessings," she said with a smile. "Why would I object? Do as you say—once the forty-nine days of mourning for Bie Gangyi are complete, let the two girls enter the household. Bring them to me then so I may have a look at them."

Dou Yan assented and chatted idly with the Second Matriarch a while before rising to take her leave.

"First she wanted to open a shop of her own, then she settled the Cui family in that shop. And now she has taken in two 'loyal servants,'" Dou Zhen said to his mother. "What do you make of it?"

The Second Matriarch brushed the tea leaves in her cup with the lid and said mildly, "Whoever is prodding her on, a single shop and a few people will hardly satisfy her—there will be more moves to come. We must not be impatient. For now, we watch and wait."

Dou Zhen nodded respectfully.

Dou Yan went to Lady Ji's quarters.

Wu Shan had been fetched home by his family for the New Year. The sun shone warm over the courtyard, and Dou Yong sat alone in the yard, attended by his personal page, writing Spring Festival couplets.

This was a rule handed down from Dou Huancheng's generation.

Dou Huancheng had retired and returned home at sixty. To others he seemed a man blessed by fortune—successful in the examinations as a youth, with children and grandchildren around him, and at sixty still sharp of ear and clear of eye. So every Spring Festival, many kinsmen and old friends came seeking couplets, hoping to catch a share of Dou Huancheng's good fortune and a propitious omen. Dou Huancheng was a warmhearted neighbor by nature and never refused a request, supplying his own paper and ink to write couplets for others. Over time, more and more people came seeking them, until Dou Huancheng's strength could not keep up, and his two sons and three grandsons all pitched in. Eventually it grew into a custom: any son of the Dou clan whose calligraphy reached a modest standard could write couplets for the villagers at Spring Festival—and this became an important mark of whether a Dou youth had made progress in his studies.

Last year, Dou Yong and Dou Huaide had both become eligible to write couplets.

"Where is Twelfth Brother?" Dou Yan asked in surprise.

Dou Yong, drenched in sweat, seized the moment as he looked up to answer to pull out a handkerchief and wipe his brow. "Fourth Sister, perfect timing—hurry and help me find Zhi! The two of us have four hundred couplets to write today. How am I supposed to finish them all alone?"

Was the sweat from panic or from the heat?

"Once I've paid my respects to Sixth Aunt, I'll help Eleventh Brother look for him," Dou Yan said. "Anyway, Eleventh Brother cannot manage this all at once."

The warm curtain over the main room stirred. Caishu came out smiling.

She bent her knee in a curtsy to Dou Yan and said with a smile, "The mistress said she thought she heard Fourth Miss's voice, and we all told her she must have misheard—who would have guessed Fourth Miss really had come." As she spoke, she turned and lifted the warm curtain to usher her in. "How is Lady Cui? The narcissus and wintersweet Fourth Miss sent our mistress last time have all bloomed—the whole room is fragrant. The mistress is ever so fond of them!"

Because of Lady Ji, the maids and serving women of the sixth branch all held Aunt Cui in great respect.

"She is very well," Dou Yan said, and followed Caishu into the hall, where she was greeted at once by the two pots of wintersweet she had sent last time—golden blossoms translucent and clear as the finest yellow jade, cool and serene.

The warm curtain of the inner room was thrown wide, and Ji Wan emerged, attended by Cailan, wearing a brocade over-jacket patterned with peach-pink treasure vases. Seeing Dou Yan had on only a pale violet woolen cloak, she took her hand and scolded fondly, "Child, you might have put on more. Your hands are icy." She had a maid bring her own hand warmer to Dou Yan, then led her into the inner room. "I was just about to go to you," she said, then asked, "Are your New Year goods all in readiness over there?"

"With Aunt Cui about, of course they were ready long ago," Dou Yan said, and climbing onto the kang with Lady Ji, she recounted all that had happened these past days.

Ji Wan said, "You child, you are indeed a fortunate one. Taking in those two sisters will do your reputation good—you should do more such things in the future. Even if the people you take in for a time prove troublesome, once the fuss dies down there will be ways to send them off. You need not worry." She added, "As for the shop, it does no harm if you lose a few thousand taels at the start—so long as you break even before you marry. We are not after the profit."

All for the sake of a good name.

Dou Yan felt her cheeks burn.

Lady Ji chuckled and asked her, "Have you reported this to the Second Matriarch in person?"

"I went to the Second Matriarch first, and only then came to you."

"Good." Ji Wan said, "Old people most resent it when the young fail to show them respect. In future, whatever business you have, tell the Second Matriarch more often."

Dou Yan had long understood this, but she still nodded with a smile.

When she came out of Lady Ji's room, Dou Huaide had already returned and was bent over writing couplets alongside Dou Yong.

"Where did Twelfth Brother slip back from?" Dou Yan asked, watching the gentle sunlight fall on them, and went over to help grind ink—and catch some sun herself while she was at it.

"I went to the latrine," Dou Huaide said. "I did not go anywhere else."

Really?

Dou Yan looked toward Dou Yong.

Traces of anger still lingered on Dou Yong's face, yet he said, "He came back a while ago!"

What devilry was this fellow up to?

He had been behaving oddly for days now.

Still—with Dou Yan keeping an eye on him, nothing serious should come of it.

Grumbling inwardly, Dou Yan returned to the West Manor.

After the Lantern Festival passed, so too did the forty-nine days of Bie Gangyi's mourning. The Bie sisters packed up their things and set out for the West Dou household.

Ganlu and Sujuan hurried over to help them pack.

Seeing that though they wore no red they were not in mourning white either, Dou Yan said, "The Second Matriarch in the East Manor keeps rather strict rules, but the rest you need not trouble yourselves overmuch about."

Chen Yanzhou had made inquiries about Dou Yan back when he sought her help. They had also learned a little about Dou Yan's circumstances.