Chapter 106 — The Wu Family

Dou Zhiwei was speechless.

She gave a light cough, intending to offer Ji Yong a few more words of advice. But before she could open her mouth, she heard a cold scoff from Ji Yong, laden with disdain and contempt: "Some people have no ability of their own, yet they're forever blaming others for not being polite enough to them. I despise that sort more than anything!" His tone lacked the aggressive bite he usually brought to his mockery, but the words were just as caustic and cutting.

Fine. So she had spoken out of turn and misjudged the man!

Dou Yan resolved that from now on, she would never again play the lute to a cow.

She asked Ji Yong, "What did you want to see me about?" Her manner had turned cold.

Ji Yong, unbothered, rubbed his nose and said lazily, "You really don't want to marry He Yu, do you?"

Dou Yan's heart gave a jolt, but she betrayed nothing. "What makes you say that?"

"Otherwise, why would you scheme against me?" he said, slow and deliberate.

A thousand waves crashed through Dou Yan's heart at once. She barely managed to keep from leaping out of her seat, but her face had already gone ugly beyond concealment.

Ji Yong nodded, smiling broadly, seemingly in excellent spirits. "Still," he said leisurely, "seeing as we're family, I'll help you out this once." He looked utterly unconcerned.

Dou Yan was aghast.

Ji Yong had already risen and left the flower hall.

Dou Zhiwei pressed a hand to his forehead.

What on earth did this Ji Yong mean by that?

He was the cherished jewel of the Ji family, favored by the elders and revered by the younger generation. Never mind someone like him, who could draw on the Ji family's resources and bask in its prosperity; even his sixth aunt would, at a time like this, sort out the primary from the secondary and stand unwaveringly with the Dou family—the family on which her son depended for his livelihood, the family that would offer her sacrifices after her death—rather than the Ji family that had borne and raised her. How could he possibly abandon the Ji family to help her?

It would be tantamount to betraying his own interests!

And yet, from what she knew of him, his words and manner might often make a person want to spit blood in fury, but he had never once gone back on a promise...

Or was he merely here to mock her?

Dou Yan carefully replayed the earlier clues.

Apart from a few sarcastic jabs when Dou Qiguang was mentioned, he had behaved quite normally the rest of the time.

Could he have come to flaunt his superiority over her?

Then why bother saying he would help her...? That didn't fit either.

Dou Yan sat there shaking her head.

Suddenly, Ji Yong went and came back again.

"Oh, right," he said, grinning. His smile was dazzling and stinging all at once. "There's one more thing I forgot to tell you. That accountant of yours is really quite good—but compared with me, he falls far short. Next time something like this comes up, why not consult me? I'd wager I'm more useful than he is."

Dou Yan could not keep her face from turning ashen.

But Ji Yong looked as though he had witnessed some long-awaited marvel. With a satisfied roar of laughter, he swaggered off.

Dou Qu called out loudly for "Suxin": "Ask Old Chen to come over. I have important matters to discuss with him."

※※※※※

The Wu family's residence in the capital stood in the Fang family lane of Chongjing Ward, near Anding Gate in the north of the city.

To its north lay the Imperial College and the Confucian Temple. To its south stood the Kaiyuan Monastery; to its west, Anding Gate Street. Quiet amid the bustle, it was a fine place for study. Scholars from out of town who came to the capital liked to rent lodgings in the vicinity, and property prices in Chongjing Ward had always remained high.

This particular house, however, had been purchased by the family's forebears in earlier years. A small two-courtyard dwelling, it boasted crabapple and pomegranate trees, with a grape trellis in the middle of the yard. In a large blue-and-white fish basin, several goldfish flicked their tails, darting among the water weeds. Every corner breathed the affluent, easy atmosphere of domestic life.

Old Madam Wu and her daughter sat on the beauty's seat beneath the covered walkway, doing needlework and listening to the bright drone of recitation drifting from the west wing. Her brows knit into the character "chuan."

Wu Ya looked up and saw her mother's face full of gloom once more. Puzzled, she said, "Mother, what's been the matter with you these days? Why do you always look so worried?" Then, teasing her mother, she added, "I've been so well behaved—has my brother done something wrong again? Tell me, and I promise not to tell Father. I'll help you give him a good lesson!"

"Silly child." Old Madam Wu could not help stroking Wu Shan's dark, silky hair.

The New Year had passed, and her daughter was fourteen now. It was time to start discussing a match.

Her son had scarcely spoken since that affair. Where he once used to chat and laugh with her, the exchanges between mother and son had now hardened into an unchanging litany: "Hungry?" "No." "Anything you'd like to eat?" "No." "Did you sleep well?" "Yes." She had mentioned their son's odd behavior to her husband, but he thought it a good thing: "Shan'er has grown up. He's become steady and composed."

She had no choice but to tell her husband what had happened at the Dou household. Yet she dared not breathe a word about their son—she only said that she herself had taken a fancy to Dou Yan.

"Preposterous! Preposterous!" Her husband flew into a rage. "A matter this grave, and you didn't consult me first! Their Fourth Miss is not like other young ladies of good family. When that daughter of the Wang family was elevated to wife, the Dou and Zhao families had a prior understanding: the Wang family was not to meddle in the Fourth Miss's marriage, for fear she might suffer at the hands of the Wangs or of Dou Juan. Do you think it would be easy for Yuanji to meddle? Heaven knows what maneuvering he had to do behind the scenes just to agree to you—and you dismissed it all with one word, 'unsuitable'! Where were you when you should have spoken up? How do you think this makes Yuanji feel? To tell me only now... I must go and apologize to Yuanji at once!" Then he shot her a glare and said in a loud voice, "And you will write a letter of apology to the Second Dowager. For a single word from you, the man has likely worn his legs to stumps."

At the thought of it, Old Madam Wu felt as if a hammer were being driven into her forehead, a dull buzzing ache.

Had she known it would come to this, she should have gritted her teeth and refused her son outright, sparing them all the troubles that followed.

Though Dou Yuanji wore an air of complete indifference, she did not believe they truly bore no grudge. She no longer visited the Dou household as she once had.

As she sat pondering, a young maid came to announce that Lord Wu had returned from his official duties.

Old Madam Wu smoothed her garments and went with her daughter to greet him.

Wu Songnian was about fifty, tall and imposing, with a stern countenance. At the sight of his young daughter, a warm smile crept unbidden into his eyes.

"Where is Shan'er?" The reading stopped, and the courtyard fell quiet.

"He was reading here just a moment ago!" Wu Ao's voice had scarcely faded when the door of the west wing creaked open and Wu Shan, hearing the commotion, stepped out.

"Father!" He bowed respectfully to Wu Songnian; in his every gesture there was less of a young man's sharp edge and more of a mellowed restraint.

Wu Songnian nodded again and again, and asked with a smile about his studies.

Wu Shan answered each question in turn.

And so the two stood in the courtyard discussing scholarship.

Wu Ya tugged at her mother's sleeve.