Chapter 215 — Within Earshot

The Shunfu Prefectural School Lane beside the Ying Estate of the Duke Who Guards the Realm took its name from the prefectural school of Shunfu, which stood there. For that reason, Jianzi Alley was packed shoulder to shoulder with stalls and shopfronts selling every sort of snack. Among them was a wonton shop called Mao's, where the wontons were made with wrappers thin as paper and fillings generous, served with tiny fish and shrimp in a broth of remarkable savor. Now and then he would go to Mao's for a bowl and a few words with the shopkeeper, a fellow native of Jiangnan, and at once his homesickness would scatter like mist, and his heart would feel considerably lighter.

By the time he came out of the Osmanthus Fragrance Courtyard, the lamps were already being lit.

Tao Jun hesitated a moment, then went to Mao's Wonton Shop.

Business there was as brisk as ever; not a seat was empty.

Beneath the dim yellow lamplight, the clamor of voices and the thick swirl of steam blurred every face into indistinction.

Yet the owner of Mao's spotted Tao Jun at a glance.

Smiling, wiping his hands on his apron, he came over. "Master Tao, the usual? Shall I set up a table for you by the back door?"

Tao Jun smiled and thanked him.

The owner of Mao's went himself to arrange the table and brought a bowl of wontons to set before Tao Jun.

Tao Jun took a sip of the broth.

From the neighboring seat came the low murmur of two men talking.

"...Truly? But the Dou family are scholars. How could they ever agree to sisters swapping grooms?"

"Why would I lie to you? The Dou family's Fourth Miss and Fifth Miss are born of different mothers. Word is there was no time to prepare, so the Fifth Miss went to the altar with the Fourth Miss's dowry. Now the Fifth Miss has married into the Jining Marquisate in the Fourth Miss's place and become its lady, so naturally the Fourth Miss wants her dowry back. I was there helping carry it out myself. As if I wouldn't know!"

"I heard that when the Dou family marries off a daughter, the dowry comes to twenty thousand taels. Taking that back—surely the Jining Marquis has come out the loser?"

"Loser? What nonsense! Those twenty thousand taels came from the family's common purse. The Fourth Miss merely took back what her own mother had left her. All told, it can't have come to more than one or two thousand taels. And the Fifth Miss's maternal grandfather is Wang Yousheng, the Yunnan provincial governor—you know, the one who wins every battle wherever he marches. Now that the Fourth Miss has reclaimed what her mother left her, the Fifth Miss's mother and the Wang family will surely give her a great heap of silver as a bridal gift. When you reckon it up, the Jining Marquisate has come out ahead!"

At this, Tao Jun could not keep from turning to look.

The speakers were two men in coarse cloth and short jackets, broad-shouldered and dark-skinned. One had an honest face, the other a shrewd one, but both had hands thick with calluses, dirt lodged in the seams of their nails—plainly men who made their living by hard labor.

He could not help cupping his hands to them and calling them "worthy brothers." "What you speak of," he said, "is that the Dou family of Northern Zhili? The household of His Excellency Dou Wenhua?"

Dou Bingheng had served as a Grand Secretary of the Wenhua Hall and for many years as a senior official in the Ministry of Personnel, and those who had benefited from his patronage were beyond counting. In the scholarly world, out of respect, men called him merely "Lord Dou of the Pavilion"...

Seeing Tao Jun dressed as a scholar, the two men knew they had met a man of letters and rose quickly to return his salute, murmuring "not at all, not at all." "It is indeed the household of Lord Dou, Minister of Justice and Grand Secretary of the Wenhua Hall," they said.

Tao Jun noted that though their clothes were rough, their manners and speech showed a fair knowledge of propriety. Recalling what they had said, he understood them to be men accustomed to taking on outside work for great households, and his manner grew all the more genial. "A cold night and nothing to do," he said with a smile, "and I found your talk so diverting that I quite forgot myself. I hope you two won't take it amiss."

"Not at all, not at all!" they said hurriedly and respectfully. The shrewd-faced one even added, "From your tone, sir, you must be well acquainted with the Dou family. What would you like to know? We'll tell you all we know and leave nothing out."

The honest-faced one, however, looked displeased and gave his companion a kick. Yet the shrewd-faced one pretended not to notice and eagerly invited Tao Jun to sit at their table.

Tao Jun took it all in and smiled. "Better that you two come sit by me. It's quieter over here."

The honest-faced one hesitated, but the shrewd one was delighted beyond measure and, carrying his half-finished bowl of wontons, sat down at Tao Jun's side. The honest one's eyes betrayed a helpless resignation, and he had no choice but to follow.

Tao Jun smiled. "With us sitting together, the owner will have a table free to seat others and earn a few more coppers."

The shrewd-faced one assented again and again, and at those words the honest-faced one's expression eased as well.

Tao Jun addressed himself mostly to the honest-faced man. "You said you helped carry the dowry of the Dou family's Fourth Miss. What exactly happened?"

The man replied honestly enough: "With a thing like that, everyone's face is bound to suffer somewhat. After the bride returned home and paid her respects to the family, the Dou household took advantage of nightfall to move back the things the Fourth Miss's own mother had left her for her dowry. They were short-handed, and since I often do rough work for the Dou family, they called me in to lend a hand. Besides our wages, they gave each of us a tael of silver. So here I am, just finished with the work, treating my brother here to a bowl of wontons."

Cheap as Mao's wontons were, for men like them who lived by hard labor, eating a bowl like this counted as a small luxury.

Tao Jun nodded and smilingly asked about the matter of the swapped sisters.

The shrewd-faced one could spin ten sentences from a single question, but all he knew was secondhand from the honest man's account, and strain as he might he could produce nothing more. The honest-faced one knew a good deal, but he was like an oil lamp with a copper wick: prod him and he brightened, leave him be and he went dark. Tao Jun paid for both their wontons and had the shopkeeper bring a jug of laobaigan and four dishes to go with the wine, and there at the back door of the wonton shop he drank slowly with the two of them until the second watch drum, when they went their separate ways.

Once the wind struck him, Tao Jun felt the wine go to his head.

Steadying himself against the wall, he made his slow way into the lane beside the Ying Estate of the Duke Who Guards the Realm.

The guard at the side gate saw him and hurried over to support him, fawning, "Master Tao, where have you been? Why didn't you have a young servant go with you? It's pitch dark—what if you'd knocked yourself against something? Where would the Duke's affairs be then?"

Tao Jun chuckled and rewarded the guard with a small piece of broken silver. "For your wine!"

The guard's eyes crinkled shut with delight; he thanked him without cease and grew even more solicitous. "Shall I help you back to your room, sir? The Duke sent someone earlier to ask where you'd gone. In future, if you want to go out alone, just tell us, so that if the Duke looks for you we'll know where to find you..."

What business might the Duke have with him? If it were truly urgent, he would have sent men searching everywhere, and learning he had returned to the estate, he would send again.

Tao Jun's head was spinning by now. He gave a vague "mm" and went to his room to rest.