Chapter 365 — Moving House

Lady Ji did not answer.

She thought of Ji Yong.

Some time ago, Old Master Ji had arranged a match for Ji Yong. Before the two families could even meet, the bride's family had reneged, sending word to Old Master Ji that their girl was not so unmarriageable that she must go begging at a man's door. However the Ji family inquired or explained, the other side would not answer; pressed too hard, they got only one sentence: "If you want to know what this is about, ask your family's Tanhua." The match fell through and turned into a feud.

Old Master Ji was beside himself with rage and summoned Ji Yong for questioning.

Ji Yong admitted it readily and said, "I mean to find a wife who suits me. If you go on pairing people off at random like this, I have my own means waiting. Only do not make friends into enemies when it is over."

The speech left Old Master Ji reeling backward.

Ji Yong's father poured out a whole basketful of kind words.

Ji Yong did not budge.

His mother could do nothing. When Lady Ji came home for the New Year visits, she took her aside and complained, begging her to talk some sense into Ji Yong.

Before Lady Ji, Ji Yong restrained himself somewhat, but what he said still made one stamp with fury: "None of you are to meddle in this. When I want to marry, I will marry. Great-grandfather promised me that once I passed the metropolitan examination he would leave my affairs alone. Now I have not only passed, I am serving honestly at the Hanlin Academy. If he means to go back on his word, then I will not keep my promises either. Since my mother has asked Aunt to speak for her, Aunt may as well repeat my words to the Old Master, word for word."

Hearing this, Old Master Ji was downcast.

Speaking privately with Lady Ji, he said, "Tell me — does Jianming still have your fourth girl on his mind?"

With her husband's family on one side and her natal family on the other, how was Lady Ji to answer such a question?

"I should not think so?" She smoothed things over. "You know Jianming's temper as well as I do. If he still had Shouyuan in his heart, he would long since have been scheming to break up her marriage. Why would he be so quiet?"

Old Master Ji thought it over and sighed. "You have a point. That is exactly his temper."

So Lady Ji consoled him: "Some men grow sensible early and some late. Jianming is already a metropolitan graduate of the second rank — surely you need not fear he will fail to find a good wife. You need not worry over this. Perhaps once the year turns, his star of romance will stir."

Old Master Ji nodded. "He is the sort who will not drink unless his head is held down. Best to let this rest for now." And he troubled himself no further over Ji Yong's marriage.

But there was one thing Lady Ji did not dare tell a soul.

When she was leaving for home, Ji Yong had come to see her off, and had asked her: "Does Song Yan treat Shouyuan well?"

At the time she felt her soul fly from her body. She nearly clapped a hand over Ji Yong's mouth, and hurried out, "They are very well. Shouyuan is soon to be a mother. If you do not believe it, go and ask." Then she climbed into the carriage in haste.

Could Ji Yong truly have set his heart on Shouyuan?

If so, it would be a difficult business.

Ought she to say something to Dou Yan?

But if she did, would it become a burden on Dou Yan's mind?

Either way was hard; the whole evening she was in a daze. What lanterns she saw, what snacks she ate, she could not afterward recall clearly. What she did remember was coming home and seeing Lady Han draw a little oiled-paper packet from her sleeve, open it, and pinch out some tidbit to pop into her husband's mouth. The sweetness of the young couple made the onlookers envious.

She could not help thinking of her younger son again.

Ji Lingze would no longer accept anything her son sent her... If only the boy would see the error of his ways.

After all, her son had half Ji blood in his veins too.

How was it that the Ji family had always kept to the straight path, and yet in this generation there had appeared a Ji Yong — and a Dou Huaide besides?

Lady Ji shook her head helplessly.

On the eighteenth of the first month she went to see off Mrs. Zhao and her daughter. Once the seventeenth had passed and the lanterns were taken down, the New Year was over, and her aunt by marriage and Zhao Zhangru were to move to Yuqiao Lane. She had always been on good terms with Mrs. Zhao, and by feeling and by reason alike she ought to see her off. Besides, the Ji family lived in Yuqiao Lane too, so she could introduce Mrs. Zhao to her own elder sister-in-law. A distant relative is no match for a near neighbor; with the Zhaos living there, the Ji family could lend a hand if anything came up.

She had not expected others to arrive before her.

When she got there, Fifth Madam, her daughter-in-law, and Dou Yan had all arrived.

Lady Ji saw that Dou Yan wore a fur jacket of bright red trimmed with black sable, which set off her snow-bright skin and made her look stately and radiant. She went up and took her hand, smiling. "Carrying a child has made you prettier than ever."

Dou Yan laughed and said to Zhao Zhangru, "Elders all like a woman to have a face round as the full moon — plump and prosperous. Sixth Aunt is telling me I have grown fat."

Everyone laughed.

Lady Ji said, "And what is wrong with growing fat? Only when everything goes your way does a body fill out." Then she pinched Dou Zhiwei's cheek and scolded, "You dare make mock of your Sixth Aunt!"

Dou Yan ran to Zhao Zhangru's side, put an arm around her shoulder, and laughed and laughed.

That smile — open, generous, bright as the fine weather of May.

Lady Ji had never seen Dou Yan so cheerful.

Her feelings were somewhat mixed.

She decided to introduce her sister-in-law to Mrs. Zhao another day.

※※※※※

Song Yan's house in Yuqiao Lane was not large, but it was exquisite.

Before the gate stood a hundred-year-old camphor tree; inside, a spirit screen of azurite bearing the character for blessing; in a corner of the wall a clump of bamboo taller than the eaves; furniture of unrelieved black lacquer, glowing and smooth from the years; and in the central hall hung a painting worth a thousand in gold — "A Man Returning Home at Night Through Wind and Snow," by Zhao Yan, master of ink of the previous dynasty.

Even Sixth Aunt, who was particular about food and clothing, could not help but praise it.

Her aunt by marriage, however, seemed a little uneasy. "I never expected the house to be so neat and well appointed. Holding a banquet for us here—I fear we will only spoil it."

Zhao Zhangru was to hold her wedding here.

Dou Xin said, "However fine a house may be, if no one appreciates it, it is like wearing brocade in the dark. Just use it without worry—it will do the place good to air it out."

Everyone laughed again at this.

The house's managing matron hurried forward with the maids and serving women to pay their respects.

When her aunt by marriage saw that Song Yan had even provided coarse serving women for the night watch, she could not help feeling deeply grateful.

The managing matron had been instructed beforehand that the temporary residents here were the mistress's uncle and aunt, and that she was to serve them well. Now, seeing that Dou Yan had personally escorted Mrs. Zhao over, she understood them to be close kin, not some poor relations come to sponge off the family. She grew all the more careful and diligent, daring not be slipshod, and went to the kitchen herself to prepare two of her best dishes to entertain Dou Yan and the others. By the time Dou Yan and the rest had seen her aunt by marriage to Yuqiao Lane, it was nearly noon. Since the managing matron had prepared food, they did not stand on ceremony and stayed to take their midday meal in the house.

They were only a few ordinary home-style dishes, yet they were cooked most deliciously.