Chapter 368 — The Maid

Dou Fan could not sleep. She lay with her eyes open until dawn.

Song Yan, seeing her looking so worn, assumed he had disturbed her in the night and said with a smile, "Shall I have a couch set up by the bed tomorrow, and sleep there instead?"

Yet he could not bear the thought of sleeping in separate rooms.

Dou Xin said, "Then I would still have to get up in the middle of the night to check whether your quilt is tucked in properly — even more trouble. Just rest properly in the bed and stop dreaming up one scheme after another."

Having her word for it, Song Ke let his brows rise in a smile.

That smile was warm and gentle, making even the morning air seem brighter.

*****

A few days later, Du Wei came to report to Dou Yan: "What the Li sisters said is all true. Their father's senior fellow disciple did not merely turn bandit — he also abducted the mistress of the Fuzhou Regional Military Commission's vice commissioner and stole that household's silver, and that is how he drew the Embroidered Uniform Guard's attention."

Dou Chi could not help laughing.

Seeing her interest, Du Wei went on: "The Li family was simply unlucky. A provincial graduate named Yin from Wuyi had long had his eye on the Li family's three hundred mu of good farmland and chafed at having no way to lay hands on it. When the Li family ran into trouble this time, that Graduate Yin seized the chance to send a hundred taels of silver to the Fuzhou vice commissioner, and the vice commissioner saddled the Li family with the charge of 'consorting with bandits' and confiscated their property for the state. Fortunately, that vice commissioner is on good terms with Magistrate Chen, and through Magistrate Chen's intercession the family was released on bail, and the three hundred mu of good land was returned to them."

Dou Yan nodded to herself and sent word to Chen Jia, telling him to send Jin Gui and Yin Gui over.

Chen Jia was naturally overjoyed when he heard.

He repeatedly admonished the two Li sisters to be utterly loyal, obedient and clever, and diligent with their hands: "If the madam questions you, you must not do as you did when you met Steward Zhao's wife last time, flinging yourselves at her legs and crying for help — ladies of rank only care to hear pleasant things…" He said everything he could think of. At the last he did not forget to threaten the two girls: "If you slip up in the slightest, I can send your family back into prison just as easily as I got them out." As a result, when the two girls came before Dou Zhiwei, they were still badly shaken, their faces pale.

Su Xin could not help casting Chen Jia a glance.

The two girls were not of a lively disposition, but they had conducted themselves properly enough. How was it that in a few days' time they had wilted like bitter greens, all their spirit gone?

She had no idea what Chen Jia had said to them.

Look at them, shrinking and cowering. Those frightened eyes — compared with last time, they seemed entirely different people, worse than the rough servant girls sent over from the Yingzhenguo Estate. How could such as these attend the madam at close quarters?

She muttered to herself, wondering where to place the two girls if the madam should take a dislike to them.

Dou Fan thought the two girls quite good.

Their skin was somewhat darkened by the sun and their fingers rather rough, but there was a certain uprightness in their brows and eyes. One could tell at a glance they were children raised under family discipline from an early age; with proper guidance, she believed they would soon adapt to life in Yizhi Hall.

Smiling, she asked the sisters about their family.

The younger, Jin Gui, was too timid to speak and hid behind her elder sister.

Though Jin Gui's legs were trembling too, she dared not stay silent, and forcing herself, she stammered out: "Our family has many brothers and few sisters. Both our elder cousins are already married, and only my sister and I are still at home. Besides helping Mother cook for the whole family every morning, we also sweep the courtyard, and wash and mend the clothes…"

Fearing to displease Chen Jia and have her whole family truly thrown into prison, she dared not breathe a word about her family's troubles, much less cry out for justice before Dou Yan.

Dou Yan knew nothing of this, and simply found herself drawn to a child raised in a family of martial tradition. She smiled and asked, "Do you wash and mend clothes for the whole family?"

Jin Gui nodded and said, quaking: "Our family has lived in Wuyi for generations and has never split up the household. There are more than forty of us, all living together, and the washing and cooking are done by my eldest aunt leading us all."

Dou Yan thought for a moment. "When trouble came to your family, were your eldest aunt and the others arrested as well?"

Jin Gui's tears fell in a sudden rush, and she choked out: "Except for my seventh uncle, who took a few of my cousins out to gain experience, all the rest were arrested…"

At this point she longed to beg this noble lady, who had been so kind to her, to rescue her family. But remembering Chen Jia's words, she dared not speak, and could only gaze at Dou Yan piteously, hoping the lady might suddenly be moved by conscience and ask about her family of her own accord.

Dou Yan looked at her and sighed inwardly, then said gently, "You need not worry about your family's affairs. I have already sent people to inquire, and it is nothing serious. Magistrate Chen has stepped forward and cleared your family of the false charge. Everyone has been released from prison, and the confiscated fields have been returned to your family. For now, serve here with peace of mind, and when you are older, you will naturally be released to be reunited with your family."

Jin Gui and Yin Gui wept for joy and knocked their heads on the floor before Dou Yan with a thud, thud, thud.

Dou Yan had Gan Lu help the sisters to their feet and handed them over to Su Xin for training. To the two girls she said, "If you are anxious about your family, you may write letters home, and give them to Stewardess Zhao, who will have someone carry them back to Wuyi for you."

The two girls were stunned for a long moment before they came to themselves, and with a thud they dropped to their knees to kowtow to Dou Yan again, but Su Xin, quick of eye and hand, caught them. The two girls, knowing their own strength, could not help glancing at Su Xin, and seeing her so gentle and delicate, in no way like a martial artist, they were greatly astonished.

Su Xin took the opportunity to lead the two girls away, and told them how to be different from before and set the madam at ease, and also told them what it took to be a proper senior maid…

Jin Gui and Yin Gui listened humbly and took it all in.

Dou Yan set her mind at ease and was discussing Su Xin's marriage with Chen He's mother when word suddenly came: her uncle Zhao Si had come to the capital to report on his official duties, and had already reached Tongzhou.

She was beside herself with joy.

Reckoning carefully, it had been fourteen years since she last saw her uncle.

She wondered how her uncle was faring now.

Was he as he had been in her last life — temples flecked with white, thin and haggard? Or had his changed fate and smooth career left him glowing with vigor and high spirits?

Dou Yan could not wait; she changed her clothes and went straight to Yuqiao Alley.

Her aunt and cousin were directing the maids and serving women to sweep the courtyard, arrange the ornaments, and purchase chickens, ducks, fish and meat, so busy they were spinning in circles.

From the look of things Dou Yan knew her aunt had already received the news, and she asked, "When exactly will Uncle reach the capital? What did his personal attendants say?"

To ensure a smooth journey, personal attendants were always sent ahead to arrange food and lodging and to send word back.