Chapter 10 — Mother

Later, her uncle's eldest daughter, her cousin Zhao Biru, had come to call on her when her husband took up a post in the capital, and Dou Yan had sent her packing with three cups of tea.

A man like that—what could one possibly expect of him?

Dou Yan brooded over it, hidden behind the curtains of the floor screen.

Since her mother had consented to her father taking a concubine, could it be that her stepmother had been raised from concubine to wife?

Yet every time the subject came up, her stepmother declared that she had been "properly and publicly wed into the Dou family, carried in on an eight-man bridal sedan"—and no one ever contradicted her!

Her stepmother might be able to dismiss her mother's loyal servants, might threaten and bribe the Dou household's maids and old women—but surely she could not make the wives of every official of standing in Zhending County shut their eyes and talk nonsense along with her!

Could there have been another woman in between?

No, that did not fit either. Her stepmother had conceived as soon as she entered the house, and her sister Dou Ming was only two years and seven months younger than she was...

The more Dou Yan thought, the murkier it grew.

Hanxiao came in.

"Seventh Mistress," she said cautiously, "the Third Madam has come."

Her mother hastily wiped her tears, and while instructing her to "invite the Third Sister-in-law in at once to talk," she rose to greet her.

Her third aunt entered with a grave expression, flanked by two maids.

At the sight of her mother, her eyes reddened, and taking her mother's hand, she climbed up onto the kang.

The servants in the room discreetly withdrew.

Before Nurse Yu could serve tea, her third aunt said, "I know your heart is heavy. I won't try to comfort you—if you want to cry, then cry it out. But once you've finished crying, you must pull yourself together. Look at the state Seventh Uncle is in—you have hard battles ahead of you!"

"I know!" her mother said, and could not hold back another rush of tears. She did not pour out her grievances, but said to her third aunt with an air of apology, "As for Third Brother, I must beg you to put in a word for me. I was beside myself with anger—that is the only reason I said those things to him. Please ask Third Brother, for the sake of my youth and inexperience, not to hold it against me!"

"Talk like that and you make a stranger of me and your Third Brother," her third aunt said, her own tears falling. "When all is said and done, it is your Third Brother who is in the wrong! If he had not been so reckless, Seventh Uncle would never have kicked up such a fuss..."

"What has Third Brother to do with it?" her mother broke in, sobbing. "They may be no more than cousins, but Third Brother has cared for Wanyuan like his own son. If Wanyuan comes to him with a problem, how could Third Brother stand by and do nothing? When all is said and done, it is still Wanyuan's fault—he lost his head... It is just that I hate it... We grew up together, and by all rights our bond should be closer than that of other husbands and wives. If he wanted to take a concubine, why would he not discuss it with me first? When I would not agree, he knelt in the snow and would not get up... My father-in-law was forty-two when he finally got this only son of his. What does he take me for? Where does that leave me? The thought of it chills my heart..." She buried her face in the kang table and wept again.

"Don't cry, don't cry!" Her third aunt embraced her. "In a lifetime, who does not meet with a ditch or a ridge to cross? Seventh Uncle is still young; he is bound to have his foolish moments. I am not afraid of you laughing at me—your eldest uncle, now, he is a steady, reserved sort, is he not? When he first passed the imperial examination, did he not also follow the fashion and bring out books and take concubines? Your eldest aunt was so furious she wept, too. But a few years on, look at him: once that fit of wildness had passed, he knew that home was best, and he settled down to live with your eldest aunt wholeheartedly. Your eldest aunt is nearly forty, and what do you know—she gave him Lan, a fine boy... From this you can see that sometimes the soft approach conquers the hard; you cannot meet force head-on!"

"I understand everything you say, Third Sister-in-law." Her mother listened, sat up straight, and wiping her tears, said, "But there is one thing I would ask of you." She did not pursue the subject further with her third aunt.

Her third aunt was a little taken aback, and said quickly, "Tell me, tell me. So long as it is in my power to help."

"Since that woman is to enter our household, I must at least get a look at her!" her mother said. "I would like to ask you and eldest sister-in-law to be present as chaperones."

This was the standing rule of great families: even if a wife had consented to her husband taking a concubine, she must first inspect the woman, and if she proved to be some woman of the demimonde or of doubtful character, a wife could refuse her husband's demand without being reckoned "jealous." She was not like some newly risen merchant, all coarse and careless, who could bring a woman home simply because he fancied her.

Her third aunt understood at once. "Good, good, good. I shall go and tell eldest sister-in-law this very moment."

"Then I must trouble you, Third Sister-in-law." Her mother rose to her feet. "I shall go and tell Wanyuan now, and have him fetch the woman from the capital to Zhending."

Her third aunt made no reply, but smiled and patted her mother's hand. "Seventh Sister-in-law has grown up!"

Her tone was half lament, half relief.

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I went to look at the rankings today and found that *Ninefold Purple* has shot up to fifth place on the PK board.

O(∩_∩)O~

Thank you, everyone!

I should be able to hold out for a while now!

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