Chapter 16 — The Plea

"Bodhisattva, if this is nothing but a fleeting dream of millet, I beg you, let me never wake from it!" She prostrated herself devoutly. "If this is a past life come round again, I beg you, grant me the peace to care for my mother until the end of her allotted years!"

The Bodhisattva gazed down upon all living things with a smile, serene, still, loving, and full of compassion.

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When they returned home, the maid Yuzan came in to announce, "The wife from the Wang family of Nanwa has come to visit the Fourth Miss!"

Dou Yan, held in her mother's arms, was momentarily taken aback.

The wife from the Wang family of Nanwa—that would mean Wang Shuying's sister-in-law!

And indeed, she was no stranger to Wang Shuying's two sisters-in-law, Lady Gao and Lady Pang.

Lady Gao's father, Gao Yuanzheng, excelled in calligraphy and had once been a colleague of Wang Xingyi's before serving alongside Dou Yan's father, Dou Huaiying, and her sixth uncle, Dou Heng, in the Hanlin Academy. Raised in a family of deep scholarly tradition, Lady Gao not only wrote a fine hand but had also delved into the Four Books and Five Classics. During the ten years her husband Wang Zhibing accompanied his father Wang Xingyi into exile at Xining Garrison, she managed the household and tended her mother-in-law, and besides that, taught her eldest son Wang Nan his letters. Wang Nan became a xiucai at fifteen, a juren at nineteen, and a jinshi at twenty-one. When the ladies of official families spoke of the Wang family's eldest daughter-in-law, every one of them raised a thumb and called her "virtuous and refined."

Lady Pang, whose given name was Yulou, was originally the daughter of a merchant in town. She was strikingly beautiful, and outstanding in everything from needlework to managing the household and keeping accounts. Her father could not bear to marry her off carelessly; seeing that Wang Zhishao had passed twenty and still had no wife, and admiring both Wang Xingyi's integrity and the Wang family's scholarly standing, he prepared a dowry of five hundred taels of silver and proposed the match himself.

At first Pang Yulou had looked down on Wang Zhishao, who was handsome enough but stolid in his ways. Later, when Wang Xingyi was restored to office, she settled down to married life with Wang Zhishao and wound him so tightly around her finger that he dared not go east when she said west; his father and elder brother's words all came second to Pang Yulou's.

In the past, it was thanks to her that Dou Ji had learned of Wang Shuying's plans and managed to break off younger brother Dou Xiao's marriage.

By her reckoning, Lady Pang should already be married to Wang Zhishao by now.

She only wondered whether it was Lady Gao or Lady Pang who had come this time.

Suddenly, Dou Yan found herself missing Lady Pang a little.

If it were her, given her greed, perhaps she could put on a fine show for Wang Shuying to watch?

Dou Yan smiled to herself, and then she saw Yuzan ushering in Lady Gao, dignified and gentle.

Her interest promptly faded.

Lady Gao had already bent her knees and made a curtsy to Zhao Guqiu. "Seventh Lady, is the Fourth Miss any better?"

She cast Dou Yan a look of concern.

Dou Yan lowered her eyes.

Her mother said flatly, "Many thanks for your concern, Madam Wang. Shouyuan has recovered." Then she instructed a maid to bring a brocade stool for Lady Gao.

Lady Gao thanked her and sat down on the stool, back perfectly straight, and said softly, "I have been away from home for some days now. The New Year is nearly upon us, and there is no one at home but the old and the young. My sister-in-law has only just entered the household, and a mountain of matters awaits me. I am thinking of returning in a day or two. As for Yingxue's affair, I say what I said before: since our family is not providing a dowry, your family need not prepare betrothal gifts either. When you have fixed the date, Madam, just send word to us. Far though the road is, we brothers and sisters-in-law will come to see her off no matter what. And when the time comes, I must trouble you to prepare a couple of extra tables of wine."

She spoke with force and conviction, upright and aboveboard.

Dou Yan was astonished.

If Lady Gao truly possessed such virtue, why was she so stern and righteous about Wang Shuying's affairs?

Her mother smiled faintly, neither agreeing nor refusing, and said only, "Then I shall not see Madam Wang out," the perfunctoriness plain for all to see.

Lady Gao's expression shifted slightly, her breast rising and falling, and only after a long while did she calm herself and say with pointed meaning, "Seventh Lady, why must women make things hard for women? I know my sister-in-law; she is by no means a person without a sense of propriety and shame. If there is bitterness in your heart, you would do well to ask Dou Wanyuan about it. My sister-in-law, too, acted under duress." With that, her face darkened and she turned and left.

Once there was no one else in the room, her mother instantly reverted to her true self. Furious beyond control, she cried, "What did she mean by that? Is she saying that Wang Shuying's plight today was caused by Dou Wanyuan?"

Dou Yan let out a "pfft" and nearly burst out laughing.

You know her, do you? What exactly do you know?

If you truly knew her, then fifteen years from now, why did you refuse to let Dou Ming become your daughter-in-law?

Had Dou Ming's marriage not so abruptly lost its prospect, how would Wang Shuying ever have set her sights on Wei Fan?

I wonder what Wang Shuying said to Gao Shi? She actually got Gao Shi to come forward on her behalf with such righteous confidence.

Dou Yan thought of her younger brother Dou Xiao, five years her junior and two years younger than Dou Ming.

Clearly, she still did not understand this stepmother of hers well enough!

The corner of Dou Yan's mouth curled faintly downward.

In the past, knowing nothing at all, she had still been able to leave Wang Shuying covered in dust and disgrace; now that she knew what was to come and held the answer in her grasp, was she really supposed to fear her?

At these thoughts, Dou Yan's heart warmed.

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My apologies—for reasons unknown, I could not log in, and things have only just returned to normal, so this update is a little late.

⊙﹏⊙b sweat...

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