Chapter 24 — Schemes

Wang Shuying put on a gentle smile. "Have the Third Madam and Concubine Ding gone?"

Dou Huaiying gave a sound of assent and said, "Shouyuan is still little. All she knows is that when she takes a liking to something she must go and touch it, give it a hug. You shouldn't make such a fuss over it again."

"I..." Wang Shuying stopped, wanting to speak but holding back.

Dou Huaiying had never known any real setback from childhood on; a man like that could only be handled with a soft touch.

"It is I who was too nervous," she admitted her fault generously, and had the wet nurse bring her daughter over. "Look, Seventh Master, do the girl's eyebrows not resemble yours?"

Dou Huaiying looked closely and smiled faintly. "They do resemble mine a little."

Wang Shuying sighed then, and gently stroked her daughter's sparse hair, her eyes red as she said, "You have no idea how dangerous it was just now... the girl nearly did not survive! Thank goodness the Third Madam was there... Seventh Master, would you ask the Old Master to give the girl a childhood name? Let the girl share in the Old Master's good fortune."

Dou Huaiying nodded, his tone gentle. "I understand. You need not trouble yourself over these matters. Rest well; your health is what matters most. The girl has not only the people sent by Third Aunt but Concubine Ding as well. Nothing will happen to her!"

Wang Shuying nodded meekly.

Dou Huaiying rose to his feet. "You must be tired too. Rest for now. I am going back to my study."

Wang Shuying was slightly taken aback. "You... you won't stay a while longer?"

"I still have lessons I have not finished. I will come to see you later."

Wang Shuying had no choice but to let Matron Hu see Dou Huaiying out.

Dou Huaiying stood at the gate of Qixia Court, at a loss as to where to go.

Seeing Wang Shuying, he would think of how Guqiu had died.

He simply could not talk and laugh with Wang Shuying as though nothing had happened.

Then he would go to Father and seek a childhood name for his second daughter!

Dou Huaiying went to the Hall of Crane Longevity.

Dou Duo lay on the reclining chair in his study, a scroll in hand, staring into space.

Learning of Dou Huaiying's errand, he dipped his brush and wrote two large characters: "Shouyuan shall be named 'Zhao', and the little one shall be named 'Ming'!" As he spoke, he heaved a deep sigh.

Dou Huaiying said nothing. He sent the sheet of rice paper bearing the character "Ming" to Qixia Court, and himself carried the sheet bearing "Zhao" to the principal chambers.

Dou Chi was there.

Yuzan said, "The Fourth Miss has gone to the small Buddhist hall." Fearing Dou Huaiying might blame her for not attending upon Dou Yan, she quickly explained, "Tuo-niang is with the Fourth Miss."

Dou Huaiying went to the small Buddhist hall.

Dou Chu sat alone on the high threshold of the small Buddhist hall, her chin propped on her hand, gazing at her mother's spirit tablet.

The setting sun cast her shadow into the room, drawing it out long and thin.

Dou Huaiying's eyes stung, and his chest felt as though someone had struck it a blow, aching and stifled.

"Shouyuan!" He sat down beside his daughter. "Why are you sitting here?"

Dou Huaiying's voice was gentle as the spring breeze of March.

Dou Yan turned her head and gazed at her father. "I miss Mother!"

She had not understood before why her mother had taken her own life.

The way Mother must have felt, seeing Father and Wang Shuying so happy and harmonious together, was surely the same as the way she herself had felt when she heard Wei Fanyang praise Dou Ming, was it not?

Her daughter's clear, limpid eyes reflected his image.

Dou Huaiying was suddenly overcome with a sense of his own unworthiness, and could scarcely bring himself to meet her gaze.

Since her father said nothing, Dou Yan had no interest in playing the doting child to amuse him.

Her mood was thoroughly glum.

Looking at the newborn Dou Ming, she thought of Dou Xiao, who would be born in a couple of years.

She had already tried her utmost to save her, yet her mother had hanged herself in the end. Could it be that the affairs of this world are foreordained and can never be changed?

In her previous life, her mother had died, and her father had remarried at once, afterward fathering children with Wang Shuying. What, then, had her mother's death been to him?

A breeze drifted past, and the bronze bells hanging beneath the eaves of the little shrine's corridor chimed softly, distant and serene.

Dou Yan thought of what the man beside her had once done, and in that instant could not bear to stay another moment.

She rose in agitation.

Then her father's low voice reached her ear: "Shouyuan, I miss your mother too, so much... so much..."

And then she saw her father bury his face against his knees and weep without a sound.

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Today is Laba. Have you sisters eaten your Laba porridge yet?

O(∩_∩)O~

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