Chapter 48 — Reckoning

The Second Dowager hastened to add, "For the better part of this year Shouyuan has been in the care of her Sixth Aunt—you know her Sixth Aunt, a lady of a great family from south of the Yangtze, the most virtuous of women. She takes her everywhere she goes, and so as to look after her at night has even had her sleep in her own gauze-curtained alcove. You need have no worries on that account."

Her tone was a little overdone, and Madam Zhao grew suspicious at the sound of it. But lifting her eyes, she saw that Dou Yan was fair and pretty as could be, and that after a whole summer not so much as a mosquito bite or insect sting marked her. She supposed that this Mistress Ji had indeed taken excellent care of Dou Yan, and that a little self-praise was only human nature.

She bent her knees and made Ji shi a curtsy. "I must thank Sixth Mistress for all her trouble."

Ji shi, however, heard something in it that gave her pause.

So the old lady really did want her to help look after the children of the West Residence.

Dou Yan had caught the Second Madam's drift. She settled into the guest room of the East Dou with her aunt and said to her, "...Grandaunt asked me whether I liked Aunt Six, and whether I wanted Aunt Six to stay with me forever!"

Madam Zhao had no wish to see anyone from the West Dou, so when the Second Madam invited her to rest in the East Dou's guest quarters, she agreed at once.

After hearing what Dou Zhiwei had to say, she kept only Nanny Peng at her side, then took Dou Zhiwei's hand and asked her, "And do you like Aunt Six?"

"I do!" Dou Yan said. "She buys me pretty wooden dolls, and makes me new clothes and new socks, and fans me at night. She paints my nails." With that she held out her little hand for Madam Zhao to see. "Auntie, aren't they pretty?"

Hearing this, Madam Zhao felt a bitterness beyond words.

These were the things a mother ought to do, and now a cousin's wife had done them instead.

Nanny Peng whispered at her side, "If the young miss were to follow that Mrs. Six, it would not be so bad—better, at any rate, than bowing and scraping before Wang Shuying."

"I think so too," Madam Zhao said. "A child takes after whoever raises her; even a servant picked at random from the East Residence would be better than that Wang Shuying. But this matter needs long deliberation. What the Madam's intentions are, I must look into carefully. With half the West Dou fortune as her dowry, Shouyuan is not the Shouyuan she once was."

Nanny Peng sighed. "The master played that hand rather too boldly. I truly fear the young miss will be raised crooked."

"It was the only way left to us!" Madam Zhao sighed as well. "We never imagined the Dou family would actually agree." She paused, then went on: "When the master received the letter from Shouyuan's Fifth Uncle, he said at once that this was trouble. He said that Shouyuan's Fifth Uncle was a man who never spoke rashly; if he told us to take the letter of consent and hurry back, then he must be utterly certain he could make Shouyuan's grandfather accept our terms... And so it proved. Fortunately we had made preparations on two fronts and brought along the fiscal secretary we engaged for the master; otherwise, with only a handful of women and children like us, how could we ever have made clear just how much money the Dou family really has? Which estates yield well? Which shops are losing money? If they fob us off with estates that bring in nothing, I fear we would never even notice. These next few days we shall have a proper tussle with the Dou folk, and let Secretary Tang quietly take stock of the Dou property, so that we are not left groping in the dark and taking the Dou family at their word, while Shouyuan bears the empty name of having 'taken half the West Dou fortune' for nothing."

Just then a little maid spoke from beyond the curtain: "Madam, Gao Sheng's wife from the West Residence has brought several maids and serving women to pay their respects."

Gao Sheng was Dou Huaiying's personal servant.

Madam Zhao found it strange. "If anyone is to pay respects, it should be Yu Ao. What is she doing here, joining the fuss?"

Ever since Zhao Guqiu's death, the Zhao family had felt a deep aversion toward everyone in the West Dou.

Nanny Gu urged her, "Best see her. If you like what she says, listen; if not, pay it no mind."

Madam Zhao nodded.

Nanny Gu went and brought Gao Sheng's wife in.

Gao Sheng's wife was a fair, clean-featured young woman who looked no more than seventeen or eighteen.

With some shyness she made her bow to Madam Zhao and Dou Yan, then drew a thick letter from her bosom. "When the Seventh Master left, he specially instructed my husband to bring this to you."

Dou Yan was startled.

Father—had he known of Fifth Uncle's arrangements all along?

She could not help leaning against her aunt's shoulder, wanting to see what was written in the letter.

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