Chapter 69 — The Chrysanthemum Banquet

"How could anyone read all the books there are?" Dou Xin said. "It's only that Sixth Aunt says works like the *Records of the Grand Historian* and the *Zuo Commentary* can't be taught by anyone less than a great scholar. She only heard our grandfather explain them once, following her brothers. She can recite from the text, but she wouldn't dare to lecture on them."

His grandmother thought this a great pity.

Dou Yan said, "What if we invited an old scholar to teach us at home—what do you think?"

His grandmother hesitated. "What does your father say?"

"If you agree, I'll write to Father," Dou Xin said. "Otherwise, I'm afraid the Second Matriarch will never approve."

"My only misfortune is that I never learned to read," her grandmother said gravely. "Write to your father. If he refuses, we'll go back to the farm—surely their hands can't reach that far?"

When Grandmother had first moved to the farm, Grandfather had drawn up a deed, giving her the farm as her retirement estate; only after her death could the Dou family take it back.

Dou Yan was overjoyed.

She knew that whatever she did, her grandmother would support her without question.

Dou Yan took her grandmother by the hand and went back inside to write the letter to her father.

She had barely set down her brush when Qiukui came in to announce that Lady Ji had arrived.

Dou Yan and her grandmother hurried out to welcome her.

Lady Ji kept apologizing to the grandmother. "How could I let you come out to meet me!"

But the grandmother only smiled. "Shouyuan has been in your care since she was small, and we are endlessly grateful. If you stand on ceremony with me, you make a stranger of yourself."

Since Lady Ji had married into the family, she had seen the grandmother every year and exchanged a few polite words with a smile, but she had never really known her. It was not until Dou Yan proposed bringing the grandmother to live in the house that Lady Ji had sent someone to inquire carefully into the old woman's character, and, satisfied, allowed Dou Yan to keep her company. So after a few pleasantries, she came straight to the point.

When the grandmother heard it was the black chrysanthemums she wanted, she at once led Lady Ji warmly to the flower house. "When would you like them? Give me a day's notice and I'll have them carried over—flowers and plants do best when they take the night dew."

Ji Guan said, "Shouyuan grows her flowers so well—she must have learned it from you?"

"It's Shouyuan who's clever," the grandmother said, her face glowing with shared pride. "I once told her to use dried fish bones to keep the mosquitoes off. Then she saw the stems weren't growing well, and it occurred to her to drop a couple of fish bones beside them—I never would have thought of that myself!"

Lady Ji laughed heartily.

The grandmother pointed out the flowers blooming brightest in the house—the cut-autumn gauze, the wild amaranth, the old-man's-red. "Look how beautifully these are blooming!" Then she insisted on giving Lady Ji a pot of autumn begonias. "Everywhere you go it's chrysanthemums—such a drab color."

Lady Ji saw that the begonias were tender and pink, blooming in dense layers among jade-green leaves, and even before wind or rain had touched them they already wore a delicate, pitiable charm that made them most appealing.

Something stirred in her heart. "Shouyuan," she said, "what else do you grow here?"

Since coming to the capital, Dou Yan had not touched a farming tool again; after marrying into the Jining Marquis's household, whenever she felt restless or out of sorts she liked to tend flowers and plants. She had once raised a two-colored peony with her own hands, and these common blossoms were child's play to her.

She smiled. "Is this for the Double Ninth chrysanthemum feast? I have a pot of Fujian orchid still in bloom—an ordinary variety, but set in the hall to greet guests, it would do well enough."

Lady Ji could not help opening her eyes wide and studying Dou Yan. "I never knew you could grow flowers!"

Dou Yan flushed with embarrassment. "It's only that I'm bold and don't mind the trouble—if this year fails, there's always next year."

"To try and fail and try again is excellent in itself," Lady Ji said, praising Dou Yan without ceasing, until the grandmother was fairly bursting with delight and insisted on giving Lady Ji a camellia planted in a purple-clay pot. "...I hear it can put out flowers of every color."

Lady Ji was astonished. "The Eighteen Scholars?"

Dou Yan smiled modestly. "It was only transplanted last year and has never bloomed—I can't say whether it will bear eighteen blossoms."

Lady Ji at once instructed the sturdy maids carrying the pot: "Careful, now!" Then she asked Dou Yan, "How should it be tended?"

"Best to set it before a window lattice with glazed panes, and water it every two or three days depending on how moist the soil is. The water mustn't be stale—letting it settle for a day or two is best." Dou Yan realized there was a great deal to explain, and simply said, "Don't I come to your rooms every morning for lessons? I'll look after it for you then."

"That would be perfect." Lady Ji beamed. "I can learn from you how to care for this Eighteen Scholars—my grandfather adored camellias; my maiden home in Yixing was planted all over with every kind of camellia, in bloom the whole year round."

Different varieties of camellia bloom in different seasons, and listening to her, Dou Yan could well imagine the splendor.

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Dear sisters and brothers who read this, my apologies—I didn't expect to get carsick, and I had to lie down a while before I had the energy. Let me post the bonus chapter first; once I've eaten I'll write the regular update.

I will finish today's quota no matter what, but I can't promise a fixed time, so best to read it when you get up tomorrow morning!

o(n_n)o~

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