Chapter 101 — Trance (Bonus Update for 900 Pink Votes)

When Ji Yong said this, there was not a trace of a smile in his eyes.

He must still be nursing a grudge over her saying last time that he was "lacking in propriety," wasn't he?

Who would have thought he was so petty—the sort who never forgets an insult and always pays it back.

Dou Xin said, "So you're going to Zhaojue Temple to eat vegetarian food! I won't be going. The New Year is almost here, and there's a mountain of things to do at home!"

Her answer clearly displeased Ji Yong greatly; a cold sneer even surfaced on his face.

Dou Yan pretended not to see it and spoke to the brothers Dou Yong and Dou Huaide: "How are Fifth Uncle and Fifth Aunt? And did my father send back any word?"

Dou Yong answered, "Fifth Uncle and Fifth Aunt are both well. Tenth Sister-in-law is about to give birth, and Fifth Aunt is hoping it will be a girl—first the blossom, then the fruit. Father found Fifth Uncle's place too noisy, so in the ninth month he moved to Heming Temple Alley to live with Seventh Uncle. On his days off, Father goes antiquing near Puji Temple, and Seventh Uncle goes to Tianning Temple to hear the dharma preached. My father has grown fatter round the middle, and Seventh Uncle is just the same as ever..."

Among the cousins, Dou Bochang, sixth in seniority, was Fifth Uncle's eldest son, and Dou Jichang, tenth in seniority, was Fifth Uncle's second son. Dou Bochang had married the granddaughter of Cai Bi, a scholar of the Hanlin Academy, and had already fathered two sons; Dou Jichang had married the daughter of Guo Xun, Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. She had met these two cousins-in-law a few times in her previous life but had never been close to them, and in this life she had not seen them even once—Cai had conceived as soon as she entered the household, and Fifth Aunt, fearing that the jolting of the road might disturb the pregnancy, had kept her from traveling; then she gave birth twice more in succession, and it was never convenient for her to return home to pay respects to the ancestors. Guo had been in the household four years without any sign of child. She could have returned home, but with Cai ahead of her, she could hardly come back.

Hearing Dou Yong's words, Dou Yan now learned that she was with child. Remembering that in her previous life she had borne a daughter and then nothing more, with the forceful sister-in-law Cai before her and the concubine Bai, who had borne four sons in a row, behind her—even though her father had eventually risen to Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, a proper second-rank official, in all her life she had never once been able to raise her voice in the Dou household—Dou Yan felt a surge of pity. She smiled and said, "So Tenth Sister-in-law is about to have a little one. Shall I make a few little clothes for the baby and have someone bring them over?"

"Wonderful!" Dou Yong laughed. "Father told us to go to the capital with Mother again after the New Year. Fourth Sister, why don't you come with us then?"

With Sixth Aunt?

Dou Chi turned to look at Lady Ji.

Lady Ji could not hide the joy at the corners of her eyes and brows and asked Dou Yong eagerly, "Did your father say that?"

Dou Yong nodded. "Yes. Father also told me to bring a letter back for Mother. I was in such a hurry to pay my respects to Grandmother just now that I haven't had a chance to give it to you."

At these words Lady Ji's smile grew even brighter, and she shot a glance at Granny Wang, who had accompanied Dou Yong and Dou Huaide to the capital.

Granny Wang nodded with a smile.

.

She said to Dou Yan, "It's been some years since you last saw your father, hasn't it? Why don't you come to the capital with us this time? We'll be staying at the Ji family's house in Sitiao Alley. We'll stay at most half a month and then come back..."

That is to say, there would be no need to meet Wang Shuying, nor any need to pay a visit to the Wang family.

Dou Chi wanted to return to the capital.

The Jining Marquis's residence was only three streets away from Sitiao Alley.

She had no wish to encounter old acquaintances again.

"I'd better not go," she said with a smile. "Dou Ming is still at home..."

Ji Yong suddenly said coldly, "Is it that you want to look after Dou Ming, or that you don't want to stay at the Ji family's house?"

Even if she did not want to stay at the Ji family's house, that was perfectly reasonable, wasn't it?

Dou Yan pretended not to hear and went on smiling at Lady Ji. "And there's Aunt Cui—she loves pork belly best of all. If I'm not there to keep an eye on her, no one can stop her."

Lady Ji took it that she truly did not want to run into Wang Shuying. Feeling somewhat disappointed, she stopped pressing Dou Yan and laughed the matter off. "The capital is full of rare and wonderful things. What would you like? I'll bring it back for you."

Dou Yan thought of how Suling loved nest-thread candy, and did not stand on ceremony with Lady Ji. She smiled and said, "Then I'll trouble you to bring back two packages of nest-thread candy for me... and the eight great delicacies from Fuxiang Studio, bring ten boxes or so, I want to give them as gifts... and some preserved fruits from Lin's shop too—plums, apricots, olives, winter melon rind... two packages of each."

"Aren't you afraid of crushing the carriage!" Lady Ji chuckled, though a flicker of puzzlement passed through her heart.

Dou Yan had never been to the capital. How was it that she could rattle off the local specialties of the capital as if counting her own treasures?

Could it be that Dou Ming had shown off in front of her, and that was why she had deliberately asked for these things?

A pang of heartache ran through Lady Ji. She took Dou Zhiwei's hand. "But don't worry. I'll bring everything back for you, not a single thing missing."

Everyone burst out laughing—everyone except Ji Yong, whose face was cold.

Dou Yong, rare for him, even teased Dou Yan: "Fourth Sister, do you want clothes and jewelry? I hear the East Market Street in the capital is full of shops selling such things, and I've never been there myself. Why don't you ask Mother to bring you a few pieces of clothing and jewelry too? With fewer people to carry things, Mother will surely make us brothers go along..."

The atmosphere in the room was warm and harmonious.

Even so, Dou Yan's ignoring of Ji Yong and Ji Yong's icy expression toward Dou Zhiwei lent this warm current a faintly strange flavor.

He Yu looked at Dou Yan, then at Ji Yong, and a flicker of interest passed through his eyes.

A provincial graduate who had taken first place at thirteen, of the Ji family's direct line, praised again and again by his father, who had even set up a banquet at home especially to entertain him when he learned he was coming to the capital.

Learned and modest, gentle and refined, like the sun of winter, warm and comforting—Ji Jianming, Ji Yong, whose scholarship and bearing alike were lavishly praised by the scholars of the capital—that he should fly into a rage because Miss Dou Yan paid him no notice? Who would believe it if word got out?

The corners of He Yu's mouth curved slightly. He lowered his head and took a sip of tea, but his mind flashed back to the first time he had seen Dou Yan.

The morning light shone on her smooth forehead, where fine beads of sweat glistened, translucent and bright as dewdrops. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes bright and spirited, and she was like a flower blooming with abandon, more dazzling than the glow of dawn across the sky.

A sudden trance came over his heart.

He Yu could not help comparing Dou Yan with the several sisters in his own household.