Chapter 112 — The Enigma

For a time, neither Chen Yanzhou nor Dou Yan had any heart left for further conversation.

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Yet far away in the capital, Dou Huaiying strode out of Dou Bingheng's study with a somewhat grim expression, halted beneath the grape trellis outside, and let out a long sigh.

Dou Heng followed him out and said with a smile, "What is it? Reluctant to part with Shouyuan?"

"Indeed!" Dou Huaiying sighed again, long and deep. "To be another family's daughter-in-law means not only serving one's parents-in-law but managing the household affairs as well. She is still so young—how could she know anything of such things!"

Just now the Wei family had sent a matchmaker to formally propose marriage to Dou Huaiying.

Dou Huaiying was somewhat hesitant.

Was he simply to marry his daughter off just like that?

He came running to discuss Dou Bingheng.

Dou Bingheng only laughed. "And what do you propose to do? Hold an archery contest and let the suitor who hits the screen win the bride? Don't forget—the He family withdrew from the difficulty entirely because the Dou and Wei families had a prior agreement. Now that the He family is no longer pressing for an early marriage, surely you aren't thinking of breaking cleanly with the Wei family? How would we explain that to the He family then?"

"That's not what I meant either," Dou Huaiying said. "I simply don't want to marry Shouyuan off so early. And I have no idea what sort of man this Wei Fan is..."

"Didn't you go and make inquiries at the time? Neither the Sixth Brother nor the Sixth Sister-in-law had a single word against him." Dou Bingheng could not suppress a smile. "Besides, a betrothal is not a wedding. Once the engagement is settled, there's still the trousseau to prepare—waiting two or three years before the bride goes to her husband's house is quite ordinary, and I imagine the Wei family expects as much. You can't keep Shouyuan at home for the rest of her life, can you?"

Say what he might, the thing still sat wrong with him. He hemmed and hawed his way through a few more words with Dou Bingheng, and when he saw Dou Heng arrive, he rose and took his leave—only to have Dou Heng chase after him.

"Come on. Let's go have a drink at my place." Dou Heng had more or less guessed what was weighing on Dou Huaiying's mind, and he pulled him along toward his own house.

Home was cold and cheerless, and Dou Huaiying had no wish to go back there either, so he went with Dou Heng to Mao'er Alley.

On the way he asked Dou Heng, "What did you want with Fifth Brother? Is it something to do with entering the Grand Secretariat?"

He was a little afraid that the matter of Dou Zhiwei's marriage might set the He and Dou families at odds.

"Nothing very important," Dou Heng said. "I heard Fifth Brother was back, so I came to look in on him." These past few days Dou Bingheng had been helping out at the Zeng household. "And don't brood over it. A man must walk his own road; there's no relying on anyone else. I think Fifth Brother understands that as well as anyone. Otherwise he would never have agreed back then to let the He family step forward and fetch the jade pendant back from the Wei family."

Dou Huaiying nodded, and the two of them passed through the suspended-flower gate.

Lady Ji was directing the maids and serving women as they laid out the meal. Seeing the two come in, she quickly called a maid to bring water for them to wash their faces and hands, and sent a serving woman to tell the kitchen to add more dishes.

Dou Huaiying did not stand on ceremony; he changed into one of Dou Heng's robes and came out to eat the midday meal.

Seeing that neither Dou Yong nor Dou Huaide was about, he smiled and asked, "Where have those two brothers gotten to?"

Lady Ji ladled out a bowl of soup for Dou Huaiying and smiled. "They've gone to Yuqiao Alley."

A few people from the Han family of Huzhou had come to look over Dou Yong; they were staying at the Ji household in Yuqiao Alley.

Dou Huaiying then asked about Dou Yong's marriage: "When is the betrothal to be settled?"

Lady Ji was all smiles. "We've looked at several dates, all in the sixth or seventh month. We've already sent them to the Han family to discuss, and should have an answer back within a few days."

Dou Huaiying said with a wistful sigh, "It's better to be taking a wife!"

Dou Heng shot Lady Ji a look, and she understood at once.

At the thought that Shouyuan was soon to be married off, how could her own heart be at ease?

"Fallen as the Wei family may be, they are still a proper marquis household, and Wei Fan is their only son—he was granted the title of heir apparent long ago," she urged Dou Huaiying. "Lady Tian has a fine temper, and the boy is handsome, open-hearted, and honest in his dealings with others. He may be a little flighty still, but what young man these days is not? Our Shouyuan is a clever girl. Once she is married and has time to teach him gently, he will slowly settle into steadiness."

Dou Huaiying nodded slowly.

Neither of them mentioned the Wei family's finances—the property under Dou Yan's name was ample enough for them to squander.

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Sisters, brothers—an urgent matter called me away, so this update is a little late. My apologies.

As for that passage about serving tea to signal a guest's departure, I truly did not pay attention to it; it has been corrected.

o(n_n)o~

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