Chapter 157 — A Way

"...the Duke of Ying really did kill all the guards who had escaped, and had the bodies carried before the heir," Chen Yanzhou said with a sigh. "He may have caught wind of something—on the twenty-seventh, nearly every relative and friend of the Ying Estate came. The heir handled himself with perfect propriety; you would never have guessed he was still carrying wounds. The Duke of Ying wore a grave expression, and his face clouded with grief whenever Lady Jiang was mentioned. Only Lord Song the Second did nothing but kneel before Lady Jiang and weep, his eyes swollen from crying. When the feast broke up that evening, the Duke of Ying kept the Third Son-in-Law and the Lu family behind to talk, meaning to ask Old Lady Lu's younger brother, Lu Fuli, to serve as intermediary and divide Lady Jiang's dowry between the heir and Lord Song the Second. To look at them now, the Ying Estate seems all harmony, but Yizhi Hall and the Ying Estate are in truth as distinct as two separate channels. The heir has even quietly had some people settled on the estate at Daxing that was granted him by the Emperor."

"A cunning rabbit keeps three burrows." Dou Yan listened closely, knowing that Song Yan and Song Cen were still keeping up the pretense of a loving father and filial son before the world. Even as she rejoiced that her aim had been achieved, she could not help a touch of melancholy. "Those father and son—from now on it will be either the east wind overpowering the west, or the west wind overpowering the east. Kinsmen turning on one another will play out at the Ying Estate for a long time to come."

At these words, everyone's spirits sank, and the atmosphere in the room grew somewhat oppressive.

Dou Xin was the one to break the gloom: "At least none of this is our concern anymore—we did all we could and all we ought. So long as our consciences are clear, that is enough. What really passed between that father and son—we are outsiders after all. We cannot interfere, and we may not even know."

Her words did not have much effect. Duan Bing smiled, but his expression remained somewhat heavy. It was Chen Yanzhou who understood Dou Zhiwei's intent and laughed: "The heir meant to kill us, and instead we saved his life—so to speak, we returned good for ill. That old debt ought to be settled now. These past days everyone has been unable to eat or sleep for the sake of the Ying Estate's affairs. Now that we are back in Zhending, put all that out of your minds. Go and rest, all of you, and let the young lady retire early as well."

At that, Duan Bing and the others rose with smiles and took their leave.

Dou Yan instructed Duan Bing: "You have all worked hard these past days. Arrange for everyone to take a few days' leave in turn and spend some time with your families."

Duan Bing and the rest thanked her with smiles and left the inner court together with Chen Yanzhou.

Dou Yan sent Sulan to find out when Ji Yong would set out: "...so that we may prepare a farewell gift."

Sulan agreed cheerfully, and came back to report that evening: "They say he leaves at the hour of the dragon tomorrow. The Fifth Young Master is going to the capital with Master Ji as well."

It was unexpected, yet entirely reasonable.

Dou Yan instructed Suxin: "Prepare two hundred taels of silver as a farewell gift for each of them."

Suxin answered and went off.

Early the next morning, Dou Yan and the women of the Dou household saw Ji Yong and Dou Yan off together.

The Second Old Madam admonished Dou Yan again and again: "Do not be anxious. This trip is only to see something of the world. It would be good if you pass, but..." Then she turned to Ji Yong: "Take care on the road, both of you. Consult one another in all things, and arrive safely in the capital, so that I may be at ease!"

The two answered respectfully.

The Second Old Madam saw them to the main gate.

The servants helped the two into the carriage.

Ji Yong caught sight of Dou Yan at once in the crowd.

She wore a Zhaojun head wrap of moon-white plain silk brocade lined with snow-otter, and about it a large snow-otter fur collar. Pearl pendants hung at her ears. In the cold wind, her lotus-like cheeks took on a flush of rouge, like a plum blossom blooming in the snow—all the more vivid and radiant.

Ji Yong could not help clenching his fist.

This time he must not let her look down on him again!

He turned and climbed into the carriage, calling out loudly to his servant: "Set out! We are going to the capital."

The carriage bearing the two of them vanished into the wind and snow.

Everyone went laughing and chatting toward the hall.

Dou Yan walked side by side with Qi, Dou Yan's wife, listening to her Ninth Sister-in-Law tell amusing stories about her son, while her own thoughts turned to her own affairs.

After the New Year, she would come of age.

Wang Qingyuan, the younger sister of Wang Yu, Marquis of Yan'an, was only two months younger than she.

In those days, had she not "appeared" in the nick of time, and had Madam Tian not been mindful of old ties, Wei Fan would have let Wei Wan have his way and married Wang Qingyuan.

The Wang family, it seemed, had also been inclined to marry Wang Qingyuan to Wei Fan.

She still remembered the strange look in the eyes of Hu, Wang Yu's wife, when she had first married into the Jining Marquis household.

Had Wei Wan not, years later, been so vexed with her over some trifle that in her agitation she let something slip, she would likely never have known.

She only wondered whether, given Wei Wan's temperament, the gentle and docile Wang Qingyuan—once married in—would not be despised by her for being too weak and yielding, just as she herself had been despised for being too forceful.

Dou Yan doubted it very much.

Even so, she resolved to start from that quarter.

She remembered that Wang Qingyuan had in the end married the eldest son of Hua Tang, the Regional Commander of the Yuzhou Guard. Within a year she was widowed, and having left no children, and with a domineering younger brother-in-law, she fared miserably in the Hua household. It was Wang Yu who, pitying his sister, forcibly brought her back to the Yan'an Marquis household. From then on Wang Qingyuan devoted herself to the Buddha and the green lamp, and became a lay devotee.

If this match could be made, it might not be such a bad thing.

Dou Yan acted on the thought at once, and when Cui Min returned for the New Year, she had him keep an eye on the affairs of the Yan'an Marquis household.

Cui Min was somewhat puzzled: "Wang Yu, the heir of Yan'an, is skilled at practical affairs, and the Marquis of Yan'an trusts him deeply, handing over all the household business to his management. The Yan'an Marquis household looks unremarkable, yet its days are quite prosperous. It is only that they have always kept a low profile and restrained their young folk strictly, so nothing shows on the surface. We do our small business—even if we made contact with the Wang family, I fear there would be little to gain."

These past two years he had been lending money at interest in the capital, and it bore out the saying, "You never know until you try—and once you try, you jump in fright." Not only did the officials of the capital borrow silver; the sons of the old aristocratic houses borrowed even more often. And the officials, once they had silver, would repay it, whereas the sons of those great houses would not repay even when they had silver. When truly pressed beyond help, they would pawn heirlooms handed down from their ancestors. Fan Wenshu could hardly bear to look, feeling sorry for those families' forebears, and proposed that they quietly take up a side trade in buying and selling curios.

Dou Yan of course knew the Wang family's circumstances better than anyone.

Wei Wan's fancy for Wang Qingyuan had a great deal to do with the richness of Wang Qingyuan's dowry.

Only this was not something she could explain plainly to Cui Min.