Chapter 157 — A Way

She could only smile and say: "I have had word that come spring the Emperor means to set the river works in order. That is a great enterprise, and the Marquis of Yan'an will certainly not let the opportunity pass. When the time comes, just keep your eye on their household. Who knows—if they eat meat, we may get a sip of the broth!"

Cui Min thought the idea a poor one, but he was still young then. Even if he felt something was off, he could find no flaw in Dou Zhiwei, and so he agreed solemnly and went off to discuss the matter with Zhao Liangbi: "Tell me—does the Fourth Young Lady have something she is keeping from us?"

Zhao Liangbi had already become the manager of the Dou family's grain shop in Zhending Prefecture.

He shot Cui Min a glance and said, "Even if the Fourth Miss is hiding something from you, what good would it do you to know?"

Cui Min thought it over seriously. "None at all!"

"There you have it," Zhao Liangbi said with a smile. "Just do whatever the Fourth Miss asks you to do, and when the day comes, you'll understand." Then he extended an invitation. "I'm heading over to East Lane Street. Care to come along?"

"What are you going to East Lane Street for?" Cui Min had already begun his New Year holiday and had come all the way to Zhending Prefecture just to spend time with Zhao Liangbi. "You're the only person I know here, so of course I'm coming."

Zhao Liangbi smiled. "The Miss has put me in charge of looking after the other martial arts school and Old Chen's residence. There are two old servants keeping an eye on the place, but with the New Year coming up, I ought to go over and have a look."

Cui Min suspected nothing. He tagged along with Zhao Liangbi and whiled away the whole day before returning to Cui Family Village.

Fourth Sister-in-law Tuoniang was in the kitchen with the newly arrived Ninth Sister-in-law, busy preparing the family's supper, while Fourth Brother's son Zhongyuan and daughter Changqing sat on little stools helping shell soybeans, to make tofu for the New Year.

Seeing Cui Min return, Tuoniang asked him with a smile, "Did you get to see the Fourth Miss?"

She had asked Cui Min to deliver two pairs of shoes she had made to Dou Yan.

Zhongyuan and Changqing, meanwhile, greeted him politely as "Thirteenth Uncle."

Cui Min smiled and ruffled the children's hair, then pulled a packet of malt candy from his breast and handed it to them.

The two children cheered with delight.

Only then did Cui Min say, "Delivered. The Fourth Miss says they fit perfectly, and next time you should just make her two more pairs embroidered with flowering branches. She also had me bring back two boxes of pastries for Zhongyuan and Changqing. According to Ganlu, they were bestowed by the palace, specially sent from the capital by the Seventh Master for the Fourth Miss. They're kept together with the things the Fourth Miss has given the family."

Tuoniang's face lit up with pleasure at this. She said several times that it was "too much," then questioned him closely about what kind of shoes Dou Yan wore. "The Fourth Miss's coming-of-age ceremony is in a few days. I'll bring Zhongyuan and Changqing to kowtow to her no matter what."

The family had been discussing the matter for days, and Father Cui had even gathered Cui Min and his brothers to decide what gift to send. Since Cui Min had spent the past two years in the capital, the task had fallen to him, and he was still racking his brains over it. Hearing Tuoniang's words, he could not help muttering, "Fourth Sister-in-law has it easy—two pairs of shoes and done." Even as he spoke, something occurred to him, and he decided not to leave after all. Sitting down beside Changqing to shell soybeans, he asked, "Fourth Sister-in-law, you once waited on the Fourth Miss yourself. What does she like?"

Tuoniang kept talking with Cui Min, her hands never slowing. "Anything given to the Fourth Miss in good faith, she likes." She could not help bringing up stories from Dou Yan's childhood. "...Just a tiny little thing, and she remembered in her heart who treated her well and who didn't. And she's generous, never one to fuss over trifles..."

Cui Jiu's wife watched Tuoniang speak so easily and confidently, and an envious look crept onto her face.

Cui Si was the most taciturn of his brothers, yet simply because he had married Tuoniang, not a soul in the Cui family dared slight him. Even their father and mother treated the couple with a certain courtesy, and the Fourth Miss of the Dou family sent gifts down every few days, so the whole household basked in the reflected favor. Fortunately, Tuoniang had a good temperament and never grew proud or spoiled on account of it; when it was her turn to carry meals to the fields, she carried them, and when it was her turn to tend the fire and cook, she cooked. Her sisters-in-law all respected her honesty and kindness. She kept her husband in hand above and her relatives in check below, and when the women of the villages for ten li around spoke of her, nine out of ten envied her, and the tenth was jealous.

At this thought, her gaze could not help falling on the still-young Zhongyuan and Changqing.

With her connection to the Fourth Miss, what did these two children have to worry about for their future?

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Sisters, brothers, thank you all for the pink votes!

o(n_n)o~ ... bowing with a red face ...

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