Chapter 164 — Late Arrival

He could not help saying, "Fourth young lady, perhaps you do not know—the heir, in order to escort the lady's funeral, was never able to recover properly, and his injuries kept flaring up again and again. The imperial physicians said that if the heir went on wearing himself out like that, not even the greatest immortals could cure him. Now that the situation has finally settled, everyone thought the heir would rest and heal at home, but he used the excuse of needing water without roots to boil his medicine, and moved with great fanfare to the manor in Daxing. So long as the heir could quietly recover—whether at Yizhi Hall or at the manor—we all asked only that his injuries heal soon... Who would have guessed that the heir was plotting in secret, using one thing to cover another, so that he might come in person to thank you... and you will not even see him. How cold the heir's heart will be..." As he spoke, his eyes reddened, and with a thud he dropped to his knees before Dou Zhiwei. "Fourth young lady, I beg you. Please go see the heir!" And then he began knocking his head on the ground before Dou Yan with a thud, thud, thud.

"Get up at once!" Dou Yan was somewhat flustered.

Suxin hurried forward to help Xu Qing up.

But how could she be a match for Xu Qing?

Xu Qing went on knocking his head before Dou Yan with thud after thud, plainly resolved not to rise until Dou Yan consented.

Dou Yan did not know whether to laugh or cry.

But she truly had no intention of letting Song Yan thank her.

All she had done was in the hope of settling accounts with Song Yan once and for all.

Yet events took the opposite turn...

Dou Yan, respecting Xu Qing as a loyal servant, shot a glance at Suxin and withdrew to the inner chamber.

From the hall came, time and again, the sound of Suxin urging Xu Qing to rise, and the muffled thud of Xu Qing's kowtowing.

Before she knew it, the sand in the clepsydra had run down a full hour, and still Xu Qing's kowtowing came thud-thud-thud like a drumbeat against Dou Zhiwei's heart.

She truly could not bear it.

Suxin came in as well and said, "Fourth Miss, this won't do—Xu Qing's whole head is covered in blood..." Her face was ashen.

Dou Yan gave a bitter smile and had no choice but to return to the hall, where she asked Xu Qing with a dark expression, "You press me so hard—is this your young lord's own wish?"

Xu Qing, perhaps fearing the blood on his brow might frighten Dou Yan, kept his head down and said in a muffled voice, "This servant would not dare. I only thought of the young lord's sincerity, and my heart could not bear it." With that, he began kowtowing again. "I beg the young lady to grant it!"

Suxin could not bear to look at Xu Qing and turned her face away.

Dou Yan sighed.

Xu Qing was only carrying out orders—why should she make things hard for him?

"Tell your young lord I will meet him at the farm estate tomorrow!" she said coolly. "But only this once. Let it not become a precedent."

"Fourth Miss!" Overjoyed and astonished, Xu Qing hurried to say, "This servant will never dare again—" Before he could finish, he swayed and collapsed to the ground.

"Honestly!" Dou Yan stamped her foot, handed Xu Qing over to Suxin, and went off to see Great-aunt Cui.

Her grandmother, learning that Dou Yan was going to the farm estate to meet Old Chen, asked with a smile, "How is business at your stationery shop?"

"It covers its expenses," Dou Yan said. "This trip to the estate is also to consult with Old Chen and see whether there is any good way to make the shop turn a profit."

Her grandmother nodded, then asked about Tian Fugui, the man who had presented Dou Yan with a golden pheasant at her coming-of-age ceremony: "Thirteen took him on—he hasn't caused you any trouble, has he?"

The old lady felt that since Cui Min had asked for the man, if he proved no good, the blame must rest wholly on Cui Min.

Dou Chiyou pursed her lips and smiled.

This Tian Fugui was indeed cut out for business; within a few days of arriving in the capital he had got the hang of things, and was doing even better than Cui Min.

"Set your mind at ease. If Cui Min recommended him, how could he be wrong?"

"That's good, then!" Her grandmother was delighted to hear it, and the next day saw Dou Yan off in person.

It was a clear autumn day, not a wisp of cloud in the sky, serene and crisp with an invigorating chill.

Dou Chiyou drew a deep breath.

At the turn in the road where it entered the village, the carriage was stopped.

"Fourth Miss," said Chen He, the man she had met last time, raising his hands in salute, "the young lord awaits you by the river behind the hill."

That was the place where she and her father had once fished.

A small path at the foot of the hill led to the back slope, but it was not fit for a carriage.

The way was short—just around the hill—so Dou Yan, helped down by Suxin, descended from the carriage, beside which a sedan chair had been drawn up.

Chen Tao stepped forward and lifted the curtain.

Dou Yan got into the chair.

The sedan swayed gently up the path.

The woods, usually deserted, now seemed to harbor at every few paces an edge of something faint and insubstantial, closing off the path to the back hill.

Walking the path she knew so well, Dou Yan felt as though she walked along the brink of a sheer abyss.

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Two more days and I'll be free...~~~~(_

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