Chapter 170 — Confirmation

How could the young Cui Min, never having weathered the vicissitudes of life, understand the human heart as Chen Yanzhou did?

Besides, there were some things she could say to Chen Yanzhou alone.

If Cui Min knew, it was as good as her grandmother knowing.

Her earlier betrothal to the Wu family had fallen through, and she had refused the He family's suit; if she now broke off her engagement with the Wei family as well—and broke it off of her own initiative, at that—it would be far too shocking. For that would leave her with no prospect of marriage at all. Even her grandmother, who had always doted on her and taken her part, would surely never consent once she learned of it. Dou Yan had not dared breathe a word of it before her grandmother!

Yet neither did she want Chen Yanzhou to risk himself on her account.

"There's no hurry about this," Dou Yan put him off. "We'll see when the time comes. It's still early days yet, after all."

Chen Yanzhou understood Dou Zhiwei's mind well enough.

He could not help straightening his expression. "Young lady, are you truly resolved to break off the engagement with the Wei family?"

Dou Yan had told him before that the betrothal to the Wei family was merely an expedient. But he had noticed that ever since Dou Yan met Wei Fan, she had shown him an extraordinary forbearance—and Dou Yan was not the sort to submit blindly. Clearly, Dou Yan's impression of Wei Fan was very good.

To Chen Yanzhou's mind, however, handsome as Wei Fan was, open-handed and loyal as he was, he lacked a backbone when it came to a crisis. As a friend he was excellent; as a husband, that was a fatal flaw. He would heed a pillow-side whisper, and he would change his mind at his friends' goading. Such wavering to and fro was the most unsettling of all.

And if Dou Yan married into the house, she would likely have to bring her own dowry to subsidize the daily upkeep of the Jining Marquisate—while others would still think Dou Yan had married above herself, all empty name and no substance.

That the Wei family's married-out aunt had demanded Dou Yan enter the Jining Marquisate within a hundred days was proof enough of that!

Apart from the title of Marquis, there was nothing about Wei Fan that was not utterly ordinary.

But in the affairs of this world, so long as one is willing to strike and the other willing to bear, outsiders had best not interfere.

Since Dou Yan had set her heart on Wei Fan, marrying into the house would cost her no more than some loss of silver—which was nothing to Dou Yan. The match could, by a stretch, be counted as one of equal standing.

What no one had expected was that the old Marquis of Jining should suddenly fall ill and die, obliging Wei Fan to observe three years of mourning.

Though Dou Yan had him look into the Wei family's affairs, she herself made no move and kept her attitude ambiguous, so that for a time he could not fathom what she truly intended.

"Of course it's true." Dou Yan's expression was grave, her gaze firm. "I would not jest about such a thing."

Chen Yanzhou could not but nod.

It was good that Dou Yan had made up her mind.

Even if they failed to achieve their aim this time, with the two of them of one heart, their combined strength could cut through metal; they need only try again.

Besides, Dou Yan had half the Western Dou fortune to sustain her. With himself and Duan Bing, Chen Lanxu, and the others to support her, and leaning on the great tree of the Dou family, even if she never married her whole life, her days would hardly be worse than they would be in the declining Jining Marquisate—why suffer the Wei family's scowls?

Even if she were to marry, so long as the fault lay with the Wei family, Dou Yan could wed some honest, good-natured son of an ordinary scholarly house and, rather, be mistress of her own affairs in all things—which might well prove a blessing.

Moreover, Dou Huaiying had no son; keeping his eldest daughter at home to take a live-in husband was perfectly defensible... Whichever path she took, it would be better than marrying into the Jining Marquisate!

He could not help smiling. "Young lady, wait for me a moment." With that, he walked straight out of the hall.

Dou Yan waited in the hall, curious.

Before long, Chen Yanzhou returned.

He wore a half-worn felt hat, his head drooping, his body hunched, dressed in a ragged cotton robe, the corners of his eyes turned down, his hands tucked into his sleeves—the very picture of a down-and-out scholar in reduced circumstances. Not a trace remained of the refined, vigorous man of a moment before!

Dou Yan was struck dumb.

Chen Yanzhou straightened up, and at once he was himself again, glowing with spirit and vigor.

"Well?" he said with a smile. "My little trick isn't bad, is it? I learned it years ago from a street performer. I guarantee no one in the Ying Duke of Zhenguo's household will recognize me. And even if they did, they would only think I had fallen on hard times after leaving the Duke's household and taken to the streets—they would never connect me with the matter of that time."

Dou Yan could not help laughing.

She asked Chen Yanzhou, "What clever plan do you have?"

Chen Yanzhou knew she had yielded. "What was your original plan, young lady?" he asked with a smile.

Since she had entrusted the matter to Chen Yanzhou, she ought to be frank with him.

Dou Yan weighed her words. "Wei Wan is greedy, and the two old women about her, Granny Jin and Granny Lü, both have her ear—and the two have long been at odds. If we can make good use of the strife between them, and spread some rumor that my horoscope clashes with Wei Fan's and the like, the matter will go twice as smoothly."

"An excellent scheme." Chen Yanzhou looked at Dou Yan with a smile, nodding again and again.

On this matter the two were of one mind without having to consult.

"I shall set out for the capital as soon as may be," Chen Yanzhou said with a smile. "In a few months the Marquis of Jining will be out of mourning, and some things must be planned well in advance." With him in the capital, he would never let the matter slip beyond control. He paused. "Only, this affair touches the women of the inner quarters. I should like to borrow someone from you, young lady."

Dou Xin said, "You mean Suxin?"

Chen Yanzhou shook his head. "I want to borrow Hong Gu."

Dou Yan was slightly taken aback.

Chen Yanzhou put it tactfully. "Only because Hong Gu is older and can talk more easily with those old women, and her plain appearance makes her easier to believe. If the one speaking looks too sharp and capable, it only invites suspicion."

To put it plainly, they were counting on Hong Gu's looking like a rustic countrywoman—those old women, who fancied themselves servants of a marquisate and a ducal household and thus far above her in experience, would be less on their guard against her, making it easier to lead them into the trap.

"Only, Aunt Cui..."

"Rest easy, miss," Chen Yanzhou said with a confident smile. "I've only asked Hong Gu to put in a few words at the crucial moment—I'm not sending her to break off the engagement."

Even if a few traces were to slip out, Wei Wan knew that if she schemed against Wei Fan this way, his love for his younger sister would make him break off the match even at the cost of his life—only then the blame for breaking the engagement would fall on her own shoulders. Either way, the goal would be reached all the same.

Dou Chi hesitated a while longer, then nodded. "Then I'll trouble you, Old Chen."

Chen Yanzhou made a few polite demurrals, then discussed the details with Dou Yan with a smile and set about preparing for the journey to the capital.