Chapter 201 — Agreeing

Mrs. Cai, beaming, praised Madam Tian a few times for being "magnanimous, tolerant, and of a sincere and kindly nature—the Dou family's Fourth Miss will be fortunate indeed to marry in," and without so much as a glance at Wei Wan, rose to take her leave.

Wei Wan stamped her foot. "Mother..."

"Say no more," said Madam Tian, unmoved. "The matter is decided."

Furious, Wei Wan went to find Wei Fan and seized the ear of her brother, who stood half a head taller than she: "You idiot, what exactly did you write to the Dou family's Fifth Miss?"

Wei Fan grimaced. "Sister, what nonsense are you talking? When did I ever write anything to the Dou family's Fifth Miss... Let go, it hurts terribly!"

Wei Wan was taken aback and said sternly, "You truly never wrote any note or the like to the Dou family's Fifth Miss?"

Her brother had never lied to her.

Wei Fan swore it.

Only then did Wei Wan realize that she and her mother had been tricked.

She ground her teeth in fury, cursing Mrs. Cai roundly in her heart, and cast about for some way to make that Mrs. Cai lose face. But Dou Juan moved with unexpected speed—the very next day, he sent over the dowry list for Dou Ming.

Farmland, houses, shopfronts, furniture, spices, jewelry, clothing, medicinal herbs... densely written in a small booklet, amounting by any reckoning to some twenty thousand taels of silver.

Wei Wan was aghast.

Madam Tian shot her daughter a pointed glance.

Wei Fan was more direct: "Sister, don't speak ill of Dou Yan anymore. No matter what is said, she will be your sister-in-law. In future I will make her listen to you in everything."

Wei Wan's face flushed red and pale by turns.

Back at the Jingzhen Ducal household, Zhang Mingyuan also reproached her: "I told you long ago not to judge matters by appearances alone. If this marriage were broken off because of you, would you not regret it?"

Wei Wan muttered a few words of unwilling protest, though no one could make out what she said, but after that she never again reproached Wei Fan over his marriage.

Matchmakers were summoned, invitation cards sent, the wedding pavilion booked, the accounts arranged... the marriage proceeded in orderly fashion, and in a blink it was the end of the seventh month.

In response to the invitations, congratulatory gifts arrived one after another.

Among them, Gu Yu and Wang Huaiqing sent five hundred taels of silver as a gift, which surpassed the two hundred taels from Wei Fan's maternal uncle and the four hundred taels from Wei Wan. Song Yan, moreover, in addition to five hundred taels of silver, sent a twelve-panel folding screen of the Four Seasons in Bloom, mounted on a chicken-wing wood base inlaid with mother-of-pearl; a pair of mutton-fat jade figures of Fortune, Prosperity, Longevity, and Happiness; a pair of natural agate twin deer; and a pair of cloisonné pines and bamboo—these few pieces alone exceeded a thousand taels, drawing gasps of admiration from the accountants, who whispered among themselves: "No wonder people say that though the heir of the Duke of Yingguo is cold in temperament, he is exceedingly generous. Just look at these gifts..."

Gifts of silver must be reciprocated in equal measure, but gifts of objects may be returned with additions or reductions at one's discretion; plainly Song Yan had no intention of letting Wei Fan return the favor.

Wei Fan had not expected it, and was somewhat alarmed.

Madam Tian repeatedly cautioned Wei Fan: "In future, you must attend carefully to the Young Lord Song's affairs."

Wei Fan nodded again and again.

Zhang Yuanming, however, knit his brows slightly.

Compared with the friendship he shared with Wei Fan, Song Yantang's gift was far too lavish.

He meant to give his young brother-in-law a quiet word of warning, but when he saw Wei Wan holding up that pair of sky-blue agate twin deer and exclaiming over and over, "How beautiful," the words that had risen to his lips were swallowed back down after all—to speak of such things at such a moment would only spoil the mood.

Three days before, five days after.

On the first day of the eighth month, the Wei family began putting up the wine tents and testing the stoves, making ready to receive the relatives and friends who would come to offer congratulations.

Dou Yan, for her part, returned to the Crane Cry Temple Lane.

This was where she would be married from.

The Fifth Madam had spoken on her behalf, and Wang Shuying came forward to oversee the household arrangements.

That afternoon, Dou Zhiwei's aunt, Mrs. Zhao, arrived in the capital in a whirl of travel dust, bringing her daughter Zhao Zhangru with her.

Duan Bing and the others likewise took up quiet residence in the Crane Cry Temple Lane.

※

To all you sisters and brothers who read, here is today's extra update.

The regular update will be made up tomorrow around three in the afternoon.

o(n_n)o~

?u