Chapter 249 — Awkward

Suxin came in carrying a brand-new coverlet of crimson silk damask embroidered with mandarin ducks sporting in the water, and without a word spread it over the great heated kang in the sitting room.

Dou Yan's hand, turning a page, paused of its own accord.

That set of silk bedding was, after all, her dowry.

It seemed Suxin and the others all knew she had not consummated her marriage with Song Yan the night before.

She could not help sighing softly.

Song Yan returned to the room.

Dou Yan rose to attend him while he washed and dressed.

Song Yan waved a hand and smiled. "No need! You just read your book. I don't usually have anyone attend me."

Is that so?

Dou Yan pressed her lips together and smiled, tilting her ear to listen. Before long, a clatter of copper basins hitting the floor came from the washroom.

She rose and went to the washroom.

Song Yan was there in sorry straits, wringing out his sleeve.

Dou Yan told Suxin to fetch a fresh basin of water, while she herself found Song Yan a change of clothes and walked over without a word.

"Here, take off the wet clothes," she said, untying his sash for him. "It's getting colder by the day—mind you don't catch a chill!"

"No need!" Song Yan said. "I can manage myself!" His tone was calm and composed, carrying his usual elegance.

Dou Yan looked up at Song Yan.

Only to find that his ears had gone red.

Smiling, she stepped back. "Very well, then. I'll take your wet clothes out for you."

"No need!" Song Yan said. "Just have a maid see to it."

"It's no trouble," Dou Yan said. "I've already sent her to fetch you water!"

Song Yan gave a vague "Oh." Under Dou Zhiwei's gaze, the sash he had tied in a simple bow should have come loose with the slightest tug. Yet somehow, the more he pulled, the tighter it drew, until at last it was knotted fast.

"Let me help you!" Dou Yan stepped forward.

"No need!" Song Yan said. "It'll be done in a moment!" Yet fine beads of sweat had broken out on his forehead.

This Song Yan was like a child putting on a brave show before his elders, and she found it utterly endearing.

Dou Yan fought to hold it in, warning herself not to let any strangeness show on her face.

"Stop squirming!" she whispered, though her tone was unexpectedly, remarkably gentle. "Let me untie it for you."

Song Yan was deeply embarrassed. But the hands that fell upon his sash were not only fair and delicate but long and nimble, and in no time they had the tangled sash undone.

He gave a sheepish laugh, at a loss for where to put his hands and feet.

Dou Yan pretended not to notice. She helped Song Yan out of his clothes and mixed warm water for him to wash with.

Holding the towel, Song Yan murmured his thanks.

"Think nothing of it," Dou Yan said, and walked out.

Song Yan breathed a sigh of relief.

Dou Yan poked her head back in and smiled. "Isn't living together meant to make each other more comfortable, more at ease?"

Song Yan was startled, then fell to thinking.

Dou Yan turned and left the washroom, calling back over her shoulder with a laugh, "Call me when you've finished bathing—I'll wash your hair for you."

Her voice was crisp and pleasing, and for some reason it made Song Yan think of the oriole he had kept as a child.

He could not help smiling. "I'm used to washing my hair before I bathe," he called back.

"All right, then!" Dou Yan came in again, her brows and eyes curving in a smile. "I'll wash your hair for you."

Song Yan sat down on a small stool nearby.

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When Song Yan came out of the washroom, Dou Yan and Suxin were spreading the sapphire-blue silk quilt embroidered with twin lotus blossoms on the large heated kang by the window in the inner chamber.

Hearing the stir, Dou Yan looked up and smiled. "I'm used to having a maid keep watch at night. Why don't you sleep in the inner chamber?" Then, in a teasing tone, "I can't have you getting up in the middle of the night to pour my tea, now can I?"

"And why not?" Song Yan arched an eyebrow and sat down on the kang by the window with a smile. "Didn't you say that living together means making each other more comfortable, more at ease?" He had already recovered his usual unhurried composure.

Dou Yan could not help but smile.

Song Yan had adapted remarkably quickly!

This marriage had been decided too hastily; not only she, but he too had been unprepared.

Yet she had moved his bedding from the sitting room to the inner chamber, and he had accepted it without a word. That surely counted as a good beginning, did it not?

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Sisters and brothers, I have been out on field duty these past few days. The weather is hot and my mind has been restless, and so a great many mistakes that should never have appeared crept into the text — calling Gu Yu the Earl of Huichang, for instance. Thank you all for pointing them out. Over the next few days I will be making corrections on and off, and if any further errors remain, please be so kind as to point them out at once. My endless gratitude!

o(n_n)o~

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