Chapter 384 — Losing Heart

"Young she may be," said Madam Ji coldly, seated across from Madam Fifth, "but the younger they are, the more clearly their true nature shows. Even a dog does not disdain a poor house — yet she, a grown woman who has read the Classic of Filial Piety and the Admonitions for Women, can come out with 'If I do not see my mother, will this matter simply be passed over and never mentioned again?' You can see from that how cold and heartless her disposition is!" She went on, "And look at Shouyuan. A mere child, yet she knows good from bad. That Tuo woman did nothing but tend her for two years on Madam Zhao's orders, and Shouyuan gave her trousseau gifts and advanced her man, so that the two of them want for neither food nor clothing. But look at our Fourth Aunt — how many of the maids and old women about her last for long? To say nothing of any who would risk their lives for her favor! So you see, it is not that I am partial; the truth is that there is simply nothing likable about the woman!"

And still she claimed she was not partial!

"Isn't there still that Old Zhou woman by Ming-jie's side?"

Hearing this, Cai-shi was secretly pleased, feeling that Ji-shi was still showing favoritism toward Dou Yan in no small measure.

The Fifth Madam, however, was stunned by these words. The more she thought about it, the more sense Ji-shi's words seemed to make, and she actually began to feel a degree of wariness toward Dou Ming.

She thought Dou Ming's heart must truly be hard — if she could treat the mother who bore and raised her with such coldness, she would feel even less for anyone else. No matter how well she herself might treat Dou Ming, she feared it would be difficult to warm that icy heart of hers.

She returned to Huai Shu Alley in silence the whole way.

Dou Bingheng had gone to his office, but fearing the Dou family women might be humiliated at the Wei household, he left a young servant at home to wait for news.

The Fifth Madam felt dejected thinking about the day's events and could not muster any enthusiasm. She had the young servant relay a message to Dou Bingheng — "The matter has been smoothly resolved" — and then lay down in low spirits.

After Cai-shi had attended her mother in retiring, she immediately sent a trusted matron back to her natal home.

The matron said quietly to Madame Cai, "Our Tenth Young Mistress says something major has happened in the Dou family. She asks that you go see her when you have a moment."

The Dou family held a Grand Secretary's post in the current court, and they were affinal relatives of the Dou. If something major had happened to the Dou family, it might well drag the Cai family down with it.

Madame Cai could hardly sit still any longer. She immediately had some pastries prepared, and the moment the matron left, she set off for the Dou household.

Knowing that her co-in-law had merely come to visit her grandchild, the Fifth Madam — whose mood had been soured by the Dou Ming affair — exchanged a few pleasantries with Madame Dou, then had her personal matron escort Madame Cai to Cai-shi's residence.

Cai-shi shut the door and talked with Madame Cai for an entire afternoon.

Over at the Wang household, Gao-shi was sighing to Gao Mingzhu, "As parents, sometimes one really must examine oneself — otherwise you end up implicating even your own children. What meaning is there left in living?"

Gao Mingzhu stood graceful and slender, with bright eyes and white teeth — truly worthy of the name "Mingzhu," Bright Pearl.

She was personally attending Gao-shi's washing and grooming. Hearing this, the hand holding the comb paused involuntarily, and she said hesitantly, "Though Auntie may be unreasonable, for a young woman to show such disdain for her... it still doesn't seem quite right..."

Gao Mingzhu very much wanted to say: from now on, we should stop involving ourselves in Dou Ming's affairs. Dou Ming is a Dou after all — when trouble comes, the Dou family will step forward on her behalf. What business is it of ours, the Wangs, to insert ourselves in the middle?

But she knew that everyone in the Wang household treated this cousin differently from others — they had even nearly married Dou Ming to Wang Nan. Others might say such things, but she could not.

Gao-shi knew her niece and daughter-in-law well and naturally understood her meaning. Moreover, she had been thinking the same thing herself. She turned and smiled at her, saying, "If something like this comes up again, just avoid it. I will speak to your grandmother myself."

Gao Mingzhu breathed a sigh of relief.

Gao-shi was worrying over how to report back to her mother-in-law.

Pang Yulou, however, had no such scruples.

She made an exaggerated gesture of pulling someone back and said loudly, "...There was no stopping her — Ming-jie just said it right out. Never mind me, even the Dou family's Fifth Madam, Madam Huo, turned pale. Tell me, Auntie is her own birth mother — how could she say something so heartless? Could it be that once she has a man, she forgets her own mother?"

"Nonsense!" Wang Xu-shi slapped the edge of the couch, afraid that Pang Yulou would come out with some vulgar rustic expression that would make everyone blush. "If you're going to tell the story, tell the story — what is all this rubbish coming out of your mouth?"

Pang Yulou listened and sneered inwardly.

Aren't you the one who treasures that daughter of yours who was driven back home by her husband's family? She eats my food and drinks my drink, and still dares to point fingers at me — well, I'll disgust you both to death!

She immediately put on a cowering look and mumbled, "The Dou family is just too stingy. All we asked was for them to give two century-old ginseng roots to nourish Ming-jie's health, and they acted as if we were asking for their lives..."

"Shut your mouth!" Wang Xu-shi was so furious her face turned the color of a pot bottom. She finally turned away from Pang Yulou and asked Gao-shi sternly, "You tell me — what exactly happened?"

What more could she say? Pang-shi had already said everything that needed saying. It was simply that she did not believe Dou Ming would refuse to acknowledge even her own mother.

Gao-shi muttered inwardly, then respectfully recounted the whole affair to Wang Xu-shi.

Wang Xu-shi fainted on the spot.

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To all you readers, here is tomorrow's second update, made up in advance.

Today's first update will be around 3 p.m.

o(∩_∩)o~

ps: Begging for pink votes!

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