Chapter 12 — The Visitor
Purple Streets of Chang'an · Page 1 of 4
To her surprise, her mother and Wang Shuying were old acquaintances!
Dou Yan had never been able to understand why some women would rather abandon their families and their reputations just to live as a pair with a man.
Were the pleasures of love between a man and a woman truly so important?
And once love faded and affection died, a man who abandoned a woman and returned to his family was praised for having mended his ways—but what of the woman?
How was she supposed to go on standing on her own two feet in this world?
She sat with her mother in the small parlor behind the main hall, listening to her grandfather's voice as he berated her father in the hall beyond.
Experience had taught Dou Yan never to overestimate an opponent unduly, nor to underestimate one unduly.
In all fairness, Wang Shuying was not only shrewd and capable, clever and quick-witted, but also skilled at weighing the circumstances of the moment; she had always put her own interests first, and once she decided on something she never dragged her feet—she was remarkably decisive.
For a person like that, her grandfather had promised to take her as a sworn daughter and find her a good match, with the Dou family footing the bill and marrying her off in fine style. So why insist on following her father?
The Dou family was no shallow household of newly risen officials; given her station, the Dou family would never agree to let her become a concubine. Her mother was the proper first wife whom the Zhao family had married in with full ceremony and matchmakers—not only was she without fault, but even if she had erred, for the sake of the Dou family's face they would never casually cast her off.
Had Wang Shuying not thought it over carefully before coming to Zhending?
It did not fit her character at all!
As these thoughts raced through her mind, Dou Yan felt a jolt in her heart.
Her sister!
Her sister Dou Ming, born on the third day of the seventh month in the year of Dingwei.
As the saying goes, one counts seven months and not eight.
That is to say, if Dou Ming was born premature, Wang Shuying must have entered the household no later than the first month.
By the rules, a husband must observe a year of mourning when his wife dies. There were exceptions. If a husband was on campaign and his wife died, leaving no one at home to support his parents or raise his children, he might take a new wife within a hundred days. Her father was no soldier, but her grandmother by blood had died young, and if her mother... then there would be no one to manage the household affairs—this clause could, barely, be invoked.
Which meant her mother had died before the New Year.
But what if Dou Ming was not premature?
Dou Yan could not help smiling.
Wang Shuying still needed to establish herself in the Dou household; she would sooner die than admit to an illicit affair with her father.
And her father still wanted Wang Shuying to enter the family; no matter what, he would never breathe a word to anyone about her pregnancy.
It was like gambling at a game of big or small: just as the dice were about to be revealed, you suddenly noticed a full-length mirror behind your opponent, and you could see every card in his hand as clear as day.
Her blood ran hot at once.
As long as her mother lived, the longer things dragged on, the more favorable the situation became for them!
But the precondition was that her mother must live!
In high spirits, she took a golden orange from the fruit basin on the table and handed it to her mother: "Mama, have an orange!"
Her mother gave her a strained smile and took the orange, but only held it in her hand, staring blankly.
Dou Yan played the clown to amuse her parent. She split the orange into segments and popped one into her mother's mouth, then fed segments to her eldest aunt and third aunt, who sat with them in the small parlor.
To lighten the mood, her eldest aunt and third aunt teased her with smiles.
She chattered and giggled.