Chapter 32 — An Oddness
Purple Streets of Chang'an · Page 1 of 4
In the end, Dou Yan picked the pouch back up.
Three thousand taels of silver, after all—enough to buy over a thousand mu of farmland or a four-courtyard mansion!
If someone else picked it up, the person and the banknotes would likely both vanish in the blink of an eye.
Better it go to her than to anyone else.
She opened the pouch.
Inside were notes of a hundred, two hundred, even a few dozen taels—the kind redeemable on sight.
Father had thought this through rather carefully.
Dou Yan put the notes back into the pouch and heard a burst of weeping and wailing from the flower hall: "Brother, pressing me like this—you might as well give me three feet of white silk and let me hang myself, so I need not fret and suffer a living death..."
Then give her the three feet of white silk, by all means!
Dou Yan cursed inwardly.
Hadn't Mother, at her own request, given her a handkerchief once? And how was it she was still alive and well?
How had Wang Xingyi come to raise such a shameless creature?
It truly disgraced his lifelong good name.
From the flower hall came Wang Zhibing's low voice, muffled and indistinct.
Dou Yan was wondering whether to eavesdrop a while longer when she saw the lattice door of the flower hall stir, and her father came out accompanying Wang Zhibing.
She hastily ducked behind a nearby Taihu rock.
Her father was placating Wang Zhibing: "...There is no need to fret or fume. The matter came so suddenly, she may not be able to accept it all at once. Talking back and forth like this will get us nowhere. Go home for today and let her sisters-in-law come and see her, hear what else is on her mind; then we shall sit down and discuss it. Whatever the Dou family can do, we will do our utmost to satisfy her."
Wang Zhibing's face was dark, and at these words several veins stood out on his forehead. He said in a low, heavy voice, "What does Seventh Master Dou mean by that? Do you take my sister for someone out to extort silver from your house?"
"Do not misunderstand." Father's voice was gentle. "I only thought that though you are her brother, man and woman are after all different, and you have been apart these many years; whatever troubles her heart, she likely cannot bring herself to tell you. Better to let a few days pass and wait until her feelings have calmed before deciding. " He added, "If she cannot bear to part with Ming, she may come and see her at any time. Only Ming is young, and I fear that if something said should reach Ming's ears, the child would be hurt. If she is willing, we might have Ming acknowledge her as a dry mother or dry aunt. When Ming is older, it will not be too late to tell her of the events of that year. But as to the precise wording and whether it can be done this way, I must ask your family to help decide; I will act in all things as you direct."
This speech, so proper and sincere, cleared Wang Zhibing's countenance at once.
He looked Father over carefully and said, "I did not expect you to conduct yourself with such steadiness and generosity—I had underestimated you."
Father flushed with shame and stammered, "It grows late; I will not keep you. Next time you come, I shall invite you to tea—I still have some Da Hong Pao that my second cousin sent from Fujian; it is well worth a taste."
Wang Zhibing departed, satisfied.
Father wiped the sweat from his brow, turned toward the Taihu rock where Dou Yan was hiding, and called out, "Come out now—the sun is fierce, mind you do not get scorched!"
Dou Xin emerged with a giggle and said, "I was hiding so well—how did Father spot me?"
Father smiled and pointed at the gold circlet on Dou Yan's head.
Had she known, she would have tied her hair with a string.
Dou Yan grumbled inwardly, then thought of the three thousand taels, held up the pouch in her hand, and said with a grin, "Father, I found a pouch..."