Chapter 46 — Half
Purple Streets of Chang'an · Page 2 of 4
Then he pointed at Dou Yan. "If she were a son, I would gladly promise not half the family fortune but all of it. But you would have me take the estate our ancestors left and let a slip of a girl carry it off into another man's house—I would sooner the whole Dou family go down with Zeng Yifen."
Dou Huaiying said nothing, only gently stroking Dou Zhiwei's head, as though consoling her, telling her not to be afraid.
The three of them rode in silence all the way to the East Residence.
Fifth Uncle was waiting in person at the gate.
"Little Uncle," he said with impeccable courtesy, "I ought to have come to pay my respects to you. But this is no private matter; I must first hear what my elder sisters-in-law have to say. So I have put public before private. Once this business is settled, I shall come to your residence to beg your pardon and receive your instruction."
Fifth Uncle spoke with a smile, coming straight to the point, his gaze frank and open, his manner earnest, so that Grandfather could find no fault in him at all; the pent-up irritation in his chest could only be forced down, and with a sullen face he let Fifth Uncle escort him into the main hall.
Dou Huaiying handed his daughter over to Tuoniang. "There's a good girl, run along and play. Father will come fetch you from Sixth Aunt's later."
Dou Yan nodded. Once her grandfather and father had entered the hall, she made a circuit of the courtyard outside, then seized a chance to slip inside.
Fifth Uncle was speaking: "…So after turning it over and over, I have decided: Shouyuan's dowry shall be provided by us of the East Dou!"
"You are mad!" Grandfather and Father could not hide their astonishment, Grandfather especially, his face ashen. "Do you know what you are saying? Do you know how much money half of West Dou's property is? This is the ancestral estate!" As he spoke, he looked toward the Second Old Madam.
The Second Old Madam drank her tea with her head down, her face expressionless, as though what her son had just given away were not a quarter of the Dou family fortune but a small bowl of sacrificial-red porcelain.
"I know!" Fifth Uncle said warmly, his manner as genial as spring. "Our ancestors toiled to leave behind such a great estate—was it not so that we, their descendants, might live better and better? If that estate becomes a burden instead, then giving it up costs us nothing. In this world, things belong to those who are worthy of them. I believe that even if we surrender a quarter of the estate, with me," his gaze passed in turn over every descendant of the Dou family seated there, "with Lan ge'er, with Zhi ge'er, our days will only grow more prosperous, more flourishing."
Dou Chiyou nodded to himself.
Lan ge'er belonged to the eldest branch; Zhi ge'er to the second.
This Fifth Uncle of hers—no wonder he had entered the Grand Secretariat. Setting aside all else, that flawless art of speech alone was enough for her to study long and hard.
Dou Duo could not summon a single word for the longest time.
This Dou Bingheng—he could truly scheme, and truly deliver!
No wonder he had taken this matter in hand.
No wonder that among all the Dou family's many descendants, his was the highest office!
He was ruthless to others, and just as ruthless to himself.
A quarter of East Dou's estate, and he cast it aside without a second thought.
At this thought, Dou Duo could not help knitting his brows.
Wait… his own son wished to elevate a concubine to wife, and rather than spend his own pile of silver, he would have his cousins put up the money. This was not Old Five giving up the ancestral estate—this was coercion, naked coercion!
Dou Duo's eyes went red at once.
He must not let Old Five have his way!
Dou Duo looked toward his nephews and his nephews' wives.
The First Madam kept her eyes lowered, her fingers ceaselessly turning a string of rosewood prayer beads.
The Second Madam sat composed and upright, like the ancestral portraits in the shrine.