Chapter 92 — Anger
Purple Streets of Chang'an · Page 1 of 4
The Second Old Madam sat on the heated kang by the window, her face dark with fury, the eaglewood prayer beads in her hand clicking and clacking as she thumbed them.
When she saw Dou Yan and Lady Ji come in, her expression darkened further still. She gestured at the brocade stools beside her for them to sit, then asked Dou Yan in a low, heavy voice, "What exactly happened?"
Dou Yan recounted the whole sequence of events to the Second Old Madam as she had told it to Ji Yong.
Lady Ji turned livid with rage at the telling. Before the Second Old Madam could speak, she burst out, "Earlier, when Third Uncle sent a man back with word, I took that Pang Kunbai for a scoundrel, which was why he'd resorted to such tricks. But he meant to stage a little play of 'the hero saving the beauty'—that is plainly—" She could not bring herself to say the word *seducing* in front of Dou Yan, so she said instead, "—plainly taking advantage of Shouyuan's youth and innocence. If Shouyuan hadn't thought so quickly in the crisis, would the Pang family not have had their way?" Here she suddenly realized the Second Old Madam had not yet spoken, and hurried on, "Mother, this cannot be let go! This is beyond insolence!"
Pang Kunbai had plainly been scheming to kill two birds with one stone.
Rescue Shouyuan from the brigands, use the lateness of the hour to keep her overnight at the country manor, then, on the pretext of safeguarding Shouyuan's reputation, ask the Dou family for her hand. However much Shouyuan might dislike the Pang family, however unwilling she might be to marry into it, with a debt of life-saving owed and the excuse of having shared a room, she would have had no choice but to marry him. In time, with children born, and with Pang Kunbai's attentive, humble ministration, Shouyuan would naturally have come to be of one heart with him. And then, even if the Dou and Zhao families tried to stop it, Shouyuan—for the sake of her husband and children—would likely have handed the family estates over to Pang Kunbai to manage, and the Pang family would have taken possession of Shouyuan's property in the most proper and legitimate fashion.
The Second Old Madam's face was black as thunder. Yet she said, "Why did you report to the authorities before so much as a word to the family?"
Because we feared you would cut a private deal with the Wang family, of course!
Dou Yan said, "Because a man's life was lost, Cousin Ji, Twelfth Brother, and Fourth Brother Wu decided to report it to the authorities."
"You mean to say Jianming is involved in this too?" Lady Ji's eyes went wide.
Ji Yong had deep ties behind him, after all, and the Dou family would not dare offend him lightly. Better to let him serve as a shield for Dou Huaide and Wu Shan!
Dou Yan nodded.
Lady Ji looked uncomfortable.
The Second Old Madam was somewhat taken aback, but, just as Dou Yan had expected, she pressed no further.
Dou Yan now played the frightened young girl, putting on an air of shock and dread. "Old Madam, if I hadn't had Suxin and Sulan with me, if I hadn't brought the two of them along, I'm afraid I would never have come back! I want to beg one thing of you, Old Madam—please, whatever it is, you must promise me!" And she took out her handkerchief to dab at her tears.
Had it been anyone else who so offended a daughter of the Dou family, the Second Old Madam would have long since given orders to find some pretext and have them flung into the yamen to be beaten to death with rods. But where Wang Xingyi was concerned, she felt that disposing of Pang Kunbai so simply would be a waste—after all, when the Zhao family had agreed to let Wang Shuying be made legitimate, one of the conditions had been that the Wang family would not meddle in Shouyuan's marriage. Pang Kunbai was a relation of the Wang family by marriage; even if the Wangs wished to deny it, they could not.
She could not help pondering aloud. "Speak!"