Chapter 94 — Aftermath
Purple Streets of Chang'an · Page 2 of 4
Dou Yan had no choice but to make an excuse: "The Wu family is close to my Fifth Uncle, and my Fifth Uncle has his heart set on becoming Chancellor and entering the Grand Secretariat. He means to contend with Wang Xingyi. I only want to live my days in peace and quiet; I have no wish to be mixed up in any of it."
Sulai tilted her head. "But what if Fifth Master wins? The popular romances all say that one who helps a dragon to the throne may become Chancellor. If we help Fifth Master now, surely Fifth Master will treat you very well in the future..."
Before she could finish, her elder sister Suxin rapped her on the head. "And what if Fifth Master loses? We do not covet what belongs to others, and others will not covet what belongs to us. As the young lady says, we help no one and live our own lives in peace. Say another word of such scheming talk, and I shall make you stand in horse stance as punishment."
Sulai stuck out her tongue and clung to Dou Zhiwei's arm.
Dou Yan thought of her daughter, Yinjie, who had clung to her arm and wheedled in just the same way whenever she was scolded, and could not help smiling. She put an arm around Sulai's shoulders.
Suxin scolded her with mock severity: "Miss, it is all your doing—you have spoiled her rotten!" Yet the smile in her eyes spilled all the way to the corners of her mouth.
Dou Yan laughed aloud, then suddenly realized she could no longer recall her children's features clearly. Deep in her memory there remained only the image of someone being spoiled or someone being respectful.
She looked out of the window, and tears came without warning.
Sulai and Suxin exchanged glances, and Sulai shrank back a little.
Dou Yan wiped her tears. "It is nothing, nothing—I was only thinking of things that happened long ago!"
Sulai drew a small embroidered pouch from her bosom, took out a piece of osmanthus cake, and said cautiously, "Miss, my sister bought this for me. Whenever I miss my father, I eat a piece of cake and feel better. You eat a piece too, and you will stop thinking of those old things."
With tears in her eyes, Dou Yan put a piece of the osmanthus cake in her mouth and smiled. "Delicious, truly!"
Sulai broke into a smile, bright as sunlight, chasing the gloom from the depths of her heart.
Suxin, meanwhile, turned her face aside and wiped the moisture from the corners of her eyes.
Dou Yan pulled herself together and said, "Let's go see Old Chen. I asked him to bring Chen Lanxu and Duan Bing in as our guards, but I have no idea how that's coming along. With so few people about me, I don't feel quite easy whenever I go out. And that monthly stipend of ten thousand taels—I need it in hand soon, or else when the men arrive there'll be no silver to settle them in."
Sulan clicked her tongue. "More silver? Didn't you already give them a handsome fee, Miss?"
"A fee is a fee, wages are wages—how can they be the same?"
The three of them chatted and laughed all the way back to the East Mansion.
Grandmother was sorting through trunks and boxes, shaking her head at this one and then at that. Dou Xin teased her: "Are you making autumn clothes or winter clothes?"
Honggu stood by, smiling with her lips pressed together.
Dou Yan suddenly understood.
Grandmother was getting together her trousseau.
Fine sweat broke out on her forehead. She took Grandmother by the arm and led her out to the hall.
Grandmother chuckled and instructed her: "Write a letter to your father for me, and have him find a few tailors and embroiderers from Jiangnan. We'll make ourselves some fine new clothes to wear."
Surely there was no need for such a grand affair?
Seeing Grandmother so full of zest, Dou Yan agreed all the same.
She would treat it as humoring the old lady.