Chapter 102 — Spring Couplets
Purple Streets of Chang'an · Page 1 of 5
In the carriage back to the West Mansion, Dou Yan seemed rather quiet.
Suxin and Sulan had both gone back to Zhending Prefecture for the anniversary rites of her father's death, and the one attending her now was the livelier Ganlu.
Smiling, she asked Dou Yan, "Fourth Miss, whatever is the matter?"
"Oh, it's nothing," Dou Yan said absently. "I was thinking of things from the past."
How old was Fourth Miss, to be dwelling on the past?
What past could she possibly have?
Ganlu pursed her lips and smiled, imitating the maids in Lady Ji's chambers.
Dou Yan did not notice Ganlu's odd manner at all; her mind was on her own thoughts.
In her last life, it was when she was fourteen that Sixth Aunt had come to the capital, and before long she had bought a two-courtyard house in Cat Lane beside Yunqi Temple and married Dou Yong off there.
Dou Yong's bride was the niece of Sixth Aunt's own sister-in-law, a girl of the Han family, from a great house of the Jiangnan region. She was a little lacking when it came to managing the household stores, but her learning was exceptional. Whenever Dou Yong wrote an examination essay, he would discuss it with this Eleventh Sister-in-law. In time Dou Yong became a famous master of the craft, and any model essay he had annotated would at once sell out north and south. The couple shared the same aspirations and were deeply devoted to each other.
And it was for just this reason that Sixth Aunt, to look after the daily comforts of Sixth Uncle and the young couple, afterward took up permanent residence in the capital, and never returned to Zhending even up to the time of her rebirth.
Was she about to part from Sixth Aunt, then?
At the thought, her heart tightened, and tears nearly fell from her eyes.
For several days on end, Dou Zhiwei was rather low in spirits.
Her grandmother simply assumed Dou Yan was tired, and told her to rest more: "...There are only three of us for the New Year anyway. Even if we're short of this or lacking that, it doesn't matter."
Dou Yan giggled and seized the chance to be lazy, handing the household affairs to Suxin, who had returned to the mansion, while she hid in her room doing needlework.
In this life she would never go back to the capital; if Sixth Aunt settled there, the two of them would likely never have another chance to meet. Sixth Aunt had cared for her like a mother for several years, and now that the parting was close at hand, she wanted to sew a few garments with her own hands as a small token of her feelings.
And so word went round the household that she was unwell.
Dou Ming loitered a long while before Dou Yan's door, but in the end turned and walked away.
Dou Yan shook her head slightly, a faint disappointment welling up in her heart.
She had always believed human nature to be fundamentally good. It was only that Dou Ming's luck was too poor.
First she had run into Wang Shuying, who used her as a tool against her father, adding a measure of self-interest and subtracting a measure of a mother's love; then she had run into Madam Wang of the Xu clan, who raised her like a pet, knowing only how to dote on her and never how to take responsibility for her future; and now she was in her own care—and she herself was not one skilled at bringing up children. Her three children in her last life were proof enough... Her bitterness was hers alone to swallow!
When word reached the East Mansion, Lady Ji came over at once.
Dou Yan had no choice but to reassure her: "...It's only that the weather's cold and I want to sleep a little longer!"
Seeing her rosy complexion and bright spirits, Lady Ji knew she was not merely putting her off.