Chapter 127 — Racing to Sow (Extra Chapter: Asking for Pink Votes)
Purple Streets of Chang'an · Page 1 of 4
A heavy rain had brought varying degrees of disaster to the whole of Zhending Prefecture, and the worst hit were Zhending County and Lingbi County, where hardly a grain was harvested. Prefect Lu paid a special visit to Dou Heng to discuss disaster relief for Zhending Prefecture. The Dou family, of course, did not shirk its duty. Dou Qiguang, Dou Yan, and the others who had been preparing to go to the capital for Dou Yong's betrothal ceremony all stayed behind, awaiting Prefect Lu's orders and helping to deal with the aftermath.
Without her family to accompany her, Cousin Shu naturally could not go to the capital either.
Grumbling that "my luck really is terrible," she went off to Dou Yan's place.
The weather was growing warm by degrees, and Dou Yan had changed into a white gauze jacket with a front opening and a short sleeveless vest of coarse cloth, a tiny silver redbud pinned at her ear—neat and brisk.
She had Ganlu brew a pot of Meiwu Longjing for Cousin Shu.
Cousin Shu closed her eyes, letting the fragrance of the tea linger between her lips and teeth, and said with satisfaction, "Pre-Qingming Longjing! Everything at Fourth Auntie's is the finest!"
Dou Yan laughed heartily and asked her, "Would you like to come with me to the manor? They're sowing corn there these days—I want to go have a look!"
"I've nothing to do anyway," said Cousin Shu, whose cheerful nature was at once diverted. She stood up full of eagerness. "Let's go—to the manor!"
Dou Yan could not help smiling, though she liked the girl's temperament well enough, and the two of them climbed into the carriage one after the other.
Everyone at the manor was busy sowing. The oxen lowed, children chased one another along the field ridges, chattering and laughing, and the air was steeped in the fragrance of earth.
Cousin Shu's eyes went wide as she looked all around.
Dou Yan thought of the Wu family she was soon to marry into—great landowners of Pingshan—and asked with a smile, "Shall I find a few women who know farming well to show you around?"
Cousin Shu understood her meaning and grew a little bashful. But she had always been frank with Dou Yan; after thinking it over, she not only agreed with easy grace but asked Dou Yan to recommend a few people for her as well: "...He's the fourth son of the family. Once I'm married in, I won't be running the household, but I can't be utterly ignorant either, or my parents-in-law and sisters-in-law will laugh at me. Mother told me to bring two households of retainers with me—one to manage the shops, one to manage the manor. For the shops, Father has people he knows thoroughly; for the manor, though, I'm rather at a loss, and since their family has passed down farming and scholarship together for generations, it would be best if Fourth Auntie helped me settle it properly."
Dou Yan liked this—when there was something to discuss, everyone spoke plainly; if you could help, you helped, and if you could not, you said so clearly, which saved everyone trouble.
"I'll go back and ask Hong Gu," she said with a smile. "She knows the people at the manor best."
She could hardly say that she herself knew them very well.
Cousin Shu thanked her, blushing.
That afternoon, just as they were about to walk about the village with the two women, several elders who had been summoned by Dou Yan for questioning during the last rain came to seek an audience.
"Then go on ahead and look around," said Dou Yan, sending Cousin Shu off, and invited the old men into the main hall for tea.
"We all remember Auntie Cui's kindness," the elders said, bowing respectfully to Dou Yan and speaking all at once. "Though the old lady has reduced our rents, we can't simply take advantage of it. We're all putting our backs into making this season's corn grow well, so that one way or another we can give the landlord a bit of grain in return."
.