Chapter 143 — Pointing the Finger (Bonus Chapter — Begging for Pink Tickets)
Purple Streets of Chang'an · Page 2 of 4
The wife of Fang Sheng wore an expression of pure pity. She led the little maids in settling Dou Ming down to rest in the waterside pavilion by the lake.
Granny Zhou then told the little maids, "Go and play!"
The wife of Fang Sheng hesitated. "Is that proper?"
They were all new to the household. They had heard that the servants before them had been dismissed by Dou Yan for failing to care properly for Dou Ming, and when they entered service they had spent nearly half a month learning the rules from the household's managing matron before being assigned to Qixia Court. They all followed the managing matron's instructions to the letter, not daring to overstep by a single step.
"The Fifth Miss used to love lively company," Granny Zhou said wistfully. "If you are all happy and cheerful, and the Fifth Miss watches you, perhaps remembering the old days will do something for her illness." She added, "The Fourth Miss is not as rigid as you imagine. It was because the people at Qixia Court before made mistakes that the Fourth Miss replaced them. If you don't believe me, just look at the people around the Fourth Miss—is there one who isn't beaming with joy?"
The wife of Fang Sheng thought it over and decided she was right, and smilingly gave the order.
The little maids were only seven or eight years old; Dou Yan had chosen them to serve Dou Ming in the hope that the atmosphere at Qixia Court might become livelier. None of them were children with heavy thoughts. At first they were somewhat restrained, but later, seeing the paths of colored brick in the garden, the clumps of blooming camellias, the lush old trees, they gradually let themselves go—one pair wrestling over grass, another pair admiring flowers together, laughter and chatter everywhere, a scene of great liveliness. This disturbed Ji Yong and Dou Yan, who had been pestered by Dou Yan for days and had made the excuse of taking a walk and were sitting not far off beside the Taihu rockery.
Dou Yan pulled Ji Yong up to the pavilion atop the rockery, and just then caught sight of the little maids laughing and tumbling about in a heap. He could not help reciting, "Lingering butterflies dance now and then; carefree orioles sing just so!"
Ji Yong rolled his eyes at him. "Show me one of them who is as lovely and charming as a spring oriole. Every one of them is covered in dust…" Before he finished the sentence, he suddenly said, "Eh?" and started down the hill.
"Where are you going?" Dou Yan hurried after him, and then saw several maids escorting Dou Yan toward the waterside pavilion.
"Fourth Aunt!" Dou Yan called out to her.
Dou Yan turned and, seeing Dou Yan and Ji Yong, smiled. "Cousin Ji and Boyan are strolling in the garden too?"
Dou Yan smiled. "These past few days I've been reading until midnight every night. Fine weather is rare, so I came out for a walk." Then he caught sight of Dou Ming sitting in the waterside pavilion. "Is Fifth Aunt any better?"
"No improvement for the moment." Dou Yan's spirits seemed somewhat low.
Ji Yong, however, said dismissively, "What business is it of yours? You're not her mother! And even her mother couldn't keep her tied to her belt every day."
Dou Yan smiled bitterly. "Father entrusted her to me. I bear the responsibility, one way or another."
Dou Yan said too, "The law does not lie beyond human feeling. From the standpoint of legal study it holds; from the standpoint of Confucianism it does not."
"Which is why the Confucians throw the law into chaos and ruin the order of the court."
"That is too arbitrary. If everyone merely obeyed the law and ignored human feeling, would all those righteous men who rid the people of villains have to be condemned as criminals?"
"It is precisely because there is such human feeling to appeal to that there are loopholes to exploit. Ridding the people of villains is the business of the authorities—what has it to do with those men of the rivers and lakes?"