Chapter 184 — Relatives
Purple Streets of Chang'an · Page 1 of 4
In Dou Zhiwei's memory, the Dou residence on Huai Tree Alley had been a four-courtyard, three-bay house with side rooms, pomegranates planted in the front yard and square bamboo in the back, a stone table and stools set beneath the grape arbor. It had been a tight fit for Uncle Five's family, yet it had never lacked for the warm, smoky bustle of ordinary life.
But in this life, the moment she stepped down from the carriage, she saw that the Dou family's dwelling had grown to more than twice the size she remembered.
Dou Bingheng had not only bought the three-courtyard, three-bay house next door, but the two-courtyard, three-bay house behind it as well, and had knocked the three properties into one and rebuilt them from the ground up—so that it now stood as the Grand Secretary Dou's residence on Huai Tree Alley, stripped of its old forbearance and caution, and wearing instead a quiet, understated swagger.
This was likely because Uncle Five, who in her previous life had been held down by Wang Xingyi for years on end, had in this life entered the Grand Secretariat before Wang Xingyi did.
The men—Dou Bingheng, Dou Heng, Dou Huaiying, and the rest—stood in front, the women behind: Mrs. Five, née Fan, Mrs. Six, née Ji, and the others. Nearly every maid, serving woman, and old nanny in the household had been turned out, and they clustered about the Dou family, waiting at the gate since early—everyone, that is, except Wang Shuying.
At the sight of the Second Old Madam, Dou Bingheng stepped forward a few paces and dropped to his knees before her, his eyes rimmed red as he called out, "Mother."
The Second Old Madam's tears came at once, and she moved to raise him up.
But Dou Bingheng insisted on knocking his head three times before her, and dust clung to his brow straightway.
Dou Heng and the others hurried to kneel and bow along with him.
Her eyes brimming, the Second Old Madam was filled with gladness and comfort.
Walking behind her, Dou Yan saw Dou Ming hesitate amid the crowd before kneeling with a slender, fair-skinned, delicate-featured young matron.
Dou Yan recognized the woman as Han-shi, Dou Yong's wife, and could not help looking at her a second time.
Han-shi had been on very bad terms with Ji Lingze—first her sister-in-law, later her co-sister-in-law—so much so that Dou Huaide and his wife had eventually been forced to move to West Street, near the Yongguang Temple in the Xuanbei Ward of the outer city.
Feeling Dou Zhiwei's gaze, Han-shi gave Dou Yan a kindly nod.
Dou Yan smiled faintly.
As though needing to prove something, Dou Ming hurriedly took Han-shi's arm and shot a cold glance her way.
Dou Yan pretended not to notice, her gaze falling instead on Guo-shi and Cai-shi beside Han-shi.
Guo-shi was as slender and gentle as she remembered, but her skin was fair and tender, and her dark eyes were soft as a fawn's, rousing tenderness in anyone who looked at her—nothing like the last time Dou Yan had seen her, when she had been listless, her skin sallow as wax, like a patient long bedridden, giving off an unease that made one uncomfortable.
Next year that woman Bai would enter the household.
Dou Yan sighed inwardly and thought of Ji Lingze.
It was on the occasion of her coming-of-age ceremony that Ji Lingze had begun to exchange letters with Dou Yan. Dou Yan, on the pretext that the Second Old Madam had invited a true master from Mount Longhu to tell fortunes, quietly asked that master to cast a reading for her and for Ji Lingze. He said that Ji Lingze faced an obstacle in the next two years: if she could pass through it, a broad, smooth road lay beyond; if not, her latter years would likely bring her suffering. Best for her to avoid all red banners and merry clamor, to keep to herself and eat vegetarian for two years.