Chapter 198 — Cultivating Goodwill
Purple Streets of Chang'an · Page 1 of 4
Once May came to the capital, .
Mrs. Cai, all smiles, saw the matriarch of the Changxing Marquis's household into her carriage. Only then did she dab at her sweat-beaded brow with her handkerchief and turn to instruct her daughter-in-law, Mrs. Ding: "Let's head home as well."
Her smile faded, and a trace of weariness showed in her expression.
Mrs. Ding hurried forward to support her mother-in-law and said solicitously, "In such heat, the Changxing Marquis's matriarch has to arrange rites for the late Marquis—she merely happened to run into you and asked which master at Wanming Temple chants the sutras well, and you came along with her. Our family has no dealings with the Changxing Marquis's household, so why show them such courtesy?" With that, she took the round fan from the maid's hand and fanned Mrs. Cai vigorously. "Mother, you're getting on in years. Baoshan has told me time and again to take good care of you—whatever needs doing, just tell me."
Baoshan was Cai Bi's eldest son.
Mrs. Ding glanced at the maids and serving women clustered around them.
The maids and serving women, quick to take the hint, dispersed.
Only then did Mrs. Cai speak: "Everything must be prepared in advance. We have no dealings now—but can you swear we won't in the future? By accompanying the matriarch to Wanming Temple this time, haven't I already made a connection? Don't be so shortsighted!" Then she lowered her voice. "The Changxing Marquis runs wild in his post—who knows how many have impeached him, yet he stands unshaken. Is that something an ordinary man could manage? There is only benefit, no harm, in befriending the Shi family. One generation plants the tree, the next rests in its shade—I'm doing this for your sake." She went on, "Do you remember Old Master Lin Guanlan, the Grand Secretary of the Hanlin Academy, who was once so close to our family? Master Lin passed away three years ago, and his grandson got into trouble in Jiangnan. The Lin family wrote a single letter to Tao Zeyu, the Jiangnan provincial governor, and not only did the young master come to no harm—he returned to the capital with a thousand-tael silver draft from Tao Zeyu as a farewell gift. Why, do you suppose? Only because, back when Tao Zeyu had just been selected as a Hanlin bachelor and Old Mrs. Tao had come to the capital to live with her son, her capital accent tinged with Fujian was treated with disdain. The Lin matriarch had once spoken up for her." Then she admonished Mrs. Ding, "Remember this: make things easy for others, and you make them easy for yourself. Even if you cannot help someone, you must never offend them. Bringing you along today was also meant to let you cultivate a bit of goodwill with the Changxing Marquis's household."
"I'll remember your words, Mother!" Mrs. Ding nodded again and again, and with her own hands set the mounting stool that leaned against the shaft and helped Mrs. Cai into the carriage.
But just as Mrs. Cai set one foot on the stool, someone in a carriage parked alongside suddenly reached out and drew back the curtain. A woman bedecked in pearls and jade poked her head out and called with a smile, "Mrs. Cai? Are you Mrs. Cai?"
Mother-in-law and daughter-in-law both turned to look.
Mrs. Ding's face was full of puzzlement; she could not recall where she had seen this woman. Mrs. Cai, however, thought for a moment and smiled. "You must be the Seventh Mrs. Dou? I said to myself, with looks like that, how could I not remember her?" With that, she took her foot down and stood beside the carriage.
How very snobbish.
Wang Shuying cursed inwardly.
If it had been the Fifth Mrs. Dou greeting her, she'd likely have come scurrying over at once, wouldn't she?
Smiling, she stepped down from her carriage and came forward to exchange greetings with Mrs. Cai and her daughter-in-law. After a few pleasantries, Wang Shuying saw that the mood was warm and took Mrs. Cai affectionately by the arm.