Chapter 285 — Chickens Fly
Purple Streets of Chang'an · Page 2 of 4
She gave a cold laugh. "Is it that I will not wait on my mother-in-law, or that your sister picks and finds fault with me on purpose? One moment she says my hands are too heavy and I have broken Mother-in-law's hair; the next she says I put in too much bath bean and soaked the whole room… I am a bride new to this house. If I do not know how, could she not teach me? Yet she must say before Mother-in-law's very face how clumsy and awkward I am—is that my fault too? Wei Fan, speak with a conscience!"
In Wei Fan's heart, Dou Ming had always been a sweet girl. He had never known her to have such a sharp tongue.
The two of them fell to quarreling.
Of course, a clever little maidservant soon carried word to Lady Tian.
Lady Tian was so angry she stamped her feet, crying out, "A curse upon this house, a curse upon this house!" and weeping, she made to go seek the old Marquis of Jining.
The maids and serving women attending her, frightened, ran to fetch Wei Fan. But Wei Fan was locked in furious argument with Dou Ming, and none of the servants dared step forward, so they had no choice but to send for Wei Wan.
The sixth day of the eleventh month was the birthday of the Duchess of Jingguo. Several of the daughters-in-law, eager to curry favor, had gathered before her to discuss the birthday celebrations, and Wei Wan naturally dared not slip away, though she was secretly anxious. The Second Madam of the Zhang family was a typical daughter of the Shi clan—shrewd and full of schemes. Noticing that Wei Wan's expression was somewhat strained when she came in, she quietly signaled to her own personal maid, and before long she knew that someone from the Jining Marquis Estate had come looking for Wei Fan. Seizing the moment when Wei Wan went to fetch the inventory ledgers for the Duchess, she covered her mouth and laughed. "Elder Sister-in-law will be gone a good half hour. Why do we not play a few rounds of leaf cards to pass the time?"
The Duchess of Jingguo was not one to tolerate a grain of sand in her eye. It was plain to her that her second daughter-in-law was pouring poison in her ear against the first, but the second daughter-in-law was not the sort to merely make an outcry either. One glare from the Duchess, and at once an old serving woman stepped forward and reported that someone from the Jining Marquis Estate had come looking for the eldest madam.
The Duchess of Jingguo was furious.
Her eldest daughter-in-law was the mistress of the Jingguo Estate's household, the principal wife of the Zhang clan; yet in all things she must put her natal family first. And what was this Zhang family? Was this not keeping a great rat that ate at the inside of the house while carrying grain out the back?
The Duchess flung the ledgers Wei Wan had presented to her straight back into Wei Wan's face. Wei Wan was struck senseless, wholly at a loss as to what had happened, though in her heart she knew well enough that either her second or third sister-in-law had again been poisoning her mother-in-law's ear against her.
Her heart wept blood, but she dared not show the slightest trace on her face, and with lowered head and downcast eyes she let her mother-in-law scold her.
When the Duchess had scolded herself hoarse and her anger was spent—and her disappointment deeper still—she waved Wei Wan away and kept only her third daughter-in-law at her side for intimate talk.
Wei Wan could only put this down in her account book.
The attendants about the Second Madam could not help remonstrating with her. "Why must you do this? The Jingguo Estate will be the heir's wife's sooner or later."
"If I curried favor with her now, would she treat me any differently?" The Second Madam blew carelessly on the nails stained orange with balsam juice. "In the end I must rely on my natal family. Whether she is pleased or not—what is that to me?"