Chapter 336 — The Warning
Purple Streets of Chang'an · Page 2 of 4
The aunt, however, said to Dou Yan in a warm voice, "Affairs of officialdom are a tangled business! Sometimes a man comes to you with a request; refuse him and you make an enemy, agree and you drag yourself into the mire. And sometimes a man is plainly your foe, yet at the critical moment he will stand at your side and see you through the hardship. I can see that the heir is a most steady man, and that he holds you in great respect. You should not meddle in such matters—let the heir have the final word in all things, for the rest of your life."
Dou Yan nodded again and again.
The aunt had always considered Dou Yan a clever and dutiful child, and said no more. She had Ganlu gather up the several old garments she had unpicked and said, "Later I will take these back to my room to cut out the pieces."
Ganlu asked in surprise, "Does the aunt have no scissors? Let me fetch you a pair right away."
"No, no!" The aunt stopped her with a smile. "These days it is best not to bring out knives or scissors in front of Shouyuan."
Ganlu pursed her lips and smiled.
Zhao Zhangru said, "There is such a rule? How is it I have never heard of it?"
The aunt reflected that Dou Yan was three years younger than her own daughter, yet had to fend for herself in everything, while her daughter had been born into comfort and never knew it, was lazy and unwilling to learn anything, and whenever trouble came could only raise a fuss without putting her mind to work. Some displeasure rose in her heart, and she snapped, "What do you know of anything but eating?"
Seeing her mother fly into a temper again, Zhao Zhangru hurried to hide behind Dou Zhiwei and protested in a small voice, "But eating is a skill too—Father said so!"
Dou Yan could not help laughing.
Behind the curtain a little maid announced in a high voice, "The heir has returned!"
The aunt shot Zhao Zhangru a fierce glare, then put on a smile and rose to her feet.
Because they were kin by marriage, Song Yan came in and paid his respects to the aunt, then withdrew, and only after the evening meal, when the aunt and Zhao Zhangru had returned to the guest rooms, did he come back to the inner chamber.
Dou Qu asked him, "Where did you take your evening meal? What did you eat? Did you eat well? What did you do all alone in the outer court? Were you very bored?"
As the words left her mouth, her heart caught.
Ever since she had married Song Yan, he had stayed by her side whenever he came home from the office; this was the first time he had merely greeted her and gone off to the outer court.
After she married Song Yan, he had stayed by her side whenever he returned from his duties; this was the first time that he had merely greeted her and gone off to the outer courtyard.
In great households, is it not always so—the women keep to the inner courtyards, the men to the outer, and only at night, when a man wishes to rest in the principal chamber, do husband and wife set eyes on each other?
In the old days, when Wei Fan had no official duties, he still had to spend every day paying calls on one person or another, and had no time to stay home; Song Ke was only an assistant commissioner of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and moreover garrisoned the North City garrison office, so the people he knew were beyond counting—and yet he spent every day at her side...
Dou Chi took Song Zhi's arm and said, "My aunt and cousin will be staying with us a while longer. If you get bored, just invite your friends over to amuse yourself at home, or go out and socialize with them. Don't sit alone in the outer courtyard, all by yourself, with no one even to talk to."
Song Sui laughed. "Why does that sound to me like you're tired of having me at home?"
"Who's tired of having you at home?" Dou Xin said, her voice especially soft. "Aren't I just afraid you'll be bored all alone?"
Hearing this, Song Yan felt his heart surge with emotion.