Chapter 341 — Conflict
Purple Streets of Chang'an · Page 2 of 4
Third Madam Zhang took a share of the glory, jesting and chiming in at her side, determined that Dou Yan's first appearance should be radiant and leave a deep impression.
Dou Yan never once spoke with Wei Wan, nor paid any heed to Dou Ming.
Second Madam Zhang watched, her eyes darting this way and that.
Wei Wan was seized with fury and shot Dou Ming a venomous glare.
Dou Ming was still brooding over the matter of the trousseau. Head bowed, she walked silently behind the others.
Wei Wan grew angrier still. She exchanged a few smiling words with Lady Guo, then walked up to Dou Ming and hissed in a low, resentful voice: "Are you mute? With so many people about, you do not even go up to greet them! Do you not often say at home that you were raised by Old Madam Wang? What of it? Is this how the Wang family teaches manners and propriety?"
The sarcasm drained the color from Dou Ming's face. She raised her head, about to answer with a cold laugh, when she saw the ladies all turning to speak with Dou Yan, who stood among them like a pearl of noble worth, radiant and luminous.
A foul breath lodged in her chest.
Dou Yan had already married into the Duke of Yingzhenguo's household, said to be the foremost noble house in the capital. Why, then, did Father secretly supplement her dowry, as though terrified she might not live well enough? She too was a married daughter; the Jining Marquis household was far inferior to the Duke of Yingzhenguo's. Why had Father never thought of her?
The thought that she had learned of Father's supplement to Dou Yan's dowry only from others' lips made her chest tighten and her heart feel as though it had been stabbed, an agony she could not bear. She wished only to flee this stifling banquet and ask Father why he treated her so. What mood had she left for Wei Wan?
To be thus ignored by her own sister-in-law, Wei Wan felt a fire blaze up in her heart with a thud. She seized Dou Ming by the arm and growled low: "I am speaking to you! Surely you are not so lacking in breeding as this?"
Ordinarily she was not so hot-tempered. But her mother-in-law, in her daily efforts to make things difficult for her, was forever hinting that her natal family was of no help—and here her own family was, doing things that dragged her down. At an occasion like today's, the natal families of her two sisters-in-law had arrived long ago; Third Sister-in-law Feng's family had even sent two elders. Her own sister-in-law, by contrast, had arrived at the last moment, and had cost her a favor owed to Feng for nothing. Her mood was foul, and her words and manner were more fiery than usual.
Yet Dou Ming had her own thoughts and could not be bothered with her.
She flung off Wei Wan's grip, straightened her back, and quickly caught up with the ladies ahead.
Wei Wan's face darkened as though a storm were about to break.
She hurried after her and seized Dou Ming's arm once more.
Young Madam Wang, who was speaking with Second Madam Zhang, saw this and teased the pair: "How affectionate you aunt and niece are! What secrets are you whispering?"
Everyone's gaze drifted toward them.
Second Madam Zhang's eyes lit up. She covered her mouth and laughed, then said loudly: "Elder Sister-in-law, what is it that cannot be said before us? Rest assured—we may envy the dowries of the two Dou daughters, but we shall not go about spreading tales and invite a thief to our door."
Everyone laughed. Though most were both envious and jealous, they all wore faces wreathed in smiles.
Wei Wan did not know why Second Madam Zhang should say such a thing on such an occasion, and gave a vague, smiling response.