Chapter 439 — Sister-in-Law
Purple Streets of Chang'an · Page 1 of 4
Gan Lu smiled and ordered the little maids to lay out the meal.
Dou Yan and Jiang Yan took their midday meal together, then went to the upper courtyard.
The ladies' banquet was set in the flower hall of the upper courtyard. By the time they arrived, the feast had just broken up, and Song Da Tai Tai and the others were accompanying several plainly dressed ladies with unfamiliar faces, admiring the chrysanthemums before the flower hall steps.
At the sight of Dou Yan, everyone was taken aback.
Song Da Tai Tai hastened to introduce them. "This is our household's heir's wife, and this is our family's cousin lady." Then she indicated the several ladies. "This is the wife of Scholar Li, who was a fellow student of the Zhenguo Lord; this is the wife of Mountain Chief Wen of Xiujin Academy, also a fellow student of the Zhenguo Lord; this is the wife of Secretary Qin of the Five Armies Command..."
All of them were obscure, unheard-of people.
Everyone exchanged greetings.
Dou Yan said apologetically, "The child is still small and cannot be left for a moment, so I have been remiss in attending to you all!" Then to Song Da Tai Tai she said, "Thank goodness my aunt has been helping, or the household could never have run so smoothly without a mishap."
Song Da Tai Tai made a modest disclaimer.
At once someone laughed and said, "We had long heard that a cousin lady had come to your esteemed household, and that she looks exactly like the late Lady Jiang. Seeing her today, there was not a word of exaggeration." So saying, she took Jiang Yan's hand. "You and Lady Jiang look so very alike!"
Jiang Yan grew somewhat ill at ease.
Seeing this, Dou Yan smiled and changed the subject. "It is getting late. Shall we all move to the waterside pavilion? A stage has been set up there, and players have been engaged to sing."
Everyone answered "Good" in one voice and crowded around Dou Yan and Jiang Yan toward the waterside pavilion.
Among them was a round-faced woman of about thirty, who introduced herself as Mistress Huang, wife of Hu Chong, secretary of the Left Army of the Five Armies Command, and born of the Dengzhou Guard's assistant commander. Smiling, she said to Dou Yan, "...When the old Zhenguo Lord was alive, my father once accompanied my grandfather to pay his respects to him. After my father returned, he could never forget the splendors of the Ying Zhenguo Estate. I heard of it from childhood to womanhood, and always wished to see what the Ying Zhenguo Estate was like. Today at last I have opened my eyes. To say nothing else, those two ginkgo trees before the gate—they must be at least a hundred years old?"
Her manner was neither servile nor overbearing, her tone cheerful and lively, and she made a very good impression on Dou Yan.
Dou Xin said, "I never thought our two families should share such a bond! The ginkgo trees are said to have been there when the estate was first founded; because Xuanming Zong was fond of them, they have been tended to this day. I daresay they are more than a hundred years old."
Mistress Hu laughed merrily, then turned her gaze to Jiang Yan. "The cousin lady is truly beautiful. How old are you this year?"
Dou Yan's brows drew slightly together.
But Jiang Yan was an honest sort, answering whatever she was asked. She said softly, "I have turned fifteen this year."
"Ai yo!" Mistress Li's face was full of pity. "She has only just reached her coming-of-age!"
No doubt everyone had already heard that Jiang Yan was a "widow."
Jiang Yan said nothing.
Dou Chi asked the receiving matron with no change of expression, "Which troupe did you engage today? What are their specialities?"