Chapter 12 — The Visitor

To her surprise, her mother and Wang Shuying were old acquaintances!

Dou Yan had never been able to understand why some women would rather abandon their families and their reputations just to live as a pair with a man.

Were the pleasures of love between a man and a woman truly so important?

And once love faded and affection died, a man who abandoned a woman and returned to his family was praised for having mended his ways—but what of the woman?

How was she supposed to go on standing on her own two feet in this world?

She sat with her mother in the small parlor behind the main hall, listening to her grandfather's voice as he berated her father in the hall beyond.

Experience had taught Dou Yan never to overestimate an opponent unduly, nor to underestimate one unduly.

In all fairness, Wang Shuying was not only shrewd and capable, clever and quick-witted, but also skilled at weighing the circumstances of the moment; she had always put her own interests first, and once she decided on something she never dragged her feet—she was remarkably decisive.

For a person like that, her grandfather had promised to take her as a sworn daughter and find her a good match, with the Dou family footing the bill and marrying her off in fine style. So why insist on following her father?

The Dou family was no shallow household of newly risen officials; given her station, the Dou family would never agree to let her become a concubine. Her mother was the proper first wife whom the Zhao family had married in with full ceremony and matchmakers—not only was she without fault, but even if she had erred, for the sake of the Dou family's face they would never casually cast her off.

Had Wang Shuying not thought it over carefully before coming to Zhending?

It did not fit her character at all!

As these thoughts raced through her mind, Dou Yan felt a jolt in her heart.

Her sister!

Her sister Dou Ming, born on the third day of the seventh month in the year of Dingwei.

As the saying goes, one counts seven months and not eight.

That is to say, if Dou Ming was born premature, Wang Shuying must have entered the household no later than the first month.

By the rules, a husband must observe a year of mourning when his wife dies. There were exceptions. If a husband was on campaign and his wife died, leaving no one at home to support his parents or raise his children, he might take a new wife within a hundred days. Her father was no soldier, but her grandmother by blood had died young, and if her mother... then there would be no one to manage the household affairs—this clause could, barely, be invoked.

Which meant her mother had died before the New Year.

But what if Dou Ming was not premature?

Dou Yan could not help smiling.

Wang Shuying still needed to establish herself in the Dou household; she would sooner die than admit to an illicit affair with her father.

And her father still wanted Wang Shuying to enter the family; no matter what, he would never breathe a word to anyone about her pregnancy.

It was like gambling at a game of big or small: just as the dice were about to be revealed, you suddenly noticed a full-length mirror behind your opponent, and you could see every card in his hand as clear as day.

Her blood ran hot at once.

As long as her mother lived, the longer things dragged on, the more favorable the situation became for them!

But the precondition was that her mother must live!

In high spirits, she took a golden orange from the fruit basin on the table and handed it to her mother: "Mama, have an orange!"

Her mother gave her a strained smile and took the orange, but only held it in her hand, staring blankly.

Dou Yan played the clown to amuse her parent. She split the orange into segments and popped one into her mother's mouth, then fed segments to her eldest aunt and third aunt, who sat with them in the small parlor.

To lighten the mood, her eldest aunt and third aunt teased her with smiles.

She chattered and giggled.

Gradually, a smile returned to her mother's face.

That night, she clutched the hem of her mother's garment and fell asleep.

The next day, her third uncle and sixth uncle, who were at home, together with her eldest aunt—wife of the eldest son and thus the clan's principal matron—and her third aunt, who assisted the eldest aunt in managing the household, all came over escorting the Second Dowager of the Eastern Mansion, that is, her grandfather's elder cousin by the same grandfather.

Her grandfather's eldest cousin and his wife, and his second elder brother, had all passed away.

"I have already heard about the matter from your nephews and nieces-in-law," said the Second Dowager. She was slight of frame, yet her gaze was startlingly bright, which lent her an added air of dignity. "And Miss Wang? Has anyone been sent to Nanwa with word?"

"I have Ding Shi keeping her company," her grandfather said bitterly. "As for Nanwa, word was sent overnight." Then, ashamed, he added, "Second Sister-in-law, all of this is my failure to teach my son properly..."

"We will discuss these things later." The Second Dowager waved a hand, cutting him off. "The pressing matter is to find out exactly how far the two of them have gone!"

With one phrase, the Second Dowager had struck at the heart of the matter.

Dou Yan was filled with admiration.

Her grandfather was taken aback; he opened his mouth, but perhaps thinking of her father's folly in this affair, he kept silent.

The Second Dowager instructed her third uncle: "Wanyuan is as a son to you; you go and question Wanyuan." Then she instructed her eldest aunt: "As for Miss Wang, you go and question her."

The two answered in unison and set about their tasks separately.

Only then did the Second Dowager beckon to her mother, motioning for her to sit beside her: "Without the Zhao family, there would be no Dou family. The master and mistress of the Zhao house passed away early, and the young master of the Zhao family is thin-skinned and ill at ease in such matters—but the elders of the Dou family are still here! Rest assured, we will never let you suffer injustice."

Dou Yan had only one maternal uncle, eight years older than her mother. Her mother had been a posthumous child; her maternal grandmother died of illness when her mother was ten, and her mother grew up in the care of her elder brother and sister-in-law. While the grandmother lived, the two children wanted for neither food nor clothing, yet she dreaded the tax collectors and local ruffians coming to make trouble at the door. By then the Dou family had already grown wealthy, and so the grandmother often brought the two children to visit the Dou household. They were relatives by marriage to begin with, and since the Dou family built its name on generosity, the two households grew ever closer. Her uncle Zhao Si had studied since childhood in the Dou family's clan school and was on excellent terms with Dou Huaiying, Dou Wenchang, Dou Yuchang, and Dou Huachang—uncles and nephews all. And so her parents' marriage was settled without the slightest ripple.

When the Second Old Madam spoke of her parents, long dead, her mother flung herself into the old lady's arms and wept.

Her Sixth Uncle was four years older than her father. The two had studied together as boys, passed the county examination together, failed the provincial examination together, and were now both shut away at home with their books. Seeing her mother weep so bitterly, he grew somewhat embarrassed and said in a low voice, "Perhaps we should sit in Uncle's study instead? There are things we elders would rather not hear!"

The Second Old Madam shot him a glare and said sternly, "You went to the capital together with Wanyuan. Do you know anything about this or not?"