Chapter 125 — News of Death (Extra Chapter, Begging for Pink Tickets)

The woman sent to deliver the message from the Jining Marquisate was about forty, wearing a floral-patterned vest of oriole-green and a gilded hairpin, with a jade bracelet on her wrist—plump and fair-complexioned.

Dou Yan remembered her.

Her husband's family name was Jin, and everyone called her Granny Jin. She was Wei Wan's wet nurse and the person Wei Wan trusted most.

In her previous life, Granny Jin had acted solely according to Wei Wan's moods, and in this life she would naturally be no different.

This must have been Wei Wan's idea!

Dou Yan sneered, and her words grew even less courteous: "Marriage is a great matter, settled by the command of parents and the words of matchmakers. Has the Jining Marquisate not sent a matchmaker to discuss it with my father, but instead dispatched a servant to inform our elders? Do you think so little of the Dou family? Or do you take the women of the Dou family for ignorant, weak creatures easy to bully?" She loudly instructed Granny Liu, who had accompanied Granny Jin to pay her respects: "Go and tell the Wei family—if they have no shame, the Dou family still has sons to marry and daughters to give away, and cannot afford to lose face like this! If they want this match, then make it; if not, return the jade pendant my mother gave the Marchioness, and from then on each family will marry where it will, owing nothing to the other. There is absolutely no reason to hold a wedding within a hundred days!" She did not so much as glance at Granny Jin, as though there were no such person in the room.

Granny Jin's heart tightened as she listened.

The Young Mistress had been worried that once Dou Bingheng entered the Grand Secretariat, the Dou family's standing and status would rise with the tide, and that the Fourth Miss of the Dou family might grow arrogant after marrying in—which was why she had proposed the marriage during the period of hot mourning. She had never expected the Fourth Miss of the Dou family to be so fierce.

She had first sent a maid to ask the Second Old Madam whether the Wei family's people had arrived. Since they had met face to face, she could hardly fail to pay her respects to the Fourth Miss Dou. But she had barely stepped through the door and had not even had time to say a word before the Fourth Miss Dou began berating her, catching her off guard and leaving her in a dilemma.

Judging by this Fourth Miss Dou's conduct, no wonder the Young Mistress had worried.

If she truly married in, even the Young Mistress might not be able to control her!

She could not help saying, "The Fourth Miss misunderstands! Our Madam and Young Mistress have no intention of slighting the Dou family. It is only that the Marquis has passed away from illness and the household is in disarray. We have long heard of the Fourth Miss's virtuous reputation, and so wished to bring the Fourth Miss into the household early, to request the title of Marchioness for the Fourth Miss early, and to hand the household affairs over to the Fourth Miss early. Our Heir Apparent has no other brothers, so is not all this family property the Heir Apparent's? Are not all the household expenses and provisions spent on the Heir Apparent and the Fourth Miss…"

But she did not finish. Dou Chi cut her off contemptuously: "And who might this be? Why does she look as though she can make decisions for the household?"

Granny Jin had never been treated with such disdain. Her face flushed red as she explained, "This old woman is surnamed Jin, and is the wet nurse of the Young Mistress of the Yingguo Duke's Household…"

It was precisely because she knew that she gave no quarter—were it anyone else, I would not stoop to argue with them!

Beat the dog, and…

Dou Yan muttered inwardly and gave a cold laugh: "That is strange indeed. How is it that the Young Mistress of the Yingguo Duke's Household manages the affairs of the Jining Marquisate? Whose rules are these—the Jining Marquisate's or the Yingguo Duke's Household's? I have never heard of such a thing."

Such a great accusation was more than Granny Jin could bear. She argued, "Our Young Mistress was only concerned for her brother's family…"

Granny Liu saw it all clearly.

So the Fourth Miss meant to give the Wei family a show of authority!

Since Granny Jin could be sent by the Wei family to deliver a message to the Dou family, then whether she belonged to the Jining Marquisate or the Yingguo Duke's Household, she was certainly a person of some standing in the Wei family. The Fourth Miss would sooner or later marry into the Jining Marquisate. At first she had thought Dou Yan had brought Granny Jin over to win her favor, but never imagined the Fourth Miss did not regard the Wei family as worth a thought.

This was just as well—it would keep the Wei family from thinking the Dou family had no one to speak for it!

Marrying during hot mourning—only they could think of such a thing!

Now that the Fifth Master had entered the Grand Secretariat, though he had been sent to oversee the Ministry of Justice, he had served in the Ministry of Personnel for many years and his connections remained intact. Whether the Heir Apparent of the Jining Marquisate wished to inherit the title or to seek a better post, he could not do without the Fifth Master's patronage. Even if the Fourth Miss was somewhat formidable, would they dare show her a cold face?

Still, she truly could not reconcile the usually poised and gracious Dou Yan with the Dou Yan now glaring in fury. She was stunned for a long while before coming to herself, then stood by saying nothing and feigning ignorance, listening as Dou Yan thoroughly humiliated Granny Jin, until at last she signaled with her eyes to the maid who had come with her, hinting that the maid should find an excuse to call them away.

Those who could attend Granny Liu were naturally all shrewd.

The maid withdrew without a sound, made a circuit outside, then hurried through the main courtyard with an anxious expression and asked Dou Zhiwei's maid to help pass on a message: "The Second Old Madam still has questions for the granny who came from the Wei family, and sent me especially to invite her over to talk."

Only then did Granny Jin retreat in disgrace. She drew the little maid aside and asked, "Might I know what the Second Old Madam wishes to speak with me about?"

The little maid looked at Granny Liu and giggled.

Granny Liu smiled meaningfully. "Granny Jin, come rest at my place for a while! It will be no late matter to pay your respects to the Second Old Madam after lunch."

Granny Jin understood at once, thanked her profusely, and quietly slipped two large red envelopes to Granny Liu.

Granny Liu accepted them without the slightest hesitation.

Granny Jin returned to the Dou house having swallowed a bellyful of anger, and we need not speak of it. Meanwhile, Lu Ming, whom Song Yan had placed in the Dou household, learned that Dou Yan was betrothed to the Heir Apparent of the Jining Marquisate, and hastily wrote a letter which he quietly sent back to the Yingguo Duke's Household.

Song Yan took the letter to Yan Che.

"What do you make of it?" He handed the letter to Yan Che.

Yan Che read it at a glance and let out a long breath of relief: "Since she is to be a Wei bride, she will naturally plan for the Jining Marquisate's interests."

The implication was that Dou Yan, for her husband's family's sake, could not possibly oppose the Yingguo Duke's Household.

"That is what I thought as well." Song Yan nodded. "In that case, matters will be easier to handle." Suddenly Dou Yan's snow-white face and long brows sweeping toward her temples rose before his mind's eye, and he could not help asking, "Does anyone know the Heir Apparent of the Jining Marquisate?"

Yan Che's eyes showed approval.