Chapter 185 — Indecision

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Song Yan had long suspected that Dou Yan and Wang-shi were at odds. Otherwise, no matter the reason, Dou Huaiying could never have packed his eldest legitimate daughter—a girl who had lost her own mother—off to the family's old home while he himself kept his second wife and the daughter she bore him in the capital year after year. What he had not imagined was that the rift between Dou Yan and Wang-shi ran so deep that Dou Yan would disregard the Dou family's reputation altogether.

What struck him as stranger still, however, was Wei Wan's attitude.

Dou Yan was her future sister-in-law, and Wei Wan was the sort who shielded her own. Yet before so many watching eyes she had not spoken a single word on Dou Yan's behalf; and when Wang-shi tried to drag her into it, she had hesitated for a moment. That defied all reason. And then

his thoughts turned to what had happened at the Northern Zen Temple.

He sent men to look into the marriage alliance between the Dou and Wei families.

Only then did Song Yan discover that although Dou Yan had been betrothed to Wei Fan since childhood, the two families had rarely exchanged visits in the early years. It was not until He Daowen sought Dou Yan's hand for his son that the engagement was brought up again. Even so, after the old Marquis of Jining passed away, the Wei family had proposed that Dou Yan be married into the Wei household within the hundred days of mourning—their contempt and disdain plain for all to see.

Or perhaps the Dou family had revived the Dou-Wei betrothal precisely in order to decline the He family's suit with polite excuses, while the Wei family had agreed to the match because of an early pledge to the Dou family—compelled by circumstance, with no way out...

Which would explain everything: why Ji Yong could not abide the sight of Wei Fan, why Wei Wan would stand by and let Dou Yan be humiliated, why Zhang Yuan, upon learning that he had settled the matter of the Southern Zen Temple alley, had hurried to bring Wei Fan to see him.

Wang-shi and her daughter were vicious of heart, and Wei Wan's designs were venomous—so venomous that all the capital now whispered that the Dou family's Fourth Miss, soon to marry into the Jining Marquis's household, was perverse and violent of temper, wholly without forbearance, a girl who had torn off all pretense with her stepmother before she was even wed...

Song Kejin felt a faint ache begin at his temples.

Yet Dou Chuxin was set on marrying into the Jining Marquis's household, and nothing would sway her. Otherwise—a little scheming, and what great matter would it be to have Dou Yan withdraw from the engagement without a scratch?

The problem was Dou Yan herself. What was she truly thinking...

At that thought he sat bolt upright and called out loudly for "Chen He," saying, "Tell Mr. Chao I have business elsewhere for a few days!"

If he stayed away from Yizhi Hall too long, Song Ji would have Yan Che invent some excuse to answer Song Cen.

Chen He answered and went off at once.

Song Yan slipped on his shoes and told Song Luo to help him change his clothes.

He had barely finished dressing when Yan Che came in, his expression hurried.

"Young Marquis," he said, bowing with clasped hands, his face oddly altered, "a quarter of an hour ago the Dou family's Fourth Miss entered the capital with the Dowager Lady Dou. She is now lodged at the Fifth Master Dou's residence on Huai Tree Alley."

"Why did you not tell me sooner?" Song Yan froze, then a trace of anger crossed his face.

If she had come to the capital with her elders, she could not have set out and arrived on the same day—there must have been preparations. Their people in Zhending should have had word long ago!

Yan Che lowered his head in shame and said in a low voice, "Several of the Dou ladies, and even the concubines, urged the Fourth Miss to come to the capital time and again, and each time she put them off with one excuse or another. This time the Dowager Lady Dou let it be known that Grand Secretary Dou had brought her to the capital to enjoy her ease. We assumed only the Dowager Lady was coming and paid it no mind..."

Above all, they had not expected Song Yan to set out for Zhending again the moment he returned from it, and so had not inquired closely.

Song Yan thought for a moment, then said, "From now on, let Du Wei report anything concerning the Fourth Miss directly to me."

Yan Che started, and in an instant his face flushed crimson.

Whatever intelligence Du Wei gathered, he normally prepared in duplicate: one copy for Yan Che, one for Song Yan. This had been Lady Jiang's rule in her day, meant to train Song Yan's ability to weigh a situation; afterward it had become custom, and it had not changed even after Lady Jiang's death. And since Yan Che vetted everything along the way, and Song Yan had lately been busy with relatives in order to keep Song Cen in check, he had not looked closely at what Du Wei submitted.

Yan Che took this as a sign of Song Yan's displeasure and stammered out a "Yes."

But Song Yan said slowly, "Matters concerning the Fourth Miss are my own private affairs. They need not be entered among the business of Yizhi Hall. I will instruct Du Wei that he need not report the Fourth Miss's movements to Yizhi Hall henceforth."

Yan Che was shaken. He stared at Song Yan in astonishment and called out "Young Marquis," wanting to say something, yet not knowing what.

Nothing good could come of Song Yan keeping such close company with Dou Yan. Yet if he tried to stop him, he thought of the rare good humor that had come over Song Yan after meeting Dou Yan, and found he could not open his mouth—things that could gladden Song Yan had always been few, and now they were fewer still.

He sighed softly and answered, "Yes."

For the first time in his life, Song Yan was unwilling to dwell on that momentary hesitation of Yan Che's.

He had Chen He pass the word down.

Soon Du Wei hurried over.

He said much the same as Yan Che, and Song Yan questioned him thoroughly, clearly, as though only so could he set his heart at ease.

※※※※※

Meanwhile, in the flower hall on Huai Tree Alley, Dou Yan—seated where she had been placed, close at the Dowager Lady's side—was quietly puzzled.

She had not seen Wang Shuying.

Was Wang Shuying ill? Or had something happened to her?

After the midday meal, Dou Yan clung to Ji-shi's arm and would not let go.

The Fifth Madam teased her: "It's just like a daughter meeting her mother—even with nothing the matter, she must cry three times over."

Though she had raised Dou Yan, the girl was not her own flesh and blood after all. When Dou Chi had been willing to follow Ji-shi to the capital, Ji-shi had felt a small pang of loss. Now that she had Dou Yan before her—and Dou Yan, usually so level-headed, making such a fuss over her—how could Ji-shi's heart not soften?

She put an arm around Dou Zhiwei's shoulders and said with a smile, "This one is my own flesh and blood."

Dou Yi giggled and said, "I'm going to sleep with Sixth Aunt tonight."

Little Ren, eldest son of the Tenth Cousin Dou Jichang, who had only just begun to babble, imitated Dou Yan: "I'm going to sleep with Sixth Aunt tonight."

Everyone burst out laughing.

The Second Old Madam, meanwhile, hastily gathered her great-grandson into her arms and, her face brimming with indulgence, said with a smile, "Good, good, good—tonight you shall go with your Fourth Aunt and rest at your Sixth Great-Aunt's rooms."

At this, Ren'er let out a wail and began hunting about for his wet nurse: "I don't want Fourth Aunt, I don't want Fourth Aunt—"

"Fourth Aunt" came out as "Four-Four-Four," which set everyone laughing again.

Dou Ming, however, kept her face set in a scowl the whole while.

Han-shi, standing beside her, could not help urging her: "Everyone is so happy just now—if only for the Second Old Madam's sake, you cannot give way to your temper like this."