Chapter 192 — Panic

By now the Huai Tree Alley residence had been in an uproar for several days.

The Fifth Madam, with her eldest daughter-in-law, Mrs. Guo, had dismissed the servants who attended Dou Ming and questioned her over and over: why had Wei Fan invited her to tour the Puji Temple with him? The Sixth Madam, with her daughter-in-law, Mrs. Han, looked after the Second Old Madam, who had fainted from rage; and Cai-shi took charge of the household as a whole—now sending maids to bring tea and cakes to the Sixth and Seventh Masters, who sat in silence in the study; now sending her own trusted nurse to find out how Dou Yan was faring, shut up in the side chamber and refusing to open the door to anyone who knocked; now sending a servant to the gate to see whether the Fifth Master had yet returned from the yamen. Busy as a whirligig, she nonetheless had a ruddy complexion and a face full of luster, looking lively and in the highest of spirits.

Before long, a clamor arose at the front gate.

Cai-shi's trusted nurse hurried in. "Tenth Madam, the Master is back!"

Cai-shi nodded, straightened her collar, and went quickly to meet him.

Dou Bingheng's expression was stern, and his dignity was such as to command awe without his showing anger. He asked Cai-shi, "How is Shouyuan?"

Dou Heng and Dou Huaiying could take leave from their posts and stay home to deal with this matter, but he could not abandon his official duties.

At his words Cai-shi's face clouded, and she said softly, "She will not open the door, no matter who knocks."

Dou Bingheng frowned. "That will not do! You must at least persuade her to eat something. At this rate her health will give out." Then he asked, "What did the Wei family's matchmaker have to say?"

Dou Yan paid no heed to anyone. What could she do?

Cai-shi grumbled inwardly, but her face wore a humble and respectful expression. "She said the second day of the third month is an auspicious day. Though the Seventh Uncle is very grieved at heart, he said nothing."

As they spoke, the two had already entered the main courtyard, where they saw Mrs. Guo helping the Fifth Madam out of the eastern side chamber, both of them looking weary.

At the sight of Dou Bingheng, the Fifth Madam was slightly taken aback. She and Mrs. Guo came forward and made their bows to him. "How is it that you have left the yamen so early, my lord?"

Dou Bingheng sighed and smiled bitterly. "How could I have the heart to sit there listening to them spin their tales? I found an excuse and came away." Then he glanced at the eastern side chamber where Dou Ming was confined. "What does Ming have to say for herself?"

The Fifth Madam said nothing.

Mrs. Guo and Cai-shi took the hint. They made their curtsies and withdrew.

Only then did the Fifth Madam say in a low voice, "She says that when Wei Fan came to the house some time ago to apologize, she happened to meet him and put in a good word or two for him. This time, since our family would never agree to a wedding date, Wei Fan was beside himself with worry and asked her to meet him at the Puji Temple, hoping she would sound us out for him. I have looked into it, and she is not lying. There should be nothing between them..."

Dou Bingheng gave a cold snort. "I daresay there has not yet been time for anything to happen," he said cuttingly.

The Fifth Madam did not dare make a sound.

Her husband detested such affairs above all things, and she herself had kept to strictest propriety—there were not even the usual concubines; even when she was with child, he had slept in the study, attended by his servants.

Having vented his feelings, Dou Bingheng was in much better humor. He said to the Fifth Madam, "Let us go and see Shouyuan."

The Fifth Madam assented, and she and Dou Bingheng went toward the western side chamber where Dou Yan lodged.

The latticed window of the western side chamber quivered almost imperceptibly.

Su Lan turned and ran briskly back into the inner room. "Miss," she said urgently, "the Fifth Master and the Fifth Madam are coming over."

Dou Yan swallowed the mouthful of flaky pastry, took a sip of water, and only then asked, "Apart from the Fifth Master and the Fifth Madam, who else?"

"Just the two of them," Su Lan said; meanwhile Su Xin had swiftly cleared the pastries from the kang table into the tall cupboard nearby, then turned to pat Dou Yan's collar straight and set a large bolster behind Dou Zhiwei's back.

Dou Yan had only just lain down in her "weakness" when a knock came at the door. "Shouyuan, it is your Fifth Aunt! Your Fifth Uncle and I have come to see you."

Su Xin dabbed her fingertip in some warm tea and touched it to the corners of Dou Yan's eyes, then called out loudly, "Coming!" and motioned to Su Lan to open the door.

Su Lan understood and ushered the Fifth Madam in.

Dou Bingheng could not properly enter his niece's inner chamber, so he stood outside the door.

Dou Yan was just then being helped down from the kang by Su Xin, looking feeble and listless.

The Fifth Madam hurried forward in two or three steps to support her. "Lie down, lie down at once. There is no one else here."

"I have put Fifth Uncle and Fifth Aunt to worry," Dou Yan said in a voice faint as a thread. "It is nothing. I shall be well in a few days."

Gazing at her somewhat pale face, the Fifth Madam could not help shaking her head inwardly.

This child—her fate was too unkind.

Her marriage had met with one setback after another and to this day was still unsettled.

"You say it is nothing, and yet you have grown so thin that there is nothing left but bones," the Fifth Madam said with distress, and would have helped her to sit down on the kang.

Dou Bingheng was still standing outside the door, so of course Dou Yan could not sit. She mustered her strength as though summoning her spirits and made her bow to Dou Bingheng; before she could speak, tears came pattering down. "Fifth Uncle, I do not wish to marry into the Wei family. I beg you to decide this for me!"

The Fifth Madam could not help sighing.

Dou Bingheng was silent for a long while before he said, "You are no longer young. There was the He family's proposal before, and now the betrothal with the Wei family has been broken off—I fear your prospects in marriage will be difficult hereafter. Your Fifth Aunt has already questioned Ming, and that Marquis of Jining merely wished Ming to put in a good word for him before your father, and was afraid your father would be annoyed by him; that is why he asked Ming to meet him outside to talk, and it was not as people have spread about, that he and Ming were touring the Puji Temple. With a melon field and a plum tree, I know your heart is grieved. But I promise you, the two of them will never do such a thing again. I shall have your Fifth Aunt discipline Ming properly. You need only set your heart at ease and marry..."

Dou Yan had known it would come to this.

"Fifth Uncle, I will not marry into the Wei family." Her tone was firm as a knife stroke. She said again, "I cannot bear the shame! If the Wei family wants a bride, let them carry my spirit tablet through their gate."

Dou Bingheng and the Fifth Madam were silent.

※※※※※

Far away in the East City, at the Yingzhen Duke's residence, Song Yan, a lynx-fur cloak draped over his shoulders, sat before the desk by the window, earnestly studying the patterned letter in his hand.

The late afternoon light of early spring fell upon him, lending his face a luster like carved jade or polished ice—translucent, yet touched with a faint coolness that bespoke a lofty, elegant bearing. Standing before him, Du Wei could not help but let the corner of his eye drift toward him.

"So then—the Jining Marquis's wedding date is set for the fourth of the third month?"