Chapter 205 — Breaking Out

While Dou Yan was lost in pleasant visions of the future, the maidservants and old women of the Huai Shu Alley household were discovering that Dou Yan, upon waking, had neither made a great fuss nor raised a clamor; and with Wang Shuying locked away and no one left at the Huai Shu Alley to take charge, she had first soothed her father, then comforted her aunt, and through her words and bearing had made plain her attitude toward the Fifth Lady and the rest, swiftly seizing control of the situation. All at once they had a backbone again, breathed out together in relief, and recovered their former ease. Once Dou Yan had retired, each went about her business—fresh tea was brewed for the ladies in the hall, the rough-work women were led off to sweep up the leftover scraps of firecracker paper, watchers were posted for the night, the bowls and chopsticks were counted and checked... and in a moment everything fell into order.『雅*文*言*情*首*发』

A woman from the kitchen even sent a little maid over to ask Matron Liu, "It's getting late—what sort of night snacks do the ladies and young madams fancy?"

Matron Liu thought of Dou Zhiwei's grave, composed face; Mingche had said that when the sky falls, the tall man holds it up, and it had little to do with her—yet for some reason her heart tightened. What appetite had she for night snacks? She only wanted to hurry back and report the matter to the Second Old Madam and ask her to decide. But since the Fifth Lady was present, she could hardly fail to seek the Fifth Lady's instructions first.

Matters had gone entirely beyond the Fifth Lady's expectations.

By rights, after a calamity of this sort, even if Dou Yan did not threaten to die or make a scene, she ought at least to have wept and wailed. Yet she had not shed a single tear; not only had she quickly accepted that Dou Ming had taken her place in the bridal chair, she had instantly devised a way to deal with it, full of confidence, as though she had been prepared all along.

But she immediately rejected the notion.

Only she herself, the Fifth Lady, and the Second Old Madam knew of this; they could never have told Dou Yan.

Which meant that Dou Yan was born with such calm in the face of danger?

And then there was Dou Huaiying. That his second daughter had been married off in place of the eldest was something he surely could not accept at once, and in his fury he was bound to do something extreme—yet who would have thought he would see through the trick so quickly, and fly into such a passion that he fainted dead away?

Lady Zhao, too, was far more level-headed than she had imagined.

When she heard that Dou Ming had entered the bridal chair in Dou Yan's stead, she had seized Wang Xushi by the collar and threatened to drag her to the authorities, reducing Wang Xushi to a sorry state. Apart from showing great indignation at the very start, her conduct afterward had gradually acquired a sense of measure—clearly she did not wish to blow the matter up before Dou Ming's marriage into the Wei family was finally settled, nor to thrust Dou Yan onto the point of the spear.

The Fifth Lady had a vague feeling that this affair had been somewhat improperly handled, and that it would hardly go as smoothly as she had wished...

Which made it all the more impossible for her to leave the Huai Shu Alley.

Should anything change, she could deal with it in time...

The Fifth Lady turned it over in her mind. Should she tell Dou Yan about the Ji family matter?

With a proud and clever person, speaking from the heart was always more effective than concealment and scheming.

In a consulting tone she said to Matron Liu, "The ladies of the Ji and Wang families seem not to have left, and there's no one here to take charge. Surely we can't just wash our hands of it? We had better stay. Someone will have to go over and pay our respects to the Ji and Wang sides as well."

The Ji family ladies who had come to observe the ceremony were in the side rooms of the neighboring courtyard; since Lady Ji had been called away, none of them had appeared.『雅*文*言*情*首*发』

Wang Xushi, however, had been so frightened by Lady Zhao's outburst that she had been sent to rest in the side chamber, and word had been sent to the Imperial Medical Academy to summon a physician. Until the physician arrived, Lady Gao and the others dared not move Wang Xushi, and so they too stayed on.

The Fifth Lady spoke to her thus only out of regard for the fact that she served the Second Old Madam—Matron Liu was perfectly clear on that point, and how would she dare give herself airs? She hastened to compliment the Fifth Lady on her thoroughness, but just then the little maid sent to attend the Ji family ladies came running in, panic-stricken.

"Something's wrong," she said, hastily bobbing a curtsy to the Fifth Lady as she reported. "I don't know why, but the Sixth Lady and the Ji family folk were talking, and all of a sudden she burst into tears."

This little maid was the one the Fifth Lady had sent to the neighboring courtyard to gather news.

The Fifth Lady could not help exchanging a glance with Matron Liu.

It seemed the Sixth Lady had learned that Dou Ming had married into the Wei family in Dou Yan's place.

The Fifth Lady thought for a moment, then said, "Shall we go and comfort her?"

Sometimes, though covering one's ears to steal a bell is laughable, one must at least cover one's ears.

She took Matron Liu along the winding covered walkway to the neighboring courtyard, and halfway there they met Lady Ji.

Lady Ji's eyes were red, her face drawn tight and very grim.

With a smile the Fifth Lady called out, "Sixth Sister-in-law," but Lady Ji did not so much as glance at her; she brushed past and went straight to the eastern wing where Dou Yan was resting.

"Suxin, go out. I have something to say to your young lady." Lady Ji briskly dismissed Suxin, then, tears brimming on her lashes, caught hold of Dou Zhiwei's hand as she rose at the sound of voices, and said in a choked voice, "Shouyuan, tell me the truth—if you were to marry Jianming, would you be willing?"

Dou Yan was stunned.

Seeing this, Lady Ji's tears fell straight down. "Shouyuan, this is all your Sixth Aunt's fault. I know our Old Master has taken a fancy to you, and thought he would urge the Dou and Wei families to break off the match. Though Jianming is no fine match, if you were willing, I would speak for you before my sister-in-law, and with your cleverness you would surely live well. But I never thought they would resort to a substitute bride... If you are willing to marry Jianming, then let this matter rest; if you are not, your Sixth Aunt will go to your Sixth Uncle at once. Even if Ming has entered the Wei family's gate, we hold the marriage contract, and the match does not stand!"

Dou Yan's eyes grew hot, and she leaned her head against Lady Ji's shoulder.

Her tears quickly soaked Lady Ji's clothes.

"Sixth Aunt, I don't want to marry into the Wei family, and I don't want to marry into the Ji family either," she said, choking on her words. "I just want to stay at home and be a carefree unmarried daughter."

Faced with such a thing, what else could Dou Chi say?

Lady Ji wept softly.

For a time the room felt thick with gloom and sorrow.

※※※※※

Gu Yu sat in the wedding pavilion of the Jining Marquis's household, idly watching the Dou family's eldest young master, Dou Wenchang, ply Wei Tingyu with wine—and the more he drank, the more Wei Tingyu drank with gusto.

He could not help muttering "Fool" under his breath, and said to Wang Yu, who sat nearby drinking with the next table, "What is it with these Dou brothers-in-law? The moment they see a bridegroom they pour wine down his throat. Whoever marries their daughters is in for eight lifetimes of bad luck!"

Wang Yu, rather drunk, chuckled twice.