Chapter 309 — A New Addition

Dou Yan naturally had no idea what had happened at the Jining Hou estate. The Dou sisters of Yandao and the Dou clan were already at odds, so she simply turned a blind eye to Dou Ming's absence. Everyone played cards and chatted merrily. As the sky gradually darkened, they stayed at the Heming Temple alley for supper.

Song Yan glanced at the sky and, seeing it was not right, came in to exchange a few words with Dou Yan, left a few guards behind, and rose to take his leave.

Dou Huaiying and the others personally escorted Song Yan to the main gate. The Sixth Aunt stayed behind to keep Dou Yan company, and the rest dispersed.

Lady Han's wet nurse could not help complaining: "You're about to give birth any day now, and yet the lady still has to keep Fourth Aunt company! Even if the Fourth Son-in-Law is the honored heir of the Zhenguo Duke, there's no need for this, surely!"

"Say no more nonsense!" Lady Han hissed, scolding the wet nurse. "Fourth Aunt was raised by Mother-in-law, as good as her own flesh and blood. It was even because of this that Seventh Uncle once wanted to adopt Twelfth Uncle over to the West Dou branch. If I hear such talk from you again, you'll go straight back to Huzhou."

The wet nurse murmured her assent.

Yet Lady Han secretly found it strange.

Her mother-in-law was not a muddled woman. No matter how much she doted on Dou Yan, she would never leave her side at a time like this to keep Dou Yan company.

What on earth had happened that she did not know about?

Lady Ji was speaking to Dou Yan about Dou Huaide, anxious and angry: "...His maternal grandmother suddenly fell ill, and his aunt needed to hurry back to the old home to nurse her. I had to look after Han and could not get away, so I told him to escort his aunt back to Yixing, and to inquire after his grandmother's illness on my behalf. Who would have thought that after he returned, he would be utterly out of sorts! I feared he had suffered some shock in Yixing, so I summoned the servants and maids who had gone with him to question them. Though all of them claimed to know nothing, the accounts they gave me were all exactly the same—only some had changed the order of events, some had said a few words less, some a few words more. The more I thought, the more suspicious I grew, and I quietly had careful watch kept on your Twelfth Brother's movements. Only then did I discover that every two days he secretly sends a letter to Yixing. I dared not intercept the letters, so I sent a trusted servant ahead to the dock at Yixing, to watch the men who serve your Twelfth Brother..." Here her face suddenly turned somewhat pale, and she was silent for a long while before she ground out in a low voice, "Those letters were being sent to Lingze—to Ji Lingze!"

Had she not lived two lives, Dou Yan would surely have sided with her Sixth Aunt and sought to nip the danger in the bud.

But she knew how loving and devoted the two had been in her previous life. She truly could not bring herself to be the one who struck the mandarin ducks apart.

"Sixth Aunt, calm yourself," she said, trying to smooth things over. "Perhaps this is not what you imagine! Think back—Cousin Ji used to write to me every few days as well!" No sooner had the words left her mouth than she knew she had misspoken. She looked at Lady Ji and indeed saw a look of embarrassment. But the words were already out; to explain further would only make it worse, and more awkward still. Dou Yan had no choice but to pretend she had never known of Ji Yong's feelings and went on, "Lingze is surpassingly clever; she excels in poetry, the qin, painting, and calligraphy. And Twelfth Brother is a lively, eager scholar. When he meets someone who understands him, naturally there is no end to the conversation..."

Lady Ji jabbed a finger at Dou Zhiwei's forehead: "You blockhead! If the two of them were innocent and aboveboard, why would Lingze refuse to accept your Twelfth Brother's letters? Why would she refuse to see him? Why would your Twelfth Brother sneak about, finding lodgings elsewhere, instead of openly presenting a card of visit?" She asked several "why"s in one breath. "Has your Twelfth Brother said something to you? Are you covering for him? Among sisters, you and he have always been the closest..." Then her expression turned grave, and she said with all seriousness, "Shouyuan, you have always understood propriety. Lingze is a returned widow of the Han family, not some ordinary cousin. If this matter were to get out, I fear Lingze would have no place to stand, and your Twelfth Brother's name would be ruined, his prospects finished!"

Dou Chi'an cried out inwardly, "Oh no."

Just now she had been so busy persuading her Sixth Aunt that she had forgotten to look surprised.

"Nothing of the sort," she hurried to protest. "I may not have seen much of the world, but I know what is serious and what is not. Twelfth Brother has told me nothing; I guessed it myself." Then she diverted Lady Ji's attention: "But have you not thought of some way to see what it is that Twelfth Brother says to Cousin Lingze?"

As the saying goes, "Everything about one's own child is good." Even someone as sharp as Lady Ji did not doubt Dou Yan's clumsy explanation. Brows knitted, she said, "Since I discovered it, how could I not have opened your Twelfth Brother's letters? But they were all about scholarly matters..."

Dou Qu said, "Then what is there to worry about! By the look of it, even if Twelfth Brother has some fancy, Cousin Lingze understands it well enough. As I see it, you had best keep someone watching them. With a thousand li between them, given time, perhaps the feeling will fade. Besides, there is Cousin Lingze—she is not one without a will of her own."

Lady Ji thought it over and saw the sense in this. She let out a long breath, and the knot of tension in her chest finally loosened a little.

"You have no idea what these days have been like for me! I wanted to discuss it with your Sixth Uncle, but it was I who sent your Twelfth Brother to Yixing, and Lingze is my own daughter. Yet if I do not speak of it to someone, my heart tosses and turns with no peace at all... I must find your Twelfth Brother a match soon."

Dou Yan dared not say much more. She asked after the illness of Dou Huaide's maternal grandmother, and so steered the conversation elsewhere.

Fortunately, Lady Ji's heart was somewhat eased, and her spirits much improved. Besides her own son, her mind was still full of Dou Zhiwei's affairs. Fearing that Dou Yan might suffer grievances after marrying into the Yingzhen Duke's household, she set aside the matter of Dou Huaide and began asking about Dou Zhiwei's married life.

Dou Yan naturally chose the good things to say—and indeed Song Yan did treat her very well. Compared with her previous life, this marriage held far more hope.

Lady Ji listened with a pleased smile and arranged to meet her for incense-burning at Qixia Temple on the tenth day of the tenth month: "That is the bodhimanda of Guanyin Bodhisattva. Go and have a rite performed, and pray to the Bodhisattva to bless you with a son soon."

Dou Yan's face flushed slightly, and she said in a low voice, "Better not hold the rite. If I am still not with child by the end of the year, we can speak of it then."

"Very well!" Lady Ji thought for a moment and said, "You are a new bride entering the household now; anything too obvious would invite suspicion. A rite at Qixia Temple would only arouse people's doubts. Leave this matter to me."

Dou Yan's eyes grew slightly moist.

Only a mother would consider her child's every need so thoroughly.

She nodded emphatically, unwilling to disappoint her Sixth Aunt's kindness, and said with a grin, "Then go and draw a good fortune slip for me before Guanyin Bodhisattva!"

"You child!" Ji Guan shook her head with a smile.

The two went together to the place where her aunt was staying and talked deep into the night.