Chapter 392 — Feminine Charms

Dou Yan, for her part, found herself unable to sleep after returning to Yizhi Hall. She sought out Ruozhu for a talk. "Find some way to look into why the maids of the Osmanthus Courtyard are always at each other's throats so viciously."

In the past she had assumed it was mere jealousy and rivalry, and the thought had disgusted her so much that she had not even wanted to hear of it. Now, however, she very much wanted to know the reason.

Ruozhu respectfully assented, and only then did Dou Yan settle down to rest in peace.

Two days later, Ruozhu came to report back to her.

"Madam, the Lord Defender of the State has a soft ear — whoever serves him well, he raises up; yet before two days are out, he punishes those who serve at his side over some trifling matter." Her expression was somewhat peculiar. "To get ahead in the Lord Defender's eyes, the maids of the Osmanthus Courtyard curry favor with him by a thousand schemes and a hundred devices. False accusations, frame-ups — they stop at nothing. And the Lord Defender, for his part, will only listen to sweet words and never to bitter ones. Over time, with one trampling another underfoot and one stabbing another in the back, the maids of the Osmanthus Courtyard have all come to regard one another as enemies. I hear that Baizhi once climbed to her position by stepping on Chuan'er — who would have thought Chuan'er could be transferred to the Second Master's courtyard? In the end, before Chuan'er left, she tripped Baizhi up, and Baizhi nearly got herself banished by the Lord Defender to the country estate. That was why Baizhi would not swallow the insult and decided to teach Chuan'er a lesson..."

Dou Yan's heart stirred as she watched. "Baizhi and Chuan'er both served the Lord Defender closely — were either of them taken into his bedchamber?"

Ruozhu's face flushed crimson. She lowered her voice. "No! Everyone in the Osmanthus Courtyard knows the Lord Defender has never taken liberties with the maids. Baizhi and Chuan'er are at most prettier and sweeter-tongued and better at pleasing the Lord Defender. As for taking a maid into his chamber — since Lady Jiang passed away, he has taken only one, a girl named Duruo." Her voice dropped further. "From what Luoyan let slip, that maid Duruo seems to be no simple creature. Apart from serving the Lord Defender, she goes nowhere at all. She'll sit alone in the side room doing needlework the whole day through without once raising her head, never going to press herself forward before the Lord Defender, and paying no mind to the cold words and sneers of the other maids..."

Dou Yan sent word to Du Wei to investigate Duruo's origins.

It turned out that Duruo was the descendant of a disgraced official, reduced to slave status.

She then had Du Wei look into Song Cen's former chambermaids.

They were either daughters of respectable families who had entered the household as slaves, or the daughters of stewards and managers of standing within the estate... not one was of low birth. And he had treated all these maids well. Not only was he gentle and considerate while they were in the household, but when they were released, he gave each a generous dowry, so that they left without a trace of resentment.

How very interesting!

Dou Yan cradled her teacup and gazed out the window at the lush, verdant wisteria, taking a gentle sip.

According to Song Shize, that woman, Yaoniang, was surnamed Li. Her ancestors had once produced a Hanlin scholar; by her father's generation the family had declined, yet the household still brought in three hundred taels of silver a year — enough not only to support an elder brother's studies but also to save up a dowry for her.

It seemed Song Cen set great store by a person's birth, and was not the sort to lose his head over a pretty face. He still had certain basic requirements for the women who served him.

This had its good points and its bad.

The good was that such women were usually better educated; and secondly, women of this sort were more easily elevated to concubine status.

Yet all these years, Song Cen had taken no concubine.

Was it that he felt none of these girls were worthy of being his concubine? Or was it that Lady Jiang would not consent?

Dou Yan thought it over, then went straight to ask Song Yan.

"What are you thinking about?" Song Yan had been rather busy these days and had not had time to attend to Dou Yan; he did not know how she had been occupying herself of late. With a laugh he tweaked Dou Zhiwei's nose. "After Mother gave birth to Tian'en, her health was poor, and she once proposed that Father take a concubine. Father looked and looked, but either he was dissatisfied with the woman's birth, or the woman was unwilling to be a concubine — and so the matter was left hanging."

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Brothers and sisters, here is today's extra update for you.

o(n_n)o~