Zhao Biru gently led Dou Zhao by the hand as they slowly walked back.
Dou Zhao asked, “What’s my favorite food?”
Surprised by the question, Zhao Biru still answered softly, “You love anything sweet and crispy!”
Dou Zhao inquired further, “When was the last time you visited our home?”
Zhao Biru’s gaze grew even more puzzled. “The day before the start of winter. Father sent my sister and me to ask Aunt if Uncle had returned. We also brought Aunt a Nine Cold Scenes painting, and she rewarded us with a pair of pearl hairpins. My sister even played string games with you for half the day. Did something happen?”
Dou Zhao shook her head.
With the two families so close, why would she bite her aunt when invited to play with her cousins?
Upon returning to the main courtyard, the serving maids stood under the veranda. Seeing Dou Zhao and Zhao Biru, they respectfully bowed to Zhao Biru with smiles, saying, “Young Miss, please wait in the side room. The Madam is speaking with your aunt.”
Zhao Biru cast a confused glance at the window of the main room before obediently following the maid to the side chamber. Meanwhile, Dou Zhao darted into the inner room, just in time to hear her aunt say indignantly, “…It’s outrageous! If the Wang family dares to send someone, don’t say anything to avoid lowering yourself. I’ll deal with that Gao woman myself!”
Her mother’s voice still carried a hint of choked emotion: “Sister-in-law, there’s no need! Making a big fuss will only give the Wang family something to talk about. No matter what, it’s all Wan Yuan’s fault.”
Her aunt heaved a long sigh before finally saying, “Sister, you’re just too soft-hearted!”
Her mother laughed and replied, “Husband and wife are one. If he loses face, I look bad too. I appreciate your concern, sister-in-law, but please don’t tell my brother when you return home. It’s just taking a concubine, after all. Do we need to trouble my family to save face for the Dou clan?”
“I understand,” her aunt said. “I’ll come alone quietly when the time comes.”
“Thank you, sister-in-law,” her mother responded. “I think it’s best if this matter remains as quiet as possible.”
Her aunt nodded. On the twenty-second day of the twelfth lunar month, she indeed came alone. When the eldest sister-in-law inquired, the aunt simply said that her husband was secluding himself to study. The eldest sister-in-law didn’t press further, instead taking the aunt’s hand to the flower hall to greet the other sisters-in-law. They formed two tables for mahjong and began gambling. The Dou family’s women either joined the game or watched, filling the room with laughter and chatter.
Outside, only a few of Father’s elder brothers were invited. They conversed over tea.
The Wang family didn’t send anyone.
Wang Yingxue’s sedan chair stopped directly at the flower hall. Dressed in a pink peony-patterned jacket, Wang Yingxue was helped down by a maid. She paid her respects to her mother in the flower hall, completing the ceremony.
Yu Mama led Wang Yingxue to Qixia Courtyard. In the flower hall, people continued playing mahjong and chatting until the third watch of the night before gradually dispersing.
Wang Yingxue breathed a sigh of relief.
The maid who had assisted Wang Yingxue pouted in dissatisfaction, “Young Miss shouldn’t have persuaded the First Madam. Look, does this resemble a joyous occasion at all?”
“Silence!” Wang Yingxue scolded the maid with furrowed brows. “I’m becoming a concubine. How could that be something to celebrate? If the First Madam had come, she would have only faced humiliation. Be more careful with your words in the future. If I hear such presumptuous talk again, I’ll send you back to Nanwa immediately.”
Hearing this, the maid’s eyes instantly reddened. She knelt and said, “This servant wouldn’t dare again.”
Still uneasy, Wang Yingxue repeatedly cautioned the maid, “When under someone’s roof, one must bow their head. Stay put and behave yourself. Remember not to cause any trouble.”
The little maid repeatedly agreed.
Someone announced, “The Seventh Master has arrived!”
Wang Yingxue’s eyes brightened.
Dou Shiying strode in quickly.
Wang Yingxue hurried to meet him, curtsying as she asked, “Does… does the Seventh Madam know?”
“She knows!” Dou Shiying smiled. “She urged me to come here.”
Hearing this, Wang Yingxue became emotional: “I’m grateful to the Seventh Madam for preserving my dignity. I’ll respect her as my sister from now on.”
“Didn’t you treat Guqiu like a sister before?” Dou Shiying joked. “I’ve always told you, that Guqiu is a very virtuous person.”
Wang Yingxue’s smile faltered slightly as she said, “In this matter, I’ve been unfair. I owe Sister Guqiu a great deal. Fearing to trouble her, even though I regarded her as a sister in my heart, I didn’t know if she saw me the same way… It seems I was overthinking. I’m not as magnanimous as she is.”
Dou Shiying chuckled, looking quite pleased with himself.
Wang Yingxue’s gaze darkened briefly, but she quickly regained her smile.
After sending off the Kitchen God and sweeping away the dust, the Lunar New Year’s Eve arrived.
The two Dou families returned to Beilou Village together for ancestral worship.
Wang Yingxue followed meekly behind Zhao Guqiu. Whenever someone’s gaze fell on Wang Yingxue, Dou Zhao, holding her mother’s skirt, would sweetly call out “Aunt Wang.” People would then realize and praise Wang Yingxue’s beauty. Yu Mama would explain from the side, “She’s from the Wang family in Nanwa.” This caused Wang Yingxue’s face to flush purple with embarrassment.
Mother then scolded Yu Mama. When relatives inquired about Wang Yingxue again, Yu Mama refrained from saying more.
Dou Zhao only regretted being so young.
Wang Yingxue cast a grateful glance at mother.
Mother ignored it, continuing to chat and laugh with the clan relatives.
However, Wang Yingxue’s identity still spread.
During the Spring Festival, Wang Yingxue hid at home, unwilling to go out and pay New Year’s visits to relatives: “They’re all proper madams. It’s not appropriate for me to accompany them.”
Yu Mama persuaded with a smile, “What’s appropriate or not? With Miss Wang by her side, the Madam will have company and someone to serve tea.”
Wang Yingxue felt extremely awkward. Father frowned and looked towards Mother: “Is this your idea?”
Mother took a sip of tea and said calmly, “If that’s the case, Miss Wang can stay at home. It’ll also prevent any risk to the pregnancy!”
Father wanted to speak but held back.
Mother left, carrying Dou Zhao.
Father immediately followed, saying in a low voice, “You’re only making us a laughingstock among the relatives.”
“I understand,” mother replied expressionlessly. “When the child is born, should I tell the relatives it was premature?”
“You!” Father glared.
Mother had already quickly boarded the carriage.
Father stomped his foot and reluctantly got into the carriage after a while.
Dou Zhao buried herself among the large cushions in the carriage and sighed deeply.
The mother’s concerns were justified.
Such matters, though trivial, were vexing.
Like a flea landing on one’s body – ignore it, and it bites incessantly; make a fuss about it, and it becomes unspeakable.
Didn’t father say he would send Wang Yingxue to the estate?
After the New Year, she must remind her father!
As Dou Zhao pondered this, her third birthday arrived.
Father, mother, Wang Yingxue, grandfather, grandmother, Aunt Ding, aunt, and several sisters-in-law all sent her birthday gifts. Mother reciprocated with longevity noodles. The household servants kowtowed to her in the courtyard to wish her a long life, and Mother rewarded each of them with five taels of silver. They were overjoyed, even more so than during the New Year.
After the Lantern Festival, the wind on one’s face no longer carried a chill.
It was time for spring plowing.
Dou Zhao thought to herself and pestered her mother to visit her grandmother.
Mother was surprised: “Didn’t you see her during the New Year?”
“We didn’t get to talk,” Dou Zhao said. “During the ancestral worship, grandmother stood far away. During the New Year’s Eve dinner, she didn’t say a word. Father also had me keep Grandfather company for the night vigil… When I went to pay my New Year respects to grandmother on the first day, she had already returned to the country estate.”
“Didn’t she leave you New Year’s money?” Mother smiled, taking a peach blossom from a crystal plate and tucking it into Dou Zhao’s hair. “What are you plotting now?”
“I’m not plotting anything,” Dou Zhao pouted but thought to herself that after her grandmother’s death, she had left the estate to her. She had arranged for capable people to manage it and put in a lot of effort to ensure good harvests regardless of drought or flood. It was one of the few things she was quite proud of.
In this life, although she hadn’t been sent to the estate, she still had deep feelings for her grandmother and the estate.
“I’ll take you in a few days,” Mother said, seeing Dou Zhao’s unhappiness. “After the spring plowing is finished at the various estates, your father will go on an inspection tour with the steward. We’ll go with him then.”
Grandfather’s dislike for grandmother was no secret in the Dou family. To avoid offending their grandfather, Mother, like the rest of the Dou family, chose to ignore their grandmother.
Dou Zhao thought of that kind of old woman and felt very sad.
Mother smiled and said, “How about I take you to your uncle’s house? We haven’t been back to Anxiang for some time.”
Dou Zhao noticed that whenever their mother spoke of her maiden home, she liked to use the word “return,” as if the Dou family wasn’t her home. This seemed to be a common issue for many women. However, this didn’t apply to Dou Zhao.
After marrying into the Wei family, she felt as if she could finally breathe easily. She became more energetic and felt quite triumphant.
Perhaps it was because she had never considered the Dou family as her maiden home.
Pondering this, Dou Zhao accompanied her mother to Anxiang.
In the countryside, there weren’t as many rules and formalities.
Having received the message, her aunt led her two cousins to wait at the main gate.
Dou Zhao already knew her eldest cousin, Zhao Biru. The second cousin, Zhao Xiuru, was nine years old this year, and the third cousin, Zhao Zhangru, was five. The sisters all looked very similar, though Zhao Xiuru was shy while Zhao Zhangru was lively. As soon as she saw Dou Zhao, Zhao Zhangru pulled her towards the house, saying, “Nanny Peng has made sugar-roasted chestnuts. Mother said we should wait for you to eat them together!”
Dou Zhao stumbled as she was dragged along, having no choice but to follow.
Nanny Tuo hurriedly followed them.
Everyone laughed heartily as they entered the main gate.
The Zhao family lived at the village entrance. Entering through the black-lacquered copper-ringed door, there was a horse pen on the left and a thatched shed on the right, storing carts and furniture. The left and right-wing rooms housed several long-term workers. Past the second gate, there was a five-room blue brick house facing them, with three-room wing houses on either side. The window lattices were pasted with white Korean paper, and beside the steps stood an old locust tree so thick it would take two people to encircle it. The place was clean, tidy, and spacious.
Just as mother and aunt entered the room, Zhao Zhangru burst in, pulling at the clothes of Nanny Peng, who was carrying the sugar-roasted chestnuts. She turned back to urge Dou Zhao, “Hurry up! The chestnuts won’t taste good if they get cold.”
This caused another round of laughter from everyone.
After finally settling down, Zhao Biru and Zhao Xiuru, showing their elder sister’s demeanor, peeled chestnuts for Dou Zhao and Zhao Zhangru to eat.
Mother and aunt sat on the warm kang, talking: “By my calculation, eldest brother should have entered the examination hall by now, right?”
“Yes,” the aunt said with some concern. “If he doesn’t pass this time, we’ll have to wait another three years.”
Hearing this, Mother pondered and said, “I heard from Yu Daqing that you sold ten mu of good land recently, sister-in-law…”
Aunt’s face reddened as she lowered her voice, “We borrowed money before the New Year. I didn’t dare tell your brother. I sold the land after he left for the capital to cover the previous deficit…” She quickly added, “Don’t worry, sister. I still have some of my dowry left, but it’s all recorded in the account books. I’m afraid your brother would be upset if he knew, so I didn’t dare touch it.”