Dou Zhao’s emotions were complex.
If this suddenly appearing woman was her stepmother, Mother’s attempt to make an issue of her identity would likely end in disappointment.
Her stepmother’s surname was Wang, with the given name Yingxue, daughter of Wang Xingyi.
Wang Xingyi, courtesy name Yousheng, was from Nanwa Village in Lingshou County, North Zhili. He passed the imperial examinations in the 36th year of Zhide, becoming a jinshi. Initially appointed as a clerk in the Ministry of Personnel, he was later promoted to Assistant Director of the Bureau of Imperial Carriages in the Ministry of War. During this time, the Mongol leader Altan Khan repeatedly invaded the northern border. Stone Duanlan, the General guarding Datong, requested to open horse markets to pacify them.
Wang Xingyi submitted a memorial titled “Request to Abolish Horse Markets,” strongly arguing that Stone Duanlan’s proposal had “ten impossibilities and five fallacies.” When Chen Dong, the Grand Secretary of the Directorate of Ceremonial, protected Stone Duanlan, Wang Xingyi impeached Chen Dong for “five treacheries and fifteen crimes.” In the fourth year of Yongming, Wang Xingyi was beaten with a hundred strokes and thrown into death row.
He became renowned among scholars for refusing to write a letter of repentance despite severe torture in prison. After Chen Dong’s death, through the efforts of his mentor, Grand Secretary, and Minister of Personnel Zeng Yifen, Wang Xingyi’s sentence was commuted to exile in Xining in the sixth year of Yongming.
In the following years, the Mongols continued to harass the borders, and the horse markets were disrupted.
In the fourth year of Chengping, which was the third year after the stepmother’s marriage into the family, Wang Xingyi was reinstated upon Zeng Yifen’s recommendation.
He was first appointed as the magistrate of Xintai County in Shandong, then transferred to various positions in the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Rites, and Ministry of War, receiving four promotions within half a year.
By this time, ten years had passed since his exile, spanning two reigns.
Subsequently, Wang Xingyi’s career soared. By the time Dou Zhao fell ill, he had risen to the position of Grand Secretary of the Eastern Pavilion and Minister of Rites, reaching the pinnacle of officialdom.
The Wang family was originally a minor clan in Nanwa, with generations of farmers and scholars. After Wang Xingyi’s downfall, his wife, Lady Xu, sold all their family property to save her husband. When Wang Xingyi’s sentence was commuted to exile, the eldest son Wang Zhibing accompanied his weak and ill father to Xining, while Wang’s wife stayed behind with their newly married daughter-in-law Lady Gao, second son Wang Zhishao, and daughter Yingxue. With no steady income, Lady Gao voluntarily sold her dowry, obtaining 300 taels of silver. Thirty taels were used to purchase four mu of good farmland for sustenance, while the rest was used to support Wang Xingyi and Wang Zhibing’s living expenses in Xining. Life was extremely difficult.
While some families, like the Gao family, showed great righteousness, others, like Wang Yingxue’s in-laws, the Lei family, were purely profit-driven.
In the eighth year of Yongming, seeing that Zeng Yifen had been forced to retire and Wang Xingyi had no chance of reinstatement, the Lei family broke off their engagement with the fourteen-year-old Wang Yingxue.
Wang Yingxue gritted her teeth and sold the Lei family’s betrothal gifts. With the help of one of Lady Gao’s maids, she started a cotton-buying business, which finally allowed them to support the bottomless pit that was Xining and keep Wang Xingyi alive until his reinstatement.
So when Third Aunt told Mother that Father had already sent someone to bring that woman to Zhending, and after discussing with First Aunt, they decided to meet the woman at First Aunt’s dowry estate, Dou Zhao cried and screamed, clutching Mother’s skirt and refusing to let go.
Mother tried to comfort her, barely containing her anger.
Third Aunt, however, had a sudden inspiration and smiled, “This is good. If anyone asks, we can say we’re taking Shou Gu to play at First Sister-in-law’s estate.”
Mother finally relented and absent-mindedly followed Third Aunt to First Aunt’s estate.
The First Aunt was already waiting at the second gate.
She held Mother’s hand, looking her up and down, and nodded in approval, “I was worried you couldn’t handle it, but now I see I was overthinking.”
Mother wore a red wide-sleeved jacket with a vase and persimmon pattern, symbolizing her status as the principal wife. Her jet-black hair was styled in a falling horse bun, with only a peony-shaped pearl flower made of pearl beads the size of lotus seeds pinned to the side. A jade-green jade bracelet shone brilliantly between Mother’s snow-white wrist and the red sleeve cuff, elegant and dignified yet luxurious.
Third Aunt also praised, “Seventh Sister-in-law has always been good at dressing up, but today you look especially beautiful.”
A bitter smile flashed across Mother’s lips before quickly disappearing.
She curtsied to First Aunt and Third Aunt, “I must ask for your help in today’s matter, sisters-in-law.”
“Of course,” First Aunt and Third Aunt said in unison, gently pushing Mother forward. Their eyes looked at Mother with motherly affection, “We won’t let Seventh Uncle act recklessly.”
Mother’s expression relaxed slightly.
First Aunt smiled and picked up Dou Zhao, “Shou Gu, the camellias behind First Aunt’s room are in full bloom. Why don’t you take some maids later to help First Aunt cut a few branches for the vase?” Her gaze, however, fell directly on Tuo Niang and Xiangcao, who were following her.
Dou Zhao tightly hugged First Aunt’s neck, “I want… Mother, I want… First Aunt, I want… Third Aunt…” She cried so loudly that it startled First Aunt.
Mother quickly took Dou Zhao, her face red with embarrassment and annoyance, “I don’t know what’s wrong with this child. These past few days, she’s been following me everywhere. As soon as I walk away, she cries so much that no one can have any peace…”
First Aunt sighed upon hearing this and stroked Dou Zhao’s hair, “The older generation often says that mothers and daughters are connected at heart. This child is clever; she knows you’re suffering inside, and she’s afraid!”
These words brought tears to Mother’s eyes, and she held Dou Zhao even tighter.
“Let her stay with you,” Third Aunt said with emotion, “After all, she’s still young.”
Mother nodded in agreement.
The group turned past the main hall and went to the flower hall in the back courtyard.
Snow was falling heavily, and the plum blossoms on the branches were in full bloom.
A graceful woman wearing a rose-red jacket stood straight by the window, her figure complementing the winter plum blossoms outside.
Dou Zhao’s heart tightened.
It was her stepmother!
She would never forget that silhouette!
When her grandparents had passed away one after another, and her Third Uncle had sent her to Beijing to reunite with her father, she had stood like this by the window, scrutinizing her with sharp eyes. On the night when the Jining Marquis’s family officially proposed to the Dou family, she had stood like this by the window, staring at her with an expressionless face.
After Dou Zhao had sent the maid she gave her to Wei Tingyu to be taken as a concubine, and Wei Tingyu then gave the maid away, when she returned to her maiden home for the New Year, she stood like this by the window, silently watching her with clenched fists. When she wanted to seek Zeng Yifen’s granddaughter as a wife for her brother Dou Xiao and was refused, she called Dou Zhao back to her maiden home and stood like this by the window with a ferocious expression…
Dou Zhao stared intently at that figure.
From trepidation to hearty laughter, she felt as if she had walked barefoot through purgatory.
Who had ever pitied her pain and lamentations?
Mother’s footsteps slowed down.
The snow fell softly like willow catkins.
That figure turned around.
A smooth forehead, a high bridge of the nose, clear eyes, as beautiful as a landscape painting.
Mother jumped like a cat whose tail had been stepped on: “How can it be you? Wang Yingxue, how can it be you!”
She swayed, her arms holding Dou Zhao weakening. Dou Zhao hugged Mother’s waist to prevent herself from falling.
First Aunt and Third Aunt exchanged bewildered glances, and Third Aunt quickly took Dou Zhao into her arms.
Wang Yingxue walked out with composed grace.
She stood under the corridor, curtsied to Mother, and softly called her “Sister.”
“Our Zhao family only has me as a daughter. I don’t know when I suddenly gained a sister,” Mother sneered. Although she tried to maintain her previous calm and elegance, she couldn’t hide the distress in her expression. “Haven’t you mistaken me for someone else?”
Wang Yingxue lowered her gaze and knelt on the cold bluestone of the corridor. Her expression was humble and submissive, just as she had always appeared before the Dou family elders: “Sister, our two families were neighbors. I have no sisters, and you only have one brother. We grew up together like siblings. You know my temperament better than anyone. Although my family has fallen on hard times, I’m not shameless.
The Gao family knew of our misfortune yet still married their daughter to us. My sister-in-law and brother had been married for less than a month when she voluntarily suggested that my brother accompany our father to Xining. Now my nephew Nan’er is seriously ill, and even if we sold the four mu of good land we rely on for survival, we couldn’t gather enough silver for his treatment. I thought that as long as someone was willing, I would accept being a servant.
I never imagined it would be my brother-in-law.” As she spoke, she kowtowed deeply to Mother three times. “A great mistake has been made, and I have no words to say. I can only beg the young master that if Sister agrees to let me enter the household, I will surely forget the past and serve Sister wholeheartedly. Sister…” Her eyes flickered with tears, “If there’s anyone to blame, it’s the tricks of fate.” She kowtowed once more, “I will certainly serve Sister well in the future!”
“Ha!” Mother let out a derisive laugh, her eyes fixed intently on Wang Yingxue. She raised an eyebrow and said, “What if I don’t agree?”
Wang Yingxue paused briefly, then smiled self-mockingly and said, “Then I beg Sister to grant me a white silk rope.”
Mother said nothing, took off the red handkerchief from her waist, and threw it on the ground, smiling as she asked Wang Yingxue, “Is this long enough?”
Wang Yingxue looked at Mother with determination, slowly stood up, walked to Mother with a smile on her lips, bent down to pick up the red handkerchief, and said softly, “Thank you, Sister.” She then turned and walked towards the flower hall.
The snow fell on her jet-black hair and quickly disappeared.
This was First Aunt’s dowry estate. If a murder were to occur here, her reputation would be completely ruined.
First Aunt became frightened and hurriedly said, “Seventh Sister-in-law, who is this woman? How do you know her?”
Mother stared at the flower hall door that had slammed shut with a “bang,” and muttered in a daze, “She is Wang Yousheng’s daughter, living in Nanwa… Her father was once my father’s classmate and our two families often interacted… She’s two years younger than me… When I got married, she even gave me two handkerchiefs she had embroidered herself with double lotus flowers… I never thought… I never dreamed… No wonder Wan Yuan refused to say who it was… They set a trap to trick me…”
First Aunt and Third Aunt were startled: “Wang Yousheng, is that the Wang Xingyi who was exiled for offending Chen Dong?”
Mother nodded slightly, two clear tears falling.
“How could Seventh Uncle be so foolish? Her father was a jinshi from the Jichou year, the same year as your Fifth Uncle,” First Aunt said, pacing anxiously. “This won’t do. I must go tell Uncle…” She then instructed Third Aunt, “You quickly stop Miss Wang. I’ll go call for help!”
Since it wasn’t a glorious matter for a young man to take a concubine, First Aunt had already dismissed the servants inside and outside the flower hall.
Third Aunt also realized the gravity of the situation.
The Dou family wasn’t afraid of offending the powerful, but they feared being accused of forcing the daughter of a fallen classmate to her death.
She responded in a panic, lifting her skirt and running towards the flower hall.
Mother stood silently on the bluestone bridge, letting the snowflakes fall and pile up on her, turning her into a snowman.
The only one accompanying her was little Dou Zhao.