Dou Ming returned to the Jining Marquis’s mansion in a daze, unsure of how she had made it back.
Upon entering the main room, she saw Wei Tingyu standing in the center of the hall, his face as cold as ice.
“Where did you go?” His voice was even colder than his expression. “How could you leave without saying a word? I’ve been looking everywhere for you! If I hadn’t run into Nanny Jin, I wouldn’t have known you came back early…”
Dou Ming didn’t want to say a word. She walked past Wei Tingyu blankly and entered the inner chamber.
Wei Tingyu flew into a rage and followed her in. “I’m talking to you! What do you mean by this? How could you say my mother was ill?”
Dou Ming raised her hand, gesturing for him to stop talking, and said calmly, “When we left for Duke Jing’s mansion, didn’t Mother-in-law say she wasn’t feeling well? Did I lie?”
Wei Tingyu was at a loss for words.
For Duke Jing’s wife’s birthday, to save face for his sister, he wanted to give an expensive gift to the Duchess. However, with the New Year approaching, there were many gift-givers, and the slightly better items in antique and jewelry shops were three times more expensive than usual. He didn’t like the cheaper items. Coincidentally, that day Dou Ming had opened the storehouse and taken out some porcelain from her dowry to decorate the room. He noticed a pair of Ru kiln plum vases that looked nice and suggested giving them to the Duchess as a birthday gift, saying, “Let’s say I bought them. You can calculate the silver value, and I’ll have the steward send it over later.”
Dou Ming had become angry at that time, accusing him of coveting her dowry.
He thought: I’m not refusing to pay; if you’re unwilling, just say so. Why make such a fuss?
The two of them started arguing.
To quell their fight, his mother pretended to have indigestion, which finally calmed them down.
Now, bringing this up, Wei Tingyu felt caught between a rock and a hard place. Answering “no” wasn’t right, and answering “yes” wasn’t right either.
He left, swinging the curtain behind him.
Dou Ming lay straight on the bed, tears streaming down her face.
Her mother had wanted to find a prestigious family for her, fearing that a humble family might covet her dowry. Who would have thought that a noble family would be even more despicable than a poor one? A poor family might covet her dowry openly, but a noble family would do so while putting on airs of righteousness…
Tomorrow, Wei Tingzhen would probably come to question her about the additional dowry. What should she do?
And that despicable Gao Sheng, how dare he criticize her in front of her father, as if she had returned to scheme for the Dou family’s wealth. She had to find a way to teach Gao Sheng a lesson, to let him know it wasn’t his place to speak when the master was talking!
Thinking about all this, she felt like she was being fried in oil, tossing and turning, unable to sleep.
But Wei Tingzhen arrived even sooner than she had imagined.
Before the lamps were lit in the mansion, Wei Tingzhen rushed back with packages big and small. Before she even set foot in the door, she anxiously asked Wei Tingyu, who came to greet her, “Is Mother alright? Don’t hide anything from me!”
“She’s fine,” Wei Tingyu couldn’t bring himself to tell his sister about his argument with Dou Ming. “You didn’t need to come back especially.” The Duchess Jing disliked Wei Tingzhen, not only because she disliked her eldest son but also because she couldn’t stand how Wei Tingzhen treated her mother like a Buddha. Wei Tingyu hadn’t known this before, but after working at the Five Cities Military Command for some time and becoming closer to Duke Jing’s household, he gradually began to see the dynamics.
As he accompanied Wei Tingzhen to the west wing where Madam Tian lived, he asked, “Does your husband know you’re here? Has the gathering at Duke Jing’s mansion dispersed?”
“The guests haven’t left yet, but your brother-in-law knows,” Wei Tingzhen, understanding her brother’s concern, said, “I took the opportunity to leave when your brother-in-law asked me to help change clothes and open the storehouse to get some things—everyone said the performance was good and wanted two more acts.”
Wei Tingyu couldn’t help but sigh, feeling guilty that as a son, he had caused his mother to pretend to be ill for his sake.
The siblings entered Madam Tian’s living quarters side by side.
Madam Tian was reclining on the large kang by the window, her maid reading Buddhist scriptures to her.
Seeing her son and daughter arrive together, she was startled and quickly asked if something had happened.
“Nothing’s wrong, nothing’s wrong,” Wei Tingzhen smiled. “I just heard you were ill, so I came to check on you.”
Madam Tian glanced at her son and brushed off her daughter’s concerns.
Seeing that her mother was indeed fine, Wei Tingzhen breathed a sigh of relief and asked Wei Tingyu about Dou Zhao’s additional dowry, “…Do you know about this?”
Wei Tingyu had already heard some discussions at the banquet and nodded. However, this was the first time Madam Tian had heard of it. She looked at her daughter and son in shock, urgently asking what was going on.
Wei Tingzhen explained the situation, and after finishing, she frowned and said, “They’re both daughters, why is there such a big difference in how the Dou family treats Dou Ming and Dou Zhao?” She asked Wei Tingyu, “Is there something we don’t know?”
Ever since the incident of the sisters’ marriages being switched, she had always felt there was something off about Dou Ming’s character.
Wei Tingyu, feeling irritated, said, “What could there be? Sister, don’t overthink it.”
Now that Dou Ming was already a daughter-in-law of the Wei family, making baseless accusations would only bring shame to his brother-in-law. Moreover, with their mother sitting nearby, if something truly unpleasant had happened, wouldn’t it just worry her?
Wei Tingzhen held back her words with great effort, finally swallowing what was on the tip of her tongue. She only advised Wei Tingyu, “You should visit your in-laws more often when you have time. It’s clear that your father-in-law truly loves his daughters. Even a little that falls through their fingers is better than what we have.”
Wei Tingyu didn’t like hearing this and responded absent-mindedly.
Wei Tingzhen could only sigh inwardly. She sat with her mother for a while before going to see Dou Ming.
Zhou Nanny, having received instructions from Dou Ming earlier, simply said that Dou Ming wasn’t feeling well and had gone to rest.
Unable to stay long at her maiden home, Wei Tingzhen left with a cold smile.
Wei Tingyu stood under the corridor for a long time before turning to go to the study in the outer courtyard.
Zhou Nanny couldn’t help but worry and asked Dou Ming softly, “Should we send some food to the young master?”
“Don’t bother with him,” Dou Ming was preoccupied with the matter of Dou Zhao’s dowry. She discussed with Zhou Nanny, “What do you think, should I return to Willow Leaf Alley tomorrow? With Grandmother’s support, I won’t have to fear questioning.”
Zhou Nanny said, “I’ll send a note to Willow Leaf Alley first thing in the morning.”
Dou Ming nodded.
Little did she know that this matter had aroused Madam Tian’s suspicions.
She discreetly sent a trusted elderly maid to Zhending. When the old woman returned from Zhending, it was already the end of November, and every household had started preparing for the New Year.
The old maid whispered something to Madam Tian.
Madam Tian’s face instantly turned pale. Clutching her chest, she cried out, “What a misfortune for our family, to have let such an immoral woman into our house!” Then she fainted.
Wei Tingzhen rushed over, leaving behind the myriad affairs at Duke Jing’s mansion. She arrived just as Madam Tian had regained consciousness, with Wei Tingyu and Dou Ming at her bedside.
Madam Tian glanced at Dou Ming and then turned away, saying coldly, “Dou Ming, go out. I have something to say to the siblings.”
Dou Ming was displeased but seeing Madam Tian’s resolute attitude and the presence of many serving maids and women, she feared Madam Tian might say something unfavorable about her, causing her to lose face. She curtsied and withdrew with the maids and women in the room.
Madam Tian sat up abruptly, grabbing Wei Tingzhen’s hand, and said, “Do you know? It turns out that Wang Shi already had Dou Ming before entering the Dou family. Wang Shi was able to enter the Dou family for this reason. She even drove Dou Zhao’s birth mother, Zhao Shi, to her death! That’s why Dou Zhao was given a share of the West Dou’s property before Wang Shi entered the family. The additional dowry that’s causing such a stir now is the property that the Dou family gave to Dou Zhao back then.”
Half of West Dou’s property!
In other words, the rumors outside were true—Dou Zhao did have a dowry worth two to three hundred thousand taels of silver!
Wei Tingzhen’s heart was pounding.
She said in a low voice, “If Peijin had married Dou Zhao back then, the property under Dou Zhao’s name would now belong to the Wei family!”
Madam Tian nodded haphazardly, her face streaming with tears as she spoke, “Poor Guqiu, she was like a sister to me, and yet I brought the daughter of her enemy into our family, even doting on her like my own daughter… If Guqiu knows this in the underworld, she must hate me to death! I’ve lived a clean life, treating others and myself with utmost integrity, but in my old age, I’ve been caught up in such a scandal, tarnishing my reputation!”
Wei Tingzhen felt her heartache and tremble.
She looked towards her brother.
She saw Wei Tingyu looking lost and dispirited.
Her brother must also be pained by the silver that slipped through their fingers, right?
It was all her fault for underestimating the Dou family. If she had investigated more carefully back then, she might have uncovered this matter and quickly arranged the marriage. By now, Dou Zhao would already be her sister-in-law…
But this thought flashed by quickly, and Wei Tingzhen immediately absolved herself.
Wang Shi was a viper, and even so, she probably would have found a way to marry Dou Ming into their family. If anyone was to blame, Wang Shi was most at fault. And then there was Dou Ming—if she hadn’t agreed, who could have forced her into the bridal sedan?
Thinking this way, Wei Tingzhen couldn’t help but resent Dou Ming. She comforted her mother, “The Wang family is a respectable official family, who would have thought they’d raise such a daughter! If we must blame someone, blame that shameless Wang Shi for eagerly rushing to be someone’s concubine!”
“No!” Madam Tian, as if not hearing Wei Tingzhen’s words, directly threw off her blanket and tried to get out of bed. “I must invite a priest to perform some rituals for Guqiu, to ask for her forgiveness for being deceived…”
She had completely forgotten how indecisive she had been about Dou Zhao’s marriage back then.
“Don’t do this,” Wei Tingzhen held her mother back. “It’s cold outside. Whatever needs to be done, just tell us.” As she spoke, she looked towards Wei Tingyu, only to see her brother standing there absent-mindedly, as if possessed.
She quickly called out loudly, “Peijin!”
“Oh!” Wei Tingyu came to his senses but turned and left Madam Tian’s inner chamber with unsteady steps.
Dou Ming, who had been anxiously waiting outside, came forward to meet him. “How is Mother?”
Wei Tingyu stopped in his tracks and stared at Dou Ming.
It was the same face, the same figure, but why did he no longer feel the same attraction as before?
Did she truly like him as a person? Or was it because he had once been Dou Zhao’s fiancé?
Wei Tingyu pushed Dou Ming aside and walked straight out.