Dou Zhao couldn’t discern whether she felt jealous. Blood rushed to her chest, causing a tumultuous discomfort. She feared that if she looked at her son for another moment, she might do something she’d regret.
“Give the token to the heir,” she instructed Cui Leng. “Relay my message: from now on, not only the heir’s quarters but also the second young master’s and Miss Yin’s affairs will be managed by Madam Zhu.”
“Mother!” Wei’er raised his head, sensing something unusual.
“My lady, you can’t!” Madam Zhu’s voice was shrill, her face instantly turning pale.
Indeed, the person she had chosen was perceptive.
With her watching over the children, those sinister schemes could be prevented.
Dou Zhao closed her eyes and waved her hand. “I’m tired and want to rest. You may all leave.”
“My lady!” Madam Zhu, with tears in her eyes, began kowtowing to Dou Zhao.
Wei’er looked at Madam Zhu, puzzled.
Dou Zhao waved her hand again and turned her back.
“My lady, rest assured. Even if it costs me my life, I will take good care of the young master and miss,” Madam Zhu murmured, kowtowing once more before retreating with Wei’er.
The room fell silent, filled with a desolate emptiness.
Sorrow welled up in Dou Zhao’s heart.
If Wei Tingyu had been more capable and willing to shoulder a man’s responsibilities, how could she, a mere woman of the inner chambers, have stepped forward to manage the Wei household affairs? How could she have neglected the peculiarities in her two children?
If her mother-in-law had shown more concern for her two grandchildren instead of constantly seeking divine blessings, how could the children have become so attached to Madam Zhu, who had no blood relation to them?
Or perhaps she had chosen the wrong person altogether?
If Madam Zhu had been greedy, opportunistic, uncouth, and fond of gossip, her two sons wouldn’t have been so devoted to her.
But how could she have allowed such a person to stay by her son’s side and teach them?
She didn’t even know whom to resent!
At times like these, Dou Zhao would think of her deceased mother.
How could her mother have left her alone at such a young age?
If her birth mother were alive to teach her how to be a wife and mother, wouldn’t she have avoided so much suffering and so many detours? Wouldn’t her children have remained close to her?
This was an unsolvable question.
Dou Zhao felt a weariness permeating her body.
She covered her head with the quilt, burying herself in silence.
Hazily, she heard intermittent crying. She tried to open her eyes to look, but her eyelids felt as heavy as a thousand jin. Then she heard Wei Tingyu softly crying by her ear, “What will I do without you?” A moment later, the voice changed to Madam Guo’s, “Don’t worry, Wei’er is my grandson-in-law. I’ll ensure his safety no matter what.”
Am I dead?
Dou Zhao struggled to open her eyes and found herself sitting on a heated kang. Sunlight reflected off the snow in the courtyard, shining through the Korean paper windows, and filling the room with a bright glow.
A pretty young woman with a red mole at the corner of her mouth sat across from her, playing cat’s cradle. Four or five maids, aged ten to fifteen, sat around the kang doing needlework.
They all wore cotton jackets made of fine cloth and coarse cloth skirts, adorned with small silver wintersweet flowers or silver hairpins. Their simple attire revealed the refined nature of young girls, bringing a smile to one’s face.
Dou Zhao didn’t recognize anyone in the room, yet she felt a sense of familiarity.
Back at her maiden home in Zhending County, the servants dressed like this in winter.
So, she had entered another dream.
Dou Zhao giggled and slid off the kang, wanting to see what needlework the young maids were doing. However, her feet couldn’t reach the ground, and she found herself hanging from the edge of the kang.
The young maids suppressed their laughter.
The pretty young woman quickly helped her down, saying, “Fourth Young Miss, what do you need? Tell your wet nurse, and I’ll get it for you.”
So this was her wet nurse!
Dou Zhao couldn’t help but smile.
Her previous wet nurse had been plump like a steamed bun, but this time she was a delicate flower. Who knew what she would look like next time?
She ran towards the maids doing needlework, suddenly realizing she had become much smaller. The tables and chairs that once seemed ordinary now appeared twice as large.
Ha! This dream was incredibly detailed!
The maids looked up at her, smiling kindly.
The older ones were making shoe soles, while the younger ones were making tassels. Their skilled hands showed they were accustomed to such work.
A bone-chilling wind gusted in.
Dou Zhao looked up to see the warm curtain lifted, and several maids escorted a woman into the room.
Everyone in the room stood up to greet her, addressing her as “Seventh Madam.”
Dou Zhao stared at her in a daze.
She was only eighteen or nineteen, of average height, slender and graceful. She had an oval face, willow-leaf eyebrows, and cherry-like lips. She wore a peach-red jacket with a subtle vase pattern, which accentuated her snow-white skin, making her more beautiful than flowers.
This must be her mother!
She didn’t resemble her mother at all.
Dou Zhao was tall and curvaceous, with an oval face, long eyebrows extending to her temples, full red lips, and snow-white skin. Her slightly piercing gaze gave her an air of boldness, making her look just like her father. When she first married into the Jining Marquis’s family, she had trimmed her long eyebrows into willow-leaf shapes and kept her eyes half-lowered when speaking to appear more gentle, managing to capture three-tenths of her mother’s charm.
Her mother walked over, smiling.
Dou Zhao could see her more clearly now.
Her mother’s face was pure and translucent like fine jade, without a single flaw. She was incredibly beautiful.
She bent down to tickle Dou Zhao’s nose, teasing, “Shou Gu, what’s wrong? Don’t you recognize your mother?”
Shou Gu?
Was that her childhood name?
She had never known she had such a name.
Tears suddenly welled up.
She hugged her mother’s legs haphazardly.
“Mother, Mother!” She cried like a helpless child.
“Oh my!” Her mother, not sensing her sadness at all, asked the wet nurse with a smile, “What’s wrong with Shou Gu? Why is she crying for no reason?” She showed no doubt or blame towards the wet nurse, clearly trusting her completely.
“She was fine just a moment ago,” the wet nurse replied, puzzled. “Perhaps it’s because she saw you? Daughters often cry for no reason when they see their mothers.”
“Is that so?” Her mother lifted her onto the warm kang. “This child has soaked my skirt with her tears.”
Dou Zhao was stunned.
Shouldn’t her mother be most concerned about why her child was crying? How could her main worry be about her skirt…
Was she her mother?
She stared with wide eyes.
Crystalline tears still hung on her small face.
Her mother laughed and took out a handkerchief to wipe her tears. She said to the wet nurse, “This child is being silly!” Then she gently hugged Dou Zhao, kissed her little face, and said, “Your father will be home soon. Are you happy?” Her eyes and brows radiated uncontrollable joy.
Dou Zhao was about to jump up with an “Ah!”
How could she have forgotten such an important matter?
She didn’t know the details of what had happened between her parents back then. However, according to Tuo Niang, her father had met her stepmother while in the capital for the provincial examinations. Poor mother, knowing nothing, saw her father’s letter saying he wanted to travel around the capital for a while. She didn’t suspect anything and waited eagerly at home every day, even worrying that her father might not have enough money. She considered secretly sending her maid, Yu Daqing, to deliver some silver to her father, but somehow her grandfather found out and scolded her, so she gave up the idea.
The provincial examinations were in August, and now snow was falling outside, indicating it was already deep winter. Her father hadn’t returned yet, but with her grandfather still alive, he couldn’t possibly spend the New Year away. This meant there was still time to warn her mother.
But her mother held Dou Zhao tightly, and despite struggling several times, she couldn’t stand up. Anxious, she called out loudly, “Mother!”
“What’s wrong with Shou Gu today?” Her mother, puzzled by her daughter’s unusual behavior, looked sternly at the wet nurse.
The wet nurse became nervous and said, “I stayed with the Fourth Young Miss until Chen hour(7:00 AM to 9:00 AM) before getting up. She had a bowl of millet porridge, a meat bun, and a twisted roll…”
“Didn’t I say to give Shou Gu a cup of warm water every morning when she wakes up?” Her mother interrupted the wet nurse sternly. “Did you give her water this morning?”
“Yes, yes!” The wet nurse hurriedly replied, no longer at ease. “As you instructed, I first covered her with a blanket, put on a close-fitting jacket for the Fourth Young Miss, and then served her warm water…”
Oh my! Why talk about these things now?
She had lived with her grandmother on a rural estate until she was twelve, catching fish with the farmhands’ children in summer and drinking water from the stream when thirsty, hunting sparrows in the mountains in winter and roasting them when hungry. She had still grown up healthy.
Dou Zhao shook her mother, “Mother…” She wanted to tell her “Father is bringing a woman back,” but as soon as she opened her mouth, she felt as if her throat was blocked. The clear sentence became a mumbled “Father… woman…”
Seeing Dou Zhao speak, her mother turned back, smiling at her patiently. “Shou Gu, what do you want to say?”
“Mother,” Dou Zhao said with difficulty, “Father… woman…” This time her words were clearer, but still not complete.
She was so anxious that sweat beaded on her forehead.
Her mother beamed, completely ignoring the word “woman,” and said happily, “So our Shou Gu misses her father too! Gaosheng sent a message saying your father will be back in a couple of days. He bought lots of New Year firecrackers, lanterns, and incense. These are firecrackers from the capital! They can burst into thousands of colors. You can’t find them in Zhending County, or even in Zhending Prefecture…”
Who cares about firecrackers at a time like this?
Dou Zhao was extremely anxious and simply repeated “Father” and “woman.”
Her mother’s expression gradually became serious. “Shou Gu, what are you trying to say?”
Dou Zhao felt relieved. She took a deep breath and said slowly and clearly, “Fa-ther is bringing a wo-man back…”
Though childish, her voice was clear and loud.
As if slapped, her mother’s face showed shock, doubt, and bewilderment.
The wet nurse and maids exchanged alarmed glances.
The room fell into dead silence.
Suddenly, the warm curtain was flung aside, and a young maid with three buns in her hair ran in, panting, “Seventh Madam, the Seventh Master is back! The Seventh Master has returned from the capital…”
“Really!” Her mother’s face instantly lit up with joy. She lifted her skirt and ran out, but after a few steps, she stopped, thought for a moment, and then turned back to pick up Dou Zhao. “Let’s go welcome your father together!”
It seemed her mother had become suspicious.
Dou Zhao sighed in relief, hugged her mother’s neck, and responded loudly, “Alright!”