Dou Zhao wanted to subtly hint at something to her mother, but the thought of the maids and young wives still confined in the side room gave her a headache. She quickly sat up in bed, calling out loudly for her father.
If her mother were clever enough, she should have had the presence of mind to carry her to her father. If Grandfather were to scold them, they could simply shift the blame onto her. After all, how could a Grandfather be harsh with an innocent child?
However, she had overestimated both her mother’s wisdom and her influence.
Seeing her fuss, her mother frowned with displeasure. “It’s so late. Why isn’t this child asleep yet?” She then instructed Nanny Yu, “Take the young miss away. Her crying is giving me a headache.”
Nanny Yu smiled apologetically at her mother and efficiently helped Dou Zhao dress. “Fourth Young Miss, be good. Nanny Yu will take you to find your wet nurse. Don’t cry…”
Dou Zhao wanted to roll her eyes at her mother in disdain like the village women from the estates would do. How could her mother be so childish? If she were like her mother, she’d have been eaten alive long ago.
Dou Zhao clung tightly to the bed curtains, crying and calling for her father. Eventually, Nanny Yu forcibly carried her to the warm room behind the inner chamber.
Without her mother present, Dou Zhao quieted down, allowing Nanny Yu to place her listlessly on the kang bed.
Nanny Yu silently tidied Dou Zhao’s disheveled hair. Looking at Dou Zhao with a somewhat dazed expression, she said softly, “Don’t you also think today’s events were unusual? I want to go take a secret look. Will you be good and stay here quietly?”
Dou Zhao immediately perked up. How unexpected! Who would have thought Nanny Yu could be so astute and capable?
She opened her eyes wide and nodded vigorously like a pecking chick.
Nanny Yu was taken aback, then smiled kindly, remarking with some emotion, “Our Fourth Young Miss is truly clever. At such a young age, she understands everything. Unlike the Seventh Madam…” She suddenly stopped herself, muttering, “What am I saying to a child…” Then she turned and called for a maid to enter. “Hanxiao, stay here with the Fourth Young Miss. I’m going to check on Heshou Hall.”
Hanxiao, a girl of seventeen or eighteen with a proper appearance and a gentle, steady demeanor, was surprised by Nanny Yu’s words. She quickly composed herself and responded with a crisp “Yes,” adding cleverly, “If anything happens, I’ll immediately send Shuangzhi to fetch you.”
Nanny Yu nodded with satisfaction and quickly left the warm room.
Hanxiao and Dou Zhao settled on the heated kang. Seeing that Dou Zhao was neither crying nor fussing, but instead as calm as an adult, Hanxiao smiled softly and asked, “Fourth Young Miss, shall I pat you to sleep?”
Dou Zhao shook her head.
Hanxiao’s smile deepened. “Then shall we play cat’s cradle?”
Did she particularly enjoy the cat’s cradle? Dou Zhao shook her head again.
Hanxiao asked, still smiling, “Then what would you like to do?”
“Wait… for Nanny,” Dou Zhao replied.
Hanxiao looked at Dou Zhao in astonishment.
Ignoring her, Dou Zhao pulled over a large pillow and leaned against it, lost in thought.
Hanxiao chuckled and draped a thin blanket over Dou Zhao.
While she had sensed something amiss from her father’s attitude towards her mother, how had Nanny Yu noticed that something was wrong? What else didn’t she know?
Dou Zhao pondered these questions, her eyelids growing heavier by the moment.
No, she had to stay awake until Nanny Yu returned. She needed to know what had happened!
And Tuo Niang—what kind of person was she?
Dou Zhao shook her head, forcibly keeping her eyes open. But after a few breaths, her eyelids once again drooped of their own accord.
She couldn’t fall asleep!
If she did, who knew if she might return to that other place? What if she went back to that dream with the wisteria?
“Hanxiao,” Dou Zhao struggled to keep her eyes open, “Find… Nanny.”
“I can’t!” Hanxiao gently waved her hand. “I must stay here with you.”
“I’ll… behave!” Dou Zhao insisted.
Hanxiao pondered for a while, noting Dou Zhao’s increasingly determined expression. She hesitated, “Alright, I’ll go see what Nanny Yu is doing.” She then called Shuangzhi in.
Shuangzhi, a round-faced young girl, quietly kept Dou Zhao company.
Soon, Hanxiao returned. “Fourth Young Miss, Nanny Yu, and the Madam have gone to see the Old Master.”
“Oh!” Dou Zhao urged Hanxiao to find Nanny Yu.
Hanxiao refused outright: “…If we’re discovered, this servant will be lucky to escape with her life.”
This was indeed true. Having managed a household before, Dou Zhao understood the gravity of the situation.
She could only wait for Nanny Yu and her mother to return, frustrated by her current limitations. She longed for the freedom she had in that other dream with the wisteria, where she could do as she pleased.
Time ticked by slowly. With no sign of her mother or Nanny Yu, Dou Zhao’s eyelids finally stuck together, refusing to part.
She fell into a deep, sweet slumber.
It felt like only an instant, yet also like thousands of years had passed when Dou Zhao awoke.
Without thinking, she jumped up.
Someone nearby called out, “Fourth Young Miss.”
Dou Zhao opened her eyes to see Shuangzhi’s round face.
She let out a long sigh of relief. She was still in the dream.
Suddenly feeling grounded, she asked Shuangzhi, “Hanxiao? Nanny? Mother?”
“Hanxiao was called away by Nanny Yu,” Shuangzhi smiled, helping Dou Zhao dress and calling for a young maid to bring hot water.
The warm room bustled with activity.
Dou Zhao realized it was already bright outside.
She narrowed her eyes and asked Shuangzhi, “Where is Hanxiao?”
Shuangzhi replied, “With the Old Master.” As she spoke, she noticed someone peeking through a gap in the curtain.
Her face darkened, and she called out in a low voice, “Who’s skulking outside the curtain?”
Immediately, a young maid went to lift the curtain.
The person behind it was exposed, nervously wringing her hands. “I… I’m looking for the Fourth Young Miss…” Then, putting on a show of bravado, she exclaimed, “The Fourth Young Miss asked me to inquire about someone for her…”
Dou Zhao looked towards the voice and saw Xiangcao.
Her heart stirred, and she called out loudly, “Xiangcao!”
Though puzzled, Shuangzhi and the young maid let Xiangcao enter.
Xiangcao smugly raised her chin at Shuangzhi and the young maid, then scurried to Dou Zhao’s side, speaking in a fawning tone, “Fourth Young Miss, I’ve found the Tuo Niang you mentioned.” She paused, looking at Dou Zhao with hopeful expectation.
Dou Zhao smiled slightly.
In the Jining Marquis Manor, she had seen many maids like this before. Desperate to rise above their station, they would seize any glimmer of hope with all their might.
She didn’t dislike such people or their methods. If everyone were content with their lot, what would be the point of striving in life?
However, Xiangcao’s actions were too impulsive, pinning her hopes on a child who didn’t yet understand the ways of the world, and lacked the foresight to assess the situation carefully. Still, Dou Zhao was grateful to Xiangcao. Without her, how would she have gotten news of Tuo Niang?
Dou Zhao said to Shuangzhi, “Reward Xiangcao!”
Shuangzhi was unsure how to proceed. As a member of the household, the Fourth Young Miss seemed… too young to be giving such orders.
Should she first seek the Seventh Madam’s approval?
As she pondered this, she saw Xiangcao’s eyes light up. The maid had already knelt to thank Dou Zhao, then leaned in close, chattering excitedly, “Tuo Niang is a little maid in the laundry room of the back courtyard. The Seventh Madam brought her back when she went to offer incense at Daci Temple. I asked everyone in the manor before I found her. Do you want me to bring her to you? She’s very agreeable. In the laundry room, she volunteers for all the dirty and tiring work. The women there all like her. When I inquired, they immediately took me to find Tuo Niang…”
Dou Zhao suddenly understood.
Those who served her mother or herself were all prominent servants in the Dou household. How would they know a lowly maid from the laundry room? Conversely, as a menial servant in the Dou household, Tuo Niang hadn’t been directly involved in whatever had happened back then. She only knew what she had heard from others afterward. This also explained why Tuo Niang’s account didn’t match the facts…
Dou Zhao’s eyelid twitched.
Facts!
Did she truly believe in her heart that everything happening around her was real?
Where was she?
Some thoughts she had previously ignored began to swirl in her mind, making Dou Zhao’s heart race and her body grow cold.
A young maid burst into the room.
“Sister Shuangzhi, something terrible has happened,” she said, her expression panicked and alarmed. “There’s an uproar at Heshou Hall!”
Dou Zhao’s heart skipped a beat.
Shuangzhi quickly asked, “What’s going on?”
“The Seventh Master was bewitched by a woman while in the capital,” she said, her face pale. “He wants to bring her into the household and even asked the Third Master from the East Mansion to intercede. The Old Master was furious and drew his sword, threatening to kill the Seventh Master!”
“Ah!” The room erupted into chaos. “What happened next?”
“Fortunately, the Third Master hadn’t left and managed to stop the Old Master,” the young maid continued. “But the Seventh Master is determined to bring that woman in. He’s kneeling in the snow, begging the Old Master to agree. Then the Seventh Madam found out and went there. Now the Seventh Master is pleading with her. The Seventh Madam is beside herself with anger. Not only did she refuse, but she was also crying and scolding the Seventh Master for being ungrateful. Even the Old Master can’t get a word in. Seeing this, the Third Master secretly sent Dafu to fetch the Third Madam.”
“No wonder Sister Hanxiao didn’t return after Nanny Yu called her!”
“Is that woman more beautiful than the Seventh Madam?”
“Did the Old Master finally agree to let that woman in?”
“Does this mean we’ll have another mistress in the household?”
The maids chattered away, none of them paying attention to Dou Zhao.
Dou Zhao sat there like a clay statue, utterly shocked.
Ever since she had taken charge of the Jining Marquis Manor’s household affairs and become the family manager, she had always been puzzled. Why did Third Uncle, respected by the Dou clan for his capable management of family matters, frequently visit her grandmother—a former concubine with no real connection to the Dou family—at the country estate?
So, it was her he had been visiting.
Tuo Niang had said that her mother had been forced to hang herself.
As the one who had helped her father plead his case, Third Aunt must have felt an inexpressible guilt towards her, which explained his actions.
Dou Zhao thought of the way Third Uncle looked at her.
His gaze was always loving, tinged with a hint of pity.
She also recalled Third Uncle’s will after his death, leaving her with several calligraphy pieces and paintings by famous artists from the previous dynasty.
At that time, the Dou clan had not yet divided their property, and the Third Uncle had no private assets. He had left only a few inkstones and jade pieces to his sons, Dou Fanchang and Dou Huachang.
She had always thought it was because Third Uncle was particularly fond of her.
It seems that what people see is not necessarily the truth, what they hear is not necessarily the truth, and even what they feel is not necessarily the truth.
Dou Zhao said in a hoarse voice, “I want… Tuo Niang!”