Bie Suxin met Chen Xiaofeng at the gatehouse of the Dou family’s outer courtyard.
Chen Xiaofeng, looking dejected, asked, “Have you pledged allegiance to the fourth young lady of the Dou family?”
Bie Suxin smiled and replied, “Would I lie to you about something like that?”
Chen Xiaofeng was silent for a moment.
Bie Suxin continued, “If there’s nothing else, Senior Brother, I’ll be on my way. I’ve been learning the rules from the sixth madam of the East Mansion these days.” She added, “The Dou family is large and full of gossip. We sisters are already conspicuous for entering the household at our age. If people hear us calling each other Senior Brother and Sister, they might become even more curious about us. From now on, I’ll call you Big Brother instead.” She then asked, “When are you leaving with Chen Quezi? If there’s anything at home, you can have Aunt send someone to inform us. The fourth young lady of the Dou family is very kind, and we can find time to visit Aunt.”
Hearing this, Chen Xiaofeng felt even more ashamed. “I was planning to leave with Chen Quezi because he offered a good sum of money, hoping to support you all. Now that you have found support, and Mother doesn’t want me to leave home, I’ve already resigned from Chen Quezi.”
Bie Suxin simply responded with an “Oh,” neither agreeing nor disagreeing.
A commotion arose from the main gate.
Both Chen Xiaofeng and Bie Suxin looked over.
They saw two dust-covered, black lacquered, flat-roofed carriages stop at the entrance of the West Dou. Steward Du An lifted the curtain and helped a man in his fifties out of the carriage.
The man was of medium height, clean-shaven, and wore a sapphire blue robe with circular patterns, exuding a scholarly elegance.
He looked up at the Dou family’s grand entrance as Du An introduced, “This is the ancestral home of our master. Please, Mr. Song!”
The man, referred to as Mr. Song smiled and followed Du An into the mansion.
Meanwhile, Dou Zhao had already received word that Dou Shiying had hired a new tutor, Mr. Song, for her.
Dou Zhao instructed Gaoxing to arrange accommodations for Mr. Song.
Gaoxing was the younger brother of Gaosheng. When Dou Shiying went to the capital, Gaosheng accompanied him, and the household affairs were initially entrusted to Du An, who had served Dou Duo. However, Wang Yingxue felt that Du An was meticulous and wanted him to go to the capital as well, suggesting that Du An’s cousin, Du Ning, take over as the steward. The household was full of servants, and promoting Du An was also because he had served Dou Duo. Dou Shiying didn’t care about such matters and agreed without much thought. Before Dou Shiying left, Dou Zhao, under the pretext of needing stewards for her estate, transferred several loyal to Wang Yingxue to her estate and promoted new stewards. After Dou Shiying’s departure, Dou Zhao instructed Gaoxing, who managed the gatehouse, to handle everything, effectively sidelining Du Ning. Before long, she dismissed the stewards under the pretext that they didn’t understand estate matters.
Even the maids sweeping the courtyard knew what was happening, and no one dared to speak up. Instead, they became more attentive and obsequious when they encountered Dou Zhao.
Du Ning didn’t dare confront Dou Zhao and only dared to curse Gaoxing when drunk: “What is he? He can’t even understand the account books, yet he’s the steward. It’s laughable!”
Upon hearing this, Dou Zhao sent out a message: “If I say someone is capable, they are, even if they’re not; if I say someone is not, they aren’t, even if they are!” This left everyone in the West Dou trembling with fear. Some well-intentioned people relayed this to the East Mansion, where the second madam frowned and privately remarked that Dou Zhao was arrogant. She had initially intended to help Dou Zhao but decided to remain silent. When this was reported back to Dou Zhao, she pretended not to hear and privately instructed Gaoxing on how to manage things, which he followed meticulously. Although rigid in his methods, he made no major mistakes over the year, surprising the second madam.
Gaoxing returned after only half an incense stick’s time.
“Fourth Miss,” he reported respectfully, “Steward Du is back, and Mr. Song is with him.”
Dou Zhao raised an eyebrow.
Why had Du An returned?
She asked Gaoxing, “Did you come back on your own, or did Steward Du tell you not to interfere?”
Gaoxing replied honestly, “I couldn’t intervene, and I thought I should inform you, so I came back.”
Dou Zhao said, “In that case, pass on my message: none of you should interfere with Mr. Song’s matters.”
Gaoxing understood what “not interfering” meant and hesitated, “But Mr. Song is the tutor Seventh Master hired for you. If he gets upset and leaves like Jiang Yougong did…”
“What does that have to do with us?” Dou Zhao asked curiously. “Isn’t Steward Du entertaining Mr. Song? If Mr. Song leaves, my father should hold Du An accountable, right?”
Gaoxing thought about it and found Dou Zhao’s words reasonable. He smiled naively and relayed her instructions.
Immediately, there was no one left to even hand a handkerchief to Du An.
He was furious, calling Du Ning over for a scolding.
Du Ning, feeling wronged, said, “I told you before, you should have stayed with the Dou family…”
“Shut your mouth!” Du An couldn’t help but retort, “No matter how formidable the Fourth Miss is, she’ll eventually marry. No matter how attentive I am, Seventh Master will always favor Gaosheng, who grew up serving him.” He sighed, “If the Fourth Miss were a son, I wouldn’t hesitate to curry favor with her!”
“But if you offend the Fourth Miss, she might dismiss you whenever she remembers. If you offend the madam, you can still seek the Fourth Miss’s help and work at her estate or shop…”
If the Fourth Miss hadn’t acquired half of the West Dou’s wealth, could she still be so assertive?
Du An sighed inwardly and remained silent for a while.
Du Ning cautiously asked, “What should we do about this?”
Du An glared at Du Ning and said, “Find a few people to handle the current situation first. This time, the madam sent me back for an important task. Don’t interfere with household matters, for now, just follow my orders. Once this task is completed, you’ll be the rightful steward of the West Dou.” By the end, he was almost gritting his teeth.
Du Ning nodded repeatedly and called his wife, niece, and nephew, who worked at the Dou household, to help.
Mr. Song, accustomed to working in wealthy households, had brought his nephew, Song Yan, to assist him. Seeing the situation, he regretted his decision and told his nephew, “They only mentioned a young lady wanting to learn poetry, music, and painting for leisure. Who knew the household affairs would be so complicated? Alas, if it weren’t for needing a favor from Lord He, I wouldn’t have come here to teach.”
Song Yan, though only fifteen or sixteen, was calm and reassured Mr. Song, “Uncle, don’t be disheartened. Just focus on teaching the young lady. Surely, they won’t deprive us of our necessities. At worst, we’ll finish teaching this year and not return next year. We can still report back to Lord He.”
Mr. Song nodded.
Song Yan and Du An’s nephew helped carry the boxes.
At dinner, Dou Shibang, on Dou Zhao’s behalf, hosted a welcome dinner for Mr. Song: “Seventh Uncle is not home, so please forgive any lapses in hospitality, Mr. Song.” He then invited the Song uncle and nephew to Jingfuchun.
As a result, Du An had no dinner, and in his anger, he grabbed Gaoxing’s collar, ready to fight.
Others quickly intervened to separate them.
Gaoxing, still naive, said, “The meals are all accounted for. You didn’t report to the Fourth Miss upon your return, so she didn’t know and didn’t give any instructions. The kitchen couldn’t do anything. You should go and pay your respects to the Fourth Miss!”
The Dou family wasted so much leftover food daily, couldn’t they spare a meal for him?
Du An was livid, his face turning purple, but he couldn’t say a word. Remembering the madam’s instructions, he reluctantly went to pay his respects to Dou Zhao.
However, the gatekeeper stopped him, smiling insincerely, “Steward Du, the young miss is grown now, not like before. It’s not appropriate for you to enter the inner courtyard. If you have any matters, we can relay them to you.”
He waited for two hours, without even a stool to sit on until a young maid came with a message: “It’s late, the Fourth Miss asks Steward Du to come back tomorrow morning.”
Du An couldn’t help but ask, “What was the Fourth Miss doing just now?”
The young maid smiled, “The Fourth Miss was pruning flowers!”
Du An was infuriated once again.
Dou Zhao couldn’t be bothered with Du An. She had Ganlu and others rush to make some sachets, then went to Daci Temple to pray for a talisman of good fortune for Dou Zhengchang, Dou Dechang, Dou Qiguang, Dou Qitai, and Wu Shan, who were taking the children’s examination this year and placed them in the sachets to send over.
Dou Zhengchang and the others had their maids convey their gratitude, but only Wu Shan sent a box of white fan surfaces made from lotus leaves: “In a few days, when the flowers bloom, Fourth Sister can paint some fan surfaces to give as gifts.”
Dou Zhao smiled, intrigued.
After Mr. Song finished lecturing on “Mencius: Wan Zhang I” about “how to marry a wife, one must inform the parents,” she asked Mr. Song, “I used to learn flower and bird painting from my elders. Could you teach me to paint some fan surfaces?”
Apart from the initial discord, the Dou household was peaceful, and Dou Zhao was diligent in her studies, which pleased Mr. Song.
He smiled, “Draw a draft first, and I’ll take a look.”
Dou Zhao agreed happily.
Mr. Song, whose courtesy name was Yumin, was well-versed in various subjects and somewhat laid-back, perhaps due to being from Jiangnan. He didn’t slack off because Dou Zhao was a girl. Whenever she had questions, he would often cite classics and elaborate extensively, which Dou Zhao found fascinating, often forgetting her original question. Recently, feeling the spring breeze on his face, he even told Dou Zhao he had made a kite. When Dou Zhao actively wanted to learn something, his enthusiasm was even higher.
Dou Zhao returned home and found some fan painting albums to copy.
The news came from the county school that Dou Zhengchang, Dou Dechang, Dou Qiguang, Dou Qitai, and Wu Shan had all passed the county examination. In April, they all passed the prefectural examination, and in June, except for Dou Qitai, the others passed the academy examination, with Wu Shan achieving the top score.
The Dou family’s clan school gained great renown.
Madam Wu, accompanied by Wu Ya, made a special trip from the capital to return.