Blossom

Dou Ming was no longer the child who would feel timid at the mere sight of Second Madam.

Dou Shiying had spared no effort in hiring a governess to teach her how to become a refined young lady that met society's expectations.

She knelt before Second Madam, weeping bitterly: "A child should not speak of a parent's faults. No matter how wrong my mother may be, as her daughter, I cannot stand by and watch her be humiliated. Father has always pitied elder sister for losing her mother at a young age, and elder sister grew up under Consort Cui's care. I don't expect elder sister to speak well of my mother, but at least she should try to persuade Father. I have a fiery temper and often speak without thinking—that's my fault. But every time Father sees elder sister, he quarrels with Mother. Doesn't elder sister bear any responsibility? Since coming to the Capital, elder sister hasn't visited Mother or paid respects to Grandmother." Her tearful eyes turned to Second Madam. "Grandmother, you always taught me to follow the rules. Tell me, is this proper?"

Listening nearby, Dou Zhao felt conflicted.

Wang Yingxue was her stepmother, and Madam Xu Wang was her maternal grandmother. By convention, she should have gone to pay her respects. But Second Madam was determined to slight Madam Xu Wang and naturally wouldn't allow her to visit either Madam Xu Wang or Wang Yingxue. It was precisely because of this assurance that Dou Zhao had followed Second Madam to live in Huai Tree Lane. Yet seeing Dou Ming skillfully use Consort Cui to provoke Second Madam and divert attention by questioning what was proper, Dou Zhao felt a faint sense of relief.

At least Dou Ming had learned to use her wits, no longer the willful child who would either throw tantrums or hide in Madam Xu Wang or Wang Yingxue's arms when upset. This would make her future path much easier.

As expected, Second Madam's imposing demeanor weakened. She refrained from scolding Dou Ming but, constrained by her status, couldn't argue with a junior either.

Seizing the opportunity, Nanny Liu stepped forward with a smile, bending to help Dou Ming up while saying, "Fifth Miss, you're mistaken. You learned to walk right here by the Madam's kang. The palm is flesh, but isn't the back of the hand flesh too? The Madam dotes on Fourth Miss just as she dotes on you. As you said, a child shouldn't speak of a parent's faults—there are matters the Madam can't explain to you youngsters. Otherwise, why would your grandmother have no complaints about your sister not paying respects?" She added, "You're grown now, Fifth Miss. You should think more carefully about things."

Old habits die hard. At Dou Ming's age, while she might understand various principles, controlling her emotions remained difficult. She had come in anger, but when Dou Zhao turned and left without a word, she inwardly cursed her mistake. After much deliberation, she finally devised an escape plan.

When Nanny Liu came to help her up, she hesitated briefly before rising with a sob.

Second Madam, wanting to blame Dou Shiying for the trouble he'd brought the Dou family, suddenly felt dispirited and lost the will to discipline.

She waved her hand and said to Dou Ming, "I'll speak to your father about your mother. You may go now. Study etiquette well with your governess and don't make your parents worry about you anymore."

Her words made it sound as though Dou Ming were utterly unruly.Dou Ming couldn't help biting her lip, but considering this was the first time in years she'd managed to retreat unscathed from an encounter with Dou Zhao, she couldn't resist casting a challenging glance at her before following Nanny Liu out.

Dou Zhao paid no mind to Dou Ming's attitude. Without the ability to command the Dou family's stewards or guards, Dou Ming was like a cat with its claws clipped—no matter how fierce, she posed no real threat.

Noticing Second Madam's weariness, Dou Zhao said a few words about "hoping Madam could persuade my father to stop making trouble" before taking her leave.

Two days later, Second Madam finally informed Dou Shishu about the matter.

Dou Shishu immediately summoned Dou Shiying for a discussion.

Still simmering with anger, Dou Shiying poured out his grievances to his trusted cousin: "...While Wang Yingxue may be foolish, that paternal aunt from the Wei family is even more detestable. She actually encouraged Wang Yingxue to humiliate Shou Gu! What exactly is their family trying to achieve? If they were dissatisfied with this marriage arrangement, they should have said so outright earlier. The He family would have been a decent match too. Now look—after Shou Gu waited faithfully for the Wei family for three years, with the wedding imminent, they suddenly come up with such underhanded schemes, leaving Shou Gu trapped between a rock and a hard place, completely at their mercy."

Dou Shishu's expression turned grave. "Can Wang Shi's words be trusted?"

The implied skepticism made Dou Shiying flush red.

He lowered his head and murmured, "I've thoroughly questioned Wang Shi's attendants... She wasn't lying. Moreover, these past days, aside from the Wei woman, no other visitors came to our home. Wang Shi had been confined indoors for quite some time—she couldn't have suddenly conceived this idea on her own. She admitted it was because the Wei woman promised to arrange a good marriage for Mingjier. Feeling obliged to return the favor, she found it difficult to refuse the Wei woman's request..."

Since joining the cabinet, Dou Shishu had been swamped with official duties and social engagements, delegating even his own children's affairs to Fifth Madam, let alone his cousin's younger daughter's marriage prospects.

"What's the matter with Mingjier's marriage prospects?" he asked. "Are there difficulties?"

Dou Shiying replied quietly, "Not exactly difficulties, just that we can't seem to find a suitable match—neither too high nor too low. The family the Wei woman proposed is related to Marquis Changxing's nephew, Shi Ruilan..."

Dou Shishu frowned slightly. "Great men are not born, but made. A capable child can build a fortune from nothing, while an ill-behaved one can squander mountains of gold. For families like ours, it's better to find scholarly sons-in-law. This was precisely why I objected to Shou Gu marrying into the Marquis of Jining's Mansion." After a moment's thought, he added, "Here's what we'll do—I'll speak to Fuzhi and have him assist in finding Mingjier a respectable, well-educated match from a family of good repute."

Fuzhi was the courtesy name of his relative by marriage, Cai Bi.

Cai Bi, a man of remarkable social finesse with connections everywhere, would surely achieve twice the results with half the effort if he took charge of matchmaking.

Dou Shiying hurriedly expressed his gratitude, though only half his anger had subsided. He wasn't about to let the Wei family off so easily—if they dared scheme like this before Shou Gu even married in, what would stop them from devouring her whole afterward?

For the first time, he began seriously considering matters of inheritance.Wei Tingyu learned of his sister's intentions when Zhang Yuanming hurriedly took him to seek Song Mo's help in cleaning up the mess. He scolded Wei Tingzhen thoroughly and then said to his mother, Tian Shi, "I don’t want to break off the engagement! Fourth Miss Dou is wonderful. She’s beautiful, and the betrothal was arranged since childhood—there’s no reason to casually call it off."

Tian Shi had always felt uneasy about the matter, and now that the engagement hadn’t been broken, she breathed a sigh of relief. Seeing her son unwilling to end it, she had even less desire to force the issue and called Wei Tingzhen over to persuade her: "Let’s just drop this matter! Your brother doesn’t want to break the engagement."

Wei Tingzhen was frustrated by their lack of ambition, but Zhang Yuanming reprimanded her: "The fifth master of the Dou family is now a Grand Secretary, with several Presented Scholars and Recommended Men in their ranks. Their influence will only grow. What does it matter if the dowry is a little small? With such a powerful family backing us, do you really think the Marquis of Jining’s Mansion won’t prosper? Don’t be so shortsighted, only looking at what’s right in front of you!"

The excuse of "incompatibility" was no longer usable, and Fifth Madam Dou had already grown suspicious. There was no way to break the engagement on those grounds now. Moreover, her mother and brother weren’t even grateful for her efforts, leaving Wei Tingzhen somewhat embarrassed.

"But the dowry is still too meager," she muttered resentfully.

"Why are you being so foolish about this?" Zhang Yuanming said. "Take the Marquis Changxing’s family—they’re wealthy and influential, aren’t they? Yet when their daughters marry, the family only provides three thousand taels of silver from the common fund, not a penny more, and that has to cover both the dowry and the wedding expenses. Then look at the Hu family, the wealthy merchants from Jiangnan who married off their daughter earlier this year—her dowry alone was fifty thousand taels. The size of a dowry doesn’t depend on social status but on how much the parents cherish their child."

Wei Tingzhen fell silent, too embarrassed to argue further.

Wei Tingyu then considered whether he should visit Dou Shiying to apologize. But the thought of what his sister had done made him hesitant. After some back-and-forth, news arrived that Dou Zhao was coming to the Capital.

Unable to sit still any longer, he brought fine tea and wine to pay a visit.

Dou Shiying, still furious, refused to see him.

Embarrassed, Wei Tingyu left Jing'an Temple Alley.

Tian Shi consoled him, "When the time comes, we’ll prepare lavish betrothal gifts to give Shou Gu a proper ceremony."

But preparing lavish gifts required money!

Wei Tingyu thought of the twenty thousand taels Gu Yu still owed him and went out again.

Gu Yu’s page, however, informed him, "Our young master has gone to Kaifeng with the Young Lord of Yan'an Marquis. Please visit again another time, Marquis of Jining."

Wei Tingyu tried twice more but never found him home.

With no other options, he went to the Duke of Yingguo’s Mansion to ask Song Mo for help: "...Could the Young Lord pass a message to Young Master Gu for me?"

Song Mo was silent for a long moment before asking, "So the wedding date is set?"

Wei Tingyu flushed. "It’ll be in the next few days."

Song Mo gave a noncommittal "Oh" and said, "Don’t worry, I’ll speak to Gu Yu about it." His tone was noticeably less enthusiastic than usual.

Wei Tingyu was puzzled.

Rumors had long spread in the Capital that the Duke of Yingguo wanted to remarry. Families with some standing hesitated to marry their daughters to him because of Song Mo, while those eager to climb the social ladder were dismissed by the Duke. As a result, the Duke couldn’t find a suitable match in the entire Capital.

Song Mo, who had always enjoyed smooth sailing, should have been living comfortably. Why did he seem so listless?However, he had his own pile of worries and was in no mood to concern himself with these matters. After exchanging a few pleasantries with Song Mo, Wei Tingyu stood up to take his leave.

Gu Yu had indeed gone to Kaifeng Prefecture.

Song Mo instructed his accountant, Huo Li, "Prepare twenty thousand taels of silver for me. I'll need it in a couple of days."

Huo Li had initially worried that Song Mo's income wouldn't be enough to cover the expenses of the Hall of Cultivating Will. To his surprise, Song Mo had many ways to manage it—not only was the hall more comfortable than before, but there were even considerable savings. He also knew that some of Song Mo's expenditures couldn't be openly accounted for, so he replied respectfully, "Should I prepare actual silver or silver notes?"

"Prepare silver notes," Song Mo said gloomily. "Just hand them to Chen He when the time comes."

Huo Li acknowledged the order and withdrew.

Song Mo gazed at the large clusters of trumpet flowers, his heart in turmoil.

In Yuqiao Alley, Ji Yong was also in turmoil.

Ever since his unpleasant parting with Dou Zhao, he had been tossing and turning, unable to sleep well.

Could he really just stand by and watch Dou Zhao marry that despicable-looking, talentless, and morally bankrupt Wei Tingyu?