Blossom

Father's carriage was parked by the Second Gate, where several pages were busily unloading luggage. Dressed in a sapphire-blue Silk Robe embroidered with calamus patterns and draped in a gray squirrel fur cloak, Father stood gracefully beside the carriage, conversing with Gaosheng.

Hearing the commotion, he turned his head and smiled faintly, his handsome demeanor as refreshing as a breeze under the moonlight.

Dou Zhao’s heart tightened slightly.

She knew Father was good-looking.

But she had never seen him like this before.

In her memory, Father always wore a slight frown, and even when he laughed, an unshakable gloom lingered between his brows. Especially when he gazed at her quietly—his eyes still and fathomless, like an ancient well—it sent chills down her spine.

Not like now—young, handsome, radiant, carefree as a boy, his very presence warming the heart.

"Shou Gu," Father’s smiling face appeared before her. "You didn’t even call out when Daddy came home!" He reached to pinch Dou Zhao’s nose.

Instinctively, she turned her head away, avoiding his hand.

Father paused, then chuckled indulgently. From behind the carriage, he pulled out a pinwheel, blew on it to make it spin noisily, and held it up to her. "Daddy brought this back for you from the Capital. Isn’t it fun?"

If she were truly a child, she might have been overjoyed by the pinwheel. But she was already a mother of three—the one who bought toys to amuse her own children. How could she possibly care for it now?

Dou Zhao craned her neck, peering into the carriage.

Mother, however, blushed deeply, gazing at Father with tender affection, her voice a mix of coyness and reproach. "Your safe return is all that matters. Why bring gifts? We have everything at home."

"It’s different!" Father took Dou Zhao from Mother’s arms. "I picked these out specially for you in the Capital."

Mother’s face flushed even deeper, as if she’d drunk aged Huadiao wine, her eyes growing misty.

Dou Zhao leaned sideways, trying to pull open the carriage curtain, but her arms were too short to reach it.

Noticing her intent, Father patted her bottom lightly and set her inside the carriage. "What are you looking for?"

Ignoring him, Dou Zhao scrambled into the compartment.

The interior was lined with thick bedding, a few classics like Annotations on the Four Books scattered carelessly atop. In one corner sat a tea bucket for warming tea, its lid open to reveal a purple clay pot with a loop handle.

Nothing else.

Dou Zhao stood inside the carriage, looking around in confusion.

Had she remembered wrong?

Or... had Tuo Niang not told her the truth at all?

※※※※※

Having just returned from a long journey, Father’s first duty was naturally to pay respects to Grandfather.

Mother excused herself to arrange a family banquet and returned to the Main Chamber, summoning all the maids on duty there to the hall.

"Which wretched fool filled the young miss’s ears with such filth? Step forward now!" She slammed the table in fury. "If I have to wait for the young miss to point you out, it won’t just mean reassignment to the outer courtyard or docking a few months’ Monthly Allowance! I’ll report this to the Old Master, summon the Slave Trader, and sell you to some godforsaken mountain village where you’ll never taste white flour buns again!"

The room fell deathly silent.The teacup on the table rattled loudly from Mother’s agitation: "Fine! Not a single one of you dares to step forward. Do you think I won’t find out? The child is barely old enough to speak clearly, yet you’ve already coaxed her into spouting nonsense in front of me. If she were any older, who knows what kind of mischief you’d lead her into..."

Dou Zhao sat on the heated kang in the inner chamber of the main room, accompanied by a young maid, sighing intermittently.

It had been her own idea—who would step forward to admit it?

But Dou Zhao didn’t defend the servants.

At her age, barely able to string together coherent sentences, Mother naturally assumed that baseless claims like "Father brought a woman home" had been planted by the servants. If she tried to defend them, Mother would only grow more suspicious of ulterior motives, making it even harder for the servants to escape blame.

She turned to the little maid beside her and asked, "Your name... is?" Her throat still felt blocked, making it hard to form complete sentences.

The maid, flattered by the attention, eagerly replied, "Answering Fourth Miss, this servant is called Xiang Cao."

Dou Zhao said, "I want... Tuo Niang!"

The maid widened her eyes in curiosity. "Who is Tuo Niang?"

Dou Zhao was dumbfounded.

Just then, someone announced loudly, "Seventh Madam, Seventh Master has returned."

A flurry of activity followed outside.

Mother’s voice carried a hint of tension as she instructed, "Yu Momo, take the people from Fourth Miss’s quarters back first. Fourth Miss will stay with me tonight. The rest of you, return to your duties."

An elderly voice respectfully acknowledged the order.

More commotion ensued.

Soon after, Mother entered cheerfully, accompanied by Father.

Seeing Dou Zhao sitting dazedly on the kang, Father smiled and patted her head. "What’s wrong with this child today?"

Mother, unwilling to explain that Dou Zhao had been influenced by others, replied vaguely, "Perhaps she’s tired from playing. She’ll be fine soon."

Father didn’t press further.

Maids brought in water and fragrant soap. Mother helped Father wash his face and change clothes, while Dou Zhao was carried away by a maid to be freshened up and changed before they all headed to Grandfather’s residence.

Grandfather lived in the western part of the estate. The central hall bore a plaque inscribed with "Crane Longevity," giving the place its name—Crane Longevity Hall.

In front of the hall lay a pond and rockery, while behind it grew vines and flowering trees, making it the most scenic spot in the household.

In Dou Zhao’s memory, she had visited Crane Longevity Hall only twice. Once at age nine, when Grandfather passed away, and his coffin was placed there according to his will. She had returned for the funeral. The second time was for the ceremony marking the end of mourning.

Both occasions had been chaotic, leaving her no time to take in the hall’s details.

Now, revisiting it in her dream, she peered around from Mother’s shoulders.

The pond was frozen, the rockery blanketed in snow, the trees bare, and the vines reduced to withered stems. Though the scene was bleak, the elegant layout still exuded a quiet charm.

She nodded inwardly.

No wonder the old academicians in the Capital praised Grandfather’s refined taste.

It was a pity he had grown weary of officialdom, resigning before thirty to retire to the countryside as a gentleman farmer.

Lost in thought, they arrived at the entrance of Crane Longevity Hall.

A graceful middle-aged woman greeted them with a smile.

Dou Zhao stared at the woman, stunned.

Why had she dreamed of Ding Yinyinai?

If she were to dream of anyone, it should have been her grandmother!

After all, she had been raised by her grandmother since childhood.As she was lost in thought, Ding Yinyinai stepped forward with a smile and pinched Dou Zhao's little hand, saying to her mother, "What's wrong with Shou Gu today? She seems listless and isn't greeting anyone..."

Her mother gave Ding Yinyinai a meaningful glance and whispered, "I'll tell you later."

Understanding the hint, Ding Yinyinai smiled, picked up Dou Zhao, and accompanied her mother into their grandfather's study.

Dou Zhao's mind was in turmoil.

Her grandfather, now in his forties, still had no heirs. The primary grandmother had arranged for him to take two concubines: one was Ding Yinyinai, and the other was Grandmother Cui Shi. Like the primary grandmother, Ding Yinyinai bore no children, while Grandmother Cui Shi only gave birth to Father, making their branch of the family rather sparse. Later, when the stepmother entered the household and gave birth to Dou Xiao, Grandmother Cui Shi was credited with continuing the family line. Only then did the Dou family begin addressing her as "Madam Cui." Though Father still called her "Auntie," the grandchildren referred to her as "Grandmother," while Ding Yinyinai remained "Ding Yinyinai."

After the primary grandmother passed away, Grandfather decided not to remarry. Ding Yinyinai initially managed the household affairs, but after Mother joined the family, the responsibility was handed over to her. Ding Yinyinai then only attended to Grandfather's personal matters, accompanying him in his later years. Meanwhile, Grandmother Cui Shi lived on a farmstead over fifty li away from Zhen Ding County, returning only briefly during the Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, and Spring Festival each year.

Dou Zhao felt an uneasy premonition, as though something had happened while she remained in the dark.

She quietly observed the people and events around her.

During dinner, Dou Zhao noticed the dishes were served on a set of Blue and White Porcelain adorned with the "Jade Hall Spring" motif, complete with bowls, plates, cups, and spoons.

While Grandfather questioned Father, Dou Zhao was left to play on the heated kang in the study.

She spotted the pair of Purple Calamander Wood paperweights carved with the "Instant Success" motif on Grandfather's desk.

Dou Zhao thought for a moment, then stood on tiptoe to count the glass beads on the tassel of the Longquan sword hanging on the wall.

She had seen all these items before.

Back then, they had been Grandfather's cherished possessions, buried with him as grave goods.

She remembered clearly: the "Jade Hall Spring" porcelain set had only four bowls, two plates, one cup, and five spoons left; there was only one Purple Calamander Wood paperweight; and the tassel of the Longquan sword had five glass beads.

It was as if time had reversed, erasing the years that had marked those objects.

Then she heard Grandfather say, "...This passage comes from the Analects of Confucius, 'Gongye Chang.' You used 'A nobleman's heart is generous and fair, loyal in counsel' to introduce the theme, followed by 'Generosity balances gain and loss, fairness equalizes self and others—thus Ziwen deemed it loyalty, though whether it constitutes benevolence I cannot say' to elaborate. Excellent. It shows you've grasped the essence of the 'variational method'..."

Dou Zhao's hands and feet turned icy.

Though she could read, she had never studied the Four Books and Five Classics. How could she have imagined such words out of thin air?

"Mother! Mother!" Panic surged through Dou Zhao's heart. She called out loudly, tears streaming uncontrollably down her face.

Grandfather, who had been engrossed in conversation with Father, frowned.

Mother rushed in from the hall in a fluster, "Father-in-law, I'll take Shou Gu to play elsewhere."

Full of apologies, she carried Dou Zhao out of the study.

Ding Yinyinai came forward to meet them.

Mother had dined at the same table as Grandfather and Father. Since the wet nurse hadn't come today, Ding Yinyinai had fed Dou Zhao first. By the time Dou Zhao finished eating, the others had already left the table, leaving only scraps behind. Ding Yinyinai had just been picking at the leftovers when the commotion occurred."What's going on?" She touched Dou Zhao's forehead. "She was perfectly fine earlier. Could she have encountered something unclean?"

Dou Zhao clung desperately to her mother's neck, feeling the warmth of her mother's nape, as if only this could prove she hadn't met a group of ghosts.

"Surely not?" Mother shuddered, hesitating. "Could it be someone who instigated Shou Gu playing tricks?"

"Don't worry." Ding Yinyinai said confidently, "Even if someone is playing tricks, we have nothing to fear. Ours is a virtuous household, and the Great Immortal will protect our peace. Later, I'll request two talismans for Shou Gu before the Great Immortal. You sweep them over Shou Gu twice, then burn them, and she'll be fine."

Mother nodded repeatedly, gnashing her teeth. "If I find out who's harboring ill intentions, I'll skin them alive!"

"Thankfully she said it in front of you. If she'd said it in front of Seventh Master, that would have been troublesome." Ding Yinyinai sighed. Just then, a page ran in and announced, "Old Master, Seventh Master, Seventh Mistress, and Ding Yinyinai, Third Master from the East Manor has arrived."