Chapter 107 — The Ex-Husband

Dou Yan was astonished to hear that the He family had entrusted Cai Bi to go with the Dou household and retrieve the betrothal token from the Jining Marquisate.

By any reasonable reckoning, matters having come this far, the He family ought to have kept silent even if they were unwilling to let go—so why would they risk their reputation to speak up on the Dou family's behalf? Were they after her, or after Dou Bingheng? Or had He Wendao and Dou Bingheng already struck some agreement, in urgent need of this marriage as a cover? After all, in her previous life, Dou Bingheng had entered the Grand Secretariat only with He Wendao's backing.

She hazarded a bold guess: "Could it be that He Yu and his elder brother are locked in an irreconcilable feud?"

Chen Yanzhou's eyes narrowed, and he said gravely, "Say what you will, but if that is truly the case, then everything falls into place."

He Wendao knew that after his death He Yu could never count on the full backing of the clan, and it happened that he had taken a liking to Dou Yan; so He Wendao entrusted this, his most beloved youngest son, to Dou Bingheng, and threw his weight behind Dou Bingheng's entry into the Grand Secretariat. For He Wendao, this was merely declaring his position early in the contest for the Grand Secretary's seat—risky, perhaps, but not enough to shake his foundations, and it settled the quarrels among his sons as well. Truly, several birds with one stone.

He said worriedly, "I fear this business will bring trouble."

"What business doesn't?" Dou Yan laughed cheerfully, her manner relaxed. "Let's find out everything about the He family's affairs first, working along these lines. And the Wei family—we'll need someone watching them too. This Cai Bi..." She very much wanted to say "I know all about him," but mindful of her present identity, she paused, then went on, "I seem to have heard that his tongue is remarkably glib. I'm afraid the He and Dou families may be willing to compensate the Wei family and take back the token anyway. The Wei family's eldest great-aunt is rather mercenary—we had best guard against her."

Chen Yanzhou suspected nothing.

Dou Yan was a woman of deep schemes; where her own lifelong marriage was concerned, it was only natural that she would find some way to learn about the Wei family's circumstances.

"I'll see to it at once." Chen Yanzhou did things with dispatch, which Dou Yan greatly admired.

She called him back: "Any word from the Ji family?"

Dou Yan had not told Chen Yanzhou about Ji Yong's words—"Seeing as we're family, I'll help you out this once." Instinctively she thought them too absurd; even if she repeated them, Chen Yanzhou likely would not believe her, or would dismiss them as the hot-headed impulse of a young man.

Chen Yanzhou said, "Nothing yet." Privately, though, he was wondering whether he ought to go to the capital himself.

If the Fourth Miss had not spotted something in the He family's affairs, they would probably still be groping in the dark, let alone making any progress.

At moments like this, Chen Yanzhou felt keenly the agony of having too few hands.

He was about to consult with Dou Yan when Su Xin came in wearing a peculiar expression: "Fourth Miss, two young gentlemen say they were passing through Zhending County on business and have come to pay their respects to the Seventh Master. One gives his surname as Wei and says he is the heir of the Jining Marquisate; the other gives his as Wang and says he is the Fourth Lord of the Ting'an Marquisate..."

Wei Fan and Wang Qinghai!

Dou Yan's eyes went wide.

Chen Yanzhou was badly startled too. Glancing at Dou Yan, who looked somewhat dazed, he said urgently, "Where are they? Does he not know the Seventh Master is in the capital?"

"We told them," said Su Xin, her expression growing stranger still, "but Young Master Wei said that if the Seventh Master is not at home, any elder of the household would do. He says he has only come to pay a courtesy call..." Su Xin had guessed Young Master Wei's identity as well. She hesitated. "Shall I ask Aunt Cui to come out and help receive them?"

How had he been drawn here?

She knew it: if the marriage between them went quietly, well and good; but if any stir arose, the first to come gawk would likely be Wei Fan!

"No need." From what she knew of Wei Fan, if he did not see her, he would surely find some way to linger at the Dou house and refuse to leave. Better that she deal with him herself than let him make a spectacle of them. Dou Yan instructed Su Xin, "Show the two gentlemen into the flower hall. I'll change my clothes and be there shortly."

"That hardly seems proper," Chen Yanzhou said tactfully. "Are not the household affairs all managed by the Third Master? I think it best to ask the Third Master to come and entertain the guests."

Whichever way one looked at it, this heir of the Jining Marquisate might yet become Dou Zhiwei's husband; he could not let Dou Yan ruin her image in Wei Fan's eyes.

Dou Yan knew what Chen Yanzhou was thinking.

She did not care in the least.

Even if Wei Fan looked down on her, so long as she willed it, she had ways to marry him. And no matter how highly he thought of her, so long as she did not will it, she could wreck the match.

Of him she was more certain than of anyone.

Wei Fan was no problem at all!

But she did not want to show it too plainly and rouse suspicion.

"Then let Old Chen accompany me to see the guests!" Dou Yan said. "If they have no business here, please, Old Chen, keep them company, set out a feast in their honor, give them a handsome traveling gift, and see them on their way. If they do have business, then please, Old Chen, take them to my Third Uncle and let them discuss it with him."

That would do.

Better than letting Aunt Cui come out.

Her fear was that the old lady would eye them like a prospective grandson-in-law, growing more satisfied with every glance, and end up marrying the Fourth Miss off in a muddle—the Fourth Miss's marriage had been weighing on Aunt Cui's mind for the past two years. Only yesterday the old lady had gone to his rooms to ask whether the Fourth Miss would be better off marrying into the He family or the Wei family.

"Since the Fourth Miss does not disdain this old man as too humble," Chen Yanzhou said modestly, "I will accompany you." And he went with Dou Yan to the flower hall.

Wei Fan and Wang Qinghai were surveying the furnishings in the flower hall.

"See that?" Wang Qinghai nudged Wei Fan with his elbow and pointed at the sky-blue flower vessel on the long table, holding sprays of winter jasmine. "A Ru ware vase." Then he pointed at a pair of flawless white coral bonsai standing on the curio cabinet shelves. "Two feet tall. I doubt even the jade shops of the capital have coral of such quality... Your in-laws are rich indeed!"

"What nonsense are you spouting?" Wei Fan had been staring at the clumps of bamboo outside the flower hall—besides the purple bamboo, square bamboo, mottled bamboo, and nan bamboo he knew, there were several varieties he had never heard of. At Wang Qinghai's words he turned his head, and thinking of how the Dou family had sent to his house to demand the betrothal token from years ago, he said sheepishly, "We only met as children—whether she even remembers me is another matter!"

Wang Qinghai teased him: "Oh ho, childhood sweethearts after all..."

Chen Yanzhou saw that both youths were handsome and well-favored, yet their manners were frivolous, and he felt keenly disappointed. He gave a light cough.

The two reluctantly composed their features and turned around.

They saw a spare, elderly man in a blue cloth robe entering, accompanied by a tall young girl.