Chapter 161 — The Wooden Hairpin

Dou Zhiwei was utterly resolute, and in the end Ji Shi returned in disappointment.

Ji Lingze could not help asking her aunt softly, "Is the relationship between Cousin Dou and her stepmother very poor?"

There was another purpose behind Ji Shi bringing Ji Lingze to Zhending for Dou Zhiwei's coming-of-age ceremony.

Ji Lingze was already betrothed to the sixth young master of the Han family of Huzhou. The sixth young master Han had been studying in the capital all along, and Ji Lingze's wedding date was set for October of this year—this was one of the reasons Ji Lingze had come to the capital early. After her marriage, Ji Lingze would reside in the capital with the sixth young master Han. The Wei family would end their mourning in the seventh month of next year, and by then they would certainly move quickly to set a wedding date with the Dou family. Once Dou Yan went to the capital, she would have a companion. Moreover, Ji Lingze was exceptionally clever, having studied since childhood under that learned aunt of the Ji family who had returned home in her old age, and she carried herself with perfect poise and grace wherever she went, never lacking in quickness. The Han family was likewise a family of officials; two of its lords were currently in office—one serving as a county magistrate in Huguang, and the other as a bureau director in the Ministry of Works' Bureau of Reclamation, overseeing the empire's river works.

Dou Yan's association with Ji Lingze could bring only benefit and no harm.

Now, hearing that Ji Lingze seemed rather puzzled by Dou Yan, she did not wish Ji Lingze to misunderstand Dou Chixiao because of it, and so she quietly told Ji Lingze, one by one, of the grievances of those years.

Ji Lingze was dumbstruck. After a long while she sighed, "If it were me, I fear I too would find it hard to remain calm!"

"Indeed!" Ji Shi sighed. "So some things cannot be blamed entirely on Shouyuan." She added, "It seems I shall have to come back for a while next year, to help Shouyuan with all the arrangements before her marriage."

Hearing this, Ji Lingze laughed. "Aunt, you truly treat Cousin Dou so well!"

"Of course." Ji Shi gestured with her hands. "I watched her grow from that tiny little thing to what she is now—there's no difference between her and my own child." She added, "She has been alone and friendless since childhood. From now on, you must treat her as your own true cousin."

"I know!" Ji Lingze took Ji Shi's arm and teased her aunt. "You are far too partial. Getting Jianming to acknowledge her as a cousin was not enough—now you want me to acknowledge her as a cousin too. It's a good thing Mengchun isn't here. If Mengchun were here, were you planning to have him acknowledge this cousin as well?"

Ji Mengchun, whose given name was Ji Yang, was Ji Yong's elder cousin. Though his reputation did not match Ji Yong's, he surpassed him in amiability and steadiness of conduct. Among the younger generation of the Ji family, he commanded even greater respect than Ji Yong.

Ji Shi said with perfect justification, "Naturally!"

Ji Lingze could not help laughing aloud. "Then do you know that Jianming has written a note reading 'Dou Four' and pressed it under the great desk in his study, and every day he must look at it a few times and mutter a few words before he can begin his reading?"

Ji Shi was greatly startled. "What happened?"

"Uncle Thirteen saw it when he went to visit Jianming," Ji Lingze said. "Uncle Thirteen didn't dare ask Jianming, so he grabbed Zishang and Zixi to pry out information." Her expression gradually turned grave. "Zishang and Zixi did not conceal it either. They said Jianming's determination to sit the examinations came entirely from being mocked by Cousin Dou. They also said that Jianming had never suffered a loss at anyone's hands, yet repeatedly met with setbacks at the hands of Cousin Dou. When Uncle Thirteen heard I was coming to Zhending, he asked me to find out what exactly is going on between Jianming and Cousin Dou—he feared Jianming might lose his temper one day and play some trick on Cousin Dou, creating a rift between the families and making things difficult for you in the Dou household."

"There is such a matter?" Ji Shi's brows knitted tightly. Upon returning to the capital, her first order of business was to summon the brothers Dou Yong and Dou Huaide for questioning.

Dou Yong grew anxious at once. "This matter—should we speak to Father about it? With Jianming's temper, it's not necessarily Fourth Sister who provoked him!"

Dou Huaide, however, disagreed. He laughed and said, "If Cousin Ji had the upper hand, why would he wear such a gnashing, bitter expression? I say we pretend for now that we know nothing. In any case, these days we are all studying over at the Shuntian Prefectural School. If he makes any move, as long as we keep our eyes open, we are sure to notice. The examination is nearly upon us—if this matter causes Cousin Ji some new complication, then the fault would be ours instead."

Ji Shi thought her second son's words made excellent sense and nodded slightly, repeatedly instructing both sons: "Keep a close watch, and wait until after Jianming's metropolitan examination to speak of it. If this knot can be untied, all the better; if it cannot, we shall have no choice but to beg your great-grandfather."

The two nodded, and thereafter quietly observed Ji Yong in every detail without betraying a thing.

Ji Yong, however, seemed utterly unaware, studying diligently every day, rising at the crow of the rooster and sleeping only at midnight, reading through all the examination essays of the past five years. When the ninth day of the second month arrived, he did not even pay respects to the Ji family ancestors. Zishang and Zixi went out to the streets and picked out an exquisitely crafted examination basket, packed his customary brushes, ink, paper, and inkstone, added some food, and entered the examination hall—by the time Ji Qi and the others arrived, there was no trace of Ji Yong to be found.

Ji Qi could not help stamping his foot and berating Zishang and Zixi for their foolishness.

Zishang and Zixi had taken the blame for Ji Yong more times than they could count. Trembling, they knelt there begging forgiveness, yet they were not truly afraid, knowing that unless Ji Yong gave his consent—or unless the old master himself was provoked—no one else in the household would punish them.

Ji Qi indeed only heaved a few sighs and told Zishang and Zixi to rise.

After the three sessions of the examination were finished, Ji Qi did not dare ask whether he had done well—if his son felt confident but the results proved a failure, his son would lose face before him and would likely be even more unwilling to see him in the future; if his son felt he had done poorly, then all his recent diligence would have been in vain, and his son would likewise feel he had lost face before him... So he simply said nothing at all, only mentioning that his mother, Han Shi, having learned he was sitting the examination, had rushed over from Yixing especially, and had personally cooked his favorite dishes and was waiting for him at home.

Ji Yong thought for a moment, then followed Ji Qi back to Yuqiao Alley.

Ji Qi breathed a sigh of relief.

Ji Yong had been raised at the side of the Ji family matriarch from birth, and once he was a little older, he followed the Ji family patriarch. Han Shi had fewer chances to see her son than even the young servants attending Ji Yong. Her feelings toward her son were exceedingly subtle.