Chapter 382 — Asking the Reason

The Fifth Madam had no choice but to say against her conscience, "The Marquis should not say such things! A son does not speak of his father's faults; how much less should a son-in-law discuss his mother-in-law. And what you call her poor character will not hold either. I was her sister-in-law for over ten years, and apart from her dislike of socializing, there is truly no fault to be found in her…"

"Fifth Aunt!" Dou Ming suddenly cut her off, springing to her feet with a rush. Her eyes red, she fixed them on Wei Fan and cried in a shrill voice, "Is it not that the Marquis despises me because my mother was a concubine raised to wife? Good—the people of both my families are here, so let us settle this matter once and for all." As she spoke, she cast a tearful glance at the Fifth Madam. "My mother was a concubine, yes, but she was raised to wife a full year after my father's principal wife passed away. At the time she obtained Uncle Zhao's letter of consent, and in accordance with Uncle Zhao's wishes, half the property of the Western Dou was given to my elder sister as her dowry. All of this was recorded in documents at the government office, and may be verified." She stood ramrod straight, her eyes fixed unblinking on Wei Fan. "You say my mother is of poor character. Then tell me—what wrong has my mother done, that a junior such as you should speak of her so?"

Wei Wan spat squarely into Dou Ming's face. "You have the gall to say that? How was it that you came to marry into our family? You may have forgotten—but no one in the Wei family has."

The color drained from Dou Ming's face in an instant, leaving nothing but a deathly pallor.

Choking back her sobs, she asked Wei Fan, "Does the Marquis think so too?" After all, she still clung to that shred of wifely affection, and said not a word of how Wei Fan had promised, before their marriage, to meet her at the Puji Temple; she was unwilling to push matters to the extreme.

Wei Fan was excruciatingly embarrassed. He shot Wei Wan a furious glare, then turned his eyes to Dou Ming and said softly, in a tone meant to soothe her, "There is no such thing. This marriage—I chose it of my own free will!"

Wei Wan ground her teeth with hatred and rose to her feet. "Since you have married into our Wei family, you are one of the Wei family. If your birth mother were merely a concubine raised to wife, and the elders of the Dou family acknowledged her, then the Wei family would swallow the bitter pill and accept it! But your birth mother—what was she? She entered the Dou household in the twelfth month and gave birth to you in the fifth—what sort of creature was that?" She spat in contempt. "Otherwise, why should your elder sister have gotten half of the West Dou fortune, while you brought only twenty thousand taels of silver to your marriage? If you do not understand, then let me spell it out plainly: you do not even rank as a concubine's child. You are the bastard of an illicit union!" She pointed at the women of the Dou and Wang families. "All your own kin are here. If you do not believe me, ask them! See whether I have uttered a single lie! It is only because my brother is honest and simple-hearted that he pinched his nose and put up with living with you as he did. And still you know not good from ill—when you were made to learn the household rules, you deliberately shed the blood of our Wei family. You knew perfectly well that my brother is the sole heir of two generations. Was this not your way of cutting off the Wei line altogether?"

Her words plunged like knives into the hearts of the Dou and Wang families; for a moment the sitting room fell utterly silent, and Dou Ming trembled like a leaf in the wind.

"You lie!" she shrieked. "My mother is not that kind of woman! You simply cannot bear to see the Marquis and me living well, so you come here to slander me. What is it you are really after? Why do you always take such a dislike to me? In what way have I ever wronged the Wei family? When the Marquis was idling at home, it was I who begged my maternal grandfather to find him a post. When Mother lay sick in bed, it was I who took the herbs from my dowry to nourish her. On your mother-in-law's birthday, it was my money I spent to give you face, sending her a generous gift. What more do you want of me?"

She put her question to Wei Fan in a hoarse voice, her frail body swaying as though it might collapse at any moment.

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Brothers and sisters who read this book: the earlier chapters have had only minor revisions to the dialogue, which will not affect your reading. I have rewritten this chapter and quickened its pace. Since rather a lot of chapters are involved, I will not explain them one by one.

o(n_n)o~

I am off to bed first. The bonus update later is still set for around three in the afternoon.

ps: Though my writing has not been in good form today, I still cannot resist begging for pink votes...