Chapter 383 — Zhang Mu

Wei Fan's face was full of shame, and he mumbled without a word, yet from the corner of his eye he glanced toward Wei Wan.

Lady Gao, whose heart had just been jabbed by Wei Wan, looked furious beyond measure.

Others would rather demolish ten temples than ruin a single marriage. But this Wei Wan was a fine one — a veritable shit-stirring stick, determined to churn her natal family into unrest and wreck Ming-jie'er's marriage.

She forced down the rage in her heart and said slowly to Wei Fan, "How could matters of our elders ever be for us juniors to comment on? The Marquis and Ming-jie'er are living their lives together — you tell me, in what way has Ming-jie'er wronged you? Is she unfilial to her parents-in-law? Is she disrespectful to her sister-in-law? Or is she jealous and sour, failing to bear you an heir? How can you lay matters that happened before Ming-jie'er was even born at Ming-jie'er's feet? That is far too unfair to Ming-jie'er! You should know that this match was one you chose yourself."

The Fifth Madam listened with mounting alarm.

This First Madam of the Wang family was truly long on propriety and short on quick wit.

By saying such a thing, was she not admitting that Dou Ming was a child born of adultery?

She hurriedly shot a look at Cai-shi.

But Cai-shi only stared blankly at Dou Ming, wearing an expression of astonishment.

She had only vaguely heard before that the Wang woman had used her power to bully others, forcing Seventh Uncle to legitimize her — but she had never imagined that before the Wang woman was legitimized there had been such a scandal?

No wonder Dou Yan was so wealthy?

Half of Seventh Uncle's fortune!

How much money was that?

She mulled it over inwardly, paying no attention at all to the look her mother-in-law had thrown her.

The Fifth Madam sighed helplessly to herself.

She could hardly blame Cai-shi for looking that way.

If the events of those years were spoken aloud, neither the Dou family nor the Wang family would have any face left; none of them wished to bring it up, so who would take the initiative to tell the younger generation such things?

Ji-shi had stood on Zhao Guqiu's side from beginning to end; Gao Mingzhu probably did not even know that Wang Shuying had been legitimized. Now the only one they could count on to step forward and duel with Wei Wan was Pang-shi.

She looked toward Pang Yulou.

But Pang Yulou wore the look of a thirsty person, sipping her tea in tiny mouthfuls, and for a long while did not raise her head.

The Fifth Madam was a veteran of social occasions; how could such small tricks escape her eyes? Yet even knowing that Pang Yulou meant to stand aside, what could she do? She had no choice but to roll up her sleeves and enter the fray herself. Seeing that Lady Gao had played the part of the red-faced one, she must play the white-faced one. Her tone hardened: "When our family marries off a daughter, we send her with a great sum of silver. The married daughter eats from her own purse and wears from her own purse — is that a crime? If you merely wish the Dou family to step in and manage Ming-jie'er's dowry because of what happened with our Seventh Sister-in-law, then our Dou family will absolutely never agree! If you are dissatisfied, there is the Shuntian Prefecture above and the Court of Judicial Review below — one in the ward next to yours, the other on the street of the Ministry of Justice. The splayed walls before their gates all face outward. You are welcome to go and bring suit against our Dou family!

"It just so happens that our Dou family is also full of grievances and needs a place to air them.

"The betrothal between the Jining Marquisate and our family's Fourth Aunt was arranged when they were children. Who in Zhending does not know of it, who has not heard of it? To this day, the people of Zhending still believe that our Fourth Aunt married into the Jining Marquisate. The Jining Marquis and our Fourth Aunt had a perfectly good marriage, and you — hopping and skipping about — forcibly tore that marriage apart!"

The Fifth Madam would have done better not to mention it; the moment she did, Wei Wan's belly filled with fire.

If the Wang woman had not set a trap for her brother to fall into, then half of the Western Dou estate under Dou Yan's name would long ago have belonged to their Wei family. And her brother would never have been stuck keeping company with that broken-down wretch Dou Ming.

Wei Wan rose to her feet, her face dark, and opened her mouth to argue with the Fifth Madam.

The Fifth Madam gave a cold laugh and crushed the words before they could leave her mouth: "Eldest Aunt of the Wei family, do not go flinging this chamber pot at our Dou family's heads. Who was it that, in order to break off the engagement, invited our Seventh Madam to Puji Temple to hear the Buddhist teachings? Who was it that, on the verge of taking the elder sister through the gate, privately arranged to stroll the temple grounds with the younger sister? And who was it that leaped out and planted himself before Ming-jie'er when our Dou family came to fetch her away? Eldest Aunt of the Wei family, do not imagine that by smacking your upper lip against your lower you can turn black to white and white to black. Shall I invite the wife of Secretary Zheng of the Military Appointments Bureau of the Ministry of War to come and testify? Shall I summon the attendants who once served the Marquis closely, but were driven out to the farmstead before the Marquis married, to come and tell what really happened at the time? Shall I dig out the marriage contract from the household registry of the Shuntian Prefecture and show it to the Duchess of the Jingzhenguo Estate?"

Her rapid-fire barrage made the veins stand out on Wei Wan's forehead.

This old harridan — she knew everything, yet sat there in sinister silence.

No wonder people said there was not a single good one among scholars.

"Speak, then! Do you think I am afraid of you?" She sneered without yielding an inch. "When a man turns back from his wild ways, gold cannot buy it; but once a woman is tainted with the word 'lewd,' she may as well wait to be drowned in the lake!"

"Is that so?" The Fifth Madam looked at Wei Wan as though at an illiterate bumpkin and said scornfully, "No wonder you are so brazen — you are an ignorant woman! You have probably never even laid eyes on the Great Code, have you? To utter such words of a field-wife — no wonder the Wei family has fallen so low these past years, and you cannot lift your head or straighten your back before your mother-in-law."

Her words struck precisely at Wei Wan's vital spot. Wei Wan sprang up to argue with the Fifth Madam, but Wei Fan held her back.

"Sister," he said, ashamed and mortified, lowering his voice, "say a little less — if this lawsuit reaches the Shuntian Prefecture or the Court of Judicial Review, I too will have no way to escape involvement. Quite apart from anything else, a hundred strokes of the rod is what I would receive."

Wei Wan was stunned, and at once recalled that defaming a woman of good family could indeed bring a hundred strokes of the rod.

"Sister, Minister Dou now presides over the Ministry of Justice. In a lawsuit, we cannot beat them." Wei Fan again quietly reminded Dou Wei-zhen. "How about we just let this matter drop?" Since childhood he had feared women quarreling; the Fifth Madam's man-eating look filled him with genuine dread. "Asking the Dou family to help manage Ming-jie'er's dowry really is unreasonable. We would do better to discuss it with the Dou family — from now on, we simply will not let Ming-jie'er return to her natal home to see the Wang woman!"

His soft pleading nearly made Wei Wan fall over backward.

After all this, he was actually begging for mercy.

Then all that had gone before — had it been for nothing? And they had gratuitously offended both the Dou and Wang families?

How had she given birth to such a brother?