Chapter 464 — Name-Registration

Two days later, Song Yan had a day off. Dou Yan brought up Jiang Yan's marriage with him. "I've already had Monk Defu of Puji Temple look over the betrothal cards. He says it's a match made in heaven, with no taboos on either side. When do you think I should send word back to the Chen family? They'll want to come and make the formal proposal."

At heart, Song Yan was deeply displeased with this match.

To his mind, it amounted to marrying his own little sister off to a servant.

He knew Dou Yan judged people and affairs with uncanny accuracy, and that Jiang Yan's concerns had always been her labor; Jiang Yan, too, was glad to be close to Dou Yan. After what had happened with Wei He, Jiang Yan could not have come away untouched. If Dou Yan thought Chen Jia a fitting match for her, then fitting it must surely be. Yet he still could not get past it, and so he adopted a policy of pure delay: though he knew perfectly well that Chen Jia had come to propose and that Dou Yan had already accepted the betrothal cards, he feigned ignorance and asked not a single question. Now, hearing Dou Yan raise it, he said in a fit of pique, "What's the hurry? A'Yan has only just come of age this year. Before, there was no one to act as head of the household for her; now that she's come home, we ought to keep her a couple of years at least. If the Chen family is sincere, surely they can wait a few days?"

Dou Yan was caught between laughter and tears. "But negotiating the match, making the proposal, and setting the date, none of it can be settled in less than a year or so. By then, Sister Yan will be seventeen or eighteen—just the right age to be married."

Song Ke gave a noncommittal "Oh," and answered something else entirely. "Since it's a matter of matching horoscopes, why send to Puji Temple? I never knew the monks there read birth charts for people. Who is this Defu?"

He was being thoroughly awkward.

Dou Yan found this Song Yan utterly endearing.

She smiled and said, "Defu is the guest-prefect monk at Puji Temple, very learned in fate and fortune. My fifth aunt told me that when Elder Yao and Elder He have leisure, they both like to seek him out for quiet conversation. When Elder He's family married off a granddaughter last year, they had him match the horoscopes—extremely accurate. So this time I sought him out as well."

In truth, she knew that the reason Defu had ultimately become abbot of Puji Temple and could stand toe to toe with Ji Yong was not only his mastery of Buddhist doctrine and the Book of Changes, but also his fondness for reading the physiognomies of the great families' womenfolk. By the time he became abbot, a reading from him was already hard to obtain, and his readings were remarkably accurate, his methods of averting ill fortune often proving effective. This was one of the reasons he was so sought after.

Song Ji seized the chance to change the subject. He smiled and said, "There's a man like that? Then one of these days we must go to Puji Temple and look up this great monk, and have him read my fortune. I always feel these past few years have been unlucky for me—one thing after another, enough to vex anyone."

Dou Yan pressed her lips together and smiled.

She could see nothing vexed about Song Yan.

However hard things were, he always met them head-on and never pitied himself; his resolve was strong, and it filled her—who had lived two lives and knew a thing or two of what was to come—with deep admiration.

Dou Yan stepped forward and took Song Zhi's arm, her voice softening of its own accord. "All right! Then we'll take Yuan Heng along and burn a stick of incense to the Bodhisattva, and ask the Bodhisattva to keep him safe and sound."

She followed his lead and said no more of Jiang Yan and Chen Jia.

Song Ji laughed with great delight.

Dou Yan nearly reached out to pat his head.

※※※※※

Chen Jia waited two or three days and got no reply from the Song family. He could not help growing restless.

He asked Duan Bing out for a drink.

Duan Bing tried to set his mind at ease. "The heir has only just gotten his sister back—how could he bear to marry her off so soon? But rest assured, my lady has turned away every matchmaker who came calling, and she's been busily preparing the cousin's dowry. There won't be any change in the matter."

Chen Jia wished someone would write him a contract in black and white as a guarantee. Duan Bing's words felt neither here nor there, of no use at all, and he drank in sullen silence. In the end he got dead drunk and had to be carried home by Huzi.

Duan Bing shook his head, smiling. After thinking it over, when he went back to report to Dou Zhiwei, he was afraid Dou Yan would think Chen Jia lacking in steadiness, so he left out the part about him getting drunk.

It happened that the family cook had made some radish cakes and walnut pastries for the New Year. Dou Yan had Duan Bing take some to Chen Jia, to soothe his somewhat restless heart, and packed some in gift boxes to send to Mao'er Alley, Huaishu Alley, and Jiang Ling and the others. As for Grandmother, she took Yuan Heng and delivered it in person.

Grandmother was overjoyed. She held Yuan Heng and would not let go, and told Hong Gu, "Send someone to Jiming Temple Alley and tell the Seventh Master to come for dinner as soon as he's off duty." Then she said to Dou Xin, "He dotes on Yuan Heng—let him come and have a look too, and get his fill."

Dou Chi could not help feeling grateful to Song Yan once again.

He had settled Grandmother here, and sure enough, she was not as she had been in Zhending. Even living under the same roof with her, she had seemed like a guest, rarely voicing her own views—let alone giving orders as she did now.

She answered "Good" with a beaming smile.

But Yuan Heng squirmed impatiently, wanting to go outside and play.

Grandmother coaxed him, all smiles. "My precious, it's cold outside. When spring comes, Great-Grandma will take you to plant beans."

Dou Yan burst out laughing at this.

Yuan Heng giggled along with his mother.

For a moment the room was like warm spring weather, warm and full of lively cheer.

The smile spilled from Grandmother's eyes all the way to the tips of her brows.

The two of them sat on the kang, shaking a rattle drum and playing with Yuan Heng.

At first Yuan Heng listened quietly, but soon he grew impatient and grabbed for the rattle. Dou Yan handed it to him, and he tried to shake it the way Dou Zhiwei did, but could not make it sound. He pouted and tossed the rattle onto the kang.

Grandmother was so amused her eyes crinkled into slits. "Aiyo," she said, "and whose temper is this, I wonder? Can't suffer the least little grievance."

Dou Xin said, "It must come from Yantang."

Grandmother teased her. "And you think your own temper was so sweet when you were small?"

Dou Yan was rather surprised. "You saw me when I was little?"

"Of course!" Grandmother never took the grievances she had suffered in the Dou household to heart, nor did she shy from speaking of them. "When I heard you were born, I put on a coarse cloth garment and slipped into the main courtyard with the old woman who delivered the vegetables. Your mother knew it was me, and had them carry you out specially so I could have a look. After that, whenever I went again, she would pretend not to know and let me play with you a while. Then your grandfather found out by chance, and I was afraid he'd make things hard for your mother, so I didn't dare go again." She went on, "I still remember you when you were small, all chubby. If your diaper wasn't put on right, or the quilt wasn't tucked in properly when they laid you on the bed, you'd cry and cry, till your mother and your wet nurse were at their wits' end. If not for me, they'd never have found the cause!"

At this point the old lady looked rather pleased with herself.