Chapter 198 — Cultivating Goodwill

"I thought the same," said Mrs. Cai. "Fobbing them off may be possible, but with a matter this grave, at the very least I won't escape a reputation for negligence and dereliction. The people in Huai Shu Alley may not say it aloud, but they'll surely harbor suspicions. And your sister is still in their household... Turn it over as I might, this is not an easy thing to handle!"

Her mother-in-law had said "not easy to handle," not "impossible to handle."

Mrs. Ding saw through Mrs. Cai's thoughts at once.

She was torn between wanting that ten thousand taels of silver and not wanting to offend the household in the Locust Tree Alley.

She brooded for a while, then said, "What if we just pretend this never happened?"

"Foolish!" Madam Cai snapped. "She has already spoken the words aloud. She even promised me that the Wang family would owe me a favor—she has made up her mind. If our road is blocked, she will certainly find other ways. She will not let the matter rest. When that time comes, whether it succeeds or fails, there will be a great uproar. We knew of it beforehand and yet said not a word to the household in the Locust Tree Alley—tell me, what would Lady Dou think?"

"Then what do you mean, Mother?" Ding Shi was beginning to glimpse her mother-in-law's design.

Madam Cai lowered her voice. "This matter, I reckon, still must be told to the Dou family. And that ten-thousand-tael bank note—we take it as well. When the time comes, we hold the note up before Lady Five and say only that circumstances forced our hand. That we could not explain ourselves without taking it... Lady Five is, after all, a forthright sort. If Lady Seven has already put up ten thousand taels, surely she cannot show no response at all? Thus we play the part of the good-hearted, and earn ourselves a tidy sum in all propriety. As for Lady Seven—once Lady Five knows, there is no reason at all for her to hand us over to be confronted with Lady Seven, nor could Lady Five allow Lady Seven to act as she pleases. We need only wait and follow Lady Five's arrangements."

Ding Shi hastened to flatter her. "Old ginger is the spiciest! The moment I heard of it I lost my head—I never thought Mother would have a plan so quickly..."

"Enough, enough," said Madam Cai. "We shall go to the Locust Tree Alley at once." Yet her face, because of her daughter-in-law's words, could not help but break into a smile.

Ding Shi, however, said, "Mother, a matter this grave—should you not first consult Father? And besides, in a few days it will be Ren's birthday. I think rather than going now, it would be better to wait a few days—if Lady Seven of the Dou family could do such a thing, she must be no simple character." Her meaning was plain: she feared Wang Shuying had set watchers on their household.

"You speak sense," Madam Cai said, patting her daughter-in-law's hand with approval. "But this is the sort of thing best kept from your father. Should anything change, we can plead that your father knew nothing of it—it leaves us a way out." Then, with Ding Shi's help, she descended from the carriage.

The people Wang Shuying had set to watch the Cai household came back day after day reporting no movement at all, and Madam Cai had sent her daughter-in-law Ding Shi to take away that ten-thousand-tael bank note. Only then did Wang Shuying feel half the weight lift from her anxious heart, and she began to arrange the kitchen women, her trusted maids, and her serving women.

Dou Huaiying had been kept overnight in the palace two days running, and knew nothing at all of the household's affairs.

When the day of Dou Qiren's birthday arrived—Dou Qiren being the eldest grandson of Dou Bingheng—Madam Cai dressed herself anew and went to the Locust Tree Alley.

After eating the longevity noodles and presenting her birthday gifts to Ren, Madam Cai drew Lady Five aside into her private chamber to talk.

Lady Five stared at the ten-thousand-tael bank note on the table—payable on sight, bearing no mark—and was both startled and alarmed. It was a long moment before she recovered herself. Anger made the veins stand out on her forehead, and she wanted to curse; but the words reached her lips and, fearing Madam Cai would laugh at her, she swallowed them down by main force—and must even thank Madam Cai with tears of gratitude: "...Were it not for our in-law, our Dou family would have become the laughingstock of the whole capital! Even I, as his aunt, would not escape blame. Truly, you have saved our entire family!"

Where now was any trace of the dignity of a grand secretary's lady?

Lady Five wished she could spit a mouthful of saliva right in Wang Shuying's face.

Since Madam Cai had done a good turn, she must of course see it through to the end—only then would others be truly grateful from the bottom of their hearts.

She hastily took Lady Five's hand and consoled her: "Every family has its pits and ridges. Happily, no one else knows of this matter. We are one family, and between one family there are no two sets of words. If there is anything I can do to help, you need only command me."

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Sisters and brothers, the update for May 10th.

o(n_n)o~

Tomorrow is the weekend—a double update.

The extra chapter will likely come around 15:00.

ps: May 12th is Mother's Day. Don't forget to say a word of greeting to your own mother!

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