Chapter 299 — A Look in the Eye

The managing wife was astonished.

Normally such a plum was monopolized by the household's senior stewards; even ordinary stewards and stewards' wives could not get a hand in, let alone the likes of her!

Taking Dou Chi for one who knew the rules, she happily agreed. "Might I ask, Madam, to whom the several sisters who attend you have been promised? When they marry, do not forget to invite us—we shall come to beg a cup of wedding wine no matter what!"

"They are not yet betrothed," Dou Xin said. "I am merely preparing against the rainy day."

The managing wife fawned, "Those sisters are not only fine-looking but shrewd and capable. I wonder which family will have the fortune to take one of them in..."

This made Su Lan blush crimson as the dawn. She scolded, "I will not marry! I mean to stay by Madam's side and serve her all my life."

Everyone serving in the room burst out laughing.

Su Lan would have none of it and began to romp with them.

Dou Xin watched from the side, eyes crinkled in a smile.

The others grew ever bolder, and their laughter carried clear outside the house.

When at last the evening meal came, Su Xin attended Dou Yan as she washed her hands and could not resist saying in a low voice, "If Madam wishes to add people to her household, why not go through a matron? The Yingzhenguo Estate is full of hereditary servants whose ties are tangled beyond reckoning—the smallest trifle can set the whole household talking. And girls from the estates are poorly bred; sometimes no amount of effort can rid them of their petty ways..."

"I am not merely adding a few maids," Dou Yan said softly, sharing a confidence with her. "After Lady Jiang passed away, more than half the serving women of the Yingzhenguo Estate were replaced—so that when we wished to find someone to ask about the affairs of those years, there was no one to ask. They could not have released them all; some must have been sold, or driven out to the estates. I am putting out word that I wish to add maids to my household. Those with a mind to it will surely know the heir and the Duke do not get along, and perhaps we may find a few descendants of those who once served in Lady Jiang's household."

Su Xin saw the light at once.

Dou Xin said, "Still, you have indeed reached the age to be released. If you have plans of your own, only tell me, and I will decide for you!"

Su Xin answered "Yes" with due deference, yet could not hide the shyness in her brow, which set Dou Yan laughing heartily.

Song Yan arrived and took counsel with Dou Yan. "What say you to matching your Su Xin with Lu Ming? In a few years I will release Lu Ming to serve as a centurion or the like—I promise she shall not be wronged."

Dou Yan thought of Zhao Liangbi.

From the vantage of her past life, Zhao Liangbi's designs on Su Xin were as plain as the sun at noon.

She hesitated. "I must think this over carefully."

Song Yan heard her out, pondered a moment, and said, "Do you mean to keep Su Xin by your side?"

Dou Yan gave a vague murmur of assent.

Song Yan said, "Then match her with Chen He—I intend to keep Chen He at home as a steward."

"Su Xin is several years older than Chen He!" Dou Yan shook her head without thinking.

Song Yan was set on bringing the Dou Zhiwei household into the Yizhi Hall as quickly as possible. He thought a moment and said, "Then marry Su Lan to Chen He. The two are of like age and should get on well."

Dou Chi pondered. "Let me discuss it with Su Xin. They are not, after all, maids bound by a death contract."

Song Yan nodded.

Chen He came in and reported softly, "Chen Jia is here."

Song Yan motioned Dou Yan to withdraw behind the screen and had Chen He bring Chen Jia in.

Chen Jia wore a short lilac coat and a felt hat pulled low over his eyes; his feet were thrust into straw sandals, and his back was bent like a farmer bowed beneath the weight of life. Not a trace remained of his former shrewdness and capability.

Dou Yan's heart stirred with alarm.

A man who could bend and stretch so—she feared his ambitions were no small thing.

In her last life he had been Song Yan's trusted confidant; in this one, she did not know whether Song Yan could win him over.

Dou Yan peered out through the crack of the screen. She saw Chen Jia remove his felt hat, and at once his body straightened like supple bamboo, and his plain face turned keen, as though a sword had leapt from its sheath, every edge and point revealed.

"Young Master!" He saluted Song Yan with neither servility nor insolence.

Song Yan regarded him with an indifferent expression and said nothing.

Chen Jia stood there respectfully, silent and still, waiting for Song Yan to speak.

Song Yan smiled coldly and picked up his teacup.

Chen He was stunned. It took him a good while to come to his senses, and then he hurriedly called out at the top of his voice, "See the guest out!"

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