ATLAS TRANSLATES

As soon as Third Aunt left, Mother glared at Father, her gaze cold as a blade’s edge. Father glared back just as fiercely, like a cornered beast.

The atmosphere in the room suddenly became tense.

Dou Zhao’s tiny figure huddled in the curtains, listening to her parents’ mutual accusations.

“Zhao Guqiu, what exactly are you trying to do? Haven’t you embarrassed me enough?”

“What am I trying to do? I should be asking you that! Taking a criminal official’s daughter as a concubine – where have all your Confucian teachings gone? Are you trying to destroy the Dou family’s century of good reputation and generations of achievement by your own hand? You might not care about losing face, but I do!”

Father’s face turned red with anger: “We grew up together – don’t you know what kind of person I am? At a time like this, not only do you not help me, but you hold me back and invite Second Aunt to watch me make a fool of myself – what kind of wife are you? If my reputation is ruined, do you think you’ll fare any better? Don’t forget, husband and wife are one! And you call yourself a virtuous wife! It’s fortunate your mother passed away early – if she saw how you’re acting today, who knows how heartbroken she would be?”

“Dou Shiying, if you want to criticize me, go ahead, but why bring up my mother?”

Mother burst into tears, “You remember we grew up together, but do you remember how my mother treated you? Do you remember what you said to me before we married? You have no shame! You want me to help cover up for you? Not a chance!”

Father suddenly deflated like frost-bitten eggplant, a flash of discomfort crossing his face: “I, I didn’t mean to bring up your mother, why do you have to be so unforgiving? I’m only like this because you forced me to be.”

As he spoke, remembering past events, he grew angry again, “Baoshan just took me out for some entertainment, and you glared at him with hostility. When he came to our home, you wouldn’t even serve him proper tea, making me the laughingstock of my classmates…”

He grew more furious as he continued, “You only know how to blame me, why don’t you think about yourself! If your temperament was better, would I have needed to consult Third Brother?”

Mother trembled with anger, wiping tears from her face haphazardly: “You did wrong and still have the nerve to blame me! What kind of decent person is Feng Baoshan? Apart from eating, drinking, visiting brothels, and gambling, what else can he do? During the year-end examinations, if the Education Inspector hadn’t considered Great Uncle’s position, he would have already lost his scholarly rank. Only you spend every day hanging around with him – you’re no better!”

Father was speechless for a while, finally mumbling: “Well… well, you still shouldn’t be like this!”

“What do you want from me?” Mother demanded harshly, “To throw open the doors and welcome Wang Yingxue in? Even if I had such magnanimity, does Wang Yingxue deserve such fortune?”

Mother laughed coldly, “Dou Shiying, let me make this clear – you can take any other woman as a concubine, but Wang Yingxue will only enter this house over my dead body!”

“You… I…” Father pointed at Mother, his arm trembling, unable to form a complete sentence for a long time.

Mother laughed disdainfully, straightening her back even more.

So married couples could fight like this!

Was this her father who always put on such a righteous face?

He was acting like a child!

Dou Zhao watched in amazement.

She had never fought with Wei Tingyu.

At first, she didn’t dare; later, she didn’t care to.

Father lowered his head and said softly: “Guqiu, can we stop fighting?”

His tone was sad, “This whole thing is my fault. Yingxue has been dragged down by me too. Otherwise, how could a daughter from a respectable family suffer such humiliation? Besides, Yingxue and I have already agreed, she’ll go live at the estate,” he looked up, his eyes containing a hint of hope, “Can we be like before? I’ll listen to you about everything from now on, and I won’t go out with Baoshan anymore…”

Good!

Dou Zhao almost couldn’t resist jumping out from behind the curtains to answer for her mother.

In a married couple’s fight, what could better show a wife’s position in her husband’s heart than the husband taking the initiative to bow his head?

Since Wang Yingxue was pregnant, given Father’s character, he was definitely determined to bring her into the family.

Why not take this opportunity to give Father a way out? She could show her magnanimity and virtue before the Dou family elders, win over Father’s heart, and even use this incident to hold leverage over Father in future disagreements between the couple.

This would accomplish three things at once!

And a broken mirror mended, whether there were cracks or not, was still a mirror in others’ eyes.

Wang Yingxue would probably feel heartbroken just looking at it.

Then have Wang Yingxue write a deed of sale and throw her to the estate.

Whether Father’s words now were sincere or not, he couldn’t go back on his own promise, could he?

As long as Father didn’t change his mind, Wang Yingxue would have to endure life at the estate. It would show everyone exactly what Wang Yingxue’s status was in the Dou family!

Even if Father wanted to change his mind, there was nothing to fear.

They could take Wang Yingxue visiting from house to house then.

Weren’t you supposed to be from a scholar’s family, Wang Yingxue? Willingly degrading yourself to be someone’s concubine – let’s see what face the Wang family has to show in public!

Could anything be more satisfying than that?

Even if Wang Yingxue could somehow persuade Father one day, Mother would have her deed of sale in hand, and with the difference in status between wife and concubine, and the family elders’ support, how could she possibly turn things around?

Dou Zhao almost laughed out loud.

But then she heard her mother’s sharp cry: “Yingxue, Yingxue, how intimately you call her! Since you’ve already arranged everything behind my back, why even bother with me? ‘A daughter from a respectable family,’ Dou Shiying, how dare you say such words! Would a daughter from a respectable family voluntarily seek to become someone’s concubine? Would a daughter from a respectable family shamelessly seduce another woman’s husband? If she’s from a respectable family, then perhaps there are no disreputable, unclean people in this world! If she feels humiliated, then let her find a place where she won’t be humiliated…”

Dou Zhao listened anxiously, wishing she had three heads and six arms to cover her mother’s mouth!

Arguments, like conversations, should have a focus!

What was the use of going back and forth about these things?

The important thing was to secure Father’s promises quickly.

But before she could act, Father had already shouted in uncontrollable anger: “What more do you want from me? This won’t do, that won’t do! Aren’t you just relying on having the elders backing you? Don’t think I wouldn’t dare to do anything to you! I’ve been considering our childhood friendship…”

“If you still cared about our childhood friendship, you wouldn’t have done such a despicable thing!” Mother showed no weakness, her expression contemptuous, “Yes, I am relying on having the family elders backing me – what can you do about it? If you have the ability, go ahead and bring Wang Yingxue in without my approval!”

“You, you…” Father was furious with embarrassment, “I, I… I’ll divorce you!”

Mother froze.

“What did you say?” Her face suddenly turned white as snow, “You want to divorce me!” Mother stared at Father in disbelief, “For Wang Yingxue, you actually want to divorce me…”

As soon as the words left his mouth, Father also froze. He turned his face away as if unable to look at Mother, saying quietly: “I tried to reason with you nicely, but you won’t compromise at all…”

“Dou Shiying!” Mother’s eyes turned red with anger. She shouted his name, “Get out! Get as far away from me as you can! I’ll wait for your divorce papers! I want to see how you’ll bring that little tramp Wang Yingxue into this house!”

Father was quite flustered but tried to defend himself: “Guqiu, that’s not what I meant! Listen to me…”

“Get out! Out! Out!” Mother pushed Father toward the door, “I’ll wait for your divorce papers, I’ll wait for your divorce papers…” she muttered, then slammed the door shut with a “bang.”

“Guqiu, Guqiu!” Father knocked on the door outside, “I didn’t mean it, I was just speaking without thinking! It was unintentional…”

Mother leaned against the door, tears streaming down her face, her voice as faint as a mosquito’s: “Unintentional… sometimes what’s said unintentionally is the truth…”

Dou Zhao’s head felt like it was splitting. She slipped off the bed and tugged at her mother’s clothes: “Mother! Mother!”

Mother crouched down, grabbed her daughter’s arms, and asked through sobs: “Didn’t you say you wanted to go play at your uncle’s house? Let’s go to your uncle’s house together, alright?”

“No!” Dou Zhao shook her head, her large eyes bright as morning stars, “This is my home, I want to stay here. We’ll go to uncle’s house during New Year’s!”

Mother was stunned, but her tears fell even faster.

?????

That evening, Yu Ma Ma tried to persuade Mother: “…Getting angry with the Seventh Master at this time will only please your enemies and pain your loved ones!”

Mother sat at her dressing table, staring blankly at the reflection of the woman in the mirror who looked like a flower reflected in still water.

She answered irrelevantly: “…When I was little, every time I came to the Dou family, my mother would tell me not to be naughty, not to upset the Dou family aunts and sisters… Once, Peici took me to pick magnolia flowers. I was very scared and didn’t dare climb the tree, but thinking of my mother’s words, I still climbed up trembling… Peici nimbly jumped down from the tree, but I crouched up there, too afraid to come down… As it was almost time for lunch, Peici became anxious and ran to the outer courtyard to find servants to help… I crouched alone in the tree, the leaves were fuzzy, and there were plump insects crawling around… I wanted to cry but didn’t dare, afraid of drawing others and getting Peici’s palms beaten… I thought I might as well just jump down, rather die or be crippled than be crawled on by insects… I closed my eyes, and someone below called out ‘Hey,’ saying, ‘Why are you crouching in the tree?’ That voice was like water in a small stream, clear and pleasant. I opened my eyes and saw a young man standing under the tree, looking up at me. His hair was like fine satin, black and glossy, his face was like beautiful jade, smooth and lustrous, his eyes were gentle and bright… I stared in a daze. He laughed, looking even better than the flowers in the garden… I told him I was stuck in the tree and couldn’t get down. He told me to wait, turned around and brought a ladder, carefully rescuing me from the tree… After that, every time I came to the Dou mansion, he would wait for me under that magnolia tree… He would bring me sweet pea pudding to eat, and sour plums, and black olives… Once, it was a pearl flower made of pearls… I kept it in the pouch closest to my body, never parting with it…”

She turned her head, looking at Yu Ma Ma with her swollen, red eyes, “Ma Ma, tell me, where did that person who used to wait for me under the magnolia tree go? Why can’t I find him anymore?”

“Miss!” Yu Ma Ma covered her mouth and began to cry.

Dou Zhao’s eyes blurred, unable to see anything clearly.