ATLAS TRANSLATES

Grandmother smiled while chatting about how we needed to make new clothes for Miss Shou.

Summer had passed, and Grandmother was still by her side, healthy and well.

Does this mean that if one tries hard enough, some things can be changed? Dou Zhao thought about going to the temple to burn incense.

Grandmother smiled and said, “Let’s go to Daci Temple then, their vegetarian dishes are quite good.”

For the entire summer, Dou Zhao had stayed at home keeping her company, never stepping out. Grandmother thought Dou Zhao must be tired of being cooped up at home and wanted to go out to play.

Daci Temple was a nunnery where her mother often went to worship Buddha when she was alive.

Dou Zhao naturally smiled and nodded in agreement.

Together with Grandmother, they chose an auspicious date from the almanac. She sent people to inform the abbess of Daci Temple in advance, and brought along her personal maids, elderly servants, and footmen, heading to Daci Temple with quite an entourage.

Daci Temple was surrounded by ancient cypress trees reaching toward the sky, with green trees encircling it, creating a serene landscape. The main hall’s Buddha incense pavilion enshrined a Thousand-Armed Thousand-Eyed Guanyin statue over ten feet tall, covered in gold leaf. Under the glow of incense, it radiated brilliance, illuminating the entire hall.

Dou Zhao and Grandmother sincerely bowed and kowtowed three times.

Leaving the main hall, the wind rustled through the trees, creating a refreshing sound.

The abbess invited Dou Zhao and Grandmother to sit in the incense room behind the hall. After some casual conversation, a guest master came to ask where to set up the vegetarian meal.

“Just set it up here!” Grandmother, who had been taught to do things herself since childhood, disliked troubling others the most.

The guest master smiled and left with the instruction.

Hai Tang came in with a beaming smile: “Madame Cui, Fourth Miss, Political Eleventh Master, Virtuous Twelfth Master, and Fourth Young Master, Fifth Young Master, Sixth Young Master. Also, Fourth Master Wu from the Wu family heard you were here worshipping Buddha and came specially to pay his respects.”

“What perfect timing!” Grandmother chuckled happily and warmly invited them all to join for the vegetarian meal. “…It’s just us here, if you don’t mind, please join us for lunch?”

Hai Tang went to relay the message.

Dou Zhengchang and the others crowded in with smiles, paying respects to Grandmother. They greeted Dou Zhao and thanked Grandmother for the meal invitation, their voices overlapping like a bustling marketplace.

Dou Zhao asked Dou Qijun, “How did you know we were at Daci Temple?”

This was, after all, a nunnery.

Dou Qijun smiled and said, “We went to see the sunrise at Dafang Temple, and thought about having the delicious vegetarian food at Daci Temple. We were planning to get a free meal here, who knew you would be here too?”

Although men and women were traditionally separated, Daci Temple was patronized by the Dou family, so they would always offer a vegetarian meal to any Dou family members passing by.

Dou Zhao laughed heartily, “Indeed, perfect timing is better than early arrival.”

Dou Qitai boasted, “If I hadn’t urged you all to come back early, how could we have met Fourth Aunt?”

Wu Shan, however, unlike his usual chatty self around Dou Zhao, quietly stepped back. It was as if he wanted to disappear into the crowd.

Dou Zhao was surprised, but then gradually understood.

Wu Shan was still young at heart, honest and pure. That day, he had impulsively revealed Pang Jixiu’s intentions, which had ultimately not been beneficial to her. Feeling he had wronged her, he now felt ashamed and could barely face her.

Understanding Wu Shan’s feelings, Dou Zhao began to feel uneasy.

Truthfully speaking, this matter had nothing to do with Wu Shan. It was she who wanted to drive away Pang Jixiu and make Wu Shan give up hope, orchestrating this two-birds-with-one-stone situation…

She hadn’t seen Wu Shan since then and didn’t know how he was doing.

With this thought, Dou Zhao couldn’t help but observe Wu Shan.

He wore a bamboo-green Hangzhou silk robe, his black hair tied with a red bamboo hairpin. At his waist hung a pure white jade pendant on dark palace cord. He had grown much taller than last year and become thinner. His originally handsome face had lost its childish innocence and gained a youthful sharpness. Like an early spring sapling, he seemed to have stretched out his branches and grown up in the blink of an eye.

Dou Zhao couldn’t help but feel deeply moved.

When Wu Shan noticed Dou Zhao’s gaze falling on him, he felt both surprised and delighted.

Surprised that among so many people standing before Dou Zhao, she still noticed him. Delighted that despite what he had done, Dou Zhao was still willing to acknowledge him.

Perhaps things weren’t as serious as he had imagined…

As Wu Shan pondered this, he wanted to step forward and say a few words to Dou Zhao, but before he could speak, Dou Zhao smiled and called out to him: “Fourth Brother Wu, so Eleventh Brother and the others went to freeload at your house!”

Dafang Temple was in Xinle County.

Wu Shan immediately became excited.

When the Third Master of the Dou family passed away, he had sought a safety charm from Dafang Temple for Dou Zhao.

“No, no,” he stammered, “They weren’t freeloading. Actually, I’m the one staying at Sixth Aunt’s house every day, and she provides for me just like she does for Eleventh Brother and Twelfth Brother…”

Dou Dechang heard this and laughed heartily, whispering in his ear: “So you admit I’m your Twelfth Brother!”

Wu Shan’s face turned bright red.

He was three months older than Dou Dechang.

Unless he was following Dou Zhao’s ranking, there was no way he should call Dou Dechang “Brother.”

Dou Qitai, not understanding, eagerly came over to ask: “Why is Fourth Uncle Wu blushing? What’s the story here?”

Wu Shan didn’t mind others teasing him, but he feared Dou Ming would find him frivolous.

He jumped anxiously, blurting out: “Dou Twelve, if you dare spread nonsense, don’t blame me for being impolite and revealing your secrets…”

“Hey, hey, hey!” Now it was Dou Dechang’s turn to panic, “Small people hold grudges, while gentlemen are open and honest…”

“What does this have to do with gentlemen or small people?” Dou Zhengchang looked at his brother in confusion, asking, “What are you hiding from us?”

“Nothing, nothing!” Wu Shan and Dou Dechang said in unison, “We’re not hiding anything from you.”

Dou Zhengchang didn’t believe them.

Grandmother laughed heartily.

These children were like the rising sun in early morning, full of vitality, making everyone feel energized just looking at them.

Dou Dechang and Wu Shan only amused her.

“Alright, alright,” she smiled and instructed Hong Gu to set the chopsticks. “It’s getting late, if you don’t sit down soon, the vegetarian dishes will get cold.”

Dou Dechang and Wu Shan sat side by side, staring at each other, causing everyone to laugh again.

One shouldn’t speak while eating or sleeping.

The children of both the Dou and Wu families had been well-trained since childhood, and lunch concluded with only the soft clinking of porcelain.

Hong Gu brought in tea that Daci Temple had roasted themselves, along with Hai Tang and Qiu Kui, to cleanse everyone’s palates.

Grandmother then asked about Dou Qijun’s studies: “…Is it difficult? Do you understand what the teacher explains? Will you be taking the examination in two years?” Unlike the questioning from other family elders, though her questions were simple, they were filled with warm care.

Dou Qijun started by just politely responding, but gradually became more formal, his tone full of respect, as if answering to the Second Madame.

Dou Zhao smiled slightly.

She heard Wu Shan’s voice, as soft as the morning breeze: “About that day. I didn’t mean to…” he mumbled, his tone urgent.

“Which matter are you talking about?” Dou Zhao pretended not to know and whispered back.

“The matter about Pang Jixiu…” Wu Shan hesitated for a moment, his voice somewhat heavy, “I’ve been wanting to apologize to sister…”

“Oh, that matter!” Dou Zhao smiled, “Why would I blame you? If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have known how to tell my family about such things. Actually, I should be thanking you…”

Wu Shan’s mouth gaped open.

Dou Zhao smiled and nodded at him.

Wu Shan’s lips couldn’t help but curl up into a smile, revealing snow-white teeth, looking somewhat silly.

Dou Zhao struggled to hold back her laughter as she turned away.

Wu Shan smiled even more joyfully.

Dou Dechang, sitting opposite them, stared at them intently.

Dou Zhao then asked Wu Shan, “What did Twelfth Brother do? That you’re using as leverage against him.”

Wu Shan looked at Dou Dechang and giggled: “He fought roosters and won a thousand taels of silver from Chen family’s sixth son.”

Dou Zhao was greatly startled.

Wu Shan quickly said, “Don’t worry, I didn’t gamble with him, I just lent him a hundred taels of silver as capital.”

This was really giving an inch and taking a mile.

She had only thought that since Wu Shan hadn’t made his intentions clear, there was no need to act as if they could never interact again, and they could just continue as normal. Who knew Wu Shan would immediately jump to saying things like “don’t worry”?

Dou Zhao suddenly felt extremely uncomfortable.

If she had known this would happen, she shouldn’t have said an extra word to him.

Dou Zhao smiled at him, then sat properly to listen to Grandmother talking with Dou Qijun.

But Wu Shan misunderstood, thinking she was angry. He deeply regretted it, going over their conversation again and again, feeling that no matter how he explained, he couldn’t escape suspicion. He could only stare at Dou Zhao without blinking, hoping she would turn back so he could apologize again.

Dou Zhao felt extremely uncomfortable being watched like this by Wu Shan, as if every move she made was under the summer sun.

She couldn’t help but think of her experiences in her previous life.

Why had no one treated her like this in her previous life?

If she had met someone like this in her previous life, would she still have married Wei Tingyu?

Her thoughts suddenly ran wild like an unbridled horse.

Meanwhile, Grandmother listened to Dou Qijun’s words and clapped her hands in praise: “This child has unlimited potential. People say reading is good, but without a healthy body, how can you remember what’s written in those books? How can you endure the three days and nights of imperial examinations? When you’re young, you should travel around, see different places, learn about both economy and farming. When you’re older, you can settle down to study, then your writings will have substance, and when you become an official, you’ll know how to serve the people…”

“Exactly, exactly,” Dou Qijun enthusiastically agreed, as if finding a kindred spirit, and spoke endlessly with Grandmother, “Every time I see those county magistrates who don’t know the year’s harvest without their grain secretary, I find it very incredible — isn’t that giving others leverage? Where is the official authority? So I’ve decided to spend a year traveling throughout Zhending, to understand how much land there is, how many farming households there are, what the annual harvest is, and how much tax there is.”

Grandmother then turned to Dou Zhao and said: “Shou girl, what is Gou Sheng doing now? He grew up in the fields, he’s familiar with all these things, and he’s clever too. Why not let him follow Boyan for now…”

Dou Zhao couldn’t help but grumble inwardly.

Gou Sheng was now called Zhao Liangbi, and had finally worked his way up from an odd-job worker in the accounting house to become a second-class manager, becoming the youngest and most promising manager in the Dou family. He was about to be sent out to become a shopkeeper, yet you want him to be Boyan’s attendant? Who will help manage my shops in the future?