drowning
A sudden chill swept through the night, leaving the landscape desolate and barren. In the backyard, withered yellow leaves swirled as they rose from the sky and slowly drifted down, while ancient poplars cast shadows on the setting sun.
Dou Yanzhou, dressed in a sea-blue soft silk robe embroidered with bamboo leaf patterns, with white trim made of rabbit fur at the cuffs and collar, looked languid as he leaned against a soft brocade rat fur cushion in the courtyard.
Several young girls with their hair in topknots brought out the ingredients displayed on white porcelain platters one after another. At a glance, there were fresh seafood such as clams, shellfish, and shrimp, as well as various green leafy vegetables that had just been picked and washed and still had glistening water droplets, and more than a dozen kinds of food such as venison and rabbit meat that were cut and arranged neatly.
Autumn had arrived, and the bamboo blinds of summer had long been removed from the courtyards, replaced with thick, airtight velvet curtains. Granny Zhao lifted the inner curtain and carefully helped Feng Daizhu walk out slowly.
Although the autumn wind was chilly, Feng Daizhu, always fond of beauty, still partially revealed her fair, snow-white skin. She wore a rose-purple strapless top, paired with a bright green ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress) with auspicious patterns, and over it, a soft pink fox fur-trimmed velvet cloak, barely concealing the autumn wind. Her full forehead was adorned with a few delicate floral decorations, just a few plum blossom petals, which added a touch of girlish charm to her already striking and elegant face.
Her exotic beauty was enhanced by the delicate charm of a woman from the Central Plains, creating a strange and harmonious effect.
Hearing Feng Daizhu slowly emerge, Dou Yanzhou opened his half-asleep eyes and reached out to his wife.
The woman walking towards him lowered her head and smiled shyly, saying coquettishly, "You're the one who was clamoring for hot pot, and now the pot's all set up, and you're the one just lying there doing nothing."
Dou Yanzhou remained noncommittal, but instead pulled his beautiful wife, who had approached him, into his arms. Having practiced martial arts since childhood, he was quite strong and almost pushed Feng Daizhu onto the nanmu cloud-patterned recliner where he had been lying.
Granny Zhao, standing to the side, couldn't help but gasp in a low voice:
"Sir, please be careful. Madam is pregnant now, so you should take good care of her."
Upon hearing this, Dou Yanzhou gently stroked his wife's slightly protruding belly. Several months had passed, and even though Feng Daizhu was slender, her pregnancy was beginning to show. He smiled and said:
"That's for sure. How can we neglect the precious son of our Dou family? We must take the utmost care for him."
Feng Daizhu smiled and slapped Dou Yanzhou's hand away before sitting down with him beside the low table. The maids had already prepared all the ingredients for the hot pot, arranging them neatly next to the steaming purple clay pot.
Another gust of cold wind began to rise, and the warmth around the stove was amplified by the steam rising from the pot.
Fresh fish slices, blanched in boiling broth and dipped in a carefully prepared sauce of various colors, bring a sense of comfort and relaxation with every bite.
Feng Daizhu, now pregnant, couldn't drink alcohol, which she found regrettable, as she had always had a high tolerance for alcohol. So, Granny Zhao specially ordered the kitchen to prepare sweet pigeon soup, which had been simmering over a low flame since early morning until it had turned an enticing milky white. Red goji berries floated on top of the soup, making it extremely appetizing and refreshing.
Dou Yanzhou sat cross-legged, picked up a piece of rabbit meat with his chopsticks, watched the falling leaves swirling outside the courtyard, sipped his yellow wine and savored the taste, and smiled contentedly:
"Speaking of which, after autumn arrives, I always lose my appetite. Only when I sit around a hot pot do I feel warm all over and truly understand the desolation of autumn."
He glanced at Feng Daizhu, who was slowly eating fish slices, and said gently, "Every time we eat hot pot, you always like seafood, which is just like my second brother."
Feng Daizhu leisurely scooped up another spoonful of pigeon soup, blew on it to warm it, and said with a bright smile:
"Speaking of which, my second brother hasn't had an easy time these past few days. If you have nothing to do, you can chat with him for a bit to cheer him up."
Dou Yanzhou clapped his hands and laughed:
"He's never home, and he has a ton of mess to deal with right now, so he probably doesn't have the energy to chat with me. Besides, my second brother is already a woman who loves him but can't have him and is desperately trying to marry him, so why does he need me, his elder brother, to comfort him?"
Feng Daizhu reached out and took the thick, soft blanket handed to her by Granny Zhao, carefully covering her lower abdomen with it. Her eyes were full of tenderness, and upon hearing this, she smiled sweetly:
"It's quite an interesting story. The other day, Zhen mentioned that the girl is now studying at the palace with her, and they are classmates at Zhiqiong Hall. I also heard that the girl is quite beautiful, with the kind of charm that only the water towns of Jiangnan can nurture. I think my second brother is quite lucky."
Upon hearing this, Dou Yanzhou raised his eyebrows, a mischievous smile playing on his lips. He gently pinched his wife's earlobe with a smile, saying, "No matter what kind of woman she is, from the water towns or the Jiangnan region, how can she compare to the captivating exotic charm of our Zhu Niang? There are many people in this manor who are far more fortunate than me."
The young couple whispered sweet nothings to each other, and compared to the frictions and hardships they faced when they first got married, they now looked more and more like a loving couple.
Seeing this, Granny Zhao couldn't help but feel gratified. She then quietly instructed several maids to arrange the newly brought dishes neatly and to have the used bowls and chopsticks removed. While she was busy with this, she caught a glimpse of a young maidservant in the corridor not far from the courtyard. She looked very nervous and kept glancing in their direction.
Granny Zhao, being a senior and experienced woman, calmly instructed her servants to continue while slowly walking towards the covered walkway.
The Dou family had extremely strict rules, and they always demanded high standards from their servants. Any mistake was punishable. She was already considered a senior figure in the household, and seeing the young girl's troubled expression, her face hardened, and she reprimanded her in a low voice:
"Where did this brat come from? Instead of doing her job, what are you looking around for?"
The young girl was already flustered, and was even more frightened by Zhao Mama's sudden cold questioning. She hurriedly lowered her head.
Seeing that she was just a young maid, who must have only been in the household for a short time, and looked quite unfamiliar, Zhao Mama hadn't even had a chance to say anything more harsh when the young maid in front of her started sobbing:
"Granny Zhao, you may not know this, but something has happened in the front hall, and I don't know what to do, so I came to you..."
Granny Zhao's heart skipped a beat. She noticed that the young maid's jacket, though old, had a fur collar made of rat fur, suggesting she wasn't an ordinary maid in the manor, but rather someone working in a separate courtyard. Her thoughts raced, and after a moment's thought, she asked in a low voice:
"But what happened to Second Master?"
She watched Dou Yanzhou grow up and usually worked in the master's room. She didn't have much interaction with Dou Yanxun, who lived in a separate courtyard. She only knew the two popular maids in the courtyard, Jiaorui and Jiaohan. She rarely saw the others and wasn't familiar with them. So she lowered her voice and guessed.
The little girl nodded upon hearing this, suppressing her sobs as she whispered:
"That's right, something happened to Sister Jiaorui. She was found drowned in the well today by the cleaning staff! Right now, Master and Madam have summoned Second Master for questioning. Madam seems to be in a very bad mood... Second Master is still kneeling in the main hall..."
Upon hearing this, Granny Zhao couldn't help but gasp.
Jiaorui was considered a favored head maidservant of the Second Master of the villa, but now she had suddenly passed away. Thinking of that usually shrewd and beautiful face, she couldn't help but feel a chill in her heart.
This second master has always held an awkward position in the household, and now the death of one of his maids seems even more perplexing. This matter is neither a major nor a minor one; if the master and mistress are simply upset, it cannot be easily dismissed with a few words.
In just a few words, she understood the implications.
Granny Zhao glanced back at the two people who were eating hot pot and smiling warmly at each other, and whispered again:
"I understand. Go and check on the situation in the main hall." Seeing the little girl nod with her tear stains still half-dry, he didn't forget to ask, "Is there anyone else who knows about this?"
The little girl was only ten years old. This was the first time she'd encountered something like this while working at the other courtyard, and she was terrified. After thinking hard for a moment, she said, "Reporting to Granny Zhao, when Sister Jiaohan, who used to work with Sister Jiaorui, heard about this, she fainted from fright. She's been taken to the main hall for questioning. Most of the others probably don't know anything about it, and Nongyu dares not spread the word..."
Granny Zhao nodded knowingly, patted the little girl's shoulder in a comforting gesture, and then hurriedly sent her away.
Feng Daizhu had a small appetite, and the hot soup warmed her stomach, so she was full after only a few bites of the pot. She supported herself with her hands; now that she was more pregnant, even sitting for a while was becoming difficult.
Dou Yanzhou watched this unfold, gently tucking a strand of hair behind Feng Daizhu's ear, then looked around and said in a deep voice:
"Where is Granny Zhao? Hurry up and help Zhu Niang back to rest."
Granny Zhao quickly stepped forward and carefully helped Feng Daizhu back to the inner room.
Dou Yanzhou was too lazy to get up, still sipping his wine. The wind howled in his ears. Soon, footsteps came from behind him. It was Granny Zhao returning, hunched over respectfully, and whispering:
"Sir, have you eaten your fill? I heard there was some trouble in the main hall. Would you like to go and take a look?"
Dou Yanzhou put down the half-cup of yellow wine in his hand, and his thick, dark eyebrows immediately furrowed.
.
Dou Yanxun knelt before the main hall. His light green robe with black cloud patterns was full of messy wrinkles, and his thick black hair was tied up high with a jade hairpin. His usually elegant and handsome face was now flushed with a faint blush due to drunkenness. His slender body was half-leaning, and he was covered in the smell of alcohol. Even with all his strength, he could not keep himself kneeling upright.
Bai Shi sat upright at a black nanmu square table, her face full of anger, her exquisitely drawn eyebrows tightly furrowed, and her eyes filled with solemnity. Dou Huaisheng glanced at Jiao Han, who was also kneeling in the hall, now weeping uncontrollably, and calmly held a white jade teacup, slowly skimming off the floating leaves with the lid, remaining silent.
As the matriarch of the household, Madam Bai was always decisive and strict in managing her subordinates. Now, with this incident, it was understandable that she was furious. However, she merely fiddled with the jade and red jade bracelet in her hand, making a soft tinkling sound. She glanced at Dou Huaisheng, whose expression was indifferent, showing no intention of speaking. After a long while, she finally asked in a deep voice.
"Are you sober now?"
Upon hearing this, the kneeling person tilted their body even further to the side.
Dou Yanxun's eyes were blurry, but he managed to open them and glance at the person sitting high in the hall, speaking with a serious expression. It was none other than his strict stepmother.
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