Despite Jiang Yan’s composure, she was still just a young girl. When she heard about going out to play, she immediately became excited.
Dou Zhao asked her, “Where would you like to go mountain climbing? The leaves at Xiangshan have turned red these days, perfect for sightseeing, but it’s a bit far. Tuer Mountain and Xuanmo Mountain are also nice, but I’m afraid the Emperor might go there, and it would be under strict security.”
Jiang Yan hadn’t been to any of these places, so she couldn’t express a preference.
She hugged Dou Zhao’s arm and smiled, “I’ll follow you, sister-in-law!”
That tone of complete trust softened Dou Zhao’s heart.
She instructed Ruotong to check if the new clothes for her and Jiang Yan were ready in the sewing room. She also told Ruodan to tell the kitchen to start preparing chestnut cakes and chrysanthemum wine. She then discussed with Jiang Yan which maids and servants to bring along.
Yizhi Hall suddenly became lively.
Lady An, the wife of the heir of Marquis Yan’an, came to visit.
Dou Zhao was quite surprised.
Yesterday, when Song Han acknowledged his relatives, no one from Marquis Yan’an’s family came. By logic, they should have been avoiding them these days. Why would they rush to visit her now?
She invited Lady An to sit in the reception room.
Lady An didn’t beat around the bush. After having some tea and snacks and asking about young Master Yuan, she got straight to the point: “I heard that the wife of Chief Clerk Hu from the Five Military Commands gave a marriage proposal for your family’s cousin, and you’re interested in considering it? I wonder if this marriage has been settled yet?”
Dou Zhao’s heart skipped a beat, but she smiled and said, “It was just briefly mentioned. We haven’t had a chance to discuss it with the young lord’s side yet. How could it be settled so quickly?”
Lady An let out a long sigh and smiled, “We’re not just casual acquaintances, so I’ll speak frankly. When I first met your cousin, I had the intention of being a matchmaker for her, but I didn’t know what kind of family you were looking for, so I hesitated until now. Now that I’ve heard someone has proposed to your cousin, I’ve become anxious, fearing you might promise her to someone else.” She paused and smiled, “The person I have in mind is a cousin from my maiden family. He’s twenty-eight this year. Although the age difference with your cousin is significant, being older has its advantages – at least he knows how to cherish someone.”
“His previous wife passed away during childbirth, leaving behind a daughter who is nine years old now. In a few years, she’ll be ready for marriage. The family owns two farms, an herbal medicine shop, a pawnshop, and a grain and oil store. While they can’t be called extremely wealthy, they live comfortably. He’s an honest and kind person. He’s been hesitant to remarry out of fear that a stepmother might mistreat his daughter, which is why he’s waited until now.”
“Why don’t you discuss it with the young lord and see if my cousin meets your approval?”
The age was a bit high, and he had no official rank – it wasn’t a particularly good match.
Lady An probably thought the same, which was why she had wanted to act as a matchmaker before but hesitated to bring it up. Now that she saw they were willing to consider the family introduced by Mrs. Hu, she felt uninhibited in coming to propose.
This was like throwing a brick to attract jade. The effect of accepting Mrs. Hu’s letter earlier had worked.
As for whether Song Mo would agree, it was like a blind man eating tangyuan – everyone knew the score. It was just an excuse for refusal. If Dou Zhao agreed, how could Song Hei stop it?
Dou Zhao nodded with a smile.
Lady An felt slightly relieved. She chatted idly with Dou Zhao for a while before taking her leave.
Jiang Yan, who had heard everything clearly from the inner room, showed no sign of shyness. Instead, her face turned pale, and she remained silent.
Dou Zhao sensed something was wrong and quietly asked her maids to leave before asking Jiang Yan, “Do you think this family’s conditions aren’t to your liking?”
Jiang Yan shook her head, seeming to want to speak but holding back.
Dou Zhao sighed.
Li Diaoniang had done a lot of harm! A good girl had been turned into such a timid character.
She gently persuaded her, “We are your closest relatives in this world. What can’t you tell us? If you keep everything to yourself out of fear of causing trouble or being blamed, you’ll be miserable, and we’ll be worried seeing you like this. If you have something to say now, even if it doesn’t meet my or your brother’s expectations, as long as you’re comfortable, we can be at ease!”
Jiang Yan pondered her words, then tightly gripped Dou Zhao’s hand and said softly, “I… I don’t want to get married.”
Was it because the trauma from before still lingered in her heart?
Dou Zhao said, “What happened before wasn’t your fault. You were a victim too. We will never force you to marry, but can you try to forget about the past and start a new life?”
Jiang Yan nodded gratefully.
In the evening, when Song Mo returned, Dou Zhao couldn’t help but share her thoughts with him.
Song Mo remained silent, but when he went to practice calligraphy in his study, he called for Lu Ming: “Make sure to take good care of those surnamed Wei and He. Don’t let anything happen to them.”
Lu Ming shuddered, respectfully agreed, and withdrew.
Song Mo silently wrote three pages before returning to the inner chamber.
It was as if a window had been opened, revealing a whole new world inside. For the next few days, people kept coming to propose marriage to Jiang Yan.
Dou Zhao was very troubled and complained to Jiang Liuzhu, who had come to visit: “If I reject them all, it might seem like I’m being picky, not liking this one or that one. But if I agree to meet them, Yan Mei doesn’t feel ready for it yet. If I had known this would happen, I shouldn’t have agreed to Mrs. Hu so quickly.”
Jiang Liuzhu laughed and said, “You probably didn’t expect so many people to try their luck, did you?”
Try their luck?
Thinking carefully, it was like that!
Dou Zhao laughed helplessly and said, “You’re so insightful. You’ve enlightened me with just one sentence.”
Jiang Liuzhu smiled and asked, “How come I haven’t seen my cousin? Has he been very busy these days?”
Dou Zhao was quite surprised and smiled, “Do you have something to discuss with your cousin? He’s on night duty at the palace today and won’t be out until tomorrow afternoon at the hour of you. Why don’t you come back tomorrow after that time?”
Jiang Liuzhu hesitated for a while and said, “I do have something to discuss with my cousin… I shouldn’t keep it from you, sister-in-law, but I just don’t know how to bring it up…”
Dou Zhao wasn’t the kind of person to be petty. Although she had only known Jiang Liuzhu for a few months, Jiang Liuzhu was straightforward. Since she didn’t know how to explain, Dou Zhao naturally wouldn’t force her.
“I’m not as narrow-minded as you think,” she teased. “Why don’t you come early tomorrow morning? You can spend the day here, talk to your cousin when he returns, have dinner, and then go home.”
Jiang Liuzhu thought for a moment and agreed with a smile.
The next day, Dou Zhao arranged a meal to entertain her.
Jiang Yan enthusiastically accompanied her to view flowers and scenery.
The two met Miao Ansu in a pavilion in the back garden.
Ruotong, who was serving Jiang Yan and Jiang Liuzhu, quickly said, “This is our Second Madam.” Then she introduced the two to Miao Ansu: “This is our cousin, Miss Jiang, and this is the Thirteenth Miss of the Jiang family, Mrs. Wu.”
They all curtsied to each other.
Miao Ansu finally realized who Jiang Yan was.
She couldn’t help but look at Jiang Yan a few more times.
Jiang Yan felt uncomfortable and moved closer to Jiang Liuzhu.
Miao Ansu’s gaze flickered. She exchanged a few pleasantries with Jiang Yan and Jiang Liuzhu before returning to her new room.
Jiang Yan let out a long breath.
Jiang Liuzhu shook her head and said, “You are the legitimate young miss of Duke Ying’s mansion. She’s just a concubine’s daughter-in-law. What are you afraid of?”
Jiang Yan mumbled, “I… I’m just not used to it.” She then pleaded, “Dear sister, please don’t tell my sister-in-law! If she and my brother know, they’ll worry about me again.”
Jiang Liuzhu patted her hand and said, “Don’t worry, I’m not one to stir up trouble.”
Jiang Yan smiled, her small face as delicate as a blooming pear blossom, gentle and fragile.
Jiang Liuzhu sighed.
The two returned to Yizhi Hall, where the housekeeper was asking Dou Zhao to taste the newly brewed chrysanthemum wine.
Dou Zhao just smelled it but had a maid pour a small cup for each of them, smiling, “You try it too!”
It was made with high-quality rice wine, smooth and sweet to taste.
Jiang Liuzhu praised it highly.
Dou Zhao then had her take two jars back: “Let your father-in-law and mother-in-law taste it. Consider it a small token from us.”
Jiang Liuzhu knew Dou Zhao was giving her face. She agreed with a smile, and although she didn’t say anything, she kept this kindness in her heart, thinking that if she had the chance in the future, she must repay Dou Zhao’s favor.
The three of them ate, drank, chatted, and played with little Yuan, who had just woken up, in the inner room, passing a very pleasant day.
Song Mo returned.
Jiang Liuzhu went to the study to talk with Song Mo.
Dou Zhao and Jiang Yan tried on new clothes and jewelry made for the Double Ninth Festival mountain climbing in the inner room.
When Song Mo returned to the room, he saw clothes and jewelry scattered all over the kang bed, table, and chairs in the inner room. Little Yuan was clutching a big red handkerchief, ready to cry if anyone tried to take it away.
Everyone burst into laughter.
Song Mo teased, “I hope this little one doesn’t grow up to be a prodigal son?”
Dou Zhao laughed and said, “When Boyan had his zhuazhou ceremony, he grabbed a box of rouge, and he still ended up on the golden roll in the Hanlin Academy!”
“Oh?” Song Mo was very interested and asked, “How did a box of rouge end up in his zhuazhou items?”
Usually, families hoping for their descendants to achieve great things wouldn’t include such items in the zhuazhou ceremony.
Dou Zhao smiled and said, “My father put it there. When my eleventh brother’s son Qijin had his zhuazhou, my father even put a pearl flower on top. By the time my sixth uncle discovered it, the Han family had already arrived. My sixth aunt said that my sixth uncle could only pray silently that Qijin wouldn’t grab that pearl flower.”
Jiang Yan and the others laughed heartily at this story.
Thinking of the quiet Jing’an Temple Lane, Song Mo smiled and said, “On the ninth day of the ninth month, shall we invite Father-in-law to go mountain climbing with us?”
Dou Zhao had never thought about inviting her father on an outing before.
She was silent for a moment, then smiled and said, “That sounds good! I’ll send someone to ask Father if he has any other plans that day.”
Song Mo nodded and went to his study.
Dou Zhao and Jiang Yan had dinner with Jiang Liuzhu, then saw her off at the front gate. They waited until her sedan chair had left before returning to rest.
In bed, Song Mo told Dou Zhao about Jiang Liuzhu’s purpose for coming: “The news about Fifth Uncle quarreling with me over money has spread. Even the Eldest Aunt in Huaizhou has heard about it. She asked Thirteenth Cousin to come and ask me what exactly happened, telling me not to take offense at Fifth Uncle’s behavior. She said she would write a letter to scold Fifth Uncle. She also asked Thirteenth Cousin to tell me that once something is given to me, it’s mine, and this was also Uncle’s wish. If Fifth Uncle is not satisfied, she told him to come argue with her…”