When Chen Jia brought Jiang Yan over, Jiang Bosun gazed at her, deeply moved by her striking resemblance to his sister. He repeatedly exclaimed “Good!” with moist eyes.
Although it was Jiang Yan’s first time meeting Jiang Bosun, she could sense his goodwill towards her. She stood there blushing, smiling shyly.
Jiang Bosun observed this with mixed emotions. This niece was only related by blood. If she had been raised in Duke Ying’s household as a cherished daughter, who knows how radiant she might have been? It was a pity for this child. Fortunately, Song Mo had found her and brought her back. It wasn’t too late – he would take extra care of her from now on.
This strengthened his resolve to restore the Jiang family’s glory through military achievements.
Jiang Bosun patted Song Mo’s shoulder, smiling, “Don’t worry, your Fifth Uncle won’t let you down.”
Song Mo smiled gently and presented Jiang Bosun with a whip that the former Duke Dingguo had given him, saying, “I await Fifth Uncle’s victorious return.”
Jiang Bosun nodded and strode out of the capital. Song Mo watched until Jiang Bosun’s figure disappeared on the post road before returning home.
A few days later, the Mid-Autumn Festival arrived. In previous years, Duke Ying’s household would invite Jiang Maochun and the other three families to the mansion for a feast with music, moon-viewing, and lantern-gazing. This year, with Song Yichun still bedridden, Song Mo only invited Chen Jia and his wife back to the mansion for a meal to mark the occasion.
He said apologetically to Dou Zhao, “I’ll take you to see the lantern markets during the Lantern Festival.”
Though said to be simple, Duke Ying’s mansion was adorned with various lanterns, brightly lit throughout. Song Mo arranged for several young servant girls and boys to accompany Young Master Yuan in play. Yuan was gleefully pulling a rabbit-shaped lantern on wheels, about three feet tall, ordered by Song Mo from the workshop. He ran along the covered corridor, thoroughly enjoying himself without a thought of going anywhere else.
Dou Zhao watched her son laughing joyfully outside the window and said, “There are many people outside. Yuan is still young, and with firecrackers going off and smoke everywhere, I worry he might choke or get bumped and knocked around. It’s better to stay at home!”
Seeing Dou Zhao wasn’t disappointed at all, Song Mo felt relieved and said, “Why don’t we take this opportunity to do away with some of the old elaborate customs?”
Dou Zhao looked puzzled.
Song Mo explained, “Even if Father recovers, he’ll need rest. This New Year, let’s keep things simple like this.”
The implication was that they would no longer invite those three families to celebrate at the mansion in the future.
“That’s great!” Dou Zhao agreed readily.
She could understand Song Mo’s feelings. When Song Yichun wanted to drive Song Mo out, Jiang Maochun and the others only looked to Song Yichun for guidance. When Song Han was expelled from the family, they didn’t even ask why. People hope for prosperity in their clan to have help in times of need, but these relatives only gathered during good times and pretended not to know during difficulties. Such relatives weren’t worth keeping!
“Fortunately, the Dou family has many aunts and uncles,” she smiled. “People might say you only have your wife’s family as relatives now.”
Song Mo leaned close to her ear, grinning, “Then we’ll just have more children! After all, our family’s ancestor was just one person, and look how many branches the Song family has now. We can do it too!”
Dou Zhao laughed and gave him a light tap.
Song Mo chuckled, putting his arm around Dou Zhao’s shoulders as they stood under the eaves watching Yuan play. The large lanterns cast a warm red glow over Duke Ying’s mansion.
In late August, an imperial edict was issued:
Song Mo was appointed Commander of the Imperial Bodyguard and Deputy Commander of the Divine Machine Battalion. Ma Youming replaced Song Mo in charge of the Jinwu Guard. The Earl of Dongping concurrently served as Commander of the Divine Machine Battalion, while the original Five Cities Military Commander was concurrently held by the Marquis of Anlu. Due to illness, Song Yichun no longer served as Commander of the Five Armies Command. The Marquis of Changxing, formerly General of Datong, was recalled to the capital to serve as Front Army Seal-holding Commander of the Five Armies Command. The former Deputy General of Datong was promoted to General of Datong. Dong Qi, heir of Earl Guangen, was appointed Deputy General of Datong…
While civil officials remained unchanged, military officials saw a complete reshuffle.
Wang Qinghuai sighed deeply upon seeing the official gazette and asked An Shi, “Is there anything left for Duke Ying’s household to celebrate?”
An Shi asked curiously, “What does the young master mean?”
Wang Qinghuai placed the gazette in front of An Shi.
An Shi picked it up and read it carefully, then said, “The Marquis of Changxing is truly formidable, becoming the Seal-holding Commander of the Five Armies Command. No wonder the Changxing Marquis’ household has been flourishing these years.” She continued, asking Wang Qinghuai, “A few days ago, someone proposed marriage for my brother’s eldest son to the second daughter of the Changxing Marquis’ third branch. My mother thinks the girl looks fine but seems to have a bit of a temper. She’s hesitating. What do you think? Should I suggest to my mother that we settle this engagement…”
“What nonsense are you talking about?” Wang Qinghuai frowned and said, “I’m asking you to look at Song Yangtang!” He sighed, his tone complex, “His Highness the Crown Prince truly favors him generously. To allow him to take charge of the Divine Machine Battalion, he even had the Earl of Dongping concurrently serve as Commander of the Divine Machine Battalion!”
An Shi sensed her husband’s slight discontent. Recalling how her husband had been on good terms with Song Mo these past few years, she glanced at the gazette and said hesitantly, “Duke Ying no longer serves as Seal-holding Commander, but Song Mo has been transferred to the Imperial Bodyguard, which, like the Jinwu Guard, is close to the Emperor. Though not as prestigious as before, it can’t be considered a loss of power, can it?”
Wang Qinghuai shook his head and explained, thinking that An Shi would need to visit Dou Zhao more often in the future, “The Earl of Dongping is a sensible person. When the Emperor had him concurrently serve as Commander of the Five Cities Military Command, he left everything to Song Yangtang’s supervision and got along very well with him.” He pointed to the names on the gazette, “Look, these two are colleagues again – Song Yan hasn’t lost power at all. It’s clear that His Highness the Crown Prince intentionally elevates him, using the Earl of Dongping’s seniority to pave the way for him to simultaneously control two imperial guards close to the Emperor. Such favor has only been seen with the founding ancestor of Duke Ying’s household. At this rate, Duke Ying’s household will flourish for at least another twenty years!”
An Shi, who always trusted her husband, had a sudden realization. After pondering for a while, she said, “If I remember correctly, in a few days it’s the birthday of Suixin, formerly the head maid of Lady Dou… But now that Suilan has married Lady Dou’s concubine and no longer lives in Duke Ying’s mansion, and she’s just a servant of Lady Dou, wouldn’t it seem too eager if I specially went to reward her?”
Wang Qinghuai said, “Can’t you have one of your maids or elderly servants strike up a conversation with her?”
“Oh, right!” An Shi smiled sheepishly, “I was in such a hurry I didn’t think of that.”
Being a woman of action, she immediately called over the elderly servant who attended her when she went out and asked if anyone among her staff could connect with Suixin.
“This servant can,” the elderly woman smiled. “That Suixin is easy to talk to and friendly with everyone. During the Ghost Festival this year, this servant met Suilan at the Grand Xiangguo Temple and even treated her to a bowl of tofu pudding.”
An Shi was delighted to hear this. She instructed her maid to open a chest and take out twenty taels of silver for the elderly servant, saying, “Go and wish Suixin a happy birthday. Find a way to build some friendship with her. She came with Lady Dou from Zhending and is not like ordinary personal maids. We might need her to put in a good word with Lady Dou in the future.”
The elderly servant understood and took the silver to Suixin’s home.
However, Suixin wasn’t home.
Suixin’s doorkeeper, over fifty years old and speaking with a Zhending accent, happily informed her, “Master Chen, Master Liu, and several others from Duke Ying’s mansion have been released. Our mistress has gone to Duke Ying’s mansion to congratulate the masters.”
An Shi also came from a noble family, and the elderly servant was a hereditary servant of the An family. They knew that sometimes when loyal servants had done great service for their masters, noble families would elevate the status of servant women and release loyal servants from bondage. Some illustrious families even arranged official positions for these loyal servants, but such cases were extremely rare. In her nearly fifty years of life, she had only heard of two or three such instances.
Hearing this, she was greatly surprised and asked, “How many were released? Were Master Chen and Master Liu both released? Where did they go? What are they doing now?”
Suixin’s doorkeeper proudly said, “Several of the prominent masters were all released. Some went to work as constables in the county government, some entered military households to serve as company commanders in the imperial guard. There were eight or nine in total. The mansion is now a bit short-staffed. Our mistress will be going back to Zhending on behalf of the lady in a few days to select some guards to bring over!”
No wonder the lady wanted her to find ways to keep in frequent contact with Suixin!
The elderly servant clicked her tongue in amazement, rewarded the doorkeeper with fifty wen, left the congratulatory gift, gave her name, and returned to the Marquis of Yan’an’s mansion.
An Shi listened with unconcealed surprise and said, “Eight or nine released at once? So many – did you mishear?”
“No, no,” the elderly servant hurriedly replied. “This old servant asked clearly. They all had names and titles. I rushed back to ask for the lady’s guidance. Perhaps we should quickly prepare some fashionable pastries and fruits to send to Duke Ying’s mansion? We could also gather some information.”
An Shi took out two boxes of chrysanthemum cakes and a jar of osmanthus wine that had been bestowed by the palace, instructing the elderly servant, “These things might not be impressive to Duke Ying’s household, but they show our sincerity. Lady Dou won’t look down on them. Go quickly and return soon.”
The elderly servant agreed and hurried to Duke Ying’s mansion.
The main hall of Yizhi Tang was quiet, but laughter and flute music could be heard from the eastern wing, audible even several alleys away.
The maid who led her in said somewhat embarrassedly, “Several of the lady’s guards are about to be released. The lady rewarded them with a feast from the Jiuxian Tower and said to celebrate for three days. It’s a bit noisy. Please excuse us.”
The elderly servant quickly said a few words of envy and politeness, but secretly noted this in her mind to report back to An Shi.
An Shi finally realized her husband’s intentions and hurriedly went to Wang Qinghuai’s study.
Wang Qinghuai had a guest.
An Shi quietly asked the young servant, “Who is it?”
The servant smiled, “It’s the Marquis of Jining.”
Just then, Wei Tingyu walked out.
An Shi couldn’t help but give him a scrutinizing look.
In the sunlight, Wei Tingyu appeared haggard, his clothes dull. He looked like a dejected, down-and-out martial actor, seeming five or six years older than Wang Qinghai behind him.