When Dou Zhao visited the Jiang family’s fourth madam again, she often encountered Song Han.
He would either talk with Jiang Xiexiu or help Jiang Xieying with tasks, getting along well with the Jiang sisters. Even the Jiang family’s fourth madam couldn’t help but sigh, “After a few years, Tian’en has grown up and become much more sensible.”
Dou Zhao smiled slightly.
Song Yichun sent Huang Qing to deliver gifts for Jiang Lizhu’s dowry.
Song Han stood in the back hall drinking tea, not coming out.
Remembering Song Yichun’s attitude towards Song Mo after Madam Jiang’s death, the Jiang family’s fourth madam remained silent.
Dou Zhao was even less inclined to meddle in this matter.
After exchanging pleasantries, Huang Qing rose to leave.
The Jiang family’s fourth madam instructed the steward to see the guest out.
However, Jiang Xiexiu picked up the gift list on the square table, glanced at it, and then looked up with a cold smile.
The Jiang family’s fourth madam frowned slightly and called out “Xiexiu” in a warning tone.
Jiang Xiexiu bit her lip, bowed her head to the fourth madam, and withdrew.
Dou Zhao was puzzled.
The Jiang family’s fourth madam thought for a moment, then handed the gift list to Dou Zhao.
A blatant gift of a thousand-tael silver note.
Even if the Jiang family had fallen so low as to rely on the Song family’s money to marry off their daughter, they should have at least sent a couple of items to help cover it up.
Song Yichun was using the Jiang family’s misfortune to make himself look good.
Dou Zhao raised an eyebrow and smiled, “You know since my mother-in-law passed away, there hasn’t been anyone in charge in the Duke’s quarters. I suspect the Duke ordered a certain amount of silver to be used, but the steward misunderstood and directly brought silver. Fourth Aunt, don’t take it to heart. This amount of silver is neither too much nor too little, but it’s a bit inconvenient to hold. I think it’s better to exchange it for gold for the twelfth cousin to take with her. It won’t attract attention and can still maintain face.”
The Jiang family’s fourth madam naturally knew Dou Zhao was comforting her, but still felt touched. She smiled and responded, then sent someone to show the silver note to Jiang Lizhu.
Suddenly, Song Han darted out.
He grabbed the silver note, his face pale, and shouted, “Fourth Aunt, I’ll go talk to Father!”
The Jiang family’s fourth madam quickly had someone stop him, saying, “Your father means well. With his thousand taels of silver, I don’t need to prepare dowry silver for your twelfth cousin anymore. It solves an urgent problem for me. Don’t act rashly based on rumors!”
Song Han clutched the silver note without speaking, but tears welled up in his eyes.
The Jiang family’s fourth madam quickly called Jiang Xiexiu out and asked her to accompany Song Han to continue drinking tea in the back hall.
Seeing that the Jiang family’s fourth madam had almost finished preparations, Dou Zhao inquired about the details of the pre-wedding feast. Feeling reassured and noticing it was almost dinner time, she instructed someone to inform Song Mo not to come pick her up, as she planned to return to the manor with Song Han.
The Jiang family’s fourth madam invited them to stay for dinner.
Dou Zhao politely declined: “You’re busy here, and I still have a few things to instruct the stewardesses about at home. After you’re done with this busy period, I’ll send an invitation for you and the two cousins to come and enjoy yourselves at our place.”
Hearing this, and considering that Dou Zhao was in charge of household affairs at Duke Ying’s manor, the Jiang family’s fourth madam didn’t insist. She smiled and rose to see her off.
Song Han bowed to Dou Zhao: “Dear sister-in-law, I have nothing to do, so I’d like to stay here to keep Fourth Aunt company.”
Dou Zhao wouldn’t stop him. She smiled and advised him “not to be naughty” and such then returned to Duke Ying’s manor with her maids and servants.
Song Han didn’t return until the hour of Hai (9-11 pm).
The next day, Dou Zhao heard that Song Han had been beaten with twenty strokes for skipping classes and was bedridden.
Shocked, Dou Zhao went to find Song Mo.
Upon hearing this, Song Mo frowned and, after some thought, went to Xirang Hall.
After a heated argument between father and son, Song Yichun exempted Song Han from ten days of lessons.
Dou Zhao and Song Mo went to see Song Han together.
Before Song Mo could speak, Song Han was already pouting and begging for mercy: “Brother, I didn’t mean to skip class. I wanted to talk more with Fourth Aunt, but Father wouldn’t let me.” Lying face down on the bed due to the beating on his bottom, he carefully pulled at Song Mo’s sleeve. “Brother, please don’t scold me anymore. Fourth Aunt said that after their twelfth cousin’s three-day return home visit, they’ll be going back to Huaizhou. Who knows when we’ll see them again? In the past, I could go to my Uncle’s house whenever I wanted. No matter how much Grandmother doted on Cousin Xiexiu, she would play with me as soon as I called her. Not like now, when cousin Xiexiu has to make trimmings in her free time and only talks to me for a while before sending me off to play on my own…”
“But that’s no reason to skip class!” Song Mo said, though his tone had softened considerably. “You could have told me beforehand. Even if you couldn’t find me, you could have told your sister-in-law!”
Song Han glanced sheepishly at Dou Zhao, mumbling “sorry”: “Sister-in-law is expecting a child, I was afraid of disturbing her…”
Song Mo sighed and said, “Don’t do this again in the future!”
Song Han nodded and smiled shyly at Dou Zhao.
With that, the matter was considered settled.
The next day, Song Han, who had been beaten so badly he couldn’t get out of bed, was secretly carried on the back of a servant boy to visit the Jiang family’s fourth madam again.
When Ruo Zhu informed Dou Zhao, she smiled and said, “Since he went secretly, let’s pretend we don’t know.”
Gao Xing’s wife hurriedly came in and said, “My lady, the people from Jingan Temple Alley told me something. After thinking it over, I felt I should inform you.”
Dou Zhao was quite surprised. She knew her father often sent people to inquire about her situation from Gao Xing’s wife, and the Gao Xing family often visited the Gao Sheng family in Jingan Temple Alley. If anything happened in Jingan Temple Alley, Gao Xing’s wife would surely be the first to know.
She sat up straight, nervously asking, “Has something happened to Seventh Master?”
If it were an official matter, Song Mo would surely know already and would help her father handle it. She was more worried about her father making a fool of himself in his personal life.
“No, no!” Gao Xing’s wife quickly waved her hand and said, “It’s not about Seventh Master, it’s about Fifth Young Master. I heard from Little Three that Fifth Young Master has been accused and is facing a lawsuit. Out of consideration for the young master, others only asked the Fifth Young Master to pay some silver to settle the matter.
But because of this, Fifth Young Master is too embarrassed to go to the yamen anymore and has resigned from his position. Fifth Young Mistress went back to Jingan Temple Alley a few days ago and made a big scene, forcing Seventh Master to speak to the young master on Fifth Young Master’s behalf. Seventh Master didn’t agree and scolded Fifth Young Mistress. Fifth Young Mistress left crying and went to Liuye Lane Alley. I’m afraid the Wang family might come to find you, so I thought it best to inform you first.”
Little Three was Gao Sheng’s third son.
The Wang family had always believed they had their ways. They would probably prefer to spend more money and use connections to speak with the Marquis of Dongping rather than come to her.
Dou Zhao smiled and said, “I understand.” She then asked, “How is Father now? Is he brooding at home?”
Gao Xing’s wife smiled and said, “My eldest uncle invited Sixth Master to drink with Seventh Master at home, and Seventh Master felt better after that.”
That’s good.
Dou Zhao smiled and had someone reward Gao Xing’s wife with two taels of silver, but inwardly she wondered what kind of trouble Wei Tingyu had gotten into that made him so embarrassed he even gave up his position. In her previous life, he had idled away his entire life, but in this life, he turned out to be someone who couldn’t even keep his job.
In the evening when Song Mo returned, she told him about this matter.
“I already knew about it,” Song Mo said. “It’s not a big deal. The shop doing business under his name was selling inferior goods as quality ones. Who knew the other party had connections with the Seventh Prince? Naturally, they weren’t afraid of him and directly accused the Marquis of Jining. It wasn’t a major issue originally; a word with the Seventh Prince would have settled it. But you know how things are, the Marquis of Jining is somewhat careless in his actions. I also need to make arrangements in the Five Cities Military Command. Rather than letting him muddle through in the Five Cities Military Command under the name of my brother-in-law, it’s better to let him rest at home for now. Once things stabilize, we can find him another position.”
He spoke solemnly, but for some reason, Dou Zhao vaguely felt something was off about this matter. Yet if asked what exactly was wrong, she couldn’t pinpoint it.
Seeing her silence, Song Mo’s wariness towards Wei Tingyu deepened another layer.
Given Dou Zhao’s poor relationship with Dou Ming, logically speaking, when Wei Tingyu fell into misfortune, even if Dou Zhao didn’t clap her hands in joy, she shouldn’t look so grave.
He couldn’t help but ponder silently if Dou Zhao asked him to find a position for Wei Tingyu, where could he send him that was both far away and sounded prestigious and dignified?
To his surprise, Dou Zhao had no intention of pleading for Wei Tingyu. Instead, she said, “It’s better if you don’t get involved in their family affairs. It’s all thankless work that only invites resentment. If the Wei family has any issues, Dou Ming will surely go to the Wang family for help. Otherwise, Father wouldn’t have directly refused Dou Ming.”
Song Mo was silent for a moment.
“I understand,” he nodded, but his eyes flickered like small flames.
Dou Zhao was startled.
Belatedly, she realized that in others’ eyes, she and Wei Tingyu were considered betrothed since childhood. If it weren’t for Dou Ming’s forced marriage, she and Wei Tingyu would have been a married couple.
Could it be that Song Mo had always been somewhat indifferent to Wei Tingyu’s affairs because of this?
But Song Mo had always appeared to look down on everyone…
Dou Zhao felt embarrassed by her thoughts.
Song Mo had already come forward and gently embraced her, saying, “I’ll take a half-day off tomorrow. Let’s go to East Street in the afternoon. With the twelfth cousin getting married, you’ll be attending the wedding feast. You should add a few proper pieces of jewelry.”
What was this?
A reward for not speaking up for Wei Tingyu?
Dou Zhao found it both amusing and exasperating.
She had many pieces of jewelry in her box that she had never worn, didn’t she?
But Dou Zhao was smart enough not to say anything. She happily went with Song Mo to choose several expensive pieces of jewelry at the silversmith’s, making Song Mo happy as well.
Contrary to Dou Zhao’s expectations, not only did the Wang family not help Wei Tingyu, but it was said that Madam Wang Xu even scolded Dou Ming, saying that Wei Tingyu couldn’t even keep a job, and Dou Ming still had the nerve to ask the Wang family for help, how could they even bring it up, and so on.
Dou Ming ran back crying.
However, these words were spread by the old woman who had accompanied Dou Ming to the Wang family, and they reached Wei Tinzhen’s ears.
The Wei family had another quarrel.
Hearing this, Dou Zhao just smiled.
In her previous life, Dou Ming had every advantage, yet still lived a life that angered both heaven and people. In this life, without the protection of the Wang family, how could she expect her small life to be prosperous!
Dou Zhao instructed Ruo Zhu: “Tomorrow, I’ll go alone to the Jiang family for the wedding feast. I’ll wear the kingfisher feather and pearl step-shake hairpin that the young master gave me a few days ago.”
Ruo Zhu smiled and agreed.
However, Ruo Chi came in to report: “My lady, the Jiang family’s fourth madam has arrived.”
Dou Zhao looked at the twilight-shrouded sky and said in surprise, “At this hour?”