As soon as Wu Yi saw Yan Chaoqing return, he rushed over to inform him about Song Yichun sending Lady Song to manage the household, Lady Song summoning Dou Zhao to talk, Dou Zhao ignoring her, and Song Yichun subsequently reprimanding Dou Zhao.
Yan Chaoqing’s face immediately darkened.
He asked Wu Yi, “What did Madam say?”
“Madam didn’t even glance at Lady Song,” Wu Yi reported excitedly. “Lady Song is throwing a tantrum in the flower hall right now!”
Yan Chaoqing thought for a moment, then said, “Send a few people to follow Madam. If Lady Song dares to be disrespectful to Madam, you don’t need to be polite to Lady Song either.”
He recalled that when Song Yichun wanted to remove Song Mo from the family genealogy, not a single person in the Song family spoke up for him. Such elders, who only curry favor with the powerful, are useless to associate with and would only cause heartache in times of life and death.
Wu Yi happily went to carry out the orders.
Although Yan Chaoqing knew that Dou Zhao had the Bie sisters by her side, sometimes it’s better to be safe than sorry. Fearing Dou Zhao might be taken advantage of, he called Xia Lian over to discuss: “Do you think we should send some people to guard the second gate?”
Xia Lian thought it wasn’t a good idea: “It’s best to avoid suspicion. I think it would be better to request some female escorts from the escort agency tomorrow to handle night patrols.”
Yan Chaoqing thought this was a good idea and instructed him: “Quickly take care of this matter.”
Xia Lian went to a familiar escort agency.
Meanwhile, Lady Song, who had been throwing a tantrum in the flower hall, found her anger dissipating as she saw the stewards all sneaking away.
Only then did Madam Tan dare to approach her mother-in-law: “This Duke Ying mansion will eventually be handed over to Third Uncle anyway. Why make yourself the villain?”
Song Mo was the third son of the Song family.
Hearing this, Lady Song nodded with a gratified smile: “You have some insight. It wasn’t in vain that I brought you here.”
Madam Tan was taken aback.
Lady Song looked around.
The matron she had brought along astutely guarded the door.
Lady Song then lowered her voice: “The Duke Ying mansion, ultimately, belongs to Duke Ying. Your second uncle is in his prime, and it won’t be Yan Tang’s turn to run this household anytime soon. We, on the other hand, depend on the Duke Ying mansion for our livelihood. If we can please Duke Ying, he might casually grant us some duties, and we’d find it hard not to prosper even if we didn’t want to. But if we incur Duke Ying’s displeasure, and he gives us a few cold looks, our lives might become difficult. Do we dare to offend Duke Ying?”
Madam Tan couldn’t help but nod.
Lady Song continued: “This time, your second uncle asking me to manage the household affairs of Duke Ying’s mansion is, to put it bluntly, his way of wanting me to give that Dou woman a hard time. The father and son are at odds, to the point of being at each other’s throats. Since your second uncle has this intention, how could I refuse? Otherwise, he would surely suspect that we’re siding with Yan Tang.” At this point, she let out a long sigh and said dejectedly, “It’s just that Yan Tang, raised by Madam Jiang, only recognizes the Jiang family and has never cared about the Song family. Like last time, when your uncle’s carriage collided with a pancake seller, it was just a matter of a word from Duke Ying’s mansion. The yamen runners, wanting to please Duke Ying’s mansion, mistakenly reported the matter to Yan Tang. What could have been resolved with a word from Yan Tang, he instead involved outsiders and made your uncle pay twenty taels of silver…”
Madam Tan couldn’t help but grumble inwardly.
If the matter could be resolved with twenty taels of silver, why make a fuss and bring it to Duke Ying’s mansion? Not only did it put Duke Ying’s mansion in debt to those yamen runners, but it also gave them a reputation for bullying others with their power.
Her father-in-law and mother-in-law were good in every way, except for their need to save face.
They would rather pay fifty taels of silver to appease those yamen runners than pay twenty taels to compensate the pancake seller.
Lady Song, unaware of her daughter-in-law’s thoughts, was pleased to see her respectful demeanor. She said, “There are some things that you younger ones don’t understand. Your second uncle, though he likes to take care of family members, can be very ruthless if you anger him. Our family’s current status is entirely thanks to your second uncle. If he asks something of me, I can’t refuse, both for the sake of our relationship and out of principle. But as you said, this Duke Ying mansion will eventually be handed over to Yan Tang. If we get close to your second uncle, life might be good while he’s alive, but what about when he’s gone? What will you do then? I can’t just think of myself and not care about you all, can I?”
Madam Tan’s heart stirred, and she asked, “What do you mean, Mother?”
Lady Song beckoned her daughter-in-law closer, indicating for her to lean in.
“In this Duke Ying mansion, except for Yizhi Hall, everyone is your second uncle’s people. My fuss is all for the show, for that Dou woman to see. You should go to Dou now and apologize, saying I’ve become senile, that your second uncle merely saw that there was no elder in the family and asked me to come help look after things, but I overstepped and tried to manage the affairs of Duke Ying’s mansion. Tell her not to take it to heart. Then explain how our family relies on your second uncle to get by, how his words are more powerful than imperial edicts to us… In short, make us sound as pitiful as you can. Make that Dou woman feel moved, thinking we have no other choice. After that, I’ll continue to throw tantrums here, while you focus on pleasing her. Even if she curses me, you should agree with her. Remember, you’ll be relying on her to get by in the future.” Finally, she solemnly asked Madam Tan, “Do you understand my meaning?”
“It’s like one playing the good cop and the other the bad cop,” Madam Tan said. “I understand your intention, Mother. But about the cursing…”
“You can’t make an omelet without breaking eggs. If you do as I’ve taught you, you can’t go wrong. I won’t blame you for this either.”
Hearing this, Madam Tan felt reassured and went to see Dou Zhao.
Dou Zhao, bored, was drawing embroidery patterns.
She had a good impression of Madam Tan, so when she heard Madam Tan wanted to see her, she asked Su Xin to invite her in.
After the two sisters-in-law greeted each other, they sat side by side on the large kang by the window. Madam Tan immediately noticed the embroidery patterns scattered on the kang table. Having never been alone with Dou Zhao before, she was worried about not having a topic of conversation. Seeing this, she brightened up and picked up a pattern, smiling as she said, “Sister-in-law, are you drawing embroidery patterns? I recently got some good patterns. Would you like me to copy them for you?”
Isn’t this what sisters-in-law do together, share these little things?
Dou Zhao smiled and said “Sure,” asking Su Xin to bring paper for Madam Tan to draw the patterns.
Madam Tan then began to talk about her mother-in-law, Lady Song: “…She just has that kind of temper, but she doesn’t mean any harm. Sister-in-law, please don’t take it to heart…”
Dou Zhao smiled and listened quietly, gazing at her with clear eyes that not only seemed pure but also revealed a lofty understanding of worldly affairs. This made Madam Tan extremely uncomfortable, and her speech lost its earlier fluency: “…My mother-in-law also had no choice…”
No choice but to give her attitude in front of all the servants of Duke Ying’s mansion?
No choice but to send her daughter-in-law to show weakness, trying to please both sides?
Dou Zhao had seen plenty of this two-faced behavior before.
It was a pity about Madam Tan; she had thought they could become sisters-in-law who could chat about trivial matters like the weather.
Dou Zhao leisurely sipped her tea, treating Madam Tan’s words like the buzzing of a fly by her ear.
Madam Tan quickly realized her awkward position.
Embarrassed, she stopped talking. Thinking about how her parents-in-law had already curried favor with Duke Ying and had nothing to worry about while they were alive, but when it came time for her to manage the household, she would have to deal with Dou Zhao. Not only that, but her son and grandson might also need Song Mo’s support. She gritted her teeth and suddenly knelt before Dou Zhao, her face full of shame as she said, “Sister-in-law, I know you’re upset. I apologize on behalf of my mother-in-law. If you’re still angry, I can apologize to you in front of everyone in the mansion later…”
Dou Zhao glanced at Su Xin.
Su Xin immediately went forward to help Madam Tan up.
“Sister-in-law, you’re being too serious,” Dou Zhao put down her teacup, took out a handkerchief, and wiped her hands. She said, “I’m not one to fuss over such trivial matters. I can see that you and your mother-in-law are both clever people, so I won’t make things difficult for you. Instead of bowing and apologizing to me in front of all the servants of the mansion, making the masters look unlike masters and the servants unlike servants, why don’t you just hand over the household token that Father-in-law gave you?” She smiled gently and continued, “There’s no need to trouble Aunt about the household affairs. I’ll take care of everything properly.”
That smile, in Madam Tan’s eyes, seemed unbearably dazzling.
She stammered, finally managing to say after a while, “This… this doesn’t seem right…”
Dou Zhao’s expression suddenly changed. She slammed her hand on the kang table with a loud “bang,” causing the porcelain on the table to clatter: “Do you think I’m a fool? Eating from the bowl while eyeing the pot, you need to have the ability to do so! Trying to please both sides? Not a chance! Either you hand over the token to me, and we can still maintain some civility when we meet, or you can continue following my father-in-law’s instructions and keep trying to make things difficult for me. But let me tell you frankly, don’t think that just because you have Duke Ying’s token, you’re the mistress of Duke Ying’s mansion and can do whatever you want. If you make me unhappy, don’t say I’m not giving you face or making you lose face!”
How could there be such a vulgar woman in this world?
Wasn’t the Dou family known for passing down poetry, books, and etiquette?
How could they have raised such a girl?
Madam Tan nearly fainted.
“You, you, you…” She pointed at Dou Zhao, her face pale, unable to find words.
Dou Zhao smirked and picked up her tea.
Su Xin called out loudly, “See the guest out.”
Madam Tan fled in panic.
Dou Zhao instructed Su Xin: “Take the used tea and cups to the flower hall in the upper courtyard. Spilling it in my courtyard would dirty my ground!” She intentionally wanted to humiliate Lady Song and her daughter-in-law, and also wanted everyone to understand that Lady Song was just putting on airs, and that she was still the one in charge of this household.
Su Xin smiled and called a servant boy, telling him to take the teacup Madam Tan had used on a tray to the flower hall.
This time, Lady Song truly fell back in anger: “How ungrateful! How ungrateful! Doesn’t she fear that Duke Ying will despise her?”
Madam Tan hesitated and said, “Money is one’s courage. I think Dou might not fear how Duke Ying treats her. Otherwise, when Uncle called her to talk, she wouldn’t have dared to drag her feet until Uncle was about to leave before going!”
Indeed, at the time, Lady Song had only found it strange but hadn’t thought about it from this perspective.
This niece-in-law was impervious to persuasion and didn’t seem easy to deal with.
She couldn’t help but rub her forehead.
She felt like she had taken on a hot potato.