Dou Zhao joyfully went out to welcome them.
Except for two or three guards she had chosen who didn’t want to leave their hometown and stayed in Zhending to continue working as guards for the West Dou family, Duan Gongyi, Chen Xiaofeng, and others had all come. Not only that, they had also brought seven or eight tall and strong young men from Zhending, who moved with agility and strength, clearly trained fighters.
Duan Gongyi explained with a smile, “These are some juniors, introduced by relatives and friends. They seem decent, so I brought them for you to take a look.”
Dou Zhao would soon be taking stock of half of the West Dou family’s assets that had long been under her name with the East Dou family. There were many places where people were needed.
“If Master Duan approves of them, then let’s take them all!” she said with a smile, instructing Suxin, “Today, we’ll welcome Mr. Chen and Master Duan. Send someone to invite Manager Fan from the stationery shop, Manager Cui, and Manager Tian. It’s a good opportunity for everyone to gather together.”
Suxin acknowledged and left.
Dou Zhao asked about her grandmother: “…In the last letter, it said the eggplants grew well this year, too many for the family to eat, so they shared a lot with the neighbors. How is her health?”
“She’s still robust!” Chen Qushui smiled and took out a letter from his bosom, “Old Lady Cui asked me to bring this to you.”
Dou Zhao took the letter, glanced at the hanging flower gate with its dripping eaves, suppressing her urgency to read the letter, and said with a smile, “You’ve just arrived, it’s not the time to discuss these things. Your resting places have all been arranged. Let’s talk in detail after you’ve settled in.”
Chen Qushui smiled and said “Yes.”
Dou Zhao then called for Wu Yi.
Wu Yi was staring at Chen Qushui with wide eyes as if he had seen a ghost.
Chen Qushui couldn’t help but smile slightly, nodding at Wu Yi.
If it weren’t for the years of training with Chen He, Wu Yi would have jumped up.
He mumbled, “Mr. Chen, please follow me!” and led Chen Qushui, Duan Gongyi, and others to the newly cleaned western compound rooms.
Looking at the freshly painted courtyard and wing rooms, Duan Gongyi couldn’t help but say to Mr. Chen, “As expected of the Duke Ying’s mansion. Look at this residence, although simple and elegant, it still looks impressive.” Chen Qushui smiled without speaking.
This was something Dou Zhao and Song Mo had planned.
For people like Chen Qushui and Duan Gongyi, each was given a small courtyard with three rooms, a reverse seat, and a step back; for those who weren’t married or came later, each got one wing room.
Upon entering the rooms, all the basic furniture was in place.
Duan Gongyi, Chen Xiaodong, and others couldn’t help but click their tongues in admiration.
Chen Qushui, however, nodded almost imperceptibly as he touched the window lattice covered with Korean paper.
It seemed that the young master still respected his wife very much, not only giving up the western compound but also taking care to arrange it nicely.
They should be able to integrate into Yizhi Hall quickly!
Chen Qushui divided up the residence.
Someone asked, “Mr. Chen, can we bring our wives and children to live here?”
“We’ll have to discuss that with the madam first,” Chen Qushui smiled and instructed the group of curious, rough men looking around, “Hurry and freshen up, we’ll be attending a banquet soon.”
Everyone laughed and returned to their rooms.
As Chen Qushui turned around, he saw Wu Yi.
He was staring at Chen Qushui without blinking!
After all, he had served him for more than half a year.
Chen Qushui thought for a moment and walked towards Wu Yi.
Wu Yi, however, shuddered and came to his senses, quickly saying, “Mr. Chen, the madam said that matters of maids and servants will be discussed after you’ve moved in. If you need anything now, you can instruct Xiao Jiu. He will serve by your side from now on.” Saying this, he pushed forward a young servant of about fifteen or sixteen years old with delicate features, then ran away in a flash.
Brother Chen had said: Some things, you should pretend not to know even if you do; some things, you should pretend to know even if you don’t.
This was something he had to pretend not to know.
Wu Yi pondered as he ran even faster.
At noon, Song Mo personally hosted a welcoming banquet for those who had come from Zhending, with Mr. Yan, Xia Lian, and others joining as hosts.
This surprised Chen and the others, adding a touch of gratitude.
Tian Fugui, who had been pulled in at the last minute, was so excited that he trembled, his hands shaking non-stop, nearly spilling the wine from his cup. He kept muttering, “It’s worth it, it’s worth it! To be able to drink the young master of Duke Ying’s wine, my life is complete!”
Cui Shisan couldn’t help but glare at him fiercely, reminding him in a low voice, “Sit up straight, don’t embarrass the madam.”
“I know, I know,” Tian Fugui mumbled in response, but his hands and feet were weak, and his hands kept shaking.
After several rounds of drinks, when the banquet was over, he and Cui Shisan were called to the study along with Mr. Chen and Guard Duan to drink tea.
He was in a daze, not knowing how he had entered the study. He only knew that the study was very large with many books; he was sitting in a carved chicken-wing wood chair worth sixteen taels of silver; drinking this year’s spring West Lake Longjing tea, five taels of silver per package; the young maid serving tea was only twelve or thirteen years old, but looked dignified and pretty, wearing small pure gold earrings on her earlobes or silver hairpins newly brought from Jiangnan in her hair, looking both elegant and noble.
How could young maids be qualified to wear gold and silver? They must all be rewarded from the mansion.
If only his nephews and nieces could work in Duke Ying’s mansion, that would truly be falling into a pit of fortune, how wonderful that would be!
As he was lost in these thoughts, he suddenly heard Song Mo asking him, “When did you start following the madam?”
Was the young master talking to him?
Tian Fugui opened his mouth wide, and seeing Song Mo smile slightly at him, he dared to confirm that the voice he had just heard was not an illusion.
He quickly swallowed and hurriedly said, “It was on the day of the madam’s coming-of-age ceremony. Everyone was congratulating the madam, and I thought I should do something different—don’t those officials offer auspicious omens when it’s the Emperor’s birthday? So I thought I’d get an auspicious omen for the madam too. Later, after asking around, I heard that someone in Baoding Prefecture was raising a pair of golden pheasants, so I rushed to Baoding overnight…” He was so flustered that his mind went blank, and he spilled out everything about how he had bought that pair of golden pheasants through cajolery and trickery, and how he had hidden behind the rockery next to the flower hall of the Dou mansion waiting for Dou Zhao to pass by… He poured it all out like beans falling from a bamboo tube.
Cui Shisan wanted to swallow Tian Fugui alive.
Song Mo and the others, however, burst into laughter.
Only then did Tian Fugui realize he had said something wrong.
He looked at Song Mo in trepidation, beads of sweat forming on his forehead.
“Not bad, not bad,” Song Mo said with a kindly smile. “In the future, you should serve the madam with such dedication.”
“Thank you, young master!” Tian Fugui came to his senses and tried to stand up to bow, but his legs were weak and wobbly. After two attempts, he still couldn’t stand up. Just as he was getting anxious, Song Mo’s gaze had already fallen on Cui Shisan: “You’re from the Cui family, aren’t you?”
Cui Shisan stood up, bowed respectfully, and answered “Yes.”
His manners were proper, neither humble nor arrogant.
Song Mo nodded inwardly and smiled, “Since you’re from the Cui family, you’re also closely related to the madam. In the future, if there’s nothing urgent, come to the mansion often to chat with the madam.”
Cui Shisan, having dealt with officials and nobles in the capital for several years, was no longer the country bumpkin he once was. He took these words as mere pleasantries and smiled in acknowledgment.
Time reveals a person’s true nature. Song Mo didn’t say much more. Thinking that with the addition of Mr. Chen and others, Dou Zhao now had her guards, and incidents like the fire at Duke Ying’s mansion would never happen again, he suddenly felt in a great mood. He chatted amiably with Chen Qushui and others, his words implying “From now on, we’re all one family, unity brings mutual benefit, division brings harm, we should get along harmoniously.” Yan Chaoqing even followed Song Mo’s lead and spoke about how the Dou family had helped the young master in the past, his expression full of gratitude, as if to say “You are all my benefactors.”
Chen Qushui knew that Song Mo was trying to put them at ease. After being modest for a while, he expressed the idea that “they had all received grace from Dou Zhao before, and wherever Dou Zhao went, they would follow, naturally looking to her for guidance.”
Liao Bifeng, hearing this, greatly admired Dou Zhao.
To be able to command these people, to make them say such things in front of the young master, the madam was indeed extraordinary!
He whispered to Yan Chaoqing, “After this is over, shall we invite Mr. Chen for a few more drinks privately?”
Yan Chaoqing also felt this was necessary and nodded with a smile.
Song Mo stood up and said with a smile to Chen Qushui and others, “You’ve all had a tiring journey. Take a good rest for the next few days. I’m sure the madam has many questions for you, so I won’t keep you from resting.”
Everyone stood up together to see Song Mo off.
Song Mo went straight back to the main room and asked Dou Zhao, who was sitting by the window doing needlework, “How was my performance today?”
Dou Zhao couldn’t help but laugh, putting down her needlework, and said, “Why are you becoming more and more like a child?”
“I am younger than you after all!” Song Mo said nonchalantly, pulling her needlework to look at it, “What are you making?”
“A winter coat for you,” Dou Zhao smiled, “Spring Festival is coming soon.”
Song Mo stared at Dou Zhao with a smile, sat with her for a while, then said somewhat reluctantly, “I have to go visit Gu Yu later. You can also have a chat with Mr. Chen.”
Dou Zhao indeed had some things to discuss with Mr. Chen.
She smiled and said “Alright,” seeing Song Mo off.
At this time, in a secluded three-courtyard house in the southeast corner of Tan Family Village in Lingxiu County, the spirited Scholar Tan stood respectfully before the white-haired Old Master Tan, speaking in a low voice: “The news came from Cangzhou, it can’t be wrong. Not only is Cangzhou in chaos, but places like Beijing, Taiyuan, Datong, and Tianjin are also in turmoil. Some are fighting with their brothers for career advancement, while others are turning against friends or fathers and sons are hurting each other for money.
The young master of Duke Ying is skilled; with just a few thousand taels of silver, he has stirred up unrest throughout the jianghu. It’s good that we took that child in without hesitation back then, otherwise, who knows what situation we’d be in now!” He looked worried and continued, “At that time, he wanted us to deal with the fourth young miss of the Dou family, which we refused. I wonder if he still remembers that?”
Old Master Tan didn’t speak, carefully stroking his chest-length beard. After a while, he asked, “How is Duan Gongyi doing in the Dou family now?”
“He should be doing quite well,” Scholar Tan said. “The fourth young miss of the Dou family asked him to go to Beijing together. It’s said that he won’t be back for a while. He’s asked someone to look after his house, and he’s planning to bring his elderly mother to Beijing in a few days.”
Old Master Tan smiled as he listened, then said, “We haven’t sent a congratulatory gift for the fourth young miss of the Dou family’s marriage, have we?”
Scholar Tan’s eyes lit up.
Song Mo’s methods were ruthless, and they were living in seclusion here. If they got too close, they feared being implicated by Song Mo; if they stayed too far, they feared being disliked by him. The fourth young miss of the Dou family, with her noble character, was someone worth associating with.
“I’ll go arrange it right away!” His voice became noticeably louder.