The child didn’t appear particularly chubby, but his limbs were long and slender, and he was full of vitality. Within two hours of his birth, he opened his eyes, causing Song Mo to exclaim excitedly, “Look, look! He’s looking at me!”
Jiang Yan immediately leaned in and, gazing at the child’s grape-like black eyes, couldn’t help but say joyfully, “He’s so beautiful!”
Dou Zhao, reclining against a large pillow and eating wine lees eggs, couldn’t suppress a smile. Ji Shi, who was sitting by the bed serving Dou Zhao the eggs, chuckled and said, “Young Master, the birthing room is unclean, and you haven’t slept all night. Why don’t you go rest for a while? There’s a pile of matters waiting for your decision, like reporting the good news to various families and sending red eggs…”
The usually clever Song Mo, now looking rather foolish, grinned and said, “It’s fine, it’s fine. I’m not tired yet. Last night, I already drafted a list of families to send the good news to and gave it to Liao Bifeng. As for other matters, the household managers will naturally take care of them. I don’t have much to busy myself with.” He then asked, “Who do you think the child resembles? I think he looks like me!”
The Fifth Madam and Madam Han didn’t dare to approach, but Jiang Yan had no such reservations. She examined the child and said, “I think he looks more like sister-in-law. Look at his little mouth, so rosy; and his hair, so glossy black…”
Song Mo, somewhat dissatisfied, said, “My hair is very black too, and my lips were also very red when I was young.”
Before Jiang Yan could say anything more, the quick-witted Cai Shi, having already sensed the mood, interjected with a laugh, “When the child was just born, I thought he looked quite like the Young Master. Look at those fingers, so thin and long; his skin is red now, but it will surely become very fair as he grows; and those eyebrows – our Fourth Young Mistress has eyebrows that extend to her temples, but the Young Master’s are even thicker.”
Song Mo smiled happily.
The child yawned and closed his eyes.
Song Mo exclaimed excitedly, “Look, look! He yawned!”
He found everything about the child fascinating.
The women in the room all laughed.
Dou Zhao, who had been up all night, was in good spirits but couldn’t bear Song Mo’s constant excited exclamations while holding the child. She said, “Have you informed the government office? In a couple of days, it’s the child’s third-day celebration. It’ll be fine to just invite the Elder Aunt to help with the arrangements. For the child’s full-month banquet, you’ll probably need to take a day off…”
Her words reminded Song Mo, who instructed Gan Lu, “Go tell Wu Yi to request leave for me at the office. I won’t be going to work for the next few days.”
Is this acceptable? Dou Zhao looked puzzled.
Song Mo, however, was unconcerned and said casually, “I usually respect Gao Yuanhua as my superior and treat him with extra courtesy. Now that I have family matters and need to take leave, if he’s not sensible enough and tries to obstruct me, he shouldn’t blame me for not taking him seriously. I might have to ask him to go flex his Commander-in-Chief muscles somewhere else!”
Gao Yuanhua was the Commander-in-Chief of the Jinwu Guard, Song Mo’s direct superior, a second-rank military official, and a close minister to the Emperor.
Ji Shi and the others, accustomed to Song Mo’s usual gentle and modest demeanor, were taken aback by these words. It was only then that they truly felt that the person before them was not just the Dou family’s fourth son-in-law, but also the heir to the Duke of Ying’s estate.
Cai Shi, not hiding her admiration, said, “Fourth Son-in-law is truly impressive! No wonder everyone envies our Fourth Young Mistress for marrying so well.”
Such shallow flattery, because it involved Dou Zhao, actually brought a hint of joy to Song Mo’s brow.
Ji Shi and the Fifth Madam exchanged a glance.
Just then, a servant boy announced loudly from behind the curtain, “Young Master, Eunuch Pang from the Eastern Palace has arrived. He says that last night, the Crown Princess gave birth to another prince, and the Crown Prince specifically sent him to inquire if our lady has given birth yet.”
The Dou family women all drew in a sharp breath.
They had long heard that the Duke of Ying’s household was highly favored by the imperial court, but they never imagined it to be to this extent – the Crown Prince and Song Mo seemed to have no reservations at all, treating each other like brothers.
Song Mo, still immersed in the joy of becoming a father, didn’t notice the expressions of the Dou family women. He proudly said, “Go tell Eunuch Pang that my wife has also given birth to a son, weighing six jin and seven liang. Both mother and child are well, and he need not worry.”
He had no intention of meeting Eunuch Pang personally.
However, Dou Zhao knew that this Eunuch Pang Lizhong was a senior eunuch in the Crown Prince’s service, with even more seniority than Cui Pianyi. It was said that he had once served Empress Yuan Shen Shi and was highly respected by the Crown Prince. Now he was responsible for taking care of the two princes born to the Crown Princess.
She hurriedly said, “You should go see him! Since the Crown Prince sent someone to inquire about me, and the Crown Princess has just given birth to a prince, you should personally meet Eunuch Pang and ask about the Crown Princess and the little prince’s condition, both out of courtesy and duty.”
Song Mo slapped his forehead and said, “Look at me, I was so caught up in my happiness that I forgot to ask about the Crown Princess’s situation.”
He gave new instructions to the servant boy and then carefully handed the child to the wet nurse. After bidding farewell to Ji Shi and the others, he left the birthing room.
Everyone let out a sigh of relief.
The midwife came forward to check Dou Zhao’s pulse, while the birthing attendant hurried to offer congratulations and ask for rewards. The wet nurse gently patted and soothed the child, the kitchen maid boiled water, and the maids prepared brown sugar water to serve the Dou family women.
The entire birthing room came to life.
Dou Zhao asked the wet nurse to place the child beside her pillow, saying, “It’s better to let him get used to sleeping in bed. Don’t spoil him by always holding him.”
The wet nurse flatteringly replied, “Young Master is born into such a family; even if he doesn’t sleep in bed, there will always be someone to hold him day and night. What’s there to worry about?” She complied and placed the child next to Dou Zhao’s pillow.
Looking at the red-skinned, monkey-like child, Dou Zhao’s heart finally settled.
She instructed the doctor, “No need to brew malt water for me anymore. Please prescribe some medicines to promote milk production.”
Everyone in the room was stunned.
The wet nurse, trembling with fear, immediately knelt by Dou Zhao’s bedside, “Does the lady find me too coarse? If there’s anything I’m doing wrong, please instruct me, and I’ll change immediately…”
“You’re doing fine,” Dou Zhao said, asking Jiang Yan to help the wet nurse up. “This is our first child with the Young Master, and we had already agreed to breastfeed ourselves. Don’t take it personally. We brought you to the household in case I don’t produce enough milk or any at all. That’s also why I had your child brought into the household beforehand – to prevent your milk from drying up.”
Wet nurses were all introduced through the wet nurse agency, with clean backgrounds and carefully selected. How could they not be good? But in Dou Zhao’s previous life, she had few children, and in this life, she would not allow others to raise her child under any circumstances.
Ji Shi tried to persuade her, “The child looks peaceful now, but in a few days, when he’s more awake, he’ll be crying for food and needing to be changed constantly. I’m afraid your body won’t be able to handle it.”
“It’s alright!” Dou Zhao smiled, “I’m well prepared.” Then she assured Ji Shi, “If I feel too tired, I can always let them take over later.”
Her attitude was very determined.
Ji Shi thought Dou Zhao’s insistence might be due to losing her mother at a young age. She sighed softly and stopped trying to persuade her, instead giving her some advice on things to pay attention to during the postpartum period.
When the Song family received the good news, the Elder Madam and others came to visit Dou Zhao.
The Dou family women took this opportunity to say their goodbyes.
Dou Zhao asked Jiang Yan to help see the guests off.
Since the Song family relied on the Duke of Ying’s household for their livelihood, they naturally kept a close eye on any developments within it. Although Song Mo hadn’t made a big fuss about Jiang Yan’s situation, he hadn’t deliberately concealed it either. The Song family’s Elder Madam had heard the servants gossiping about how Song Yichun had secretly sent his wife’s daughter to be raised by the Jiang family so he could pass off his mistress’s son as the legitimate heir under Madam Jiang’s name. Now that the Jiang family had fallen on hard times, the Song family had brought the daughter back… But who would do such a thing? She couldn’t help but sneer at the idea, mocking the servants for spreading such a flawed rumor. However, when she came face to face with Jiang Yan, she was immediately dumbfounded.
The Third Madam of the Song family was already irritated by the sight of all the Dou family women in the room.
Back then, even when Madam Jiang was close to the Jiang family, she never dared to disregard the Song family members like Dou Zhao did!
She lowered her head and whispered to the Fourth Madam of the Song family, “Our nephew’s wife has given birth, yet they didn’t inform us aunts and uncles but instead invited all her family members. Are they not going to hold the third-day celebration?”
Unexpectedly, the Fourth Madam tugged at her sleeve and nodded towards the door.
The Third Madam looked over, but only saw the door curtain swaying. The Dou family women and Jiang Yan had already left, so she naturally didn’t see Jiang Yan.
As she was still confused, Jiang Yan returned.
The Third Madam was startled and pointed at Jiang Yan, saying “You-” before realizing her impropriety. She quickly lowered her arm, averted her gaze, and resumed her previous cold demeanor.
Dou Zhao found this amusing and introduced Jiang Yan to the three Song family madams. Then, using the excuse of asking Jiang Yan to check on the old hen being stewed in the kitchen, she sent her out. Dou Zhao then frankly asked the Third Madam with a smile, “Third Aunt, what did seeing Sister Yan remind you of?”
The Third Madam’s face alternated between red and white with embarrassment. She stammered, “I just thought this Miss Jiang looked so much like Second Sister-in-law!”
“Is it just because they look alike?” Dou Zhao, contrary to her usual reticence, pressed on, “I heard that when my mother-in-law gave birth to the Second Young Master, it was the Elder Madam who recommended the midwife. Now, the Young Master can’t seem to find that midwife anywhere. Don’t you think that’s strange?” As she spoke, her piercing gaze fell on the Elder Madam of the Song family.
The Elder Madam nearly jumped up.
“I, I meant well,” she hastily defended herself, fine beads of sweat appearing on her forehead. “That Midwife Wen was quite well-known in the capital. She delivered both Song Qin and Song Duo when I gave birth. How could she just disappear? Most likely, she made enough money and retired from the profession. I heard she only had one daughter who married far away in Jinan Prefecture. Maybe she went to Jinan too.”
“Perhaps,” Dou Zhao said with an ambiguous smile. She instructed the maids to serve tea to the three Song family madams and mentioned that the child was asleep, so she wouldn’t bring him out for them to see. She invited them to come early on the day of the third-day celebration.
After this commotion, the three Song family madams had no desire to talk further with her. They exchanged a few pleasantries, and seeing Dou Zhao serve tea, they took their leave.
Dou Zhao was also feeling tired. After giving some instructions, she lay down to sleep.
When Song Mo returned and heard that Dou Zhao was resting, he quietly entered the birthing room. He stood by the bed, gazing at Dou Zhao and the child for a long while before leaving the room with a smile to write invitation cards for his friends.