Jiang Yan was still somewhat afraid of Song Mo. Upon seeing him enter, she stood up uncomfortably, mumbled “Brother,” and retreated to the side, yielding the bedside position to Song Mo.
Song Mo sat on the embroidered stool by the bedside and, holding Dou Zhao’s hand, asked her, “Has the baby been disturbing you? Are you feeling better?” Noticing Dou Zhao’s slightly disheveled hair, he gently tucked a stray lock behind her ear.
His eyes and heart were entirely focused on Dou Zhao, making Jiang Yan’s face burn. She hurriedly excused herself and returned to Bishui Pavilion.
Compared to the lively warmth of Heyizhi Hall’s main courtyard, Bishui Pavilion was silent, feeling somewhat desolate.
Jiang Yan gazed at the large red lanterns hanging under the eaves, her eyes stinging.
She thought of the person who had welcomed her into the family with fanfare.
She had believed they would have children together and live a life full of love.
But he had given her to He Hao instead.
Those humiliating scenes resurfaced in her mind.
She crouched down and began to retch.
Yinghong was startled and knelt to support her, anxiously saying, “Miss, what’s wrong? Shall I call for a doctor?”
Jiang Yan grabbed Yinghong’s arm and said, “I’m fine. I probably caught a chill from the cold wind earlier and upset my stomach. I’ll be better after a cup of hot tea. The family just welcomed a nephew; it’s a joyous time. There’s no reason to disturb my brother and sister-in-law with my troubles and cause them distress!”
Yinghong found her reasoning sound but still hesitated.
Jiang Yan had already stood up with her support, her face as white as snow, devoid of any color.
Yinghong’s heart leaped with concern once more.
Jiang Yan had already headed towards the inner chamber.
She must not think of that person anymore!
She was an impure woman, yet her brother had gone to great lengths to bring her back to the manor, even falling out with their father and the brother he had been close to for over a decade. Since her brother had instructed the household to address her as “Miss,” she should forget everything from the past and consider herself a widow who had lost her husband, living happily with her brother and sister-in-law.
Jiang Yan took a deep breath and lifted the curtain to the inner chamber.
Song Han lay on the bed, staring at the flickering candlelight, his expression twisted.
From a young age, he had known he was the second son and would never inherit the family business. Everyone had witnessed his brother’s hard work and efforts, and he had never thought of enduring the same hardships as his brother, nor had he ever considered competing for the position of heir to Duke Ying’s manor. All along, his wish had been to live an idle and comfortable life as a wealthy young master under his brother’s wing.
But now, even this had become a luxury.
Song Mo wanted to reclaim the assets he had inherited from their mother.
The Lu family had also joined in, siding with Song Mo.
Although their father was displeased, he feared others might think he was managing Song Han’s assets since they now lived together in Qixiang Courtyard. If he were to quarrel with Song Mo over a few thousand taels of silver, it might spread rumors of his miserliness. Song Mo, however, had no such concerns and seemed determined to put him in his place. When the brave meet on a narrow road, one must yield. Even if their father gritted his teeth and refused to give in for a while, he probably couldn’t withstand Song Mo’s endless schemes and would eventually agree to return the assets Song Han had inherited from their mother.
Without that income, how would he survive depending on their father?
Song Han felt that although he was currently living in luxury, he would soon be like a beggar—no, worse than a beggar. A beggar could at least beg for alms, but how could he, the second young master of Duke Ying’s manor, resort to begging? Moreover, when those friends he frequently associated with discovered he didn’t have a penny to his name, would they still fawn over him?
He pounded the bed furiously.
Dou shi had given birth to a son!
How much better it would have been if it were a daughter!
At least then he could have still wielded some influence as the next in line after Song Mo, and perhaps even managed to secure some money to tide over this crisis.
What should he do now?
Song Mo wouldn’t let him off easily, his father couldn’t be relied upon, so where was his future?
Song Han felt the night wind on his skin, chilling him to the bone.
Dou Ming was also very unhappy.
She sat at her dressing table, gazing at the woman in the mirror—still beautiful as a flower, yet with added melancholy in her brow that made her appear delicate and moving. She furrowed her brow tightly.
Dou Zhao was indeed fortunate.
They had become pregnant around the same time, but while her child was lost, Dou Zhao had smoothly given birth to a firstborn son.
When Wei Tingzhen found out, she would probably make insinuations about her to their mother-in-law and husband again.
But could this be blamed on her? If her child had survived, wouldn’t she be a mother now too?
Her father had only two daughters in his lifetime. Although he was a two-time imperial examination graduate, those relatives and friends said nothing to his face, but behind his back, who didn’t say he was a lonely old man? Now that Dou Zhao had given birth to a son, bringing honor to their father, he must be very happy. He would likely bring out family heirlooms to dote on his grandson.
Dou Ming’s face paled, and with a crack, she broke a tooth of her ivory comb.
“My lady!” The young maid attending her trembled in fear.
Dou Ming cast a look of disgust at the maid.
Ever since the Dou family and Wei family had a big quarrel, the Dou family rarely visited. If there was any business, they would just send a matron to relay a message, and whether she went or not, they no longer urged her. Wei Tingzhen was secretly pleased, thinking she had gained the upper hand, but she didn’t know that Dou Ming had always loved fine silks and satins.
With money in her hands and Wei Tingyu idle at home with only a thousand shi of annual salary and nothing else, there were naturally people willing to show loyalty to her and work for her. When Wei Tingzhen tried to use her miscarriage as an excuse to say that the maids and servants around her hadn’t taken good care of her and wanted to replace them all with hereditary servants from the Marquis of Jining’s household, she immediately bought some maids and servants to come in, foiling Wei Tingzhen’s plan.
However, these bought servants lacked proper training and were quite inconvenient to use. She would have to ask Madam Zhou to find a way to train a few more steady and capable maids.
Thinking of this, she asked the young maid, “Besides saying that the Fourth Young Mistress gave birth to a son, did the messenger say anything else?”
“Nothing else was said, my lady,” the young maid replied, her teeth chattering.
It was all because she had lost a bet with her sister who had entered the household before her and was sent to report to the lady.
Which family doesn’t invite the younger sister to participate in the third-day celebration when the elder sister has a nephew?
The lady had been snubbed by her natal family and sister.
If the lady were to lose her temper and take it out on her, what should she do?
She was on the verge of tears.
Dou Ming, however, waved her hand, dismissing her.
She felt relieved.
She ran out quickly.
From the inner chamber came the sound of things being smashed.
The young maid couldn’t help but shrink her shoulders, but when she looked up, she saw Wei Tingyu walking in.
She hurriedly curtsied and retreated trembling to the corner of the wall.
Wei Tingyu stopped at the door.
Dou Ming was smashing things again.
This was already done who knows how many times.
The first time was when she urged him to use the money to curry favor with the Earl of Dongping, to have the Earl find him a position in the Five Commands, and he refused.
She had swept all the teacups and bowls off the kang table onto the floor.
The second time was when her sister saw that all the maids serving in his room had been replaced, and fearing that the newcomers didn’t know the rules, sent one of her senior maids to serve him. She immediately sent the maid back to the Jing Guo Gong Manor. When he came to reason with her, she sarcastically asked if he had taken a liking to that maid and wanted to keep her in the room to warm his bed. Angered, he stormed off, and she, just like now, smashed things in the room.
The third time… he couldn’t remember clearly anymore.
He only knew that when his mother learned she had smashed everything in the room and felt distressed about those precious objects, she called her for a scolding. But she coldly said, “I smashed my dowry, not things from the Marquis of Jining’s household. If I’m not distressed, why are you? Things are smashed, we can buy new ones. Out with the old, in with the new.” This left his mother so angry that her face turned ashen, pointing at her for a long while without being able to utter a word.
Wei Tingyu didn’t want to go in and be scolded, so he turned to leave.
But from the corner of his eye, he saw the young maid trembling in the corner of the wall.
His heart softened.
This young maid feared Dou Ming like a tiger, and wasn’t his own heart the same?
Wei Tingyu felt a sense of sympathy.
He stopped and asked the young maid gently, “What’s your name?”
The young maid stammered, “This servant, this servant is called Axuan.”
“Axuan?” Wei Tingyu asked, “Which ‘Xuan’ character?”
The young maid replied, “The ‘Xuan’ in daylily.”
Wei Tingyu was somewhat surprised and said, “You know how to read?”
“When my younger brother was studying, I was doing needlework beside him. My brother taught me what he learned.”
Wei Tingyu was astonished and said, “If your family could afford to send your brother to school, why did they sell you?”
The young maid argued, “I signed a living contract. My brother will come to redeem me in ten years!”
Her eyes were wide open, the black and white distinct, like clear spring water, allowing one to see to the bottom at a glance.
Another foolish one!
Wei Tingyu shook his head and walked out, unable to resist instructing his attendant in a low voice, “Find an opportunity to transfer this young maid called Axuan to the study in the outer courtyard. With her nature, serving by the lady’s side is a dead end.”
The attendant quietly responded, “Yes.”
Wei Tingyu went to see Madam Tian.
Song Mo lay by the bed, watching his sleeping son. The more he looked, the more adorable and miraculous he found him.
He softly asked Dou Zhao, “What do you think we should name our son? Mingyi? Xixian? Fengyi?”
Dou Zhao smiled and said, “Isn’t it too early to give him a formal name? Let’s give him a milk name first.”
“How can that be?” Song Mo pouted, “He’s our firstborn son. We need to give him both a milk name and a formal name.” He fretted, “I think both Mingyi and Xixian are good, but Gu Yu thinks Fengyi is better. As for the milk name, how about ‘Yuange’?”
This child was the firstborn, worthy of the character “Yuan.”
Dou Zhao nodded with a smile and said, “That’s a good milk name!”
Song Mo became proud and said, “Then let’s call him Mingyi for his formal name.”
“Song Mingyi,” Dou Zhao smiled, “It rolls off the tongue nicely.”
Seeing Dou Zhao’s agreement, Song Mo started calling his son “Yuange, Yuange.”
However, the son was quite uncooperative. He frowned and opened his mouth to cry loudly.
Song Mo smiled awkwardly.
Dou Zhao hurriedly comforted him, “Yuange might be hungry.”
Song Mo made an “Oh” sound and sheepishly retreated to the side.