Chapter 252 — On Order and Precedence

"It seems this *Spring and Autumn* of mine was the right gift after all." Dou Bingheng stroked his beard and smiled, and the way he looked at Song Yan had undergone a subtle change, as though he had discovered one of his own kind.

Dou Heng's expression shifted subtly as well. "The Spring and Autumn Annals is long and hard to memorize. These days, few people have the patience to read it—everyone's in a hurry to pass the examinations. I never expected you to have read it."

He had read it, in fact.

Song Dan said, "I don't have to sit the examinations, so I can take my time with it."

Dou Heng nodded. "That in itself is rare enough." To everyone's surprise, he put an arm around Song Zhi's shoulders and drew him aside to sit and talk.

Lady Ji did not know whether to laugh or cry. She hurried to smile and say, "My lord, if you have things to discuss, you can always invite the heir to the house another day. For today, let the heir meet Fifth Sister-in-law and the young wives first."

Dou Heng laughed heartily and slapped his forehead. "Look at my memory!" he said, and then, overstepping all propriety, he took Song Yan by the arm and introduced him to the Fifth Madam himself.

Thanks to the children's banter, everyone stood together smiling, and the solemnity of their entrance gave way to a warmer, more festive air.

After Dou Yan and Song Yan had knelt and bowed to the Fifth Madam, she helped Dou Yan to her feet herself and handed Dou Chu a red-lacquered box painted in gold. "A pair of jade hairpins," she said with a smile. "May you two respect each other as guests and grow old together."

Compared with their earlier formal greetings to Dou Bingheng and the others, this was warm and friendly.

Song Yan and Dou Qu thanked the Fifth Madam, then knelt to the Sixth Madam.

The gift Lady Ji had prepared for them was a small chiming clock.

"How lovely!" Dou Yan was delighted and thanked her again and again.

Ji Wan smiled, said nothing, and merely straightened Dou Yan's collar before stepping back to one side.

Dou Ming's eyes reddened at the sight.

She thought of her own visit home three days after her wedding, and of Dou Bingheng's manner—seemingly affectionate, yet with a faint, careless arrogance beneath it. She thought of the red envelopes Dou Bingheng and the other elders had given Wei Fan and herself, each stuffed with a hundred-tael banknote...

They were both married daughters. Why should she and Dou Yan be treated so differently?

She glanced at Wei Fan.

Wei Fan stood in a deserted corner, smiling with a trace of embarrassment.

Dou Ming bit her lip hard.

She called Song Yan "brother-in-law" and said with a coy smile, "What greeting gift have you and my sister prepared for me?"

Song Dan handed her a red envelope, then teased Dou Jingyuan with a smile. "Jing, you've taken my red envelope, but you haven't bowed to me yet."

Dou Jingyuan covered her mouth and giggled, then bowed respectfully to Song Yan and Dou Yan.

Gao Sheng hurried over to invite everyone to take their seats in the eastern hall. "The wine and dishes are all ready!"

Laughing, everyone went to the western hall.

No one paid Dou Ming any attention.

Dou Ming gave a cold laugh and squeezed in to sit beside Dou Yan.

Dou Yan pretended not to notice. Unhurriedly, she answered the Fifth Madam's questions. "...The scenery at Yizhi Hall is lovely, and the heir has lived there all along. If we were to move, there would be a thousand loose ends—I fear it would take two or three months to finish. Better to stay on at Yizhi Hall."

The Fifth Madam nodded. "That's for the best. Your father-in-law is in the prime of life; who knows but that one day he'll take another wife. If you live at Yizhi Hall, far away from her, you'll have some peace."

Seeing Dou Ming straining her ears to listen, Lady Ji smiled and poured the Fifth Madam a cup of wine. "However big the inner quarters of the Yingzheng Duke's household may be, can they be bigger than West Dou's? If Shouyuan can manage the household affairs of West Dou, can she not manage those of the Yingzheng Duke's household? And even if there were something she couldn't decide, isn't she to have you? Don't fret over her—she'll live very comfortably!" Cutting the Fifth Madam off, she told a maid to see what other dishes were coming, then began talking with the Fifth Madam about the dried fruits of Chunfang House. The Fifth Madam in turn brought up the lucky oranges served at the feast. "Their lucky oranges are delicious—I wonder how they make them?"

Lady Ji smiled and said, "I think the candied kumquats from Fujian are better."

And so she steered the conversation elsewhere.

Dou Ming knew Lady Ji was guarding against her. She gave Han a light kick under the table and murmured, "Your mother-in-law is rather hard to please, isn't she?"

Han quietly shifted her seat, putting a discreet distance between herself and Dou Ming, and whispered with a smile, "My mother-in-law is perfectly nice! It's just that the Ji family insists on the finest food and the most delicate cuts."

She had once pitied Dou Ming for lacking affection, but ever since the business of the sisters swapping marriages, she felt she had been too naive before, and had taken certain things far too simply.

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Sisters and brothers, here's a rough draft for now—I'll catch the bugs later!

ps: Begging for pink votes here!

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