Chapter 315 — Three Joys

The things lost at the third-day washing ceremony were given to the midwife and those who helped with the birth, and everyone threw silver ingots; the congratulatory gifts for the first-month and hundred-day celebrations, however, were for the newborn, and so all the more precious.

At the banquet, Lady Han brought the child out to show the assembled ladies.

Dou Ming gave Qijin a pair of wish-granting bracelets of pure gold.

Dou Yan gave Qijin a set of pure gold longevity locks weighing nineteen taels, and in addition two pieces of jade that had been consecrated by the abbot of the Great Xiangguo Monastery, two sets of clothes she had made with her own hands, and a cloak of crimson silk with carved patterns.

Neither Han-shi nor Ji-shi had expected Dou Yan to be so generous, and they said repeatedly, "This is far too extravagant."

Dou Ji kissed Qijin on the cheek and said, "What can I do? I am Qijin's auntie!"

Everyone laughed heartily.

Dou Ming was so angry that her fingers turned white where she gripped her chopsticks; she felt Dou Yan was deliberately trying to embarrass her. It did not occur to her that Dou Yan had been raised by Ji-shi, and that Qijin was Ji-shi's eldest legitimate grandson—close and distant ties being what they were, Dou Zhiwei's congratulatory gifts would naturally be more valuable than anyone else's.

Zhao Zhangru tugged at Dou Zhiwei's sleeve and said in a low voice, "Look at Dou Ming."

Dou Yan could not be bothered to look at her, nor did she wish to say much to her; she simply came and went together with Zhao Zhangru.

Song Yan noticed and asked Dou Yan with a smile, "Do you really like Third Cousin that much?"

"I have been able to play with her since I was small," Dou Yan said, and straightened his collar for him, adding softly, "How did you end up in the flower hall?"

Song Yan had been pestered by Wei Fan past all endurance, and made the excuse that he had drunk a little too much. Dou Huaiying promptly had his personal page attend Song Yan to Dou Heng's small study beside the flower hall to rest.

He wished for nothing more than that Dou Yan would forget Wei Fan's very existence from then on—why would he bring Wei Fan up in front of Dou Yan?

He said only that he felt a little dizzy from the wine.

Dou Qu said, "Then go and rest at once!"

Song Dan nodded and went with Dou Huaiying's personal page to the small study.

Dou Ji seized a free moment to go to the kitchen and instructed the women at the stove to make a bowl of sobering soup and send it to the small study.

The women at the stove did not dare delay; they set down the work in their hands and immediately helped make a bowl of sobering soup and sent it over.

Song Yan drank the sobering soup, then leaned on the moon-gate window of the small study, gazing at the flower hall where he could see only blurry silhouettes of people.

It was with great difficulty that he waited for the banquet in the flower hall to break up, and then he sought out Madame Zhao.

"Aunt, has it been decided where Cousin's wedding will be held?" he asked with concern. "If we go back to Qingyang, it will take at least two months on the road. And I have calculated that next spring Uncle will have to come to the capital to report on his official duties; going there and back again will delay things a great deal. I think it would be better to take advantage of Uncle's visit to the capital and simply hold Cousin's wedding here in the capital. We can join in the festivities and lend a hand as well." He added, "I heard that for Shouyuan's sake you sold off the ancestral property in Xingxiang County? Apart from Jiangnan, the farmland and shopfronts in the capital yield greater returns than anywhere else. Why have Uncle and Aunt not considered acquiring some property in the capital? If you do not disdain the offer, shall I keep an eye out for you? When the time comes, let my cousin Song's husband manage it—it would be just the thing to temper his skill at handling practical affairs."

Officials in prefectures and counties more than two thousand li from the capital all came to the capital once every three years.

Qingyang fell within that range.

Song's words were gentle and considerate, and made his aunt nod inwardly. It was only that a great deal of silver had been spent recently on Dou Zhiwei's affair, and then there was a daughter to marry off—where would there be silver to acquire property in the capital?

Faced with Song's goodwill, she could only put him off, saying, "This matter still needs to be discussed with his uncle."

"You keep a lookout first, and when Uncle comes you can discuss it with him then—there is no hurry," Song Dan said. "The truth is, a colleague of mine has an urgent family matter and needs to sell off part of his ancestral property. I think that farm has plenty of good fields and the shop is well situated—I wanted Aunt to pick up a bargain!"

"How could Aunt take a bargain from you?" His aunt could only lament inwardly, and said with a smile, "When Aunt wants to acquire property in the capital, I will come to you."

Song Dan agreed.

That evening when he went back, he told Dou Yan about it: "...I had thought I would put up half the silver, and Aunt would put up the other half, and we would buy up both the farm and the shop. It would have been a way to repay Uncle and Aunt for the help they gave you back then. But Aunt seemed as if she had no silver at all. Uncle was at least a county magistrate for several years, and a prefect for several more—could he really have so little saved?"

"How many people are like you!" Dou Chu was moved as soon as she heard it. "Seeing silver in everything you look at?" She discussed it with Song Yan. "How about we put up the silver to buy them first, and then think of a way later?"

"Fine!" Song Yan mused that if the Zhao family had property in the capital, Zhao Zhangru and her husband could reside there permanently, and Dou Yi would have a companion. "But how to get Aunt to accept it—that will be for you to figure out! I am afraid that if I step forward, it will backfire."

Dou Yan agreed first, and Xuan Ying sent people to buy up both the farm and the shop.

But how were they to tell Aunt about this?

Chen Yanzhou brought Duan Bing and the others into the capital.

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Sisters, this is a little later than expected—sorry, sorry!

PS: Begging for pink votes to support me!

O(∩_∩)O~

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