Chapter 461 — Struck

Jiang Ling breathed a sigh of relief. "Then let us wait and see?" She could not resist urging her further. "One must look forward. Once past this village, there may not be another inn. You are still young. You are not like those widows who return to their natal homes in other families, who can help their sisters-in-law manage the household, or help teach their nieces to read and write. Needlework and sewing serve well enough when one is young, but as the years advance, do you truly mean to go off to a temple? With your temperament, even if you went, I fear you would be the one hauling water and tending the garden. Are you so naive as to believe the temple is truly a place of purity, untouched by a speck of dust?"

"I... I did not say that," Jiang Yan murmured. "When I used to accompany Mother Li Qiao to the temple to offer incense, those nuns would scheme for ways to make people donate incense money. Whichever one's patrons gave the most, the abbess would favor."

"Since you know it, then think this matter over carefully!" Jiang Ling rose to take her leave.

Jiang Yan lay on the bed, not a trace of sleep remaining.

What was she to do?

Was she truly to marry Chen Jia?

What if one day Chen Jia came to despise her...

The very thought pierced her like a needle.

But if Chen Jia truly did come to seek her hand, as Jiang Ling had said, and she refused...

Jiang Yan tossed and turned in bed like a pancake on a griddle.

******

For a time, both were somewhat at a loss.

Dou Yan waited several days without seeing Chen Jia come to propose. She could not help sighing to herself in secret.

Perhaps the two of them had the affinity but not the fate?

She buried the matter at the bottom of a chest.

Song Yan was glad to see it end so, and there was all the less reason for him to raise the subject himself.

Dou Yan and Song Yan thus turned their energies to the matter of Song Han's move.

They invited Magistrate Huang Qi of Shuntian Prefecture to serve as witness, with Dou Heng and Lu Fuli as intermediaries. Song Han signed the deed of family division.

Song Cen hid himself away in the Guixiang Courtyard and would not come out to receive guests.

Dou Heng asked Huang Qi to persuade Song Cen. "Discord between brothers is mostly brought about by parents who are unfair. That you divided the household so early may well prove no bad thing. If all the powerful families in the capital could be as clear-headed as you, the lawsuits in our Shuntian Prefecture would be halved."

Though he knew Huang Qi was only comforting him, Song Cen had been given a way out, and he came forth serenely to exchange greetings with Dou Heng and Lu Fuli.

Dou Heng cursed Song Cen under his breath. "Truly, he wants to play the whore and set up a chastity arch at the same time."

Dou Huaiying smiled bitterly. "At least the household is divided, so Sixth Brother's trip was not for nothing."

Dou Heng felt a measure of pity for Dou Yan, and instructed Dou Huaide, "Shouyuan's lot has been a hard one. Once you are over there, you must look after her well."

Dou Huaide answered respectfully, "Yes."

He was the youngest son, and had once been the most unruly of them all, yet now that he had been given away in adoption, recalling the years of his father's tender affection, he had instead grown deferential toward him.

Dou Heng sighed and patted his second son lightly on the shoulder, dismissing him. Then he turned to Dou Huaiying and spoke of Dou Huaide. "Since it is already recorded in the clan register, you need not defer to me. Arrange a time and have Zhi'er move over. Keeping the boy shuttling between both households will only delay his studies. Since you chose him, he ought to make progress in the examination hall and be able to hold up the family name."

Dou Huaiying had been about to consult Dou Heng on this very matter. "What do you think of moving him over on the first day of the twelfth month? For one thing, it will be easier for relatives to visit during the New Year. For another, I mean to engage an old Hanlin scholar to tutor at home, so that Zhi'er can devote himself wholeheartedly to preparing for the examinations."

This year was a metropolitan examination year, and the provincial examination came in the year after.

Dou Heng nodded.

Dou Huaiying told Song Yan of the matter.

Song Han was busy with his move, and the three families of Song Maochun and the others, mindful of appearances, had all come to help; even old acquaintances who had once fawned on the Song family without ever gaining entry now flocked to the Green Bamboo Lodge to join the bustle. Song Yan had no mind to meddle in such idle affairs and volunteered instead to help Dou Huaiying manage the matter of Dou Huaide's adoption.

Dou Huaiying felt as comfortable as if he had drunk a cup of hot tea on a bitter winter day. He laughed and said, "What is there for you to do with your own hands? Just come and keep me company over tea."

Song Dan said, "Have you informed the Wang family?"

By propriety, once Dou Huaide was adopted, Wang Shuying would be his adoptive mother, and he ought to pay her a visit no matter what.