Chapter 467 — Marrying Off a Sister

When he came back to his senses, the corner of his mouth twitched, and his heart was a tangle of sour, unnameable feelings.

Over on her side, Miao Zhi had received the invitation as well. She asked Song Han, "How much of a gift should we send?"

After Song Yan moved to Si Tiao Alley, his daily life was no longer as luxurious as before, but he had become a master of his own house, free to come and go with no one to answer to, and he could not help regretting that he had not moved out sooner. He took endless delight in the new residence. In the depths of winter he would often stroll the courtyard with his pages and maidservants, and he even composed inscriptions for every corner of the place, busy and happy beyond measure, his mood easy and his interest keen. All the household trifles he left to Miao Zhi. When Miao Zhi brought up the matter of Jiang Yan's marriage, he was rather surprised; he had assumed Song Yan would keep Jiang Yan at home for the rest of her life.

"What is there to go for?" Song Han said dismissively. "It is not as though she were a legitimate daughter being married off!"

Miao Zhi had no choice but to return to the inner rooms.

There she saw Ji Hong, face white, hiding behind the flowering trees and vomiting.

She was briefly startled, then quickly realized that Ji Hong might be with child.

Miao Zhi's heart turned sour and bitter. She summoned a physician to take the pulse.

The physician was one who habitually attended the Yingzhen Ducal Manor. Knowing the situation in Si Tiao Alley, he nervously pronounced it a pregnancy pulse, then stole glances at Miao Zhi from the corner of his eye. He did not dare so much as say "congratulations."

After seeing the physician out, Miao Zhi sat in a daze for a while, then went to Song Han's study.

Song Han showed no joy at all; his brows were tightly knit. "How could she be pregnant? Could it be a mistake? Have you not been giving the maidservants by her side the decoction? How have you been managing the household? This child is a bastard and cannot be kept. Go call a midwife in and have her pour a bowl of medicine down her throat."

Miao Zhi did not know what she was feeling.

Joy, she could not quite call it. Sorrow, that did not seem to be all of it either.

She relayed Song Han's meaning to Ji Hong.

Ji Hong nodded silently and said nothing. Only after Miao Zhi had left the room did she bite down on her handkerchief and weep without a sound.

Miao Zhi took a five-year-old ginseng root from the stores of her own dowry to nourish Ji Hong's health, and then she heard that Madame Song the Eldest and her daughter-in-law Madame Tan had gone to the Yingzhen Ducal Manor to add to Jiang Yan's trousseau.

She grew anxious and asked Song Han again about Jiang Yan's marriage.

Song Han's expression was very ugly. He was silent for a long time before saying, with great reluctance, "Since everyone is going, you may as well make the trip too."

Only then did Miao Zhi set her mind at ease. She opened the storeroom, took out fifty taels of gold, and had a set of head ornaments made for Jiang Yan and sent over.

Dou Yan kept Miao Zhi, Madame Song the Third, and Madame Song the Fourth for a meal.

At the table the talk turned to Madame Tan, who was with child, and they offered advice to Miao Zhi, who had shown no signs yet: "We hear they asked the Great Monk Defu of Puji Temple to help petition the gods. You might go and try it too."

Miao Zhi smiled ruefully, but in her heart it was as if she had swallowed coptis.

Dou Yan, meanwhile, was sweating at the brow.

She had not expected Defu to do even this sort of thing!

She thought of Ji Yong.

Ji Yong surely would not become a monk in this life, would he?

After the midday meal, Miao Zhi, Madame Song the Third, and Madame Song the Fourth were just about to take their leave when Madame Ji and Madame Han arrived to add to Jiang Yan's trousseau.

There was inevitably a round of warm greetings.

Before the conversation had gotten anywhere, the three of them from Huai Shu Alley arrived, mother-in-law and daughters-in-law together.

Everyone went forward to greet them, and there was another round of talk and laughter.

Madame Song the Third and Madame Song the Fourth could not help exchanging a glance.

The Dou family was treating Jiang Yan as a formal relative.

Ought they to put in more effort as well?

*

Thank goodness it was not too late...

o(n_n)o~