Blossom

Jiang Yan was still somewhat afraid of Song Mo. Seeing him enter, she stood up awkwardly, murmured a soft "Brother," and stepped aside to make room for him by the bedside.

Song Mo sat on the brocade stool beside the bed, took Dou Zhao's hand, and asked, "Has the child been bothering you? Are you feeling any better?" Noticing a stray lock of hair by her cheek, he gently tucked it behind her ear.

His eyes and heart were entirely focused on Dou Zhao, making Jiang Yan's face burn with embarrassment. She quickly excused herself and retreated to Green Water Residence.

Compared to the lively warmth of the main courtyard in Hall of Cultivating Will, Green Water Residence was silent and seemed rather desolate.

Jiang Yan gazed at the red lanterns hanging under the eaves, her eyes stinging.

She thought of the man who had welcomed her into his home with fanfare.

She had believed she would bear his children and live a loving life with him.

Yet he had handed her over to He Hao.

Those humiliating scenes resurfaced in her mind.

She crouched on the ground, retching violently.

Yinghong was startled and immediately knelt to support her, asking anxiously, "Cousin, what's wrong? Should I fetch a physician?"

Jiang Yan grabbed Yinghong's arm and said, "I'm fine. Perhaps I caught a chill from the wind earlier, and my stomach is upset. A cup of hot tea will help. The family has just welcomed a new nephew, a joyous occasion. It wouldn't be right to trouble Brother and Sister-in-law over this and dampen their spirits."

Yinghong hesitated, finding her reasoning sound.

Jiang Yan had already steadied herself and stood up, her face deathly pale.

Yinghong's heart clenched with worry again.

Jiang Yan headed toward the inner chamber.

She couldn't dwell on that man anymore!

She was tainted, yet her brother had gone to great lengths to bring her back to the mansion, even severing ties with their father and his sworn brothers of over a decade. Since her brother had instructed the household to address her as "Cousin," she ought to forget the past and live as a widow who had lost her husband, happily staying 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 his bed, staring at the flickering candlelight, his expression twisted with resentment.

He had always known he was the second son, ineligible to inherit the family estate. His elder brother's diligence and efforts were evident to all. He had never intended to endure the hardships his brother had faced, nor had he ever considered vying for the position of heir to the Duke of England's Mansion. His lifelong wish had been to live comfortably under his brother's protection, enjoying a leisurely and affluent life as a nobleman.

But now, even that had become an unattainable dream.

Song Mo intended to reclaim the assets he had inherited from their mother.

The Lu Family joined the chorus, siding with Song Mo.

Though their father was displeased, since Song Han now resided with him in Cassia Fragrance Courtyard, their father feared others might assume he was managing Song Han's assets. If he quarreled with Song Mo over a few thousand taels of silver, it would tarnish his reputation as miserly. Song Mo, however, had no such reservations and seemed determined to strip Song Han of everything. In a battle of wills, the bold would prevail. Even if their father gritted his teeth and refused to yield, he would likely succumb to Song Mo's relentless schemes and eventually agree to return the inherited assets to Song Mo.

Without that income, how could he continue to rely on their father for survival?Song Han felt that although he was currently living a luxurious life, he would soon be reduced to a beggar—no, even worse than a beggar. A beggar could at least beg for alms, but he was the Second Master of the Duke of Yingguo's Mansion. Could he possibly go begging? And when his close friends discovered he didn’t have a single penny to his name, would they still flatter and fawn over him as they did now?

He pounded the bed in frustration.

Dou Shi had actually given birth to a son!

If only it had been a daughter!

At least then he could still leverage his status as the second-in-line heir after Song Mo to bluff his way through, perhaps even scrounge up some money to tide him over this crisis.

What should he do now?

Song Mo would never let him off the hook, and his father was unreliable. Where did his future lie?

The night wind felt piercingly cold against his skin.

※※※※※

Dou Ming was also in a foul mood.

Seated before her dressing table, she stared at her reflection—still as beautiful as a flower, yet now tinged with a melancholy that made her appear pitifully delicate. Her brows furrowed tightly.

Dou Zhao was truly fortunate.

They had been pregnant around the same time, yet while Dou Ming had suffered a miscarriage, Dou Zhao had smoothly given birth to a healthy son.

When Wei Tingzhen found out, she would surely make snide remarks about her in front of her mother-in-law and husband again, wouldn’t she?

But was this really her fault?

If her child had survived, wouldn’t she be a mother by now too?

Her father had only two daughters in his lifetime. Though he was a Successful Candidate in the highest imperial examinations, while relatives and friends never said anything to his face, behind his back, who didn’t mock him for being childless in his old age? Now that Dou Zhao had borne a son, bringing honor to their father, he must be overjoyed. No doubt he would dig out the family heirlooms to dote on his grandson.

Dou Ming’s face paled, and with a snap, she broke a tooth off her ivory comb.

"Madam!" The young maidservant attending her trembled in fear.

Dou Ming shot the girl a disdainful glance.

Ever since the Dou and Wei families had their big falling-out, the Dou family had largely stopped visiting. If they had any matters, they would simply send an old woman to relay a message, and whether she attended or not, they no longer pressed her. Wei Tingzhen secretly rejoiced, thinking she had gained leverage over her, but what she didn’t know was that Dou Ming had always been fond of fine silks. With money in hand and Wei Tingyu idle at home—earning nothing but a meager stipend of a thousand bushels a year—there were still those willing to pledge loyalty and serve her. When Wei Tingzhen tried to use her miscarriage as an excuse to replace all her maids and old women with the Marquis of Jining’s hereditary servants, Dou Ming promptly bought a new batch of maids and old women, thwarting Wei Tingzhen’s scheme.

But these newly purchased servants lacked proper upbringing and were rather difficult to manage. She would have to ask Nanny Zhou to train a few more composed and reliable maids for her.

Thinking of this, she asked the young maid, "Aside from announcing that the Fourth Paternal Aunt had given birth to a son, did the messenger say anything else?"

"N-nothing else," the girl stammered, her teeth chattering.

She cursed her luck for losing the bet with her senior maid, which landed her the task of delivering this news to Madam.

Whose family wouldn’t invite their sister to the third-day bathing ceremony when she had just given birth to a nephew?

It was obvious Madam had been cast aside by both her family and her sister.

If Madam vented her anger on her, what could she do?

She was on the verge of tears.

But Dou Ming merely waved her hand, dismissing her.

The girl fled as if her life depended on it.A cacophony of crashing sounds erupted from the inner chamber.

The young maidservant instinctively hunched her shoulders, only to look up and see Wei Tingyu entering. She hastily curtsied and retreated trembling to a corner.

Wei Tingyu paused at the doorway.

Dou Ming was smashing things again.

He had lost count of how many times this had happened.

The first time was when she urged him to use money to curry favor with the Duke of Dongping, hoping to secure him a position in the Five Armies Commandery. He had refused.

She had swept all the teacups and lids from the kang table onto the floor in a furious clatter.

The second time was when his sister, noticing that all the maidservants attending him had been replaced, sent one of her own senior maidservants to him, fearing the new ones might not know the proper etiquette. Dou Ming immediately sent the girl back to the Jingguo Duke's residence. When he confronted her, she retorted sarcastically, asking if he had taken a fancy to the girl and wanted to keep her for his bed. Enraged, he stormed out, and she had reacted just as she was now—smashing things in her room.

The third time... he couldn’t recall clearly.

All he knew was that when his mother found out she had destroyed everything in the room and scolded her for wasting precious items, Dou Ming coldly replied, "I smashed my own dowry, not the Marquis of Jining's Mansion’s property. If I don’t care, why should you? Broken things can be replaced. Out with the old, in with the new." His mother was left pale with fury, pointing at her speechlessly for a long moment.

Wei Tingyu had no desire to step inside and endure her temper. He turned to leave.

But out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the trembling maidservant cowering in the corner.

His heart softened unexpectedly.

This young girl feared Dou Ming as if she were a tiger—and wasn’t he the same?

A sense of shared suffering welled up in him.

He stopped and asked gently, "What’s your name?"

The maidservant stammered, "This lowly one... this lowly one is called A-Xuan."

"A-Xuan?" Wei Tingyu repeated. "Which 'Xuan'?"

"The 'Xuan' in 'daylily,'" she answered.

Surprised, Wei Tingyu asked, "You can read?"

"When my younger brother studied, I did needlework beside him. He taught me some characters."

Wei Tingyu was astonished. "If your family could afford to educate your brother, why were you sold?"

The girl protested, "I signed a living contract! In ten years, my brother will come to redeem me!"

Her eyes were wide, clear as spring water, revealing her innocence at a glance.

Another fool!

Wei Tingyu shook his head and walked away, but couldn’t resist murmuring to the page beside him, "Find an opportunity to transfer this A-Xuan to the outer study. With her temperament, serving Madam will only lead to her doom."

The page quietly acknowledged the order.

Wei Tingyu then went to see Tian Shi.

※※※※※

Song Mo leaned over the bed, gazing at his sleeping son, the more he looked, the more adorable and miraculous the child seemed.

He whispered to Dou Zhao, "What name should we give him? Mingyi? Xixian? Fengyi?"

Dou Zhao chuckled. "Must we decide so soon? How about a milk name first?"

"How can that be?" Song Mo grumbled. "He’s our eldest son—he needs both a milk name and a proper name." He frowned. "I like Mingyi and Xixian, but Gu Yu prefers Fengyi. As for the milk name, how about 'Yuange'?"

As the firstborn, the child deserved the significance of the character "yuan."

Dou Zhao smiled and nodded. "That’s a fine milk name!"Song Mo looked pleased with himself and said, "Then his formal name shall be Mingyi."

"Song Mingyi," Dou Zhao smiled. "It rolls off the tongue quite nicely."

Seeing Dou Zhao's approval, Song Mo began calling their son "Yuange" repeatedly.

However, the little one wasn't having it—he frowned and burst into loud wails instead.

Song Mo gave an embarrassed laugh.

Dou Zhao quickly reassured him, "Yuange might be hungry."

"Oh," Song Mo responded sheepishly, stepping aside awkwardly.