Blossom

Dou Zhao had just finished feeding Yuan Ge'er before leaving, but she never dreamed that the Empress Dowager would be playing cards with Shi Taifei early in the morning and would ask her to join them. By now, it was nearly noon, and with her ample milk supply, she was starting to feel quite uncomfortable.

When the Empress Dowager invited her to continue playing in the afternoon, Dou Zhao glanced at the Crown Princess.

The Crown Princess immediately sensed Dou Zhao's predicament.

After a brief moment of thought, she smiled and asked, "Madam of the Young Lord of Duke of Yingguo, have you arranged everything at home?"

Dou Zhao quickly replied, "I'm nursing the child myself, but we also have a wet nurse at home... I'll have someone inform them to take good care of the child."

The Empress Dowager let out a surprised "Oh" and remarked curiously, "You're nursing the child yourself? Be careful not to harm your health."

Dou Zhao smiled. "You know our household situation best. The Young Lord values the child greatly and doesn't trust others easily."

The Empress Dowager chuckled and waved her hand, allowing Dou Zhao to leave. "Go and take good care of the child. When he's a bit older, bring him to the palace for me to see. I remember he's just a day younger than Chong Ge'er."

Dou Zhao thanked her respectfully and, seeing that the Crown Princess showed no intention of leaving, withdrew alone.

The Crown Princess curtsied to the Empress Dowager. "Your Majesty has the heart of a Bodhisattva."

The Empress Dowager playfully tapped her finger in the air toward the Crown Princess and teased, "You and your sweet words, always trying to please me." Then she added, "This is my favor to you—what does it have to do with Bodhisattvas?"

"Yes, yes, yes!" The Crown Princess beamed as she stepped forward to massage the Empress Dowager's shoulders. "Your granddaughter-in-law understands, which is why I stayed to thank you!"

The Empress Dowager laughed heartily, her gaze full of affection as she looked at the Crown Princess.

※※※※※

Once outside the palace, Dou Zhao let out a sigh of relief and instructed Gan Lu, "Hurry back!"

Gan Lu, thinking something had gone wrong, paled and quickly relayed the order.

Dou Zhao, slightly embarrassed, let Gan Lu continue under the misunderstanding and rushed back to Jing'an Temple Alley.

Yuan Ge'er was crying and fussing.

He had grown accustomed to his mother's scent and refused to take milk from the wet nurse.

Dou Zhao hurriedly took the child into her arms.

The baby began to nurse voraciously.

Dou Zhao's heart ached with tenderness.

It seemed that until the child was weaned, she shouldn't go anywhere.

Only now did she realize the importance of having a wet nurse.

Yet, seeing the peaceful and contented expression on her child's face as he nursed, Dou Zhao's heart melted, and she felt that any inconvenience or trouble was worth it.

As she stroked the baby's glossy black hair, she thought of the Crown Princess who had helped her out of the predicament.

Such a clever and perceptive woman, yet she met an untimely end—was this what they called "beauty doomed to an ill fate"?

She thought of the Third Imperial Grandson, who was only a day older than Yuan Ge'er, and suddenly felt a pang of sorrow.

When Song Mo arrived, she couldn't help but ask him, "What kind of person is the Crown Prince?"

Song Mo laughed. "What? Did you have a hard time with the Crown Princess?"

"Not at all!" Dou Zhao shot him a look. "You know perfectly well whether I had any trouble in the palace. When I went to the Eastern Palace, the attendants served me nothing but plain water."

Nursing mothers were advised against drinking tea.

Song Mo laughed heartily, leaned down to kiss the sleeping Yuan Ge'er, and said with a smile, "He was educated by the Grand Academicians, so naturally, he adheres to Confucian principles. There's nothing to worry about."Perhaps it was a case of "a gentleman can be deceived by his principles," which led to the Crown Prince's failure in the previous life?

This thought flashed through Dou Zhao's mind.

She asked about Song Mo's return to the estate: "What did the Duke say about Madam's dowry?"

"Naturally, he refused to return it," Song Mo sneered. "He threatened to take me to the Court of Judicial Review. But the moment I proposed exchanging three farmsteads worth seven thousand taels in total for the properties under Song Han's name, he immediately changed his tune. He demanded I add three more shops before returning Madam's dowry. No doubt he wants Song Han to have a grand wedding. I couldn’t be bothered to argue and agreed. I told Liao Bifeng to buy three shops in the city, and we’ll finalize the contracts at Shuntian Prefecture in a couple of days."

"That’s fine," Dou Zhao said. "It’s just a few extra taels of silver. Consider it a reward to avoid unnecessary anger, which would only harm your health."

Song Mo nodded.

The properties had already been allocated to Song Han. He worried that if pushed too far, Song Han might recklessly sell off Jiang Shi’s belongings piece by piece, making restoration difficult later. It was better to secure Jiang Shi’s estate first.

As for the farmsteads and shops given to Song Han, their future value would depend on who managed them. What was worth ten thousand taels now might not remain so.

Dou Zhao then brought up the Engagement gifts the next day: "...Is it appropriate for me not to attend?"

"Why wouldn’t it be?" Song Mo chuckled. "Can’t people have urgent matters? Besides, I’ll be there, so they won’t have time to fuss over your absence."

Dou Zhao was puzzled.

Song Mo grinned. "I’ll keep it a surprise for now. You’ll find out soon enough."

No doubt he had another trick up his sleeve to torment Song Yichun.

Dou Zhao smiled faintly.

Concerned about her discomfort that day, Song Mo said gently, "Shall I excuse you from the Mid-Autumn palace banquet on the fifteenth?"

Dou Zhao hesitated.

They were in the midst of their struggle with Song Yichun, and the palace’s support was crucial.

Song Mo reassured her, "Don’t worry, I’ll handle it."

Trusting him, Dou Zhao didn’t press further.

Early the next morning, Song Mo went to Yuanping County and entered a teahouse near the Miao residence.

Yan Chaoqing, Xia Lian, and others were already waiting in the main hall. The teahouse owner, carrying a teapot like a waiter, hovered attentively nearby.

Seeing Song Mo arrive, Yan Chaoqing and the others stood immediately. "Sir, the private room is ready by the window. You can see the street below when opened..."

Song Mo nodded with a smile and headed upstairs to the private room.

The teahouse owner tried to follow, but Wuyi stopped him at the door. "Our master prefers quiet. We’ll call if needed."

The owner retreated awkwardly.

As the sun rose, the streets grew busier. The muffled noise of the crowd seeped through the Korean paper-covered windows. Wuyi hurried in.

"Sir, they’ve arrived."

Song Mo nodded and handed the book he’d been reading to Wuyi. "Ask the owner how much it costs and take it back for Madam to see."

It was a travelogue from the teahouse’s collection. Bored earlier, Song Mo had flipped through it and found it interesting enough to take home.

Wuyi tucked the book into his robe with a grin and accompanied Song Mo downstairs.The Miao family had invited Jie Wan, the magistrate of Wanping County, and Ma Hao, the county magistrate, to act as matchmakers. Naturally, when the Duke of England's Mansion came to present the engagement gifts, the two officials were expected to accompany them.

Ma Hao arrived early, but Jie Wan, presuming upon his status, had yet to appear even as the auspicious hour approached.

Miao Ansu’s father sent her elder brother, Miao Anping, to fetch Jie Wan.

Miao Anping couldn’t help feeling resentful as he thought about how Jie Wan, sitting in the sedan chair, had accepted three hundred taels of silver as a matchmaker’s fee before agreeing to arrange his sister’s marriage.

The wedding arrangements had only just begun, yet the Miao family had already spent a thousand taels of silver.

At this rate, the wedding would likely cost no less than three thousand taels.

They had only prepared two thousand taels—where would they find the remaining thousand?

Worried sick, Miao Anping walked absentmindedly and collided with someone emerging from a nearby tavern.

With a yelp, he fell to the ground.

The other party, however, remained unharmed and didn’t even glance at him, continuing forward as if nothing had happened.

This was Wanping County—who didn’t know the Miao family?

And the county magistrate was right beside him!

Miao Anping scrambled to his feet and grabbed at the man’s sleeve. "You think you can just walk away after bumping into me? Not even an apology? How unreasonable!"

Because the Duke of England's Mansion was coming today to present the engagement gifts, he had worn a newly made spun silk Taoist robe, which had cost him nearly four taels of silver. Now it was ruined.

But before he could even touch the man’s sleeve, someone darted out and seized his wrist, growling, "Where did this scoundrel come from? How dare you lay hands on our master without knowing who he is? Believe me, I’ll have your filthy paws chopped off, and even the Shuntian Prefecture constables would say we did the right thing!"

Miao Anping took a closer look—the person gripping his wrist was only fifteen or sixteen, with delicate, refined features. Though dressed as a page, his clothes were made of fine Guangdong linen, costing six taels per bolt. He looked exceedingly wealthy and dignified.

Miao Anping realized he had encountered a servant from a noble household.

Wanping was close to the Capital, and many aristocratic families owned estates here, so such people were often seen around.

Bolstered by this thought, he raised his voice. "A life for a life, a debt repaid! You knocked me over and didn’t even apologize—do you think you can just walk away? That’s outrageous! At the very least, pay for this robe—six taels of silver, hand it over now! Otherwise, we’ll settle this at Shuntian Prefecture! Our family is marrying into the Duke of England's household—don’t say I didn’t warn you!"

The man ahead paused at these words and glanced back at Miao Anping.

Miao Anping’s heart skipped a beat.

He had never seen such an exquisitely elegant young man before. Even standing casually, he carried an air of effortless grace.

Miao Anping’s bravado faltered.

The youth asked, "Are you from the Miao family of Wanping?"

Before Miao Anping could answer, Jie Wan, who had been peeking out from the sedan chair, scrambled out eagerly. "Lord Song! Lord Song! This humble official is Jie Wan, magistrate of Wanping County. I was entrusted by the Miao family to act as matchmaker for your younger brother’s marriage to their sixth daughter. We were just on our way to discuss the wedding arrangements!"

Since this was an imperial-bestowed marriage, everything was to be kept simple. Today, after presenting the engagement gifts, they would discuss the betrothal gifts, dowry, and wedding date.

Song Mo sneered and strode away without another word.

Miao Anping and Jie Wan stood frozen in place.

Wuyi hurried after him.The guards hurried past them as well.

Jie Wan snapped back to reality and grabbed one of the guards, whispering, "Brother, what exactly is going on here?" As he spoke, he slipped a red envelope to the guard.

The guard glanced at his companions who were already moving away and said quietly, "Since you're heading to The Duke of England's Mansion for Second Master's business, I'll tell you—the Young Lord was originally accompanying Second Master to the Miao family to deliver the engagement gifts. But to give Second Master face, the Duke wanted to exchange Second Master's farmland worth five thousand taels of silver for the Young Lord's farmstead worth seven thousand taels and three shops valued at three thousand taels... The Young Lord got so angry that he refused to go to the Miao family..."