Blossom

Song Mo gave a light cough, and the courtyard immediately sprang into action.

Ruo Zhu trotted over, curtsied to Song Mo, and respectfully addressed him as "Young Lord," while Ruo Tong announced loudly, "The Young Lord has returned."

Song Mo walked straight toward the main hall.

Dou Zhao personally lifted the curtain to greet him, smiling warmly as she said, "You're here!"

Song Mo nodded with a smile and asked, "Where's Yuan Ge'er?"

"The wet nurse is holding him while he swings in the backyard!" Dou Zhao replied, walking side by side with him into the hall.

Ji Yong sprawled casually in the Grand Preceptor's chair on the right side. Seeing Song Mo enter, he took a sip of tea, stood up, and said to Dou Zhao, "I've told you everything I know. Make up your mind soon—don't blame me later for acting on my own. I’ll take my leave now and visit Yuan Ge'er again in a couple of days!" Then he nodded at Song Mo and strode off.

Song Mo was furious but maintained a relaxed demeanor, chuckling, "This Ji Jianming—he’s always been arrogant and domineering, never holding back. It’s a miracle he’s managed to survive in the official circles unscathed!"

"Exactly," Dou Zhao agreed. "His parents must have worried themselves sick over him!"

She thought of Ji Yong, still unmarried. A couple of years ago, his elders still dared to scold him, but as his influence grew, fewer and fewer in the Ji family could speak up to him. She couldn’t help but sigh deeply.

Song Mo found her reaction odd and smiled, "Is Yuan Ge'er only with his wet nurse? Women aren’t as strong—if he were to fall or get hurt, it’d be disastrous. I’ll go check on him."

"Gaoxing’s youngest son, Gao Zan, and Song Luo are both in the backyard with him. Otherwise, I wouldn’t dare leave him just with the wet nurse," Dou Zhao said. "He’s at the age where he can run and jump—even the pages can hardly keep up with his energy, let alone his wet nurse. I was just thinking of discussing with you whether we should find a few clever pages to accompany him, so he won’t be left without playmates."

Dou Zhao was in a delicate condition now and couldn’t roughhouse with her son.

Song Mo smiled. "Then let’s take a look later and pick a few boys four or five years older to play with him." With that, he made to leave for the backyard.

But Dou Zhao stopped him. "I have something else to tell you." She took his hand and led him to the inner chamber. "Ji Jianming just came by and told me his cousin Ji Lingze has arrived in the Capital with their grandmother. He also mentioned that on the very night Ji Lingze arrived, Twelfth Brother went to visit their house. He warned me to be careful and advised Father to finalize Twelfth Brother’s marriage soon to avoid complications. Who knows what might happen otherwise?"

Rain will fall, and daughters will marry—wasn’t Ji Yong meddling a bit too much?Song Mo muttered to himself but maintained a smile as he said, “Just the other day, you were saying to let things take their natural course. Why the sudden change of heart? After all, Twelfth Brother is the elder, and his life is his own to live. If he truly marries this Miss Ji, can you really refuse to address her as ‘sister-in-law’? And if his misdeeds come to light, as a junior and a married daughter, it’s hardly your place to intervene.” With that, he took Dou Zhao’s hand and led her to the heated brick bed by the window, even helping her remove her shoes. “Right now, your priority is to rest well for the pregnancy. This child is far more restless than Yuan Ge’er was. When you were carrying Yuan Ge’er, you could eat and sleep without trouble, but now even the scent of rosewater makes you queasy, and you’ve lost weight. Let’s not concern ourselves with outside matters. Focus on recuperating.”

Dou Zhao picked up a hand mirror to examine herself. “Have I lost weight? I feel like I’ve actually gained some.”

Song Mo sat beside her, took the mirror from her hand, and tossed it aside. “That mirror won’t show you anything.” Then he brought up the topic of their summer retreat. “If we go earlier this year, the relatives likely won’t have much to say.”

The Song family owned a secluded courtyard in Xiangshan with exquisite scenery. During their summer retreats there, they would close their doors to visitors and enjoy a few peaceful days.

Given how active the baby was, a retreat would do her good.

Dou Zhao smiled. “Pick a date, and I’ll start preparing. You can escort us there when the time comes.”

Song Mo had official duties and couldn’t leave easily.

“I’ll try to request leave,” Song Mo said, fetching the almanac. “In any case, the Emperor usually moves to the West Garden in summer. The rules there aren’t as strict as in the palace, and all the nobles and officials are vying to leave a good impression. My absence might even create an opportunity for others—perhaps I’ll actually get the leave approved.” He flipped to the twenty-second day of the fifth month, which was marked as auspicious for travel. “How about this day? It’s right after the Dragon Boat Festival, and the weather will be warming up.”

Dou Zhao pondered. In her past life, Liao Wang had launched his coup in November—still far off. Back then, she’d been too distant from the palace to know about the Emperor’s illness or Liao Wang’s arrival in the capital until after the fact. This time, she frequently visited the palace, and Song Mo was wary of Liao Wang. If the Emperor showed any unusual signs, she’d surely notice. Xiangshan was only two hours from the Capital, making a quick return easy. She leaned lazily against Song Mo’s shoulder and said, “You decide. I’ll follow your lead.”

Noticing Dou Zhao’s exhaustion, Song Mo kissed her forehead tenderly. “Are you tired? Rest for a while. I’ll take care of Yuan Ge’er.” He fetched a pillow and helped her lie down.

Dou Zhao, savoring Song Mo’s gentleness, held his hand and soon fell asleep.

Song Mo smiled softly, gazing at her serene face for a long moment before rising and heading to the backyard.

Two days later, Dou Zhao sent word to Song Yichun that she and Yuan Ge’er would be staying at the Xiangshan retreat for two months after the Dragon Boat Festival.

Since learning of Dou Zhao’s pregnancy, Song Yichun had been in a complicated mood. Upon hearing of her summer plans, he waved impatiently in acknowledgment.

Dou Zhao began preparing for the Dragon Boat Festival and their retreat.

Then Dou Dechang disappeared.

When Ji Shi came to her in tears, Dou Zhao was stunned, speechless for a long while."Where do you think he could have gone? Seventh Uncle is beside himself with worry," Ji Shi sobbed. "Everything was fine before. The adoption matter was only agreed upon after he consented. Seventh Uncle treated him like his own son..." She clutched Dou Zhao's hand tightly. "Do you think he might have been kidnapped by villains? After Seventh Uncle gave you that chest of silver notes at your wedding, there were rumors that the Dou family was the wealthiest in North Zhili, if not the entire realm..."

Dou Zhao knew the truth. She took out a handkerchief to wipe Ji Shi's tears and said, "Has the Imperial Academy been informed about Twelfth Brother's disappearance? Who has he been closest to recently? Perhaps they might know his whereabouts. Didn't Wu Shan get along well with Twelfth Brother? They're from the same hometown and passed the imperial exams together. Have Sixth Uncle and Father sent someone to ask him?"

Her calm and composed voice soothed Ji Shi's frantic heart. Ji Shi wiped her tears and replied, "Seventh Uncle has already gone to ask at the Imperial Academy. Wu Shan is even helping him search! But there's no lead at all..."

Dou Zhao couldn't help but silently blame Wu Shan.

If he didn't explain things to the elders now, how would Dou Dechang ever show his face at the Imperial Academy again once the matter blew up?

Still, kidnapping was a good excuse.

She was tempted to suggest that Sixth Aunt publicly claim Dou Dechang had been kidnapped. But fearing Ji Shi might take it seriously and become even more distressed, she simply said, "I think we should let the Marquis handle this. He has experience in such matters."

Ji Shi's eyes lit up as if she'd found salvation, repeatedly saying "Yes!" and urging Dou Zhao to fetch Song Mo immediately. "How could I not have thought of that!"

Too much concern had clouded her judgment.

Dou Zhao kept Ji Shi for lunch, sent people to reassure those at Jing'an Temple Alley and Cat Alley, and dispatched someone to notify Song Mo.

Having not slept for two days and nights, Ji Shi's exhaustion became evident now that she had someone to rely on. Dou Zhao instructed the maids to prepare the guest room and gently persuaded Ji Shi to rest.

Meanwhile, Song Mo sent Liu Zhang to relay a message to Dou Zhao: "That Miss Ji from the Ji family has also disappeared. Don't worry—they couldn't have gone far. We'll find them by tomorrow night at the latest."

Dou Zhao felt relieved.

Ji Yong came rushing over, followed by Zi Xi carrying a bamboo pole covered in colorful pinwheels.

The spinning pinwheels whirred loudly in the courtyard, creating a spectacular sight.

He must have bought the entire pole along with the pinwheels from the vendor.

Dou Zhao didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Yuan Ge'er, however, clapped his hands in delight.

Ji Yong said smugly, "Isn't it more fun with Uncle around?"

Yuan Ge'er nodded vigorously, calling out "Uncle!" in his clear voice.

Pleased, Ji Yong smiled and picked up Yuan Ge'er, letting him choose his favorite pinwheel before handing him back to Zi Xi. "Take the young master to play with the pinwheels."

Zi Xi bowed respectfully and led Yuan Ge'er to the nearby Covered Corridors, finding spots to stick the pinwheels along the railings.

Yuan Ge'er ran around excitedly.

Ji Yong nodded in satisfaction before turning to Dou Zhao. "Do you think Dou Dechang eloped with my cousin? She's missing too."

Dou Zhao sighed inwardly.

Ji Yong was far too sharp.

"It's hard to say for now," she replied, now most worried about Ji Yong causing trouble. "Yuan Ge'er's father has already sent people to investigate."Ji Yong nodded and called out to Zi Xi in the distance, "Stick a few on top of the rockery—the wind is stronger over there."

Zi Xi acknowledged and carried Yuan Ge'er up the Lake Tai Rockery.

Turning back to Dou Zhao, Ji Yong said, "I'm going to ask Wu Shan—they've been close since childhood. I refuse to believe he knows nothing about this." At this point, he glanced at Dou Zhao, "He might even think he's doing a good deed!"

What does that have to do with me?

Dou Zhao muttered inwardly before replying, "Sixth Aunt is here with me. Would you like to comfort her a little?"

"What's there to say?" Ji Yong dismissed the idea. "If we can't find the person, she'll just cry, and I'll only spout useless words. Let's wait until we find them first!" He left Zi Xi behind to play with Yuan Ge'er and went alone to the Duke of Yingguo's Mansion.

Fortunately, Dou Zhao was already accustomed to his eccentric ways and smoothly explained to Ji Shi, arranging for Zi Xi to return to the residence...

Song Mo didn't return until midnight.

The courtyard filled with whirring pinwheels made him pause in surprise. "Where did these come from? Did Madam go out today?"

"No," Song Luo lowered her gaze. "They were bought for the young master by Uncle Ji."

Song Mo stood in the courtyard for a moment before stepping into the inner chamber.