Chapter 340 Birthday

The wife of Duke Jing had three sons and five daughters. She personally selected the marriages of the five daughters, and all of them married well. Especially the eldest daughter, who married Xia Wan, the eldest son of Xia Bing, the editor of the Hanlin Academy. At first, everyone felt that the eldest daughter of Duke Jing was too wronged, but as Xia Wan passed the imperial examination in the eighth year of Chengping and became a clerk in the Ministry of Justice in the eleventh year of Chengping... After he was promoted to the governor of Zhejiang last year, no one thought so anymore. Instead, everyone praised the wife of Duke Jing for her good eyesight and finding a good son-in-law. This is also an important reason why the wife of Duke Jing is so strong in the Duke Jing's mansion.

When Dou Zhao and Song Mo arrived at the Duke of Jing's mansion, it was already crowded with people. In addition to the nobles of Kyoto who had been in contact with the Duke of Jing's mansion, the Duke of Jing's in-laws also came to pay their respects to the Duke of Jing's wife, and the five aunts of the Duke of Jing's mansion even presented valuable birthday gifts.

Song Mo whispered to Dou Zhao: "If you feel uncomfortable, ask the maid to call me. If not, you can also tell the third wife."

"I know." Dou Zhao looked at the high-spirited Song Mo and said softly, "Don't drink so much."

"Yeah!" Song Mo nodded and squeezed her hand gently, then walked forward to greet Old Lady Lu who got out of the carriage in front.

Princess Ningde also got off the carriage.

Old Madam Lu took Dou Zhao's hand and smiled at Song Mo, "Just go and attend your social events. I'll take care of your wife for you. She won't lose a hair."

Everyone chuckled.

Song Mo was not shy and thanked Madam Lu openly.

Old Madam Lu laughed and turned to talk to Princess Ningde: "This child is lovable just like that."

Princess Ningde pursed her lips and smiled.

Song Mo, Lu Qin and others said goodbye to Madam Lu and other female relatives and went to the main hall in the east, while Dou Zhao followed Madam Lu and others into the second gate.

Mrs. Zhang San, surrounded by a group of maids and servants, came to greet them hastily: "Princess, my great-aunt..."

She knelt down and bowed to everyone, and everyone went to the flower hall chatting and laughing.

The wife of Duke Jing was talking to the wife of Marquis Changxing. She was quite surprised to see Madam Lu and Princess Ningde come in together. She stood up to greet them with a smile on her face and said, "I didn't expect you two ladies to come. Today, my mansion of Duke Jing is really prosperous!"

Old Madam Lu and Princess Ningde were one generation older than Lady Jingguo, and they could have stayed away from coming. However, because their granddaughter married into the Duke Jingguo's mansion, they came specially to honor Lady Jingguo and to give their granddaughter face.

Old Madam Lu smiled and said, "Isn't it because I want to come to your house and have a meal?"

"You two are the distinguished guests that we cannot even invite," Duke Jingguo smiled, "as long as you two do not mind that the wine in our house is too bland."

Everyone exchanged greetings and sat down in the flower hall.

Lady Jingguo said to Dou Zhao, "This is the first time that the Crown Prince's wife is visiting our house. If you have anything to say, please don't tell me. Just tell your cousin."

Mrs. Zhang San and Song Mo are cousins.

Dou Zhao smiled and replied.

Lady Jing introduced the women present to her one by one: "This is my eldest daughter. She is now serving in Jiangnan with my aunt. She came back from Jiangnan specially for my birthday... This is my second daughter. Her mother-in-law is the daughter of the Ji family in Yixing, so she is a relative of yours..."

Dou Zhao greeted them one by one with a smile.

In her previous life, she had frequent dealings with the Duke of Jing's Mansion and was very familiar with their relatives.

Several young ladies from Duke Jing's mansion hurriedly stood up to return the greeting.

The flower hall was bustling with activity.

The maid came in and reported, "The wife of the prince of Yan'an Marquis's mansion has arrived."

Lady Jingguogong kept saying "Please come in quickly".

Mrs. Wang came in with the wife of the Prince of Dongping.

Everyone had to greet each other.

Then the wife of the Marquis of Guangen came with her daughter-in-law, and then the wife of the Marquis of Xuanning also came...

Dou Zhao knew all these people, but she only knew them to some extent. This was especially true for the wife of Xuanning Marquis Guo Qinghai. Not only was she a close friend of his, but they also did business together and their children became in-laws. However, at this time, Mrs. Guo just nodded and smiled at her, and it was impossible for them to get together to support the family like in the previous life.

Dou Zhao couldn't help feeling a little disappointed.

The wife of the Earl of Dongping came over with her two daughters.

Dou Zhao couldn't help but widen his eyes.

The wife of the Duke of Dongping had a figure as graceful as a willow in the wind and a face as beautiful as a flower reflected in the water. Just looking at her made people feel pity for her.

Although her twin daughters are still young, they are as beautiful as pearls and jade.

Dou Zhao felt a little stuffy in his heart.

She quickly took out a few leaves of tea and put them in her mouth, and then she felt better.

As more and more guests came, there was laughter and joy in the flower hall. The older ladies sat together and talked, while the younger ladies formed a separate group.

Since it was Dou Zhao's first time to appear in the circle of nobles in Kyoto, Princess Ningde personally took her to meet people.

They were all acquaintances from the previous life, and Dou Zhao had no difficulty in socializing with them. His polite greetings were always to the point and left a deep impression.

Madam Lu and Princess Ningde couldn't help but nod secretly after seeing this.

Mrs. Zhang Er, who was entertaining guests in the flower hall, looked at them and said with a smile, "Why don't you see the wife of Marquis Jining? I remember sending her an invitation as well."

Since Wei Tingzhen was the wife of the Crown Prince, she should have helped to arrange the birthday banquet for Lady Jingguo. However, Lady Jingguo disliked her eldest son and therefore her eldest daughter-in-law, so she gave all the work in the kitchen to Wei Tingzhen and asked her second and third daughters-in-law to help her entertain guests in the flower hall.

Hearing what her second daughter-in-law said, Lady Jingguo couldn't help but frown.

Mrs. Zhang San was much more resourceful than Mrs. Zhang Er. She laughed and said, "It's too early to leave now. I'm afraid something has delayed you." As she spoke, she winked at the maid beside her.

The old woman understood and went to the accounting office next to the kitchen.

Wei Tingzhen is checking the birthday peaches that will be served at the birthday banquet.

The old woman hurried forward and bowed, saying, "Madam, the Third Madam asked me to tell you that the auspicious time is approaching and I'm afraid I can't wait for the wife of the Marquis of Jining."

Since it was not a full birthday celebration, the Duke of Jing's mansion only invited relatives within the third mourning period and some frequent nobles. The birthday banquet was held for only one day, and the auspicious time for birthday greetings was set in the morning. The relatives of the Zhang family would kowtow to the Duke of Jing's wife according to their age, and guests like Dou Zhao who were not direct relatives would be invited to sit at the table. After they finished paying their respects there, the banquet would begin. It would be very rude to come after the banquet had already begun.

Wei Tingzhen was furious.

Dou Ming was clearly slapping her in the face by doing this, and he didn't take her seriously at all!

She cursed Dou Ming in her heart.

But in front of the maidservant beside Mrs. Zhang San, she did not dare to show the slightest bit of dislike, but smiled and said: "The Jining Marquis's Mansion is a little far from here, most likely he was delayed on the way, I will send someone to check it out." Then she stuffed a red envelope into her hand and said, "Thank Mrs. San for me."

The old woman left happily, but Wei Tingzhen was so angry that his throat hurt.

Fortunately, the person sent out soon received a reply: "Marquis Jining and his wife have arrived at the door."

There are so many people here now, let’s just wait until this matter is over!

Wei Tingzhen nodded and went to the kitchen to taste the dishes that would be served at the birthday banquet.

Wei Tingyu and Dou Ming, who got off the carriage in front of Duke Jing's mansion, looked unhappy.

Wei Tingyu said to Dou Ming, "When you meet my sister later, help her entertain the guests and share some of her worries," and then turned and went to the flower hall in the front yard.

Dou Ming looked at Wei Tingyu's back and sneered several times. Then, supported by a maid, he followed the Zhang family's housekeeper mother into the Chuihua Gate.

The flower hall was filled with jewels and laughter.

She paid a visit to the wife of Duke Jing.

Lady Jingguogong hurriedly told her, "Get up quickly! Get up quickly!"

Dou Ming stood up with a smile, but saw Dou Zhao sitting on the armchair next to the wife of Duke Jing.

She is here too.

Dou Ming was slightly stunned and his eyes sank.

Lady Jingguo waved at Dou Ming and said jokingly, "You came later than your sister. You deserve to be punished!"

The young ladies were fine and were having a great time together, but the women sitting next to the wife of Duke Jing were staring at them with wide eyes.

Dou Zhao couldn't help but sigh and greeted Dou Ming indifferently.

Dou Ming was not stupid. Even though the handkerchief was about to be crumpled into a piece of salted vegetable, she still knew the situation and gently called out "sister". Then she smiled and responded to the wife of Duke Jing: "Madam, you are right. I will punish myself with three cups of wine later to make amends to you."

Everyone laughed.

The atmosphere became lively again.

Someone looked at Dou Zhao, then at Dou Ming, and said with a smile, "Speaking of which, the two young ladies of the Dou family married really well. The eldest daughter became the wife of the prince of the Duke of Ying, and the second daughter became the wife of the Marquis of Jining. Having two wives in one family is much more difficult than having three Jinshi in one family."

Everyone laughed.

Someone then said, "What's rare is that the fourth daughter of the Dou family is married, and her parents are still giving her makeup."

Dou Ming was stunned.

Add makeup?

Add makeup to Dou Zhao?

How come she doesn't know?

Dou Ming's eyes flashed with confusion. He looked towards Dou Zhao and saw him sitting there, smiling and saying half jokingly and half seriously, "It's just that my father loves his daughter and it's not easy to be a daughter-in-law after she gets married. He just wants my husband's family to look up to me."

That's an admission!

Everyone was shocked.

Many people still remember the pile of banknotes that Dou Zhao brought when she got married.

Princess Ningde laughed and said, "Just listen to it, but don't say anything nonsense! Just think about the thieves who were so jealous of the 10-liang banknote that they took the risk. If they knew how many properties Shougu had, they would definitely attract those money-hungry thieves again!"

Everyone said that they were not the kind of people who liked gossip, but they all rushed to find out about Dou Zhao's privacy.

"Mrs. Dou, will Lord Dou give you banknotes again this time?"

"Madam Dou, this is the first time we've heard that the Dou family bought you makeup. Could it be that your father is afraid of being targeted by thieves like last time, so you didn't make it public?"

"Why didn't you write it down on the dowry list when you got married? Why did you add it now?"

"There must be too many things and they are afraid that thieves will find out."

For a while, everyone was very interested in this topic.

Someone joked to Dou Ming: "There is a person sitting here who makes a fortune quietly!"

"Yes, yes!" someone echoed, "How much makeup did the wife of Marquis Jining get?"

Dou Ming knew in his heart that the Dou family must have returned half of Xidou's property to Dou Zhao.

She had known this for a long time, but when she heard it from someone else, she felt as if a huge rock was pressing down on her chest. It took her a while to catch her breath and she forced a smile, "Father dotes on my sister the most. I may not have what my sister has. Don't make fun of me. Go ask my sister."

But in my heart I was thinking about that pile of banknotes.

After Wei Tingzhen found out, he actually asked her to go back and ask her father for it.

She was not so shameless, but she was unwilling in her heart. She was so angry that she didn't eat for several days and she didn't dare to tell Wei Tingyu, for fear that Wei Tingyu would regret marrying her after hearing it.

But unexpectedly, the dowry under Dou Zhao's name was exposed in this way. What would the Wei family say and think after hearing about it?

Dou Ming felt as if a layer of ice water was flowing through her heart, making her shiver.