Chapter 351 Little New Year
People in the north celebrate the Little New Year on the 23rd day of the 11th lunar month, while people in the south celebrate the Little New Year on the 24th day of the 11th lunar month.
On the second day after Su Xin's wedding, the Duke of Ying's mansion worshipped the stove god, swept the dust and posted talismans. It was a bustling scene everywhere.
Dou Zhao and Song Mo changed into new clothes and went to the open hall in the upper courtyard - the Song family's annual family banquet was held there.
Both the Song Maochun and Song Tongchun families had already arrived and were chatting and laughing together.
Seeing Song Mo and his wife come in, the originally cheerful laughter stopped abruptly, and only sounded again after a few moments. However, it was no longer Song Maochun's family and Song Tongchun's family greeting each other, but all of them rushed in front of Song Mo and Dou Zhao.
Song Maochun smiled and said, "Tianci is really amazing. In just one year, he has been promoted to the position of Jinwuwei Tongzhi and is in charge of the Wucheng Bingmasi. Your second brother is now idle at home. If there is any good job, don't forget your second brother."
Song Mo smiled faintly and said, "I will pay attention to it."
Song Duo's face flushed red.
The eldest wife knelt down and greeted Dou Zhao, saying "congratulations" repeatedly: "The delivery date will be next summer, right? If you need to find a wet nurse or a nanny, just tell me. When your mother-in-law gave birth to Tianci, I helped find a nanny."
Dou Zhao smiled and thanked him.
The fourth wife pulled Dou Zhao aside and said, "I heard that your Dou family is very good at learning, and has produced many successful candidates. Our son is about to start learning, so please help me find a good teacher!"
Think about it, when Song Yichun wanted to drive Song Mo out of the ancestral hall, none of you came to plead for him. Now don't even think about her getting involved in these bullshit.
Dou Zhao smiled gently and said, "Some people can read, but they may not be able to teach good students. Some people cannot read, but they are very good at teaching and answering questions. It is really hard to judge whether this teacher is good or bad, and it is even harder for me to recommend him to you."
The fourth wife was very surprised.
The first wife was entrusted by Song Yichun to preside over the reward of the Duke of Ying's Mansion when Song Yichun was not in Kyoto. However, she was forced to hand over the Duke of Ying's Mansion's counter-cards within less than a day after entering the palace, and returned home with her daughter-in-law Tan in disgrace. Although the first wife tried her best to cover it up, what happened at that time was still exposed. The fourth wife was thinking at home that the first wife had been able to go smoothly over the years and take over such a large family business because she clung to Song Yichun's thigh. Now that the Duke of Ying and Song Mo have a rift, but they can do nothing about Song Mo, if their family clung to Song Mo's thigh, in a few years, their family will be the one that is glorious. She then suggested that Dou Zhao help find a teacher for her son - there were so many teachers in Kyoto, and she said this just to compliment Dou Zhao on his family background of scholars, but who knew that she hit a soft spot, and Dou Zhao simply refused to respond.
She bit her lip.
Then we can only think of solutions from other places!
As the thought flashed through his mind, Song Fengchun and his family arrived.
But before Song Fengchun and his wife greeted everyone, Song Jin had already broken free from the nurse's hand, ran to Song Mo, and pulled Song Mo's sleeve with infinite grievance, saying: "Third cousin, you didn't give me anything this year."
Since Song Jin was the only girl in the Song family at the time of Song Mo's generation, Song Mo had always been kind to her. Although he did not like his fourth uncle's attitude when his father wanted to drive him out of the Song family, he did not get angry with his cousin. As in previous years, he would give Song Jin two pieces of gold and silver jewelry every Chinese New Year as her wedding dowry. But since Song Jin went to embarrass Dou Zhao on the day of the wedding, even though Song Mo knew that Song Jin was just being used by someone, Song Jin did not even say a word of apology to Dou Zhao afterwards. He no longer liked Song Jin and did not give Song Jin anything during the Chinese New Year this year.
Now seeing her running into the living room and asking for things from him, she ignored the elders and her brother and sister-in-law at home, looking uneducated, which made him even more unhappy. He asked, "Why don't you say hello to the elders?"
"I forgot!" She stuck out her tongue, looking very innocent.
Song Mo's face darkened.
The room suddenly felt as if a cold wind had swept through it, and the air became chilly.
The Third Wife laughed and said, "Jin'er, you can't talk to your Third Cousin like that. Hurry up and pay your respects to your Third Cousin and his wife."
Song Jin pouted and reluctantly bowed to Song Mo and Dou Zhao.
Song Mo nodded, helped Dou Zhao up and said, "My father may not be here for a while, please sit down for a while, don't stand all the time."
Dou Zhao also ignored Song Jin.
Song Jin is twelve years old this year, not two or three years old.
She smiled and responded softly, letting Song Mo help her sit down on the armchair beside her.
Song Jin looked at this and tears immediately welled up in his eyes.
The Third Wife glanced at Song Mo quickly, and seeing that Song Mo did not even glance at Song Jin, she hurried forward to hug her daughter and coaxed her softly: "Don't cry, don't cry, today is the Little New Year, and the Third Cousin has something to do, it's not that he is ignoring you."
Seeing that his mother was not angry, Song Jin became bolder and said unhappily, "My third cousin is always following my third cousin's wife..."
The fourth wife chuckled and said, "If your third cousin doesn't revolve around your third cousin's wife, who should he revolve around?"
Song Jin's face tightened when he heard that and he glared at the Fourth Madam fiercely.
The third wife also looked annoyed.
The eldest wife tried to smooth things over: "Okay, okay, it's rare for us to get together today, let's all sit down and talk!"
The third and fourth wives snorted at each other and took their children to find a place to sit down.
Tan silently served tea to her mother-in-law, but she couldn't help but glance at Dou Zhao from the corner of her eye.
She had been married to the Song family for more than four years and there had been no movement. Less than two months after she got married, she became pregnant...
She is so lucky! So enviable!
I wonder if she has any secret recipe for having a son?
While he was thinking, Song Yichun came in with Song Han.
Everyone stood up and saluted Song Yichun.
Song Yichun returned the gift with a beaming face, spoke affectionately to Song Qin and other nephews and nieces who surrounded her, touched Song Jin's head lovingly, and hugged six-year-old Song Jian, but her eyes never lingered on Song Mo and Dou Zhao for a moment, and she unconsciously excluded Song Mo and Dou Zhao from the circle.
Dou Zhao couldn't help but squeeze Song Mo's hand.
Song Mo smiled at her with a very calm expression.
Dou Zhao whispered, "How about we leave early later?"
"No need!" Song Mo whispered to Dou Zhao, "Even though I feel uncomfortable looking at him, I don't think he will like me either!"
Dou Zhao couldn't help but smile.
Song Han, who was following behind Song Yichun, laughed so hard that his eyes hurt.
No matter what my father does, he can't hurt my brother, right?
He walked forward with a smile and called out "brother", saying: "What are brother and sister-in-law talking about? They sound so happy? Tell me and I'll be happy too!"
The loud voice echoed in the open hall, causing the smile on Song Yichun's face to freeze. He immediately lost interest in joking with his nephews and nieces. He discussed the developments in the court with Song Maochun and others in a sullen manner, and talked about anecdotes in Kyoto. It was almost time, so everyone sat down at a table of men and women, chatting and laughing, and began to eat the New Year's reunion dinner.
After dinner, when it was still early, the third wife suggested playing mahjong: "Me, the eldest sister-in-law, the fourth brother's wife, and the heaven-given daughter-in-law, there are exactly four of us."
Since you are going to go to war with the Song family, keeping a low profile will only allow your opponents to step on your head.
Dou Zhao smiled and said, "I'd better forget it. Firstly, I'm not in a good condition to sit for a long time now, and secondly, you guys are just playing small and it's not interesting. I'd better let my sister-in-law play with my aunt and the two aunts."
The third wife's smiling face was frozen there.
Dou Zhao pretended not to see anything and told his personal maid Ruotong, "Peel a pear for me. In this awful weather, my throat is dry and sore from using the brazier, but it's too cold without it. Since we have the reunion dinner in the open room every year, why don't we install a floor dragon in the open room as well?"
A tone of extreme disgust and disdain.
The atmosphere in the room stagnated.
Song Jin was already full of resentment towards Song Mo for not giving her anything, but she did not dare to blame Song Mo, so she took it out on Dou Zhao, thinking that because her third cousin married her third cousin's wife, he forgot about her. But if her third cousin's wife was a virtuous person, she should have reminded her third cousin. Moreover, everyone said that her third cousin's wife had been rejected by someone else, and because she could not get married, she married her third cousin. Considering her third cousin's character, it must be that her third cousin's family had used some tricks. She looked down on her third cousin's wife from the bottom of her heart, and now her mother was humiliated again, how could she bear it? She provoked Dou Zhao and said, "We all know that her third cousin's wife is rich and powerful. Otherwise, why don't she pay for the installation of a ground dragon in the living room?"
Dou Zhao sneered and said nothing.
Song Jin jumped up in anger and asked, "What does Third Cousin's wife mean by this?"
Dou Zhao pretended not to hear anything and drank his tea leisurely.
Ruotong, who was standing behind her, said, "What the eldest lady said is very strange. None of the elders in the family said anything, but the eldest lady ordered her sister-in-law around. Does the eldest lady think she can be the head of the Duke of Ying's mansion?"
"You bitch!" Song Jin raised his hand and slapped Ruotong, "How can you have a say here?"
Ruotong was shocked. She didn't expect Song Jin to actually attack her. She took a few steps back to avoid Song Jin's hand, but she said without showing any weakness: "I have no right to speak in front of the masters. I only talk to people of similar status to me."
Su Lan took two steps at a time and stepped forward to grab Song Jin's arm.
Song Jin took the opportunity to sit on the ground and burst into tears: "Second uncle, my third cousin and his wife's servants bullied me! Call the traffickers and sell them all!"
The third wife was so angry that her heart was throbbing. She went forward to pull her daughter and said, "Don't cry, dear. Look, I will help you deal with these two slaves."
The Third Wife's personal nanny stepped forward to hit Sulan, but was kicked by Sulan to the ground, which caused a burst of exclamations from the First Wife and others, and the scene was very chaotic.
Song Yichun's hair was covered with veins, and he shouted "Stop it!", but his eyes shot towards Dou Zhao like arrows: "How can a daughter-in-law be like you? You don't respect your elders, and you even beat your sister-in-law. Get out of here!"
Song Mo's face was as gloomy as water. He stepped forward and was about to say something, but he saw Dou Zhao giving him a look that said "calm down".
He just stood there with his fists clenched.
Dou Zhao breathed a sigh of relief.
Of course she knew that Song Mo would help her out when she got into trouble, but in this case, she had to do it herself. If Song Mo helped her out, even if she got the reward from the Duke of Ying's Mansion, others would just think that it was won by her man, and she would have to spend time to clean up the backyard. It would be better to fight Song Yichun openly today, so that those people would know how powerful she was and dare not be perfunctory in front of her.