Chapter 424: Contribution
Just as Song Mo sat down in the study, Gao Sheng came over and brought a lot of supplements: "Our old man is very happy. He asked you to take good care of my grandmother. When the baby is one month old, he will ask someone to take the young master back to stay for a few days."
According to etiquette, the female relatives are supposed to attend the social events on the third day after the birth of a child and the full month after the birth of the child. Even though Dou Shiying is the father, he has to avoid it.
I am so happy myself. My father has always valued Dou Zhao, so he must be very happy too.
Song Mo thought for a moment and said, "Tell my father-in-law that he can come over when he's free. I'll bring the little boy out for him to see."
Gao Sheng was overjoyed when he heard this, and kowtowed to Song Mo several times before leaving.
Song Mo picked up his pen and prepared to write the wedding invitations when Gu Yu, who heard the news, rushed over.
He was delighted and said, "I heard it was a boy, weighing 15.75 pounds. Is that true?"
Song Mo nodded, no longer in the mood to write wedding invitations. He sat there and talked about the child: "... He opened his eyes in less than two hours... My grandmother said that other people's children can't open their eyes before seven days old... His eyebrows look like mine, and his lips look like your sister-in-law's. He is very beautiful... I was worried about what name to give the child, and it's just right that you came. Help me find a suitable name."
The two of them lay on the kang table by the window and selected the names that Song Mo had written down earlier.
When Song Yichun, who was practicing calligraphy, heard that Dou Zhao had given birth to a son, his face darkened and he dropped his pen in frustration.
The servant who came to report the news stood there trembling with fear and dared not move.
Song Yichun looked at this and his face became even gloomier. He frowned and waved at the servant.
The servant ran away as if he had been pardoned.
Tao Qizhong sat in his room for a long time, then decided to go see Song Yichun.
Although Song Yichun didn't tell him anything about what Song Mo and Song Han had done, he had a vague idea of what was going on.
He entered the Duke of England's Mansion after Song Han was born. At that time, the old Duke had just passed away, and many of the elderly people in the Duke of England's Mansion were sent back to their hometowns to recuperate. Later, Mrs. Jiang took over the general affairs of the Duke of England's Mansion. He thought it was a normal transition from the old to the new and did not take it to heart. Now it seems that Song Yichun is braver than he imagined, but also more incompetent, more impulsive, and more brainless.
If I continue to follow Song Yichun like this, I'm afraid I will end up in Song Mo's hands.
He began to think about quitting.
It's just that at this time, Song Mo had just given birth to his eldest son, and his status was more stable. Song Yichun must have felt very uncomfortable. Not only that, he also had to comfort Song Yichun and make him feel better so that he could leave in peace and complete the host-guest relationship.
Thinking of this, he no longer hesitated, changed his clothes and went to Xiangxiangyuan.
Song Yichun was indeed having a tantrum there.
When he inquired, he found out that the tea brewed by the maid was too hot.
Tao Qi sighed heavily and asked the servant to report it for him.
The maid came out quickly and lifted the curtain.
Tao Qizhong walked into the study with a solemn expression.
Song Yichun immediately said, "You should have heard about it, right? Song Mo gave birth to a son."
"I heard about it." Tao Qizhong said, "That's why I came here."
Song Yichun said "Oh" with great interest, a smile appeared on his face, and he pointed to the armchair beside him: "Sit down and talk."
Tao Qizhong asked Song Yichun to dismiss the servants in the house and said, "Why not find a capable marriage for the second master? The affairs of the inner house should be taken care of by the women in the inner house themselves. If we manage the affairs of the inner house, it will be like scratching an itch through a shoe. We are always helpless at the critical moment."
Song Yichun hesitated and said, "Will this work? Dou is fierce and shrewd, not someone who is easy to deal with. I'm afraid that ordinary women can't control her."
"Then let's go to Princess Shang." Tao Qizhong said, "No matter how powerful the Crown Prince's wife is, do you think she dares to interfere with the Princess?"
Song Yichun's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he said, "In the future, the child born by the princess will be a royal relative, with a higher status than the child born by Lady Dou. Song Mo will have a headache then." At this point, he couldn't help but snort, "I wonder if Song Mo still treats Lady Dou like a treasure!" Then he began to think about which princess is the same age as Song Han: "Fuyuan is married; Jingyi, Jingtai, and Jingfu are three years older than Tianen, two years older, and one year older. In theory, Jingfu is the most suitable, but Jingyi is the biological child of Queen Wan..."
Tao Qizhong didn't say anything and just drank his tea.
Are princesses of the royal family so elegant? With Song Mo as an example and Song Han being rumored to be a bastard, not to mention the princess, any family that is a bit particular would not easily marry their daughter into the family.
He didn't dare to offend Song Mo, so he had to talk nonsense here and get through this hurdle first.
But seeing Song Yichun like this, he couldn't help but remind Song Yichun: "If a princess doesn't work, a county lady or the eldest daughter of a noble family will do! As long as her family is capable, plus the eldest, third and fourth houses, the Second Master may not lose to the Crown Prince - no matter how powerful the Crown Prince is, he can't ignore his relatives, right?"
Song Yichun nodded repeatedly, in a good mood.
If you take good care of yourself, you can live for at least 30 years. With him supporting you, why would you worry about not being able to suppress Dou?
The Dou family can't come to us for just a small matter, right?
Moreover, the Dou family has no brothers. It is still okay now. For a family like the Dou family that relies on imperial examinations to enter the government, the grandson of whichever branch holds a high position will have a strong back and a say. In a dozen or twenty years, who knows who will be the head of the Dou family?
The thought flashed through his mind, and he became even happier. He said to Tao Qizhong, "Now that we have our own son, brothers have to stand aside. I don't know what Song Mo has gone crazy for. He actually wants to take back the dowry that Jiang left for Tian'en and take care of it. Uncle Lu has also been drugged by him, saying that Tian'en is young and doesn't understand anything, so it's better to give Jiang's dowry to Song Mo for the time being. If Song Han wants to propose marriage, I wonder what reason they have to take back Jiang's dowry? This is really a good idea to kill two birds with one stone!"
Tao Qizhong was very surprised to hear this.
He didn't know that Song Mo wanted to take back Jiang's dowry.
It seemed that Song Mo really hated Song Han, and Song Yichun was determined to use Song Han to harm Song Mo, so it would be better for him to get out of this situation as soon as possible.
Not long after the pottery was put back in place, it became "sick".
Of course, this is all a story for later.
Dou Shiying came to visit the Duke of Ying's mansion that evening.
Song Yichun had to pretend to receive Dou Shiying, and only then did Dou Shiying go to Yizhitang.
The little baby was wrapped in a bright red silk swaddle and brought into the small study.
Dou Shiying looked over there breathlessly, and suddenly his eyes became moist.
"She's really pretty!" he murmured. "Look at her hair and eyes. She's as pretty as Shougu was when she was a child."
Song Mo couldn't help but mutter to himself.
The child obviously looks like me, how can you say he looks like Shougu?
Gu Yu hadn't left yet. Looking at the child whose face hadn't grown up yet but already looked 70% similar to Song Mo, he couldn't help but chuckle and complimented Dou Shiying: "He looks a lot like your sister-in-law."
"Is that so?" Dou Shiying found a soulmate. He looked at Gu Yu carefully with a smile on his face, took off a jade pendant from his waist, and said, "Is he the eldest son of the Yunyang Earl's family? He doesn't have anything good. You can take this and play with it!"
When Gu Yu took a look at the jade, he saw that it was top-quality mutton-fat jade, glossy and smooth, delicate and flawless, with simple and elegant carvings and a natural and smooth flow. It was obvious at first glance that it was an ancient jade that had been passed down from generation to generation.
He thanked him with a smile, and while Dou Shiying was looking at the children, he winked at Song Mo, indicating that the old man was generous and he got such a good thing just by saying a few polite words.
Song Mo didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
When Dou Shiying saw his grandson with his own eyes, the heavy weight in his heart fell to the ground. Afraid that the wind would blow the child away, he turned up the collar of the child's swaddling clothes with his own hands and then let the wet nurse take the child back.
Song Mo invited Dou Shiying to drink.
Dou Shiying was not polite either. He chatted with Song Mo for most of an hour, all about Dou Zhao's childhood.
Only then did Gu Yu know about the Dou family.
He felt a little uncomfortable.
I didn't expect that my sister-in-law is also a miserable person.
I really shouldn't have treated my sister-in-law like that.
Fortunately, Brother Tianci really likes my sister-in-law and is determined. If their marriage was ruined because of my nonsense, wouldn’t I be the sinner?
He poured wine for Dou Shiying diligently.
Dou Shiying liked him more and more, and asked Gu Yu to come to his house to play when he was free: "... I have a few good-looking brush washers here, you can pick one for yourself, and I will keep the rest for my grandson."
Gu Yu had seen all kinds of things, but what was rare was Dou Shiying's kindness.
He hurriedly replied "yes", and seeing that Dou Shiying was a little drunk, he volunteered to take Dou Shiying home.
Song Mo pulled him aside and said, "You are not interested in something of my father-in-law's, are you? Don't embarrass me by going to my father-in-law's house!"
Gu Yu rolled his eyes and said, "Am I such a shallow-minded person?"
Song Mo looked him up and down and said, "I don't see anything deep in you."
Gu Yu was so angry that he jumped to his feet. He helped Dou Shiying onto the carriage and followed beside it on horseback.
Song Mo smiled and shook his head, watching the two figures disappear at the entrance of the alley before returning to Yizhitang and going to Dou Zhao's place.
Dou Zhao had slept for most of the day and had recovered.
The child was sleeping next to her pillow. She leaned on the big pillow and heard Jiang Yan say, "…while you were asleep, the Lu family and the wife of the Marquis of Yan'an sent people to greet you and told you to have a good rest. They came to congratulate you early in the morning on the day of your third-day bathing ceremony."
Jiang Yan had naturally helped Dou Zhao to deal with people.
Dou Zhao smiled and nodded.
Sometimes, all people lack is an opportunity!
She asked Jiang Yan: "So what did you say?"
Jiang Yan said, "I said you had gone to bed, so I asked the maids of the two families to say hello to Old Lady Lu, Princess Ningde, and the wife of the Marquis of Yan'an, and I rewarded the maids of the two families with two top-quality red seals each."
Dou Zhao praised her: "Well done!"
Jiang Yan blushed and said, "I learned it from Su Xin."
Dou Zhao was in labor, and Su Xin and Su Lan came to help. Su Xin had always been prestigious in Dou Zhao's family, and everyone would ask her to make decisions when they had something to do.
Jiang Yan said with some worry, "I saw that my aunt and the others looked very unhappy when they left. Is it okay?"
Dou Zhao smiled and said, "The reason why relatives are closer than outsiders is because they can look after each other in times of trouble. But when your brother was in trouble, not one of them stood up to say a good word for him. It's okay to offend such relatives who can share wealth but not adversity. Anyway, they can't help you at the critical moment."
Jiang Yan seemed to be thinking about something.
Song Mo was glad that he found a wife who shared the same thoughts as him.
He strode in with a smile and said, "What are you talking about? You sound so happy!"