Chapter 425: Naming

Jiang Yan was still a little afraid of Song Mo. When he saw Song Mo come in, he stood up uncomfortably, murmured "Brother", and stepped aside, giving the position at the head of the bed to Song Mo.

Song Mo sat on the brocade stool beside the bed, took Dou Zhao's hand and asked her: "Is the child bothering you? Are you feeling better?" Seeing that Dou Zhao's hair was a little messy, he gently helped her smooth a strand of hair that was scattered on her cheek behind her ear.

Dou Zhao was all in Jiang Yan's eyes and heart. His face was burning with anger. He quickly stood up and said goodbye, returning to Bishuixuan.

Compared with the liveliness and warmth of the main courtyard of Yizhitang, Bishuixuan is silent and seems a bit deserted.

Jiang Yan looked at the big red lantern under the eaves with sad eyes.

She thought of the person who welcomed her into his home with music and dance.

She thought she would have children with him and live a loving life.

But he gave himself to He Hao.

Those humiliating scenes reappeared in her mind.

She squatted on the ground and started to vomit.

Yinghong was startled. She squatted down to help her, and said anxiously, "Cousin, what happened to you? Can I get a doctor for you?"

Jiang Yan grabbed Yinghong and said, "I'm fine. Maybe the cold wind just now chilled my stomach. I'll be fine after I go back and have a cup of hot tea. We just had a nephew, it's a time for celebration. There's no reason to alarm my brother and sister-in-law because of my affairs and make them unhappy!"

Yinghong felt that what she said made sense and couldn't help but feel a little hesitant.

Jiang Yan had helped her stand up. Her face was as pale as snow, without a trace of blood.

Yinghong's heart was lifted again.

Jiang Yan has gone to the inner room.

I can't think about that person anymore!

She was an unclean person, but her brother took so much effort to bring her back home, and even turned against their father and brothers who had been as close as brothers for more than ten years because of her. Since her brother instructed everyone in the family to call her "Miss Cousin", she should forget all the things in the past, treat herself as a widow whose husband had died, and live happily with her brother and sister-in-law.

Jiang Yan took a deep breath and lifted the curtain of the inner room.

※※※※※

Song Han lay on the bed, looking at the flickering candlelight with a sinister look on his face.

He knew from a young age that he was the second son and could not inherit the family business. Everyone had seen his elder brother's hard work and efforts. He never thought about suffering the same hardships as his elder brother, nor did he ever think about competing for the position of the prince of the Duke of Ying. All along, his wish was to live a leisurely and comfortable life under the protection of his elder brother.

But now, this has become a luxury.

Song Mo wanted to take back the property he got from his mother.

The people from the Lu family also joined in the fun and spoke for Song Mo.

Although his father was unhappy, because he now lived with his father in the Osmanthus Courtyard, his father was afraid that others would think that the property under his name was entrusted by his father. If he argued with Song Mo over a few thousand taels of silver, he would be known as stingy. However, Song Mo had no scruples and wanted to beat him back to his original form with one blow. When two people meet on a narrow road, the bravest wins. Even if his father gritted his teeth and refused to give in, he was afraid that he would not be able to withstand Song Mo's endless tricks, and would eventually agree to return the property he inherited from his mother to Song Mo.

Without those prospects, how am I supposed to live my life relying on my father?

Song Han felt that although he was now well-dressed and well-fed, he would soon become like a beggar, no, worse than a beggar. A beggar could beg by himself, but could he, the second son of the Duke of Ying, beg? Moreover, when those close friends found out that he had no money, would they still hold him in their arms?

He pounded the bed hard.

Dou actually gave birth to a son!

How great it would be if it was a daughter!

At least he could still rely on his status as the heir second only to Song Mo to bully others and maybe even get some money to get through this difficult time.

What should I do?

Song Mo will not let him go. His father is unreliable. Where is his future?

Song Han felt the night wind blowing on his body, bitingly cold.

※※※※※

Dou Ming was also very unhappy.

She sat in front of the mirror, staring at the woman in the mirror who was still as beautiful as a flower but now looked even more charming with a hint of gloom between her brows, and frowned tightly.

Dou Zhao is lucky.

She got pregnant with him one after another, but she lost her own child. However, she gave birth to her eldest son smoothly.

If Wei Tingzhen knew about this, she would probably criticize me in front of her mother-in-law and husband, right?

But can I blame myself for this?

If her child was healthy, she would be a mother now, right?

My father had only two daughters in his life. Although he was a successful candidate in the imperial examinations, his relatives and friends said nothing to him in front of him, but who wouldn't say that he was an old and lonely man behind his back? Now Dou Zhao has a son, which has brought honor to his father. He must be very happy, right? He will probably take out the treasures left by his ancestors to appease his grandson.

Dou Ming's face turned pale, and with a snap, he broke one of the teeth of the ivory comb.

"Madam!" The little maid who served her closely trembled with fear.

Dou Ming glanced at the maid with disgust.

Since the quarrel between the Dou family and the Wei family, the people of the Dou family rarely came to visit. If there was something, they would just send a nanny to tell her. No one would urge her to go or not. Wei Tingzhen was secretly happy, thinking that she had caught her in this way, but she didn't know that this man always loved fine goods. She had money in her hands, and Wei Tingyu gave her leisure at home. Apart from the annual salary of 1,000 shi, there were people who were loyal to her and worked for her. Wei Tingzhen wanted to use the excuse that she had a small child and the maids and servants around her didn't take good care of her, and wanted to replace the people around her with the hereditary servants of the Jining Marquis's mansion. She immediately bought some maids and servants to make Wei Tingzhen's plan go awry.

But these people who were bought in were not well-educated and were not easy to use. It would be better for Mama Zhou to find a way to train a few maids who were more stable.

Thinking of this, she asked the little maid, "Besides saying that Fourth Auntie gave birth to a son, what else did the messenger say?"

"There's nothing else to say." The little maid's upper and lower teeth chattered.

He blamed himself for losing the bet with his elder sister who entered the mansion earlier than him, and was sent to report to the lady.

Whose sister gave birth to a nephew but didn’t invite her younger sister to attend the baptism?

It is obvious that the lady has been disliked by her natal family and her elder sister.

What would she do if her lady got angry and took it out on her?

She was so anxious that she almost cried.

Dou Ming waved his hand and asked her to leave.

She felt relieved.

Ran out quickly.

From the inner room came the sound of something being smashed.

The little maid couldn't help but shrink her shoulders, and when she looked up, she saw Wei Tingyu walking in.

She quickly knelt down and saluted, then tremblingly retreated to the corner.

Wei Tingyu stopped in front of the door.

Dou Ming is smashing things again.

I don't know how many times this has happened.

The first time was when she persuaded me to take money to bribe the Duke of Dongping and ask him to find me a job in the Five Military Commandery, but I refused.

She swept all the teacups, lids and bowls on the table onto the floor.

The second time was when her elder sister saw that the maids serving in his room had been replaced. She was afraid that the new maid would not know the rules, so she gave him a senior maid by her side. She then sent her back to the mansion of Duke Jing. He went to her to reason with her, but she asked him in a gloomy tone if he had taken a fancy to that maid and wanted to keep her in the room to warm his bed. He was so angry that he left with a wave of his sleeves, and she was also like now, smashing things in the room.

The third time... he couldn't remember clearly.

He only knew that his mother knew that she had smashed everything in the house and felt sorry for the treasures, so she called her in to reprimand her. However, she said coldly: "I smashed my own dowry, not the things from the Jining Marquis's Mansion. I don't feel sorry for it, so why should you feel sorry for it? If things are smashed, just buy new ones. If the old ones don't go, the new ones won't come." This made his mother so angry that her face turned pale, and she pointed at her and couldn't utter a word for a long time.

Wei Tingyu didn't want to go in and suffer, so he turned around and walked out.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the little maid hiding in the corner and shivering.

His heart couldn't help but soften.

This little maidservant is afraid of Dou Ming like a tiger, and isn't she the same in her heart?

Wei Tingyu felt a sense of sympathy.

He stopped and asked the little maid in a gentle voice, "What's your name?"

The little maid stuttered, "My name is A Xuan."

"A Xuan?" Wei Tingyu asked, "Which 'Xuan'?"

The little maid said, "The 'Xuan' of daylily."

Wei Tingyu was a little surprised and asked, "Can you read?"

"When my brother was studying, I was doing needlework beside him, and he told me that I recognized it."

Wei Tingyu was surprised and asked, "Since your family can afford to support your brother's education, why would they sell you out?"

The little maidservant argued: "I signed a living contract. My brother will come to redeem me in ten years!"

Her eyes were wide open, and the distinct black and white of her pupils were like clear spring water, allowing one to see through them at a glance.

Another idiot!

Wei Tingyu shook his head and walked out. He could not help but whisper to the servant beside him: "Look for an opportunity to transfer this little maid named Axuan to the study room in the outer courtyard. With her personality, she will die if she serves the Madam."

The servant whispered "yes".

Wei Tingyu went to Tian's place.

※※※※※

Song Mo lay on the bed and looked at his sleeping son. The more he looked, the cuter and more magical he seemed to him.

He whispered to Dou Zhao, "What do you think we should name our son? Ming Yi? Xi Xian? Feng Yi?"

Dou Wu smiled and said, "There's no need to pick a name so early, right? How about a nickname first?"

"How can that be possible?" Song Mo muttered, "He is our eldest son, so he needs a nickname and a given name." He said in distress, "I think Mingyi and Xixian are both good, but Gu Yu thinks Fengyi is better. As for the nickname, how about 'Brother Yuan'?"

This child is the eldest son and deserves the name "Yuan".

Dou Zhao smiled and nodded, saying, "This is a good nickname!"

Song Mo became proud and said, "Then let's call him Ming Yi."

"Song Mingyi." Dou Zhao said with a smile, "It's easy to read."

When Song Mo saw that Dou Zhao agreed, he called his son "Brother Yuan" and "Brother Yuan".

But the son didn't give her face. He frowned, opened his mouth and burst into tears.

Song Mo smiled awkwardly.

Dou Zhao hurriedly comforted him: "Brother Yuan may be hungry."

Song Mo said "Oh" and stepped aside awkwardly.