Chapter 439: Sister-in-law

Ganlu smiled and told the maids to serve the meal.

Dou Zhao and Jiang Yan had lunch together and went to the Senate.

The banquet for the women was held in the flower hall of the Upper House. When they arrived, the banquet had just ended. Mrs. Song and others were accompanying a few ladies with ordinary clothes and unfamiliar faces to admire the chrysanthemums in front of the steps of the flower hall.

When they saw Dou Zhao, they were all stunned.

Mrs. Song introduced them to everyone: "This is the wife of our prince, and this is our cousin." She pointed to the wives of the other wives and said, "This is the wife of Mr. Li, the classmate of the Duke, this is the wife of Mr. Wen, the classmate of the Duke at Jinxiu Academy, and this is the wife of Mr. Qin, the chief officer of the Five Armies Commandery..."

They are all unknown figures.

Everyone greeted each other.

Dou Zhao said apologetically: "Because the child is still young, he can't live without people for a while, so I'm sorry for you!" He then said to Mrs. Song, "Fortunately, I have my aunt to help me, so the family can go smoothly without making any mistakes." ”

Mrs. Song was humble.

Someone laughed and said, "I've heard that a cousin has come to your house. She looks exactly like the late Madam Jiang. Seeing her today, I realize that it's not an exaggeration." Then he pulled Jiang Yan's hand and said, "You and Madam Jiang look exactly alike!"

Jiang Yan felt a little uncomfortable.

Dou Zhao smiled and changed the subject: "It's getting late, why don't we move to the waterside pavilion? There's a stage there, and they've invited a troupe to perform."

Everyone responded "OK" in unison and surrounded Dou Zhao and Jiang Yan as they headed towards the waterside pavilion.

Among them was a round-faced woman in her thirties. She introduced herself as Huang, the wife of Hu Chong, the chief of the left army of the Five Armies Commandery. Her family was the commander of the Dengzhou Guard. She smiled and said to Dou Zhao, "When the old Duke was alive, my father came with my grandfather to pay his respects to the old Duke. After my father left, he never forgot the splendor of the Duke of Ying's Mansion. I have heard about it since I was a child and have always wanted to see what the Duke of Ying's Mansion is like. Today I have finally broadened my horizons. Let alone other things, the two ginkgo trees in front of the gate must be at least a hundred years old, right?"

Her attitude was neither humble nor arrogant, and her tone was cheerful and lively, which made Dou Zhao very fond of her.

Dou Zhao smiled and said, "I never thought that our two families had such a connection! It is said that the ginkgo tree has been there since the founding of the mansion. Because our ancestors liked it, they have kept it until today. It is probably more than a hundred years old."

Mrs. Hu laughed and turned her gaze to Jiang Yan: "My cousin is really beautiful. How old are you this year?"

Dou Zhao frowned slightly.

Jiang Yan was honest and answered every question. He said softly, "I am fifteen this year!"

"Oh my!" Mrs. Li's face was full of regret, "She just got married!"

I believe everyone has heard that Jiang Yan is a "widow".

Jiang Yan said nothing.

Dou Zhao calmly asked the welcoming nanny: "Which troupe did you invite today? What are their specialties?"

The maid who was welcoming the guests smiled and said, "Today we have invited Zeng Chusheng from Guanglian Society. However, Zeng Chusheng has not sung in the temple for a while, so he sent two of his direct disciples, Zeng Liansheng and Zeng Junsheng, to perform on stage, while Zeng Chusheng just sat on the side. Zeng Liansheng sings the female role, while Zeng Junsheng sings the male role. They sang "The Story of the Embroidered Rug" and "The Story of the Jade Hairpin" very well."

Dou Zhao turned around and smiled at the ladies, saying, "What would you like to hear later?"

Someone said, "Let's listen to "Xiu Ru Ji"."

Someone else said, "Let's listen to The Jade Hairpin! It's more interesting than The Embroidered Rug."

Everyone started discussing the play enthusiastically.

Mrs. Hu's eyes rolled around, and she joined everyone in discussing what play to order later, and put the matter behind them.

Jiang Yan secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and helped Dou Zhao sit down under the veranda of the water pavilion.

The welcoming maid came over with a playlist and asked the guests to select the plays.

Ruozhu walked in quickly and whispered in Dou Zhao's ear, "Madam, the steward from the front yard just came to tell us that Princess Ningde and Old Madam Lu are both old and can't stand the noise, so they only sent Grandma Lu to attend the wedding."

Dou Zhao was surprised.

I didn't expect Princess Ningde and Madam Lu to make their positions so clear.

She nodded slightly.

Then I saw the welcoming nanny leading Grandma Lu over.

Dou Zhao went to meet him.

Grandma Lu smiled bitterly and said, "Don't take it to heart. It's just that the Duke's actions this time were too absurd. Everyone felt that coming here was a disgrace to himself."

Dou Zhao smiled and said, "If the Princess and the old lady don't come to our Yuan Ge'er's 100th day celebration, I won't agree."

Grandma Lu said with a smile, "Who dares not to come to Yuan'er's hundred-day celebration? Don't worry, if the two old ladies still complain that they are too noisy, I will drag them over even if I have to!"

This is of course a joke.

Grandma Lu was certain that even if Song Han was a bastard, Princess Ningde and Old Madam Lu would not necessarily be so disrespectful to Song Yichun.

Dou Zhao took Lu Grandma's arm and sat down in the waterside pavilion.

People from the Marquis of Yan'an's Mansion, the Marquis of Changxing's Mansion and other wealthy families that usually have dealings with the Duke of Ying's Mansion came one after another, but those who came were either second daughters-in-law or young wives. None of those with high status like the Crown Prince's Wife or the First Wife came.

Even Dou Zhao felt ashamed.

When it came to the dinner, the situation became even more awkward - there were only seven or eight tables of guests in the entire flower hall, and even the birthday celebration of the aunt of the Marquis's family was not so deserted.

Dou Zhao sighed secretly.

The wives of the scholars and the wives of the chief clerks also noticed something was going on, and they all buried their heads in their meals without saying a word.

Because the Miao family lived in Daxing, the Song family sent out a sedan chair before dawn. Mrs. Song San and Mrs. Li, who were the lucky bridesmaids at Song Han's wedding, also set out early in the morning with the sedan chair.

After the dinner, the wives and grandmothers from various mansions found various excuses to go back home, while the wives of Song Yichun's friends went to the bridal chamber with Dou Zhao.

The new house was a small courtyard with two entrances and three rooms, and was decorated very elegantly. Part of the bride's dowry was piled in the storeroom at the back, and part had been displayed and was being watched by two dowry maids and two dowry nannies from the Miao family.

Everyone looked at the bride's dowry. Although the quilt cover was carved with silk, the color and pattern were the style of ten years ago. Although the teacup looked new, it was not made by the official kiln and was very cheap. As for the chicken feather whisk, it would shed fluff when touched. The tin basin was so light that it was difficult to hold. The jade in the jade bonsai looked dull and looked like stone...

People couldn't help showing some contempt.

Someone who is not very smart asked, "Isn't this a marriage given by Yu? Why are these things the only things you have to accompany it with?"

Someone suddenly pulled the man's sleeve.

The man quickly shut up.

The maids and servants of the Miao family blushed with embarrassment.

The eldest wife of the Song family had a hot face and hurriedly invited everyone to go to the east room next to the new house for tea.

Everyone went to the east room in silence.

Mrs. Song warmly invited everyone to eat fruits and vegetables, and then asked the wife of the principal of Jinxiu Academy: "Where is your academy? Do you accept children?"

The headmaster's wife drank her tea elegantly and said slowly, "The academy is located in Sunjia Hutong, next to the Yaowang Temple outside the city. It only accepts children aged seven or eight..."

Everyone was listening to them chatting, but Mrs. Hu came up to Dou Zhao and said with a smile, "Madam, please don't think I am being too rude. I just felt pity for my cousin and thought of my cousin who just became a widower. He just turned 20 this year and is very handsome. His family owns quite a few acres of land. He passed the imperial examination at the age of 16. His wife didn't leave any children and lived with her widowed mother. I wanted to find a marriage for your cousin, so I asked you this question."

As she spoke, she looked at Dou Zhao cautiously.

Dou Zhao was very surprised. He thought that Mrs. Hu was too impetuous. But he was afraid that if he rejected her in one breath, others would think that she had high requirements and would not dare to propose marriage to Jiang Yan. So he said, "We have to discuss this matter with our prince. If the family is really interested, you might as well write down the name, age, family situation, etc. of the person and leave it with me, so that I can show it to the prince when the time comes."

Mrs. Hu didn't expect things to go so smoothly.

With her status and position, if Song Han hadn't gotten married, she wouldn't have been able to even think of stepping into the gate of the Duke of Ying's Mansion. That's why she took this risky move.

She nodded happily and went to the west room opposite accompanied by her maid.

If they could marry the eldest daughter of the Duke of England who was rumored to have been switched, not only would her cousin be able to make the leap to success, but they would also be able to benefit from it.

She thought carefully about what she was going to write down before she started writing.

Dou Zhao asked Ruotong to collect the paper and said, "We'll contact each other then."

Mrs. Hu glanced at Jiang Yan, who was listening to the opera attentively, and nodded hurriedly.

A quarter before the You hour, the bride's sedan chair entered the mansion.

He stepped over the fire basin, bowed in the hall, entered the bridal chamber, and lifted the veil.

The bride's face drew a burst of admiration from everyone.

Miao Ansu quickly glanced at Song Han and found that the groom was quite handsome, and his eyes were full of surprise when he looked at her. This greatly satisfied her vanity and made her lower her eyes shyly.

Song Han didn't expect the bride to be so beautiful.

His heart was shaken for a moment, but when Quanfu brought the cup of wine, his movements became gentle.

Miao Ansu felt the change in Song Han, and she was very proud and bolder. As soon as Song Han walked out of the bridal chamber, she glanced at all the female relatives.

Except for a young woman in a silver-red bodice who looked dignified and elegant, with the air of a lady from a wealthy family, the others in the room were all women over thirty years old.

Miao Ansu couldn't help but curl his lips.

Isn't it said that Lady Dou is extremely beautiful? To her, she looks very ordinary.

It can be seen that the reputation of the Dou family was only raised by others.

She winked at her personal maid Ji Hong, indicating that she should reward the little maid who poured tea for her.

Ji Hong's face turned red and white, but she just stood there without moving.

Miao Ansu was unhappy.

However, the little maid retreated respectfully as usual.

Mrs. Song San thought about the faces of the Miao family members who asked for red envelopes when she went to get married just now. She thought that she would have nothing to do after today, and she was eager to finish her work immediately. She had no mood to say anything to Miao Ansu. Mrs. Li wanted to introduce the people in the house to Miao Suan, but she didn't even recognize them herself, so how could she introduce them to Miao Suan?

Everyone was joking with Miao Ansu.

Miao Ansu remembered his mother's words clearly. No matter what others said, he pretended not to hear them and just smiled.

Mrs. Hu praised Miao Ansu for his calmness.

A little maid came in and said with a smile, "Madam said it was getting late and the ladies and grandmothers had to go back home, so she sent them back first."