Chapter 271 — Venting Anger

"If she were a proper, gentle, and virtuous woman, why would I play the villain and urge you to make Dou Ming observe the rules?" Wei Wan thought of how her own mother-in-law, the Duchess of Jing, had actually required her and her two sisters-in-law to go and lend Dou Yan their support. It was as if she had been slapped across the face; her cheeks burned. "But you've seen the situation for yourself. She's been married only a few days, and the moment anything displeases her, she drags my brother off to weep and wail. What kind of behavior is that for a proper wife of the principal line? She's more like a concubine scheming for favor. If this goes on, my brother will be utterly ruined by her—and how will she ever keep the household of my brother's rooms in order? You've already taken a daughter-in-law. Surely you don't mean to go on managing the household yourself?"

Madam Tian shuddered as she listened.

In her youth, all household matters had been decided by her mother-in-law; after her mother-in-law passed away, she had listened to her daughter; and once her daughter married out, she had put all her hopes in her daughter-in-law!

Day in and day out, it was nothing but firewood, rice, oil, and salt—she had no wish to rack her brains over such things.

Madam Tian thought it over and gave a slight nod.

Wei Wan let out a long breath, and the resentment toward Dou Yan that had had no outlet seemed to dissipate a good deal.

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Dou Yan and Song Yan stood at the gate of Yizhi Hall, smiling as they saw off Old Madam Lu and Princess Ninghuai, who had come to attend the chrysanthemum-viewing banquet.

Yizhi Hall fell quiet.

Suxin directed the maids and serving women to clear the tables, chairs, dishes, and bowls, while Ganlu and Sujuan brought hot water and attended Dou Yan and Song Yan as they washed and changed their clothes.

Song Yan came out of the side room where they washed. He saw that Dou Yan showed no sign of weariness at all; she was sitting bright and spirited before the mirror, smoothing ointment on her face.

The scene carried him back, as if to his childhood.

His mother sitting at the mirror, dressing her hair, while he and his younger brother played and frolicked nearby—those warm, gentle hours.

His heart eased, and he flung himself down on the nanmu bed.

"I'm exhausted!" he said, pillowing his head on his arm. "More grueling than holding a horse stance for two hours. This one and that one—I had to make conversation with every last person, and my face is about to crack from smiling... In the past, when Mother was there to handle all this, I never noticed. And when I was a guest at other people's houses, I was always full of complaints. Only now that it's my turn to play host do I realize that entertaining guests is no easy matter... Next time anything like this comes up, don't look to me. I'll do whatever you say—whatever you tell me to do, I'll do it. I mean to be a hands-off proprietor..."

At these words, not to mention Dou Yan, even the maids serving in the room could not suppress their laughter.

In Dou Zhiwei's mind, Song Yan was a formidable man—one who could serve as the emperor's executioner and still enjoy unbroken imperial favor for twelve years. That was no ordinary feat. She had never imagined that Song Yan actually disliked social obligations.

She rather enjoyed the bustle of a house full of guests, especially when she saw that the people she cared about were all having a good time; their high spirits would lift her own mood as well.

Dou Chiyou rose and sat down on the edge of the bed, smiling as he said, "I told you to entertain the guests. So, are you going to entertain them, or not?"

Song Yan gave a sheepish laugh.

If he did not entertain them, then he could hardly claim to follow Dou Zhiwei's arrangements in all things; but if he did, there was no way he could play the hands-off master of the house.

Dou Yan pressed her lips together and smiled. "In the future we'll simply hold fewer banquets."

The gentle tone, the smiling eyes, and the indulgence betrayed in her words gave Song Yan the feeling that he had become a treasure in Dou Yan's hands, carefully cradled in her palms.

He wanted to move a little closer to Dou Yan.

He could not resist seizing Dou Zhiwei by the arm.

With a cry of "Ai yo," Dou Yan tumbled into Song Zhi's embrace.

Gan Lu was startled. She hurriedly signaled to the serving maids in the room, and her face burning like a length of red cloth, she led the little maids out of the inner chamber without a sound and closed the lattice doors behind her.

Caught wholly off guard, Dou Yan scrambled up in a fluster. The sensation at her elbow had been both firm and soft, and she had no idea where she had struck him. Then she reflected that the elbow was the hardest of all, and a knock against it would ache for a long while. She gave no thought to pursuing the matter and asked him anxiously, "Where did I hit you?"

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To the sisters and brothers reading this book: here is the update for July 4, made up at last.

The more I want to repay my debt, the more anxious I get; the more anxious I get, the more the writing stalls, and the worse it comes out~~~~(_

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