Chapter 439 — Sister-in-Law

Gan Lu smiled and ordered the little maids to lay out the meal.

Dou Yan and Jiang Yan took their midday meal together, then went to the upper courtyard.

The ladies' banquet was set in the flower hall of the upper courtyard. By the time they arrived, the feast had just broken up, and Song Da Tai Tai and the others were accompanying several plainly dressed ladies with unfamiliar faces, admiring the chrysanthemums before the flower hall steps.

At the sight of Dou Yan, everyone was taken aback.

Song Da Tai Tai hastened to introduce them. "This is our household's heir's wife, and this is our family's cousin lady." Then she indicated the several ladies. "This is the wife of Scholar Li, who was a fellow student of the Zhenguo Lord; this is the wife of Mountain Chief Wen of Xiujin Academy, also a fellow student of the Zhenguo Lord; this is the wife of Secretary Qin of the Five Armies Command..."

All of them were obscure, unheard-of people.

Everyone exchanged greetings.

Dou Yan said apologetically, "The child is still small and cannot be left for a moment, so I have been remiss in attending to you all!" Then to Song Da Tai Tai she said, "Thank goodness my aunt has been helping, or the household could never have run so smoothly without a mishap."

Song Da Tai Tai made a modest disclaimer.

At once someone laughed and said, "We had long heard that a cousin lady had come to your esteemed household, and that she looks exactly like the late Lady Jiang. Seeing her today, there was not a word of exaggeration." So saying, she took Jiang Yan's hand. "You and Lady Jiang look so very alike!"

Jiang Yan grew somewhat ill at ease.

Seeing this, Dou Yan smiled and changed the subject. "It is getting late. Shall we all move to the waterside pavilion? A stage has been set up there, and players have been engaged to sing."

Everyone answered "Good" in one voice and crowded around Dou Yan and Jiang Yan toward the waterside pavilion.

Among them was a round-faced woman of about thirty, who introduced herself as Mistress Huang, wife of Hu Chong, secretary of the Left Army of the Five Armies Command, and born of the Dengzhou Guard's assistant commander. Smiling, she said to Dou Yan, "...When the old Zhenguo Lord was alive, my father once accompanied my grandfather to pay his respects to him. After my father returned, he could never forget the splendors of the Ying Zhenguo Estate. I heard of it from childhood to womanhood, and always wished to see what the Ying Zhenguo Estate was like. Today at last I have opened my eyes. To say nothing else, those two ginkgo trees before the gate—they must be at least a hundred years old?"

Her manner was neither servile nor overbearing, her tone cheerful and lively, and she made a very good impression on Dou Yan.

Dou Xin said, "I never thought our two families should share such a bond! The ginkgo trees are said to have been there when the estate was first founded; because Xuanming Zong was fond of them, they have been tended to this day. I daresay they are more than a hundred years old."

Mistress Hu laughed merrily, then turned her gaze to Jiang Yan. "The cousin lady is truly beautiful. How old are you this year?"

Dou Yan's brows drew slightly together.

But Jiang Yan was an honest sort, answering whatever she was asked. She said softly, "I have turned fifteen this year."

"Ai yo!" Mistress Li's face was full of pity. "She has only just reached her coming-of-age!"

No doubt everyone had already heard that Jiang Yan was a "widow."

Jiang Yan said nothing.

Dou Chi asked the receiving matron with no change of expression, "Which troupe did you engage today? What are their specialities?"

The receiving matron hurriedly smiled and said, "...Only Zeng Chusheng has not sung at a hall gathering for some days, so he sent two of his direct disciples, one named Zeng Liansheng and one Zeng Junsheng, to perform, while Zeng Chusheng himself merely sits by to oversee. Zeng Liansheng sings the female roles, while Zeng Junsheng sings the young male roles; they perform The Tale of the Embroidered Robe and The Tale of the Jade Hairpin very well."

Dou Yan turned and smiled at the assembled ladies. "What would you all like to hear presently?"

Someone said, "Let us hear The Tale of the Embroidered Robe."

Others said, "Better The Tale of the Jade Hairpin! It is more amusing than The Tale of the Embroidered Robe."

Everyone fell to discussing the repertoire with great warmth.

Mistress Hu's eyes darted about, and she joined the discussion of what opera to choose, and so the matter was glossed over.

Jiang Yan secretly breathed a sigh of relief. She made a show of supporting Dou Yan as they settled themselves in the side gallery of the waterside pavilion.

The receiving matron brought the playbook for the guests to choose their pieces.

Ruo Zhu stepped in quickly and whispered at Dou Yan's ear, "Madam, the steward of the front courtyard just sent word that Princess Ninghuai and the Old Madam are both advanced in years and cannot bear the clamor, so they have sent only the eldest Young Madam Lu to drink the wedding wine."

Dou Yan was astonished.

She had not expected Princess Ninghuai and Old Madam Lu to declare their position so plainly.

She gave a slight nod.

Then she saw the receiving matron leading the eldest Young Madam Lu toward them.

Dou Yan went to meet her.

The eldest Young Madam Lu smiled bitterly. "Do not take it to heart. The truth is that the Zhenguo Lord has acted too absurdly this time; everyone who came feels it demeans them."

Dou Xin said, "If the Grand Princess and the Old Madam do not come to our Yuan Heng's hundred-day wine, then I shall be angry."

The eldest Young Madam Lu laughed. "For Yuan Heng's hundred-day wine, who would dare not come? Set your mind at ease. If the two old ladies complain of the noise, I shall drag them here bodily!"

This was of course said in jest.

Yet the eldest Young Madam Lu was certain that if Song Han had been a son by a concubine, Princess Ninghuai and Old Madam Lu might not have withheld such face from Song Cen.

Dou Yan took the eldest Young Madam Lu's arm and settled her in the waterside pavilion.

From the Yan'an Marquis Estate, the Changxing Marquis Estate, and other houses of rank that ordinarily kept dealings with the Ying Zhenguo Estate, people came in dribs and drabs; but those who came were either second sons' wives or young madams. Of heir's wives and senior madams, not one appeared.

Dou Yan felt she had lost all face.

By the time the evening banquet came around, the awkwardness only deepened—the entire flower hall held no more than seven or eight tables of guests. Even the concubine of a marquis's household celebrating her birthday would not have been treated to such a dismal affair.

Dou Yan could only sigh.

The scholars' wives and the magistrate's lady had begun to sense something was off as well; every one of them kept their heads down over their food, and not a single soul uttered a word.

Since the Miao family was in Daxing, the Song family had sent the sedan chairs out before dawn, and Madam Song and Madam Li, who were to serve as the "complete blessings" for Song Han's wedding, had set out with the chairs first thing in the morning.

After the evening banquet, everyone proceeded together to the bridal chamber.

The bridal chamber was a small two-courtyard, three-room compound, elegantly furnished. Part of the bride's dowry had been piled in the storehouse at the rear, and part had already been set out on display, watched over by two maidservants and two matrons who had come with the bride from the Miao family.