Chapter 482 — The First Birthday

Dou Huaide thought this to himself, but smiled and consoled Dou Huaiying: "Each generation has its own blessings. Fifth Sister has a generous dowry; you need not worry about her." Then he smiled and said, "Tomorrow Fourth Sister and Fourth Brother-in-law will take Yuan Heng to visit the old lady, and I mean to go along and join the fun. Leave your office early tomorrow and come there for supper!"

He remembered firmly what Lady Ji had told him before he moved to the Yunqi Temple alley: "Whatever happens, Ming is, after all, your adoptive father's own flesh and blood. Whatever you do, do not get entangled in Ming's affairs. If anything becomes difficult, push it off onto your Fifth Aunt. Shouyuan is a married daughter—water poured out. You are the adopted son; no matter what, your Fifth Aunt cannot lay the blame at your feet."

Dou Huaiying nodded, and after a night of sighing and lamenting, he went early the next day to the alley behind the temple.

Dou Yan was standing before the crabapple trees in front of the main house, talking with Dou Huaide, both of them wreathed in smiles and looking very happy.

Dou Huaiying was delighted at the sight. He crept over quietly and suddenly asked, "What are you talking about? So happy?"

The two greeted him with smiles, and Dou Yan said, "We were just talking about Twelfth Brother's prospects in the examinations!"

Dou Huaide was preparing to sit for this year's provincial examination.

In the last life, he had pressed on without pause to take the metropolitan examination the following year, and together with Wu Shan he had passed and been named a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy.

Then, at the Dragon Boat Festival, Ji Lingze had eloped with him.

Though the Dou family did everything in their power to plead his case, Dou Huaide's character was already tainted; he was not dismissed from his post, but he would spend the rest of his days idling away in the Hanlin Academy, waiting for death.

In the last life, Dou Huaide had been a son of the East Dou branch, with no ties to Dou Yan. In this life, he was her adopted brother, and Madam Ji was as close to her as a mother. How could she simply watch Dou Huaide ruin his own future before her eyes?

After turning it over in her mind for several days, Dou Yan asked Song Yan, "If you had a good brother, and he had set his heart on a widow from a grand household—so much that he would sooner throw away his future than not marry her—what would you do?"

Song Yan was clever; a turn of his mind and he had landed on Dou Dezheng. "You can't mean your elder brother? Whose widow has caught his eye? Why not take her as a concubine?" Then he added, "How did you come to know of this? Whatever you do, don't tell your father—you'll make your elder brother resent you for the rest of his life."

Dou Yan glared at him.

Song Yan gave her nose an affectionate pinch and laughed. "The people around you are always the same few—Duan Bing and the like. A widow remarrying is no great matter, so you'd never agonize over it like this. As for Gu Yu, he'd act first and report afterward. I thought it over and over, and it could only be your elder brother."

"You really are something!" Dou Yan scolded with mock indignation. "You don't leave anyone a scrap of surprise."

Song Yan roared with laughter. "Who has caught your elder brother's eye? I'll find a way to let her husband's family know quietly, and that will be the end of the match!"

But in the last life, Dou Huaide and Ji Lingze had lived very well together.

One year at the Lantern Festival, she had run into Dou Huaide and Ji Lingze on the street admiring the lanterns, and Ji Lingze had even bought two sticks of candied haws for Wei and Rui.

Even now, when she thought back on it, she could still see the happy smile on Ji Lingze's face.

Dou Chijin sighed softly.

Song Yan drew her into his arms and said gently, "If you ask me, a life is one's own to live. So long as your elder brother is willing, others had best keep out of it."

Dou Yan said in surprise, "How did you come to think that?"

Song Yan said gravely, "When I look at Father, I often think of Mother. Father and Mother's marriage was made in heaven too—and look how it ended. As for you and me, if Wei Fan had not broken faith and Father had not wanted to hold me in check, how could we ever have come together?" He held Dou Yan tightly, so tightly that she felt she could scarcely breathe. "I count myself very lucky!" He kissed her forehead, her temples. "When our children marry, we mustn't judge only by family and birth either."

For no reason at all, a boundless tenderness surged in Dou Yan's heart.

This man respected her, admired her, cherished her.

With a husband like this, what more could she ask?

Dou Yan hugged Song Yan back with all her strength.

Suddenly, the matter of Dou Huaide no longer seemed so important.

Since he loved Ji Lingze, then let him fight for her.

At worst, if the affair came to light, she would find a way to cover for him early, so that he would not be left utterly disgraced.

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Sisters and brothers, here is today's update.

o(n_n)o~

ps: Recommendation: The Legitimate Daughter Returns

Author: Don't Sweep the Snow

Synopsis: Her mother died young, and she and her elder brother were killed one after the other, the Han family shrouded in a vast conspiracy. When Han Jiangxue returns reborn, a lifetime of glory is assured!

Her new life is not only for vengeance, but to protect those dearest to her! Her glory lies not only in fame and success, but in a devoted husband who never leaves her side, to grow old together!

The legitimate daughter returns, to secure a lifetime of peace, to keep a lifetime of quiet years!