Chapter 252 — On Order and Precedence

Wei Fan gave a wry smile and addressed Song Chusheng as "brother-in-law."

Brother, he truly could not bring himself to say it!

Song Yan smiled faintly, looking very modest and amiable.

Dou Huaiying was well pleased.

Both sons-in-law came from illustrious houses, yet they could meet with each other in the manner owed to the wife's family—this was respect both for his daughter and for Dou Juan.

Since the Dou family ancestral shrine was not in the capital, he led Song Yan and Dou Yan to the main hall, where they knelt and bowed before the portraits of the Dou ancestors and burned incense. With that, the ancestors were deemed to have been duly worshipped and the happy tidings reported to them. Then he led them back to the flower hall, where they knelt before Dou Bingheng and the others, formally acknowledging the kinship.

Perhaps because he reckoned the Yingzhen Duke's household to be one of ancient pedigree and high station, where gold and silver had their price but books had none, Dou Bingheng's gift of greeting was an edition of the *Spring and Autumn Annals* printed in a former dynasty; Dou Heng's was a set of *Annotations on the Four Books*; and Dou Wenchang, Dou Bochang, and the other elder brothers gave either assorted decorative inks, or Chengxin paper, or jade brush-washers, or cloisonné ink-warming braziers—all objects for the scholar's study and the pursuit of learning.

Dou Yan pressed her lips together and smiled.

When no one was looking, Song Yan asked Dou Yan under his breath, "What are you smiling at?"

Dou Yan glanced at Chen He, who had been ordered to stand to one side holding the gifts of greeting, and replied in a low voice, "You could go sit for the top examination and take first place!"

Song Yan looked at those treasures of the scholar's studio, and the smile in his eyes could not be contained.

Once the elders had been greeted, it was the turn of those younger than they, or of the junior generation.

Wei Fan fingered the red envelope in his sleeve, unsure whether it was better to bring it out or keep it hidden. By propriety, though Song Yan was his brother-in-law, Wei Fan had married before him; to offer Song Yan a gift of greeting now would be courteous, and to withhold it would also be defensible—yet it would look somewhat timid and petty. But Dou Juan and the others had just given gifts whose value could not be measured in money, and for him to produce a red envelope holding two hundred taels of silver notes would seem rather vulgar by comparison.

As he hesitated, Song Yan had already smiled and bowed to him, then drew out a red envelope and handed it to Wei Fan.

Wei Fan looked at the several little brats ranked after him, his face flushing scarlet. He was just about to refuse when Song Yan, giving him no chance to object, pressed the red envelope into his hand and said with a smile, "You and I are hardly strangers after all this time—take it!" It reminded Wei Fan of the way Song Yan had once looked out for him, letting him follow Gu Yu into the river-works business and share in the profits.

He could not help but be taken aback.

Song Yan had already bent down with a smile to pat the head of Dou Jichang's eldest son, Dou Qiren, and handed him a red envelope.

Dou Qiren cried "Thank you, Fourth Uncle-in-law!" in a loud voice, his delight written all over his face, which only deepened Song Yan's smile.

Dou Jichang's second son, Dou Qifu, did not wait for Song Yan to produce a red envelope before he began shouting, "Fourth Uncle-in-law, me too, me too!" His plump little hand nearly reached Song Yan's face.

"I remember, there's Fuge'er too!" Song Yan laughed heartily.

With a cheer, Dou Qifu took the red envelope and went running on his chubby little legs toward Dou Jingyuan in the west hall. "Sister, sister, I got a red envelope!"

Dou Jingyuan was Dou Bochang's daughter.

At the sound she came pattering over, caught hold of Song Yan's robe, and said, "Fourth Uncle-in-law, you didn't give me a red envelope."

That soft, sweet voice and those great blinking eyes melted Song Yan's heart to a puddle.

"All right, all right, all right." Song Yan smiled and scooped Dou Jingyuan up, handing her two red envelopes.

Dou Jingyuan giggled and triumphantly waved the red envelopes at Dou Qiren and Dou Qifu.

Dou Qiren and Dou Qifu promptly clamped themselves to Song Yan's legs, one on each side, shouting "Fourth Uncle-in-law!" at the top of their lungs. "I want two as well! I want two as well!"

The Dou family was thoroughly embarrassed, and the three children's wet nurses could not even lift their heads, hurrying forward to coax the little ones.

Song Yan smiled and waved the nurses back. "It was only meant to be a bit of fun. There's no need to stand on ceremony." And he drew out two more red envelopes to make it up to Dou Qiren and Dou Qifu.

Dou Qiren and Dou Qifu cheered without end.

Dou Jingyuan would have none of it. She pouted and said, "I want one more too!"

And Song Yan actually gave her one more.

Dou Jingyuan was wreathed in smiles, while Dou Qiren and Dou Qifu were struck dumb.

The Fifth Madam, red-faced, shot a furious glare at her two daughters-in-law.

Madam Guo gave a start and hurried forward to pick up Dou Jingyuan, then said with a smile, "Quick, thank your Fourth Uncle-in-law!"

"Thank you, Fourth Uncle-in-law!" Dou Jingyuan said in her childish lisp, then ingratiated herself to Song Yan: "Fourth Uncle-in-law, come to our house to play at New Year, and I'll have Grandfather write you spring couplets!"

From childhood she had watched crowds of people come to the house seeking Dou Bingheng's spring couplets and go away empty-handed, and in her heart she believed them the finest thing in the world. This set even Dou Bingheng fidgeting in his seat; he rose and cupped his hands to Song Yan. "You must forgive the child's nonsense, forgive her nonsense!"

Song Yan laughed. "Surely such a kind thought from Jingjie'er is not to be refused—you mustn't decline when the time comes, Fifth Uncle!"

Dou Bingheng was rather surprised at Song Yan's easy affability, and then he laughed and said modestly, "So long as the heir does not disdain them!"

Song Yan said, "I have long heard that Fifth Uncle's calligraphy is free and elegant, and have never had the chance to see it. This time it is only by Jingjie'er's good fortune that I may beg a pair of spring couplets from Fifth Uncle—how could I speak of 'disdain'?"

Dou Bingheng was about to protest his unworthiness again when Dou Heng said impatiently, "We're all one family—why so much ceremony? If you want a few pieces of calligraphy from Fifth Brother, just send word to his door. Though I should warn you, half of Fifth Brother's calligraphy comes from his diligence as a boy, and the other half from his being a Grand Secretary of the Grand Secretariat—so don't set your hopes too high!"

This set the whole company smiling, and Dou Bingheng shook his head with a laugh and sighed, "What sort of family is this, where a man tears down his own kin?" Then he fell to chatting with Song Yan. "I have heard several of the old gentlemen of the Hanlin Academy say that your calligraphy is fine as well—the Emperor even had you copy sutras for him. From whom did you study, and what books have you read?"

"I studied under the Duke of Zhongyi," Song Yan said gravely. "I read the *Spring and Autumn Annals* at the Duke of Zhongyi's side."

The Hundred Schools of the philosophers are vast as the sea; the Four Books and Five Classics would turn a man's hair white before he mastered them. Even scholars sitting for the examinations could not possibly read all of them thoroughly, and would usually choose one to be the main direction of their study. The Duke of Zhongyi was moreover a great Confucian scholar of the age, tutor to several of the princes; he had passed away three years before and been given the posthumous title "Zhongyi," the Loyal and Resolute.