After hearing what Dou Zhao said, Shuangzhi looked at him with a bit of fear in his eyes.

Dou Zhao didn't care.

As long as my mother and the elders don't get suspicious, whatever the maids say is just gossip.

Dou Zhao ordered Tuo Niang to carry him back to the house.

The staff at Xidou was simple, and although the tense situation at Heshoutang made the maids nervous, they were far from panicking.

As soon as Shuangzhi told everyone that Tuoniang and Xiangcao would work in Dou Zhao's house, everyone's attention quickly focused on them.

Some laughed and scolded: "That little bitch of Vanilla finally got her way. I don't know whose trick she got."

Most of them were greeting Tuoniang, introducing themselves one after another, saying "I am Ginkgo" or "I am Dingxiang". Some asked, "Which room did you work for? How did you suddenly get transferred to the Fourth Young Lady's room?"

Tuoniang was not used to such enthusiasm and answered in a murmur.

When they heard that she was a maid working in the laundry room, everyone looked at each other, somewhat at a loss.

When Tuo Niang saw this, she became even more reserved.

"Okay," Shuangzhi smiled and helped Tuoniang out of the predicament, "You can talk about it later. Let Tuoniang settle down first." Then he thought, "Sister Hanxiao and I have two beds in our room. We don't know when Seventh Madam and the others will be back today, but we can't leave anyone around the Fourth Miss. I think we should let Tuoniang sleep in our room first and wait for Seventh Madam's instructions."

Tuo Niang breathed a sigh of relief.

Everyone came to their senses and either volunteered to help Tuo Niang pack up or took the initiative to help Tuo Niang make the bed.

Tuoniang refused to leave Dou Zhao's side and said, "Who will serve the young lady? I'd better wait until Xiangcao comes."

Dou Zhao smiled slightly.

Tuo Niang insisted on her own opinion.

When she married into the mansion of Marquis Jining, her future was uncertain, so she did not dare to bring Tuoniang with her. By the time she had settled down in the mansion and wanted to take Tuoniang with her, Tuoniang had died of illness.

Thinking of this, her eyes reddened slightly and she gently held Tuoniang's hand.

Tuoniang looked at her seriously and said solemnly, "Miss Four, don't worry, I will stay by your side every step of the way." It made other people seem like bad guys. The faces of the people in the room turned dark and they looked at Tuoniang with some unfriendly eyes. However, Tuoniang was unaware of it and stayed by her side with a serious face, unmoved.

Shuangzhi had no choice but to order the maid to go to the laundry room to report the news and clean up the place where Tuoniang rested.

Everyone went their separate ways and no one talked to Tuoniang anymore.

Dou Zhao and Tuo Niang stayed in the inner room, staring at each other.

After a while, Xiangcao ran in: "Fourth Miss, Seventh Madam and Yu Madam are back!"

But he didn't mention his father.

Dou Zhao's heart sank, and he asked, "Father?"

Xiangcao wiped the sweat from her forehead and said, "Seventh Master, Old Master, Third Master, and Third Madam are still in Heshou Hall."

Are they discussing taking a concubine? Or are they discussing how to make their mother give in?

Dou Zhao was a little anxious. With the help of Tuoniang, he got off the kang and ran out.

Tuoniang and Xiangcao followed closely behind her.

The sullen mother walked in expressionlessly, supported by Nanny Yu.

"Mother, mother!" Dou Zhao rushed over.

The mother's face lightened up. She bent down and picked up Dou Zhao, kissed her little face, and then handed her to Han Xiao behind her: "Go and play tumbling rope with the fourth young lady."

Hanxiao hurriedly hugged Dou Zhao, but Dou Zhao held on to his mother's clothes and refused to let go.

The mother suddenly became very impatient: "Why don't you listen to me, kid? I have something else to do. Go play with Hanxiao." As she spoke, she looked up and saw Tuoniang and Xiangcao, and pointed at them, "Why don't you go play with them?"

Dou Zhao knew that her mother was in no mood to coax her, so she obediently let Hanxiao hold her. After her mother and Nanny Yu entered the inner room, she slipped out of Hanxiao's arms and ran into the inner room.

The maid on duty didn't dare to stop her.

She entered the inner room smoothly.

My mother was lying on the table on the kang crying, "...You saw it all. He was protecting her like this before she even entered the house, fearing that she would suffer the slightest injustice. What else could I say? I just followed his wishes and let the woman in! I want to see what kind of ability and tricks that woman has to make him lose his parents, wife, children, reputation and integrity!"

Nanny Yu's eyes flickered slightly, and she whispered, "Seventh Master taking a concubine is not a big deal, nor is it a small deal. You see, should we send someone to tell Uncle..."

"No!" Before Yu Ma'am could finish her words, my mother suddenly raised her head and said anxiously, "My brother will go to Beijing to take part in the Spring Imperial Examination at the beginning of the year, and he is studying at home now. If he knew that I would take a concubine only three years after getting married, he would never give up with his temper. You can't delay your brother's future for my sake." She repeatedly reminded Yu Ma'am, "You are the one who serves my mother. If it is other things, I won't bother with you if you do something behind my back. I know you are doing it for my own good. But this matter is very serious. Our Zhao family has not had a Jinshi in forty years. If any trouble is caused because of you, you will put me in an unjust position and make me the eternal sinner of the Zhao family!"

Nanny Yu nodded, turned around and wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes.

Is my uncle that good?

Dou Zhao curled his lips and said to his mother secretly: You can just go and bother him. He was a Jinshi in the Dingwei year. And as soon as he passed the imperial examination, he sought a vacancy in the northwest, took his whole family to take up the post, and never returned to Zhending.

She met her uncle only once, on the day of her wedding.

My mother had an uncle. When she said goodbye to her relatives, she kowtowed three times to her uncle respectfully for the sake of her mother.

Her uncle seemed very excited, and the way he looked at her gave her the illusion that "my daughter has grown up". She was extremely happy at the time, thinking that her uncle was an official in the northwest, and the journey was long and inconvenient to contact, and her stepmother only had her brothers from her mother's side in her eyes. Her uncle was a scholar, and he must be proud and unwilling to suffer this humiliation, so he did not marry into the Dou family. This time, her uncle rushed from his post to see her off, which showed that he still had her, his niece, in his heart. She even planned to take advantage of this reunion to show her filial piety to her uncle and let him tell her about her mother's past.

Unexpectedly, as soon as she left the house, her uncle returned to the northwest, and from then on, he never said a word to her again.

If my uncle was wary of my stepmother before, then what would he still have to worry about after she married into the Jining Marquis's Mansion?

Dou Zhao couldn't understand it.

Later, her eldest cousin Zhao Biru from her uncle's family lived in Kyoto with her husband. She once visited her and sent her away with three cups of tea.

Can we count on such a person?

Dou Zhao was suspicious and hid behind the floor-length curtain in deep thought.

Since my mother agreed to my father taking a concubine, does that mean my stepmother was made the legal wife?

But every time my stepmother talked about it, she claimed that she was "married by the Dou family in a formal ceremony and welcomed into the family in a sedan chair carried by eight people." No one would refute her when they heard her say this!

The stepmother could dismiss my mother's loyal servants and use threats and bribes to bribe the maids of the Dou family. It was impossible for her to even lie to the wives of the prominent officials in Zhending County with her eyes open!

Is there a woman in the middle?

That's not right. My stepmother is pregnant and my sister Dou Ming is only two years and seven months younger than her...

The more Dou Zhao thought about it, the more confused he became.

She walked in with a smile.

"Seventh Madam," she said cautiously, "Third Madam is here."

The mother wiped her tears quickly, and told her, "Quickly invite the third cousin's wife to her room to talk," while getting up to greet her.

Third aunt came in with a serious expression, accompanied by two maids.

When she saw her mother, her eyes reddened and she took her mother's hand and climbed onto the kang.

The servants in the room all retreated obediently.

Before Aunt Yu brought tea, Third Aunt said, "I know you are sad. I won't try to persuade you. If you want to cry, just cry. But after crying, you have to cheer up. Look at Uncle Seven. You will have a tough battle to fight in the future!"

"I know!" Mother said, tears falling again. She did not complain, but said to Third Aunt apologetically, "Third Uncle, please ask Third Sister-in-law to say a few words for me. I was very angry, so I said those words to Third Uncle. Please don't bear it with me for the sake of my young age and innocence!"

"You are making a rift between me and your third brother when you say that." Third aunt also burst into tears, "After all, it's your third brother's fault! If it weren't for your third brother's recklessness, Seventh Uncle wouldn't have caused such a scene..."

"What does this have to do with Third Uncle?" Mother sobbed and interrupted Third Aunt's words, "They are cousins, but Third Uncle treats Wanyuan like his own son. When Wanyuan comes to him for problems, can Third Uncle just stand by and do nothing? After all, it's still Wanyuan's fault. He is possessed by the devil... I just hate it... We grew up together. In terms of affection, we should have better feelings than other couples. He wanted to take a concubine, why didn't he discuss it with me first? When I disagreed, he knelt in the snow and couldn't get up... My father-in-law was 42 years old when he had this only child. Who does he think of me? Where does he put me? I feel chilled when I think about it..." She fell on the table and cried again.

"Don't cry, don't cry!" Third Aunt hugged Mother, "Who doesn't have troubles in life? Seventh Uncle is still young, it's inevitable that he will be confused at times. I'm not afraid of your laughing at me, your uncle is a calm and reserved person, right? When he just passed the imperial examination, he followed others to publish books and take concubines. My eldest sister-in-law was so angry that she cried, but a few years later, you see, after that period of frivolity, he knew that family was still the best, and lived with my eldest sister-in-law wholeheartedly. My eldest sister-in-law is almost 40 years old, but she actually gave birth to Lang Ge'er... It can be seen that sometimes, you have to use softness to overcome hardness, and you can't confront it head-on!"

"I understand what Third Sister-in-law said." Mother listened, sat up straight, wiped her tears and said, "I have something I want to ask Third Sister-in-law." She did not continue to ask this question to Third Aunt.

Third Aunt was a little surprised and said quickly, "You tell me, tell me. As long as I can help."

"Since that woman is going to enter our house, I must take a look at her!" said the mother. "I would like to ask my third and eldest sisters-in-law to accompany her when the time comes."

This was originally the rule of the wealthy families. Even if the wife agreed to let her husband take a concubine, she would have to check the person first. If she was a prostitute or had a flawed character, the wife would not be considered "jealous" even if she refused her husband's request. It was not like the upstart merchants, where there was no need to be picky and they could take the woman home if they liked her.

The third aunt suddenly realized: "Okay, okay, okay. I'll go tell my eldest sister-in-law now."

"Then we have Lao Sansao." Mother said, standing up, "I will tell Wan Yuan to bring the person from Kyoto to Zhending."

Third Aunt did not respond. She patted Mother's hand with a smile and said, "Seventh brother's wife has grown up too!"

The tone was half emotion and half relief.