Chen Qushui's implication was that He Yu had taken a fancy to Dou Zhao, so he forced his parents to propose marriage for him.

Dou Zhao's head was as big as a bowl.

He Yu and I have only known each other a few times, so why does he suddenly insist on marrying me?

She said to Chen Qushui: "Sir, what do you think about this?"

Chen Qushui hesitated for a few breaths and said, "Although the He family is prominent, in my opinion, if the young lady gets married, Mr. He is not a good match."

Dou Zhao raised his eyebrows.

Chen Qushui analyzed calmly: "Mr. He is ten years older than the Fifth Elder and is already old. The eldest master of the He family was a Jinshi in the year of Guichou, and is now observing government affairs in the Ministry of Works. He has three sons and one daughter. The third master was a married man in the year of Renzi, and has one son and one daughter. When Mr. He wants to start his own business, all the He family can leave him is a false name."

To the Dou family, the value of the He family lies in its political resources.

But for Dou Zhao, the He family's shortcoming also lies in their political resources.

He Wendao can help Dou Shishu at this time, but he cannot help Dou Zhao in the future.

His eldest son and third son had already established successful careers. When He Yu grew up and needed help, the eldest and third sons, who were also legitimate sons, had already established themselves and divided up He Wendao's political resources. They also had their own sons. Instead of helping their younger brother to establish himself, it would be better to leave the political resources in their hands to their sons. He Yu now looked promising, but in fact his future was limited. Compared with He Wendao, Dou Shishu was young and strong. After Zeng Yifen's death, he was likely to enter the palace. Moreover, Dou Zhao and Dou Shishu had a natural blood relationship, unlike in the He family, where Dou Zhao was just one of many daughters-in-law. If she wanted to stand out, she had to please Mrs. He, but if she pleased Mrs. He, she might offend the first and third wives of the He family. If you want to please everyone...you might as well spend your energy on Dou Shishu. At least Dou Shishu already looks at Dou Zhao differently because of the half of Xidou's property under Dou Zhao's name.

Why should they give up their own advantages and highlight their weaknesses?

"That's what I'm thinking too." Dou Zhao nodded gently, and said, "And I'm a little cautious. Lord He and Madam He clearly knew that Mr. He's behavior was inappropriate, but they still proposed to the Dou family regardless of the difference in seniority. This shows how much Lord He and Madam He like Mr. He. If I marry him, I may not be able to live a good life with Mr. He. Once the He family feels that the gains are not worth the losses, I'm afraid my life will be even more difficult. It's really a waste of energy."

"Miss Fourth is right." Chen Qushui breathed a sigh of relief.

Although Dou Zhao said that she didn't want to get married, as a man who had experienced many ups and downs, he didn't take her words to heart. He thought that Dou Zhao was still young and hadn't yet begun to fall in love. The He family suddenly proposed to Dou Zhao. He was worried that Dou Zhao would be lost in the He family's fame, and he was also afraid that Dou Zhao would be attracted by He Yu's good looks. Seeing that Dou Zhao was still calm and rational, he was relieved and said, "I have an idea. I wonder if it is feasible? Tell me for your reference." He said carefully, "I guess we can't rely on the Fifth Elder, but after all, the Seventh Elder is your biological father. As long as the Seventh Elder firmly disagrees, the Fifth Elder can't force the Seventh Elder to agree to this marriage, right? I think we can proceed in two steps. The first is to ask someone to speak to the Seventh Elder and let the Seventh Elder know that this marriage, apart from being temporarily helpful to the Dou family, will do you no good but harm. With the love that the Seventh Elder has shown for the Fourth Miss over the years, I think the Seventh Elder will definitely think carefully. And the best candidate for this lobbyist is the Sixth Elder!"

Sixth aunt is going to Beijing soon.

Dou Zhao smiled and said, "Do you want me to convince Sixth Aunt?"

"That's right." Chen Qushui said, "Sixth Master has always respected Sixth Madam, and he is a close friend of Seventh Master. It would be more effective if Sixth Master, who is a brother of Fifth Master, came forward." At this point, he smiled slightly, with a sly look on his face. "And if the Ji family knew that the He and Dou families were going to get married at this time, they would probably have some ideas of their own. Maybe we can take advantage of the situation and get away with it! This is the second step, dragging the Ji family into the water as well."

Dou Zhao laughed out loud: "A married woman should obey her husband. My Sixth Aunt is not so foolish. Instead of targeting my Sixth Aunt, you might as well start with our bookkeeper!"

"That's fine." Chen Qushui thought he didn't know the Sixth Madam, so he said readily, "Then we'll just pass a message to Ji Ju."

Dou Zhao pondered and said, "Your words also reminded me. I think there must be more than one family that wants to prevent the Dou and He families from marrying at this time. We might as well make use of the Wei Mansion of Jining Marquis."

"The Wei Mansion of Marquis Jining?" Chen Qushui was a little puzzled.

Because neither the Dou nor the Wei family took this marriage seriously, he did not know the relationship between Dou Zhao and the Wei family.

Dou Zhao told him what happened that year.

Chen Qushui was stunned, and it took him a while to come back to his senses.

Dou Zhao smiled and said, "I will just say that if you want me to marry into the He family, you must first get back the token that my mother gave to the Wei family. I think even if Lord He doesn't care about this matter, he still hopes that the Dou family can make things clear with the Wei family as soon as possible, right?"

Chen Qushui thought for a while and said cautiously: "According to what you said, the Wei family is not keen on this marriage. When your father asks the Wei family to return the token, the Wei family will definitely not hesitate..."

Dou Zhao smiled and said, "You don't have to flatter me. The Wei family is not only not enthusiastic, but also unwilling."

Chen Qushui smiled awkwardly.

Dou Zhao didn't care at all and said, "If we just want the token back, the Wei family will certainly be happy to oblige. But we want the token back in order to marry into the He family, so I'm afraid the Wei family won't be so easy to talk to."

"That's true." Chen Qushui said excitedly, "If we plan properly, we may be able to smoothly reject the He family's marriage proposal and get back the Wei family's token."

It will definitely work.

Based on her understanding of Wei Tingzhen, Wei Tingzhen would use this leverage over the Dou family to make a big fuss, and then cancel the marriage with a proud look on his face.

"There is another advantage to this." Dou Zhao smiled confidently, "My marriage has caused such a commotion. There may not be a suitable family to propose marriage for three to five years, or even seven to eight years. Even if someone who doesn't know the inside story comes in, with the He family standing there, the Second Lady will most likely think it's inappropriate and the matter will be dropped."

"Just do as the Fourth Miss says." Chen Qushui's heaviness and worry when he came to see Dou Zhao were swept away, and he said happily, "I'll arrange it right away."

Dou Zhao personally escorted Chen Qushui out of the second gate.

On the way back, Su Xin kept looking at Dou Zhao secretly.

Dou Zhao liked Su Xin's steadiness and carefulness, and asked with a smile, "What's wrong?"

"It's okay." Despite answering like this, Su Xin couldn't help but ask, "Fourth Miss, will you regret it in the future?"

"No." Dou Zhao smiled, "I know what I want, so I won't regret it."

Su Xin felt slightly relieved.

By the next day, everyone in the East and West Palaces knew that He Wendao's youngest son He Yu had fallen in love with Dou Zhao. After returning to Kyoto, he asked his father to propose marriage to the Dou family. The fifth elder of the Dou family readily agreed.

Aunt Cui felt extremely regretful: "Is it that handsome young man? If I had known this, I should have met him."

The Second Lady sent someone to contact Dou Shishu in Kyoto, and said to the Sixth Lady with relief, "This is a good marriage between people of equal status! Fortunately, the Wu family didn't marry into the family, otherwise it would be too late to regret it now."

The Sixth Lady smiled and agreed, but in her heart she did not quite agree with what the Second Lady said.

She said to Nanny Wang in private: "I don't ask Shougu to marry a noble man. What's important is that the husband's family is simple, with a clean family tradition, and they love Shougu wholeheartedly. Mr. He is too naive, I am a little worried..."

Nanny Wang said, "Should we remind the Seventh Master?"

Ji hesitated and said, "But what if I have misjudged Mr. He? Wouldn't that delay Shougu? After all, it was Mr. He himself who chose this marriage..."

I just felt so torn, worried about everything, and didn't sleep well for two days.

Dou Zhao naturally didn't know that Ji was worried about her, and had written a letter to Chen Qushui to deliver it to his father overnight, asking his father to get the token back from the Wei family. He also wrote a letter to his aunt who was far away in the northwest, telling her about the matter, so that she would not be unaware of the inside story and be taken advantage of by others.

When my aunt heard about her and Wu Shan and knew that the match was arranged by my sixth aunt, she was so happy that she left her uncle and cousins ​​behind and packed her bags to go to Beijing to meet Wu Shan. But before she even set off, her and Wu Shan's match fell through. My aunt was very sad for a long time and wrote several letters to my grandmother and my sixth aunt. During the Chinese New Year, she even sent someone to greet my sixth aunt, firstly to thank her for worrying about her marriage and secondly to ask her to continue to help her find a good match.

All these little things are hidden in her heart, and she can only find an opportunity to repay him.

Ji Yong came to visit her.

Dou Zhao was a little surprised, but when he thought about it carefully, it was reasonable.

She entertained Ji Yong in the flower hall.

Ji Yong said nothing, and looked Dou Zhao up and down as if he was meeting her for the first time.

Dou Zhao was used to his mood swings, so he just sat there and let him look at her, and then did what he wanted to do. When he finished looking at her, he asked him, "Have you finished?"

Ji Yong answered her seriously, "I've finished reading it," and then frowned and asked her, "Why do you say I'm 'unruly'?"

I didn't expect that this sentence would make him so bothered that he still wanted to get an clarification after more than half a year.

Dou Zhao answered him seriously: "I think that if a person is unique and independent, that is the elegance of a gentleman. But if it disturbs others and makes them feel uncomfortable, then he is stupid and annoying!"

"You scolded me!" Ji Yong's face immediately became so gloomy that it looked like it could rain at any time.

"Are you such a person?" Dou Zhao asked him.

Veins popped out of his forehead, and he asked Dou Zhao grimly, "Am I such a person?"

Dou Zhao didn't say this to embarrass him, so he said sincerely: "You are good in everything, but sometimes you are too overbearing. For example, when writing Spring Festival couplets, Qi Guang wanted to pass the imperial examination and become an official. He sincerely hoped that the emperor would have a long and prosperous reign, but you just laughed at Qi Guang. He didn't bother you in any way, so why did you have to be so aggressive?"