When the wife of Duke Jing Zhang Pei, Yuan, gave birth to their eldest son, Zhang Yuanming, she almost died of dystocia. Zhang Yuanming was dull by nature, and when he grew up, he was fat and stupid. Mrs. Yuan felt upset when she saw him, and she liked the second son Zhang Jiming and the youngest son Zhang Xuming more. Therefore, Zhang Yuanming was already 26 years old, and the Duke Jing's mansion still had no heir. This not only made Wei Tingzhen very uneasy, but also made Zhang Jiming and Zhang Xuming very uneasy. The Duke Jing's mansion looked like a cluster of flowers, but undercurrents were surging.

Wang Qinghai is the fourth son of the Ting'an Marquisate and is good friends with Wei Tingyu, so he naturally knows the ins and outs of this.

He fell silent after hearing this and asked Wei Tingyu softly, "So what are you going to do?"

Wei Tingyu said: "So I have to go back to find my father as soon as possible!"

Wang Qinghai perked up and said, "You mean..."

Wei Tingyu's face suddenly turned red: "We can't let Miss Dou get broken off from the engagement, right? How will she live then?" He stammered, looking a little embarrassed.

Wang Qinghai laughed loudly and patted Wei Tingyu's shoulder vigorously, causing Wei Tingyu to stagger and almost fall down: "I knew that Brother Wei is a man of integrity and will not run back in such a cowardly way. Come on, I'll go with you to talk to the old Marquis."

Wei Tingyu nodded, put his arm around Wang Qinghai's shoulders, and the two mounted their horses and rode away.

In the flower hall, Dou Zhao was still talking to Chen Qushui: "...Have you ever thought carefully about why the Dou family and the Wei family broke off the engagement, but did not come forward, but let the He family come forward?"

Chen Qushui also thought about this problem, and he said carefully: "I think it may be because the Sixth Elder and the Seventh Elder are both extremely opposed to this marriage. The Fifth Elder does not want to destroy the relationship between the brothers, so he has to throw this matter to the He family. It can be said that this is to make the Sixth Elder and the Seventh Elder retreat; and it can also give an explanation to the He family, without offending both sides. The biggest reason is actually because the Fifth Elder is at a critical moment in the competition for the position of the Elder, and there can be no mistakes, especially in terms of morality. There can be no stains that can be caught by the opponent. The reason why the Fifth Elder can compete with Wang Xingyi is because the Fifth Elder has acted upright and public-spirited over the years, and has been praised by his colleagues..."

Dou Zhao nodded continuously and said with a smile: "We must seize this opportunity!"

"Opportunity?" Chen Qushui asked in confusion, "What opportunity? The matter has already been exposed. The Wei family will not return the token to the He family, right? Then what will happen to them? Selling their wives for fame and fortune, how can the Wei family gain a foothold in the noble circle in the future?"

"Don't be so absolute about anything." Dou Zhao said, "I may not know other things, but I know everything about the Wei family. At this time, the Jining Marquis's Mansion had long been away from the imperial palace and the royal family, and had fallen into the hands of a second- or third-rate noble family. Not only did it need the support of powerful officials to get a good job to support its family, but it also needed a lot of money to support its increasingly tight expenses. .” She paused and mentioned Zhang Yuanming: “…He is the legitimate son, the eldest, and he is already old enough to be crowned as the crown prince. This is a piece of cake for the He family. With Wei Tingzhen’s help, and given the love that the old Marquis Wei and his wife have for her, there is a high probability that the Wei family will agree to Wei Tingyu’s request for Zhang Yuanming to be crowned as the crown prince and negotiate with the He family.”

Chen Qushui couldn't help but raise his eyebrows, and looked down on the Wei family even more in his heart. "What does the fourth young lady mean?"

"I would like to ask you to go to Kyoto in person and have a good talk with the old Marquis Wei." Dou Zhao said with a smile, "Whether it is for face or profit, leaving the token in the Wei family is the best choice. After all, my fifth uncle may also become a minister, and I have a large dowry." After that, she said jokingly, "You can also take the opportunity to help my fifth uncle clear his name - it's not that our Dou family wants to cancel this marriage, but it's because the Wei family has ignored this marriage for so many years. You lower your head to marry a daughter-in-law and raise your head to marry a daughter. The Dou family can't just come to us, right?"

Chen Qushui was a little hesitant and asked, "Do you want to tell the Wei family how many properties you have under your name?"

"That's not necessary." Dou Zhao said with a smile, "I'm afraid I won't be able to get rid of it. After all, I'm the daughter of the Dou family, so it's normal for my dowry to be richer than that of ordinary families."

She thought of the satisfied expression on Wei Tingzhen's face when she saw her wedding dowry when she married into the Wei family in her previous life.

Chen Qushui understood and said with a smile: "I will definitely put the blame on the Wei family."

※※※※※

After coming out of Duke Jing's Mansion, Wei Tingyu was very depressed.

His sister Wei Tingzhen's words rang in his ears again: "...I know, I feel sorry for Miss Dou. But there is nothing I can do about it! If your brother-in-law does not get the title of heir apparent, your brother-in-law and I will not even be able to survive. No more—have you ever seen a prince from any dynasty who was dethroned and still managed to live a good life? Just think of it as helping my sister! Now that my sister has gained a foothold, I can help you in the future."

Thinking of this, he suddenly remembered the day before his sister got married. He went to greet his mother and saw her crying secretly in the house. He asked her why she was crying, but she hugged him and asked him to swear that he would be good to his sister in the future and that he would stand up for her if she was bullied in her husband's family.

At that time, he thought that his mother was reluctant to let his sister get married. Now it seems that the reason why his sister married her brother-in-law was mostly to help the family.

Their family had once been prominent.

My father told me that when my great-grandfather was alive, our family would receive gifts from the palace during every festival, but now, apart from some routine gifts during the Qingming Festival and the Spring Festival, there is nothing during other solar terms. It is different from the Changxing Marquisate, which is two alleys away from our home, where lanterns are displayed even during the Lantern Festival.

Every time the siblings were taken by their father to the lantern festival and came back, the elder sister would stare at the palace lanterns hanging at the gate of Changxing Marquis's Mansion in silence for a long time.

Wei Tingyu lowered his head and got off the carriage. He saw a black-painted, flat-roofed carriage with bright green coarse cloth curtains parked at the door. Although the jujube-red horse pulling the carriage was strong, there was no symbol of title or official rank on the body of the carriage.

He walked in with a strange look on his face.

Zheng Li, the concierge, came running over.

"My Lord," he winked at Wei Tingyu, "someone from the Zhending Dou family has arrived!"

Zheng Li married Qiuyu, his mother's former personal maid. Qiuyu now served as Wei Tingyu's housekeeper. Therefore, Zheng Li always felt that he was more respectable in front of Wei Tingyu than other servants.

"Ah!" Wei Tingyu took a moment to react and asked hurriedly, "Who is the one from the Dou family?"

Regarding the matter of breaking off the engagement, no one from the Dou family has ever shown up.

"He is an accountant of the Dou family." Zheng Li said attentively, "I heard that he used to be the staff of the seventh master of the Dou family. When the seventh master of the Dou family came to Beijing, he was ordered to take care of the fourth daughter of the Dou family who stayed in Zhending..."

But no matter what, he is still a staff member.

Wei Tingyu said "Oh" in disappointment.

Zheng Li watched his eyes rolling around, and added, "I heard that he came here for the marriage of the fourth daughter of the Dou family. He is very good at talking. The old marquis didn't want to see him at first, but he asked how much the fourth daughter of the Dou family was worth when he entered the door. The old marquis was so frightened that he broke into a sweat, so he had to meet him..."

Before he could finish his words, Wei Tingyu grabbed him by the collar and asked repeatedly, "Where is the accountant now?"

Zheng Li hurriedly said, "In the study! Talking to the Marquis in the study!"

Wei Tingyu left Zheng Li behind and ran to the warm room behind the study.

When I entered the room, I saw my mother sitting on the big kang in the warm room accompanied by Qiuyu with a serious expression on her face. The words in the study echoed clearly in the warm room.

When Tian saw her son come in quietly, she glanced at him in reproach and gestured to him to keep quiet.

Wei Tingyu had slowed down his pace when he entered the room, and now he tiptoed to sit next to his mother.

"...You want to threaten me?" My father laughed angrily.

"Your Majesty, you are wrong." Another voice was soothing and gentle. It should be the accountant of the Dou family. "For so many years, the Wei family has never sent New Year gifts to the Dou family during festivals, nor has the Crown Prince gone to Zhending Prefecture to pay a visit to the Seventh Elder. If the Dou family wanted to do so, they could just agree to the marriage proposal from the He family. Why do they have to ask for the jade pendant that our wife gave to the Crown Prince?" When he said this, as if he wanted to give Marquis Jining some time to think, he paused and said, "The Seventh Elder has only two daughters. The Fourth Miss is the eldest daughter. She has been very smart since she was a child. The Second Lady of the East Palace likes her very much. After the death of the previous Lady Zhao Qi, the Second Lady The Madam was afraid that our old master would neglect the care of the Fourth Miss, so she specially brought the Fourth Miss to the East Mansion. Afterwards, the Seventh Master traveled to Kyoto, and the Second Madam was reluctant to leave the Fourth Miss, so she forced the Fourth Miss to stay in Zhending and handed her over to the Sixth Madam, that is, the Hanlin Academy scholar Dou Shiheng and the fifth aunt of the Yixing Ji family to raise her. Our Seventh Master felt sorry for the Fourth Miss who lost her mother at a young age and could not take care of her personally, so he doted on the Fourth Miss. If the Fourth Miss was not grateful for her birth mother’s kindness and did not want her birth mother to break her promise, according to the intentions of our Second Madam and Seventh Master, they would have found another good match for the Fourth Miss long ago. Why did they send us to discuss the token with the Wei family? There is no need to talk about threats!"

Wei Tingyu nodded involuntarily.

There was silence in the study.

The accountant said, "To be honest, before I came, our second wife had called me and repeatedly told me to take back the jade pendant that Madam Zhao Qi had given to the prince. She said that there were twelve young masters in the Dou Mansion, but only five young ladies. The next generation of young ladies would have even fewer, so we should not be looked down upon like this. But before I came, the fourth young lady also called me and told me that the prince had given the jade pendant to the prince. Madam, how deeply she loves the former Seventh Madam, let me ask clearly whether the Wei family is ready to fulfill the previous agreement. If not, it will not be too late to take the jade pendant back. On one side is the Second Madam, and on the other side is the Fourth Miss, which makes me feel very embarrassed. "As he spoke, his voice suddenly became cold, "Who knew that I heard people say that the Jining Marquis's Mansion sold his daughter-in-law for a good price when I just entered Kyoto..."

"Which bastard is spreading rumors and slandering me?" Jining Hou shouted angrily, interrupting Chen Qushui's words, "If I catch him, I will skin him alive!"

Chen Qushui looked at the Marquis of Jining, who was only in his forties but already looked old, and despised him in his heart for a long time. He still said aggressively: "When I heard such words, I was naturally furious, so I asked the Marquis what his plan was. Now that things have come to this, I still have to ask for our fourth young lady, what is the Marquis's plan? Compared with our Dou family, their He family only has one more ready-made elder, but our Dou family has five Jinshi who entered the court as officials. What their He family can afford, our Dou family may not be unable to afford. Why do you have to humiliate our fourth young lady and our Dou family like this! Let's be frank. It doesn't matter who you sell the jade pendant to, you might as well sell it to our Dou family..."