Dou Zhao's words sounded like a riddle, and Chen Qushui couldn't guess what his intention was. However, his self-esteem wouldn't allow him to ask Dou Zhao without thinking seriously, so the topic was brought to the fore.
After seeing Chen Qushui off, Dou Zhao stood in the veranda of the main house in a daze for a while.
In his previous life, Marquis Jining died suddenly of illness on the ninth day of the fifth month of the thirteenth year of Chengping.
She "accidentally" met Tian on August 19th of the 15th year of Chengping, when Tian went to Kaiyuan Temple to perform a ritual for her husband after Jining Marquis had finished his mourning period.
It is now March of the 13th year of Chengping. If nothing unexpected happens, Marquis Jining will die of illness in more than a month. Wei Tingyu will have to observe mourning for three years, and this marriage will naturally be delayed.
Who knows what the situation will be like three years from now?
She wasn't worried.
The next few days of spring rain were continuous, and Dou Zhao was busy taking care of her peonies.
Chen Qushui brought her a piece of news: Zeng Yifen had passed away due to illness.
"Finally, a position has been vacated in the inner cabinet." Dou Zhaoxiao invited Chen Qushui to sit down at the stone table in the greenhouse, brewed Biluochun tea himself, and said with a smile, "I wonder who will become the chief minister? I also don't know which minister will be able to enter the cabinet? Someone in Kyoto is destined to have sleepless nights these days!"
Chen Qushui took the tea from Dou Zhaochen with a smile and analyzed: "Ye Shipei and Yao Shizhong are more likely to be the ones, but Dai Jian has the support of Wang Yuan, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department, so he is also a possibility."
Dou Zhao was surprised and said, "It turns out that Dai Jian is supported by Wang the eunuch..."
When Chen Qushui heard Dou Zhao call Wang Yuan "Wang Eunuch", she was even more surprised than she was and asked, "How do you know Wang Yuan?"
How could she not know Wang Yuan?
In the previous life, when the Liao prince seized the palace, Wang Yuan was the eunuch who was trusted by the previous emperor, but he was safe and sound in the end. After the Liao prince ascended the throne, although he was no longer the eunuch in charge of writing, he became the chief steward of Cining Palace. It is said that the emperor hated the emperor's favorite concubine Jiang because she offended Wang Yuan. In the end, Jiang's two sons were also raised under the name of her mortal enemy, the virtuous concubine Qi. Wang Yuan also hated others calling him "eunuch" the most, so no matter whether it was the inner or outer women, as long as they met him, they would respectfully call him "Wang Nei Shi".
Dou Zhao also said it smoothly.
She had no choice but to pretend she didn't know and said, "I read in books that these people are 'eunuchs', so I used this title." Fearing that Chen Qushui would continue to ask, she quickly changed the subject, "Isn't Ye Shipei the second assistant? Now that Zeng Yifen has passed away, he should have taken over as the first assistant. How can you say he is only a possibility? Then who are Yao Shizhong and Dai Jian?"
These were topics that Chen Qushui was very interested in, and Dou Zhao's explanation made sense, so he stopped thinking about it and said with a smile: "Logically speaking, Ye Shipei should have taken over as Prime Minister after Zeng Yifen left. However, when Zeng Yifen was alive, he was severely suppressed, so he was blamed for several important political affairs and his prestige was damaged. In addition, he was old and his energy was not enough, all of which might have caused him to miss the opportunity to become Prime Minister of the Cabinet.
Yao Shizhong started out as a clerk in the Ministry of Revenue and was a famous strategist. The emperor had borrowed a lot of money from the Ministry of Revenue to renovate his mausoleum in recent years. There were two fires in Jiangnan, and taxes were sharply reduced. However, the military pay and food for the southern expedition against the Japanese invaders could not be reduced at all. The treasury was in a tight spot. Perhaps the emperor would let Yao Shizhong be the chief minister to solve the problem of the empty treasury.
As for Dai Jian, Wang Yuan was able to drive the eunuch Ding Yu, who had served the emperor since the time of Qiandi, to Shaanxi to serve as a military commander, so you can imagine how powerful this person is. It is said that Dai Jian let his nephew marry Wang Yuan's adopted daughter, and became Wang Yuan's son and daughter in-law. This person is talented, capable, and shameless. Maybe he will make a surprise! "
If it were someone else, they would certainly doubt Chen Qushui's speculation, but Dou Zhao knew that Wang Yuan was powerful, so she thought Chen Qushui's words made sense. The temple looks majestic, but in fact, all kinds of absurd things can happen. After King Liao became the emperor, he also appointed Master Yuantong, the abbot of Longshan Temple, as the Minister of Rites to be in charge of Buddhist worship. Longshan Temple was therefore named Dalongshan Huguo Temple, and from then on, it became a famous temple and became the largest ancient temple... Once she accidentally heard the Queen Mother complain to the Queen Mother in a tactful way, saying that Master Yuantong instigated the Emperor to give the golden tiles on the Jinluan Palace to Dalongshan Temple to build a large hall, and the Emperor did not object. The Queen Mother was so angry that she called Master Yuantong a "thief"...
Thinking of this, Dou Zhao was shocked and his face changed suddenly.
Master Yuantong’s surname was Ji, his courtesy name was Mingjian, and his pseudonym was Buer.
Could it be that Ji Yong... No, no, it's impossible!
She had met Master Yuantong twice.
He was tall, with a fair complexion and handsome features. Not only was his smile friendly and gentle, but his speech and manners were also modest and generous. Talking to him made people feel like a spring breeze blowing on their faces. He was nothing like Ji Yong, who spoke harshly, behaved arrogantly and rudely, and had a face full of shrewdness... But if you take away these... When Ji Yong was pretending, he really looked a bit like Master Yuantong...
Dou Zhaoteng stood up suddenly and knocked over the teacup beside him.
"Fourth Miss, what's wrong with you?" Chen Qushui's face turned pale. He thought Dou Zhao was thinking about who could enter the pavilion. "Have you thought of something?"
Whether Dou Shishu can enter the cabinet is related to Wang Xingyi's promotion, which is also related to their future deployment in Kyoto.
"Nothing, nothing!" Dou Zhao murmured, "I remembered some things from the past, and I don't know whether they are true or false..." At this point, she suddenly asked Chen Qushui, "Do you know what Ji Jianming's nickname is?"
She really couldn't connect Ji Yong with the monk.
Chen Qushui was stunned and said, "I really haven't noticed this. Do you want me to help find out?"
Ji Yong had quietly found him out, but he knew nothing about it. Although he walked away in anger, it would be self-deception to say that he was not shocked at all. He also wanted to know how Ji Yong, at such a young age, could have such a terrifying method.
Dou Zhao nodded repeatedly, feeling mixed emotions: "You'd better check what happened to him in Yixing..." Maybe you can find some clues.
Chen Qushui nodded.
Dou Zhao thought of his sixth aunt's hesitation to speak, and also of Ji Yong's reckless behavior...
Could it be that Ji Yong is really the Master Yuantong?
For a moment, neither Chen Qushui nor Dou Zhao was in the mood to continue the conversation.
※※※※※
However, Dou Shiying, who was far away in Kyoto, strode out of Dou Shishu's study with a somewhat ugly expression, stood under the grape trellis outside the study and let out a long sigh.
Dou Shiheng followed him out and asked with a smile, "Why? Can't bear to leave Shougu?"
"Yes!" Dou Shiying sighed again and said, "As a daughter-in-law of another family, she not only has to serve her parents-in-law, but also has to do housework. She is still so young, how can she know how to do all these!"
Just now, the Wei family invited a matchmaker to formally propose marriage to Dou Shiying.
Dou Shiying was a little hesitant.
Are you just going to marry your daughter off like this?
He came to discuss with Dou Shishu.
Dou Shishu smiled and said, "What do you want? To be the chosen one? Don't forget that the He family backed out because of the agreement between the Dou and Wei families. Now that the He family no longer mentions marriage, you are not going to part ways with the Wei family, are you? How are we going to explain to the He family then?"
"That's not what I meant." Dou Shiying said, "I just don't want to marry Shougu off so early. I don't know what kind of person Wei Tingyu is..."
"Didn't you ask around at first? Both Sixth Brother and his wife thought it was good." Dou Shishu couldn't help laughing and said, "Besides, engagement is not marriage. After engagement, you still have to prepare dowry. It's common to get married after two or three years. I think the Wei family would have thought of that. You can't keep Shougu at home for the rest of her life, right?"
Having said that, he still felt awkward in his heart. He spoke a few words to Dou Shishu in a huff. When he saw Dou Shiheng coming, he stood up and said goodbye. Unexpectedly, Dou Shiheng chased him out.
"Let's go to my place and have a drink." Dou Shiheng roughly guessed what was on Dou Shiying's mind and pulled him to his home.
Dou Shiying didn't want to go back home because it was cold at home, so he and Dou Shiheng went to Maoer Hutong.
On the way, he asked Dou Shiheng: "What do you want to talk to Fifth Brother about? Is it related to entering the palace?"
He was a little worried that Dou Zhao's marriage would cause a rift between the He and Dou families.
"It's nothing serious." Dou Shiheng said, "I heard that the fifth brother came back, so I came to see him." Dou Shishu has been helping out at the Zeng family these days. He added, "Don't think too much. You have to walk this path by yourself. You can't rely on anyone. I think the fifth brother also understands this. Otherwise, the fifth brother would not have agreed to let the He family go to the Wei family to get the jade pendant back."
Dou Shiying nodded, and the two of them entered the Chuihua Gate.
Ji was directing the maids and old women to set the table. When she saw the two people come in, she hurriedly asked the maid to fetch water for them to wash their faces and hands, and then asked the old woman to notify the kitchen to add more dishes.
Dou Shiying was not polite and changed into Dou Shiheng's clothes and went out for lunch.
Seeing that Dou Zhengchang and Dou Dechang were not there, he smiled and asked, "Where did the two brothers go?"
Ji helped Dou Shiying to fill a bowl of soup and said with a smile, "We went to Yuqiao Hutong."
Several people from the Han family in Huzhou came to visit Dou Zhengchang, who lived in the Ji family in Yuqiao Hutong.
Dou Shiying asked about Dou Zhengchang's marriage: "When will you get engaged?"
Ji smiled and said, "I've seen it for a few days. It's between June and July. I've asked someone to discuss it with the Han family. I should get a reply in the next few days."
Dou Shiying said angrily: "It's better to get married!"
Dou Shiheng winked at Ji, and Ji immediately understood.
How could she feel happy when she thought that Shougu was about to get married!
"Although the Wei family has fallen, it is still an upright marquisate after all. The Wei family has only one son, Wei Tingyu, and they have long requested to confer the title of Crown Prince," she advised Dou Shiying, "Tian has a good temper, and the child is handsome, cheerful, and kind. Although he is still a little impetuous now, how many young people today are not impetuous? Our Shougu is a smart person. After we get married, we can slowly teach him, and he will gradually become stable."
Dou Shiying nodded slowly.
Neither of them mentioned the Wei family's finances - the property under Dou Zhao's name was enough for them to squander.