Unexpectedly, my mother and Wang Yingxue were old acquaintances!

Dou Zhao had always been confused as to why some women were willing to abandon their families and reputation in order to live together with their men.

Is love between men and women really that important?

Once love ends, a man abandons a woman and returns to his family, which is considered a prodigal son's return. But what about the woman?

How can we continue to survive in this world?

She and her mother sat in the small hall behind the central hall, listening to her grandfather scolding her father in the hall.

Experience tells Dou Zhao that no matter what you do, you should never overestimate or underestimate your opponent.

To be honest, Wang Yingxue is not only smart and capable, but also good at judging the situation. She always puts interests first and never drags her feet on a decision. She is very decisive.

Why did she insist on following her father when her grandfather promised to adopt her as his adopted daughter and find a good marriage for her, with the Dou family paying for her marriage in a grand ceremony?

The Dou family was not a shallow family of newly-minted officials. Given her status, the Dou family would never agree to let her be a concubine. My mother was the legitimate wife of the Zhao family. Not to mention that she had no faults, even if she had, for the sake of the Dou family's reputation, the Dou family would not divorce her easily.

Didn't Wang Yingxue think carefully when she came to Zhending?

This is not in line with her character!

As his thoughts raced, Dou Zhao was shocked.

younger sister!

Her younger sister Dou Ming was born on the third day of the seventh month in the Dingwei year.

As the saying goes, live seventy years and do not live eighty years.

That is to say, if Dou Ming was born prematurely, Wang Yingxue would have entered the house at the latest in the first month of the lunar year.

According to the rules, when a wife dies, the husband must observe mourning for one year. There are exceptions. If the husband goes to war and the wife dies, and there is no one in the family to take care of the parents and raise the children, the wife can be remarried within 100 days. Although the father is not a soldier, but the grandmother died early, if the mother... there is no one in the family to take care of the family, this rule can be used.

In other words, my mother passed away years ago.

But what if Dou Ming was not premature?

Dou Zhao couldn't help laughing.

Wang Yingxue still wants to stay in the Dou family, and she would never admit that she had an affair with her father even if she was beaten to death.

My father still wanted Wang Yingxue to marry him, and he would never tell anyone that Wang Yingxue was pregnant.

It's like when you are betting with someone and are about to start the game, you suddenly find that there is a floor-length mirror behind your opponent, and you can see clearly what cards he has in his hand.

Her blood immediately boiled.

As long as mother is alive, the longer they delay, the more favorable the situation will be for them!

But the prerequisite is that the mother must be alive!

She happily took a golden orange from the fruit bowl on the table and handed it to her mother: "Mom, eat an orange!"

Her mother forced a smile at her, took the orange, but just held it in her hand in a daze.

Dou Zhao dressed up to entertain her parents. She broke off orange slices and stuffed them into her mother's mouth, and fed them to her eldest and third aunts who were sitting with them in the small living room.

In order to ease the atmosphere, the eldest aunt and the third aunt laughed and teased her.

She chirped and giggled.

A smile gradually appeared on the mother's face.

At night, she fell asleep holding onto her mother's clothes.

The next day, my third uncle, sixth uncle, my eldest aunt who was a clan member, and my third aunt who assisted my eldest aunt in managing the household came over together with the second lady of the East Palace, who was my grandfather's second cousin.

My grandfather's eldest cousin, eldest cousin's wife and second brother have all passed away.

"I have heard about this from your nephews and their wives." The Second Lady was thin, but her eyes were surprisingly bright, which made her look more dignified. "Where is Miss Wang? Has anyone been sent to Nanwo to deliver the letter?"

"I asked Ding to accompany him." Grandfather said bitterly, "Nanwo has sent someone to report the news overnight." Then he said shyly, "Second sister-in-law, this is all my fault for not teaching my son well..."

"We'll talk about this later." The Second Lady interrupted Grandfather with a wave of her hand. "The most urgent thing now is to find out exactly how far they have come!"

The second lady hit the nail on the head.

Dou Zhao admired him very much.

My grandfather was stunned and opened his mouth, but probably thinking of the absurdity of my father in this matter, he remained silent.

The second lady told the third uncle, "Wanyuan and you are like father and son. Go ask Wanyuan." She also told the eldest aunt, "Go ask Miss Wang."

The two responded in unison and went their separate ways.

The Second Lady then waved to my mother, motioning her to sit next to her: "Without the Zhao family, there would be no Dou family. The old man and his wife of the Zhao family passed away early, and my uncle is young and shy, so it's difficult for him to care about these things. But the elders of the Dou family are still here! Don't worry, we will never let you suffer any injustice."

Dou Zhao had only one uncle, who was eight years older than his mother. His mother was a posthumous child, and his grandmother died of illness when his mother was ten years old. His mother grew up with his brother and sister-in-law. When his grandmother was alive, she had no worries about food and clothing with the two children, but she was afraid of the Dingfu and the Pipi coming to make trouble. At that time, the Dou family had become rich, so his grandmother often brought the two children to visit the Dou family. They were in-laws, and the Dou family was generous and generous, so the two families became closer. His uncle Zhao Si studied in the Dou family school since he was a child, and had a very good relationship with Dou Shiying, Dou Wenchang, Dou Yuchang, and Dou Huachang. His parents' marriage was also settled without any trouble.

When my mother heard the Second Lady mention her deceased parents, she threw herself into her arms and cried.

My sixth uncle was four years older than my father. They had studied together since childhood, passed the examination together, and failed the provincial examination together. At this time, he was studying at home. Seeing my mother crying sadly, I felt a little embarrassed and whispered, "How about we sit in my uncle's study? Some of his words are not good for us uncles to hear!"

The Second Lady glared at him and asked in a loud voice, "You went to Kyoto with Wan Yuan. Did you know about this?"

Sixth uncle shrank back in fear and said hurriedly, "It's none of my business, it's none of my business! If you hadn't asked me to come back earlier, how could Wanyuan have gotten into such trouble?" He muttered softly, with a hint of disapproval in his tone.

The Second Lady was so angry that she couldn't speak for a long time.

Sixth uncle Dou Shiheng was the second wife's late son. When he was born, his brothers had already achieved success in their careers. Therefore, the second wife was not as strict with him as with the other sons. It happened that his father was an only child. His grandfather was strict on the surface, but actually doted on him. Among the brothers, the two had the closest contact. Dou Zhao remembered that after his father moved to Kyoto, he also reserved a small courtyard for his sixth uncle. Every time his sixth uncle came to Kyoto, he stayed at his father's place. Later, the two worked together in the Hanlin Academy. His father was good at explaining the "Book of Changes" and his sixth uncle was good at explaining the "Zuo Zhuan". People in the Hanlin Academy jokingly called them "the two heroes of the Dou family".

The mother was stunned.

Knowing that the Second Lady was trying to help Sixth Uncle eliminate suspicion, she said politely, "It's going to rain, and my mother is going to get married. If Wan Yuan has made up his mind, what's the point of Sixth Uncle staying by his side?"

The second lady's face lightened up slightly, and she scolded the sixth uncle: "You still don't thank your sister-in-law!"

My sixth uncle bowed to my mother.

Mother was busy returning the favor.

Dou Zhao's eyes flashed.

Since Sixth Uncle didn't say a word of apology or comfort, it was obvious that he was on Father's side.

The second lady may have realized it, so she stood up and called everyone: "Let's go sit in the small hall at the back!"

Leave the living room to the man of the family.

Naturally, everyone had no objection.

Mother and my third uncle helped the second lady to stand up, and a servant ran in, saying, "Old lady, the steward of the Marquis of Jining sent a greeting card, saying that their wife and our seventh grandmother are in-laws, and they came to visit their hometown to visit their relatives."

Everyone was stunned.

Dou Zhao was even more shocked.

Isn’t the wife of Marquis Jining your mother-in-law?

Why did my mother-in-law come out to join in the fun?

"It's Sister Tian from Xiliu Township." Mother explained to everyone happily, "Her family and our family are old acquaintances in Bian Jing, and our ancestors were once married. But Uncle Tian had a successful career, and Sister Tian married into the Jining Marquis Mansion in Kyoto, so we have less contact since then. I didn't expect her to come to see me!" After saying that, she looked at my grandfather.

Since there are distant visitors coming, I have to put my son's affairs aside for the time being.

My grandfather thought about it and asked the servant to invite the steward of Jining Marquis’ Mansion in.

The steward of Marquis Jining handed over the gift box and exchanged some polite words. Knowing that Marquis Jining's wife had a tight schedule, he decided to visit her at the beginning of the next morning.

My mother didn't care about what was happening in the living room. She instructed Nanny Yu to sweep the floor, decorate the room, and prepare the menu.

Dou Zhao sat alone on the kang and counted on his fingers.

I wonder if Wei Tingyu will come along?

My mother-in-law said they had seen it when they were children. Could it be this time?

While she was thinking, she saw her third aunt hurried in.

She called to her mother, "Hold me and take me to my mother!"

Tuoniang was overjoyed: "Fourth Miss, you can speak now!"

Dou Zhao was stunned, and it took him a while to react. He told her, "Hurry up, follow Third Aunt and go in first."

"Okay!" Tuoniang responded happily and carried her to her mother. "Seventh Grandma is very happy. Fourth Miss can speak now!"

"Oh!" Mother teased Dou Zhao with a smile, "Say something to me?"

Dou Zhao said openly: "I want to go to my uncle's house to play!"

Mother laughed.

Dou Zhao also laughed.

After all, they were not blood brothers. Although the Second Lady helped her mother, she was more anxious for her son to clear himself.

We have to give it a try to find out what this uncle is like.

Third Auntie came in at this time, Tuo Niang went out, and Dou Zhao was still sitting on the kang. Third Auntie held Dou Zhao's little hand and whispered to her mother: "I asked clearly, and they all said 'It starts with emotion and ends with reason'."

The mother sneered.

Third Aunt laughed: "Why do you care whether they are true or not! They said so, so we believe it. Since we are innocent, when the Wang family comes, we can just hand her over to them."

The mother nodded: "I understand."

A smiling but somewhat flustered voice came from outside: "Seventh Master, Seventh Grandma is talking to Third Madam..." Before the words fell, the warm curtain was lifted with a "swish", and my father walked in with a sullen face.

"Seventh Uncle is back!" Third Aunt smiled and pulled Mother behind her. "Where are your Third Brother and the others?"

"Third sister-in-law." My father bowed to my third aunt, veins popping out of his forehead. "Aunt Ding has a family dinner in the small flower hall. Gu Qiu will come after I change my clothes."

Third Aunt was a little hesitant.

Mother put her hand on Third Aunt's shoulder.

"Third sister-in-law, you go first!" Mother said softly, "Third uncle and his family must be waiting anxiously. Wanyuan and I will be here soon."

Third Aunt winked at Nanny Yu and left the inner room with a smile.