Dou Zhao smiled slightly, and the confidence revealed between her eyes and eyebrows made her look radiant and bright.

"When I read history books, I felt that the emperor was most afraid of generals who would become arrogant and self-reliant." She said calmly, "Duke Dingguo was impeached for killing innocent people and taking credit for himself, and for raising bandits to gain power. This should be a serious crime, right?"

This, scholars should all know, right?

Yan Chaoqing smiled and said, "It is indeed a bit troublesome." His tone was perfunctory.

Dou Zhao seemed to feel nothing and said slowly, "When ordinary people are wronged, they will cry to the Lord of Justice, tell the facts, present evidence, or ask their neighbors to testify for them."

Yan Chaoqing was stunned and looked towards Song Mo.

Song Mo, who was stroking the lid of the teacup with his fingers, suddenly stopped, and Dou Zhao's clear voice continued to ring in his ears: "If the officials are wise, the truth will naturally come out soon. If the officials are confused, they will be punished and wronged. Besides, the emperor is not the kind of person who judges cases!"

The two of them couldn't help but listen attentively.

"No matter how wise the emperor is, he still has his own selfish desires." Dou Zhao said calmly, "People often say that you are loyal to the emperor and love the people, and you are loyal to the emperor and love the people; people say that you harbor evil intentions, and you are harboring evil intentions."

This is what I said...

Yan Chaoqing couldn't help but wipe his forehead with his sleeve.

Song Mo quietly sat up straight, staring at Dou Zhao's eyes. Suddenly, a dazzling light flashed, and his eyes brightened.

Dou Zhao's attention was all on Yan Chaoqing, and he knew nothing about this. He continued to speak slowly, "Han Xin was arrogant because of his achievements. He lost all his military power and had no chance of rebellion, so Empress Lü killed him. Xiao He controlled the money and food affairs of the King of Han, but he asked for land and houses, and the King of Han did not suspect anything. Wang Jian led the Qing army to go to war, and repeatedly sent envoys to ask the King of Qin for money and land, and the King of Qin laughed. But I heard that Duke Ding was diligent in his work and loved the people, and he was honest and dedicated to his work. He was the pillar of the country and the pillar of the court. I wonder if this is true?"

Yan Chaoqing looked at Dou Zhao, his face full of shock.

Duke Dingguo was put under investigation, and everyone felt that he was innocent. Madam had already contacted some of Duke Dingguo's former subordinates to plead his case.

Some people have made the same suggestion as Dou Zhao, but my wife thinks that this will not only humiliate the reputation of Duke Dingguo, but also what if the emperor really believes it?

The proposal was quickly drowned out by other voices.

Could they really be wrong?

What the emperor cares about is not what the historian impeached Duke Dingguo for, or what Duke Dingguo did, but what Duke Dingguo will do to the emperor and the court after his reputation grows.

If those memorials appealing for justice for Duke Dingguo were submitted...

Thinking of this, he felt as if he had drunk a bowl of cold water in the coldest days of winter, and his whole body was chilled.

Song Mo lowered his head and began to think.

When he was a child, his mother often took him back to her parents' home. His earliest memory was standing in the martial arts training hall of the Jiang family and playing with the stone mill with his cousins.

When my eldest uncle was questioned, my mother was extremely worried. She not only ran around the inner palace, but also frequently contacted various noble families. Because he admired my eldest uncle the most, my mother was afraid that he would get involved and people would misunderstand that it was my father's intention, which would cause my father to be questioned by the emperor, leaving my eldest uncle without anyone to shelter him from the wind and rain. That's why she decided to let Yan Chaoqing accompany him to escort my fifth uncle's children to the south.

They thought he knew nothing.

In fact, he knew it very well in his heart.

He had originally planned to hand the child over to the person designated by his fifth uncle and then return to Beijing to incite the government and the public to redress the injustice done to his uncles...

Song Mo looked at the child taken away by Dou Zhao, and became hesitant.

When my uncle was young, he was the emperor's personal bodyguard. Doesn't the emperor know who my uncle is?

How could he so easily believe the impeachment of Yu Shi and hold his uncle accountable?

Or should he think about it more carefully?

Chen Qushui looked at Dou Zhao's smiling, silent face, and was filled with surprise.

Before Song Mo and Yan Chaoqing came, she had discussed this matter with him and said that the only way to resolve the deadlock was to surrender to Song Mo.

He agreed with this.

But this is easier said than done.

They want to submit their surrender to Song Mo, but that depends on whether Song Mo accepts it or not, and whether he needs it or not!

So he proposed to take hostages for each other: "...I will go to Kyoto on behalf of the young lady, and they can send someone to follow her and pretend to be her bodyguard. Anyway, these bodyguards are all hired by you, and Dong Dou will not know if there are one more or one less. As long as the young lady can return to the Dou family smoothly, she will be safe."

They wouldn't take action against the Dou family, right?

Even if the person following the young lady wants to harm her, it depends on whether the guards around her agree or not.

Dou Zhao asked, "What if the Duke Ding's mansion was raided and destroyed?"

That child became the only bloodline of the Jiang family.

I'm afraid that even if she hides to the ends of the earth, Song Mo will kill her.

He was stunned, and after a while he murmured, "That shouldn't be the case, right?" But he knew in his heart that if it wasn't a matter of life and death, how could the Lady of England send the flesh and blood of Master Jiang Wu to be raised by others, and even sent her own son to escort him personally...

But Dou Zhao's assumption is too shocking!

He couldn't help but say, "Even so, the Duke Ding's mansion is full of experts and conspirators. The Duke Ying can enter the palace and leave the court. They are powerless to do anything about it. How can we save the situation?"

Dou Zhao smiled and said nothing.

But Chen Qushui knew that she had made up her mind.

Thinking that Dou Zhao might be sometimes aggressive but always meticulous, he did not ask any further questions.

Unexpectedly, she had such an idea!

Although this suggestion is simple and everyone can think of it, the key is how to choose!

The fact that a high-ranking official like Duke Dingguo was brought to justice was not simply a question of guilt or innocence, but involved interests from all sides and relationships at all levels. Even the Duke of Ying’s Mansion could not find the person behind the scenes, which showed how deep the water was. Even he, who had been immersed in power and intrigue for most of his life, did not dare to speak casually, let alone a little girl who had never left Zhending County...

Thinking of this, he shifted uneasily.

I hope Miss Four is right!

Otherwise, even she herself might be dragged into this bloody storm and her life would be in danger!

In the silence, perhaps only Dou Zhao was the most determined one.

In the past, whenever people mentioned Duke Dingguo, they would mention the ten-thousand-word blood letter that the people of Fujian wrote for the Jiang family after Duke Dingguo's death.

Since this method doesn't work, we have to try another one.

Maybe that will change.

But Yan Chaoqing felt that he could not stay there any longer.

I have to tell Madam about this possibility as soon as possible, so that she can discuss it with the staff in the mansion and come to a decision as soon as possible.

He felt as if time was running out and couldn't help but call out "Young Master" hastily.

But before Yan Chaoqing finished speaking, the silent Chen Qushui suddenly stood up, and then shouted "Young Master" loudly, bowed and said: "Now we can still tell others that the young lady saw your movements suspiciously and thought you kidnapped a child from a wealthy family and ran away, and the young master saw that we were in large numbers and each of us was extraordinary, so he thought we fell into a den of thieves. The young lady wanted to save the child, and the young master wanted to escape, so this misunderstanding arose. But if reinforcements come, I'm afraid this matter will be difficult to cover up. Why don't I go to Beijing with you, and you send someone to follow our young lady back to Zhending. When the person who picks up the child comes, we will hand the child directly to them..."

Although he didn't know the reason, he was sensitive to the changes in Song Mo and Yan Chaoqing.

Since there has been a change, let’s send the Fourth Miss back to the Dou Mansion as soon as possible!

He decided to add fuel to the fire and stepped forward at the right time...

Dou Zhao was somewhat surprised at Chen Qushui's decisiveness, but since he had already said it, she couldn't say anything more.

But Song Mo is not an ordinary person. She was unsure whether he would accept it or not, and she couldn't help but look at Song Mo.

For a moment, everyone's eyes fell on Song Mo.

※※※※※

It was raining heavily and the sky was dark, as if it would collapse at any time.

In the woods not far from the Dou family's farm, two men wearing straw hats and raincoats were standing on the slope looking at Dou Zhao's farm. One of them was tall and strong, and the other was well-proportioned. Behind them stood more than thirty strong men wearing black jackets and covering their faces with black cloth. From a distance, they looked like burnt wooden stakes.

A boy of twelve or thirteen jumped to the side of the well-proportioned man as nimbly as a grasshopper and said respectfully, "Sixth Master, I have contacted the young master's people. But the situation is not good - the child has been kidnapped, and the young master and Mr. Yan are negotiating with them."

"How is it possible!" The burly man looked up in astonishment, revealing a serious but unsurprising face, "Who kidnapped the child?"

"It's the owner of the house!" the boy said, "I heard that the person who was taking care of the child was hit by the rain of pear blossom needles, and everyone is helping him remove the needles."

The well-proportioned man said "Huh" with great interest, and asked curiously, "How can anyone still have this thing? Who is the owner of the house?"

The boy glanced at the burly man and whispered, "It's the Dou family's farm. It seems like the fourth young lady was met there..." His voice became lower and lower.

The well-proportioned man was startled and asked anxiously, "How could it be the fourth daughter of the Dou family? It's raining so hard, why is she not at home? Why is she here?"

The boy was a little amused by the question and said, "This is the Fourth Miss's farm! It has been raining for a long time and the Fourth Miss is worried about the crops in the farm..."

Then the burly man noticed that the well-proportioned man's face was turning pale and red, and he couldn't help but ask, "Do you have a past with that Fourth Miss Dou?"

"I don't know her." The well-proportioned man's face turned a little blue, and he said in a hoarse voice, "But the fourth young lady of the Dou family is chivalrous and brave. When a brother on the underworld was framed, it was the fourth young lady of the Dou family who helped to clear the charges. Later, the brother died of serious injuries, and it was the fourth young lady of the Dou family who paid for the burial and took in the brother's family. Many brothers in our underworld went to the Dou family to work as guards because of the fourth young lady's chivalry. There was also a person from my master..." He gritted his teeth and said, "We agreed in advance that if you have any grievances, you should solve them yourselves, and we will only help you to watch the scene outside. But now it involves the fourth young lady of the Dou family... Please tell the young master and tell him that I, Tan, am incompetent and want to be a peacemaker for the fourth young lady of the Dou family..."

The burly man was dumbfounded.