Dou Zhao looked at the two tall magnolia trees in front of the main house, feeling as if he were in another world.

She smiled and said to Su Xin: "Let's go and see Aunt Cui."

Su Xin's heart finally settled down. She smiled and held Dou Zhao's hand, "My dear lady, you should wash up first before you go! Look at the way you look now. I'm afraid Aunt Cui will be worried if she sees you."

Dou Zhao lowered his head and saw several spots of mud on his lilac-colored embroidered shoes.

She couldn't help laughing, and Ganlu helped her take a hot bath and dry her hair. Then she changed her clothes and went to her grandmother's place.

Hong Gu had received the news long ago and was waiting at the door with an umbrella in her hand.

Seeing Dou Zhao, he bowed with a smile and asked about the farm: "How is it? Can the crops be saved?"

"We can only count on the autumn corn." Dou Zhao said, and he and Hong Gu entered the main room.

My grandmother was sitting on the big kang by the window. She knew what was going on just by listening to the conversation. She asked about the disaster situation in each family, how they dealt with it, and what the villagers said.

Dou Zhao answered all the questions one by one, but naturally did not mention anything about Song Mo.

Grandmother praised Dou Zhao: "...I didn't expect you to be so talented in farming! You handled this matter very well. When the rain stops, remember to tell Mr. Chen to give each household ten bushels of cornmeal to get through these few months first."

"Mr. Chen had urgent business and went to Kyoto." This was the explanation that he had discussed with Chen Qushui in advance. "When he was young, he received a favor from a friend. Now this friend is in trouble, and Mr. Chen rushed over to help. I'm afraid he won't be able to return to Zhending until autumn."

Grandmother didn't suspect anything, but was worried about why Chen Qushui left so quickly: "It seems that this matter is very serious. Shougu, you should write a letter to your father. Even if I can't help, it's more courageous to have an acquaintance." She asked her, "Have you sent Mr. Chen Chengyi? Who is serving Mr. Chen? He is also an old man, you should take care of him more."

My grandmother treats people sincerely and honestly, without a trace of hypocrisy.

Dou Zhao sighed in his heart and said with a smile: "Don't worry, everything has been arranged properly, and Mr. Chen will not be wronged."

In fact, they were indeed in a hurry. And because they were traveling with Song Mo, Mr. Chen was traveling alone, with only ten taels of silver and twenty taels of silver notes that Dou Zhao and others had scraped together. Fortunately, he left a few clothes at the farm, otherwise he would have had trouble even finding a change of clothes.

Song Mo should undertake to provide for Mr. Chen's food, clothing and other necessities.

Dou Zhao thought angrily, still worried that Mr. Chen had been wronged. When Duan Gongyi went to the cashier's office to withdraw money, she told Duan Gongyi: "Find a way to send Mr. Chen a banknote of 1,000 taels."

She has lived in Kyoto for more than ten years and knows very well that living in Kyoto is not easy.

Duan Gongyi agreed, and following Dou Zhao's instructions, he bought some tonic herbs according to Old Lady Tan's preferences, and also bought a few paintings and calligraphy and some ancient books and sent them to Tan's estate.

Old Mrs. Tan was already over 70 years old. When she heard that Dou Zhao had sent someone to visit him, she stroked her chest-length snow-white beard and laughed. She told her grandson Tan, "This fourth Miss Dou is quite interesting."

Tan Ju just stood by and laughed along.

Old Mrs. Tan asked about the child.

"I'll have someone take the children to Baoding Prefecture overnight, and I'll have Master Mei take the wet nurse back. When the time comes, we'll just say that the Eighteenth family gave birth to twins." Tan Juren said, "If the Jiang family can survive this crisis and get the children back, we'll say that the child died. If not, I'll have Eighteenth and his family come back in two years. By then, the children will be two or three years old, and even a few days of difference won't be noticeable. If someone really notices something, we can just say that one was a normal birth and the other was a difficult birth, and that's an excuse - not all twins look exactly the same."

The old man of the Tan family nodded with satisfaction, twirled his beard with his hand and said with emotion: "You always blame the rules set by your ancestors for blocking your future, but look at the Jiang family, they are prosperous and wealthy, and the oil is cooked in the fire. What's the result? It's not just a family. The pot has been handed over to others! I can’t even protect my own flesh and blood..."

Tan Juren's face suddenly turned red, and he whispered, "Grandpa, are we really not going to care about the Jiang family's affairs?"

"Everything in the world, from eating to drinking, is determined by heaven." Old Lady Tan sighed, "Even if we want to control it, can we? If he can die in exchange for the lives of the whole family, then his death will not be unjust."

Tan Juren was reminded of the figure drinking from a big bowl, singing while swordplaying, and looking at the world, and he felt his vision suddenly become a little blurry.

※※※※※

Dou Zhao was also thinking about the child, but she was wondering whether the child was alive or dead in the previous life.

If only I had paid more attention to Song Mo at that time!

She can also decide the extent of her relationship with the Tan family.

With a tiger like this lying next to you, how many people can sleep peacefully?

Ignorance is bliss. If it weren’t for Song Mo, how would she know about the Tan family?

It’s such a headache!

Dou Zhao bit the plum in his hand hard. With a snap, half of the plum was bitten off.

Sulan came in skipping and jumping.

"Miss Fourth, I have good news and bad news," she asked Dou Zhao, blinking her small eyes, "which one do you want to hear first?"

Dou Zhao handed her a plum and said, "Hear the bad news first, then the good news."

Su Lan laughed and said, "The bad news is that Lord Wang was impeached for forced sales, lack of personal ethics, and allowing his children to bully others by taking advantage of their power..."

She was still thinking that Duke Dingguo was impeached!

Dou Zhao was a little disappointed and asked, "Have you heard what they did?"

"No." Su Lan smiled, "But I heard that he was scolded so badly that even the emperor ordered an interrogation."

Dou Zhao curled his lips and said, "So the good news you mentioned is that my fifth uncle has become a senior scholar in the inner cabinet?"

"How did you know?" Su Lan widened her eyes.

"It's not that easy." Dou Zhao said uninterestedly, "If someone else impeached Wang Xingyi, they would definitely list his crimes one by one, instead of putting a lot of accusations on him and saying some general things like they are doing now. They must be afraid of dragging the Dou family into it. Since even the emperor has ordered an interrogation, no matter whether these things are true or false, the inner cabinet will definitely not let him join the cabinet to avoid suspicion. You said there was good news, what else could it be if not my fifth uncle becoming the Grand Secretary of the inner cabinet?"

"Miss, you are so awesome!" Su Lan's face was full of admiration.

"What's so great about that?" Dou Zhao said disapprovingly, "If you were like me, you would be as great as me."

"Not everyone can be like you, young lady!" Su Lan looked at Dou Zhao with envy, "Young lady, you can't get tanned no matter how hard you try, and I can't get white even if I hide in the house."

Dou Zhao was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter.

Su Xin came in through the curtains carrying a plate of washed peaches and yelled at her sister, "What nonsense are you talking about again?"

"No, no." Dou Zhao waved his hands and let Su Lan eat the peach. "Who told you these two pieces of news?"

Su Lan said, "The Sixth Elder sent someone back to report the good news. The East Palace has already started rewarding. The maids and servants who sweep the floor and wipe the table each get ten copper coins from the first year of Chengping, the third-class maids, old women, and wives each get one hundred, the second-class ones get two hundred, the first-class ones get three hundred, and the well-known stewards and stewards' maids get one or two taels of silver. I saw the Third Elder's followers carrying silver back with my own eyes!"

In the officialdom, passing the imperial examination one day earlier or later, entering the cabinet one day earlier or later, were all important bases for seniority-based promotion.

This is indeed something worth celebrating.

She told Su Xin: "When the people from the East Palace tell us the good news, we will reward them in the same way as the East Palace."

Su Xin smiled and went to prepare copper and silver coins.

The person who brought the good news from the East Palace came over.

"Go tell Miss Fifth." Dou Zhao called Ganlu and Sujun to come in and help her get dressed. "We have to go over to the mansion to congratulate the Second Madam."

Sulan took the initiative to run to inform Dou Ming.

After returning, he whispered to Dou Zhao: "When I told Miss Wu about this, she started crying. I said, if you have red eyes on such a happy day, I'm afraid the Second Madam will be unhappy. Miss Wu was so angry that she threw a teacup at me. I dodged and the teacup fell to the ground and broke into pieces. I told Madam Zhou that this teacup was a new prize from the official kiln. A set of tea sets cost twelve taels of silver. If one of them is broken, the whole set of tea sets will be useless. I'm afraid it will be difficult to explain to the Madam in charge of the warehouse. You might as well buy a new set outside..."

Ganlu and Sujin covered their mouths and laughed.

Dou Zhao shook his head helplessly.

At her age, she also liked to fight with others, not to mention Sulan, a lively little girl who seemed to be eager to create chaos in the world.

"You are all older than her, why are you fighting with her?" Dou Zhao admonished them, "Don't say such things again in the future."

Ganlu and Susu agreed in unison, but Sulan made a face and ran away in a flash.

About half an hour later, Dou Ming, who had dressed up, came over accompanied by Nanny Zhou.

Dou Zhao saw that her face was smooth and rosy, and he could not see anything unusual. He nodded secretly, and they went to the East Palace together.

Everyone's face was filled with unconcealable joy. Seeing Dou Zhao and Dou Ming constantly congratulating them, flattering words flowed out like water. It was even more lively than during the Chinese New Year.

When he entered the Second Lady's living room, Dou Zhao realized that all the members of the Dou family were present.

The Second Lady was discussing with the Second Mistress how to celebrate.

Seeing Dou Zhao coming over, he quickly invited her to sit next to him and asked her, "Is it better to perform this opera for ten days or fifteen days?"

Last time, three scholars emerged in the family and they performed operas for ten days in a row.

Dou Zhao smiled and said, "I think we should just have a meal together. Singing opera is a bit too noisy."

But celebrating so lavishly just after entering the palace was a bit arrogant, like someone who had become rich overnight.

Everyone was shocked.

The Second Lady pondered for a moment, clapped her hands, and said, "Our Shougu is really smart. It's settled. Let's celebrate together as a family."

The second wife also reacted. When she looked at Dou Zhao again, she was a little more solemn: "Your sixth aunt went to Kyoto, and the family lost a helper. Aunt Shou, you have nothing to do at home. These days Are you going to come over and help me prepare a few tables for the banquet?"

This was a rare training opportunity for other ladies, but for her, who could teach others how to host and feed, it was just a way to help.

She would never do such a thankless job!

"I don't know anything, let my cousins ​​help you!" Dou Zhao refused with a smile, "The sun came out right after the rain stopped, and my greenhouse is in trouble. I have to watch the maids and old women tidy up my greenhouse in the next few days, otherwise the two-color peony that survived this year will be doomed."

The Second Lady did not know how to grow flowers, but she knew what it meant to be able to grow a two-color peony, so she let Dou Zhao return home without hesitation.

After the Dou family had their celebration banquet, news came from Kyoto that Wang Xingyi had been transferred to Yunnan for inspection.