The news of Jiang Lansun's death was passed on to Dou Zhao by Chen Qushui.

In the letter, he said with regret that the Chiang family would have a difficult time in the future.

Dou Zhao understood what he meant.

A family can be passed down because of the elders' words and deeds, passing on the torch.

As the youngest son, Jiang Bosun served Mrs. Mei in Kyoto. Not only had he never been to the battlefield, but he had never left Kyoto. While his brothers were fighting bloody battles in Fujian, he was living a life of luxury in Kyoto. While his brothers were fighting wits and courage with the ministers in the court, he was indulging himself in sensual pleasures. Otherwise, he would not have secretly kept a concubine outside.

Now, Jiang Lansun, who was experienced, knowledgeable, and seriously injured but persisted to the Iron Ridge Guard with unparalleled perseverance, has passed away. Jiang Baisun, who had never been to the battlefield and had never seen the cruelty of war, survived. What will the Chiang family become under his leadership?

The inheritance has been interrupted. Can this family stand up again?

Dou Zhao did not feel as sad as Chen Qushui.

In the previous life, in the face of absolute power, all the so-called plans and deployments were crushed into dust and had no effect. In this life, the Jiang family was able to save the lives of some people, withdraw from the killing field, and become an ordinary wealthy family, which might not be a bad thing.

She was only worried about Song Mo.

I don't know what he was thinking, why he didn't call Lu Ming back?

I pretended to be deaf and dumb because of Mr. Chen, but why did he do that?

If he said that he was worried about me, the Jiang family's affairs had already come to an end. What else was there about me that was worthy of his attention?

Thinking of this, Dou Zhao felt a little irritated.

Next year, I will have to devote myself to breaking off the engagement with the Wei family. I don't have the energy or time to waste time with Song Mo.

Dou Zhao put the letter away and told Su Xin, "Go tell the driver that we will leave for the farm in half an hour."

This year's winter wheat harvest was a failure, but the corn harvest was a bumper one. After the people on the farm discussed it, they sent a few elders to talk to my grandmother. They would not pay rent for the corn and would keep it for food, and all the winter wheat planted next season would belong to the Dou family.

No matter how you cook corn, it is too rough to swallow. Wheat is different. It is delicious when ground into flour and made into steamed buns and noodles.

This is the kindness of the farmhands.

Grandma was very moved.

These days are the season for sowing winter wheat, and she decided to go to the farm with Dou Zhao to take a look.

My grandmother was in high spirits. She wore a fine cotton jacket with a sandalwood-colored surface and square-toed blue cloth shoes. Her hair, with a few silver threads on the temples, was tied neatly into a bun. She was not wearing any jewelry, and looked very clean and tidy.

Seeing Dou Zhao, the old man became even more excited. He waved his hand and said, "Let's go to the farm!" He added, "I'm so bored of just planting flowers and grass in the yard every day."

Dou Zhao smiled apologetically, but thought in his heart: If it can save your life, I am willing to bear the charge of being unfilial.

Everyone was chatting and laughing as they headed towards the second gate, where they ran into Ji Yong who was returning from outside.

He had pulled a truckload of books from somewhere and was sending his personal attendants to unload them from the truck.

"Aunt Cui, my fourth sister." Under normal circumstances, he was humble, polite, friendly and easy-going, and everyone liked him. "Where are you going?"

Ever since he said to his grandmother that the temple abbots were all greedy and hypocritical people, his grandmother had been avoiding him as if he were a demon. But today, Ji Yong smiled brightly and looked sincere in the sunshine, which made her wonder in her heart: Could it be that the Bodhisattva appeared at the Buddhist lecture in the summer and accepted him as a disciple? So she did not turn around and leave as usual, fearing that Ji Yong would pull her and say something insulting to the Bodhisattva. Instead, she greeted him and exchanged a few polite words: "...Where did you get so many books? Ask the servant of Heshou Hall to mark them. Then you can return them when the time comes!"

Books are very precious things. Ji Yong just borrowed their house to study. He couldn't leave other people's books here, right?

Ji Yong grinned, his white teeth gleaming like a shell in the sunlight. Dou Zhao felt something was wrong, and then he heard his clear voice: "These books are Buddhist scriptures."

Dou Zhao clearly felt his grandmother's body stiffen.

"Last time, I was debating with Abbot Tuyin. When we talked about the five elements in the Heart Sutra that are empty: 'Form is emptiness, emptiness is form; the same is true for feeling, perception, volition and consciousness', I asked him, since the five sense organs of the twelve places and eighteen realms, namely eyes, ears, nose, tongue and body, and the five elements of form, sound, smell, taste and touch, are all form, then why are earth, water, fire and wind also form? He talked for a long time but couldn't explain it. I know he will come to ask me for advice in a few days, so I am going to explain to him what the twelve places and eighteen realms are..."

"Oh!" Grandmother's tone became a little dry, "Master Ji is really amazing, he knows everything! We want to go to the farm to take a look, Master Ji, please feel free to go!" She took Hong Gu and hurriedly got on the carriage parked outside the second gate.

Dou Zhao warned Ji Yong in a low voice: "Be careful not to pass the imperial examination and become a Jinshi!"

Ji Yong raised an eyebrow and whispered to her: "Do you think I am your second cousin?"

"People who brag usually look at others with contempt," Dou Zhao said bluntly, "You can start making a fuss when you are selected in the Golden Palace." Recently, a monk even came to the Dou family to visit Ji Yong, and they talked about Buddhism and Taoism for several days. She didn't like Ji Yong turning her home into a temple. "Xi Dou is a family residence, not your private temple."

Ji Yong finally understood what Dou Zhao was angry about. He couldn't help but stare at Dou Zhao with wide eyes: "Don't you think it's interesting? Drag those outsiders into the world of red dust..."

"I am a mirror, not a platform, so why should I be covered in dust?" Dou Zhao sneered, "Where does the worldly talk come from?"

Ji Yong was shocked and stared at Dou Zhao in silence for a long while.

Dou Zhao was going to accompany his grandmother to the farm, but when he saw Ji Yong, he turned around and got on the carriage without saying a word.

When we arrived at the farm, everyone was busy sowing the seeds. We looked up to greet our grandmother and then lowered our heads to continue working.

My grandmother was originally from a peasant family, so she didn't mind it at all. On the contrary, she was very happy that everyone was busy trying to spread the word.

An old farmer who didn't need to work in the fields due to his advanced age accompanied them for a walk in the fields, and then Dou Zhao and his grandmother returned to the house.

After washing hands, cleansing face and changing clothes, Hong Gu had already prepared a hot meal.

Cuijiazhuang sent a young man to pay his respects to Grandmother: "…said they haven't seen you for a while, and wanted to invite you to stay for a few days."

Grandma couldn't help being moved.

Dou Zhao smiled and urged his grandmother: "We can go back in a few days."

My grandmother thought about how there was still one pot in her mother's house for cooking and boiling water, with oil floating in the tea. After thinking about it, she left, making the excuse that no one was looking after the farm here, and felt a little worried.

Dou Zhao had no idea of ​​this and advised earnestly, "The farm is usually managed by the steward, so why worry? You haven't been back to your parents' home for seven or eight years, right? This is a rare opportunity for you to go back, so I'll have someone prepare some candies and food so that you can treat the children when you go."

"Then you should stay at the farm!" Grandmother took the opportunity to say, "The people on the farm have given us all the crops this season. We need someone to look after them here, otherwise no one will be motivated to work!"

"Sure!" As long as his grandmother was happy, Dou Zhao didn't care. He asked people to prepare things for his grandmother to go back to her parents' home, and even took out a few pieces of cloth and asked her to take them to Tuoniang: "Make clothes for her son and daughter."

Tuoniang gave birth to another daughter last year. During the Chinese New Year, she specially held the child in her arms to show Dou Zhao, and asked her grandmother to name the child "Changqing", which means long-lasting.

Hong Gu packed up the things and accompanied her grandmother to Cuijiazhuang, which was twenty miles away, early the next morning.

Dou Zhao took a walk around the farm in the morning. In the afternoon, he had nothing to do, so he tidied the flowers and plants in the yard with his personal maid and several old women in the house.

The leaves of the plum tree that she had planted with her own hands in this life had turned from green to yellow and were about to wither.

Dou Zhao smiled and said, "Let's plant some camellia trees here tomorrow. The leaves of the trees will fall and the camellia flowers will bloom. This way, we can have flowers all year round."

Sulan giggled.

Dou Zhao felt that someone was looking at him.

She couldn't help but look over there, and saw Song Mo riding on a horse outside the wall.

Dou Zhaoxing's eyes widened.

Song Mo smiled at her.

Dou Zhao's head was as big as a bowl.

Since they had met, she should invite him in to sit down. But if she really invited him in to sit down, how could she explain to the people around her how they knew each other? But if she didn't let him in to sit down, with Song Mo's temper, he probably wouldn't be able to stand such neglect, and it would be even more troublesome if something happened.

She couldn't help but glance around quickly.

Several old women straightened up and looked over here, apparently having discovered Song Mo.

Forget it, let’s invite him in first!

Dou Zhao was thinking about it and was about to ask for something, but Song Mo spoke before her: "I'm passing by your manor for something and would like to ask for some water to drink. Can you do me a favor?"

His voice was low and deep, and he sounded very tired.

Dou Zhao then realized that he was covered in dust and looked as if he had run hundreds of miles.

Grandmother went to Cuijiazhuang and took the servants with her. These women were originally from farmers in the manor, and were temporarily assigned to help. They were straightforward and straightforward, and looking at the characters in his paintings, how could it be inconvenient? Before Dou Zhao could say anything, they all said, "It's convenient! It's convenient! We are farmers, and we can drink tea freely." Then they asked, "Where are you from, brother? Where are you going?"

Dou Zhao had no choice but to remain silent.

Su Xin, Duan Gongyi and others did know Song Mo, but it was chilling to think how they knew him. In this situation, how could they speak up?

Song Mo thanked him with a smile, but his eyes were fixed on Dou Zhao: "Thank you very much!" The corners of his eyes were slightly tilted upwards, revealing a pair of eyes that were like floating shadows in the water, so beautiful that it made people's heart palpitate.

Dou Zhao's heart skipped a beat when he saw this.

Song Mo had already dismounted. Only a few ivy vines remained on the wall, restlessly sticking their heads out and swaying gently in the wind.

※※※※※

Of course Song Mo did not come alone. He was followed by four or five followers. One of them was the one who came to give a gift to Dou Zhao last time. She heard Song Mo call him Chen He, but she did not recognize the others.

How many guards does he have?

Dou Zhao muttered to himself.

Hearing that there were no elders in the family, she seemed to see a bright flash of light in Song Mo's eyes like a meteor across the sky.

"I wanted to stay here for one night," he said with regret, "but what should I do?" He frowned slightly, looking very embarrassed. The maids looked at him and said kindly: "There is no one else here, just stay here."

In their opinion, how could a young man with such a delicate appearance like Song Mo be a bad person!