Zhending County was bustling with people. As soon as the carriage entered the city gate, Dou Zhao heard someone shouting, "Hurry up and go to Dongdou to collect your reward money!"
Grandmother was shocked and asked Hong Gu repeatedly: "What is the bonus for?"
Dou Zhao was also a little surprised at first, but after a little thought, he understood. Seeing his grandmother asking, he smiled and said, "I guess Boyan was implicated."
"Yes!" Grandma was delighted to hear this and urged Hong Gu, "Go and ask!"
The carriage stopped and Hong Gu randomly pulled a passerby to ask.
"The fifth young master of the Dou family has won the imperial examination. The lady has sent people to reward him at the door. If you go too late, there will be no reward!" The person who spoke said hurriedly and ran away.
"Oh, this is great!" The grandmother was delighted. "The Dou family is going to produce another high-ranking official!" She did not have the slightest resentment towards this family who had treated her so lightly.
Dou Zhao couldn't help but hold his grandmother's hand tightly, which was holding the cord.
If she didn't have her grandmother, she might have become a bitter and mean person who hated everything in her life! How could she have left the Dou family behind and lived her own good life?
After returning home, Dou Zhao prepared some pens, ink, paper and inkstone as gifts, and went to the East Palace with Dou Ming.
Dou Qijun's mother, the third grandmother, wore a brand new royal blue silk jacket with a ruyi pattern. She had a big smile on her face as she socialized with the female relatives who came to congratulate her.
Dou Ming snorted coldly with disdain.
Dou Zhao told her: "If you don't want to come, don't come. You have so many excuses. Now that you are here, please be happy for me."
Dou Ming smiled naively, leaned close to Dou Zhao's ear and whispered, "That night, I saw Ji Yong going to find you!" But his tone was extremely vicious, revealing an undisguised sense of schadenfreude.
Dou Zhao took two steps back and looked carefully at the girl in front of him.
"Dou Ming, you don't like me, and I don't like you either. We don't need to be hypocritical and cover up anything. I think it's good this way." She said in a deep voice, "If you want, of course you can stare at me every day. As long as I agree, you will oppose it; as long as I oppose it, you will agree with it. You can even make me unhappy and make yourself as low as mud. But I will not change anything because of you. You must remember this! If you think that Ji Yong's matter of looking for me has damaged the reputation of my family, you can stand at the gate of Xidou and shout, I promise that I will never stop you."
Dou Zhaoyi leaned on the railing of the porch, her pea green Xiang skirt embroidered with goose yellow persimmon calyx patterns scattered on the ground. Her posture was extremely casual, but there was a kind of nonchalant contempt on her face, like a sharp sword stabbing Dou Ming's heart.
"Don't be so complacent!" She couldn't help but threaten Dou Zhao, "One day, I will make you cry and beg me!"
Threats are based on strength.
If the person who said this was Song Mo, she would probably tremble with fear, right?
As the thought flashed through his mind, Dou Zhao couldn't help laughing.
If it was Song Mo, he would definitely not say such childish words, right?
He will do it directly and make you cry and beg him.
She suddenly looked dazed.
It takes more than a month to travel from Kyoto to Liaodong at full speed, so the Liaodong general only returns to the capital to report once every three years. Since the emperor reprimanded Song Mo, it shows that he still favors him. If he suddenly remembers him and issues an order to summon him but he is not in Kyoto...it will be a headache!
Dou Ming, who was standing opposite Dou Zhao, was so angry that his heart was trembling.
Dou Zhao actually looked down on her so much!
Is she ridiculous? Are you too lazy to even entertain her?
One day, one day, she will make Dou Zhao regret it!
Dou Ming clenched her hands into fists, her nails digging into her palms so hard that they hurt.
※※※※※
In the back garden of Dongdou, the lotus flowers have withered, but the sweet scent of osmanthus lingers, and buds of crabapple trees are emerging. One scene follows another.
The female relatives sat down in the flower hall with laughter, and congratulated Qi, who had already given birth to a son and was now pregnant.
Qi blushed and kept thanking her. Her younger sister, Xiao Qi, who had married Fifth Grandma's nephew, was sitting side by side with Fifth Grandma, smiling brightly, obviously very happy for her sister.
Kou Ge'er, the eldest son of my seventh cousin Dou Fanchang, was peeking out from outside the flower hall.
Dou Zhao waved at him quietly.
In her previous life, she was close to her third uncle, and therefore also familiar with his two cousins, Dou Fanchang and Dou Huachang. She had watched Kou Ge'er grow up, so she naturally felt close to him.
Kou Ge'er ran to Dou Zhao's side with excitement, sticking to the lattice window of the flower hall.
"Fourth aunt," he said in a childish voice, "Brother Anyuan asked me to find him a stick of incense..."
Dou Zhao understood what was going on as soon as he heard it.
There were always firecrackers outside the door. Children were naughty and would often pick up the unexploded firecrackers and light them with candles to play with. Because the fuse of the firecrackers was shorter than that of ordinary firecrackers, children would often get their hands blown off or hurt other parts of their bodies. It was particularly dangerous. Adults usually didn't let children play with these. The name Anyuan sounded familiar, but he was definitely not a child of the Dou family. He was most likely a child of a relative of the Dou family. They must have seen that Kou Ge'er was young and a child of the Dou family, so they encouraged him to ask adults for candles.
"What's so fun about those firecrackers that people throw on the ground?" How could she let Kou Ge'er play with this group of people? She coaxed him, "Tomorrow Fourth Aunt will buy you a lot of firecrackers. Today we have fresh autumn pears, Fourth Aunt will peel some for you, and later let Su Lan accompany you to the woods to watch the birds, okay?"
Kou Ge'er's saliva immediately started to flow.
He sat obediently on the small stool at Dou Zhao's feet and ate the pear.
After seeing this, Xiao Qi asked Fifth Grandma in a low voice, "Did Fourth Aunt say anything about him?"
To show affection, she followed her sister and called everyone in the Dou family.
Her younger uncle was old enough to get married.
Fifth Grandma knew about this, and upon hearing this, she couldn't help but burst into laughter and said, "You're a step too late. Our fourth sister is going to be the Marquis's wife!"
A daughter of a family is sought after by hundreds of families, not to mention that Dou Zhao was already engaged, so she did not mind if someone took a fancy to Dou Zhao. Instead, she thought it was Dou Zhao's honor - when a girl gets married, it will be like a pearl turning into a fish eye, and it will only be dazzling for a few years. Therefore, her voice was particularly loud, and everyone in the hall could hear it.
Xiao Qi's question was ambiguous and not awkward. She was also a smart person, so she said "Congratulations" in a humorous way.
Dou Zhao was never a shy person, he just smiled and said nothing, letting them talk openly, and everyone was even more unconcerned.
"Our fourth sister is also a lucky one. If she hadn't been engaged to Jining Marquis in Kyoto since she was a child, she would have married into the Ge Lao Mansion." The second grandmother has been worried since she failed to matchmake for the Wu family. Now that she has the opportunity to clear Dou Zhao's name in front of all the in-laws, she naturally spared no effort, and her voice was no less than that of the fifth grandmother. "When the people in the He family heard that the fourth sister had been engaged a long time ago, they felt regretful for a long time."
The sister-in-law of the Third Grandma's family looked at Dou Zhao carefully and nodded, saying, "The Fourth Miss has big and full earlobes. She is a blessed girl."
"Of course!" The Third Grandma and Dou Zhao had a special relationship, so of course she had to praise Dou Zhao. She smiled and said, "You don't know, when the old Marquis Jining passed away, his aunt sent someone to say that she would marry him within a hundred days. Our lady was so angry that she kept shouting that she wanted to cancel the marriage. Who knew that before the words fell, the Marquis Jining sent his wet nurse to give gifts and apologize, and said that it was because there was no one in the family to take charge of the feast, and he didn't mean to neglect the fourth sister. Then he sent lotus lanterns on the Ghost Festival, rice dumplings on the Mid-Autumn Festival, and chrysanthemums on the Double Ninth Festival. He didn't miss any of the solar terms. I think he really wants to marry the fourth sister as soon as possible before he can feel at ease."
Everyone covered their mouths and laughed, with a certain degree of envy on their faces.
Dou Zhao sighed secretly.
In past and present lives, what Wei Tingyu liked was always her color.
Thinking of this, she became confused again.
What else can a man like if he doesn't like a woman's color?
Do you want him to be your close friend?
Although I say this and I understand it in my heart, think about it, a serious couple will end up falling in love because of fading beauty, what's the point?
After all, I underestimated her.
Suddenly, he lost interest and when he looked up, he saw Ji Yong sitting alone by the lotus pond.
He was wearing a lotus-green robe and sat blankly on a bluestone bench. The autumn sunlight shone through the dying osmanthus branches onto his body, creating an ever-changing, mottled light and shadow that made him look cold and aloof, seemingly so far away.
Ji Yong, there has never been such a quiet time!
What happened?
Dou Zhao couldn't help but guess secretly.
But Dou Ming, who was sitting next to her, felt as if there was a fire on his heart.
She bit her lip tightly, afraid that she would say something she shouldn't.
She is just going to marry a marquis, is there any need for everyone to curry favor with her like this?
The Marquis only had an idle job. Could he help the children of the Dou family get a job? Or could he help the fifth uncle speak in the inner chamber?
These women only know about needles and threads every day and have no knowledge at all!
What's more, she hasn't married yet.
What if something unexpected happens one day and this marriage falls through?
Dou Ming's eyes flashed with sarcasm, and then he saw Nanny Liu asking everyone to move to the Second Madam's place, saying that the Second Madam would host a banquet in her own courtyard to entertain everyone - the cost of the banquet would be paid for by the Second Madam's own money.
Everyone couldn't help but congratulate Third Grandma and Qi.
Third Grandma and Qi were beaming with joy.
It wasn't that she was short of that little bit of silver, but the Second Lady used her own money to celebrate for her nephew, which showed her joy and love.
The group of people went to the Second Lady, chatting and laughing.
Dou Ming, who was always keeping an eye on Dou Zhao, found that Dou Zhao gradually fell behind the crowd. When they turned around the wisteria trellis, Dou Zhao suddenly disappeared.
Dou Ming sneered in her heart, stopped to pick a few branches of wisteria, and when she saw that everyone had gone far away, she hurried to the flower hall.
On the way, she saw Ji Yong and Dou Zhao standing by the lotus pond.
"Why are you sitting here?" Dou Zhao teased Ji Yong, "Is it because there is a young hero in our family and cousin Ji can't be as prominent as before, so he feels a little disappointed?"
If it was normal, Ji Yong would immediately jump up and retaliate with a venomous tongue after hearing this, leaving her helpless. But today, Ji Yong just looked up at her and said in a sullen tone, "I'm settling accounts."