Chapter 157: Measures

"...The Duke of Ying really killed all those guards who escaped, and had their bodies carried in front of the prince," Chen Qushui sighed. "Maybe they heard some rumors. On the 37th, almost all of the Duke of Ying's relatives and friends came. The prince was very well behaved, and you couldn't tell that he was still injured. The Duke of Ying looked solemn, and his face was sad when he mentioned Madam Jiang. Only Mr. Song kept kneeling beside Madam Jiang. He cried in front of the coffin, his eyes were swollen. At night, the banquet was over, and the Duke of Ying kept the third son-in-law to talk to the people of the Lu family. He was going to ask Mrs. Lu's brother Lu Fuli to be the middleman to divide Mrs. Jiang's dowry between the prince and Mr. Song. Now the Duke of Ying's mansion seems to be harmonious, but Yizhitang and the Duke of Ying's mansion are actually clearly divided. The prince even secretly sent people to settle some people in his Yucitian Manor in Daxing. "

"A cunning rabbit has three burrows." Dou Zhao listened very seriously. He knew that Song Mo and Song Yichun could still maintain the illusion of a loving father and a filial son in front of everyone. He was pleased that he had achieved his goal, but also felt a little emotional. "In the future, either the east wind will prevail over the west wind, or the west wind will prevail over the east wind. The story of the father and son killing each other will be played out in the Duke of Ying's Mansion for a long time."

Everyone listening felt very depressed, and the atmosphere in the room became somewhat depressing.

Dou Zhao smiled and broke the silence, saying, "Fortunately, none of this is our business. We have done what we should and can do, and we just need to live up to our conscience. We are outsiders after all. We don't know what happened between the father and the son, and it is not convenient for us to intervene."

Her words did not have much effect. Although Duan Gongyi forced a smile, his expression was still a little heavy. Chen Qushui understood Dou Zhao's intention and said with a smile: "The prince wanted to kill us, but we saved his life. So, we repaid evil with kindness. This case should be settled now. These days, everyone has been unable to eat or sleep well because of the affairs of the Duke of Ying's Mansion. Now that we are back in Zhending, we should not think about those things anymore. Let's all go downstairs and rest, and the young lady can rest early too."

Duan Gongyi and others smiled and stood up to say goodbye after hearing this.

Dou Zhao instructed Duan Gongyi: "You have all worked hard these days. Let's arrange for you to take turns to go back and take a few days off to reunite with your family."

Duan Gongyi and the others thanked him with a smile, and left the inner courtyard together with Chen Qushui.

Dou Zhao asked Sulan to find out when Ji Yong would leave: "... so we can prepare the ceremony."

Su Lan agreed with a smile, and replied in the evening: "It is said that Chen Zheng will leave tomorrow, and the Fifth Young Master will also go to Kyoto with Master Ji."

Although it was unexpected, it was also reasonable.

Dou Zhao told Su Xin: "Prepare two hundred taels of silver for each of them."

Su Xin left immediately.

Early the next morning, Dou Zhao and the women of the Dou family went to see Ji Yong and Dou Qijun off together.

The Second Lady repeatedly reminded Dou Qijun, "Don't be anxious. This time you are just going to have some experience. It would be great if you can pass the exam, but if not, it would also be good to ask your Fifth Uncle for advice." She also said to Ji Yong, "Be careful on the road. If you have anything to discuss, please discuss it with each other. If you arrive in Kyoto safely, I will be relieved!"

They both responded respectfully.

The second lady escorted the two people to the gate.

The servants helped the two of them into the carriage.

Ji Yong spotted Dou Zhao in the crowd at a glance.

She wore a ermine Zhaojun suit with a moon-white plain makeup flower on top, a ermine wind collar, and pearl droplets on her ears. In the cold wind, her lotus-like cheeks were rosy, like a winter plum blossom blooming in the snow, exceptionally bright and gorgeous.

Ji Yong couldn't help but clench his fists.

I must not let her look down on me again this time!

He turned around and got into the carriage, and shouted to his children: "Let's go, we're going to Kyoto!"

The carriage carrying the two people disappeared in the snow.

Everyone went to the hall with laughter and chatter.

Dou Zhao and Dou Qijun's wife Qi walked side by side. They listened to Dou Huanchang's wife, the ninth cousin Huang, talking about interesting stories about their son, but they were thinking about their own things.

After the new year, she will be coming of age.

Wang Qinghuai, Marquis of Yan'an, had a younger sister, Wang Qingyuan, who was only two months younger than him.

If he had not appeared "in time" back then and Tian had not remembered their old relationship, Wei Tingyu would have let Wei Tingzhen decide and married Wang Qingyuan.

The Wang family also seemed to be interested in marrying Wang Qingyuan to Wei Tingyu.

She still remembered the strange look that Wang Qinghuai's wife, Mrs. An, gave her when she first married into the Jining Marquis's Mansion.

If Wei Tingzhen had not let it slip in excitement many years later when she was angry and annoyed with her over a trivial matter, she would probably never have known it.

I just don't know, with Wei Tingzhen's personality, after marrying the gentle and docile Wang Qingyuan, would she dislike Wang Qingyuan for being too weak just as she disliked herself for being too strong?

Dou Zhao was very suspicious.

Despite this, she decided to start from this aspect.

She remembered that Wang Qingyuan finally married the eldest son of Hua Tang, the commander of Weizhou Weidu, and became a widow in less than a year. Because she had no children and her brother-in-law was powerful, she lived a miserable life in the Hua family. But Wang Qinghuai felt sorry for his sister and took her back to the Yan'an Marquis Mansion by force. From then on, Wang Qingyuan lived with the ancient Buddha and became a lay Buddhist.

If this marriage can be accomplished, it may not be a bad thing.

Dou Zhao did what he said and asked Cui Shisan to pay attention to the affairs of the Yan'an Marquis family when he came back for the New Year.

Cui Shisan was a little puzzled and said, "Wang Qinghuai, the son of Marquis Yan'an, is good at general affairs. Marquis Yan'an trusts him very much and has entrusted all family affairs to him. The Marquis Yan'an Mansion looks ordinary, but life is quite prosperous. It's just because they have always been low-key and restrained, and they are quite strict with their children, so they don't show off. We are a small business, and even if we get in touch with the Wang family, I'm afraid there will be no profit."

He has been lending money in Kyoto for the past two years, but he has proved the saying "You don't know until you try, and you'll be shocked when you do it". Not only do officials in the capital need to borrow money, but the children of the aristocratic families borrow money more frequently. Moreover, the officials will pay back the money as soon as they have money, but the children of the aristocratic families will not pay back even if they have money. If they are really forced to do it, they will pawn the things passed down by their ancestors. Fan Wenshu felt sorry for the ancestors of those people and thought about doing some antique trading in secret.

Dou Zhao naturally knew the Wang family's situation best.

Wei Tingzhen's preference for Wang Qingyuan was largely due to the generous dowry she brought with her.

But it’s not easy to tell Cui Shisanming about this.

She could only smile and say, "I got a message that the Emperor will repair the river works in the spring. This is a big deal. The Marquis of Yan'an will definitely not miss this opportunity. You just keep an eye on their house. Maybe they can eat meat and we can drink some soup!"

Cui Shisan thought this was a bad idea, but he was still young at that time. Even though he felt something was wrong, he couldn't find any flaws in Dou Zhao. He agreed solemnly and went to discuss this matter with Zhao Liangbi: "Tell me, is the fourth lady hiding something from us?"

Zhao Liangbi was already the manager of the Dou family's grain store in Zhending Prefecture.

He glanced at Cui Shisan and said, "Even if the Fourth Miss is hiding something from you, can you change anything if you know it?"

Cui Shisan thought about it seriously and said, "No!"

"That's it!" Zhao Liangbi said with a smile, "Just do whatever the Fourth Miss asks you to do. When the time comes, you will know it naturally." Then she invited him, "I want to go to Dongxiang Street. Do you want to go?"

"What are you doing in Dongxiang Street?" Cui Shisan had already taken his New Year's holiday and had come to Zhending Prefecture specifically to visit Zhao Liangbi. "You're the only one I know here, so we must go together."

Zhao Liangbi smiled and said, "The young lady entrusted me to take care of the other martial arts school and Mr. Chen's house. Although there are two old men helping to take care of them, it's almost the New Year, so I have to go over and take a look."

Cui Shisan did not suspect anything and stayed with Zhao Liangbi for a day before returning to Cuijiazhuang.

Fourth sister-in-law Tuoniang was leading ninth sister-in-law who had just come in to the kitchen to prepare dinner for the family. Fourth brother's son Zhongyuan and daughter Changqing were sitting on a small stool in the kitchen helping to pick soybeans in preparation for making tofu for the New Year.

Seeing Cui Shisan coming back, Tuo Niang asked him with a smile, "Have you seen the fourth young lady?"

She asked Cui Shisan to bring two pairs of shoes she made to Dou Zhao.

Zhongyuan and Changqing called him "Uncle Thirteen" obediently.

Cui Shisan smiled and touched the two children's heads, then took out a bag of maltose and handed it to them.

The two children cheered happily.

Cui Shisan then said, "I sent it. The fourth young lady said it fit her feet very well and asked you to make her two pairs of embroidered flower-patterned ones next time. She also asked me to bring back two boxes of snacks for Zhongyuan and Changqing. I heard from Ganlu that they were gifts from the palace and were specially sent from Kyoto by the seventh master to the fourth young lady. I put the snacks together with the things that the fourth young lady gave to the family."

Tuo Niang smiled with joy when she heard this. She said "you shouldn't" several times and asked Dou Zhao in detail what kind of shoes he had. "The Fourth Miss's coming-of-age ceremony will be in a few days. I must bring Zhong Yuan and Chang Qing to kowtow to her."

The family has been talking about this for the past few days. Cui's father even called Cui Shisan and his brothers together to discuss what gifts to give. Cui Shisan had been in Kyoto for two years, so this matter was handed over to him. He was having a headache over it. After hearing what Tuoniang said, he couldn't help but mutter, "Fourth sister-in-law is still better. She can just give two pairs of shoes." Before he finished speaking, he had an idea and simply stayed there, picking soybeans with Changqing: "Fourth sister-in-law, you have served the fourth young lady before. What does the fourth young lady like?"

Tuoniang was talking to Cui Shisan, but her hands were not slow at all: "As long as the gift is given to the Fourth Miss sincerely, the Fourth Miss will like it." She couldn't help but talk about Dou Zhao's childhood, "... a little bit of a mean person, who kept it all in her heart, who was good to her and who was not. She was also generous and never cared about anything..."

Cui Jiu's wife looked at Tuo Niang talking and couldn't help showing an envious expression.

Cui Si was the most taciturn among the brothers. Because he married Tuo Niang, no one in the Cui family dared to neglect him. Even his father-in-law and mother-in-law were polite to him when they saw the couple. The fourth daughter of the Dou family often brought gifts to them, and everyone in the family also benefited from it. Fortunately, Tuo Niang had a good temper and never felt proud. When it was her turn to go to the fields to deliver meals, she would deliver meals. When it was her turn to light the fire and cook, she would light the fire and cook. Her sisters-in-law all admired her for being kind. She could control her husband and relatives. When the women in ten villages mentioned her, nine out of ten were envious and one was jealous.

Thinking of this, her eyes couldn't help but fall on the young Zhongyuan and Changqing.

With the relationship with the Fourth Young Miss, these two children don't have to worry about their future!