Chapter 173 If Lost

Song Mo nodded and said, "I happen to have something to do at the farm in Daxing tomorrow. Please send a message to Chen Qushui!"

Everyone in the room was stunned.

Just now they were discussing visiting the Third Prince Consort Shi Chonglan, how come Song Mo changed his mind in the blink of an eye?

Liao Bifeng had just arrived and thought he had not figured out Song Mo's temper yet. He glanced at Yan Chaoqing and saw that Yan Chaoqing was drinking tea with his eyelids drooped and was not saying anything, so he also did not say anything.

Chen He retreated immediately.

Liao Bifeng continued the topic just now: "Although the Duke intends to continue his marriage, the Crown Prince has reached the age of studying, and the Second Prince has also passed the age of a child. A better family may not be willing to marry their daughter into the family; and a worse family cannot play the role of marriage alliance, which is not beneficial to the current situation. This time, the Duke rejected the daughter of Peng Feng, the commander of the Xuanzhou Guards, and asked to marry the younger sister of the Marquis of Changxing. It can be seen that the Duke intends to marry. It is a good idea for the young master to take the opportunity to visit Shi Chonglan and let the Shi family know that the Crown Prince has great ambitions. Given the Shi family's usual behavior, they will most likely not agree to the Duke's marriage proposal."

Yan Chaoqing nodded slightly and praised, "The Shi family has always valued profit over love and likes to marry into wealthy and powerful families. Otherwise, Shi Chonglan would not have married the princess. This is why the Duke wants to marry a girl from the Shi family. The Prince's plan is very good - if the Shi family feels that they can't benefit from this marriage, and may even offend the Prince, they will definitely not agree to this marriage."

There has always been a saying in official circles that young men should not be bullied, which means that young people have unlimited possibilities, and maybe one day they will rise to the top and become a powerful person. Moreover, Song Mo's power is so strong that if Shi Ruilan agrees to marry her sister to Song Yichun, it means that she has stood on the opposite side of Song Mo without any room for maneuver.

Song Mo said nothing and seemed a little absent-minded.

Liao Bifeng thought Song Mo was worried about Song Yichun's marriage. Thinking of the conflict between Song Mo and Song Yichun, he could not help but bow and give Song Mo some advice: "My Lord, there is no mistress in the house to preside over the marriage. It is natural for the Duke to remarry, and no one can stop it. But if you get married, it will be different - the Duke's wife is a concubine, and the Lord's wife is the first wife. One is the elder and the other is the legitimate wife. The Duke's wife is the second wife. Who will be in charge of the internal affairs of the palace? At this time, it depends on whose status is more prominent. "When he said this, he looked at Yan Chaoqing again and whispered what the two had discussed before, "The younger sister of Wang Qinghuai, the Marquis of Yan'an, the second daughter of Uncle Lu from the Madam's family... and Princess Jingyi, the daughter of Queen Wan, are all of marriageable age. The Crown Prince will be out of mourning in January next year. It's the right time to make plans early!"

Song Mo sneered: "My father probably had the same idea, right?"

Liao Bifeng smiled but said nothing.

Song Mo said, "Let's talk about this later. Let him go to the Shi family and try his luck first." He looked like he didn't want to talk more.

Having said that, as long as the Shi family does not explicitly reject the Duke of Ying, this marriage may be possible.

Liao Bifeng asked hurriedly, "Where is the third prince consort?"

"Let's arrange it for the day after tomorrow!" Song Mo said lightly.

Is it too late?

Liao Bifeng was about to persuade Song Mo a few more times when he felt someone tug at his sleeves. Then he heard Yan Chaoqing's voice: "In that case, we'll take our leave. The prince should also take a rest and leave for Daxing early tomorrow morning."

Song Mo said "hmm".

Yan Chaoqing and Liao Bifeng stood up and said goodbye.

After leaving the main courtyard, Liao Bifeng hurriedly asked Yan Chaoqing in a low voice: "Who is Chen Qushui? The prince is so polite to him. From the prince's tone, he seems to be working as an aide to someone. Why didn't he invite him over?"

Yan Chaoqing really didn't know how to answer him.

To explain who Chen Qushui is, we have to talk about Fourth Lady Dou... Obviously, the Prince is most worried about dragging Fourth Lady Dou into this. But he has to explain Chen Qushui's identity to Liao Bifeng - Liao Bifeng is now the Prince's staff, and if he knows nothing about the Prince's affairs, it is easy for him to make a wrong judgment and cause trouble.

Fourth Miss Dou is going to get married soon. Even if the relationship between the Crown Prince and Wei Tingyu is very good, it is impossible for them to interact like this now.

How did the prince get to know Fourth Miss Dou? Tell Liao Bifeng when you have the chance!

Yan Chaoqing quickly thought of a speech: "Chen Qushui's name is Bo. He used to be an aide to Zhang Kai, the governor of Fujian who fled the city. Later, he returned to his hometown Zhending and got a job as an accountant in the seventh branch of the Dou family in the north building. He was highly valued by Lord Dou and helped to look after Lord Dou's eldest daughter who was left in Zhending. When the prince got into trouble, he happened to be in Kyoto. Because he had received the favor of Duke Dingguo, he had helped the prince. And because the Dou family took him in when he was in trouble, he was reluctant to resign because of the old favor, so he stayed in the Dou family. Since he came to Kyoto, the prince must do his best to show his courtesy."

However, Liao Bifeng felt that there was something fishy in Yan Chaoqing's words.

If this is true, the prince should be concerned about whether Chen Qushui is living well in the Dou family. However, from the prince's tone, it seems that he cares more about the marriage of that young lady.

Thinking of this, Song Mo's thoughtful expression appeared in Liao Bifeng's mind.

His heart was moved slightly.

Could it be that the prince...

But he quickly suppressed this thought in his heart.

He did not go through that disaster with the Crown Prince, so it would take some time for him to gain recognition from the Crown Prince and his confidants.

There's no rush about this matter, he'll find out sooner or later.

Liao Bifeng smiled and asked Yan Chaoqing about Song Mo's trip to Daxing Farm: "Do you want me to follow you?"

"Let's see what the prince will do when the time comes!" Yan Chaoqing also saw what Song Mo was thinking. He thought that if something was leaked, it would be terrible. He made up his mind not to let Liao Bifeng go, so he spoke with a bit of evasion, "After all, Chen Qushui is working for someone else. Let's see if he can get away first!"

Liao Bifeng said "hmm" and changed the subject. After returning, he asked the servant he brought with him to pay attention to whether there was a visiting card from Chen Qushui.

The next afternoon, the servant came back and said, "I didn't see the visiting card from Chen Qushui."

Could it be that Chen Qushui rejected the prince's kindness?

Liao Bifeng couldn't help but mutter in his heart.

However, Chen Qushui had already arrived at the farm in Daxing.

Why would he reply to Song Mo in his own name? Wouldn't that expose himself under the nose of the Duke of England?

Since I can't refuse Song Mo's invitation, I'll just go and see him directly.

Seeing that he was in high spirits, Song Mo invited him to taste tea.

After just a few pleasantries, the topic turned to Dou Zhao's marriage.

Chen Qushui most admired Dou Zhao's ability to judge people.

When they were at the farm, Dou Zhao sent Song Mo away carefully and even with a bit of awe. Song Mo was a little skeptical, but what happened later proved Dou Zhao's wisdom.

He felt that it was completely necessary to keep a certain distance from Song Mo, so he had no intention of telling Song Mo his true purpose.

"When my aunt came back last time, the fourth young lady's dowry was almost ready. We were just waiting for the date to be set after the aunt finished mourning." Chen Qushui said, "Aunt Cui asked us to ask the seventh old master whether the young lady would marry from Zhending or from Kyoto? Who should be the perfect match? What are the requirements for the wealthy families in Kyoto to marry their daughters? Is there anything that needs to be added or subtracted from the young lady... There are so many things that it would take me two quarters of an hour to talk about them, not to mention the things that can be done." He smiled bitterly, looking helpless, and sighed, "Getting married is such a troublesome thing!"

"Really?" Song Mo suddenly felt a little lost.

After Dou Zhao gets married, the one in her heart and on her mind will be Wei Tingyu... If he goes to see her again, even if she is frank and Wei Tingyu doesn't care, it might be inappropriate!

He suddenly felt lost and uninterested, thinking that he should go to the Third Prince Consort's Mansion...

Ji Yong was very excited when he learned that Chen Qushui had come to Kyoto. He asked his son, "Is the news reliable?"

"Reliable!" Zixi patted his chest and said, "He lives in the fourth lady's pen shop. He also visited several masters of the Dou family two days ago. We found him when we went to Daxing to visit a friend today."

Ji Yong was very interested and asked, "Have you found out the identity of Chen Qushui's friend?"

"We found out." The son said, "This man's surname is Yan, his given name is Yun, and his courtesy name is Chaoqing. He is the staff of the Prince of the Duke of Yingguo's Mansion."

Ji Yong was very surprised: "The staff of the Prince of Yingguo Mansion... I should have known him in Fujian..." He thought of the rumors he heard about the Yingguo Mansion a few days ago, and couldn't help but ponder, "Do you know what Chen Qushui is doing in Kyoto?"

"I heard that he was discussing the marriage of the fourth lady of the Dou family with the seventh elder." The son said, "Marquis Jining will be free from mourning in two months."

Ji Yong couldn't help curling her lips and said, "Could it be that Dou Zhao is really planning to marry this guy named Wei?"

The son was sweating and said hurriedly, "This marriage was arranged for Fourth Miss Dou since she was young. If Fourth Miss Dou doesn't marry Marquis Jining, can she marry someone else? Didn't the Dou family use this as an excuse to reject the He family's marriage proposal?"

Ji Yong said to herself: "I always feel that it is too unfortunate for Dou Zhao to marry this guy named Wei..."

Having said this, he felt very uncomfortable, as if he saw dust falling on Dou Zhao's originally spotless clothes. If he didn't sweep the dust off, it would be as if there was always a thorn in his heart.

He patted his collar and said, "Let's go and meet Chen Qushui."

"This, this, isn't good?" Zixi jumped up and stopped in front of Ji Yong, "Mr. Chen is here to discuss the marriage of Fourth Miss Dou. What should you say when you meet Mr. Chen..." If the young master did something "stand up for injustice" and ruined this matter, it would be terrible!

But before he could finish his words, Ji Yong glanced at him with contempt: "I am Dou Zhao's cousin. Is it not okay for me to care about her marriage?"

What kind of cousin is this!

"Okay, okay, okay!" The son was so shocked that he said, "But it should be the same if we ask the aunt, right? Mr. Chen went to visit the aunt as soon as he arrived, and Miss Dou grew up with the aunt. The aunt might know more about some things than Chen Qushui..."

Before informing his wife, he had to stop Master Ji at all costs.