Chapter 176 Communication

Wei Tingzhen was feeling a little irritated at the moment and did not notice what was wrong with Nanny Jin.

A few months ago, she took the initiative to visit Wang Yingxue and started talking to her. Then she sent a maid to deliver something here and there tomorrow. During the Dragon Boat Festival, she even invited Wang Yingxue to Sansheng Temple for an outing. Wang Yingxue was very polite and generous when they went out for an outing. She then implicitly expressed her intention to cancel the engagement, but Wang Yingxue pretended not to understand and did not respond at all.

She was extremely anxious, so she asked Nanny Jin to find Nanny Hu, Wang Yingxue's personal servant, and hoped to pass a message to Wang Yingxue through Nanny Hu.

Nanny Hu replied and said that Wang Yingxue was worried about the marriage of her own children and had neither the mood nor the energy to care about Dou Zhao's affairs.

Wei Tingzhen immediately promised that as long as this matter was accomplished, she would be responsible for finding a good marriage for Dou Ming.

But the other side just smiled and said nothing.

Wei Tingzhen knew that Wang Yingxue would not act until she saw the rabbit.

She had to consider Dou Ming's marriage carefully.

Logically speaking, both the Dou and Wang families were well-off. Although Dou Ming was born to a concubine, Wang Yingxue was made the legal daughter. She could be considered a legitimate daughter. Although it was difficult to marry the eldest son or grandson of a prominent family, it would not be difficult to marry the second son or youngest son of an ordinary official family. Could it be that Wang Yingxue wanted her daughter to be a clan wife?

Wei Tingzhen sent someone to inquire about Dou Ming's marriage.

Only then did she realize that since coming to Kyoto, Wang Yingxue had almost never gone out for social activities and had no close friends. She wanted to inquire about the Dou family, but could not find anyone to ask.

Wei Tingzhen couldn't help but feel suspicious.

Nanny Jin said, "How can the Dou family be compared with other wealthy families like the Jining Marquis's Mansion and the Jingguo Duke's Mansion? It's natural that Madam doesn't know anyone familiar with them. Why don't I ask around for you? I know someone who works in the Dou family's shop."

All wealthy families are the same.

Many things are done by deceiving superiors but not hiding them from subordinates.

Wei Tingzhen readily agreed.

Nanny Jin went to Dou Zhao's pen and ink shop and found the old woman working at the stove in the shop.

The old woman didn't know much about what was going on in Jing'an Temple Hutong. "All the accounts in our shop have to be reported to Zhending. The Seventh Master has never come to our shop to take money. Occasionally, he sends a servant to buy some paper and ink, and he pays according to the price." At this point, she thought of Chen Qushui, and hurriedly said, "How about you meet the accountant in our shop? He happened to come from Zhending to check the accounts... But I think he looks quite friendly. She is kind, but she must be very smart, otherwise the head and second in command of our shop would be a little scared when they see her; or we can ask Hong Gu, I heard that she grew up watching the fourth daughter of the Dou family, and she is a country woman who has not seen much of the world, but," she said, lowering her voice, "when I went out with her, she would buy any headgear for three taels of silver without even bargaining... She must be quite respectable in the Dou family."

Nanny Jin nodded repeatedly.

The old woman then pretended that Nanny Jin was her sister, cooked a few dishes to entertain Nanny Jin, and invited Hong Gu to accompany her.

After drinking a jar of Jinhua wine, Hong Gu, with a flushed face, began to talk more. Speaking of the Fourth Miss, Hong Gu's eyes were filled with tears. She told her how she lost her mother when she was young, how she grew up with Ji, how likable she was, how smart and capable she was... She even gave two Nie Ji handkerchiefs to Nanny Jin as a gift.

Nanny Jin left with satisfaction.

Hong Gu hurried back to the house and gulped down two cups of cold tea, then went to Chen Qushui and asked, "Is this okay?"

"Yes! Why not?" Chen Qushui said with a smile, "Mother Jin concealed her identity and came to you to inquire about the Fourth Young Miss. She was probably asked by the aunt of the Marquis of Jining's Mansion. If you say so, the aunt of the Marquis of Jining's Mansion will definitely feel pity and love for our young lady."

Hong Gu nodded repeatedly and said, "I thought so too. So I told Nanny Jin how considerate, kind, and capable our young lady is." As she spoke, she laughed and said, "It turns out that the wealthy and noble families in Kyoto are just like us in Zhending. They will secretly inquire about the appearance and character of our young ladies!"

Chen Qushui smiled and nodded: "So, don't think that these people in Kyoto are all supernatural beings - they are just like us." But in his heart, he thought, secretly asking about the relationship before getting engaged is the right way to look at each other, right? People like Wei Tingzhen have no good intentions!

Hong Gu felt relieved and was thinking whether she should give the piece of autumn-fragrance-colored Hangzhou silk that she bought from the shop next door two days ago to Nanny Jin if she came again.

As for Nanny Jin, the story she passed on to Wei Tingzhen was about how Wang Yingxue had forced Dou Zhao's mother to death but was still made the legitimate wife after Wang Xingyi was reinstated, how Dou Zhao was sent to be raised by the sixth wife of the Dou family and how she was loved by the elders: "...I can tell from the sound of it that she is a scheming person. I was wondering, how could the lady of the Dou family help her?!"

Whenever Nanny Jin thought about what happened to her in the Dou family, she became furious and wished that Dou Zhao would be rejected by the Wei family.

Wei Tingzhen frowned after hearing this: "It seems that this Wang is not someone who is easy to get along with!"

"Isn't this better?" Nanny Jin said with a smile, "If she doesn't have this ability, I'm afraid she won't be able to do what Madam asks her to do! This is no small matter."

"Not bad!" Wei Tingzhen said, "But Dou Ming's marriage will probably take some time to think about!"

She was just talking before.

Nanny Jin laughed and said, "Wang is afraid that we will not keep our word, but are we not afraid that Wang will not keep her word? Isn't the second wife's brother from her mother's family looking for a marriage proposal? As long as you spread the word that you want to find a good matchmaker for the second wife's brother from her mother's family, how can Wang not be tempted? As for who you want to matchmake for when the time comes, it all depends on who you like and who you have your eye on!"

The second wife she was talking about was Shi, the wife of Zhang Jiming, the second master of the Jingguo Mansion.

Shi was the eldest daughter of the younger brother of Changxing Marquis Shi Ruilan. Her father was a deputy in the Shenjiying Camp, and she had a princess named Shang who was the uncle of the princess' husband. The Shi brothers did not separate the family, so Shi's younger brother could be considered a lucky son-in-law.

Wei Tingzhen smiled and nodded.

When Wang Yingxue received the letter, she became extremely anxious.

She had long been deprived of her power to preside over the imperial banquet, so how could she have the ability to ruin Dou Zhao's marriage?

The reason why he was silent before was that he was powerless. As for Dou Ming's marriage, he just wanted to try it out. Unexpectedly, Wei Tingzhen really helped Dou Ming find a good family.

Such opportunities are fleeting.

"What should we do? What should we do?" She was anxious. "Wei Tingzhen has done what we said. Now it's our turn to fulfill our promise... If we don't do anything, not only will this matter fail, but I'm afraid Wei Tingzhen will also suspect me. Wei Tingyu was in mourning for three years, and Dou Zhao waited for him for three years. When it was time to get married, Wei Tingzhen wanted to cancel the engagement. You can see how vicious this person is!" At this point, she couldn't help but stop. "To be honest, I hope this marriage can be successful - with such a sister-in-law, I'm afraid Dou Zhao will have to sleep with one eye open."

Wang Yingxue sneered twice.

Madam Hu couldn't help but say, "Then let's not worry about this matter..."

Wang Yingxue had no status in the Dou family and no one listened to what she said. They could not fulfill Wei Tingzhen's requests at all.

"How can that be possible!" Wang Yingxue said, "If Wei Tingzhen knew about this, she would definitely think we were teasing her. With her personality, she would definitely not let it go. If she said something bad about me or Ming Jie'er in front of others, Ming Jie'er's marriage would be even more difficult!"

She couldn't help but feel a little regretful for agreeing to Wei Tingzhen's conditions. But she also understood in her heart that the temptation of making Dou Zhao break off the engagement and make him fall flat on his face was too great, and she had no way to refuse.

"We can only think of ways to delay it now," Wang Yingxue couldn't help but mutter, "Let's see if there is any improvement..." She instructed Madam Hu, "If Wei Tingzhen comes to ask, just tell her that the Seventh Elder doesn't agree to this matter, saying that it will make the Dou family lose face, and tell her not to worry, and let me think of other ways."

Nanny Hu agreed and passed the message to Wei Tingzhen through Nanny Jin.

Wei Tingzhen waited patiently for two months, but there was still no movement in Jing'an Temple Hutong, and Wei Tingyu had already performed the mourning ceremony.

At that time, Lady Yan'an also attended the ceremony.

She looked at the handsome and tall Wei Tingyu and said to Wei Tingzhen with some emotion: "Your family is going to have a wedding soon, right? Our Qingyuan still doesn't know who will marry her."

The speaker may not mean it, but the listener may take it seriously.

Wang Qingyuan is not young anymore. In the past, Lady Yan'an was afraid that her daughter would suffer if she married too early, but now she is anxious to find a husband for her.

Wei Tingzhen couldn't sit still anymore and urged Nanny Jin to go find Nanny Hu.

Wang Yingxue could only ask Wei Tingzhen ambiguously: "I can only play a supporting role beside the Seventh Master. If Madam has any good ideas, please teach me!"

Wei Tingzhen was a little dumbfounded and asked Nanny Jin for help.

But even Wei Tingzhen couldn't do anything about it, so what could Nanny Jin do?

However, Nanny Lu kept these words in mind.

Just then, Hong Gu sent the maidservant on the stove to deliver two rolls of red summer cloth to Nanny Jin.

Nanny Lu had an idea and took the opportunity to start a conversation with the woman on the stove.

Two days later, she took a pot of Jinhua wine and went to Dou's pen and ink shop, saying that she was going to visit the old woman on the stove.

With Chen Qushui's advice, Hong Gu warmly entertained Nanny Lu.

After two rounds of drinks, someone came outside looking for Hong Gu. Hong Gu had no choice but to smile apologetically to Nanny Lu, told the maid at the stove to entertain the guest well, and went back to the shop.

After a while, Chen Qushui came over and saw Madam Lu and the woman on the stove drinking. He said, "Where's Hong Gu? How come I haven't seen her for so long?"

The maid at the stove stood up and said, "Hong Gu just went out." Fearing that Chen Qushui would blame her for secretly setting up a table in the kitchen, she introduced Nanny Lu to Chen Qushui, "This is the personal nanny of the wife of the prince of the Duke of Jing's mansion. She came to see Hong Gu specially." She pointed at Chen Qushui and said, "This is the accountant of our Zhending hometown. He is here to check the accounts."

Nanny Lu smiled and bowed, showing no fear.

Chen Qushui said "Oh" and turned away.

After half a cup of tea, Hong Gu returned and pulled Nanny Lu to the kitchen with a serious look on her face and said, "Do you know the birth date of Marquis Jining?"

Nanny Lu was stunned and shook her head, "I don't know."

Hong Gu said solemnly, "Can you help us find out?" As she spoke, she stuffed a purse into the hands of Nanny Lu.

Nanny Lu felt the weight sink in her hand and based on her experience, she estimated that it was at least ten taels.

Her heart sank, but she didn't show it on her face. She smiled and said, "At least tell me the truth, then I'll know what to do!"

Hong Gu hesitated for a long time before whispering, "Mr. Chen, that's the accountant you just met. He said he knows a real person from Longhu Mountain who can also tell the fortune for Lord Jining."