Chapter 184 Relatives

In Dou Zhao's memory, the Dou Mansion in Huaishu Hutong was a house with four courtyards and three rooms and an ear room. Pomegranates were planted in the front yard and square bamboos were planted in the back yard. Stone tables and stone stools were placed under the grape trellises. It was a bit crowded for his fifth uncle's family to live there, but there was a sense of peace and warmth in the atmosphere.

But in this life, as soon as she got off the carriage, she found that the Dou family's mansion was more than twice as large as she had imagined.

Dou Shishu not only bought a three-in-three-room house next to his house, but also bought a two-in-three-room house behind it. He connected the three houses and renovated them, turning them into the current Dou Pavilion old house in Huaishu Hutong. It no longer had the forbearance and prudence of his previous life, but had become more low-key and ostentatious.

This may have a lot to do with the fact that in his previous life, his fifth uncle was suppressed by Wang Xingyi for a long time, but in this life he entered the palace before Wang Xingyi.

Dou Shishu, Dou Shiheng, Dou Shiying and other male members were in front, and the fifth wife Fan, the sixth wife Ji and other female members were behind. Almost all the maids, daughters-in-law, and old women in the mansion came out, surrounding all the Dou family members, and stood in front of the door early waiting, except Wang Yingxue.

When he saw the Second Madam, Dou Shishu took a few steps forward and knelt in front of her, calling her "Mom" with tears in his eyes.

The Second Lady burst into tears and wanted to help Dou Shishu get up.

However, Dou Shishu insisted on kowtowed three times to the Second Lady, and his forehead was immediately covered with dust.

Dou Shiheng and others hurriedly followed Dou Shishu in kowtowing and paying their respects.

The Second Lady's tearful eyes were filled with relief and joy.

Dou Zhao, who was walking behind the Second Lady, saw Dou Ming in the crowd hesitate for a moment before he knelt down following the slender, fair-skinned, and pretty middle-aged woman.

Dou Zhao recognized the woman as Dou Zhengchang's wife, Han, and she couldn't help but take a few more glances at her.

Han had a very bad relationship with Ji Lingze, who was first her sister-in-law and later her sister-in-law, so that Dou Dechang and his wife had to move to West Street near Yongguang Temple in Xuanbeifang, the outer city of Kyoto.

Feeling Dou Zhao's gaze, Han nodded towards him kindly.

Dou Zhao smiled.

As if to prove something, Dou Ming quickly took Han's arm and glanced over at her in a demonstrative manner.

Dou Zhaoquan pretended not to see it and his eyes fell on Guo and Cai beside Han.

Although Guo was as slender and gentle as in his memory, her skin was fair and tender, and her dark eyes were as adorable as a little deer. Unlike the last time he saw Guo in his previous life, she looked listless, with sallow skin, like a patient who had been bedridden for a long time, revealing an uncomfortable depression.

According to the date, Bai will come in next year.

Dou Zhao sighed in his heart and thought of Ji Lingze.

Under the pretext of the coming-of-age ceremony, Ji Lingze and Dou Zhao started to interact again. Dou Zhao used the excuse that the Second Lady had invited a fortune teller from Longhu Mountain to tell his fortune and secretly asked the fortune teller to tell his fortune for both himself and Ji Lingze. The fortune teller said that Ji Lingze would encounter a hurdle in the next two years and that if he could overcome it, he would have a smooth and prosperous life; if he could not, he would suffer for the rest of his life and it would be best for him to temporarily stay away from the hustle and bustle of the world and practice vegetarianism for two years.

She and Ji Lingze were still a little unfamiliar with each other when they talked about these things. When she sent the letter, she shook her head with a wry smile. Who knew that not long after, the Ji and Han families postponed the wedding date. After a few days, news came that Young Master Han was seriously ill. Dou Zhao couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Just when she thought Ji Lingze might be a widow, the Ji and Han families suddenly set a wedding date. Ji Lingze married into the Han family as a surprise. Three months later, Young Master Han passed away.

When Dou Zhao heard the news, he did not sleep all night and wrote a letter to comfort Ji Lingze.

After that, the two of them often exchanged letters. Ji Lingze never mentioned her surprise, and Dou Zhao did not ask her about the situation at that time out of respect. Since I came to Kyoto this time, I must go to visit Ji Lingze, but I don't know whether she lives in Ji's house or Han's house now.

She quickly stopped thinking, and waited until the Second Lady and others had finished their ceremony before she stepped forward and knelt down to pay her respects to her father Dou Shiying.

Dou Shiying hadn't seen Dou Zhao for a long time and seemed very excited. He held Dou Zhao's hand and asked her if the journey was safe, what she usually did at home, and how Aunt Cui was... He talked non-stop, but Dou Shiheng interrupted Dou Shiying with a smile: "The child has just arrived. You can talk later if you have anything to say. Shougu won't run away." He asked Shougu: "Are you tired? Let your sixth aunt make you a pot of grapefruit tea to relieve your internal heat." Everyone laughed.

Dou Zhao hurriedly bowed to Dou Shiheng, called him "Sixth Uncle" with a smile, then took Sixth Aunt's arm and called Dou Zhengchang and Dou Dechang "Eleventh Brother" and "Twelfth Brother". Like Ji's daughter, she was a little casual, but more intimate, which made Ji happy. She put her arm around Dou Zhao's shoulder and said with a smile, "Don't listen to your Sixth Uncle, come meet your Fifth Aunt." Then she brought her to the Fifth Madam.

Before Dou Zhao could speak, the Fifth Madam pulled Dou Zhao's hand and said with a smile, "It's true that hearing about her is believing. Our Fourth Miss is so beautiful! She is worthy of being raised under the care of the Madam." The last sentence was said to the Second Madam.

The second lady laughed and happily accepted the compliment from her daughter-in-law.

Dou Zhao smiled and bowed.

The Fifth Wife invited her two daughters-in-law and grandsons and granddaughters: "Come and meet your fourth sister and fourth aunt."

Guo and Cai brought their children to meet Dou Zhao.

Dou Zhao signaled Su Xin to take out the meeting gifts that had been prepared long ago and rewarded his nephew and niece.

When Guo saw that Dou Zhao gave her daughter a pair of small red gold ruyi bracelets, she felt that they were too expensive and thanked him repeatedly with some embarrassment. Cai carefully looked at the jade pendants that Dou Zhao gave to her two sons, and then smiled and thanked him.

The Cha family is still as snobbish as in the previous life.

Dou Zhao secretly curled his lips in his heart and walked forward to salute Dou Shishu.

Dou Shishu smiled slightly and said, "The last time I saw you, you were still a little kid who could hardly speak clearly. In the blink of an eye, you have grown into a big girl. Time really is merciless!" His tone was quite emotional.

Dou Zhao felt a little disappointed when he saw that Dou Shishu had gained some weight and had a few more strands of silver hair on his temples.

Ji then introduced Han to Dou Zhao.

Han had met her before, and she knew that Ji had always treated Dou Zhao as her own daughter, like a younger sister, and was polite yet friendly to her, which made people feel good about her.

Dou Shiying scolded Dou Ming: "Your sister is here, why don't you go up and say hello?"

Dou Zhao thought she would be awkward or cold, but she smiled and bowed to him, saying, "I am the youngest and have the lowest seniority, so I am the last one in line."

Everyone burst into laughter, which made Dou Shiying look a little irritated.

Fortunately, Dou Shiying had always doted on his two daughters. He smiled helplessly and taught her a few old sayings like "be obedient". Then everyone hugged the second wife and went to the main room.

Dou Zhao was assigned to the west chamber.

Sulan brought the maid to help Dou Zhao with his washing and dressing, while Suxin directed the wives to put out Dou Zhao's usual things brought from Zhending one by one.

The maids and the old women who were assigned by the Fifth Madam to serve here could not help but smack their lips and whispered to each other: "This Fourth Young Lady from Zhending is really grand!"

A maidservant said, "What's that? I heard that the Fifth Miss is even more lavish. In addition to the usual servants, there are also seven or eight guards, two maids who do laundry, two wives who cook, and four maids who do sewing... The Seventh Master is the richest of all the masters!"

A young maid listened and did the math, saying, "The fourth young lady only brought four guards, four maids, and two maids, so it's true that she didn't have as much pomp and circumstance as the fifth young lady."

Guo, who had come in to invite Dou Zhao to dinner, could not help but scold him, "What are you all talking about here? Why don't you go and help?"

The maids scattered in a hurry.

Hearing the commotion, Su Xin hurried forward, bowed respectfully, and called her "Sixth Young Madam."

Mrs. Guo was always kind to others, and she asked her softly, "Have you finished washing up, Fourth Sister?"

Su Xin let Guo into the hall and asked her to sit down with a smile. Before she could serve tea, Dou Zhao, who had just washed and dressed, came out.

Guo stood up quickly and said, "Fourth sister, the second lady has arrived. We are waiting for you to come. Then we can start the feast."

Dou Zhao thanked her with a smile, and went to the flower hall where the dinner was served with Guo.

At this time, Song Mo, however, closed his eyes and sat cross-legged on a Zen chair in the study of Yizhi Hall, listening to Gu Yu and his steward Qiao An calculating accounts: "... by then, the 50,000 taels of silver from the Ministry of Revenue will be in the account, so we won't have to worry about the money, but is it a problem if I eat all the food myself?"

Joan looked a little worried.

Gu Yu sneered: "How can this be called eating alone? Compared to Shen Qing, we are far worse. He was unwilling to pay for hiring porters, and asked the guards along the way to help him transport the stones. We even had to personally entertain the heads of the Ministry of Works for drinks." At this point, he couldn't help but complain, "Wang Qinghuai is too cautious. In my opinion, what we do is this no-cost transaction. No matter how polite you are, without this relationship, people won't take you seriously; no matter how impolite you are, with this relationship, they can only endure..."

Before he finished speaking, Song Mo suddenly opened his eyes and asked, "How much money does the Wei family have with us?"

Gu Yu was startled, then calmed down and said, "It looks like 20,000 taels."

Song Mo asked again: "How much money did you settle with them?"

Gu Yu curled his lips and said, "Zhang Yuanming's wife is very generous. When we settled the accounts for the first time, I followed your instructions and returned their principal to her. Who knew that she returned the principal and said that it was included in the equity... I thought it was not much, so at most I could transfer some from my share to her, so I didn't mention it to you. This 20,000 taels of silver includes the Wei family's principal of 3,000 taels of silver."

Song Mo nodded and said calmly: "Just give me all the money. I will give it to them when I say so, and you can settle the bill with them at that time."

Gu Yu opened his mouth wide, and after a while he said loudly "Okay", his voice revealing his undisguised joy.

Song Mo lowered his head and took a sip of tea, thinking back to the day when Mr. Yan told him what happened in Daxiangguo Temple.