Chapter 188: Response

Dou Ming is no longer the child who felt a little timid when he met the Second Lady.

Dou Shiying took great pains to hire a nanny for her who taught her how to play the role of a lady from a noble family that met the public's expectations.

She knelt in front of the Second Madam, crying heartbrokenly: "A son should not criticize his father. Even if my mother is wrong, I, as a daughter, cannot watch her being humiliated. My father has always pitied my sister for losing her mother since she was young, and my sister grew up with Aunt Cui. I don't ask my sister to say a good word for my mother, but at least she should persuade my father. I have a hot temper and I don't care about the severity of my words. This is my fault; but every time my father sees my sister, he has to quarrel with my mother. Don't you have any responsibility? When my sister arrived in Kyoto, she neither went to pay respects to my mother nor to pay respects to my grandmother," she said, looking at the Second Madam with tears in her eyes, "Grandma, you told me to abide by the rules since I was a child. Do you think my sister is doing the right thing?"

Dou Zhao was listening nearby with mixed feelings.

Wang Yingxue was her stepmother, and Wang Xu was her grandmother. Logically, she should have kowtowed and paid her respects. But the Second Madam was determined to slap Wang Xu in the face, so she would not let her go to pay her respects to Wang Xu and Wang Yingxue. If she had not been so sure, Dou Zhao would not have followed the Second Madam to live in Huaishu Hutong. But seeing that Dou Ming knew how to use Aunt Cui to anger the Second Madam, and how to use appropriate and inappropriate words to divert the Second Madam's attention, she felt a little relieved.

At least, Dou Ming knew how to use her brain and was no longer the willful child who would yell or hide in the arms of Wang Xu and Wang Yingxue when she was hit. This would make her future journey much easier.

As expected, the Second Lady was less aggressive and did not scold Dou Ming. However, due to her status and position, it was not easy for her to argue with a young man.

Seeing the opportunity, Madam Liu smiled and walked a few steps forward to Dou Ming's side. She bent down to carry her and said, "Miss Wu is wrong to say that. You learned to walk on the Madam's bed. The palm is flesh, but the back of the hand is not flesh? Madam Wu loves Miss Wu as much as Miss Wu. As Miss Wu said, a son should not talk about his father's mistakes. There are some things that Madam Wu can't tell you young people about. Otherwise, why didn't your grandmother complain when your sister didn't go to pay her respects?" She added, "Miss Wu is grown up now, and you should think more about things when you encounter them."

It is easy to change a country, but difficult to change one's nature. Although Dou Ming is young and understands this and that, it is not easy for her to control her emotions. She came in anger, but when Dou Zhao turned and left without saying a word, she couldn't help but secretly say "bad" in her heart, and after thinking hard, she came up with a plan to escape.

When Nanny Liu came to carry her, she hesitated for a moment, then stood up sobbing.

The Second Lady thought of the trouble that Dou Shiying had caused for the Dou family, and suddenly felt unhappy and lost the desire to discipline Dou Ming.

She waved her hand and said to Dou Ming, "I will tell your father about your mother's matter. You should go back first! Follow the nanny and learn the rules. Don't let your parents worry about you anymore."

This makes Dou Ming sound as if he is extremely mean.

Dou Ming couldn't help biting her lip, but thinking that this was the first time in so many years that she had escaped unscathed from Dou Zhao, she couldn't help but glare at Dou Zhao with a provocative look, and then she followed Nanny Liu to retreat.

Dou Zhao didn't care about Dou Ming's attitude towards him. Dou Ming had no way to order the Dou family's stewards and guards around. He was like a cat with its claws clipped. No matter how ferocious it was, it had no killing power.

She noticed that the Second Lady was tired, said a few polite words, and then left.

Two days later, the second wife told Dou Shishu about this matter.

Dou Shishu immediately called Dou Shiying over to talk.

Dou Shiying was still furious, and he poured out all his thoughts to his cousin whom he trusted very much, like beans pouring out of a bamboo tube: "...Although Wang is confused, the eldest aunt of the Wei family is even more hateful. She actually induced Wang to humiliate Shougu! What on earth do they want to do? If they were not satisfied with this marriage, they should have made it clear at the beginning. The He family is also a good family. Now, Shougu has been waiting for the Wei family for three years, and now she is watching Wei Tingyu's mourning and the wedding date is approaching, but the Wei family has such a perverse idea, so that Shougu is in a dilemma and is being manipulated by the Wei family for nothing!"

Dou Shishu's face was solemn when he heard this: "Can you trust Wang's words?"

The doubt revealed in his words made Dou Shiying blush.

He couldn't help but lower his head and muttered, "I have carefully examined the people around Wang... She didn't lie. Moreover, apart from the eldest aunt of the Wei family, no one else has come to visit our home these days. Wang has been detained at home for quite a while, and it is impossible for her to suddenly think of doing this. She also said that it was because the eldest aunt of the Wei family promised to help Ming Jie'er find a good marriage, and she couldn't refuse to return the favor, so she agreed..."

Since Dou Shishu entered the cabinet, he has been busy with official duties and many social engagements. Even the marriages of his own children have been left to the Fifth Wife, not to mention the marriage of his cousin's second daughter.

"What happened to Ming Jie'er's marriage?" he asked, "Did it go wrong?"

Dou Shiying whispered, "It's just that they are neither high nor low. The family that the eldest aunt of the Wei family mentioned is the nephew of Shi Ruilan, the Marquis of Changxing..."

Dou Shishu frowned slightly and said, "Generals and ministers are not born in the same family. As long as the child has ability, the family business can be earned; if the child has bad behavior, the gold and silver mountains will be squandered. For a family like ours, it is better to find a son-in-law who can read. This is why I opposed Shougu marrying into the Jining Marquis's Mansion." After he finished speaking, he thought for a while and said, "I think this is a good idea. I will tell Fuzhi and ask him to help look after Mingjie and find a son-in-law with good character and a clean family tradition for him."

Fuzhi was the courtesy name of his relative-in-law Cai Bi.

Cai Bi is a man of many talents and good social skills, and is known to have many close friends all over the world. With him helping to act as a matchmaker, the result will definitely be twice as good with half the effort.

Dou Shiying hurriedly thanked Dou Shishu. Although his anger had subsided a little, he was not ready to let the Wei family off just like that - Shougu hadn't even married yet, and the Wei family had dared to make such an idea. If she did marry, wouldn't she be eaten up by the Wei family without leaving even a bone?

For the first time, he began to think seriously about his offspring.

When Zhang Yuanming took Wei Tingyu to find Song Mo to help with the aftermath, he knew what his sister was planning. He complained to Wei Tingzhen and said to his mother, Tian, ​​"I don't want to cancel the engagement! The fourth daughter of the Dou family is very good. She is beautiful, and the marriage was arranged when she was young. There is no reason to cancel the engagement so easily."

Tian was already worried about this matter, and she was relieved that the engagement was not cancelled. Seeing that her son was unwilling to cancel the engagement, she didn't want to force it anymore, so she asked Wei Tingzhen to persuade him: "Let's just forget about it! Your brother doesn't want to cancel the engagement."

Wei Tingzhen was angry that he did not fight back, but was reprimanded by Zhang Yuanming: "The fifth elder of the Dou family is now a minister, and there are also many Jinshi candidates in the Dou family. They will only become more and more prominent in the future. Even if the dowry is a little less, what's the big deal? Relying on this big tree, are you still worried that the Jining Marquis's Mansion will not have a good life? Don't be short-sighted and only focus on your toes!"

The excuse of "the eight characters are incompatible" was no longer useful, and it had already aroused the vigilance of the fifth wife of the Dou family. It was impossible to break off the engagement from this aspect. Moreover, her mother and brother did not appreciate it, and Wei Tingzhen felt a little embarrassed.

"But the dowry is too little." She muttered unwillingly.

"How come you are so confused about this?!" Zhang Yuanming said, "The Changxing Marquis family is a wealthy family, right? But when their daughter gets married, the public only gives 3,000 taels of silver, not a cent more, and that's not even counting the expenses of the dowry and the wedding banquet. When the wealthy Hu family in Jiangnan married off their daughter a few years ago, the dowry alone was 50,000 taels of silver. The amount of the dowry has nothing to do with the family background, but with the love of the parents for the child."

Wei Tingzhen said nothing more embarrassedly.

Wei Tingyu was considering whether he should go to Dou Shiying's house to apologize, but when he thought of what his sister had done, he felt a little timid. So after going back and forth like this, he finally received the news that Dou Zhao had come to Beijing.

He could no longer sit still, so he brought the best tea and wine and went to visit.

Dou Shiying was angry and did not meet Wei Tingyu at all.

Wei Tingyu left Jing'an Temple Hutong in embarrassment.

Tian advised him: "When the time comes, we will prepare a large betrothal gift to give Shougu a decent marriage."

To prepare a lot of betrothal gifts, you need money!

Wei Tingyu thought of the twenty thousand taels of silver that Gu Yu had not yet settled with him, and went out again.

Gu Yu's servant said, "Our young master and the Marquis of Yan'an have gone to Kaifeng. Marquis of Jining, please come back to see the young master in a few days!"

Wei Tingyu went there twice more, but didn't see anyone.

He had no choice but to go to the Duke of Ying's Mansion and beg Song Mo: "... Please help pass a message to Master Gu."

Song Mo was silent for a while, then said, "So, the wedding date has been set?"

Wei Tingyu said shyly: "It happened in the past few days."

Song Mo said "Oh", and said: "Don't worry, I will tell Gu Yu about this." His tone was obviously a little less interested than usual.

Wei Tingyu was puzzled.

The news had spread in Kyoto a long time ago. The Duke of England wanted to remarry, but Song Mo was unwilling to marry his daughter to a man with a decent family background. The Duke of England also looked down on those who wanted to marry into the family. As a result, in the huge city of Kyoto, the Duke of England could not find a suitable marriage.

Song Mo is doing well and should be living a comfortable life, so why does he look so listless?

But he had a lot of things on his mind and was in no mood to care about these things. Wei Tingyu chatted with Song Moxian for a few words and then stood up to say goodbye.

Gu Yu did go to Kaifeng Prefecture.

Song Mo instructed his accountant Huo Li: "Prepare 20,000 taels of silver. I will need it in two days."

Huo Li was initially worried that Song Mo's income would not be enough to cover Yizhitang's expenses, but he did not expect Song Mo to have many solutions. Yizhitang was not only more affluent than before, but also had a lot of savings. He also knew that some of Song Mo's expenses were not visible, so he asked respectfully: "Do you want to prepare cash? Or do you want to prepare banknotes?"

"Prepare the banknotes!" Song Mo said dejectedly, "Just give them to Chen He when the time comes."

Huo Li stepped back in response.

Song Mo looked at the large clusters of trumpet creepers outside the window, feeling confused.

Ji Yong from Yuqiao Hutong was also confused.

Ever since he parted ways with Dou Zhao, he tossed and turned and couldn't sleep well.

Are we just going to watch Dou Zhao marry Wei Tingyu, a guy with a wretched appearance and no talent or character?