His mother was very worried about her family's financial situation, but Dou Zhao just munched on sugar-roasted chestnuts without caring.
In the previous life, his mother hanged herself but his uncle still managed to pass the imperial examination. In this life, everything was kept secret from him. He went into the battle lightly, so how could he fail?
As long as my uncle passes the imperial examination, all the previous expenses will be earned back naturally!
The chestnuts must have been stored in the cellar for the winter. They were dry and had lost their moisture. But it was better than nothing. She was a three-year-old child now. What could a three-year-old child do? She had plenty of free time.
Dou Zhao bit the chestnuts minutely, and the chestnut crumbs fell to the ground.
My aunt and mother talked about her marriage: "After all, it's just a verbal agreement. I think you should discuss it with your father-in-law and ask him to find a respectable person to settle this matter with the Wei family!"
Dou Zhao paused in biting the chestnuts, then slowly continued chewing them.
My aunt's consideration is not unreasonable.
In the previous life, after my mother suddenly passed away, my father married Wang Yingxue within 100 days, while my uncle and his family hurriedly went to work. My father devoted himself to learning. After the mourning period for my mother was over, he immediately participated in the provincial examination and passed the examination. Then he participated in the spring examination the following year and passed the examination. He was promoted to Shujishi and served in the Ministry of Personnel. At that time, the Wang family had moved to Kyoto. Wang Yingxue's mother, Mrs. Xu, missed her daughter, granddaughter and grandson, and begged my father to take them to Kyoto for a reunion. After obtaining the consent of my grandfather, my father took Wang Yingxue, Dou Ming and Dou Xiao to Kyoto... Who still remembers her marriage with the Wei family?
It was not until her grandfather and grandmother passed away and she was sent to Kyoto that her father realized that she had grown up and reached the age of marriage. He thought of the marriage with the Wei family and sent someone to discuss it with them. However, the Wei family hesitated and never gave a clear answer.
Dou Zhao still remembers how panicked he felt at that time.
Her father was still alive, so her uncles in Dongdou could not take her in. Her uncle was far away in the northwest. Her stepmother had never lacked her for food, clothing and other expenses, but when her eyes inadvertently fell on her, there was always a hint of viciousness in them, like a man-eating wolf, wishing to swallow her up in one breath. But when you looked at her again, she had regained her original calm and composure, still looking graceful and elegant.
As the saying goes: Abnormal is evil.
She didn't know what Wang Yingxue was planning.
She lived in fear every day, fearing that a fatal disaster would be waiting for her if she made a mistake.
But her grandmother warned her before she died that a woman without her mother's family could not stand in her husband's family, and she had to maintain respect to her stepmother no matter what. After listening to Tuoniang's words, she hated Wang Yingxue for forcing her mother to death, but the rumors among the maids about her mother being "jealous" and "childless" made her feel that she had no right to hate Wang Yingxue. Moreover, Wang Yingxue was good at superficial work, and no one would believe that Wang Yingxue was different from her even if she told others. She felt wronged, sad, hesitant and conflicted in her heart. Her life was like being fried in a frying pan, and she felt that "although the world is big, there is no place for me to stay."
So when she first heard that her mother had arranged a marriage for her when she was alive, she actually felt a kind of joy as if she had "escaped from death" and wanted to get married immediately.
This is also the main reason why when she learned that Dou Ming's marriage had failed and Dou Ming vowed to marry into a famous family in Kyoto to wash away his past shame, and Wang Yingxue had her eyes on Wei Tingyu, new and old grudges became intertwined, and she and Wang Yingxue became irreconcilable from then on.
At first, if she hadn't tried to find out her mother-in-law's whereabouts and let her mother-in-law "meet by chance", it would have been unclear whether the Wei family would recognize this marriage.
If she had not aroused her mother-in-law's old feelings, even if the Wei family was willing to marry into the Dou family, it would probably be Dou Ming who married into the family instead of her!
Dou Zhao's chewing of chestnuts slowed down again.
In the last life, he had no choice. Could it be that he would continue to be entangled with Wei Tingyu in this life?
She thought about how she had just married into the Wei family in the twelfth month, and the Chinese New Year was approaching. In order to please her mother-in-law and to shut Wei Tingzhen up, she took the initiative to help her mother-in-law take care of the Wei family's New Year affairs. However, because she had no experience and the maids and daughters-in-law who came with her as a dowry were all temporarily assigned by Wang Yingxue, she could not even be considered close to them, let alone help. She did not know she was pregnant, and ended up having a miscarriage due to overwork.
That was her first child.
Wang Yingxue asked Dou Ming to go see her.
Dou Ming met Wei Tingyu.
It was a bright sunny day. The green curtains in front of the bed blocked the light. She lay on the nanmu bed in the inner room, looking pale and lifeless, like a cloisonné vase covered with dust after being placed on the antique shelf for too long, dull and boring. Dou Ming, who was standing next to the curtains, was wearing a lotus-colored Hangzhou silk four-seasons Ruyi jacket. The light in the room shone on the southern pearl and jadeite flowers in her black hair, emitting a radiant luster, reflecting her eyebrows and eyes like a painting, and her figure like autumn medicine, which made Wei Tingyu's eyes go straight.
That scene deeply hurt Dou Zhao.
Although Dou Ming is petite and graceful, she is not a gentle person. On the contrary, because of the doting of Mrs. Xu of the Wang family, she is not only arrogant, but also has a bad temper, acts rashly, and shows her emotions on her face. This is why Wang Yingxue is determined to marry Dou Ming to her nephew from her mother's family.
She came that day on purpose, intentionally.
I just wanted to let Wei Tingyu see what a beautiful lady Wei Tingyu had missed out on because the Wei family didn't agree to let her marry into the family!
Wei Tingyu did not disappoint Dou Ming and praised Dou Ming for his gentleness and kindness in front of her several times.
At that time, her heart would still beat like a drum when she saw Wei Tingyu, so she was particularly intolerant, right?
Dou Zhao was biting the chestnuts with a crunching sound, causing Zhao Xiuru to scream, "Spit it out quickly, it's a bad chestnut!"
My mother and aunt were both shocked.
"This child, how can you be so greedy!" The mother hastily threw away the chestnuts in Dou Zhao's hand and brought the tea in front of her for Dou Zhao to rinse his mouth. "It's as if you have never eaten chestnuts before."
"Children don't understand these things." The aunt said apologetically, "It's all Bi Ru's fault for not taking good care of Shou Gu." Then she scolded her daughters a few more words.
The mother naturally has to hold it back.
The aunt and sister-in-law apologized for a long time, but the mother didn't dare to let Dou Zhao follow Zhao Biru and the others anymore. She carried her and Zhao Zhangru to the kang to play, and helped them peel chestnuts. She continued the topic just now: "Wei Tingyu is the prince of the marquis's mansion. I am afraid that Sister Tian will be embarrassed. I plan to send someone to Kyoto to inquire about it first, and then discuss this matter with my father-in-law."
"Okay! This is safer." The aunt nodded, and the topic of the two gradually shifted to my uncle. They were worried about whether he had arrived in Kyoto safely, whether he had rested well, whether he would be on the imperial examination, etc. It was not until the afternoon when the guard who accompanied the car came to urge, "It's getting late. If you don't set off now, you won't be able to get back." Only then did my mother reluctantly say goodbye to my aunt.
Perhaps he was very unhappy with his father's failure in the imperial examination, so throughout the spring ploughing period, he practiced the craft under the guidance of his grandfather. Neither his mother nor Wang Yingxue dared to disturb him, and the plan to visit his grandmother was shelved.
As a concubine, without relatives visiting, friends visiting, or sisters-in-law visiting, life in the backyard was very lonely. After Wang Yingxue came to pay her respects to her mother, she would often find excuses to stay in her mother's room for a while longer.
Her mother was always indifferent to her and often dismissed her with just a few words.
Dou Zhao felt that his mother still cared about Wang Yingxue.
If it were her, she would keep the concubine and let her tell jokes and amuse herself. Otherwise, wouldn't it be like raising someone for nothing?
However, some things need to be done slowly.
All Dou Zhao is thinking about now is his marriage with Wei Tingyu.
For example, her appearance allowed her mother to survive, and Wang Yingxue, who was originally the second wife, became a concubine.
Would her marriage with Wei Tingyu change because of this? If she didn't marry Wei Tingyu, who would she marry?
Dou Zhao misses his three children very much.
The spring breeze blew, the grass and trees grew lush, and good news came from Kyoto.
Her uncle Zhao Si ranked fifth in the second class of the imperial examination and was awarded the status of Jinshi.
Grandfather and father were very happy, but mother was the happiest. When the Dou family sent gifts to the Zhao family, she took Dou Zhao back to her mother's home.
This time was different from the last time. The Zhao family was decorated with red and colorful decorations, as if it was a festival, and everyone had a happy look on their face.
Zhao Zhangru took Dou Zhao to her room and fished out a rose cake wrapped in oil paper from behind the bed. "It was sent by Chen Ju in town. I'll give it to you. It's so sweet! Aunt Peng said that I can have as much as you want in the future. If you want to eat it, just come to our house."
Dou Zhao looked at the half-broken biscuit in his hand, his heart felt warm, his nose felt sore, and tears fell.
In her previous life, she didn’t even know Zhao Zhangru’s name.
If for no other reason than for this cake, she decided to get along well with her uncle's family.
My mother drank some wine, so they stayed at my uncle's house that night and returned home early the next morning.
"That's good now," said the mother with a smile on her face all the way, "our Shougu now has an uncle who is a Jinshi."
Her expression was relaxed and she seemed very comfortable.
Dou Zhao was happy for her mother. She asked her mother, "When will uncle come back?"
"You still have to take the exam to become a scholar," my mother said with a smile, "and the earliest you can do that is after May."
"Then should we still come to my uncle's house?"
"yes!"
"I like my cousin."
Her mother happily held her face and kissed her, whispering to her: "Aunts and uncles are close to each other, and even if the bones are broken, the tendons are still connected. You and your cousin are the closest to each other, do you understand?"
Dou Zhao nodded: "Closer than my third cousin."
Her mother nodded continuously, praising her for her intelligence, and when they got home, she personally carried her through the second door.
The lilac, magnolia, peony, passionflower and purple orchid in the yard were all in full bloom, colorful and in full bloom. People walked among them, bees and butterflies flew, and the fragrance floated in the air.
The mother stopped and took a deep breath: "This year's flowers are more beautiful than in previous years."
"Yes!" Nanny Yu smiled reservedly.
Mother's face turned cold.
Dou Zhao couldn't help but follow his mother's gaze.
In the pavilion beside the lotus pond, a man and a woman were sitting.
The woman was wearing a goose-yellow spring dress, holding a round fan with a beautiful smile on her face, leaning lazily on the beauty chair in the pavilion, her beauty exuding a charming charm.
The man was handsome and timeless, sitting in front of a low stone table in the middle of the pavilion with a smile on his face, painting a picture of the beauty, with unmistakable joy... and satisfaction on his face.
Dou Zhao felt nervous.
My mother walked forward with a sullen face and without looking around.
Nanny Yu hurriedly followed.
A laughter like silver bells came from behind.