Chapter 194 Countermeasures

After the second day of the second month, the wind no longer feels cold when it blows on your body.

New buds appeared on the flower trees, green grass sprouted from the ground, and the winter jasmine blossomed vigorously and wildly, with the flowers blooming all over the branches and slopes, and the whole sky became brighter.

Dou Zhao, wearing a moon-white Hangzhou silk jacket and a green eight-panel Xiang skirt, sat quietly on the beauty's seat in the octagonal pavilion in the back garden, as peaceful as a clear spring flowing in the mountain stream.

The old lady of the Ji family came forward in person and reached a tacit understanding with the fifth uncle on the condition that he would support the fifth uncle's confidant, Zhong Fangzhou, the Lang of the Ministry of Personnel, to serve as the governor of Zhejiang Province.

As soon as she breaks off the engagement with the Wei family, she will be engaged to Ji Yong.

Why did the Ji family suddenly take a fancy to her?

And this was when Luofu was already married.

If this matter gets out, how can the Ji family survive in Jiangnan?

No wonder those who knew about this kept it a secret!

Dou Zhao never belittled himself, nor was he blindly arrogant.

In terms of character, compared with those well-known filial daughters and heroic women, she is not well-known; in terms of origin, her biological mother died early; in terms of appearance, she is still far from being able to conquer a city or a country; in terms of family background, although the Dou family has become one of the most famous and prestigious families in Beizhili thanks to the marriage of the fifth uncle, the fifth uncle has just entered the palace after all, and his foundation is still shallow. There are many aristocratic families in Jiangnan for hundreds of years, and the Ji family is one of them. It is impossible for the old lady Ji to marry into the Dou family again for the benefit of the family. Moreover, the Ji family and the Dou family are already in-laws. The sixth uncle who married the girl from the Ji family and the fifth uncle are brothers, and they are much closer than her, a cousin who is about to be out of the fifth degree of mourning. There is no need for the Ji family to do this...

After thinking about it, there is only one possibility.

The Ji family hopes to restrain Ji Yong through her.

As Dou Zhao was pondering, his eyes fell on the crabapple tree not far away.

The tree is covered with bright red flowers, as gorgeous as clouds and as bright as fire.

Does Ji Yong know the real intention of Old Lady Ji?

What does he think?

Dou Zhao felt that he should meet Ji Yong.

But before she could give Suxin any instructions, Chen Qushui came to see her with the account book.

"The prince wants to see you." He said while fiddling with his abacus, "From the tone of his voice, it seems that he knows that you don't want to marry the Marquis of Jining."

Dou Zhao couldn't help but have a headache.

The Wei family's affairs have not been resolved yet, Ji Yong has already intervened, and now Song Mo has appeared...

She said, "Tell the prince that my marriage is decided by the elders, and ask him not to interfere."

Chen Qushui was very hesitant.

Dou Zhao told him about Old Lady Ji's visit.

Chen Qushui was horrified: "How could this happen?"

Compared with the Wei family, the marriage with the Ji family can be said to be a perfect match.

"I want to cancel the engagement, but I acquiesce to Song Mo's intervention. What's going on?" Dou Zhao said, "Besides, you know Song Mo's character well. If he doesn't take action, then it's fine. But if he does, it will definitely succeed. But what about the future? I'm afraid that as soon as I cancel the engagement with the Wei family, the Ji family will come to propose marriage - the Ji family is not like the Wei family. They can help my fifth uncle in the temple. If this marriage is settled, it won't be so easy to cancel. If I refuse to marry, not to mention the second wife and the fifth uncle, even my father and Cui My aunt and my sixth aunt will not let me do what I want. If I continue to make trouble, everyone might think I am crazy. If things come to that point, it will be a dead end. Am I really going to marry my cousin Ji? It would be better to marry Marquis Jining. At least Marquis Jining is easy to fool. If I marry my cousin Ji, I will have to sleep with one eye open. I just want to live a comfortable life and die in my old age. I don’t plan to help my husband enter the palace and become a prime minister, and my name will be recorded in history. I don’t have the ability to do that.”

Chen Qushui couldn't help laughing. "I'm old and I don't care about life or death. Miss is young, but she speaks in an old-fashioned way. However, what Miss said makes sense. Although Ji Jianming is very talented, he is also arrogant and difficult to get along with. Moreover, the Ji family has six branches of the direct line and thirteen branches of the collateral line, plus the in-laws who depend on them, adding up to more than a hundred families. It's better to marry into the Jining Marquis' Mansion than marrying Ji Jianming."

Perhaps due to her life experiences, the only person who could understand her desire to keep to herself was Chen Qushui.

Dou Zhao was in a good mood after getting his affirmation.

She said, "I think we have to start with the Wei family. As long as the Wei family does not agree to cancel the engagement, the Dou family will not be able to discuss marriage with the Ji family. At that time, the Ji family will definitely induce the Wei family to cancel the engagement. As long as we catch the handle of the Wei and Ji families, we will be in a righteous position, and my fifth uncle will never think of marrying me to the Ji family."

Chen Qushui pondered and said, "You mean to accuse the Ji family of ruining your marriage... In this way, even if the Fifth Elder wants to marry into the Ji family, he can't bear the reputation of being a traitor and persecuting his niece!"

"That's right." Dou Zhao smiled, "The Wei family is treacherous and the Ji family bullies the weak. I can use this as an excuse to never marry again. Since I have half of Xidou's property in my name, I believe the Second Lady will convince my Fifth Uncle to keep me at home."

Chen Qushui was worried, "What if the Ji and Wei families just keep dragging it out like this? Marquis Jining is already quite old, and there is no one in his family to take charge of the family affairs. The Wei family can't keep wasting time like this. At the latest, the marriage should be settled by this autumn."

Dou Zhao smiled and said, "Do you think the Ji family will continue to fight with the Wei family like this?"

Chen Qushui was puzzled: "Drag it out will only benefit the Ji family. After all, they are the one who is not in the right."

"If the Ji family thought so, they wouldn't have done such a thing as stealing someone's wife." Dou Zhao sneered, "Ji Jianming has grown up like this, do you think the Ji family has no responsibility at all?"

Chen Qushui smiled bitterly.

Dou Zhao said: "Please invite Marquis Jining to my house for a meeting!"

"Is it here or Jing'an Temple Hutong?"

"Of course it's Jing'an Temple Hutong." Dou Zhao said, "After all, Fifth Aunt is in charge of this place, so it's inconvenient to do things here." He added, "By the way, please tell Song Mo that we already have a countermeasure. Otherwise, he will get involved and make things more complicated."

If a sixteen-year-old girl says for no reason that she will never marry, people who hear her will either think it is a joke or that she is immature and will always persuade her to get married in their own way.

If Song Mo had the same idea, he might personally introduce a marriage to her.

Chen Qushui nodded.

The two discussed some details, and Dou Zhao sent him to the Chuihua Gate. When he turned around, he ran into Ji Yong who was about to leave.

"Cousin Ji!" Dou Zhao greeted him.

His face flushed, he stammered a response, and walked past her with his head held high, without looking away.

Dou Zhao was both angry and amused, and asked the servant who escorted Ji Yong, "What are you doing here, cousin Ji?"

The servant smiled and said, "It is rare for the Fifth Elder to have a day off this year, so Editor Ji came over to greet him and talk about some academic matters."

Dou Zhao said "hmm" and returned to the main courtyard.

Ji was talking to the Fifth Madam, looking unhappy. When they saw her coming in, they both stopped talking and smiled at her at the same time, saying, "You're back!"

Dou Zhao walked up to the two aunts with a smile, bowed to them, and took the arm of the sixth aunt.

Sixth Aunt’s body stiffened slightly.

Fifth aunt laughed and said, "Look, standing like this, you look like a real mother and daughter."

Sixth Aunt said nothing.

Dou Zhao giggled, and taking the opportunity when the steward came in to ask Fifth Aunt for instructions, she pulled Sixth Aunt into the west room and served her Sixth Aunt the peach cakes she had made.

Sixth Aunt's expression was somewhat gloomy. She held the peach cake, patted Dou Zhao's hand gently, and whispered: "Shou Gu, if Sixth Aunt has done anything wrong, you must forgive me."

Dou Zhao understood.

On one side is her, and on the other side are the elders from her mother's family. She is caught in the middle and is in a difficult position.

If Ji Yong was not good enough, it would be fine, at least Sixth Aunt had reasons to object. But Ji Yong passed the imperial examination at a young age, and was considered a promising third place scholar by the world, so Sixth Aunt's concerns were not a reason at all.

She smiled and leaned on Sixth Aunt's shoulder, saying with a smile: "A son will never dislike his mother's ugliness. Don't worry, even if you gave the gold necklace that you promised to leave for me to Eleventh Aunt, I would not blame you."

"You kid!" Ji stroked Dou Zhao's hair, feeling even more sad in her heart. She secretly made up her mind that if Ji Yong dared to treat Dou Zhao with the slightest disrespect, she would rather fall out with her sister-in-law than let Dou Zhao suffer any injustice.

She couldn't help but murmur: "Don't worry, you will be fine."

Dou Zhao felt a lump in his throat and almost burst into tears.

※※※※※

Wei Tingyu knew that Dou Zhao wanted to see him, so he hurriedly made a bamboo-colored gown inlaid with cloud patterns, the most popular color in Kyoto at the time, and went to Jing'an Temple Hutong.

This was the first time Dou Zhao looked at Wei Tingyu straight in the eye after his rebirth.

The young face, with fine down visible around the lips, was sitting upright, looking very reserved, making her feel both familiar and unfamiliar.

"Have some tea!" Dou Zhao pointed to the Biluochun tea on the tea table.

"Thank you!" Wei Tingyu murmured with a red face, picked up the teacup and took a sip.

Perhaps because he was too nervous and drank too fast, he choked on the tea and started coughing.

Dou Zhao hurriedly asked Su Xin to hand him a handkerchief.

Wei Tingyu thanked him awkwardly, but his expression was more relaxed than before.

Dou Zhao asked, "Do you want to cancel the engagement?"

"No, no!" Wei Tingyu waved his hands repeatedly, looking flustered, "I have never thought about it this way..."

Dou Zhao said: "I also believe that there is nothing between you and my sister..."

"Fourth Miss!" Before she finished her words, Wei Tingyu's face was already filled with shock.

Since he was found to have made an appointment with Dou Ming to meet at Daxiangguo Temple, his sister slapped him without saying a word, his mother cried non-stop, and even his brother-in-law, who always treated him like a brother, showed disappointment. Wang Qinghai went even further and asked him with a gloating look: "Who is prettier, the elder sister or the younger sister?"

Only Dou Zhao believed that he and Dou Ming had no affair.

"There's really nothing going on between your sister and me!" he said excitedly. "At first, your sister sent someone to tell me that she had something urgent to tell me about my marriage to you, and she asked me to go to Daxiangguo Temple quietly, where her maid was waiting for me..."

Dou Zhao really believed it.

Dou Ming is not a fool.

"You don't need to explain," Dou Zhao said, "I believe you."

"Thank you, Miss Four!" Wei Tingyu's face was full of gratitude.

"It's just that so many things have happened. I am exhausted both physically and mentally. The elders in my family are worried," Dou Zhao said. "Should we talk about our marriage later? We can all take a breath and take this opportunity to think about the future."

Wei Tingyu was stunned.

What does Dou Zhao mean?

She said she believed him, but she wanted to postpone the wedding date...

The windows of the flower hall opened, and the colorful flowers of mid-spring came into view, but Wei Tingyu was filled with confusion.