Chapter 273 Going Out

Dou Zhao felt both amused and confused.

Song Mo is simply making a mountain out of a molehill!

She was a little skeptical.

But inexplicably, a faint joy emerged in her heart again.

She was a little dazed for a moment.

Why does she feel upset when Wei Tingyu does the same thing, but feels happy when Song Mo does it?

Dou Zhao thought of her previous life. The day after she gave birth, she sat on the bed and presided over the feast at the Jining Marquis' Mansion. Wei Tingyu advised her, "Your health is not well yet, so put these things aside for now." Then he drove away all the stewards who came to make trouble.

She seemed quite happy at the time, and she lay down to rest as Wei Tingyu asked.

But just as she lay down, a maid came to ask her for instructions, saying that the wife of the Duke of Dongping had passed away and asked what kind of sacrificial offerings to send.

At that time, she had just taken charge of the household and had no idea how the Jining Marquis's Mansion was run in the past, so she had to get up and check the previous account books. Wei Tingyu looked at them, snatched the account books from her, and insisted that she take a rest.

She listened to Wei Tingyu and lay down again, but no one took care of the offerings for the wife of the Duke of Dongping. If the Duke of Dongping had not invited a Feng Shui master to look at the Feng Shui at that time, the coffin of the wife of the Duke of Dongping would have to be placed at home for six days, and the Jining Marquis's Mansion would have almost missed the time to deliver the offerings.

The Duke of Dongping's Mansion had reported the death to the Marquis of Jining's Mansion. If the Marquis of Jining's Mansion does not go to pay tribute, the Duke of Dongping's Mansion will think that the Marquis of Jining's Mansion wants to break off relations with the Duke of Dongping's Mansion!

Several similar incidents occurred afterwards.

Dou Zhao then understood that Wei Tingyu's concern was like the willow catkins in spring, which could not withstand the wind. He would not do anything for him. Those things would still pile up there, waiting for him to deal with them. He even had a feeling that if he really did what Wei Tingyu said, it might cause many misunderstandings.

After a while, she was too lazy to care about Wei Tingyu's concern; seeing that she was unmoved, Wei Tingyu was also too lazy to care about her.

She learned to take responsibility for everything and solve it herself.

Song Mo is different.

Last night, I was so exhausted that I didn't care about the stickiness all over my body. I curled up naked on the bed with my eyes closed, panting as I said, "Wait a minute, I'll get you some water."

Su Xin and the others were all unmarried, and she was not prepared to have them as maids, so it was naturally not appropriate to ask them to come in and serve her.

Perhaps he could see that she was exhausted, so Song Mo leaned over and gently stroked her forehead, and gently told her to take a good rest: "...I'll take care of everything!"

She remembers that she just laughed.

Unexpectedly, Song Mo not only came in to fetch water to help her clean, but also changed the bedding, and told Su Juan, who was on duty, through the lattice fan: "Don't take it to the laundry room, just help wash it."

Although he became restless again and kept exploring her body, she slept peacefully. Even when she was briefly awakened by him getting up, she just turned over and fell asleep again.

Is it because of this that she feels that this care becomes particularly sweet?

Dou Zhao ate his breakfast thoughtfully.

There was Mr. Yan outside Yizhitang, Chen He inside, and Su Xin among the maids and old women. She had nothing to do and thought about whether she should go see Song Han, but her waist was so sore that she lay on the bed and fell asleep again.

When she woke up, it was already time to light the lamps.

Dou Zhao was shocked. He didn't expect that he slept so deeply.

Su Xin brought in dinner and said with a smile, "Since Madam was sleeping soundly, I didn't wake you up." Then she helped her get up and said, "I made pigeon soup today. I'll go serve Madam a bowl."

They are all very nourishing.

Dou Zhao smiled and nodded, then sat down on the kang.

Wuyi came in and said, "Madam, the prince sent someone to bring you a letter."

Dou Zhao was very surprised.

When I opened the letter, I found a packet of medicine powder inside. There were only a few words in the letter, explaining the purpose of the medicine powder.

Dou Zhao's face felt burning.

The powder was used by Nanny Yan Xi in the palace for women who were injured during sex.

Damn Song Mo, he wouldn’t let everyone in the palace know, right?

Although I was so upset, I always firmly believed that Song Mo would not make a fuss everywhere.

This contradictory feeling made Dou Zhao wish he could meet Song Mo immediately.

I wonder what Song Mo is doing at this time?

She was thinking about Song Mo, and Song Mo was also thinking about her.

The bed in the duty room was very hard. He had slept on such hard beds for seven or eight years, but never felt so uncomfortable as today.

He thought of Dou Zhao's body.

So soft and warm.

And her flushed face... her eyes were wet, as if they were about to drip water... her messy black hair, wet with sweat, stuck to her fair forehead...

He felt as if all the blood in his body was rushing to his lower body, making it so hard that it hurt.

He shouldn't have treated Dou Zhao like that last night.

But he wanted her so badly.

Wanted her to be his.

I wonder if she is angry?

He has to stay in the palace tomorrow night and can leave the palace at twilight hour the day after tomorrow. Should he buy something to compensate Dou Zhao on his way back?

Song Mo was a little undecided.

A guard came in and said, "Sir, Master Zhang San from the Duke of Jing's Mansion wants to see you."

Those who can serve as guards all come from high-class families and most of them know each other.

Song Mo went to Xizhimen.

Zhang Xuming came forward and whispered, "Early this morning, the documents from the Ministry of Personnel arrived." He winked at Song Mo, "That matter is settled."

The action is quite fast!

Song Mo sneered, chatted a few words with Zhang Xuming, and then they went their separate ways.

He walked slowly towards the Qianqing Palace, wondering who should be asked to persuade the family of Yuanqiu Lingwei Qianhu to go to the Dali Temple to file a complaint.

If you can't get it at the beginning, you will just be disappointed.

It is more painful to gain and then lose.

Especially if it leads to a lawsuit, not only will you lose your official position, but you may also lose your life. The pain must be even more intense.

At this time, Dou Zhao was called to Osmanthus Garden by Song Yichun.

"I am here to inspect Xuantong on the order of the Emperor. I will be gone for half a month." He looked at his daughter-in-law, who was dressed elegantly and looked neither arrogant nor humble. He felt a little irritated. "You are young and don't know anything. I have asked your aunt to come and help with the management of the Duke of Ying's Mansion. You should treat your aunt like your own mother-in-law and obey her in everything. Don't make your own decisions!"

Dou Zhao replied "yes" respectfully and stepped back.

Early the next morning, Mrs. Song led Tan, a nanny, and two maids into the Duke of England's Mansion with the arrogance typical of elders. She took the Duke of England's Mansion's pair of plaques from the Duke of England, sat in the upper room of the flower hall that Jiang used to show her off, and asked someone to invite Dou Zhao over to talk to her.

Dou Zhao responded with "I see" and went to the flower shed in the small garden.

Song Mo is a man of action, and he has hired two daughters-in-law from the flower stand to take care of the flower shed. Radishes and cucumbers have already been planted.

Dou Zhao rewarded the two daughters-in-law who were in charge of the flower shed with two top-quality red ribbons each.

The two daughters-in-law thanked him again and again.

The people sent by Mrs. Song came to urge Dou Zhao: "...the first wife and the housekeepers are waiting for Madam to come over to discuss the matter of presiding over the next few days!"

Dou Zhao didn't even raise his head. He patted his dust-free hem and said calmly, "Go and tell the first wife that family affairs have their own customs. As long as you follow the customs, you won't go wrong and there is no need to discuss it. Since my mother-in-law passed away, there has been no one in charge of the family, and there has been no chaos in the family." He was afraid that the visitor would be afraid of the first wife having Song Yichun's imperial sword and would not dare to speak, so he called Su Xin to go with her and said, "Explain my words clearly to the first wife, don't make random gestures there without knowing what's good for you." The last sentence was said to the visitor so that she could spread the word and let everyone in the mansion know his attitude.

Su Xin smiled and obeyed the order.

Dou Zhao returned to his room, changed his clothes, and lay on the bed reading.

Another daughter-in-law came over and said, "Madam, the Duke wants you to come over and talk to him." Her eyes were full of curiosity.

Dou Zhao said "hmm" and asked the wife to wait outside: "I'll change my clothes and come over."

This is the most basic etiquette, so the daughter-in-law naturally replied "yes" respectfully and waited outside.

Dou Zhao continued reading until Su Xin came back.

"The eldest wife was so angry that her mouth was crooked." Su Xin smiled and whispered, "Immediately sent someone to report to the Duke."

Dou Zhao smiled and said, "That's why you asked me to go and give you a lecture."

She put down the book and took Suxin and Sulan to Xiangxiangyuan.

However, during this delay, Song Yichun was about to set off. He had just reprimanded Dou Zhao, who was keeping his head down, when Lu Zheng walked in and said, "My Lord, the auspicious time has come."

Song Yichun had to stop and was escorted to the gate by Song Han, Dou Zhao and others, where he got into a car and left.

Dou Zhao asked Song Han, "I asked someone to make some walnut cookies. Would you like to try some?"

"Okay!" Song Han jumped up and was about to go to Yizhitang with Dou Zhao.

However, Lu Zheng at the side called out "Madam" in a hurry and said, "The Second Master still has to go to class. When the Duke left, he told us that if the Second Master missed class, we would be held responsible. Madam, please grant my request!" After saying that, he knelt down.

Studying is a serious matter, and Lu Zheng is so respectful, Dou Zhao couldn't get angry. He smiled and whispered to Song Han, "Why don't you come to my room for a snack after class?"

Song Han responded "OK" repeatedly and went to the outer study room surrounded by a group of maids, old women and servants.

Mrs. Song said with a fake smile: "Daughter-in-law Yantang, shall we go to the flower hall to discuss this matter?"

Dou Zhaoli ignored her and walked away on his own.

Mrs. Song was stunned and it took her a while to come back to her senses.

"I'm going to tell the Duke! I'm going to tell the Duke!" She was so angry that she jumped up and down.

Su Xin said with some worry: "What should we do if the Duke comes back?"

"Won't the Duke come back in half a month?" Dou Zhao said calmly, "The Crown Prince will be back tomorrow! Besides, even if the Crown Prince wasn't here, half a month is enough time for me to crush this Madam Song into dust."

Su Lan couldn't help but chuckle and said, "Miss, I haven't heard you say this for a long time!"

Su Xin immediately got angry and shouted, "Call her Madam!"

Sulan made a face at Dou Zhao, bowed with a dignified look, and respectfully called her "Madam".

Dou Zhao laughed.

※※※※※

Chen Qushui also left Beijing today.

He was saying goodbye to Yan Chaoqing: "I won't go to say goodbye to my wife, or I won't be able to answer her if she asks. I'll go back to Zhending now, and we'll see each other in October!"

Yan Chaoqing could not hide his joy and said humbly, "It's all my fault for being too impatient. I invited you from far away and made you run back and forth. When you come to Kyoto again, I will treat you to tea. Please don't refuse!"

Yan Chaoqing is the number one aide to Song Mo, and Dou Zhao is now married to Song Mo. Chen Qushui naturally hopes to get along well with Yan Chaoqing, so that it can also be helpful to Dou Zhao.

Chen Qushui repeatedly said "I dare not", said some polite words, got on the carriage, and went straight out of Kyoto.

Yan Chaoqing returned to Yizhitang happily.