Chapter 278: Card Match

The eldest wife stopped sobbing and wiped her tears with a handkerchief while stealing a peek at Dou Zhao's expression.

Dou Zhao then put down his teacup, and said, "It seems that my aunt has already known that there are thieves coveting my dowry, and she actually took advantage of the trouble at the Duke of Ying's Mansion to fish in the second gate and attack Yizhi Hall, intending to do something bad to me?"

This matter has already caused a stir.

The Duke of Ying's Mansion, a noble family of the highest rank, which had descendants of founding heroes who had followed Emperor Taizu in his campaigns, had been favored by the emperor for more than a hundred years. It was known as the most prominent family in Kyoto, but it was actually broken into by thieves, and the whereabouts of most of the thieves were unknown. It was unknown whether they saw that the situation was not right and secretly slipped out of the Duke of Ying's Mansion or hid in some corner of the Duke of Ying's Mansion. Tao Qizhong even needed the help of the maids in his house to find the people, and he could not keep it secret even if he wanted to.

Panic spread like the wind throughout the Duke of Ying's Mansion. The first wife and Mrs. Tan were warned not to go out. The several strong-looking maids who served them were called to help the Wucheng Military Department search for thieves. Only a few young and ignorant maids accompanied them. Not only was the room cold and deserted, but the maids were so scared that they curled up into a ball, hugged each other and cried non-stop, making the first wife and Mrs. Tan who stayed in the Duke of Ying's Mansion frightened and afraid, and regretted it, fearing that a thief would break in... When she heard that Dou Zhao was looking for her, she didn't care about the previous gaps, and only hoped that Dou Zhao would let them stay in the heavily guarded Yizhi Hall until dawn, and didn't want to go back to the unguarded guest room.

After hearing what Dou Zhao said, the eldest wife nodded continuously and continued to comfort her: "Don't worry! It will be dawn soon. When Yantang gets the news, he will come back soon to take charge of the situation..."

"Of course!" Dou Zhao interrupted the eldest wife coldly, staring at him, his clear eyes suddenly flashing with a sharp cold light like a blade, "Since you are in charge of the Yingguo Mansion's supply, Mr. Tao wants to open the second gate to get water to extinguish the flood, I believe the eldest aunt agrees?"

The eldest wife shuddered when she heard this.

It turned out that Dou had no good intention in asking her to come here!

The Duke of England's mansion has strict rules. How can anyone enter and leave the inner courtyard at will? During the day, there are maids on duty at the second gate. After it is locked, no one will be allowed to enter or leave unless they have a card from the Duke of England's mansion. Not to mention leaving the second gate open like this. It's like a noble lady suddenly stripped of her outer clothes. Anyone can take a look at her and comment on her.

When Mr. Tao asked the maid on night duty to pass on the message to her, she had some doubts in her heart, but she thought that Mr. Tao was the Duke of England's aide and she was just in charge of the Duke of England's mansion. If the outer courtyard was really burned, would she be able to take responsibility?

After thinking it over again and again, she finally opened the second door...

Who knows what you fear will come true.

Because the second door was wide open, a thief got in and almost hurt Dou. Tao Qizhong was certainly to blame, but she, the person in charge of the cards, was also not to be denied the blame.

Thinking about how Dou had rudely threatened to ask her to hand over her matching cards, how could the eldest wife not know what Dou Zhao was thinking?

Different times, different situations.

At this time, does she dare to say "no"?

In such a chaotic situation, Dou did not hide in the house in fear like her, but immediately thought of using this incident to force her to admit her mistake and hand over the right cards. Apart from anything else, based on this assessment of the situation, she could not think of anyone else in the whole Kyoto who could be as courageous as Dou.

If she doesn't admit her mistake, can Dou let her go?

Maybe if she leaves this room, she will be arrested as an accomplice of the thief and charged with the crime of thiefism.

Anyway, Second Uncle and Yantang are not at home, and Mr. Tao and others are busy with their own affairs, so who would care about the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law?

Thinking of this, the eldest wife wilted like an eggplant hit by frost.

She nodded with a wry smile and said, "I was confused for a moment. I thought that since Mr. Tao was the Duke's aide, how could his advice be wrong? I never thought that something went wrong..."

While she was talking, several strong maids came in quietly with sticks in their hands, and stood behind Dou Zhao like a screen, staring at her closely, as if she was a concubine, and would hit her with sticks if she said something wrong...

This time, I'm really in trouble.

If he didn't hand over the right cards, Dou would try to rob him! But if he did hand over the right cards, how could his second uncle let him go when he came back?

But when you are under someone else's roof, you have to bow your head!

Since Dou is determined to win, why should I provoke her anymore?

Having made up her mind, the first wife changed the subject and said, "After all, I come from a small family, so I don't know how powerful this is." She ordered Tan: "Go back and bring the Duke of Ying's Mansion's counter-cards." Then she said to Dou Zhao with regret on her face: "I am incompetent and I have no morals. Please, Madam, take charge of the Duke of Ying's Mansion."

※※※※※

At the same time, Song Mo, who was standing in the corridor of the duty room, looked in the direction of the Duke of Ying's Mansion with a solemn expression.

"Did you see clearly?" He asked the guard who came to report because he found something unusual, "Was it the Duke of England's mansion that went off?" with a cold look in his eyes.

"I saw it clearly." The guard said respectfully, "I was afraid that I was wrong, so I ordered the guard outside to ride a horse to investigate. Not only was there an accidental fire in the Duke of Ying's mansion, but there were also thieves who broke in." He said this with a look of relief, "Fortunately, the thieves were captured by the guards, and the people from the Five Cities Military Department rushed over in time. Now the fire has been stopped, and there is no serious damage to the Duke of Ying's mansion. Only four guards in the mansion suffered minor injuries."

Thief?

There are actually thieves under the feet of the emperor?

And he even dared to rob the Duke of England's mansion. Who would believe it if I told others about it?

Song Mo clenched his hands hanging at his sides into fists, then slowly put them behind his back, as if this could conceal his anger at the moment.

How is Dou Zhao now?

Is she hurt? Is she scared?

She had just married into the Duke of England's mansion, and this was probably the first time she had encountered such a thing in her life. Would he regret marrying her?

When he thought of this, his heart felt like it was being stabbed by needles, a continuous and dull pain...but he forgot the surprise he felt when Dou Zhao held him back.

Does this matter have anything to do with my father?

Song Mo's face gradually turned blue.

Our skin is inherited from our parents.

His father can hurt him, but can't hurt Dou Zhao?

There seemed to be a fire dancing in his eyes. After a long while, he asked, "Is my wife injured?"

Dou Zhao was in the inner courtyard, and even if he was injured, it would be difficult for the guards to hit him in such a short time. But he just wanted to ask, as if this would make him feel better.

The guard couldn't help but look up at Song Mo, a hint of confusion flashing across his brows.

He has already made it very clear that only four guards were injured in the Duke of England's mansion. Why did the Lord still ask whether his wife was injured?

But Song Mo was his superior, so since Song Mo had spoken, he naturally had to answer.

"I haven't heard that the lady was injured."

He knew clearly that the guard would answer like this, but when he heard it, his heart was like a thousand waves beating. A hint of fierceness flashed across the corners of his eyes and eyebrows, and he secretly regretted it in his heart.

If he had known this, he should have gone to Fengtai Camp.

Although it is far away from home, it is freer than in the palace.

Unlike now, he and Dou Zhao were so close, but because the palace gates were closed, he had no way to comfort Dou Zhao, and couldn't even say a word of concern.

"Damn it!" Song Mo cursed in a low voice with a gloomy look.

Everyone thought he was upset about the fire in the British government, and just as they were about to go forward to comfort him, a guard hurried in.

"Sir!" He bowed respectfully to Song Mo and said, "The servant in your house brought in a message saying that Madam is safe and sound, and the house is in order, so you can just take care of it and rest assured!"

Song Mo's eyes lit up, and the air became lighter.

Everyone came forward to congratulate Song Mo.

Song Mo pondered for a moment and went to the Qianqing Palace.

The emperor hadn't gotten up yet, so he waited in the Qianqing Palace for more than half an hour before the lights were lit. He waited another half an hour before Wang Ge came out with a smile and called him in.

The emperor was holding a bowl of porridge.

Song Mo knelt in front of the emperor with red eyes: "Your Majesty, I want to leave the palace early!"

The emperor was stunned.

Song Mo has always been a sensible child and has never felt so sad or wronged.

The emperor glanced at Wang Ge, and seeing that Wang Ge didn't know either, he couldn't help but ask in a deep voice: "What happened?"

Song Mo told the story of the robbery in his house: "...At first I didn't know whose family it was, but because it was too close to the Forbidden Palace, I sent people to inquire..."

Before he could finish his words, there was a loud "bang" and the gorgeous red porcelain bowl fell on the golden brick and broke into pieces.

"Rebellion, rebellion!" The emperor was furious. "In this peaceful and prosperous era, thieves actually broke into the Duke of Ying's mansion. What is Shuntian Prefecture doing? What are the Wucheng Bingmasi doing?" He shouted at Wangge loudly, "Go, call the Shuntian Prefecture Governor and the Wucheng Bingmasi Commander-in-Chief to me! They dared to rob the Duke of Ying's mansion today, so should they have robbed me yesterday?"

You could hear a pin drop in the hall, and the palace maids and eunuchs were trembling with fear.

Song Mo said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, please allow me to catch the thief!"

The emperor took down the Longquan sword from the treasure chest and threw it in front of Song Mo with a clang. "Investigate thoroughly for me, who is so bold as to rob the nobles and do evil things under my nose?"

"Yes!" Song Mo kowtowed, took the sword, and left the Qianqing Palace.

※※※※※

Dou Zhao, Su Xin and Su Lan sat around the table on the kang, looking at the pair of pearwood cards in the rosewood box.

"This seems very common!" Su Lan muttered, touching the cards. "If someone is pretending to be me, how can we tell?"

"It's not the banknotes in the jewel house. They only recognize the notes, not the people." Dou Zhao got the pair of cards smoothly. Su Xin was also very happy. She spoke more lively than usual. "The pairs of cards are issued, and they are all counted."

Su Lan smiled and said, "So Madam asked the First Madam to pass on the message that she would summon the maids to have a talk in the Upper House tomorrow morning?"

Su Xin smiled and nodded: "This way, Madam will be justified!"

Sulan also became happy.

Dou Zhao handed the red sandalwood box to Su Xin with a smile, saying, "Let's take a nap, too. We have a lot to do tomorrow!"