Chapter 280 Self-reflection

Song Mo nodded with satisfaction and said, "Wait for me in the study. I'll go see the lady first."

Yan Chaoqing laughed and watched Song Mo lift the curtain and enter the hall, then turned and went to the study.

After a noisy night, they finally went to bed at dawn. Everyone was very tired, but because there were guards outside, they slept particularly soundly. It was not until Song Mo entered the banquet room that Su Xin sat up in surprise.

"Who?" She whispered vigilantly, and Su Lan was also awakened.

Seeing that it was Song Mo, Su Xin couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, and the whole person relaxed, "It turned out to be the prince!"

Fortunately, for fear of someone breaking in, my sister and I both slept in our clothes.

Su Xin secretly rejoiced, and stood up with Su Lan to salute Song Mo.

Song Mo looked straight ahead, nodded slightly, and entered the inner room.

Su Lan opened her mouth wide and whispered, "Sister, why did he become like this after the young lady married him? He won't be cold and indifferent to the young lady too, will he?"

"Shut up!" Su Xin simply didn't know how to discipline her sister. "He, he, his, did you call him that? I've told you so many times to call him 'Madam' and 'Prince', why don't you take it to heart? You're already eighteen years old this year, and you still think you're a child! If you're still so disobedient, I'll let Madam send you back to Zhending, so that you won't be so out of tune all day and cause trouble for Madam!"

Sulan pouted unconvinced.

Su Xin couldn't help but let out a long sigh.

In the blink of an eye, my sister is already 18 years old, but she still hasn't found a marriage... It's time to find a husband for her... I'll talk to my wife about this in a couple of days when she's not busy...

She instructed Sulan: "Since the prince is back, Madam will get up and wash soon. Please ask someone to prepare hot water." She then rolled up the bedding and carried it back to her room.

Dou Zhao was not as alert as Su Xin, she was sleeping soundly.

Song Mo stood beside the bed, looking at Dou Zhao carefully.

She lay on her side on the bed, her delicate skin like early winter snow, her rosy face like early spring plum blossoms, and even the air seemed to be filled with a cold yet tranquil breath.

Song Mo squatted down gently.

Dou Zhao's eyebrows were thick and black, and the corners of her eyes were slightly upturned, making her look a little arrogant, but extremely beautiful.

He never knew that her eyes were so beautiful.

This reminded him of their happy times, when she looked at him with tears in her eyes, sparkling like the bright spring sunshine in March...

Song Mo felt that his body seemed to be excited again.

At this time, he was not thinking about how to comfort Dou Zhao, but his mind was full of thoughts of being with Dou Zhao.

Song Mo cursed himself in his heart and tried hard to suppress those thoughts that shouldn't have appeared, but he couldn't help but reach out and gently touch her eyebrows.

Dou Zhao was awakened at once.

She blinked her eyes, looking drowsy and dazed, like a defenseless child.

Song Mo's heart was suddenly hurt.

Who is born with the courage to kill?

It's just the environment that forces us to do so.

Dou Zhao had a hard time when she was at her parents' home. After marrying him, not only did she not find happiness and peace, but she had to live with him and worry and be frightened. Her life was even worse than when she was married!

If Dou Zhao had been a little bit hesitant at that time, if Yan Chaoqing and the others had arrived a little later, and Dou Zhao had been injured by those villains, what would the situation be like now?

He felt his fingertips go cold just thinking about it.

"Awake?" Song Mo said in a hoarse voice, reached into the quilt and held Dou Zhao's hand.

When Dou Zhao saw the person in front of her clearly, her expression became more relaxed: "You're back!" She was too tired to get up, so she just lay there and talked to Song Mo.

Song Mo looked as if nothing had happened at home, but he must have felt bad inside.

She responded and held Song Mo's hand.

Song Mo buried his face in the quilt.

"I'm sorry, it's all my fault...I didn't handle it properly...This will never happen again...I promise..."

The bedding exuded an unknown fragrance that penetrated into people's lungs, making Song Mo feel his eyes dull and wet.

Dou Zhao sighed inwardly, not knowing whether he should thank Mrs. Jiang for bringing up Song Mo so well, or blame Mrs. Jiang for bringing up Song Mo too rigidly - whenever something went wrong, Song Mo would first look for the reasons in himself.

But at this moment, looking at Song Mo's face full of frustration, she sincerely hoped that Song Mo would not always be so strong.

Sometimes I act like a second-generation rich kid and act arrogantly. Maybe she will feel better when she sees me like that.

"What does this have to do with you?" Dou Zhao said with a smile, his tone light and casual, "I heard from Mr. Yan that it was a group of desperate criminals from Cangzhou. They heard that my dowry was rich, so they took the risk..."

Song Mo raised his head, his eyes slightly reddened: "If I have enough prestige, why can't I intimidate the little people? After all, it's still me who is incapable of protecting my wife and children..."

If you continue to blame yourself like this, you will only become more and more depressed.

"Alright, alright." Dou Zhao said angrily, "This was originally caused by my dowry. To be more specific, it was the extra money that my father added that caused the trouble. You don't even know what the rumors are saying. It's said that the extra money was worth two hundred thousand taels, which is why the thieves coveted it. Mr. Yan has already sent someone to tell my father about this. With my father's personality, he will definitely come over. If you say this to his face, he will be more angry than you. Still blaming yourself... What's the point of blaming yourself when it has already happened? You'd better think about how to make up for the loss! When I think about the 19 bandits who are nowhere to be found, I get cold feet and feel uneasy." She shifted Song Mo's gaze and said, "Yantang, you have to take care of this matter in person. I always feel that other people are not so reliable. What's more, I have got the matching cards from the Duke of England's Mansion!" She was a little excited when she said this.

Compared to the careful calculations in his previous life, Dou Zhao prefers the current arrogance and unreasonableness.

She simply sat up and said, "I will gather the servants to talk to you later. If you can make sure that the house is safe, we can quickly establish our authority at home. Even if the father-in-law gets the news and rushes back now, it will be too late. What do you think?"

Seeing that she was only wearing a middle-length dress, Song Mo put a small jacket on her first, and then said, "Don't worry, the emperor knew about this and was furious. He gave me a sword used by Emperor Taizu and asked me to investigate this matter thoroughly. I can't stay in the mansion every day, and I can't just leave you in the Duke of Ying's mansion like this," he said, his expression gradually frosted, and a trace of viciousness flashed in his eyes, looking a little gloomy, "Those thieves must be found! What happened last night also needs an explanation!"

He had committed many murders in his previous life, and Dou Zhao was most afraid that he would repeat the same mistake.

She advised him: "Don't bother with people who have nothing to do with you, lest they ruin your reputation."

"I understand!" Song Mo smiled slightly, feeling infinite beauty in the morning light.

Dou Zhao was dazzled by his bright smile. He couldn't help but sigh in his heart, fortunately he had lived two lives, so he was less sensitive to some things. If he had met Song Mo in his previous life, and had spent day and night with him, even if he was strong-willed, he would probably have gradually become depressed...

She shook her head to drive these thoughts away.

Su Xin came in and reported, "Your Highness, the commander of the East City Military Department wants to see you. He said that the commander of the Five City Military Department was called into the palace. Now there is no leader, so we need your help to make a decision."

Song Mo sneered.

It must be that what the emperor said had spread, and those people were afraid of being implicated and were eager to show their goodwill to him.

It just so happens that I also have something for them to do.

When he stood up and looked at Dou Zhao, his expression was very gentle: "Shou Gu, I'll go and take a look. In an hour at most, I can search the Duke of Ying's mansion thoroughly. You can sleep for a while, and then it won't be too late to take over the supply of food in the mansion."

Dou Zhao nodded and said, "Go and do your thing. If there is anything, I will have my servant report it to you."

Song Mo left the inner room.

Dou Zhao sighed: "The commander of the Five Cities Military Command and the governor of Shuntian Prefecture are in trouble this time."

"Serves them right!" Su Xin felt scared when she thought about it, and she couldn't help but complain in her heart, "What do they do? Don't they just deal with these thieves every day? So many new faces suddenly appeared in Kyoto, but they didn't notice anything. They deserve to be fired!"

It's really rare to make Su Xin angry.

Dou Zhao smiled, washed and combed his hair, and went to the study.

If you want to do your work well, you must first sharpen your tools.

Since she wanted to take charge of the inner courtyard of the Duke of England's mansion, she had to make some preparations in advance.

Dou Zhao took out the list of housekeepers in charge of each room and courtyard in the Duke of England's Mansion from the secret room in the study and compared it with the list of housekeepers in charge of each room when Madam Jiang was in charge of the Duke of England's Mansion. She looked at it for a long time and then put the list back to its original place.

She had breakfast in the study.

After breakfast, the eldest wife and her mother-in-law came over.

Perhaps it was because of the distress of being at the mercy of others, or perhaps it was because they didn't sleep well the night before, but the eldest wife and the mother-in-law looked very haggard.

Dou Zhao asked them with a smile if they had had breakfast, exchanged a few words, and then went to the upper house.

Jiang usually took care of household affairs in the flower hall of the upper courtyard. The flower hall was not far from Yizhi Hall. One had to enter the upper courtyard from the diagonal alley, walk along the western corridor and pass through a moon-shaped gate to reach the flower hall. The flower hall was surrounded by various bamboos, with a few cycads and roses planted in between. The scenery was beautiful and it had a nice name called "Xie Cui Xuan".

All the housekeepers in the inner courtyard of the Duke of Ying's mansion had arrived and were standing in the yard whispering in groups of three or four. When they saw the eldest wife, Dong, and a group of maids and wives escorting Dou Zhao in, the whole yard suddenly fell silent.

Dou Zhao leisurely walked into the flower hall and sat down with the eldest wife in order of importance. The maid served tea. Su Xin walked out of the flower hall with its lattice windows open, stood on the steps, and invited the maids in charge to discuss matters.

The flower hall had five pillarless rooms, with a row of armchairs placed against the walls, but the maids in charge were not qualified to sit on them.

They stood in the center of the flower hall. The eldest wife said that she had an urgent matter at home and could no longer preside over the tribute to the Duke of England's mansion. She handed the pair of cards to Dou Zhao on the order of the Duke of England. If anyone had any questions in the future, they could ask Dou Zhao for advice. As she said this, she handed the rosewood box containing the pair of cards to Dou Zhao in front of everyone.

He had just presided over the Zhongfu for a day, and the pair of cards in his hand had not even warmed up when he handed them over. Considering what happened last night, who would believe that there was an emergency at the eldest wife's home? And who would believe that it was the Duke of England's intention to hand over the pair of cards to Dou Zhao?

But who dares to question Mrs. Dou Zhaohe?