"My aunt has already spoken, how can I go back on my word?" Dou Zhao said with a smile, "Just two days ago, Madam Guo sent someone to tell me that she wanted to marry into our family, so I thought, why not marry the eldest granddaughter of Marquis Xuanning to Wei'er and take the initiative to resolve this knot. This will also prevent my aunt from offending the father-in-law and having a hard life."
The mother-in-law nodded continuously, changing her usual gentle attitude and said decisively: "Just do as you say. Mrs. Guo and you have a very good personal relationship, and her eldest granddaughter was raised by us. Her character and appearance can be regarded as one in a million, and she is worthy of our Wei Ge'er. There is no time to delay. You can ask someone to go to the Guo family to propose marriage in the next two days." After she said this, she realized that Dou Zhao was still bedridden, and hurriedly changed her words, "Forget it, I'll do this matter myself. You just take a good rest, I'll take care of everything!" Then she took Wei Tingyu back to the yard where she lived to discuss Wei Ge'er's engagement.
Dou Zhao calmed down and told Cui Leng, "Go and ask the prince to come see me!"
There are some things that need to be explained to Wei Ge'er!
Cui Leng responded and left.
Dou Zhao felt so tired that he fell asleep.
Dimly, I heard some noise.
"... Dear sister, I'm not trying to act like a spoiled brat here. I'm just worried about Madam's illness." Aunt Hu's shrill voice reached her ears harshly, "Everyone in the mansion is saying that Madam is dying. I just want to get some definite news." As she spoke, she burst into tears like a bereaved parent, "If anything happens to Madam, how will Third Master and I live? I might as well go with Madam..."
Wei Tingyu had four concubines. After Rui Ge'er was four years old, they gave birth to four sons and four daughters for Wei Tingyu.
Brothers fight tigers together; fathers and sons fight together in battle.
Dou Zhao's two sons were grown up, and she didn't mind these concubines adding branches to the Wei family.
These children have a bright future and will be able to help Wei'er and Rui'er in the future.
This concubine Hu was the first one to give birth to a bastard son.
She was still young at that time, so she was very proud of it for a while.
Dou Zhao remained silent and helped Wei Tingyu to take in two concubines who were extremely good-looking and proficient in hundred-school songs and double-land chess.
This was exactly what Wei Tingyu wanted.
He spends day and night with his two new concubines, how could he remember who she is?
Aunt Hu suddenly realized that as long as Dou Zhao wanted, she could favor whomever she wanted, and neglect whomever she wanted!
She then washed off all the makeup, lowered her head and began to curry favor with Dou Zhao.
Dou Zhao also gave Wei Tingyu a concubine who was good at playing the piano, chess, calligraphy and painting.
Several concubines knew how powerful Dou Zhao was, and from then on no one dared to act pretentiously.
They were obedient, so Dou Zhao naturally did not make things difficult for them. The concubines' clothes and jewelry for all seasons, as well as the maids and old women who served the concubines' children, were all well arranged, not much worse than the wives and legitimate children of ordinary wealthy families. The concubines settled down, tried to please Dou Zhao, served Wei Tingyu, and had children, so the family was peaceful and quiet.
"What are you talking about, Aunt?" Cui Leng angrily scolded Aunt Hu, "Why are you always making up stories and saying things that don't make sense? The Marquis and the Madam have been talking for most of the night, and the Madam has just gone to bed. Do you want to wake her up?"
"No, no." Aunt Hu explained hurriedly, "I, I am just sad... I wish I could get this disease instead of Madam..."
She spoke with real emotion.
Dou Zhao believed that she was speaking from the heart.
If she dies, it will take at most one year, Wei Tingyu will renew her string, and her beautiful wife will be like a flower and he will sing harmoniously with his harp and harp; Brother Wei is the eldest son of Jining Mansion and is about to get engaged. He has no biological mother and still has his in-laws to help him; Brother Rui and his daughter Sister Yin will not suffer if they have Brother Wei as their elder brother. They only have a few aunts, their son is still young, his appearance is fading day by day, and they have no one to rely on!
"Even if that's the case, Auntie shouldn't make such a scene in front of Madam's door." Auntie Hu was advised in a gentle but stern voice, "If several other Aunties act like you, wouldn't the family be in chaos? It's so early in the morning, Auntie shouldn't have had breakfast yet, right? Why don't you go back to your room and have breakfast, and come back after Madam wakes up..."
It's Zhu's voice!
Dou Zhao's heart was shocked.
Zhu was the wet nurse she had carefully selected for her eldest son. She was kind, generous and patient with Wei Ge'er than her own son. The most rare thing was that she was also very responsible. When Wei Ge'er made mistakes, she never let him go just because she was the wet nurse. She always taught him carefully and urged him to correct his mistakes. So much so that after Dou Zhao gave birth to her second son, she also handed over the affairs of Rui Ge'er's room to her. She took the initiative to take care of the affairs of the Wei Mansion wholeheartedly.
The consequence of doing this was that although her two sons were in awe and obedience to her, they did not have any feelings of admiration for her.
Dou Zhao was filled with regret!
First, he sent Zhu to the other courtyard of Jining Marquis's residence in Xishan in the name of honor, and then he personally took care of the two sons' food and daily life, asked about their academic homework, and persuaded Wei Tingyu to teach the two sons riding and shooting...
But it was too late.
Zhu acted in an open and honest manner, without any criticism. Ten-year-old Wei and nine-year-old Rui not only remembered things, but also became sensible. By doing so, she not only did not make her two sons get close to her, but made them even more silent in front of her.
She knew that her two sons were blaming her for sending Zhu away.
But who can understand the pain she feels as a mother and the pain she feels for her children?
Or maybe women understand women best. Zhu felt that she had a grudge against her. After going to the farm, she never took the initiative to contact Wei Ge'er and Rui Ge'er, let alone returning home without permission.
What is Zhu doing here?
Dou Zhao was thinking when he heard a low cry of surprise from outside: "Nurse, why are you here? The road from the farm to the capital is full of bumps and potholes. Why didn't you tell me so that I could have asked the carriage in the mansion to pick you up?"
The young man's clear and pleasant voice belongs to his son Wei Ge'er.
After she fell ill, her children had to take care of her. She felt sorry for them and was afraid that she would pass on the disease to them, so she just asked them to visit her every morning and evening as before. At this time, it should be her son who came to greet her.
He was the eldest son of the Jining Marquisate and was trained as the heir since he was young. In addition, with the precedent of Wei Tingyu, Dou Zhao was stricter with him than with the children of other dukes and marquises. As he grew older, he acted more steadily and won praise from many elders. Dou Zhao was secretly proud of this.
Shocked like a child, is this her calm and reserved eldest son?
Dou Zhao did something that she had always despised.
She got up, put on her clothes, and peeked at Zhu and her son through the window.
Perhaps because she was afraid of disturbing her, Zhu lowered her voice and said, "...I heard that Madam was ill, so I just wanted to come and see her. Don't worry, I'll just greet Madam and leave." Then she asked him, "How have you been these days? I heard from the Second Master that you went hunting with some young masters from the Duke of Jing's Mansion and shot a few golden pheasants?"
Wei Geer was very ashamed and called out to his "wet nurse" in dissatisfaction: "My cousin killed several rabbits!"
Mother Zhu laughed, "What's so great about killing a few rabbits?" She gently touched Wei'er's dust-free collar and said with emotion, "Our young master has grown up and can ride a horse and hunt like the Marquis. This time he killed a golden pheasant, and next time he will definitely be able to kill a roe deer like the Marquis."
She raised her chin slightly, her expression filled with pride and honor.
Wei Ge'er was stunned, then he smiled shyly but happily, and said, "Nurse, are you used to living on the farm? How is my brother? Do you want me to talk to the housekeeper at home and transfer my brother to the shop in Kyoto? I have already started to help mother with the chores. My brother was better at mathematics than me in the past, so he is more than qualified to be a shopkeeper in the shop..."
"Nonsense." Zhu scolded Wei Ge'er with a smile, but there was a comfort in her eyes that could not be hidden. "The affairs of the mansion have their own customs and rules. Although he is your foster brother, he also serves you. Your foster brother serves where the madam has the final say. You are the eldest son of the Jining Marquis's mansion, not an ordinary child. You should think more about everything you do. You can't break the rules just because of your own preferences..."
"I know, I know!" Wei Ge'er responded impatiently, but he took Zhu's arm affectionately, "I finally met you, can't you say a few words? By the way, the last time my second brother came to see you, he told me that your hands were frozen. Let me take a look... I went to the Imperial Hospital the day before yesterday to find a bottle of frozen sore ointment for you. I heard that it was a prescription used by Emperor Taizu and it is very effective. I was just about to send it to you, but I didn't expect you to come into the mansion..."
Dou Zhao couldn't listen any longer.
She just had a frozen hand, but you rushed to the Imperial Hospital to find something to cure her. I was so sick that I was about to die, but you ever personally prepared a bowl of medicine for me!
A stabbing pain spread from my chest.
Dou Zhao stumbled back to the inner room. He didn't know how he climbed onto the bed. He only knew that when he came to his senses, his back was soaked with sweat.
She called Cui Leng loudly, "Let Zhu and the prince come in."
Cui Leng saw that Dou Zhao looked unhappy and looked at her uneasily before she went to pass on the message.
After a while, Wei Ge'er and Zhu came in.
As if to avoid suspicion, they stood one in front and one behind, each of them standing respectfully, one with his eyelids lowered and called her "Mother", the other bowed respectfully and called her "Madam".
Dou Zhao felt a chill in her heart and was too lazy to even respond. She directly told her son about the upcoming marriage with the Guo family. Anyway, even if she avoided the Zhu family, either her eldest son or her second son would tell her about it.
Perhaps because he was caught off guard, Wei Ge'er was a little confused, while Zhu was shocked, and then she showed joy and was about to cry.
Although his son did not understand the deep meaning of this, Zhu did.
Dou Zhao suddenly felt a little discouraged, and simply said to his son: "Your wet nurse has nursed you for a long time. Even if she has no merit, she has worked hard. Tell my words to let Zhu return to your room to serve you, and your wet brother will follow the chief steward of the Huichu Office to work."
"Mother!" Wei Ge'er was surprised and happy. Without thinking, he knelt down at the head of Dou Zhao's bed and kowtowed to Dou Zhao several times. "I, on behalf of your wet nurse and wet brother, thank you, mother!" His eyes were full of excitement.
Zhu was very anxious and hurried to pull Wei'er away: "Master, you can't do this, you can't do this!"
Even a wet nurse knows that it is not allowed, so how could the son whom she has raised so carefully not know?
I just can't help myself!