Chapter 344 Rules

If it is said that just because Wei Tingyu is Dou Zhao's fiancé, Dou Ming would rush to marry Wei Tingyu as soon as Wang Yingxue said so, that is impossible. The reason why Dou Ming went with the flow even though she knew it was impossible was that she was attracted by Wei Tingyu's handsomeness and was always gentle, polite and caring to her; secondly, she was attracted by his high-class family and simple family, and she could live her own life behind closed doors after marrying him. And Wei Tingyu was just as she expected. Even though he knew that she was marrying for her sister, he still accepted the marriage. Although the two of them had quarrels from time to time after marriage, they quarreled at the head of the bed and made up at the foot of the bed, and there was no lack of affection between newlyweds. But Wei Tingyu never looked at her with a cold gaze like he did just now, as if he was looking at a stranger.

Dou Ming was panicking and didn't care about his face, so he ran after him in front of the maids in the yard.

"Lord Marquis!" She grabbed Wei Tingyu's sleeve.

Wei Tingyu didn't even look at her, just rolled up his sleeves and walked out.

Dou Ming was stunned.

When she was young, she first lived with the Second Lady, and later with her grandmother Wang Xu. She then lived in Zhending for a few years, and returned to Kyoto to live with her mother for a few more years. She dare not say anything else, but reading people's expressions is her instinct. It's just that she was arrogant and stubborn by nature, and she could not be easily convinced.

Wei Tingyu's actions made her instinctively feel the danger.

She followed him.

Wei Tingyu ignored her and walked straight into the small academy. He slammed the door in front of her, almost hitting Dou Ming's nose.

Dou Ming was stunned for a long while, and asked in a low voice: "My Lord, what happened? Even if it is my fault, you should tell me so that I can correct it. How can I know where I went wrong if you don't say anything?"

Wei Tingyu inside the door sat behind his desk in a daze.

He remembered Dou Ming's brilliant smile when he first met her.

At that time he thought that this little girl was so innocent and naive, even brighter and more lovely than the spring sunshine.

The Dou family has been a family of farmers and scholars, and has had many officials for generations. They are one of the most powerful families in Beizhili. The girls in the family are supposed to stay at home, just like Dou Zhao. He and her are a formal engaged couple, and he only sees them occasionally.

At that time, had I already fallen into Dou Ming's trap?

Wei Tingyu was heartbroken.

He recalled the day when Dou Zhao called him to Jing'an Temple Hutong and said that she believed he had nothing to do with Dou Ming... Dou Zhao's eyes were as clear as spring water... But he finally let her down...

Wei Tingyu covered his face and felt wetness between his fingers.

Wei Tingzhen saw her brother walk out in such a state of despair, and hurriedly called her personal nanny to follow him. Knowing that Dou Ming was knocking on Wei Tingyu's door with soft words, she smiled coldly. Because there were so many things waiting for her to decide at home, she couldn't stay at her parents' home for too long, so she left her personal nanny Jin to serve Tian at her parents' home, and said to Tian: "No one wants to have such a thing happen. Even if you want to perform a ritual for Zhao, it's almost the New Year, and you won't be able to find a virtuous monk for a while. I think it's better to wait until after the Lantern Festival, and then I will slowly find a better temple for you, find a wise monk, and perform a few rituals for you. Take care of your health these days, and during the New Year, I will bring your grandchildren to ask you for red envelopes!"

Tian then lay down peacefully on the bed again, but she was still thinking about the deceased Zhao Guqiu in her heart: "She is several years younger than me. When I went to the homes of relatives and friends to attend weddings, she liked to stay close to me. If I wore a new piece of jewelry, she would ask where I bought it from; if I embroidered a new handkerchief, she would also ask where I got the new pattern..."

Wei Tingzhen winked at Nanny Jin, signaling her to keep an eye on Tian and not let anything unexpected happen to her. Only then did he return to Duke Jing's Mansion with a heavy heart.

When she was busy during the day, she naturally had no time to think about this matter, but when she was free at night, she couldn't help but feel a pain in her heart.

Three hundred thousand taels of silver!

Even if the banknotes were exchanged for ten taels each, they would still form a small mountain! Not to mention the fields, forests, pavements and houses!

The Wei family has enough of it for two generations!

She tossed and turned like a pancake, unable to sleep.

Zhang Yuanming couldn't sleep because of the noise, so he got up and sat on the head of the bed, and said tiredly, "Did your mother make you angry again?"

Wei Tingzhen never hesitated to talk about her parents' family in front of her husband.

She thought about it, sat up, leaned against the head of the bed with her husband, and told Zhang Yuanming about Dou Ming.

Zhang Yuanming smiled and said, "It's already the past, and there's no point in dwelling on it. Fortunately, Dou's dowry is not small, so don't be too stubborn."

"How can you say that!" Wei Tingzhen was unhappy. "If Dou Zhao married into the Wei family, wouldn't the money belong to the Wei family?"

As she spoke, she suddenly remembered the time Wang Yingxue asked her to cooperate in order to ruin Dou Zhao and the Wei family's marriage.

Could it be that Wang Yingxue was planning to get the Dou and Wei families to break off the engagement at that time?

Wei Tingzhen gritted his teeth in hatred.

Their Wei family was harmed by Wang Yingxue and Dou Ming, mother and daughter.

Wang Yingxue and Dou Ming, mother and daughter, wanted to just let it go, but there was no way!

She said to Zhang Yuanming, "Can you help me find out how much silver the Dou family gave to Dou Zhao as a dowry?"

"Why are you asking about this?" Knowing that it had nothing to do with his mother, Zhang Yuanming was too lazy to care about it. He yawned and crawled into the quilt. "The Dou family used to do business for the Ministry of Works. They were only in Kyoto, and each branch had its own house. Mr. Dou was incorruptible and it was said that he never took a salary. Since this is a quarter of the Dou family's industry, it must be more than 300,000 taels of silver..."

He mumbled and fell asleep.

Wei Tingzhen, however, tossed and turned more and more and could not sleep at night. As the sky turned white, he fell into a daze and fell asleep. The next day, after dealing with the trivial matters in the Duke of Jing's Mansion, he rushed to the Marquis of Jining's Mansion.

Tian was drinking porridge unhappily. When she saw her daughter coming over, she asked her if she had had breakfast.

"I've already had breakfast." Wei Tingzhen didn't see Dou Ming when he entered the room, so he couldn't help but ask, "Where's Dou Ming? Why didn't he serve you breakfast?"

Tian said listlessly, "I'm not that evil mother-in-law, why should I set rules?"

Wei Tingzhen listened but quit and said: "Mother, if the Wang family hadn't arranged such a simple marriage of sisters, how could Dou Zhao have become the crown prince's wife of the British Duke? How could Dou Zhao's dowry have become Song Dynasty's dowry? The upper beam is not straight and the lower beam is crooked. During the days when Ming was married into our house, you were kind to her and didn't let her set any rules. But as for her, she didn't have any consciousness of being a daughter-in-law. She only disappeared in the morning and dusk. It can be seen that these bad habits are all I learned it from that Wang!

Now that she's entered our home, she's one of ours. She can't go back, can she?

But you can't stop her from learning these rules. If she does something embarrassing, won't people point fingers at our family and talk behind our backs?

I think you need to keep her with you and teach her what she can and cannot do. Don't let her do whatever she wants."

Tian listened and shook her head, saying, "I don't like to see her."

Wei Tingzhen couldn't help but touch his forehead.

Nanny Jin, who was Wei Tingzhen's confidant, said softly, "Madam, you don't know that a few days ago it was the birthday of our Duke's wife. The families of the second and third wives arrived early, but the wife of the Marquis of Jining only showed up when the banquet was about to start. Not only that, she also said that you were ill and she had to take care of you, so she left the table early, which made our Duke's wife very unhappy, and she also scolded our prince's wife a few words. If you don't take care of it, what will happen in the future!"

Tian was stunned and said, "No wonder Zhen'er's mother-in-law sent some medicinal herbs over a few days ago..." She felt furious.

Others don’t know why you are “sick”, don’t you, Dou Ming, know either?

It's obvious that he is using himself as a son to despise his own daughter!

Tian made a decision immediately and told her personal maid, "Go, call the mistress over and tell her that I'm going to have breakfast. Ask her to serve me the food and pour me tea!"

The personal nanny responded and left.

A smile flashed across Wei Tingzhen's face.

If you dare to plot against me, don't blame me for being cruel and ruthless!

But when he thought of Dou Zhao's dowry, his heart ached again.

She couldn't help but said to Tian: "Mother, do you know that Dou Zhao has hundreds of thousands of taels of silver in his property? If Wang's mother and daughter hadn't done anything wrong, that money would have belonged to our Wei family! Not only Pei Jin, but also Pei Jin's son, grandson, and great-grandson would have no worries about food and drink..."

"So many!" Tian was very surprised.

"That's right!" Wei Tingzhen sighed, "It's a pity that we were tricked by Wang's mother and daughter at that time...Who knows how Wang is laughing behind our backs now!"

Tian slapped the table with her palm, and her mind changed. But for someone like Tian who usually has no ideas, once she makes up her mind, no one can change it.

She deliberately wanted to make Dou Ming look bad, but her mother-in-law had never asked her to set rules, and she didn't know how to let her daughter-in-law set rules, so she went around asking people for advice.

Most of those who were asked felt that the more and stricter the rules were, the more particular they seemed. From helping the mother-in-law get dressed in the morning to putting away the tent for her at night, there were hundreds of rules, no matter how big or small.

Tian not only took notes on paper, but also spent two days memorizing all the terms and conditions, and then asked Dou Ming to follow them one by one.

In the morning, she had to get up at the right time. When her mother-in-law washed her face, she had to help her tie the handkerchief. When her mother-in-law combed her hair, she had to help pass the comb to her. Not to mention when her mother-in-law was eating, she had to quickly put the dish into her mother-in-law's bowl whenever her mother-in-law's eyes fell on it. If she was a little late, her mother-in-law would start to lecture her at length. Even when she went to visit people in Liuye Alley, she was rebuked by her mother-in-law: "Which daughter-in-law is like you, thinking about going out every day? Do you feel you can't sit still? Do you feel wronged here?"

Dou Ming thought that the Wei family was heartbroken that Dou Zhao's huge dowry was lost to them, so he pretended not to hear it and gritted his teeth to serve Tian.

But how easy is it to set rules in front of the mother-in-law?

Within two days, Dou Ming suffered from back pain, leg cramps and could not even stand up.

"What should we do?" Nanny Zhou was heartbroken, but she was helpless. She could only massage Dou Ming every night, hoping that she would feel better.

However, when Dou Ming was serving lunch to his mother-in-law, he dropped the spoon into the soup bowl, splashing greasy spots all over Tian.