Chapter 360: Big Trouble
In the imperial examinations, the quality of one’s writing was one of the important factors in determining whether or not the essay would be favored by the examiner. To write well, one must have good ink and a good inkstone.
Dou Shiheng looked at the dragon and phoenix ink tablets in the rosewood box, and was so angry that he blew his beard and glared: "You are so good, Wan Yuan, you actually hid such good ink without showing it to others, are you afraid that I will ask you for it?"
He has two sons who are going to die this year!
Dou Shiying chuckled and said, "Isn't this just something I didn't think of at the moment? I'll find a way to find you some good ink when the time comes."
Dou Shiheng's expression then eased a little.
Dou Dechang whispered to Song Mo: "What happened to that incident?"
"It's Chinese New Year now, haven't you met Wang Ge yet?" Song Mo said, "I will go to the palace to find Wang Ge after the Lantern Festival. Anyway, it's sealed during this period, so Fan Shijun can't do anything."
Dou Dechang nodded.
Dou Shiheng shouted, "As a man, why can't you speak openly about something? Why are you whispering to each other like this? You don't act like a scholar at all!"
Dou Dechang was the youngest son, lively by nature, and had never been afraid of Dou Shiheng. He also relied on the fact that he was a guest in Jing'an Temple Hutong. Dou Shiying always indulged the child and joked, "I want to go to Qianfo Temple Hutong with my fourth brother-in-law. Can you say this out loud?"
"You are such a jerk!" Dou Shiheng's eyes widened like bells. "Do you want to be grounded?!"
Dou Shiying and Song Mo couldn't help laughing.
The atmosphere in the study became relaxed due to Dou Dechang's noise.
When men sit together, they either talk about women or discuss government affairs.
With two younger brothers present, we naturally couldn't talk about women, so we could only discuss state affairs.
Song Mo's heart moved, and he asked Dai Jian first: "...I heard that he came from a humble background, so he values gold and silver things very much. Is that true?"
The son-in-law is not an educated man, so naturally he knows little about this circle. Since he is curious and has nothing to do, he decided to give the younger generation a reminder.
Dou Shiying knew everything and said everything: "Who said Dai Jian valued gold and silver? The one who really valued money was Yao Xiang, who came from an aristocratic family. He was proficient in numerology and had been the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue for six years. Even the emperor secretly borrowed money from the Ministry of Revenue. It is said that even the maid who swept the floor in their family knew arithmetic, and all the daily expenses of the family were recorded in the accounts. If future generations want to compile a record of food and goods, I think there is no need to look for any information. Just take the account book of Yao Xiang's family and you will know what the prices were at that time!"
As he spoke, he burst into laughter.
Dou Shiheng was afraid that they might misunderstand him, so he hurriedly said, "Don't listen to his nonsense! Yao Xiang used the most capable people, and all the money he saved was from the national treasury. He was very generous to his relatives, friends, colleagues and old acquaintances. Keeping accounts was just his habit. As for his family background, Dai Xiang's family did have a few acres of good land, which was enough for him to study and become an official. On the contrary, Liang Shoufu, whose father died early, relied on his widowed mother to help people wash clothes to save some money. Although he was gifted, he had to pay the tuition fee. So although he was talented, his studies were not smooth. He failed repeatedly and finally passed the imperial examination when he was over 30. After that, he worked as a noble Hanlin for a few years. Finally, he entered the imperial court. He was suppressed by Zeng Yifen first and then by Ye Shipei. He was like a puppet and silent. After he came to power, he had to repay the favors he owed, support relatives and friends, and prepare a future for his children and grandchildren. He had no choice but to value gold and silver. "
There are many scholars like Liang Jifen.
Dou Shiheng said this with a sigh in his voice.
Dou Shiying disagreed and said, "It's human nature for him to love gold and silver. But I just can't stand the way he wants money and pretends to be noble. Every time he sees Prime Minister Yao, he acts as if Prime Minister Yao owes him a few hundred taels of silver. He even thinks that those newly promoted scholars with better family backgrounds have either made their fortunes with money or relied on their ancestors' influence. Few of them have real talent and knowledge. This is a bit too much."
Obviously, Dou Shiheng could not deny this.
He remained silent.
Song Mo shook his head in his heart.
This topic is so off-topic that I almost lose my bearings.
"It seems that this cabinet minister is also an ordinary person." He could only smile and bring the topic back to the topic, "Among the cabinet ministers, Prime Minister Mu's family background is relatively wealthy, right?"
"Yes!" Dou Shiheng nodded. "Not only Prime Minister Mu, but also Prime Minister He, are from prominent families. Although Dai Jian is a little inferior, he is not short of money..."
Dou Shiying interjected, "So every time the cabinet ministers gather together, our Prime Minister Liang feels very uncomfortable!"
Dou Dechang chuckled, which earned him a scolding from Dou Shiheng.
Song Mo was pondering in his heart.
It seems that it is impossible for Dai Jian and Mu Chuan to go against the Kuang family for money.
He raised his hand and touched his chin.
Things are about to get more complicated and interesting!
Who is the hand behind the scenes?
※※※※※
Wei Tingyu did not appear in Jing'an Temple Hutong until almost lunch time.
Because Dou Ming was still in the period of postpartum confinement and was in a dirty state, she could not visit relatives and friends. He used the excuse that Dou Ming needed someone to take care of her, drank a cup of tea in the living room and left.
Dou Shiying was also very cold towards Wei Tingyu. He told Gao Xing to see the guest off and went back to his study.
Thinking about the troubles of the Wei family, Dou Shiheng's face looked a little unhappy, and the atmosphere in the study became low.
Dou Dechang started to complain that he was hungry: "Seventh Uncle, when are we going to have lunch? I only had half a bowl of porridge this morning." He heated up the atmosphere again.
Dou Shiying laughed and told the maids to serve the meal.
When they were halfway through the meal, Dou Bochang and Dou Jichang from Huaishu Hutong came over with their children.
Dou Shiying was naturally delighted and asked, "Why are you here?"
Dou Bochang and Dou Jichang's father-in-law and mother-in-law were both in Kyoto.
Dou Bochang smiled and said, "We went to pay New Year's greetings to my father-in-law and mother-in-law yesterday. Thinking that this was the first time for my fourth brother-in-law and my fourth sister to return to her parents' home to pay New Year's greetings, we came over to join in the fun and to prevent my fourth brother-in-law from having trouble playing mahjong."
Dou Shiying smiled so hard that his teeth were showing, and hurriedly ordered the maid to tell the kitchen to prepare another table of wine and banquet.
Dou Bochang and Dou Jichang said they had already had lunch at home: "If we had known this would happen, we should have come to Uncle Seventh's house to eat."
But how could Dou Shiying let them just sit there and do nothing? They had to push and shove each other and re-arrange the table for wine and food.
The inner house was filled with the laughter and noise of several children, adding a touch of the festive and lively atmosphere that is unique to the New Year.
Sixth aunt and several aunts sat around the kang and talked about the family's affairs. Cai pulled Dou Zhao aside and whispered, "It's a good thing you didn't go that day! I've seen shameless people, but I've never seen anyone more shameless than the Wei family! They want to take their daughter-in-law's dowry, but they sound so righteous. Wei Tingzhen is the wife of a family with great achievements, how can she be so shameless in her words and deeds? No wonder her mother-in-law looks down on her and always praises her two daughters-in-law, Shi and Feng."
The Dou family did not tell Dou Zhao about Dou Ming's miscarriage because Dou Zhao was pregnant and the relationship between the two sisters was very tense. They were worried that Dou Ming would be upset and worried that Dou Zhao would be upset. However, when Guo and Cai went to visit Dou Ming on behalf of the female members of the Dou family, Sixth Aunt still asked them to send a set of tonic herbs to Dou Ming in the name of Dou Zhao. Dou Zhao only heard Sixth Aunt mention it when she met her just now. She had no idea what happened when Guo and Cai went to the Wei family.
In her previous life, her dowry was not good, but the Wei family never thought of taking her dowry. How come after her rebirth, both the Tian family and the Wei family have become unfamiliar to her?
Dou Zhao couldn't help but frown and asked, "What on earth is going on?"
Cai told the story of how Tian was dissatisfied with Dou Ming, how Wei Tingyu and Wei Tingzhen worked together to force Dou Ming to hand over his dowry, and how the Wang family ignored Dou Ming... She recounted the whole story like a storyteller.
Dou Zhao was very surprised and asked, "Why would the Wang family ignore Dou Ming's affairs?"
Cai saw that Sixth Aunt and the others were talking happily and no one was paying attention to this place, so she whispered, "I heard that the second wife of the Wang family was very dissatisfied with Seventh Aunt living in the Wang family all year round. She instigated the second master and the old lady of the Wang family to make a few noises, but the eldest wife of the Wang family did not say anything. In a fit of anger, the old lady of the Wang family took Seventh Aunt to live in the Wang family's other courtyard in the suburbs of Beijing. Many people in Beijing do not know about this. The letter that Fifth Aunt sent to Liuyeer Hutong fell into the hands of the second wife of the Wang family. The second wife of the Wang family pressed the letter down. Later, when the old lady of the Wang family took the seventh aunt back to Kyoto for the New Year, she sent someone to visit the fifth aunt, and the matter was exposed. However, it was too late. The Wei family saw that there was no movement in Liuyeer Hutong. Wei Tingzhen severely humiliated the fifth aunt and sold the two most caring first-class maids around the fifth aunt. The fifth aunt's people asked the Wang family to look for her for more than half a month, but there was no trace of her. Now everyone in the Wei Mansion knows that their wife and the eldest aunt are fighting, and they dare not go to the fifth aunt's room to serve her! "
"So what's going on now?" Dou Ming's dowry was much larger than Dou Zhao's. If it fell into the hands of the Wei family... Dou Zhao felt as disgusted as if he had swallowed a fly. "Didn't Fifth Aunt have a few words with the Wei family?"
"Who said he didn't go?" Cai was afraid that Dou Zhao had mistaken Huaishu Hutong, so she said anxiously, "Wei Tingyu invited my seventh uncle to the Jining Marquis' Mansion on the pretext that Dou Ming had given birth, but who knew that he was actually asking my seventh uncle to discuss the dowry for my fifth aunt. My seventh uncle was so angry that he gnashed his teeth. If my mother-in-law hadn't arrived in time, I'm afraid the two families would have torn their faces and quarreled... Now this matter has been shelved, and they said they would talk about it after the Spring Festival. But from the tone of the Wei family, either my fifth aunt should hand over her dowry to the Dou family for custody, or they would divorce her. My seventh uncle was so angry about this that he didn't go to the government office for several days..."
After hearing that her father was sick from anger, Dou Zhaoyuan thought she would be calm, but in fact she felt as if a knife was stabbed in her heart, and she was in so much pain that she could hardly speak.
"You too," she said angrily, "How could you not tell me such an important thing? Father has no one to take care of him. If we don't come back to take care of him, he will be even more alone!"
"Don't be angry, Fourth Auntie!" Cai explained in a panic, "It was Seventh Uncle who specifically told us not to tell you, for fear that you would get angry and have a miscarriage..."