Chapter 361 Daughter

Fortunately, her father, sixth aunt, and aunt loved her very much and did not tell her about Dou Ming. Otherwise, she would have been so disgusted that she would not be able to eat after listening to Dou Ming and Wei Tingyu attacking each other like dogs biting each other.

Dou Zhao decided to comfort his father later.

Cai said, "Fourth Aunt, I heard from my mother-in-law that she will invite Wei Tingzhen to come and talk on the fifth day of the New Year. Do you want to go and listen? Give the Wei family a good lesson, which can be regarded as your protection for your younger sister as an elder sister."

Everyone in the Dou family knew that Dou Ming and Dou Zhao had a bad relationship. Dou Zhao also said that she was not prepared to get along with Dou Ming, but because they were both daughters of the Dou family, they would maintain a polite manner. But Cai, who had a long history of family learning, felt that Dou Zhao was just being conceited and pretending to be generous. If there was a chance, who wouldn't want to stab him in the back? That's why she helped Dou Zhao to come up with an idea. While Dou Ming was in a desperate situation and could not even keep his dowry, she asked Dou Zhao to show a gesture of repaying evil with kindness and come forward to protect Dou Ming and stand firm on the righteousness. Dou Zhao had done a favor to Dou Ming, so Dou Ming had to endure his anger towards Dou Zhao.

Dou Zhaohe didn't understand.

But she didn't want to have anything to do with Dou Ming at all.

He would neither kick Dou Ming when she was down, nor suppress her when she was proud. She had her own good life to live, so there was no need to worry and work hard for her.

"There are my fifth and sixth aunts at home, so how can it be my turn as a married girl to come forward?" Dou Zhao clearly rejected Cai's proposal. "If others see this, they will think that there is no one left in our Dou family!"

The flattery hit the horse's leg.

Cai felt a little embarrassed.

Dou Zhao was too lazy to pay attention to her. He sat down on the kang and listened to his sixth aunt and aunt talking: "...There will be lantern fairs on East Street, West Street and Chang'an Gate, and it will be very lively. I came to Kyoto once with my father when I was a child. The lantern fair in Kyoto was the most impressive. I still remember it today. When the time comes, why don't you take Zhangru to see it? Such a grand occasion doesn't happen every day."

It turns out they were talking about the Lantern Festival.

Zhao Zhangru looked at his mother with eyes wide open, his face full of anticipation.

My aunt smiled and said with some regret: "There were many people that day, and it was not convenient for a woman like me to take care of a grown girl. It would have been better if her father was here..."

Dou Zhao hurriedly said: "Aunt, please leave this matter to me - Yizhitang has many guards!"

The aunt hesitated for a moment, but she gave in under Zhao Zhangru's earnest gaze and said with a smile, "Okay then! I'll trouble you, my Lord, when the time comes."

"No trouble, no trouble." Dou Zhao smiled and said, "Who else wants to go? We can go together then."

"I want to go!" Cai knew that her mother-in-law wanted them to get closer to Dou Zhao, so she immediately smiled and said, "Then your tenth brother and I will take Ren Ge'er and Fu Ge'er with us."

When the two little guys heard their mother say their names, they couldn't help but prick up their ears to listen. They knew they could go to see the lanterns on the Lantern Festival, and they immediately cheered.

Dou Pinyuan was unhappy. She hugged her mother's thighs and called Guo softly: "Mom, I want to go too, I want to go too!"

Guo was about to say something but stopped herself, her eyes glistening with tears as she looked at her daughter.

Just a few years ago, Dou Bochang's concubine, Aunt Bai, gave birth to Dou Bochang's eldest son, Dou Ran.

Dou Pinyuan's voice became smaller and smaller.

Dou Zhao felt very sympathetic towards Guo, but was also angry at her for not fighting back.

What's wrong with the daughter? Doesn't the blood flowing in her body belong to the Dou family? Is the daughter definitely not as filial and sensible as the son?

Dou Zhao touched Dou Pinyuan's head and said to Guo: "Tenth sister-in-law, take Pinyuan with you! I will send a few more guards and experienced maids, and they will definitely take good care of Pinyuan."

"Go ahead, go ahead!" When Dou Pinyuan saw her fourth aunt speaking for her, Jiao'er played even more happily.

Guo was in a difficult situation and was even more reluctant to let her daughter down.

She looked at Dou Zhao gratefully, and said to Dou Pinyuan with a smile: "Then you have to listen to the maids and not run around everywhere..."

"I am obedient, I am obedient!" Dou Pinyuan's little head nodded like a chicken pecking at rice, but Dou Zhao felt sad to see it.

On the way home, she leaned on Song Mo's shoulder and asked him, "If I keep giving birth to daughters, will you be good to them?"

Song Mo said sensitively, "What happened? Did your sister-in-law see some flowers and trees and say that you will give birth to a daughter? Our family has few descendants, and even if we have a daughter, she will still be precious. Don't let your imagination run wild." As he said that, he hugged Dou Zhao and said, "What's more, she is our daughter. She has my blood and your blood flowing in her body. She must be the smartest and most beautiful. No one can compare to her! With more daughters, we can also choose sons-in-law. We can pick all the good sons from other families and bring them to our family. They will send wine and tea to our house during festivals. We really love those who give birth to sons!"

Dou Zhao chuckled and said, "Stop trying to make me happy!"

"That's what I really think." Song Mo said with a smile, "If there are a room full of girls, it's like looking at flowers every day, it's pleasing to think about. But if there are a room full of boys, think about it, each of them is big and strong and just stands there, what's the point of that?"

Dou Zhao thought about it, and it was just as he said, if he had a few more daughters and dressed them up well, wouldn't it be like looking at flowers?

"You're just trying to scare me!" She smiled, "Based on my appearance, there's no way I can give birth to a big and strong son. If I really give birth to a big and strong son, he must be like your ancestors of the Song family!"

"That's impossible!" Song Mo said, "The Duke of Ying's Mansion is famous for producing handsome men. Emperor Taizu adopted our ancestor because he was well-behaved and handsome."

"Really?" Dou Zhao smiled and turned his face, "Show me, where is the beauty?"

Song Mo snorted disdainfully, putting on an air of dignity and aloofness.

Dou Zhao laughed out loud.

The couple returned to Yizhitang chatting and laughing all the way.

Dou Zhao then remembered the Lantern Festival and hurriedly greeted Song Mo. He was also worried that Xia Lian and the others might be busy by then, so he said, "I'll let Duan Gongyi and Chen Xiaofeng follow."

Song Mo thought for a moment and said, "Let's use Duan Gongyi and his men as guards. After all, they are more familiar with the Dou family and will be easier to use. Leave the rest to Liao Bifeng. You don't have to worry about it." Then he asked curiously, "Aren't you going out during the Lantern Festival?"

Dou Zhao knew that Song Mo had to be on duty in the palace that day. No matter how beautiful the lanterns in Kyoto were, it would be boring to look at them alone, so she didn't want to go out.

"I'd better not squeeze in with them if I'm like this."

Song Mo didn't say anything.

Two days later, Liao Bifeng came to see Dou Zhao and said, "I have booked a private room on the second floor of Judezhuang. What do you think, Madam? Do you want to change to another room?"

From the private room on the second floor of Judezhuang, you can see East Street by opening the window. You can enjoy the lanterns on East Street without squeezing with the pedestrians on the road. If you want to see the lanterns on West Street, you have to book a private room at Wenxinxuan. As Chang'an Street faces Chengtian Gate, there are no houses with second floors on the entire Chang'an Street to prevent people from spying on the inner court. If you want to go to Chang'an Street to see the lanterns, you can only park your carriage near Yuhe Bridge and walk by yourself.

After all, Dou Zhao had lived in Kyoto for more than ten years in her previous life, so she knew this very well. She didn't wait for Liao Bifeng to finish introducing the differences, and immediately thanked Liao Bifeng: "Thank you for your hard work, Mr. Liao! The private room on the second floor of Judezhuang is always sold out during the lantern market. It's such a short time, and it was proposed at the last minute. Mr. Liao must have put a lot of effort into it, right?"

Liao Bifeng repeatedly said "I dare not", asked a few requests, and then stood up to leave.

Dou Zhao sent someone to tell his aunt and others about the arrangements for the day.

Knowing that we can still sit in the private rooms and enjoy the lanterns, everyone is looking forward to the Lantern Festival.

Guo brought her daughter to pay New Year's greetings to Dou Zhao.

Dou Zhao was greatly surprised. He grabbed some fruit for Dou Pinyuan to eat, and asked the maid to take Dou Pinyuan to the back garden to see the flowers. Then he and Guo sat down on the kang.

Before she could say anything, Guo said, "Don't worry, Fourth Auntie. Nothing happened at home. I just don't want to stay at home. I want to go out for a walk. If I say I'm going to someone else's house, my mother will definitely be unhappy. So I had to borrow Fourth Auntie's name and say that you asked me to bring Pinyuan to visit you."

Dou Zhao understood Guo's feelings.

She was silent for a moment, then asked Guo: "What are your plans?"

Guo smiled bitterly: "What else can I plan? I'll just live one day like two and a half days!"

Dou Zhao said: "You should think about Pinyuan! Girls usually learn from their mothers. No matter what, she is also the legitimate daughter of the Dou family. Her grandfather is a great scholar of the inner cabinet. It is easy for her to marry into any family and become a clan wife. But even so, she still has to be able to gain a foothold in her husband's family after she gets married. You can live like this for one day and count it as two and a half days, but Pinyuan can't!"

Guo pursed her lips, then suddenly covered her face and cried silently.

Dou Zhao got off the kang and said in a deep voice: "Sixth sister-in-law, please think carefully about what I said and see if this is the truth?" Then he left the inner room.

Ruozhu and the others immediately surrounded him.

"It's okay!" Dou Zhao took a long breath and said, "You guys just listen outside. If your aunt has any instructions, you just serve her well." He ran to the back garden, looked at the flowers with Dou Pinyuan, ate snacks, and basked in the sun. They had a great time.

When Song Mo returned home, he saw her rosy face.

"I'm very happy today!" As usual, he hugged Dou Zhao and kissed her twice, but was bumped into by Guo, who heard the noise and came out to say hello to Song Mo.

She cried "ouch" and retreated back into the inner room.

Dou Zhao smiled brightly.

Song Mo was more shameless than she had imagined. He greeted Guo calmly, who looked a little flustered, as if Guo was the one who was rude.

There was no point for Guo to stay there, so she took Dou Pinyuan with her and said goodbye.

Dou Pinyuan still remembered this fourth uncle who was so kind to her, and she called Song Mo "Fourth Uncle" with a smile.

Song Mo was extremely happy and kept praising Dou Pinyuan for her cleverness and intelligence. He held her in his arms and let her eat two pieces of fruit. He rewarded her with a bag of gold beans before handing her over to the wet nurse.

Guo looked thoughtful, bowed to Dou Zhao and Song Mo, and took Dou Pinyuan back to Huaishu Hutong.

Song Mo smiled and said, "I will take five days off tomorrow. Leave the housework to me."

Tomorrow is the sixth day of the New Year.

The family dinner on the fourth and fifth days of the first lunar month ended in a dull but uneventful manner. Starting from the sixth day, the Duke of England's mansion will begin the Spring Festival Banquet.