Chapter 362: Suspension

The Duke of England's Mansion is a century-old noble family. Over the years, its relationship with the wealthy families in Kyoto has become complicated and tangled. The Spring Banquet is a good opportunity for the families to deepen their feelings, mend their rifts, and rebuild their interpersonal relationships. If you think that the Duke of England's Spring Banquet is difficult, that's not necessarily true - the standards and etiquette of the banquet have precedents to follow, and the host only needs to follow the rules; but if you think that hosting a Spring Banquet is so easy, you are wrong - last year, someone came to the Duke of England's Mansion as a guest, and perhaps a high-class banquet was arranged, but this year, perhaps only a third-class banquet can be arranged.

Song Yichun felt that it was difficult for her to strike the right balance, let alone Dou Zhao who had just married into the family.

He was happy to hand over the Spring Banquet of the Duke of England's Mansion to Dou Zhao.

Dou Zhao really didn't understand these things, but she could mobilize Song Mo's people at any time and at will. Yan Chaoqing and Liao Bifeng could be used by her, not to mention that she also had Song Mo.

"I will host this year's Spring Banquet." He patted Dou Zhao's hand, comforted her, and said to her, "I have already told the emperor that our Duke of Ying's family has few children, and you are pregnant, so you should not work hard. The emperor agreed, so he gave me five days off."

But until now, she has not received the list of guests that the British Duke's Mansion needs to entertain in the next few days.

Dou Zhao chuckled.

She felt more and more that Song Yichun was like a woman.

Song Mo couldn't figure out what Song Yichun was thinking, but from a woman's perspective, it was easy for her to guess what Song Yichun was going to do.

This time she wants to impress Song Yichun.

She told the people around her not to say a word and stayed at home leisurely taking supplements.

So when Zeng Wu brought the list of guests to be entertained today to Dou Zhao for review on Song Yichun's orders, Dou Zhao put down the half-drunk bird's nest soup in his hand, called out "Yan Tang" crisply, and said, "The Duke has brought the list of guests to be entertained today. You'd better go to the upper courtyard quickly. The maids in charge are waiting there for instructions!" He added, "It's almost time for lunch. The invited guests should be here soon. It would be bad if the food is not ready when the guests arrive."

The tone sounded like he was giving orders to the steward beside him.

Zeng Wu was shocked.

How dare Madam call the Crown Prince like this?

Song Mo replied as if it was a matter of course: "I know. I'll be there soon. It's too cold outside, don't run around at home, be careful not to catch a cold."

Zeng Wu only felt sweat on his forehead and a chill in his vest.

Why did I believe the Duke's words and follow him in getting involved?

The Duke has offended the Crown Prince. What can the Crown Prince do to his own father?

But if I offend the Crown Prince, Lu Zheng will be his role model!

Zeng Wu followed Song Mo out of Yizhi Hall on tiptoe, walked around, and then turned back. He knelt down in front of Dou Zhao with a thump, "Madam, it's not that I don't want to get the list earlier, but I just got it, and I dare not delay for a moment! If you don't believe me, you can ask the servant beside me! I dare not lie to anyone but you! In my heart, I always stand by Madam. Take the last incident for example. The silver frost charcoal in the Duke's room was almost used up. According to the Duke's request, I was asked to go out and buy it directly. I was afraid of damaging Madam's reputation, so I immediately asked the maid to send a message to Sister Ruozhu beside you, didn't I?"

That's because you're afraid of getting dragged into this, okay?

Dou Zhao waved his hand indifferently.

She wouldn't bother with someone like Zeng Wu.

However, she was still deeply moved.

Song Mo's tiger skin is really useful!

Otherwise, even if Zeng Wu was afraid of being dragged in, he would not behave so servilely.

She watched Zeng Wu walk out the door with his head drooping. Suddenly, something occurred to her. She called Zeng Wu and said, "There are three maids in the Second Master's room who will be released after the New Year. What are your plans, Duke?"

Zeng Wu was cheered up when he heard this, and said hurriedly, "Don't worry, Madam. I will go and find out about this matter for you right away."

Dou Zhao sneered and said, "No need. Since you still want to inquire, I might as well let Zhu Ru go and ask the Duke directly. I'm afraid it will be faster than you."

Zeng Wu immediately became depressed. He said awkwardly, "The Duke wanted to assign a girl named Chuan'er from his side to serve the Second Master. As for the third-class maid, he really didn't say anything."

I'm afraid he just looks down on me!

Dou Zhao asked him with a half-smile, "What about you? No one comes to you for help? Working in the second master's house, even if you are a third-class maid, you can wear gold and silver and order the maids around. It's considered a good job."

Zeng Wu's face flushed red, and he said hastily, "These are all matters of the masters. How can I have any say in them?"

"It's good that you know!" Dou Zhao interrupted him before he finished speaking and said, "You go down first. I will tell you if I have anything to say."

Zeng Wu retreated anxiously.

Su Lan pouted and said, "Madam, why are you telling him all this? I think since the Duke has already made an arrangement for the second-class maid, there is no need for us to compete with him. If we fall into the eyes of the Second Master, it will be our fault. It is better to invite the Second Master to come over, promote the one he likes to the second or third class, and add our people to serve as rough maids. Usually, the masters are least prepared for the rough maids and old women."

Of course, it can also cause trouble and unhappiness between the Duke and the Second Master.

But it is not easy to say this to Madam. The Duke is also Madam's father-in-law. If I say it clearly, it will only make Madam embarrassed.

Dou Zhao exclaimed, "When you've been away for three days, you should look at someone with new eyes. After our Sulan and Chen He got engaged, this guy seemed to have understood everything and even knew all these things! Tell me honestly, was it Chen He who told you this?"

Sulan blushed.

Fortunately, she was always generous. Although she was shy, she still answered "yes" generously and said, "He saw that I was unhappy and asked me what was wrong, so he said that to me."

Song Yichun wanted to assign Chuan'er, the second-class maid in her room, to serve Song Han. Dou Zhao had already found out about it. However, seeing that Zeng Wu was very afraid of Song Mo, he decided to give Zeng Wu another blow to teach him a lesson, which might be useful in the future.

Dou Zhao couldn't help but smile when he heard this, but when he thought about Sulan's upcoming wedding, he felt a little sad, as if his daughter had grown up and was going to get married, and he was reluctant to let her go.

Song Mo wanted to make herself feel more like a part of Yizhitang, and wanted to pick one of her favorite maids to marry Chen He. She liked Chen He very much because he was loyal. But the person she was going to marry was Sulan, and she had to be liked by Sulan. She was afraid that Sulan would blindly agree to the marriage because of her kindness to her, so she was a little hesitant. Unexpectedly, after Sulan found out, she ran to the outer courtyard and asked to see Chen He by name, and said to Chen He a lot of things like "If you are loyal to the prince and the lady, I will marry you, otherwise, even if we become husband and wife, it won't last long."

Dou Zhao was so anxious that his eyes were dizzy. He blamed himself for spoiling Su Lan too much. After seeing Song Mo, he was still in a low mood and discussed with him to change people. Who knew that Su Lan's words were recognized by Chen He and Chen's mother. They also found out why the Bie sisters would join Dou Zhao. They felt that Su Xin and Su Lan were both loyal and brave people, so they immediately agreed to the marriage.

Now it seems that Chen He treats Su Lan quite well and knows how to teach Su Lan how to behave.

Only in this way can Sulan grow.

This is what Dou Zhao and Su Xin both lack in Su Lan.

The former treats Sulan like his own daughter, while the latter always feels guilty towards Sulan because he was the one who caused the family change.

If marrying Chen He can make up for Su Lan's shortcomings, then this would be the best marriage!

Dou Zhao clasped his hands together and secretly prayed to the Bodhisattva to bless the two Bie sisters to live happily together until old age.

After paying homage to the Bodhisattva, she thought of nectar and vegetarian silk again.

She had another headache.

There have been great changes between this life and the previous life. What should these two people do?

Dou Zhao wrote down the names of all the men of appropriate age in Yizhitang on a piece of paper and began to think about it.

As soon as Song Mo entered the room, he saw his wife resting her chin on her hand in deep thought under the lamp. Her snow-white face was as gentle as jade, her dark eyes were bright and moist, and her long eyebrows added a bit of heroic spirit to her. There was also a kind of dignified beauty that came from the calmness of age.

He signaled the maidservant in the room to keep quiet, and just stood there admiring it for a while before quietly walking away.

The paper spread out on the kang table was filled with all kinds of names.

Song Mo laughed dumbly and said, "Are you practicing calligraphy?"

Dou Zhao was so frightened that he covered his chest and took a deep breath. He couldn't help but asked coquettishly, "Why didn't you make a sound when you came in?"

Song Mo hadn't expected this either, and quickly hugged her to apologize: "It's all my fault, I won't do this again next time."

Dou Zhao frowned and asked, "Did you drink a lot today?"

Song Mo sniffed himself and said, "Does the smell of alcohol still remain strong? I just washed up before coming in. I'll go rinse my mouth again."

Dou Zhao himself could also drink two cups, and besides the smell of alcohol, Song Mo also had a hint of grass and wood fragrance on him, which did not make people feel disgusted.

She hugged Song Mo's waist and said with a smile, "No, it's just that the taste is stronger than usual. How was today's Spring Banquet? I heard that the lunch dishes were very ordinary, but fortunately the wine was good, and they invited a troupe to perform, so there was no controversy at all!"

Song Mo bit her ear and said ambiguously: "You already knew it a long time ago - those people's eyes are fixed on Mingling, how can they know what I ate!"

Dou Zhao laughed.

She is also taking precautions!

In short, she was very happy to make Song Yichun fall.

Song Mo sincerely thanked her: "Thank you for your hard work! You came up with this good idea."

Dou Zhao laughed and said, "Then what does it mean that you lifted me up in front of Zeng Wu today?"

Song Mo said nothing, his eyes shining brightly like the morning star, looking at her quietly.

Dou Zhao's heart was pounding, and he felt as if he had fallen into a pool of starlight, floating up and down.

Song Mo laughed softly and kissed her lips affectionately: "Shou Gu, you little fool!"

Dou Zhao came back to his senses, his face burning, and glared at him fiercely.

But he didn't know that there was emotion in his eyes, and his sideways gaze was more charming.

The lights in the house suddenly went out.

There was a rustling sound in the darkness, and Dou Zhao's low cry of surprise...