Chapter 381: Visit

In his previous life, Wang Xu was in charge of the Jinyi Guard for a period of time, but was later kicked out by Song Mo. Not long after, he retired and there was no news about him.

It can be seen that Wang Xu is also a key figure.

Dou Zhao couldn't help but clapped his hands: "That's great. This way, we can seize the initiative."

Song Mo pondered and said, "I don't know who he is looking for in the Hanlin Academy and the inner cabinet."

Dou Zhao smiled and said, "Have you forgotten about the Risheng Silver House?"

At first, Zhang Zhiqi invited Dou Shiying to invest, with Dou Shiying and Zhang Zhiqi each holding one-third, and Guo Yan, Zhao Peijie and Chen Songming holding one-third together.

Guo Yan was the son-in-law of Zeng Yifen, the former chief minister of the inner cabinet. He used to be a lecturer in the Hanlin Academy. Before Zeng Yifen's death, he was sent to Shaanxi as an inspector.

Chen Songming was the chief of the Ministry of Rites and a close minister to the emperor.

Zhao Peijie was a scholar of the Hanlin Academy and Junior Secretary of the Chancellery, and a minister of the Eastern Palace.

In the previous life, when the Liao King ascended the throne, Guo Yan was promoted to the Minister of War and the Grand Academician of Wuying Palace for his tour in Shaanxi, and entered the inner cabinet; Chen Songming was promoted to the Imperial Academy; Zhao Peijie hanged himself at home after the palace coup; Dou Shiying had nothing to do with it. But in this life, Dou Shishu was promoted to the inner cabinet, and Dou Shiying also came into their sight. Because Dou Zhao found out early, he forced Dou Shiying to withdraw his shares in Risheng Silver House, so that Dou Shishu was out of the game. Things returned to the original track, and the Liao King finally hooked up with Dai Jian.

Song Mo naturally didn't know about Dou Zhao's "foresight", but he was able to see the essence of the matter through this incident.

His brows knitted.

Now Guo Yan is just a councilor. He can promote Jiang Yi to be the commander of the Five Cities Army or the position of assistant or co-magistrate. The King of Liao can also promote Guo Yan to be a provincial governor, censor or other high-ranking official.

Song Mo murmured, "Guo Yan and Zhao Peijie are both easy to deal with. The former cannot affect the political situation unless he is promoted to the third rank. The latter is a minister of the Eastern Palace. I am familiar with Cui Pianyi's disciples, so it is not difficult to find someone to keep an eye on him. As for Chen Songming, there is no suitable candidate..."

He comes from a noble family, so it's easy for him to deal with the Five Military Governor's Office, but he may not be able to intervene with the Hanlin Academy... Is it possible for the Dou family to lend a helping hand to Song Mo?

Dou Zhao almost blurted out Dou Qijun's identity.

This spring, he will pass the imperial examination and become a scholar-official, observing government affairs in the Ministry of Rites.

He has a clear and calm mind, is steady and strategic in his actions, and is the best candidate.

The problem is that the results of the Spring Examination have not yet come out.

Dou Zhao smiled bitterly and said, "How about you let me handle this matter? Father and Sixth Uncle both work in the Imperial Academy and know a lot of people. I'll go talk to them about it."

"My father-in-law learned the art of Lao Zhuang, so you'd better not disturb his peace." Song Mo thought about his father-in-law's character and tactfully refused, "I'll think of a solution."

He is still a little cautious.

If Dou Zhao can't find a suitable candidate, will he ask Ji Yong for help?

He was not sure how Ji Yong treated Dou Zhao, but Dou Zhao treated Ji Yong like a relative, and Ji Yong was notoriously unruly. Others might tremble with fear when they heard about such a rebellious attempt to seize the palace, but he would definitely be excited and fear that the world would not be in chaos.

I'm not trying to win the credit of following the dragon. I just hope to avoid this storm and get out of it safely. Why should I make a big fuss about it and let everyone know about it?

"Don't worry about this matter. I'll find a solution." Song Mo reminded Dou Zhao again.

Dou Zhao smiled and nodded, but in his heart he was calculating how many days would pass before the results were announced.

At this time, the capable nanny beside Guo came to tell Dou Zhao that the Wei family forced Dou Ming to hand over the dowry to the Dou family. The Wang family was very angry, and Gao personally went to the Dou family to ask for the reason. The fifth aunt was almost speechless because of being wronged. She swore to the heaven that the Dou family had never entrusted Dou Ming's dowry, and asked the Wang family to go to the Wei family to make it clear on a certain day to speak up for Dou Ming. According to the fifth aunt, in addition to her and Dou, the Dou family also planned to invite the sixth aunt Ji and Dou Zhao to come forward.

Dou Zhao sneered after hearing this, gave the daughter-in-law a red envelope, asked about Sister Jing's affairs, and then served tea to send the guest away.

When the fifth aunt sent someone to invite her, she refused without hesitation: "Dou Ming and I have never gotten along. Rather than going to see her look down on us, it is better for us to get along and live our own lives. She can have the help of the uncles and aunts of the Dou family."

The old woman had no choice but to reply to Fifth Aunt exactly what she said.

Fifth aunt sighed.

Cai said, "Since Fourth Auntie doesn't care about this matter, you see us..."

The fifth aunt glared at her daughter-in-law fiercely and said, "This concerns the reputation of the Dou family. How can we not show up?" She felt regretful.

The eldest daughter-in-law is gentle and kind, but unfortunately she has no son, so she has no confidence at home and cannot control the second daughter-in-law. The second daughter-in-law is eloquent and good at socializing, and gave birth to a legitimate grandson, but she is too snobbish and short-sighted, and is not suitable to be the head of the family.

It looks like the fifth room can only count on the grandson.

After she came up with this idea and discussed it with Dou Shishu, she took the two sons born to Cai to her own room to raise them. This created a rift between her and Cai, but that is a story for later.

On the day agreed with the Wang family, the fifth aunt and the sixth aunt dressed up according to their social status, and Cai and Guo also dressed elegantly and gracefully. They went to the Jining Marquis' Mansion together with Gao, Pang Yulou, and Gao's daughter-in-law Gao Mingzhu.

Wei Tingzhen, wearing a green peony leaf in her hair and a jacket with a cloud and phoenix pattern, stood at the second door to greet guests with an arrogant look on her face.

Aunt Five was very angry when she saw this.

If it weren't for this elder sister-in-law, would the Wei family have had so many problems?

She changed her usual modesty, smiled and stepped forward to stab Wei Tingzhen: "I didn't expect that my aunt would go back to her parents' home so early. Look at this situation, I was dazzled just now, I thought it was Ming Jie'er!"

The implication was that she was being mocked for being a married woman and meddling in her own family's affairs.

Wei Tingzhen narrowed her eyes and smiled without showing any weakness: "I also just stepped into the Chuihua Gate, and saw from afar the chaise longues of the third and fourth ranks, and thought it was a grand court meeting, so I stayed at the door for a moment longer, which made my wife dazzled. I really shouldn't have done that." As she spoke, she covered her mouth and laughed, but her eyes moved around at the women of the Dou and Wang families with contempt.

Cai saw that her mother-in-law was tough, so she naturally wouldn't let Wei Tingzhen get away with it. She smiled and said, "There are many officials in both my Dou and Wang families. In addition to Madam, there are also Shu Ren and Ru Ren. It's not uncommon. Unlike Madam's family and in-laws' family, there are no other ranks except for the super-rank Madam. When people look from a distance, it's clear who is Madam and who is Madam. No wonder the eldest aunt made a mistake. Fortunately, the eldest aunt's brother from her family married a girl from the Dou family. There will be many opportunities to deal with her in the future. After a long time, the eldest aunt will naturally get used to the scene of a house full of ladies of high rank." This is not the first time that the Dou family and the Wang family have dealt with each other. The second wife of the Wang family, Pang Yulou, has a mouth that is not just beautiful. As Cai spoke, her eyes fell on Pang Yulou, "Second wife of the Wang family, do you think I am right?"

Pang Yulou was not happy that Wang Yingxue lived at home, ate and used public food, and was picky about only using good things. If Wang Xu hadn't said so, she wouldn't have wanted to come at all. But the baton of the Dou family had been passed to her. If she didn't step forward, wouldn't she be laughed to death by the Dou family?

Hearing this, she stepped forward with a smile and stood beside Cai. She said softly, "I just mistook the eldest aunt for our fifth aunt. Who said that except for our fifth aunt, no one else in this mansion is qualified to wear the clothes of a lady of the first rank? Please don't take it to heart, eldest aunt."

Although Tian was also a lady of the first rank, she was a widow. When she was putting on makeup according to her rank, she only wore half of all the gold, silver, emerald and jade to show her distinction.

Wei Tingzhen's face was as cold as frost.

The sixth wife of the Dou family, Mrs. Ji, didn't want to stand here and quarrel with the eldest aunt of the Wei family and be laughed at by the Wei family's servants.

She smiled and stepped forward to smooth things over: "Since we are here, shouldn't we go see the Madam?"

Gao and Ji were thinking the same thing. They answered her question with a smile, "How about we go see the Madam first and then talk in the flower hall?"

The women from the Dou and Wang families all responded with a smile and said “yes”. It seemed that even if Wei Tingzhen did not agree, they would go straight to see Tian.

Wei Tingzhen looked at the two families and thought of herself fighting alone. She turned pale and went to Tian's yard with the fifth wife and others. She thought to herself that it would be better to have more children. She and Wei Tingyu were just siblings. They could only take care of each other. The Zhang family had three brothers and five sisters. That was why her mother-in-law's birthday was so lively. Her father married her to the Zhang family because of the brothers.

Tian had already discussed with her daughter that she would teach Dou Ming a lesson today no matter what. She knew that she was not a talkative person, so she decided not to show up. When the Fifth Madam and others came to visit her, she tied a scarf on her head and pretended to be sick. She held the Fifth Madam's hand and complained: "How can there be a daughter-in-law like this? My mother-in-law is sick, but I don't come to take care of her. My life is so miserable!"

Mrs. Five smiled and said nothing.

Cai said, "I heard that our fifth aunt has been taking medicine every day since she gave birth. Isn't she working too hard? I see that your family doesn't have many servants. Do you want to send a few nannies who know about health preservation from the Dou family to take care of our fifth aunt and help her recover? Otherwise, it will be difficult to have an heir, which will be troublesome!"

Tian couldn't help but shrink back.

Wei Tingzhen was very angry.

If Dou Ming can't give birth to a son in the future, are you in the Dou family planning to take advantage of this miscarriage?

She was about to speak back, but Pang Yulou, who was following Cai closely, continued Cai's words, "Is there such a thing? Why didn't we hear about it? Our fifth aunt is too soft-hearted. This offspring is a top priority," she said, looking at Wei Tingzhen angrily, "Our fifth aunt is young and just got married and doesn't know much. The eldest aunt has given birth to several children, why didn't she remind our fifth aunt a few times? The legitimate son is the legitimate son, and the illegitimate son is the illegitimate son. The eldest aunt can't let the aunt mess up the family."