Chapter 399: Surprise
Whenever Dou Zhao went to visit the fourth wife of the Jiang family, he would often meet Song Han.
He either talked with Jiang Xiexiu or helped Jiang Xieying with work. He got along very well with the Jiang sisters. Even the fourth wife of the Jiang family could not help but sigh: "It has been a few years since we last met. Tianen has grown up and become much more sensible."
Dou Zhao smiled slightly.
Song Yichun sent Huang Qing to deliver an extra box to Jiang Lizhu.
Song Han stood in the back room of the main hall drinking tea and did not come out.
The fourth wife of the Jiang family thought of Song Yichun's attitude towards Song Mo after Jiang's death, and said nothing.
Dou Zhao would not even bother with this trivial matter.
Huang Qing made some polite remarks and stood up to say goodbye.
The fourth wife of the Jiang family ordered the steward to see the guests off.
Jiang Xiexiu picked up the gift list on the square table, took a look at it, then raised his eyelids and smiled coldly.
The fourth wife of the Jiang family frowned slightly and called out "Xie Xiu" in a warning tone.
Jiang Xiexiu bit her lip, bowed to the fourth wife of the Jiang family, and stepped back.
Dou Zhao didn't understand.
The fourth wife of the Jiang family thought about it and handed the gift list to Dou Zhao.
He blatantly sent over 1,200 taels of silver.
Even if the Jiang family has fallen on hard times and has to rely on the Song family to give money to marry off their daughter, you should at least give them two things to help cover it up.
Song Yichun is trying to flatter himself by stepping on the Jiang family.
Dou Zhao raised his eyebrows and said with a smile, "You also know that since my mother-in-law passed away, there has been no one in charge in the Duke's house. I think it is most likely that the Duke ordered how much silver to be used, but the steward below misunderstood and directly took the silver. Fourth aunt, don't take it to heart. This silver is not too much, nor too little, and it is really a bit inconvenient to hold in your hands. I think it is better to exchange it for gold and let the twelfth cousin take it over. It will not be conspicuous and can also support the appearance."
The fourth wife of the Jiang family naturally knew that Dou Zhao was comforting herself, but she still felt sympathetic. She smiled and responded with a few words, then sent someone to give the banknote to Jiang Lizhu for review.
Song Han suddenly jumped out.
He grabbed the banknote, his face pale and he said loudly: "Fourth Aunt, I'm going to find Daddy!"
The fourth wife of the Jiang family hurriedly asked someone to stop him and said, "Your father is kind-hearted. With his 1,200 taels of silver, I don't have to prepare a large amount of money for your twelfth cousin. It solves my urgent need. Don't act rashly based on rumors!"
Song Han held the banknote in his hand without saying a word, but tears were welling up in his eyes.
The fourth wife of the Jiang family hurriedly called Jiang Xiexiu out and asked her to accompany Song Han to the back hall to continue drinking tea.
Dou Zhao saw that the fourth wife of the Jiang family had almost prepared everything, and asked about the details of the wedding banquet. He felt relieved, and as it was almost time for dinner, he asked someone to inform Song Mo and told him not to come to pick him up. He prepared to return home with Song Han.
The fourth wife of the Jiang family invited them to have dinner.
Dou Zhao politely declined: "You are busy here, and I have a few things to tell the maids in charge. When you are done with this, I will send you and your two cousins to come to my house and have some fun."
When she said this, the fourth wife of the Jiang family thought that she was in charge of the reward for the Duke of Yingguo's Mansion, so it was not easy to keep her, so she smiled and stood up to see her off.
Song Han bowed to Dou Zhao and said, "Good sister-in-law, I have nothing to do. I want to stay here to accompany my fourth aunt."
Dou Zhao would not stand up to him. He smiled and told him a few words like "don't be naughty", then returned to the Duke of Ying's Mansion with his maids and servants.
Song Han did not return until midnight.
The next day, Dou Zhao heard that Song Han was beaten with twenty sticks by Song Yichun for skipping school and was lying in bed unable to move.
Dou Zhao was shocked and went to find Song Mo.
Song Mo frowned after hearing this, thought about it, and went to Xiangxiangyuan.
After a heated argument between the father and son, Song Yichun exempted Song Han from ten days of homework.
Dou Zhao and Song Mo went to see Song Han together.
Before Song Mo could speak, Song Han pouted and begged for mercy: "Brother, I didn't mean to skip school. I wanted to talk more with my fourth aunt, but my father wouldn't let me." He was hit on the buttocks and lay prone on the bed, carefully pulling Song Mo's sleeve, "Brother, don't blame me anymore. My fourth aunt said that after my twelfth cousin came back in three days, they would go back to Haozhou, and I don't know when I can see them again. In the past, I could go to my uncle's house whenever I wanted. No matter how my grandmother doted on my cousin Xiexiu, as long as I called her, she would play with me. Unlike now, when cousin Xiexiu is free, she has to make trouble. She will talk to me for a while and then play with me..."
"You can't skip school!" Song Mo said, his tone much softer, "You can tell me in advance. Even if you can't find me for a while, you can tell your sister-in-law!"
Song Han glanced at Dou Zhao shyly, muttering "I'm sorry": "My sister-in-law is pregnant with my nephew, I'm afraid of disturbing her..."
Song Mo sighed and said, "Don't do this again in the future!"
Song Han nodded and smiled shyly at Dou Zhao.
This matter was just covered up like this.
The next day, Song Han, who was beaten so badly that he could not get out of bed, was secretly carried by a servant to the fourth wife of the Jiang family.
When Zhu came to tell Dou Zhao, Dou Zhao smiled and said, "Since he left quietly, we should just pretend we didn't know."
Gao Xingjia hurried in and said, "Madam, someone in Jing'an Temple Hutong told me something. After thinking it over, I think it's better to tell you."
Dou Zhao was very surprised, for she knew that her father often sent people to ask Gao Xing's family about her situation, and that Gao Xing's family also often went to Jing'an Temple Hutong to visit Gao Sheng's family. If anything happened in Jing'an Temple Hutong, Gao Xing's family would definitely be the first to know.
She couldn't help but sit up straight and asked nervously, "Did something happen to the Seventh Master?"
If it was an official matter, Song Mo would have known about it long ago, and he would have helped his father deal with it. He was just afraid that his father would make a fool of himself in life.
"No, no!" Gao Xing's wife waved her hands and said, "It's not about Seventh Master, it's about Fifth Aunt. I heard from Xiao San that Fifth Aunt was sued and had to face a lawsuit. Because of the prince, the other party only asked Fifth Aunt to pay a sum of money to settle the matter. But Fifth Aunt was embarrassed to go to the government office because of this, so he resigned. Fifth Aunt ran back to Jing'an Temple Hutong a few days ago and made a big scene, forcing Seventh Master to help Fifth Aunt in front of the prince. Seventh Master did not agree, and scolded Fifth Aunt, who went to Liuyexiang Hutong crying. I was afraid that the Wang family would come to find you, so I thought it would be better to tell you first."
Xiao San is Gao Sheng's third son.
The Wang family has always believed that they have a way, so they would probably rather spend more money and trouble to ask Dongping Bo for help than come to her.
Dou Zhao smiled and said, "I see." Then he asked, "How is father now? Is he sulking at home?"
Gao Xing's family laughed and said, "My uncle invited Sixth Master to his home to have a drink with Seventh Master, and Seventh Master got better."
That's good.
Dou Zhao smiled and let someone reward Gao Xing's family with two taels of silver, but in his heart he wondered what kind of lawsuit Wei Tingyu had gotten into, and how he was so embarrassed that he even gave up his job. In his previous life, he had been playing around all his life, but he didn't expect that in this life, he would still be a person who couldn't even keep his job.
When Song Mo came back in the evening, she talked about this with Song Mo.
"I already knew it." Song Mo said, "It's not a big deal - the shop that does business under his name sells inferior products as good ones. Who knows that the other party is using the Seventh Prince's way? Naturally, they are not afraid of him and directly sue the Marquis of Jining. It's not a big deal in the first place. I just need to tell the Seventh Prince and it will be over. But you also know some things. The Marquis of Jining is a bit sloppy in his work. I have to make arrangements in the Five Cities Military Department. Instead of letting him use the name of my brother-in-law to make a fool of himself in the Five Cities Military Department, it's better to let him rest at home for the time being. When things are settled, I can find him a job."
He said it calmly, but for some reason, Dou Zhao felt that something was wrong, but he couldn't tell what it was.
Seeing that she remained silent, Song Mo became even more wary of Wei Tingyu.
Dou Zhao and Dou Ming were not on good terms. Logically, Wei Tingyu was in trouble. Even if Dou Zhao didn't feel happy, he shouldn't look so solemn.
He couldn't help but wonder in his heart, if Dou Zhao asked him to find a job for Wei Tingyu, what kind of job could both keep Wei Tingyu away and sound respectable and noble?
Who knew that Dou Zhao had no intention of pleading for Wei Tingyu, but said: "You'd better not get involved in their family affairs. They are all thankless tasks and will only make people hate you. If the Wei family has any problems, Dou Ming will ask the Wang family to intervene. Otherwise, Dad would not have rejected Dou Ming directly."
Song Mo was silent for a moment.
"I understand." He nodded, and his eyes flashed like a small flame.
Dou Zhao was stunned.
Later she realized that in the eyes of others, she and Wei Tingyu had been engaged since childhood. If it weren't for Dou Ming's marriage robbery, she and Wei Tingyu should have been a couple.
Is this the reason why Song Mo has always been lukewarm about Wei Tingyu's affairs?
But Song Mo always behaves as if he is looking down upon everyone in the world...
Dou Zhao felt a little ashamed of his own idea.
Song Mo went forward and hugged her gently, saying, "I'll take half a day off tomorrow, let's go shopping on East Street in the afternoon. My twelfth cousin is getting married, and you're going to the wedding, so you should at least buy some decent jewelry."
What is this?
Reward yourself for not speaking up for Wei Tingyu?
Dou Zhao felt it was both ridiculous and sad.
There are a lot of jewellery in her box that she has never worn, okay?
But Dou Zhao was still very smart and said nothing. He happily went to the jewelry store with Song Mo to choose some expensive jewelry, which made Song Mo happy too.
Not only did the Wang family not help Wei Tingyu as Dou Zhao had expected, but it is said that Wang Xu also scolded Dou Ming, saying that Wei Tingyu could not even keep a job, so how could Dou Ming have the nerve to ask the Wang family for help in his behalf? How could the Wang family say that?
Dou Ming ran back crying.
However, these words were spread by the old woman who followed Dou Ming to Wang's house and reached Wei Tingzhen's ears.
The Wei family had another quarrel.
Dou Zhao just smiled after hearing this.
In her previous life, Dou Ming had everything going for her, but she was still hated by both God and people. In this life, without the protection of the Wang family, it would be strange if she could live a prosperous life!
Dou Zhao told Ruo Zhu: "Tomorrow I will go to Jiang's house for the wedding banquet, and I will wear the kingfisher-beaded brocade that the prince gave me a few days ago."
If Zhu smiled and replied yes.
Ruo Chi came in and said, "Madam, the wife of Jiang's fourth uncle is here."
Dou Zhao looked at the sky filled with dusk mist and asked in surprise, "At this time?"