Chapter 402: Noble Legacy

Having lived two lives, Dou Zhao understands that there are some things that only time can prove.

She handed the matter over to Ruozhu to look after.

Because Chen Jia is back.

Although he was dressed neatly, his expression was filled with fatigue.

After paying respects to Dou Zhao, he whispered, "The man Miss Yugui married is named Wei, given name Quan, with the courtesy name Bairui, eight years older than Miss Yugui. He is from Jiangxi, and his father was once the county magistrate of Qingyuan County, but died early. The family has no permanent property, so they have to rely on their elder sister who is married to a scholar. When he was fifteen, his sister died, and he was kicked out of the house by his brother-in-law because of an argument with him. He had no hope of pursuing a career and had no property, so he became a retainer of He Qingyuan, a local gentry in Qingyuan County.

He Qingyuan had a son named He Hao, who came to Kyoto to take the imperial examination two years ago. Wei Quan and a steward of the He family were ordered to take care of the trip. The courtyard that He Hao rented at that time was in Xiemao Hutong, not far from Shuzi Hutong. Wei Quan somehow got to know the Li family and persuaded Li Liang to marry the daughter to him.

Dou Zhao was stunned and said, "So, Wei Quan has no relationship with the Li family at all. He is just a idler who relies on others for food?"

"Although he has no relationship with the Li family, he is quite capable." Chen Jia said tactfully, "Li Liang had also gone to Qingyuan County to inquire about him. He has been following He Qingyuan for a few years. Not only did he buy a small house of one and a half acres, he also bought more than ten acres of land in the countryside. He is also very handsome and generous. When Wei's father was the county magistrate in Qingyuan County, he made a lot of good friends. He has a good reputation in Qingyuan."

Dou Zhao frowned and asked, "If that's the case, why are Li Liang and Li quarreling?"

Chen Jia coughed lightly, then lowered his voice and said, "After Miss Yu married Wei Quan, they lived in harmony. But on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month this year, when the lantern market was on, Wei Quan took Miss Yu out to appreciate the lanterns, and Miss Yu suddenly went missing..."

Dou Zhao was shocked and asked, "How could someone get lost? Did the Wei family report it to the authorities? What did the government say?"

Chen Jia did not expect Dou Zhao to be so excited, and hurriedly said, "Madam, please be patient. I have placed the daughter of the noble family in Longfu Temple, which is not far from here. If you want to see her, I can quietly send her to the mansion at any time."

Dou Zhao heard the hidden meaning in his words, his face froze, and he asked with a serious look: "What is going on? Don't hide it, tell me carefully."

Chen Jia bowed and said "Yes", and said: "That Wei Quan is a retainer of the He family, so he had to please He Hao. As a result, he became close to He Hao. After he got married, He Hao still went in and out of the Wei family as before. Miss Yugui was very beautiful, and He Hao took a fancy to her, so he had other thoughts.

He first tried to coax the noble lady, but after being rejected, he set his sights on Wei Quan.

Although Wei Quan was a man of no scruples, he was still unwilling to give up his wife for no reason.

He Hao promised him many benefits. Not only did he transfer one hundred acres of fertile land under his name to Wei Quan's name, he also redeemed one of Wei Quan's former lovers and gave her to Wei Quan. With the lover whispering in Wei Quan's ear, Wei Quan soon changed his mind.

On the day of the Lantern Festival, he took Miss Yugui to the place where he and He Hao had agreed to meet on the pretext of taking Miss Yugui to Baoding Prefecture to watch lanterns, and gave Miss Yugui to He Hao. He lied to the public that Miss Yugui was lost, and reported the matter to the authorities in Baoding and Qingyuan..."

Dou Zhao couldn't help but curse "bastard".

After all, there are differences between men and women, and Chen Jia still felt a little embarrassed when saying this to Dou Zhao.

He lowered his head and drank a sip of tea, then continued: "He Hao married his aunt's daughter, and his aunt's family gave him a large dowry. He Hao's wife also gave birth to two sons for him. He Hao did not dare to bring her home, so he raised the daughter in the He family's house in Baoding Prefecture.

At first, Miss Yuangui would rather die than obey. Later, when she found out that it was Wei Quan who gave her to He Hao and that He Hao raped her, she began to refuse to eat or drink.

Then He Hao lived in Baoding Prefecture and served him every day.

After a while, He Qingyuan became suspicious.

At first he thought his son had picked up a vixen outside and had hidden the affair from the family to catch them.

When he saw the heir apparent, he had evil intentions and wanted to snatch the heir apparent from his own son.

He Hao refused to accept the result and reported the matter to his mother.

Mrs. He took advantage of He Qingyuan's absence and asked Wei Quan to write a letter of sale. She then secretly kidnapped Miss Yugui and sold her to a merchant passing through Baoding.

The daughter refused to obey and tried to hang herself in the inn but failed. I happened to find her and I used both threats and coaxing to give the merchant thirty taels of silver to buy the daughter and secretly brought her back to Kyoto.

Chen Jia said, gazing at Dou Zhao's expression, "Because I didn't know how Madam planned to place the young lady, I didn't dare to bring her here casually..."

Dou Zhao was so angry that his face turned red, but he didn't know what to do with this little girl named Yangui.

If you don't take her in, she'll have nowhere to go.

Take her in. Her biological mother and uncle are still alive.

Dou Zhao said: "Is that little girl pretty?"

"Very beautiful." Chen Jia said, and the pale but touching face like rain-beaten pear blossoms appeared in his mind. He couldn't help but say, "I see, she looks a bit like the prince."

Dou Zhao's heart skipped a beat, and he couldn't help but ask in a deep voice, "Did you see it clearly?"

Chen Jia nodded solemnly and said, "If Madam doesn't believe me, I can bring him out one day so that Madam can take a look at him secretly."

Dou Zhao naturally believed in Chen Jia's vision.

She suddenly felt that this matter was no longer something she could handle alone.

Dou Zhao thought for a moment and said to Chen Jia, "You go back first. Send someone to keep a close eye on the little girl to make sure nothing goes wrong. I'll discuss this matter with the prince and then make plans."

Chen Jia guessed that Yu Gui was Song Mo's half-sister, so how could he dare to ask more questions? He just replied respectfully and retreated.

Hu Zi, who was waiting at the door, came over immediately and whispered, "What did the Madam say?"

Chen Jia glared at Hu Zi fiercely and warned him in a deep voice: "Is this the question you should ask?" He then said, "You take a few people to Longfu Temple and serve the young lady with good food and drink. Don't let anything happen to the young lady... As for the others, give each of them a hush money and I will introduce them to colleagues in the south to work. Tell them not to return to Kyoto again. If they meet me again, be careful of the sword."

Hu Zi shrank his head in fear, but still couldn't help saying: "Didn't you say that Madam might use this young lady to deal with the Duke of England? Wouldn't it be better if more people knew about it? They have been with us for several years..."

Before he could finish, Chen Jia raised his hand and slapped him in the face, staring at him with a scary look and a sinister voice: "If you want to live, don't talk nonsense!"

Hu Zi has followed Chen Jia for so many years, and even when Chen Jia was at his lowest point, he never beat him like this.

He was so scared that he broke out in a cold sweat. He responded repeatedly and ran quickly into the crowd.

Chen Jia looked at his receding back and couldn't help but let out a long sigh.

Judging from Mrs. Dou's expression, she didn't seem to want to use her inheritance to deal with the Duke of England. This matter was obviously more complicated than she had imagined.

Is it a blessing or a curse for me to dive in like this?

For some reason, the image of the first time he saw the relic came to his mind.

She folded her elbows across her chest, shivering as she hid in a dark corner of the guest room. Her terrified eyes looked like a besieged young beast, but her exposed snow-white skin was covered in blue and purple, like a piece of jade that had been damaged by human intervention, which made people feel distressed.

Chen Jia couldn't help but sigh again.

So what if she's a noblewoman?

The smarter you are, the harder it is for you to survive in such an environment.

He sighed for the third time today, turned around, led his horse, and slowly left the majestic British Mansion.

Dou Zhao wandered outside Song Mo's study for a long time, not knowing how to tell Song Mo about this.

If I hide it from him, I am unwilling to let him be deceived like this; if I tell him, I am afraid that he will be sad if he knows.

Song Mo, on the other hand, waited for a long time but Dou Zhao didn't come in. It was like a pair of shoes that only one was taken off, but the other shoe never fell to the ground. He was very anxious and couldn't bear to read the documents in his hand. He simply lifted the curtain and walked out of the study. Standing on the steps of the study, he asked her with a smile: "Do you want to wait for me to invite you in before you come in?" He also teased her, "Although the weather is good today, the wind is a bit hot on your body. Even if you want to wait for me to come out and invite you, you should go to a cooler place, and you don't have to stand in the middle of the yard and suffer!"

Dou Zhao couldn't help but laugh and glanced at him, but his mood eased a lot.

She and Song Mo sat down in the study, and she carefully told Song Mo about this matter.

Song Mo knew that Dou Zhao was investigating the Li family. Dou Zhao always had his own style of doing things. He trusted Dou Zhao very much and did not ask. Hearing what Dou Zhao said, he was very surprised: "You mean, that little girl looks a bit like me? Impossible? Even if my father raised her outside, he wanted to bring her back. Since she is a girl, it would only mean a few more meals, a few more jewelry and clothes. When she gets married, he could prepare a dowry for her. Maybe she could even marry into a family that could help the Duke of Ying. My mother couldn't stop it, and my father couldn't just ignore it and let the Li family raise her like this."

"So I think this matter is strange!" Dou Zhao said, "If it was an individual object, it would be easy to explain, but this is a living person. Looking at the behavior of the Li family, maybe the girl knows nothing... What do you think we should do about this matter?"

Song Mo was silent for a moment, then said, "Let me see the girl first."

Dou Zhao breathed a sigh of relief and said hesitantly, "If this is really the child left behind by the British Duke, are you ready to recognize her?"

Song Mo seemed a little annoyed and said, "We'll talk about it when the time comes!"

It is indeed difficult to do.

The Li family must have some ulterior motive in keeping her like this. The noble daughter is married again, and the man she married is a rogue. Whether they acknowledge her or not, it will be troublesome if the rumor gets out.

Dou Zhao had a headache.

Now it was Song Mo's turn to comfort her: "Everything will work out. If we work together, there is nothing we can't overcome. Even if the news gets out, isn't the Duke of Ying's Mansion still our father's? What does it have to do with us?"

That’s right.

Dou Zhao couldn't help but smile at Song Mo.