Chapter 414: Clues
Jiang Yan was bending over the table tracing characters. When he saw Song Mo come in, he stood up timidly and smiled.
Song Mo was even more annoyed.
Her sister was the baby her mother had carried for ten months with great difficulty, but she looked like a girl from a poor family who could not stand the world. And the person who treated her badly was her own father.
His expression couldn't help but become a little gloomy, and he asked, "Where's your sister-in-law?"
Jiang Yan's heart was beating like a drum, fearing that Song Mo would blame Dou Zhao for not accompanying him, and he hurriedly defended Dou Zhao, "Sister-in-law was here with me before, but it was Mr. Chen, the accountant of sister-in-law, who said he had something urgent to do with sister-in-law, so sister-in-law left." Afraid that Song Mo would not believe him, he quickly took the rice paper beside him and said, "This is what sister-in-law wrote just now for me to trace."
Can I blame Shougu for this?
Song Mo's expression became more and more unsightly.
He glanced at the words written by Jiang Yan, reminded her a few words, "Talk to your sister-in-law if you have any problems," and turned back to the study.
Jiang Yan took a long breath and relaxed completely.
Song Mo was so angry that he ordered Wu Yi, "When Madam has finished talking to Mr. Chen, tell me."
Wuyi left immediately.
Song Mo stroked his forehead and lay on the Drunkard's Chair.
In a small study not far from here, Dou Zhao was listening to Chen Qushui talking about Song Han.
"So, apart from that Li Dasheng, there is nothing unusual about the people around Song Han?" She frowned slightly, looking a little serious. "If I remember correctly, that Li Dasheng is the personal bodyguard awarded to Song Han by the British government, right?"
"That's right." Chen Qushui said, "He left Kyoto on the day Li Tiao Niang got into trouble. According to Chief Steward Huang, he had asked for his resignation three months ago, but he had served the Second Master since he was a child, and the Second Master was reluctant to let him go. He tried to keep him several times, but finally saw that he was determined to leave and could not be kept, so he approved his resignation. Du Wei followed this clue and found that Li Dasheng did not return to his hometown at all, but disappeared after leaving Kyoto. I think he was most likely silenced."
Song Han has lived in the Duke of Ying's Mansion since he was a child. The people around him were either rewarded by Song Yichun or arranged by the chief steward, so it is relatively easy to investigate him.
Dou Zhao also felt that Li Dasheng must be a dangerous person.
"If Li Dasheng dies, no matter whether he killed Li Tiao Niang or not, he was awarded to Song Han by the Duke of England," she said, "Song Han can just say he knows nothing and put all the blame on the Duke of England."
Dou Zhao and Chen Qushui thought of the same thing.
He said, "Look, should we remind the Crown Prince about this? I don't think the Crown Prince was very worried after hearing that Li Dasheng was missing. I'm afraid he is still thinking about the brotherly relationship with the Second Master."
This is also one of the reasons why he came to discuss Dou Zhao.
In his opinion, it would be best if this matter could completely deprive Song Han of his rights to inherit the Duke of England's Mansion.
Dou Zhao smiled and said, "No need! The prince knows how to act. You just need to watch from the side." He added, "If Du Wei has any news, let him tell us."
Song Mo never guarded against Dou Zhao's people. Whether it was Chen Qushui or Duan Gongyi, as long as they asked about something, Du Wei and others would tell them the truth.
Chen Qushui smiled and said "yes", then stood up and said goodbye.
Dou Zhao sat alone for a while, then asked the maid to call Ruozhu over and asked, "Second Master, has there been any movement these days?"
Because of the Chuan'er incident, Song Yichun scolded all the maids in Xixiangyuan and then randomly assigned two maids to work in Song Han's room. Ruozhu quickly struck up a conversation with the two maids and they became good sisters.
"Same as usual." Ruo Zhu whispered, "I get up at 11:00 every day, practice horse stance for an hour, have breakfast at 12:00, pay my respects to the Duke after 15:00, and go to class at 12:00..."
He recorded every day what he ate, drank, who he met, what he said, every detail was clear. He even reported to Dou Zhao the fact that he wandered outside Bishuixuan for more than an hour yesterday afternoon and finally returned to the Senate with his head hung.
Everything seemed normal, just like usual.
Dou Zhao supported his chin with his elbow.
If Li Dasheng was instructed by him, there would be no trace at all.
Even if you want to call Li Dasheng in to give him some instructions, you need someone to run errands, right?
What exactly is the problem?
What exactly did she overlook?
The more Dou Zhao thought about it, the more interested he became in Song Han.
I didn't like him in the past, and was afraid of alerting others, so I kept a certain distance from him. Now I think it is necessary for me to visit the Senate more often.
Anyway, Song Han is still young and not engaged. After a few years, even if Song Han is her brother-in-law, she will have to avoid suspicion.
When she thought about this, she stood up and was about to tell Ruotong that she was going to the upper house.
Who knew that the Xiang bamboo curtain would swing and Song Mo would walk in.
"It's so hot, why don't you ask a maid to fan you?" He complained when he saw Dou Zhao alone in the room, "Why not ask someone to bring some ice over!"
He was afraid that Dou Zhao would be too hot in the summer, so there was twice as much ice this year as last year.
Dou Zhao smiled and said, "It's just because I saw Mr. Chen sitting here for a while. Why should I put a piece of ice here? Don't worry, if I feel hot, I will ask the maid to help fan you." Then he asked him, "Why did you come here? Didn't you say you had something to tell Lu Ming?"
She finally saw clearly that if Du Wei was a "busybody", then Lu Ming was doing "private work" for him. She'd better not ask anything involving these two people, because none of them made people feel comfortable listening to them.
Song Mo didn't want her to know about this, so he said vaguely, "I want to ask what A Yan said after he met Li Liang."
Early yesterday morning, after Jiang Yan saw Li Liang off, he went to pay tribute to Li Tiao Niang.
Song Mo simply decided to out of sight, out of mind, and went to the palace early in the morning.
Dou Zhao didn't believe it.
If you want to know what Jiang Yan and Li Liang talked about, you should send Du Weicai. Why did you bring Lu Ming into the picture?
She didn't say anything, but smiled and said, "I just told Li Liang to take care of himself." But she concealed the fact that Jiang Yan secretly gave Li Liang twenty taels of silver.
Song Mo snorted coldly and complained, "Can you think of a way to make A-Yan stop acting like a bullied daughter-in-law, shrinking when seeing people? How can she go around in the future?"
"Why is there such a rush?" Dou Zhao said with a smile, "She is a widow now, and it is not appropriate for her to move around. Once she has adapted to the life in the Duke of Ying's mansion, we can slowly teach her."
"Anyway, I get so mad when I see her like that." Song Mo sat down next to Dou Zhao angrily, "Why doesn't she look like my mother at all?"
In order to please Jiang Yan, Li Tiao Niang naturally had to raise her to be a coward.
She was afraid that saying this would make Song Mo even sadder, so she smiled and said, "Don't stare at her all day. The more you stare at her, the more nervous she will become, and the more unruly she will speak and act, and the angrier you will be..."
While they were talking, a servant was peeking out from outside.
The rules of Yizhitang were very strict. When Dou Zhao and Song Mo were talking, the servants did not dare to peek without informing them.
Dou Zhao knew that this was an urgent matter and Song Mo had to be captured.
She stopped the conversation and called the boy in.
The servant ran in as if relieved, holding a letter high and kneeling in front of Song Mo and Dou Zhao: "My Lord, Madam, my fifth uncle from Liaodong sent a letter."
Dou Zhao and Song Mo were both surprised.
Song Mo opened the letter, scanned it quickly, breathed a sigh of relief, and smiled at Dou Zhao, "My fifth uncle said that he had collected some good leather in Liaodong in the past few years, and he would ask the caravan to bring it back in two days. He asked me to send someone to carry the things back home then."
Dou Zhao saw that the envelope was stamped with the Ministry of War's seal and couldn't help but smile and said, "It seems that Fifth Uncle is living a comfortable life in Liaodong."
Song Mo smiled and said, "My fifth uncle has no other hobbies except making friends. Anyone who talks to him will like him. It's a pity that you haven't seen him, otherwise you two would definitely get along well." Then he said, "Do you want to go back to your room or continue to sit here for a while? I'll go talk to the steward."
Take it very seriously.
Dou Zhao smiled and said, "I'll go to the second master's room and see what those maids and wives are doing."
Song Mo hesitated and said, "If you have anything to say, just ask Ganlu and the others to go. The upper courtyard is still a quarter of an hour away from here, it's too far."
He became suspicious of Song Han and instinctively didn't want to step into Song Han's territory, right?
Dou Zhao tried to persuade Song Mo until he agreed to bring the sisters Jingui and Yingui along. Only then did Song Mo reluctantly agree and personally sent her to the upper room.
Song Han had to learn music in the afternoon, so he left Qixia and a few maids to look after the house.
Seeing Dou Zhao coming, Qixia was surprised and happy, and hurriedly served tea and water and arranged snacks and fruits with the maid.
Dou Zhao had been here several times, but each time he was in a hurry, accompanied by a large group of people, and had never been to Song Han's inner room. Only then did he take a closer look and discover that Song Han's inner room was decorated in a solemn and generous manner, and was very similar to Song Mo's warm room in the outer study.
Qixia hurriedly explained with a smile: "Second Master loves to imitate the Crown Prince in everything, and these little things are no exception."
Dou Zhao smiled and nodded slightly, and suddenly a cat came out.
She was startled.
Qixia was even more eclipsed.
If anything happens to the madam, everyone in this yard will be dead.
She hurriedly shouted at the little maid, "Didn't you see the Madam is here? You didn't even try to stop her. What if she scares her?"
The little maidservant, with a face as pale as paper, knelt down in front of Dou Zhao with a thump, her body shaking like chaff.
The cat jumped onto the kang gracefully and lightly, and lay lazily under the kang table. Its black fur was like satin, and its eyes were emerald green, flashing a mysterious light.
Only then did Dou Zhao realize that the cat was actually a valuable Persian cat.
Unfortunately, she didn't like this kind of cat and thought it looked weird, so she couldn't help but take a few steps back.
Qixia said hurriedly, "Madam, this is the second master's pet. It is usually kept in the warm room... I didn't expect you to come today, so I didn't lock the door of the warm room. No, I didn't scare you, did I?"
Dou Zhao felt that even Song Han did not have the courage to use a cat to scare him when he was about to die. He looked at the cat a few times, said "Not bad", and left Song Han's inner room with Qixia and the others. As soon as they sat down in the hall, Song Han rushed over with sweat all over his face.