Chapter 416: Wild Goose

What is happening?

Dou Zhao was stunned for a moment.

Song Mo had handed her the letter in his hand.

Dou Zhao took the letter and read a few sentences quickly. His face was already full of astonishment. He said, "Fifth uncle actually said that he is having a hard time making a living in Liaodong now. He asked you to give him a few thousand taels of silver in consideration of the care that your eldest uncle gave you in the past?"

The emperor did not put the Jiang family to death.

Although most of the Jiang family's property was confiscated, the sacrificial fields and ancestral home in Haozhou were not damaged. When Jiang Lizhu got married, Song Mo was afraid that the Jiang family would be short of money, so he asked Dou Zhao to give the Jiang family 5,000 taels of silver privately. The fourth wife of the Jiang family not only declined, but also tactfully told her that although the Jiang family was not as good as before, when Mrs. Mei died, some things had been arranged, including that each of the Jiang family's daughters would receive a dowry of 1,000 taels of silver when they got married, and each of the Jiang family's sons would receive 2,000 taels of silver when they married, which was more than the average wealthy family would get when marrying off their daughters and daughters-in-law. How could Jiang Baisun be short of money? And he even asked Song Mo for it?

She was very confused.

Song Mo whispered, "When I was young, my uncle once told me to write family letters using the Thousands of Poems. The literal meaning is one, and the sub-literal meaning is another."

He told Dou Zhao in detail how to read the letter.

Dou Zhao studied for a long time before she understood the general idea. When she read a line of words, she was already dizzy. She couldn't help but say, "Why don't you just tell me what Uncle Five wrote in the letter? It won't be too late to think about it carefully when I have time."

Song Mo said: "Fifth uncle said that the Liao prince has ambitions and asked us to be careful."

It seems that my guess was correct, King Liao has already begun to show his fangs.

Dou Zhao looked solemn.

"My fifth uncle has performed well in the guard post in recent years. The Liao prince thought that when the time comes, he would let my fifth uncle lead the troops and promised to redress the injustice of the Jiang family after the success. My fifth uncle thought again and again and decided to join the Liao prince. But he was afraid that if things failed, it would implicate me, so he wrote this letter to me. He also said that he would send someone to ask me for money in a few days, and would spread the word: If it weren't for my mother's Without all the hard work, how could the Duke of Ying's Mansion be so prosperous and wealthy today? Now the Jiang family is suffering in Liaoning, while the Song family is still living a life of luxury. How can it be so easy? If I don't compensate the Jiang family with hundreds of thousands of taels, this matter will not end! He also told me that I would rather be known as stingy and heartless, but I must take this opportunity to draw a clear line with him. If the prince ascends the throne, at least I can cut off my relationship with him..."

Dou Zhao was very unhappy when he heard this and said, "If the Prince of Liao fails, what will happen to the women and children in Haozhou? Will they be forced to experience the misery of having their homes confiscated and their families destroyed again?"

Song Mo smiled bitterly and said, "When you are under someone else's roof, you have to bow your head. My fifth uncle is under the rule of King Liao, so I'm afraid he can't refuse."

"Can you think of other ways?" Dou Zhao said, "The Jiang family has reached such a situation, but they can still be respected by their former colleagues and old friends, but it is only because of their reputation of loyalty and bravery. If they surrender to the Liao King, even if the Liao King ascends the throne in the future, he will be a traitor and a thief, and a king who steals the country. If the Jiang family follows him, their reputation will be ruined! If anything happens to the Jiang family in the future, I am afraid that no one will protect them!"

In his previous life, Prince Liao used Song Mo; in this life, he used Jiang Boxun.

She couldn't help but sigh for the Jiang family.

"Of course I don't know." Song Mo said, "It's just that the conditions of the Liao King are too tempting. My eldest uncle and his family died so tragically, how could the fifth uncle be calm and not have any resentment? And even if the fifth uncle tried to refuse the Liao King, would the prince believe that the fifth uncle was not in cahoots with the Liao King?"

"No!" Dou Zhao shook his head helplessly.

Are we just going to watch Jiang Boxun get into danger?

Dou Zhao felt a little sad.

Song Mo was walking around the room.

Dou Zhao didn't know what he was thinking, so he didn't dare to disturb him and just sat quietly aside.

After a while, Song Mo stopped and sat down next to Dou Zhao.

Dou Zhao hurriedly served him a new cup of warm tea.

Song Mo drank tea and said, "It seems that we have no choice but to test the prince!"

Dou Zhao's eyes widened.

Song Mo whispered, "The Crown Prince has always looked like he has no desires, and I am a little confused about his thoughts. If he knew about Prince Liao's ambitions, would he deal with Prince Liao in a panic or would he quietly make plans in secret... Now that Prince Liao has set his sights on the Jiang family, he must also be coveting the things left by my uncle. It will be difficult for us to distance ourselves from the matter, so we might as well see who is stronger between the Crown Prince and Prince Liao as soon as possible, and then we can act accordingly!"

This means you need to line up in advance!

Dou Zhao couldn't help but secretly criticize Prince Liao.

The Jiang family has been destroyed by the emperor, why do you want to push them into the fire? No wonder you used Song Mo without mercy in your previous life.

Dou Zhao had no choice but to say, "I'm afraid the Liao prince has a better chance of winning!"

Who knows that Song Mo smiled and said: "It's too early to say these now, let's see the situation first!"

That's fine!

Even if you finally surrender to King Liao, don't get too close to him, as long as you don't arouse his suspicion.

It can be seen that this plan will never keep up with the changes.

They originally thought that with the status of the Duke of England, they could just sit back and watch the fire, but who knew that they would eventually be involved in the fight for the throne.

Dou Zhao couldn't help but let out a long breath.

Song Mo comforted her: "Don't worry, I know my limits. No matter whether Fifth Uncle sided with Prince Liao or not, as long as Prince Liao has the intention to rebel, Fifth Uncle and I will turn against each other on the surface. After all, we don't know who will win the battle yet, and I will not let you and the children suffer because of my blind loyalty."

"It's good that you know!" Dou Zhao had no choice but to entangle Song Mo in this way, "Since ancient times, those who participated in the fight for the throne have never had a good ending, whether they succeeded or failed."

Song Mo smiled and said, "I promise!"

Dou Zhao was still very uneasy and told Chen Qushui about it.

Chen Qushui said with a smile: "There are so many people around His Royal Highness, and the Crown Prince never hangs around His Royal Highness. Even if you want to join His Royal Highness, His Royal Highness must trust you! I agree with the Crown Prince's approach. Let's wait and see. If it doesn't work, we can only sacrifice the pawns to save the marshal."

This pawn refers to Jiang Boxun, right?

Dou Zhao felt slightly relieved.

At noon, Ruozhu came to report to her: "Fortunately, the Madam told me. If I hadn't sent some wound medicine to the little maid who raised the cat in the Second Master's room, I'm afraid she would have died long ago. Knowing that I was someone in the Madam's room, she cried bitterly and said that she could only repay the Madam's kindness in the next life. She also said that the Second Master fed the cat every day when he had meals. Whatever the Second Master ate, he would give the cat the same food, so the cat always liked to squat under the kang table. Qixia also told her to be careful not to let the cat run onto the kang, or it would knock over the teacup and scald the Second Master. It was all my fault for not taking Qixia's words to heart, which led to the disaster."

Dou Zhao was preoccupied with other matters, so he had no patience to listen to this. He asked, "Was the little maid sent to the farm?"

"Well!" Ruozhu said, "I can't save my leg, but at least I saved my life."

Dou Zhao quickly put this matter behind her. When Song Mo came back in the evening, she asked Ganlu to prepare a bowl of noodles with chicken soup that had been stewed for half a day for Song Mo as a midnight snack.

Song Mo tasted the chicken soup and found it very delicious. He scooped a spoonful for Dou Zhao and said, "It's delicious. You should try it too."

Dou Zhao eats small meals frequently now. She had just drunk a bowl of rice before Song Mo came back, but she didn't want to spoil Song Mo's mood, so she took a sip from the spoon.

Song Mo asked, "Is it delicious?"

Dou Zhao nodded with a smile.

Song Mo scooped another spoonful, blew it in his mouth, and handed it to Dou Zhao: "Take another sip."

Dou Zhao looked at the steaming chicken soup, and suddenly his mind popped up a scene where Song Han was sitting on the kang table, putting his favorite dishes into a small plate and feeding them to the cat.

There was a buzz in her head and her face changed drastically.

Song Mo was shocked and asked hurriedly, "What's wrong? Shougu? What's wrong with you? Are you feeling unwell?"

Expression of panic.

Dou Zhao took a long breath, came to his senses, and could no longer eat anything.

She asked Song Mo with a pale face: "I seem to have heard you say that before mother-in-law passed away, she was ill in bed. You went to Liaodong at that time. Was it because of Song Hanshi's illness?"

Dou Zhao called his brother by his name.

Song Mo instinctively felt that something had happened, his expression turned serious, and he nodded and said "yes".

"I remember you once said that when grandma was alive, she liked to keep cats, but when you came back, all those cats disappeared?"

Song Mo nodded.

Dou Zhao said softly: "Song Han has a cat, and when he eats, he feeds the food he likes to the cat first, and then eats it himself..."

Song Mo narrowed his eyes slightly, his gaze was as sharp as a knife, and his expression became stiff: "What do you want to say?"

Dou Zhao touched Song Mo's hand.

Song Mo's hands were shaking.

"Didn't he get two more cats?" Dou Zhao asked, "I wonder if he still has this habit now? If the cats are gone, will he find another dog to feed?"

Song Mo closed his eyes and opened them after a long while.

But when he opened his eyes, there was no trace of emotion in them, and they were as cold and clear as a well water.

He ordered Wuyi: "Tell Lu Ming to come see me immediately!"

Wuyi retreated tremblingly.

However, Song Mo no longer had any appetite.

Gan Lu saw that there was only half a bowl of chicken soup left. She was about to ask Song Mo if he wanted to eat something else, but when she looked up, she saw Dou Zhao winking at her.

She retreated quickly and quietly.

After Lu Ming left, Song Mo went back to his room to rest, but he tossed and turned and couldn't fall asleep.

Dou Zhao hugged Song Mo's arm.

Song Mo calmed down and whispered in the darkness: "Did I disturb you? How about I go to sleep on the kang?"

"No." Dou Zhao hugged Song Mo's arm tighter, "I can't sleep either!"

Neither of them spoke.

The inner room was quiet.

Song Mo suddenly chuckled, and gently placed his hand on her bulging belly, saying, "Tell me, the child has encountered so many things while still in your belly. Will he be a worrying child after he is born?"

"It's possible!" Dou Zhao said with a smile, "Fortunately, she's the first child. Whether it's the eldest daughter or the eldest son, this kind of personality is pretty good."

Song Mo sighed, then turned sideways and hugged Dou Zhao.

It's too hot.

But thinking of Song Mo's depressed mood, Dou Zhao endured it.

Not only that, she went to bed early and got up early these days and was no longer used to staying up late, so she fell asleep in a daze.

Half asleep and half awake, she seemed to hear Song Mo say, "It's great that you could marry me."

Dou Zhao couldn't help but feel overjoyed and wanted to ask him "Is it true?", but his eyelids seemed to be filled with lead and he couldn't open them.

She mumbled something incomprehensible and fell asleep.