Chapter 429: Matchmaking

While Song Mo and Wang Ge were talking in the small study, Princess Ningde, Old Lady Lu and Dou Zhao were talking in the warm room behind the flower hall.

"Back then, the old Duke wanted your father-in-law to take care of the family affairs, and your mother-in-law would support him. But after the incident with Lord Guangen, your mother-in-law pleaded for your father-in-law in front of the old Duke, but your father-in-law felt that your mother-in-law and the old Duke were playing the good cop and the bad cop, pretending to be hypocritical and making a fool of him. No matter how others persuaded him, your father-in-law could not change his mind. The old Duke then gave up completely and handed over the family business to your mother-in-law." Old Lady Lu sighed, "So, your father-in-law has been confused for a long time, and everyone in the family knows it. Now that you have a son, you have to plan everything for your son. You should turn a blind eye to the affairs of the elders and never take it to heart."

There must be something hateful about a pitiful person.

Since Dou Zhao came into contact with Old Lady Lu, everything Old Lady Lu did was for the good of Song Mo and her. Although she had no intention of letting Song Yichun go, she did not want to worry Old Lady Lu, so she replied vaguely: "Don't worry, we, as the younger generation, will only tolerate and give in to the elders even if they do something wrong, and will not argue with him."

Madam Lu smiled and nodded, sighing, "Although that's true, you can't just blindly be filial." Then she exchanged glances with Princess Ningde, "I have something to discuss with you!"

I’m afraid it’s not a trivial matter!

And it also involves Song Yichun.

Dou Zhao's heart tensed, but he remained calm and said with a smile, "Just give me your orders, old man."

Old Lady Lu said, "I see that Song Han is not young anymore, and it is time for him to get married. The Princess and I thought, there are so many concubines in the palace, who doesn't have two nieces and nephews waiting to get married? Why not ask the Queen Mother to act as a matchmaker and pick a capable wife for Song Han? After he gets married, he can live alone and there will be someone to take charge of the marriage. What do you think?"

Dou Zhao was very surprised and felt that Madam Lu was being too lenient this time.

Song Yichun might not agree to let Song Han live separately after getting married.

She pondered for a moment and considered: "As brother and sister-in-law, we only hope that he will be well - if he is well, he will be able to help his nephews in the future. But I am afraid that the marriage is not up to us; the other thing is that it is up to us. Let the second master live alone after they get married... The old son and the eldest grandson are both jealous. They are afraid that the Duke of the country will not agree. They think that our eldest son can't tolerate the second master, so they persuade the uncles to come forward. Say something like this.”

Princess Ningde smiled and said, "You don't have to worry about this. As long as you think it's a good idea, I will ask the Queen Mother to arrange a marriage for you. Since you are marrying a relative of a noble in the palace, it's not good to always live your life under the control of your brother and sister-in-law. The nobles in the palace will make the decision and talk to the Duke about this."

If that were possible, it would be great.

The previous life is the previous life, and this life is this life.

Song Mo now hates Song Han to the core. She knows that Song Mo will not let Song Han go, but if she has to kill him to vent her hatred like in her previous life, Song Mo's reputation will be ruined. It would be better for them to separate from each other, so that Song Han won't be hanging around in front of Song Mo every day, as if reminding Song Mo not to forget the revenge for his mother's murder. Song Mo might feel better.

As for the fact that Song Han would have a strong support from his wife's family, Dou Zhao thought that his own family was not bad either, so he did not take it to heart.

She stood up and bowed respectfully to Madam Lu and Princess Ningde, saying, "If it weren't for the two old ladies, we would have had to swallow our grievances."

Madam Lu and Princess Ningde both smiled with relief.

Princess Ningde simply spoke frankly to Dou Zhao: "Your cousins ​​have been kept under our watch since they were young. They are destined to live a peaceful life, but not to revive the family business. In the future, Yantang will have to take care of them more... We can't let the Duke do such a fool and squander the family business! But you are his children after all, and you can't stop him even if you want to. We will deal with this evil man."

Despite this, Dou Zhao was still very grateful and said, "The two old ladies are very kind-hearted. Our prince will definitely keep it in mind."

Old Madam Lu and Princess Ningde nodded with satisfaction and went to sit in the flower hall.

Although Dou Zhao was satisfied with this arrangement, he was afraid that Song Mo had other plans, so he thought about telling Song Mo about this matter after the banquet. A servant walked in hurriedly, saluted Dou Zhao, and hurriedly reported: "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and His Majesty the Crown Princess sent an eunuch to present the full-month gift to the eldest master. The prince asked you to go to the front yard to express your gratitude."

When the Crown Prince's eunuch came, Song Mo would receive him; when the person sent by the Crown Princess came, Dou Zhao would have to come forward.

Dou Zhao quickly changed into a bright red jacket.

The eunuch beside the Crown Princess had entered the inner courtyard accompanied by Gu Yu.

The wife of Marquis Changxing and others all avoided the scene and did not come out of the flower hall.

Dou Zhao knelt and bowed towards the west of the imperial palace to express his gratitude. The eunuch put the gold and silver locks, eight-treasure necklace, clothes, shoes and socks that the Crown Princess had given to Yuan Ge on a tray and passed it to Dou Zhao, who then passed it to the maid behind him.

All of a sudden, all the maids in the main courtyard of Yizhitang came out in droves.

The guests who came to Yuan Ge'er's full-month celebration were all stunned.

The wife of Marquis Changxing even said: "Brother Yuan is really lucky to be the Crown Princess. He will definitely be a blessed child when he grows up."

Dou Zhao smiled and thanked the wife of Marquis Changxing, stuffed a large red envelope into the eunuch's pocket, and ordered someone to prepare a table of good wine and food to entertain the eunuch.

The eunuch shook his hands repeatedly and said, "I came here with Eunuch Cui to do some work. I'd better follow Eunuch Cui."

Cui Yijun was the most popular person in front of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. The eunuch carried him out, and Dou Zhao couldn't force him, so he asked someone to give the eunuch two high-quality red envelopes.

Tai Lin smiled so much that his eyes narrowed into slits, and he kept thanking Dou Zhao.

Cui Yijun did not stay long. After handing the gifts given by the Crown Prince to Song Mo, he exchanged a few words with Song Mo and then stood up to say goodbye.

Song Mo personally escorted Cui Yijun to the screen wall, while Dou Zhao displayed the gifts given by the Crown Prince and Crown Princess in the hall according to the rules, and put them back in the storeroom after the full-month ceremony.

The golden unicorn made of solid gold, the necklace made of eight treasures, and the scarlet silk-engraved hat shone brightly under the bright summer sun.

Which family here is not well-off and has seen all kinds of good things? But this is a gift from the Crown Princess, so it has a different meaning.

Everyone lifted up Song Mo and Dou Zhao, praised them, and then sat down in the small flower hall again.

The banquet began with the sound of string music.

Seeing Wang Ge sitting in the corner and talking animatedly with Gu Yu, Song Yichun couldn't help but frown and asked Shi Chonglan quietly, "What's going on over there?"

Shi Chonglan smiled and said, "Don't worry, since he dares to accept our money, we are not afraid that he will default on the debt."

Song Yichun felt a little relieved and felt better.

Madam Lu was also whispering to Princess Ningde: "What if the Queen Mother is too lazy to take care of this trivial matter?"

Princess Ningde smiled and said, "The late emperor doted on Concubine Miao the most. If the prince born to Concubine Miao had not died young, I'm afraid there would be more trouble in this palace. During the full-month ceremony of the third emperor's grandson, I quietly told Concubine Shi about the Song family. Given her personality, she will definitely tell the Empress Dowager. When Song Mo agrees to this, I will go to the palace to ask for a marriage for Song Han. The Empress Dowager will definitely arrange a marriage for the girl from Concubine Miao's family. Just wait and see."

Old Madam Lu has always admired Princess Ningde's methods, and a smile crept up to the corners of her eyes and eyebrows when she heard the words.

※※※※※

In the evening, Dou Zhao told Song Mo what Madam Lu and Princess Ningde meant.

Song Mo couldn't help but sigh: "My parents were not well-connected, and I originally felt very sorry about it, but I never thought I would meet my father-in-law, Old Lady Lu, and Princess Ningde."

Dou Zhao couldn't help but said angrily, "You can just think about your father's affairs in your heart, but don't praise him anymore, otherwise he will become more and more aggressive."

When Yuan Ge'er was one month old, Dou Shiying gave him some pens, ink, paper, inkstone, gold rings and silver locks, as well as a tea garden of 600 mu and an oil press. These two industries alone brought in an annual income of three to four thousand taels of silver.

Song Mo laughed and said, "I just want to make my father-in-law happy. I have already discussed with him about those industries. They will still be managed by the steward of the Dou family. When brother Yuan is getting married, father-in-law will give them to brother Yuan. This way, father-in-law will be respectable, and brother Yuan will know how well his grandfather treats him in the future."

"Don't forget the fire incident at the Duke of Ying's mansion." Dou Zhao was annoyed by his father's lavish spending and said, "Don't make a scene like this again."

"You underestimate your father-in-law too much." Song Mo said, "This time, when giving Brother Yuan something, your father-in-law only informed the people of the Dou family and didn't make a fuss about it. He told the Dou family about it because he was afraid that he wouldn't be able to explain it clearly. Otherwise, your father-in-law wouldn't even tell the people of the Dou family."

Dou Zhao pondered and asked, "Does Dou Ming know?"

"The Wei family sent gifts, but no one came." Song Mo was very happy that the Wei family had fallen out with him, and suppressed the joy in his heart and said, "My father-in-law said that he would send someone to tell Dou Ming."

Now that we have made it clear, Dou Ming will not be bothered by it later.

Dou Zhao's face brightened up.

Song Mo, however, was too lazy to discuss the Wei family's affairs with Dou Zhao, so he told Dou Zhao that Song Yichun had asked Shi Chonglan to find out about the emperor's intentions and wanted Song Han to marry the princess. He then said, "The sooner the marriage is settled, the better. You just came out of confinement, and you've been traveling a lot, so be careful not to hurt yourself. I'll go to the Lu residence in person tomorrow to thank the two old ladies!"

Dou Zhao took care of the child personally, and twelve hours a day was not enough, so he naturally had no objection. He asked someone to prepare a gift for Song Mo overnight, and sent Song Mo out after breakfast the next day.

After lunch, Princess Ningde handed in a sign and entered the palace.

The next day, the Empress Dowager summoned Princess Ningde and invited her to have lunch in the palace.

When the Empress heard that Princess Ningde had entered the palace, she wanted to go to the Cining Palace to take a look, but the Emperor called her to the Qianqing Palace.

"Has Jingyi and Jingfu's marriage not been settled yet?" The emperor put down the memorial he was reading and asked the queen, "Yantang is now a father, their marriage should be settled too."

If it weren't for Song Yichun, Song Yantang would have been his son-in-law long ago.

However, he was quite obedient. This time he took the initiative to propose that his second son marry the princess. Regardless of whether it succeeds or not, he finally gave in. The emperor was still very happy.