Chapter 434: Cold Sweat

Dou Shiying was grateful for Song Mo's filial piety, so he naturally would not make things difficult for Song Mo. He said, "I can go alone. You just take a good rest at home."

He was afraid that Dou Shishu would mistakenly think that Song Moqian had instigated him to go to Huaishu Hutong.

Seeing Dou Shiying's firm attitude, Song Mo did not insist. But as soon as Dou Shiying left Jing'an Temple Hutong, he went to Yuqiao Hutong.

Dou Qijun and his colleagues went out for a social event.

Song Mo found the wine shop where he drank.

Dou Qijun's followers found Dou Qijun, who was drunk and had a red face.

In the carriage, Song Mo told him that Dou Shishu had recommended Dou Shiying to the emperor's eldest grandson Qimeng.

Dou Qijun was sobered up from the shock: "I will go to see my fifth uncle tomorrow morning."

He had not imagined that the situation would be so serious. The Dou family could be classified as the Prince's Party or the Liaowang Party at any time.

Song Mo nodded and said, "Go have a drink! I'll go back first."

Dou Qijun was in no mood to drink, so he asked Song Mo to take him back to Yuqiao Hutong.

In the car, he said with some worry: "If Fifth Uncle asks, I will say that these are my own insights from observing politics these days. I just don't know if Fifth Uncle will listen to me."

"Whether you can listen or not, you have to have a good talk with Fifth Uncle." Song Mo reminded him, "Now is not the time to express your opinion."

Dou Qijun nodded.

The two parted at the entrance of Yuqiao Hutong.

Song Mo hurried back to Jing'an Temple Hutong.

Entering the inner room of the east wing, he saw Dou Zhao drinking a bowl of pigeon soup.

The tempting aroma made Song Mo's stomach growl.

He was surprised to realize that he had not eaten much all day.

Dou Zhao hurriedly ordered the kitchen staff to bring in the meal for Song Mo.

Song Mo was annoyed and said, "Just make me some snacks to fill my stomach."

"How can that be possible?" Dou Zhao stepped forward to help him take off his coat and called the maid to fetch some water. "Looking at your condition, you probably didn't have a good lunch. You can't keep putting up like this. If you do that for a long time, you might hurt yourself."

While they were talking, the maid at the stove had brought over the kang table.

The table was filled with dishes, including stir-fried pickled mustard greens, minced pork and soybeans, garlic-braised tripe strips, steamed eggplant puree, sesame chicken...all freshly made.

Song Mo was surprised.

Gan Lu smiled and said, "The maid who served the food said that the old master did not see the prince when he came back from the yamen, and said that the prince must not eat well in the palace, so she ordered the maid on the stove to keep the stove on and to prepare the food at any time."

Song Mo was silent for a moment after hearing this, then looked up and smiled at Dou Zhao.

Dou Zhao's heart softened. He smiled and pushed Song Mo to sit on the kang, and personally handed him the chopsticks.

Song Mo lowered his head and ate his meal in big mouthfuls.

Dou Shiying is back.

Song Mo and Dou Zhao stood up quickly.

"Hurry up and sit down. Eating is the most important thing." Dou Shiying saw that one of them was eating and the other was sitting next to him doing needlework. She stretched her neck to look into the inner room and asked, "Where is Brother Yuan? Is he asleep?"

"Just went to bed." Dou Zhao took the tea offered by the maid and placed it in front of Dou Shiying.

"That's good." Dou Shiying said with relief on his face, "If the child can eat and sleep well, he can grow up." Then he motioned Song Mo to sit down, "Eat your meal, don't worry about me."

Song Mo looked at the sumptuous dishes, smiled, sat down, and started eating with confidence.

Dou Shiying smiled slightly. After Song Mo finished his meal, the two of them moved to Song Mo's small study room. Dou Shiying told Song Mo about the trip to Huaishu Hutong: "...I told Fifth Brother straight away. Although Fifth Brother was a little unhappy, he saw that I was very persistent and didn't say anything. He just asked me to think it over carefully so as not to regret it later."

Song Mo smiled and said, "Will you regret it in the future, father-in-law?"

"Of course there will be some." Dou Shiying said with a smile, "But compared to regret, I am more afraid of feeling uneasy."

Is this also the reason why there has been no one in Dou Shiying's house for so many years?

Song Mo personally made tea for Dou Shiying, and discussed state affairs with him, laughing about the anecdotes of the gentlemen.

Dou Shiying felt that this evening was very pleasant. After seeing Yuan Ge'er, he told them to go to bed early and left with a smile on his face.

After washing up, Song Mo and Dou Zhao leaned on the big pillow on the kang by the window and talked.

"Why are you back so late?"

"I left the palace and went to Lu's house." Song Mo told Dou Zhao that he had asked Princess Ningde to act as a matchmaker for Jiang Yan.

Dou Zhao felt that although Jiang Yan had just encountered a disaster, it was not necessary to discuss marriage so early, but if she could meet a good family, it would be good to get married as soon as possible. He smiled and said, "I will start preparing wedding dowry for Sister Yan when I return."

Her words aroused Song Mo's worries again.

He said, "Tomorrow I will go to my father and ask Song Han to return my mother's dowry."

Dou Zhao said: "I'm afraid it's not so easy to talk to them."

"It's not up to them." Song Mo said coldly, "It would be fine if the palace didn't know about this, but now that they know about it, even if I force Song Han to return my mother's dowry, the palace will just turn a blind eye."

That's true.

Dou Zhao nodded and said, "I will go back home tomorrow. The Crown Prince and the Crown Princess have given gifts for Yuan'er's third-day bath and full-month celebration. I should go to the palace to thank them after I finish my confinement. I didn't expect that my father sent someone to pick me up just after Yuan'er's full-month celebration. The Mid-Autumn Festival is coming soon. If I meet the Crown Princess during the Mid-Autumn Festival and then thank her, it would be too insincere."

Song Mo thought of Dou Shiying's satisfied smile just now, and said with a smile: "What's the conflict between entering the palace to thank En and taking Yuan Ge back to your parents' home to get acquainted? Let Ganlu and the others go back to the mansion to get your imperial edict clothes, and you can go directly to the palace from Jing'an Temple Hutong."

Dou Zhao couldn't help but laugh and said, "When people think too much, they become confused. Then I will hand in the name card tomorrow? If I can see the Queen Mother, I can thank her for her kindness. Song Han's marriage was her idea!"

When these super-ranking ladies from outside the imperial court entered the palace, they would go to the Cining Palace to pay their respects to the Empress Dowager according to etiquette. The Empress Dowager would see them or not depending on her mood, so they could not see her every time.

Song Mo nodded.

The next day Dou Zhao went to deliver the sign.

That afternoon, a eunuch came and asked her to enter the palace early the next morning.

Very fast.

Dou Shiying smiled and said, "It seems that the Duke of Ying's Mansion is really respected in front of the Emperor."

Dou Zhao pursed his lips and smiled.

A steward from the British government came over to ask Song Mo and Dou Zhao to go back, saying that they would go to the Miao family to make a decision in the next two days.

As Song Han's brother and sister-in-law, they had to go back to help, especially Dou Zhao, who had to entertain the female relatives who came to the house to congratulate.

Dou Zhao agreed to return home in three days.

After Song Mo came back, he sent someone to report to the Duke of Ying's mansion: "The child is still young, and there are so many things going on at home. What if the child is scared? Besides, the lady has to go to the palace tomorrow morning. I will just go back."

Song Yichun was so angry that her heart ached. She said to the messenger, "Go tell the prince that if he doesn't want to come back, he can never come back."

How dare the messenger tell this to Song Mo, so he went to Huang Qing with tears in his eyes.

Huang Qing had no choice but to go see Yan Chaoqing.

Yan Chaoqing smiled indifferently and said, "Then go and tell the Duke that our Crown Prince will not be coming back that day."

What would the Miao family think when their younger brother, as the crown prince, does not care about their younger brother's engagement?

Huang Qing smiled bitterly. There was no other good solution, so he had to put the matter aside for the time being and make plans when Song Yichun asked about it.

When Dou Zhao entered the palace to thank the emperor, she was warmly entertained by the Crown Princess, who even had her grandson held in her arms for Dou Zhao to see. When the Crown Prince heard that she was coming, he also had someone give her some snacks. When she asked to pay her respects to the Empress Dowager and the Queen Mother, the Crown Princess accompanied her to Kunning Palace.

On the fourth day of September, the palace family and the eunuchs had to change into silk clothes. Before the fifteenth day of August, the newly made clothes had to be distributed. There was also the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet and the rewards from various prefectures. The Empress was so busy that she only allowed Dou Zhao to drink a cup of tea. However, when the Empress Dowager heard that Dou Zhao had come, she immediately summoned her to see her.

Dou Zhao entered the side hall with his eyes looking at his nose and his nose looking at his heart.

Concubine Shi was also there, playing mahjong with the Empress Dowager.

The Empress Dowager asked Dou Zhao without waiting for her to salute: "I heard that you used to play cards with the elders at home. Come, play cards with us for a while!"

Dou Zhao said modestly: "It's just that I'm not very proficient in it, so I lose more often."

After hearing this, Concubine Shi chuckled and said, "You don't even lose a bit when playing cards, so how can we think of you?"

You mean her dowry was generous?

Perhaps it was because he had no good impression of Marquis Changxing. When Dou Zhao saw that Concubine Shi was old but still spoke in a coquettish voice and smiled like an eighteen-year-old girl, he did not have the slightest good impression of her.

The Crown Princess didn't seem to like Concubine Shi very much either, and said with a smile: "It seems that it's not good to have a rich family background. You will always be used as a target by others!"

Concubine Shi’s expression was slightly stiff.

The Queen Mother waved to Dou Zhao and said, "Please replace Huiying. Her eyesight is worse than mine."

As he was talking, a woman who looked like a female official stood up with a smile and handed a handful of cards in her hand to Dou Zhao.

Dou Zhao was in a dilemma whether to accept the answer or not.

The Crown Princess gently pushed her and said, "The Queen Mother dislikes my clumsiness, so you can play with the Queen Mother for a while!"

Now that things have come to this, any further refusal would seem petty.

Dou Zhao smiled, knelt down and saluted the female official, said "excuse me", took the card, and sat down opposite the Empress Dowager.

After one round, she felt more confident.

The Queen Mother treated playing cards as a pastime. She didn't use her brain much and just played whatever came to her mind without any plan.

Concubine Shi was very good at playing cards. She coaxed the Empress Dowager into playing cards, and she only won one hand out of four.

Another card partner is Concubine De in the palace.

She was the emperor's beloved wife when he was in the Qian Palace. She was the same age as the emperor and had long since retired from marriage. She was often summoned to the Cining Palace to accompany the Empress Dowager. She was also very good at playing cards. She did not dare to challenge the Empress Dowager who sat above her, but she was ruthless to herself who sat below her.

Dou Zhao thought that dealing with these people would not be a problem.

She followed the example of Shi Taifei and only won one hand out of four.

In this way, the Empress Dowager won the most. And because Dou Zhao and Concubine Shi also won a few games from time to time, it seemed that they each had their share of wins and losses, and the cards looked very beautiful.

The Empress Dowager praised Dou Zhao for his excellent card playing and was in high spirits. The game was not suspended until the eunuch came to ask where the lunch was.

Dou Zhao took his leave.

The Queen Mother invited her to stay for lunch and said, "Let's play for a while in the afternoon!"