Chapter 451: Pitch Black

Dou Zhao was still thinking about the case between Jiang Baisun and Song Mo. When he heard that Jiang Lizhu wanted to see him, he immediately welcomed her to the inner room, sent away the servants in the room, and asked her, "Do you have anything urgent to say?"

Who knows Jiang Lizhu asked: "Sister Yan's marriage is not going well?"

"It's a bit unsuccessful." Dou Zhao sighed, "Most of those who come to propose marriage have ulterior motives." He added, "I also know that Sister Yan is remarrying. Others who come to propose marriage must have thought about it again and again. It is normal for them to have ulterior motives. As long as they don't have bad intentions, it's okay. But those people are either too old and their eldest sons are about to get married; or they are incompetent and have to rely on their brothers and elders to live. Sister Yan has a gentle and simple personality. I really don't feel comfortable marrying her to such a family."

Jiang Lizhu nodded.

If she was too old, she might not be able to live well; she would have to rely on her brothers and elders to live, which would bring her many troubles. Moreover, Jiang Yan was remarried, so it was inevitable that she would be wronged. Moreover, when she was wronged, her husband was unable to help her, which was the worst.

She hesitated for a moment, then said thoughtfully, "Cousin, I want to propose someone. Do you think it's feasible?"

Dou Zhao was a little surprised, but she knew Jiang Lizhu was not the kind of person who didn't know the importance of things. Since she had spoken, she must have thought about it over and over again in her heart, so she said seriously: "You say."

Jiang Lizhu said, "Mr. Chen Jiachen from the Jinyiwei Zhenfu Division, what do you think?"

Dou Zhao was furious.

She didn't expect Chen Jia to be such a person!

I asked Chen Jia to handle Jiang Yan's matter because I trusted him, but now he has his eyes on Jiang Yan!

What a despicable heart!

Dou Zhao almost jumped up, but when she saw Jiang Lizhu's sincere and honest expression, she calmed down again.

Even if Chen Jia had such an intention and came to Jiang Lizhu for help, Jiang Lizhu would not believe it blindly and come to say such things to her.

Could this be Jiang Lizhu's idea?

Or was it Jiang Yan's intention?

Dou Zhao felt a moment of panic.

She was afraid that Chen Jia would coax Jiang Yan with sweet words... Even if she exposed Chen Jia's true face, how could she take back the feelings she had given up?

Jiang Yan had a rough life, how could she bear to make him sad again?

Dou Zhao couldn't help but take a deep breath and asked, "Why did you think of Mr. Chen?"

Jiang Lizhu told Dou Zhao about the two times she saw Chen Jia and Jiang Yan together.

Upon hearing this, Dou Zhao fell into deep thought.

Jiang Lizhu said, "I shouldn't have interfered in this matter. First, I can see that my cousin and his wife really love Sister Yan. Secondly, Sister Yan and I get along well. Seeing that my cousin and his wife are so worried about Sister Yan's marriage, and thinking that you don't want to get married through Jiang Yan, and you don't want to gain a good reputation for yourselves, that's why I said something. I also know what my cousin's wife is worried about. I can guarantee that Sister Yan and Mr. Chen are both polite gentlemen and they don't have such dirty thoughts. I think these two people are suitable, so I want to bring them together." She also told Dou Zhao what she said to test Jiang Yan.

If Dou Zhao and Song Mo wanted to gain a good reputation, it would be easier to keep Jiang Yan at home and keep her chastity than to try to marry her off, and it would also be more likely to win everyone's praise.

Dou Zhao never dreamed of betrothing Jiang Yan to Chen Jia.

In her opinion, Jiang Yan was very secretive about his past, and Chen Jia was an insider. Even if she didn't avoid Chen Jia, she should still feel a little uncomfortable in front of Chen Jia. How come she was most relaxed when facing Chen Jia?

She stroked her forehead and murmured, "Let me think about it!"

Jiang Li nodded, stood up and said goodbye.

Jiang Yan and Chen Jia?

The more Dou Zhao thought about it, the worse he felt.

Chen Jia is utilitarian, manipulative and ambitious. If Jiang Yan marries him, will he treat Jiang Yan sincerely?

And the Chen family is very complicated.

Chen Jia was promoted to the Jinyi Guard by taking advantage of his uncle's position. It is said that his uncles had a big fight because of this incident. If Chen Jia had not seized the opportunity to ask the patriarch of the Chen family to intervene, Chen Jia's job would have been aborted long ago, and his uncles also cut off contact with him because of this.

Let’s just forget about this matter!

Dou Zhao pondered.

Jiang Yan is here.

She asked Dou Zhao with a smile: "I heard that the twelfth sister came, where is she?"

That smile was as brilliant as the midday sun, without a trace of gloom. Where was the slightest trace of the reserved look that usually lingered on his face?

Dou Zhao couldn't help but say: "I have something to ask you..."

"Sister-in-law, please speak." Jiang Yan sat next to Dou Zhao affectionately.

Dou Zhao's tone was somewhat hesitant, and he whispered: "Li Zhu came here to act as a matchmaker for you..."

Jiang Yan's face turned red, instead of turning pale with fear as usual when she heard someone was proposing to her for marriage.

Dou Zhao secretly paid attention and said, "She mentioned Master Chen Jiachen..."

"Sister-in-law, don't listen to my twelfth sister!" Jiang Yan suddenly remembered Jiang Lizhu's words to test her. She grabbed Dou Zhao's arm tightly and her face turned pale instantly. "There is really nothing between me and Lord Chen! I just asked him to help me find out the news twice..." She shed tears of fear, "Sister-in-law, I beg you, please don't make things difficult for Lord Chen, he is a good man... I will never see him again... It's not easy for him to be in this situation today, please don't tell my brother..."

Jiang Yan's reaction was more intense than Dou Zhao had expected.

She couldn't help but think of what Jiang Lizhu said when she mentioned Jiang Yan and Chen Jia were together.

Dou Zhao quickly put his arm around Jiang Yan's shoulders and said gently, "Don't worry, I didn't misunderstand you. I know you are a polite and good child, and Li Zhu sincerely wants to be your matchmaker..."

Jiang Yan felt relieved and shook his head repeatedly: "Sister-in-law, I know you are doing this for my own good. If I don't marry, I won't marry anyone..."

Seeing her frightened expression, Dou Zhao hurriedly said, "Okay, okay, okay! If you don't want to get married, then don't get married! Just help your sister-in-law take care of Yuan'er at home." He hugged her again and patted her back gently to soothe her emotions.

Jiang Yan was filled with regret and hatred at this moment, and couldn't help but shed tears.

If she had known this earlier, she should have told her brother and sister-in-law about the loan, and Chen Jia would not have gotten into such trouble.

She choked up and told Dou Zhao about the loan: "Sister-in-law, this is all my fault. If I hadn't borrowed 100 taels of silver from Lord Chen, Lord Chen would not have seen me..."

Dou Zhao was stunned and asked, "You said that you paid back 48 taels of silver to Mr. Chen, and you still owe him 52 taels of silver?"

Jiang Yan was afraid that Dou Zhao would not believe him, so he hurriedly said, "The silver was delivered to me by a servant in the mansion. If you don't believe me, I can ask the servant to come in and question him."

"Nonsense." Dou Zhao stroked her head and gently scolded her, "You are the eldest daughter of the mansion. If you say it is, it is, and if you say it is not, it is not. How can you call a servant in to question me?"

Jiang Yan nodded.

Dou Zhao personally poured her a cup of hot tea and said, "Hurry up and wipe your tears and have a cup of hot tea."

Jiang Yan wiped his tears meekly and drank his tea.

Dou Zhao sighed.

Jiang Yan had lived in the Li family for too long, and some of her habits were difficult to change. It would indeed be difficult for her to become a clan wife.

She helped Jiang Yan tidy up his messy hair.

Jiang Yan begged Dou Zhao: "Sister-in-law, can you help me pay back the fifty-two taels of silver to Mr. Chen? I will pay my monthly allowance in advance."

Dou Zhao smiled and nodded, thinking of Chen Xi.

Could it be that Chen Jia was still short of the 100 taels of silver? And what was his mentality in accepting the 48 taels of silver from Jiang Yan?

Dou Zhao's mood changed in an indescribable way.

She felt like she knew something, but she couldn't believe her own guess.

Dou Zhao immediately arranged for someone to return the money.

Jiang Yan came out of Dou Zhao's room, but cried silently all the way back to Bishuixuan. As soon as she got back to Bishuixuan, she immediately sent Yinghong: "Go to Chen's house and tell Tao Erjia that my sister-in-law already knows about my borrowing money, and ask Lord Chen to be careful."

She didn't dare to say more, fearing that it would make Chen Jia's situation even more difficult if it got out. She believed that with his ability, he would definitely be able to guess what she meant and come up with a plan to make his brother and sister-in-law believe him.

Yinghong replied "yes", but did not dare to take the initiative to pass on the message.

She went to report to Dou Zhao first.

Dou Zhao was looking at the account book. Hearing this, he said calmly, "I see," and said, "Since it is Miss Cousin's order, just do it."

Yinghong didn't know what Dou Zhao meant, so she responded tremblingly, stepped back, and turned to Yuqiao Hutong.

Dou Zhao let out a long sigh.

She lifted Jiang Yan up like this, but Jiang Yan couldn't even control the maidservants around him.

If Jiang Yan married Chen Jia...given Chen Jia's power, no one would dare to play tricks in front of Jiang Yan, right?

She put down the account book.

It would be better to let Yinghong go and tell Chen Jia the news.

Whether this matter succeeds or not depends on Chen Jia's choice.

※※※※※

Chen Jia came back very late.

From a distance he saw someone waiting for him at his door.

At first Chen Jia thought it was someone who wanted him to do something for him, but when he got closer, he realized it was from Tao Erjia.

He was quite surprised.

Tao Erjia is in charge of the inner courtyard, and there are no women in his inner courtyard, so what could go wrong?

But before his carriage came to a stop, Tao Erjia came hurriedly to meet him.

"Master, Miss Yinghong from the mansion has been here." Having said that, Tao Erjia stopped talking.

Chen Jia's heart skipped a beat and he got out of the carriage and strode inside.

Tao Erjia trotted after him.

Chen Jia stood in the middle of the yard, and Xiaohu stood guard at the gate with hanging flowers.

He glanced at the deserted yard and then whispered "Speak".

Tao Erjia told Chen Jia what Jiang Yan said.

Chen Jia immediately understood what Jiang Yan meant.

He was suddenly struck by lightning and was unable to recover for a long time.

Considering Song Yantang's character and his love for Jiang Yan, he would certainly rather kill someone by mistake than let him go!

Why am I so unlucky?

He just lent Jiang Yan 100 taels of silver, but he was suspected of seducing Jiang Yan... It can be seen that this kind of behavior is not allowed by good people.

What should I do?

Go to Song Yantang to explain?

Will he listen?

In Song Yantang's eyes, a character like himself is probably not as good as a dog he raises.

No explanation?

I'm afraid that all the hard work and efforts I've gained will be gone like flowing water!

Chen Jia looked at the night sky and felt that his life was just like it, pitch black without a single ray of light.

But inexplicably, Jiang Yan's eyes appeared in his mind.

His eyes were dark and shiny, and he looked at him steadily, with trust in them.