Dou Zhao returned to Dongdou in his own car.

In the car, Dou Duo asked his son: "What did Yuanji say to you?"

Manager Dou was present just now, so he couldn't ask further questions. He only knew that Dou Shishu had returned, and guessed that Dou Shishu had come for the conditions proposed by the Zhao family. But he couldn't figure out what Dou Shishu's return was for - the Zhao family proposed such conditions, which was clearly to embarrass him and put the responsibility on him. Zhao Ruifu would never agree to write a consent letter if he couldn't get half of Xidou's property. Zhao Ruifu was sure of victory, and it was impossible for him to give up because of a few words from Dou Shishu; he would not transfer half of Xidou's property to Dou Zhao because of a few promises from Dou Shishu; it was even more impossible for the Wang family to let Wang Yingxue continue to stay in the Dou family without the consent letter from the Zhao family.

He thought about it and realized that this was a dead end!

Dou Shiying said frankly: "Fifth brother told me everything that happened at home during this period."

After that, he said nothing more, so Dou Duo waited in vain for a long time, and then he asked again: "What did Yuanji say to you?"

"Fifth brother said that uncle's request is reasonable, but not sensible." Dou Shiying said, "But after what happened to Gu Qiu, uncle is still furious and asked the Dou family to compensate Shougu and change positions. I'm afraid we would go too far. If it weren't for Lord Wang's visit to Gansu, the three of us could have sat down and talked it out, and renegotiated a number that the Zhao family thinks is reasonable and that you can accept, or even completely refused uncle's request. I think Lord Wang can understand that he should take his daughter back. But the timing is not right now. The Zhao family doesn't matter, but the important matters in the court cannot be delayed. If Lord Wang is impeached, I am afraid that no one will have the prestige and courage to ban the border horse market. The emperor's desire to stabilize the northwest will become empty talk, and Lord Zeng will once again face the danger of being forced to retire. Fifth brother asked me to advise you to think twice before acting for the sake of the overall situation. "

Dou Zhao curled his lips.

In his previous life, Wang Xingyi only closed the horse market at the border, but failed to prohibit horse trading.

If the imperial court doesn't allow it, is there nothing the generals of the nine frontiers can do? What do the generals of the five military governors eat? What do they drink?

In the final analysis, the horse market is difficult to ban because it is the private treasury of the military commanders in the entire northwest, which is also the main reason why Wang Xingyi opposed the opening of the horse market. And Shi Ruilan was arrogant and domineering, and the historians could never bring him down, which was also the reason. This is no longer a simple question of whether to open the horse market, but involves the open and secret struggles between civil officials and military commanders. In the end, Dou Qijun was able to bring Shi Ruilan down because the new emperor ascended the throne and decided to take control of the border horse market in his own hands. He sent Han Yu, the eunuch of the Silijian, to serve as the military supervisor of the Shaanxi Xingdusi, stationed in Xi'an, and be in charge of the border horse market...

Dou Duo sneered: "We don't need to rely on the East Palace for food. The overall situation? What does it have to do with us? We don't have that kind of knowledge."

He was still angry about being kept in the East Palace by the Second Lady for a day and a night.

Not satisfied with her complaints, she pointed at Dou Zhao and said, "If she were a son, I would gladly agree to give her all the property, not to mention half. But you want me to let a little girl take the inheritance left by our ancestors to someone else. I would rather the whole Dou family suffer with Zeng Yifen."

Dou Shiying said nothing, but gently stroked Dou Zhao's head, as if to comfort her not to be afraid.

The three of them walked in silence all the way to the East Palace.

Fifth uncle personally greeted them at the gate.

"Uncle," he said politely, "I should have come over to greet you, but this is not a private matter, and I have to listen to the opinions of my eldest and second sisters-in-law. I will deal with this matter first. After this matter is over, I will come to your house to apologize and listen to your advice."

Fifth uncle spoke directly with a smile, his eyes were open and his attitude was sincere, so that grandfather could not find any fault with him. Grandfather could only suppress his anger in his heart and went to the main hall accompanied by fifth uncle with an unexpected look on his face.

Dou Shiying handed his daughter over to Tuoniang and said, "Be good, go and play. Daddy will pick you up from Sixth Aunt's place later."

Dou Zhao nodded, and after her grandfather and father entered the hall, she walked around outside and found an opportunity to slip back in.

Uncle Five was speaking: "...So after much thought, I decided that Shougu's dowry should be paid by us, the Dongdou!"

"You're crazy!" Grandfather and father could not hide their astonishment, especially grandfather, whose face turned ashen. "Do you know what you are talking about? Do you know how much half of Xidou's industry is worth? This is what our ancestors left us!" He said, looking at the second wife.

The Second Lady lowered her head and drank tea with an expressionless face, as if what her son had just given her was not the entire ancestral inheritance that was due to her branch, but the royal red porcelain teacup in her hand.

"I know!" Uncle Five said softly, his expression warm as spring, "Our ancestors worked so hard to leave such a huge fortune, wasn't it for us, the descendants, to live better and better? If this property becomes a burden, it doesn't matter if we give it up. Things in the world are in the hands of the virtuous. I believe that even if we give up our ancestors' property, with me," his eyes fell on the faces of each of the Dou descendants present one by one, "with Lang Ge'er and Zhi Ge'er, our lives can only become more and more prosperous and more and more prosperous."

Dou Zhao couldn't help but nodded secretly.

Lang'er is from the first wife, and Zhi'er is from the second wife.

No wonder his fifth uncle was able to enter the inner cabinet. Not to mention anything else, his ability to speak without any flaws is something that not ordinary people can do.

Dou Duo couldn't utter a word for a long time.

This Dou Shishu is really a man who can think and do things!

No wonder he took this on.

No wonder among so many descendants of the Dou family, he was the only one who held the highest position!

He is not only cruel to others, but also to himself.

He said he didn't want one-quarter of Dongdou's industry.

Thinking of this, Dou Duo couldn't help but frown.

Wait...his own son wants to make his concubine his principal wife, but he has plenty of money but doesn't want to use it, yet he wants his nephews to help pay for it...How can the fifth brother not want the ancestral property? He is trying to take advantage of him, he is blatantly trying to take advantage of him!

Dou Duo's eyes suddenly turned red.

He must not let Lao Wu succeed!

Dou Duo looked at his nephews and their wives.

The eldest wife lowered her eyelids and kept fiddling with the purple-red sandalwood Buddhist beads with her fingers.

The second wife sat there with a dignified look, like a portrait of an ancestor in a shrine.

Dou Shibang, who usually smiled before speaking, now sat upright with a serious look on his face.

Only Dou Shiheng sat there with a proud look, looking a little out of place.

Dou Duo asked Dou Shiheng: "Do you agree too?"

"I agree too." Sixth uncle sat up straight and said seriously, "I didn't agree with making Wang the legitimate wife, but now that Wang's appointment is a foregone conclusion, I think it's good for Shougu to have some money of her own. Ruifu has finally done something reliable this time." He never spoke vaguely.

Dou Duo sneered: "Well, you guys pay Zhao Ruifu! Anyway, I won't give a penny."

You want to make trouble for me? Well, let me see how you get off the stage.

Who knew that Dou Shishu smiled and heaved a long sigh after hearing this, and the whole person seemed to be relieved as if a heavy burden had been lifted. He said: "I was worried that my uncle would not agree... In this case, third brother, please move out the account book, and we will divide the property in front of us, so that my uncle can have an idea of ​​the number!"

Dou Shibang immediately brought in a large stack of account books. "Uncle, I think that since it is a dowry for Shougu, it should be mainly land and houses." He found one of the account books, opened it and spread it in front of Dou Duo. "Look, this is a farm we have in Xingtang, with more than 2,000 acres, all connected together, and an annual income of 300 to 400 taels of silver. Then there is the farm in Quyang, which also has more than 1,500 acres and can earn 300 to 400 taels of silver every year..."

Although Dou Duo did not take care of mundane affairs, it did not mean that he did not look at the account books.

The places Dou Shibang referred to were all industries in Dongfu.

Are they really going to use their own money to subsidize Dou Zhao?

Dou Duo's eyes flashed with deep confusion.

Dou Shishu smiled slightly and said to Dou Shibang, "Third brother, you can discuss this with your uncle slowly in the future. The most urgent thing is to write a contract - everyone agrees that Shougu's dowry will be shared equally by our six families. Words are not enough, there must be a certificate, right?"

"Look at me," Dou Shibang said with a smile, "I forgot that you have to hurry back to Kyoto." He turned around and asked Dou Duo, "Uncle, who do you think is suitable to write this contract?"

"Didn't you say that the three families shared the cost?" Dou Duo asked curiously, "Why did you six families share it equally now?"

Dou Shishu said with a smile: "My original intention was for our third room to take it out, but my eldest sister-in-law, second sister-in-law, and fourth brother didn't agree. I thought about it, and with the help of my eldest sister-in-law and second sister-in-law, I feel more confident, so I Agreed."

Dou Duo's forehead suddenly broke out in sweat.

He has only one son.

He is not afraid of offending his second brother, but there is also his eldest brother.

This is the same with brothers and the cabinet. For the sake of interests, today you pull me to attack him, and tomorrow I pull him to attack you... breaking up and getting together again and again, it's the same thing.

But now, in order to protect his own industry, he let the other six families suffer together. It was like tying the other six families to a rope and uniting them to deal with himself who had taken advantage of their interests. None of the six families in the East Palace would ever be able to get along with their family, and their family would be completely isolated.

Don't say that Wan Yuan was just a newly promoted official at this time. Even if he was a Jinshi, wouldn't he choose an official position? Wouldn't he wait for a vacancy? Wouldn't there be any difficult moments in the official career?

While Dou Duo was thinking, Dou Shibang had already finished writing the document in no time.

"Uncle, can you check if there is anything missing? If not, let's just put our handprints on it!"

It was just a thin piece of paper, but Dou Duo felt it weighed a thousand pounds when he held it in his hand.

He still doesn't believe that Dou Shishu will take out his own money.

But the document in front of him made him believe it.

Once the fingerprints are put down, there is no way to remedy the situation.

As Dou Duo was thinking, the sweat on his forehead fell on the document and gradually spread out like a tear.

A dark shadow flashed before his eyes, and the document in his hand was suddenly snatched away.

"I know that Daddy is afraid that I won't agree." Dou Shiying tore the contract into pieces, crumpled it into a ball and threw it into the corner. "Fifth brother, there is no need to say more. Shougu is my daughter, and I should pay for her dowry. I agree to pay half of the money."