Chapter 469: Standing Side

As soon as October was over, every household would start to prepare for the New Year. The palace was no exception. The Empress began to prepare gifts for the various mansions, and the concubines in the palace were busy making new clothes and jewelry. Dou Zhao walked along the bluestone corridor of the inner court holding Yuan Ge'er. Although the wind was cold, he could still feel the joy of the New Year approaching.

It snowed last night, and when the sun came out in the morning, it was exceptionally cold.

Dou Zhao stopped, tucked his son's leather hoodie, and covered Yuan Ge'er more tightly.

The nurse stepped forward and whispered, "Madam, should I hold Yuan-ge'er?"

Yuan Ge'er was a little shy when he entered the palace and held on to his mother's clothes tightly and refused to let go. Dou Zhao felt sorry for his son, so he personally carried him all the way to Cining Palace.

Jingui and Yingui exchanged uneasily glances and wanted to step forward to hold Yuan'er in their arms, but from a distance they saw a group of palace maids walking quickly towards them.

"Is it the wife of the Prince of England?" The leader was a palace maid in her prime. She said with a smile, "I am Alan from Cining Palace. The Empress Dowager was worried, so she asked me to come and welcome her." As she said that, she stepped forward, bent her knees to salute Dou Zhao, and reached out to hug Yuan Ge'er.

However, Yuan Ge'er twisted his body and hid in his mother's arms.

Dou Zhao recognized that the woman was the most capable palace maid in front of the Empress Dowager.

She was secretly surprised.

I didn't expect that the Queen Mother values ​​the Crown Princess so much!

She reassessed the importance of the Crown Princess, smiled apologetically and said to Aunt Lan: "I'm sorry, this child is a little shy."

Aunt Lan didn't mind at all. She smiled and touched Yuan Ge'er's head, saying, "In that case, Madam, please follow me to the side hall!"

Dou Zhao smiled and replied.

Yuan Ge'er looked at Aunt Lan curiously from under the tent, his eyes were round and very cute.

Aunt Lan couldn't help but smile at him kindly.

Yuan Ge'er buried his face in his hood shyly.

Aunt Lan couldn't help but laugh and said, "This child is so cute."

Dou Zhao smiled slightly, and his eyes became softer as he looked at his son.

Aunt Lan smiled and led Dou Zhao and Yuan Ge'er to the warm pavilion in the back hall of Cining Palace.

The Empress Dowager was sitting on the big Kang by the window, the Crown Princess was sitting on the edge of the Kang with the Third Grandson in her arms, and the Empress Dowager was playing with the Third Grandson with a rattle.

Seeing Dou Zhao coming in, they both smiled at the same time.

After Dou Zhao finished his greeting, the Empress Dowager invited him to sit on the kang, and pointed at the Third Emperor's grandson and said with a smile, "Let the two children compare and see who is taller."

The Crown Princess placed the Third Grandson on the Kang with a smile on her face. Dou Zhao also placed Yuan Ge'er next to the Third Grandson. The two children lay side by side, both were chubby and pink, and were almost the same size.

The Queen Mother laughed and said, "These two children are well raised."

Princess Dou Zhao and the Crown Princess smiled and thanked the Empress Dowager for her compliment. I don't know when the two children turned sideways, you grabbed my collar and I grabbed your tassel, and we got entangled together.

The Queen Mother burst into laughter.

Yuan Ge'er and the Third Emperor's grandson's wet nurse were so frightened that they rushed forward to separate the two children.

The Queen Mother waved her hand to stop the two wet nurses, saying, "This child should play and fight with his peers more. Like in the past, when I hadn't entered the palace, the children in the village would fight with each other for a few rounds, and they were all as strong as calves. The children in the palace are different, they are raised carefully, but few of them can stand up." At this point, she sighed softly and ordered the two wet nurses, "Don't worry about them, let them play for a while."

A few days ago, the emperor's favorite concubine Liu gave birth to a prince, but the prince died before he was one month old.

The wet nurse quietly retreated, and Dou Zhao and the Crown Princess stood in front of the kang to look after the child.

The two little guys were having a lot of fun, pulling at each other's clothes and laughing, making the atmosphere in the room warm.

In the blink of an eye, an hour passed. Both children were taken away to be fed. The Empress Dowager asked Song Han, "I heard that they have passed the separation certificate?"

Dou Zhao knew what the Queen Mother meant, but she had no intention of getting involved and replied with a respectful smile, "Yes."

The Queen Mother smiled and said, "As it should be! When the child grows up, he will have to start his own business. As their sister-in-law, you should not spoil them too much. Let them handle things on their own. After a while, they will know how to live. All children grow up this way."

Dou Zhao felt that sweat was coming out of his forehead.

Fortunately, the Empress Dowager did not continue the topic. She told Aunt Lan to keep Dou Zhao for dinner and let them leave.

The Crown Princess invited Dou Zhao to talk outside.

Dou Zhao knew that this was the highlight of today, and followed the Crown Princess out of the warm room with a smile on his face.

The palace maids served tea and snacks and retreated quietly.

The Crown Princess then smiled and said, "Thank you so much for what happened yesterday, Prince. If it weren't for the Prince, Your Highness wouldn't have known that someone was so brave. Your Highness wanted to thank the Prince, but was afraid that someone with ulterior motives would see this and cause trouble, so he asked me to come and thank Madam."

The nobles in the palace are full of thoughts, but those who are a little respectable can bend down at critical moments, and they all like to settle accounts afterwards.

Dou Zhao stood up quickly, with a look of panic on her face, and said, "Your Highness, you are really embarrassing our prince by saying this. Your Highness is the king of the country, and serving Your Highness is the duty of a subject. I am terrified!"

There was a glimmer of relief in the Crown Princess' eyes.

She hurriedly pulled Dou Zhao to sit down again and said with a smile: "I told you all this because I was afraid you might misunderstand me. If you feel uneasy because of this, it would seem that I have done more harm than good."

Dou Zhao understood that the Crown Princess was asking Song Mo a question through her!

She half-sat on the brocade cushion and said humbly, "It is my ignorance that I fail to appreciate the good intentions of the Crown Princess."

The Crown Princess nodded with a smile, invited Dou Zhao to have tea, and started talking about the child, never mentioning the Crown Prince summoning Song Mo again.

Dou Zhao smiled and talked to her for a while, had lunch at Cining Palace, and then carried Yuan Ge'er out of the palace.

Song Mo had already arranged everything.

Although he didn't know what the Crown Princess said to Dou Zhao, he knew exactly how Dou Zhao entered the palace. But he was still relieved to see his wife and son leave the palace safely.

After carrying Yuan Ge'er, who was growing stronger and stronger, Song Mo and Dou Zhao got on the carriage.

Dou Zhao quietly told Song Mo what the Crown Princess had said.

Song Mo was silent for a while, then said, "This year you should go to the palace to pay New Year's greetings to the Crown Princess!"

Are you trying to surrender to the prince?

Dou Zhao was surprised.

Song Mo hugged her and said with a smile: "What are you thinking? His Highness has given us a gift, we can't just remain indifferent, right? As for Prince Liao, we will also send New Year gifts as usual."

After discovering Shi Chuan, Song Mo would not be able to surrender to King Liao. Otherwise, people would think that Song Mo was afraid of King Liao. Wouldn't he have no bottom line at that time? Anyone who wanted to step forward could step on Song Mo's feet.

Dou Zhao smiled and replied “yes”.

When he returned to the Duke of England's mansion, he ran into Gao Sheng at the door.

Gao Sheng smiled and said, "Tomorrow the twelfth master will officially take over. The master asked me to remind my aunt and aunt not to forget to go to Jing'an Temple Hutong for a drink tomorrow."

Song Mo responded with a smile and asked Gao Sheng to bring back the white pear blossoms that Dou Shiying had admired in the Dan Palace.

Gao Sheng returned home with many thanks.

The next day, Song Mo and Dou Zhao took Yuan Ge'er, dressed in new clothes, to Jing'an Temple Hutong.

Dou Shiying held Yuan Ge'er tightly and refused to let go.

Guests arrived one after another, and when they saw the beautiful little child in Dou Shiying's arms, they couldn't help but come forward to tease the child.

For a moment, the hall was filled with cheers.

Someone asked, "Why don't we see Fifth Aunt and Fifth Aunt?"

Dou Shiying was afraid that Dou Ming would make a scene and make Dou Dechang lose face, so he only told Wei Tingyu. As for whether he came or not, that was his business.

But when he saw that Wei Tingyu really did not show up, Dou Shiying was still a little unhappy.

He frowned slightly and was about to explain something when Wei Tingyu rushed over.

Wei Tingyu wore a brand new royal blue gown with light blue floral patterns and a dark blue grey squirrel fur cape. As soon as he entered the room, he bowed to everyone and apologized. He said, "Ming Jie'er was supposed to come with us, but she caught a cold yesterday and feels a little uncomfortable today. She asked the doctor to prescribe some medicine, but she felt drowsy and sleepy after taking it, so I didn't let her come."

No one cares.

Dou Ming hadn't been back to his parents' home for some time. Whenever there were weddings or funerals in the Dou family, they would only greet Wei Tingyu. If he wanted to come, he could come, and if he didn't want to come, no one would urge him to come.

Dou Zhengchang and others smiled and came forward to greet him.

A little maid ran over and took Wei Tingyu's bamboo hat.

Dou Jichang noticed several scratches on Wei Tingyu's neck.

He winked at Dou Dechang.

Dou Dechang coughed twice lightly, signaling him not to meddle in other people's business.

Dou Jichang returned home and told his fifth wife about this.

The Fifth Wife also warned him: "This is the business of the Jining Marquis's Mansion, just pretend you don't know."

Wei Tingyu returned to the Jining Marquis's Mansion and went straight to the courtyard where widow Tian lived.

The maids hurried forward to help him untie the knot.

He pushed the maid away and asked Aunt Tian anxiously, "How is she?"

Nanny Tian's eyes dimmed, and she whispered, "The doctor said that if we can survive tonight, both mother and child will be safe; if we can't survive tonight..."

Wei Tingyu's face turned pale when he heard this. He gritted his teeth and said angrily, "How could she be so cruel? A bowl of medicine took my child's life!"

Nanny Tian lowered her head and said nothing.

Wei Tingyu walked quickly into the inner room.

The inner room where the earth dragon was burned was warm as spring.

A pale-faced girl was lying on the big kang by the window. She was the maid who served Wei Tingyu in the study that day.

Mr. Tian was sitting by the kang, twisting Buddhist beads and chanting sutras.

Hearing the noise, both of them looked over. The girl cried out "Master Hou" with tears in her eyes and struggled to get up.

Tian pressed her down on the kang and said softly, "Hurry up and lie down. Be careful not to disturb the fetus."

The girl looked at Wei Tingyu eagerly and lay down obediently.

Wei Tingyu sat down next to Tian and asked the girl concernedly, "Are you okay?"

The girl nodded.

Wei Tingyu's expression brightened up.

Tian turned her head away with tears in her eyes and whispered, "How are you going to deal with Ming Jie'er?"

Wei Tingyu was somewhat bewildered, and said, "Sister Ming is the legitimate wife after all..."

He stole the maid, and it was originally his fault. He accepted Ming Jie'er's temper, but she shouldn't be so cruel as to beat his child... Dou Zhao's child is almost half a year old, but he still has no child...