Chapter 475: Sudden Enlightenment

Among the people Song Mo knew, no one knew Liang Jifen better than Dou Shishu, who was both Liang Jifen's colleague and his competitor. In terms of the pattern, no one saw more deeply and knew more than Dou Shishu. So when Song Mo met Dou Shishu, he did not hide his intentions. He told Dou Shishu everything that had happened to Duke Dingguo.

Dou Shishu didn't expect that Song Mo had never given up on overturning the case for Duke Dingguo.

A real man in the world knows what to do and what not to do!

There was more admiration in his eyes when he looked at Song Mo.

But for Song Mo's personal grudge and Liang Jifen's confrontation...

Don’t bully young men!

Dou Shishu looked at the heroic Song Mo, holding the teacup in silence for a long time, and then he made up his mind and said: "As far as I know, Liang Jifen is a cautious person. He had just taken over the cabinet at that time. He had the residual power of Zeng Yifen in front of him, the strong influence of Ye Shipei behind him, and Yao Shizhong and Dai Jian watching him from the side. His top priority was to gain a firm foothold. If he wanted to gain a firm foothold, the first priority was to figure out the emperor's intentions. Even if he was narrow-minded and wanted to hate Duke Dingguo, how could he dare to go against the emperor's wishes and risk the world's disapproval?"

Song Mo's eyes lit up and he said, "You mean, someone else has tampered with this?"

Dou Shishu nodded and said seriously: "Since the emperor regrets the death of Duke Dingguo and is so kind to you because of it, it stands to reason that since Duke Dingguo died in an accident, the emperor should treat the Jiang family well. But in the end, the death of Duke Dingguo did not bring about the emperor's forgiveness. It can be seen that the emperor was extremely angry at the time and had no intention of forgiving the Jiang family. Therefore, your uncles were thrown into the imperial prison as soon as they arrived in Beijing.

But your tactic of attacking while making a false move was good - you destroyed Duke Dingguo and made the emperor feel that he was unpopular. Then the emperor showed leniency when dealing with the Jiang family. All men over five were exiled, and men under five and women and children were demoted to commoners. The Jiang family's ancestral home was also left as a shelter. Later, Wang Yuan was ordered to deal with those who had participated in the murder of Duke Dingguo. By then, the emperor must have realized his mistake and wanted to make up for Duke Dingguo.

Who provoked the emperor's anger? What made the emperor wake up?

According to your speculation, the emperor wanted Duke Dingguo to assist the prince after his death. Even so, it is impossible for the emperor to entrust the prince to only one minister. As for his affairs after his death, the emperor most likely had other arrangements. Why did he go wrong with Duke Dingguo alone?

Then there is Ding Yu. He is a rootless person, and his honor and disgrace all depend on the emperor. I don’t know his other abilities to become a popular person around the emperor, but he must be first-rate in observing people’s expressions. How dare he easily murder the minister entrusted by the emperor to take care of his son?”

When Song Mo heard this, he suddenly felt as if his eyes were opened.

He said, "I asked Boyan to tell you about the matter of King Liao."

At this point, it was impossible to hide it any longer. If Dou Shishu made a wrong judgment, they might all face an irreparable situation.

Dou Shishu was surprised, and then showed an expression of sudden enlightenment.

He had doubted before, with Dou Qijun's status and position, how could he possibly discover Prince Liao's intention?

However, he acted cautiously, thinking that no matter where Dou Qijun got the news from, since such a rumor had come out, it could not be groundless, so it would be better to believe it.

He immediately ordered the Dou family not to cause trouble.

Then he followed this line to find out more about King Liao's background.

If you don't pay attention, you won't know!

Prince Liao had good intentions in Kyoto. Not only did he have aides and stewards who often stayed in his mansion in Kyoto to make friends with some of the meritorious and powerful people in the capital, he also ran a lucrative industry.

Only then did he completely believe what Dou Qijun said.

To his surprise, it was Song Mo who told Dou Qijun the news.

That's right.

Song Mo controls the Jinwu Guard in one hand and the Wucheng Bingmasi in the other. Unless Prince Liao leads his troops to rebel and attack, there is no way to bypass Song Mo.

At the Lantern Festival banquet, someone impeached Song Mo, and he immediately realized that someone was going to take action against Song Mo.

Since Song Mo is a noble, he is not in the same circle as the Dou family. But Song Mo is very capable and has a close relationship with the royal family. They are the first to know what the royal family does. He is now a noble elder, which seems to be very glorious in the eyes of others, but the risks are also very great. Knowing the emperor's mood at any time will be of great help to the safety of him and the Dou family.

He must support Song Mo.

So he sent Dou Qijun to warn Song Mo.

Dou Shishu couldn't help but chuckle twice.

Now it seems that Song Mo is more capable and shrewd than he thought.

With such an ally, the Dou family's future will surely become more glorious.

Dou Shishu laughed.

There's no need to beat around the bush.

He lowered his voice solemnly and asked, "Have you ever rejected the Queen's kindness?"

The matter was of great importance, so Song Mo lowered his voice a little and said, "I did not reject the Queen, but Prince Liao."

This is the same as Dou Shishu's guess.

He asked, "Is it possible that Duke Dingguo, like you, had also rejected Prince Liao?"

Song Mo pursed his lips and said nothing for a long time.

Fujian is a den of smuggling.

Before Duke Dingguo went to Fujian, none of the wealthy families there were clean.

After Duke Dingguo arrived, he started to take a commission.

It not only restrained the gentry, but also subsidized the expenses of the clinic.

Naturally, it blocks the way for some people.

What's more, rebellion is an extremely costly affair.

Dou Shishu said softly: "Only in this way can this matter be explained. Ding Yu understood the emperor's intention and decided to follow the trend; Liang Jifen followed suit and acted accordingly; the Empress..."

Just adding the right amount of exaggeration would be enough to make Duke Dingguo die without a burial place!

Song Mo's eyes were slightly moist.

It was really not worth it for my uncle to die at the hands of these people!

He closed his eyes.

He didn't want Dou Shishu to see the tears in his eyes.

Dou Shishu let out a long sigh.

Once you enter the officialdom, the higher you move up, the more you will be walking on thin ice, and no matter how vigilant you are, there will inevitably be times when you are plotted against.

That’s why allies are so crucial!

He said, "Although the Duke of England has always been in a superior position, your current position is crucial. It's east or west, you have to make a decision quickly." He also advised him, "If you hesitate, you will suffer the consequences!"

"I know." Song Mo nodded and thought of Jiang Boxun who was far away in Liaoning.

If the fifth uncle knew that the death of the eldest uncle might be related to the Empress Dowager and Prince Liao, would he still hope that Prince Liao would clear the Jiang family's name?

He took a sip of tea.

Dou Shishu said nothing.

Song Mo is not yet an adult, so it is a bit too much to ask him to make a judgment and choice immediately at a life-and-death moment.

The thought flashed through his mind and he sighed in his heart.

His two sons were older than Song Mo, but they were still worried about the contemporary essays assigned by their teacher. Compared with Song Mo, they were far behind.

In the future, the imperial examinations and official careers of the two children will be taken care of by the Dou family, but if they encounter difficulties, I'm afraid they will have to ask Song Mo to help take care of them.

Thinking of this, he began to like Song Mo a little more.

"Think about this carefully." Dou Shishu's voice unconsciously became gentler than before. "It's really difficult. You can pretend to be worried all day and resign on the pretext of being sick. Anyway, you are not the only one who is afraid of the Empress." His tone was a little awkward in the last sentence.

Is this treating him too close?

Song Mo still felt a little uncomfortable, so he stood up and said goodbye with a wry smile.

Dou Shishu personally escorted him to the gate before returning to the study.

Mrs. Wu, who had been paying attention to what was going on in the study, came in with a cup of hot tea.

"Master," she asked worriedly, "but what happened at the Duke's Mansion?"

"Nothing." Dou Shishu remained silent in front of his wife as the matter was of great importance. "He was impeached and came to me for advice."

Mrs. Wu breathed a sigh of relief.

Dou Shishu suddenly mentioned Guo: "I remember that she often brought Jingjie to visit the Duke of Ying's mansion. Is she still going there these days?"

My husband never shoots without a purpose.

The Fifth Madam said solemnly, "Everyone is busy these days during the New Year. Guo hasn't been to the Duke of Ying's Mansion for two months."

Dou Shishu said, "Tell her to visit Shougu more often when she is free. The more you visit relatives, the closer they become."

This was clearly intended to get Guo to befriend Dou Zhao.

Mrs. Five was stunned, but still believed her husband. She didn't ask any questions and just said "OK" with a smile.

When Song Mo returned home, Dou Zhao and Yuan Ge'er had both finished washing up. Dou Zhao was teasing Yuan Ge'er, who was only wearing a short jacket, to turn over on the kang.

His son's naivety and innocent smile dispelled the coldness in Song Mo's heart.

He kissed his son's little face, changed his clothes that were still covered with frost, washed off the dust, sat down next to Dou Zhao, and imitated Dou Zhao to tease Yuan Ge'er to turn over.

Chen Qushui had already reported everything to Dou Zhao. Dou Zhao knew that he had been to Huaishu Hutong, so he smiled and asked him, "Did your trip go well?"

"It went very smoothly!" Dou Shishu was worthy of being a cabinet elder. His perspective on things was several levels higher than the staff around him. Song Mo told Dou Zhao everything that had happened.

"Is it the Empress?" Dou Zhao murmured, feeling a little confused.

When people go out, what they rely on is their face.

Because of what Shi Chuan did, it was impossible for Song Mo to join the Liao King. And now he had offended the Empress...it was impossible for him to remain neutral.

Could it be that they would surrender to the prince because of this?

But in the previous life, King Liao was the final winner!

Dou Zhao twisted his fingers, thinking that the prince had been noble since he was young, and there were countless people around him who wanted to become his disciples. Even if Song Mo joined him now, he would probably not be able to become the prince's confidant.

This would be even more dangerous!

What should I do?

Both husband and wife wanted to remain neutral, so they were in a bad mood at this moment. Song Mo hugged Dou Zhao and didn't close his eyes for a long time.

Now that we have the result, it will be easier to trace the cause.

Song Mo ordered Du Wei to look for clues according to Dou Shishu's inference.

Chen Jiaze came to take Jiang Yan home.

Jiang Yan blushed as she returned to Yuqiao Hutong carrying the large and small bags of things that Dou Zhao had prepared for her.

Seeing Chen Jia's serious expression, she asked worriedly, "Did your brother give you a cold shoulder?"

Jiang Yan could sense that Song Mo disliked Chen Jia.

"No." Chen Jia smiled and touched Jiang Yan's head, saying gently, "Something happened in the government office, and I was thinking about what to do."

She can't help with this matter.

Jiang Yan said "Oh" and gently helped Chen Jia wash up.

Chen Jia's smile spread from his eyes to the corners of his mouth.