Chapter 514: Frankly Speaking

Song Yichun almost couldn't breathe when he heard that. Dou Zhaozhi's straight back, his calm expression when he spoke, and his tone which revealed a bit of nonchalant contempt made him feel cold in his heart.

Prince Liao is now his weak point, and he dare not confront Dou Zhao head-on.

Song Yichun gritted her teeth and shouted "Stop" before Dou Zhao walked out of the flower hall. She said, "How can you talk to your father-in-law like this?"

Dou Zhao smiled slightly, looking very respectful, but there was a hint of disdain in his expression.

Being looked down upon by his daughter-in-law, Song Yichun felt hot on his face. He walked out as if escaping, saying, "Come with me to the study to talk."

Dou Zhao followed with a smile.

The maids in the house sighed and exchanged glances with each other, with amusement in their eyes as if they were watching a play.

The Duke always wanted to overpower his wife, but was always defeated by her. However, the Duke refused to believe in evil and would give it a try whenever he got the chance. As a result, he lost again this time.

They dispersed in twos and threes, their fear and respect for Song Yichun decreasing a bit.

Of course Song Yichun didn't know.

He sent the servant in the study away and asked Dou Zhao directly, "What happened to Prince Liao?"

Dou Zhao was too lazy to argue with him, and said, "The emperor felt ashamed, so he told the outside world that he sent Prince Liao to the capital to take care of the sick, but in fact he imprisoned Prince Liao by his side. I heard from the prince that the emperor would arrange for someone to interrogate Prince Liao after he moved to Xiwan. I came here this time because of Song Han's matter. If he talks nonsense like this, even if the prince wants to protect him, I'm afraid he won't be able to protect the Duke. I think you should take the initiative and expel Song Han from the family because he intends to have an affair with his stepmother. In this way, even if he talks nonsense, others will just think that he is resentful of you for driving him out of the house..."

Song Yichun was horrified when he heard this.

He didn't expect that Dou Zhao came to him for this matter.

What was even more unexpected was that Dou Zhao spoke out such a vicious thing as if he was talking about what dishes he cooked or what flowers he embroidered today.

Has he always underestimated Dou Zhao?

Song Yichun couldn't help but look at his eldest daughter-in-law carefully.

She had an upright figure, eyes that were full of hope, and she was wearing a rose purple and gold embroidered jacket. The slightly exposed moon-white stand-up collar was embellished with a red gold camellia. She was bright and yet three parts bold, and three parts gorgeous. She just stood there quietly, but gave people a sense of intimidation.

For some reason, Song Yichun thought of the beautiful snake!

Isn't this woman in front of him like a beautiful snake? How could he think she was just a shrew?

Song Han made her suffer, so she wanted to get rid of him. She was also involved in that incident, so would she also think of ways to get rid of herself?

Song Yichun's throat tightened and he involuntarily took a few steps back, looking at Dou Zhao with caution.

"That won't do!" He said stubbornly, "Then the reputation of the Duke of Ying's Mansion will be ruined. The Duke of Ying's Mansion will be handed over to Yuan'er sooner or later. You can't let Yuan'er inherit a notorious Duke's Mansion, right?"

I heard that Dou herself raised Yuan Ge'er, so she should be more restrained by using Yuan Ge'er as an excuse, right?

Who knew that Dou Shi didn't care, and said to him leisurely: "If I hadn't worried about this, I would have asked the second wife to go to Shuntian Palace to complain. I just want you to go to the palace and tell the emperor. As long as the emperor agrees, what does it matter what others say? You can just show your loyalty to the emperor. Why not do this thing that kills two birds with one stone?"

Force him to kick Song Han out of the house!

Song Yichun was overwhelmed and said, "This kind of thing has to be exposed in the ancestral hall. Once it is exposed, it can't be concealed. How can it be as easy as you say?"

Dou Zhao sneered, "When you wanted to expel the Crown Prince, the first, third, and fourth masters said nothing. Why did they suddenly become bolder when it came to Song Han? You can't bear to part with Song Han, right? It makes sense if you think about it. Without Song Han, what can you do to annoy the Crown Prince? But now that things have come to this, you have to think clearly. Is it more important to annoy the Crown Prince or to save your own life? The Crown Prince has the merit of following the dragon, and you If something goes wrong, at most he will be credited with both merits and demerits, and he will still be the prince of the Duke of Ying. No, the emperor might get angry and strip you of your title, and hand the Duke of Ying directly to the prince..." She said, smiling with a schadenfreude, "Anyway, I've said this much, it's up to you whether you listen or not." She stood up, "I'm leaving first, the prince will be back soon, and I still have to serve him dinner!"

Song Yichun's hair stood on end.

How did Dou know about what happened back then?

Could it be Song Mo?

Song Han has fallen into Song Mo's hands. Even if Song Han admitted everything, Song Mo has the ability to fabricate a false confession and put all the blame on himself.

Song Yichun quickly made a decision whether to let Song Han die or himself.

He said loudly to Dou Zhao who was walking out: "Did Song Mo ask you to tell me this?"

Without Song Mo's nod, Dou Zhao, a woman, would not be able to challenge him even if she had such vicious thoughts!

Dou Zhao smiled without answering and left the study.

Song Yichun was even more certain that this was what Song Mo meant.

However, Dou was so calm and composed from beginning to end, and she was no pushover. Maybe she also gave Song Mo a lot of ideas?

Thinking of this, he was shocked.

Even though Song Mo was vicious and cruel, he was his son after all, so he didn't dare to do anything to him. Dou was an outsider, and Song Mo loved her very much. If she did something bad...

Song Yichun couldn't help stroking his forehead and started walking around the room.

Why did Dou hate Song Han so much? In addition to the fact that Song Han had caused her a great loss, it was probably also because he favored Song Han and Dou was worried that she would pass on her title to Song Han.

If Song Mo had a bastard son, and the bastard son was smarter, healthier and more lively than Dou Zhaosheng's son, and pleased Song Mo... Dou would definitely deal with Song Mo, right?

When Li Tiao Niang was pregnant, wasn't it because Jiang Shi was worried that Li Tiao Niang would give birth to a son that would harm Song Mo that he turned a blind eye and let his father deal with Li Tiao Niang?

Thinking of this, Song Yichun's mood suddenly improved.

Although it cannot be seen now, Song Mo has not yet reached adulthood, and he still has several more decades to live. Who can predict what will happen in the future?

He couldn't help but laugh a few times, and suddenly felt that Song Han didn't seem to be that important in his heart anymore.

※※※※※

In Yizhi Hall, Dou Zhao was sitting on the big kang by the window, sewing a silk cloth.

From time to time, she looked up at Song Mo who was holding Yuan Ge'er and writing big characters.

Song Mo couldn't continue writing after being looked at by her. He raised his head and asked, "What's wrong?"

Dou Zhao said, "Isn't it too early for you to teach Yuan Ge'er how to read now?"

"It's just that I let him learn a little bit first." Song Mo smiled, "This is what my father-in-law taught me. He said that the children of the Dou family start to learn words as soon as they can speak, and when they are enlightened, they learn faster than other children. He told me not to focus on official business and delay the child's homework."

Dou Zhao couldn't help but laugh.

Song Mo touched Yuan Ge'er's black hair and said, "Although our Yuan Ge doesn't need to take the imperial examination, it's always good for him to read more books."

Dou Zhao agreed with this point.

She looked up and saw that Yuan Ge'er had grabbed the ink stick in his hand at some point and was vigorously scratching on the inkstone, imitating the way Song Mo had just ground ink.

The ink splattered everywhere, not only on the words Song Mo had just written, but also on his hands and clothes.

"Yuan Ge'er!" She hurriedly got off the kang and snatched the ink stick from Yuan Ge'er's hand.

Yuan Ge'er raised his little face and looked at Dou Zhao in confusion, his expression seeming a little timid.

Dou Zhao secretly regretted it and said softly, "This is not a joke. Look at you, your hands are all covered in ink."

Yuan Ge'er looked at his own hands and giggled as if he found them very interesting.

Song Mo also laughed when he saw this, and persuaded Dou Zhao: "It's okay, the child is still young, he will know when he grows up." As he spoke, he kissed Yuan Ge'er, without any temper, and called the little maid to fetch water to help Yuan Ge wash his hands and change clothes.

Yuan Ge'er suddenly had an idea and put his hand on the rice paper, leaving several fingerprints on it.

He thought about it, then suddenly turned around and put his hand on Song Mo's chest.

Song Mo was wearing a gray-blue silk clothes. As soon as Yuan Ge'er's hand touched his clothes, the ink marks quickly seeped into it, which was very conspicuous.

Dou Zhao was stunned.

Yuan Ge'er looked at Song Mo with some pride and said, "Chicken's feet."

Dou Zhao and Song Mo both looked at those tiny dots, but they could not see any similarity between those dots and the chicken's feet.

Yuan Ge'er stretched out his little finger and tapped Song Mo's chest a few times, saying, "The chicken is walking."

Song Mo looked at the small ink dot that seemed to extend into the distance, and suddenly became excited. He said to Dou Zhao, "You know what, it really looks like the footprints of a chicken."

Dou Zhaoke couldn't tell. He just smiled for a while and helped the father and son change their clothes.

Yuan Ge'er wanted to write more, but Dou Zhao saw that it was getting late, so he coaxed him to go to bed: "Write under the sun tomorrow, so you can see clearly."

Song Mo also coaxed him: "Daddy, come back early tomorrow."

Yuan Ge'er acted coquettishly in Song Mo's arms for a while, then followed his wet nurse back to his room.

Song Mo sat leisurely on the armchair and said with a smile, "Tell me, what's the matter?"

Is it so obvious?

Dou Zhao smiled awkwardly.

Song Mo smiled and said, "Every time you have something serious to tell me, your expression becomes particularly serious."

Is this true?

Dou Zhao's eyes widened.

Song Mo smiled and pulled her into his arms to sit down, jokingly saying, "Tell me what's going on? Otherwise, I'm going to sleep."

Dou Zhao laughed and told Song Mo in detail how Miao Ansu came to see her and how she and Mr. Chen went to find Song Yichun.

The more Song Mo listened, the more solemn his expression became. When Dou Zhao finished speaking, a cold light appeared on his face.

Dou Zhao couldn't help but feel a little nervous, and asked hesitantly: "Do you think I've gone too far?"

Even so, she has no regrets.

"No!" Song Mo shook his head coldly, saying, "This is originally my business..." As he spoke, he turned his head and stared into her eyes intently, "Shougu, if there is such a thing in the future, you let me come forward, don't ruin your reputation."

But if he shows up, it will ruin his reputation.

For some reason, Dou Zhao's eyelashes suddenly filled with tears.