On the third day after the burial, the Dou family announced the death to relatives and friends. For a while, the Dou family was in an uproar, and people came to pay their respects endlessly.

Dou Shiying, Wang Yingxue, Dou Zhao and Dou Ming, as filial sons, daughters-in-law and grandsons, expressed their gratitude in front of the coffin and left all the household affairs to Gao Sheng.

Those who served tea, attended to mourners, managed the mourning accounts, and even those who beat the cloud board and held incense paper all went to him for instructions. He had never experienced such a thing before, but he had gained some experience during the years of accompanying Dou Shiying in Kyoto, and he was more attentive in his work, and more steady and reliable than the other people in Xidou. After all the busy work, he was unable to cope with the situation.

Dou Zhao would give him pointers from time to time, and within a few days he had figured out the ropes and was acting more steadily. When some of the old stewards at Dong Dou saw this, they praised him for being "capable of great use". Gao Sheng then breathed a sigh of relief, and when he looked at Dou Zhao again, his eyes were inevitably a little different.

This is exactly what Dou Zhao planned.

During the three-year mourning period, she must live in Xidou, and she needs a strong arm.

Two days later, Wang Zhibing and Pang Yulou came to pay their respects.

Uncle and sister-in-law, this is a strange combination.

Wang Zhibing explained, "Nan'er's mother is pregnant. It's the first few months of pregnancy, and she's a little old, so she can't stand the rush. My younger sister and I haven't seen my younger sister for a while, and Tan'er misses his cousin, so I brought them here to burn incense for the old lady."

Wang Tan is Pang Yulou's eldest son, one year younger than Dou Ming.

Or maybe they were having a great time in Liuye Hutong, Kyoto. As soon as Wang Tan entered the house, she held Dou Ming's hand tightly and called "Sister Ming": "When are you coming home? There's no one to play with me."

Dou Ming said: "I have to observe mourning for my grandfather. After that, I will go to Kyoto to see you."

Wang Tan said, "Then you should finish your mourning quickly. Then I will ask Dad to take us to Daxiangguo Temple to eat mutton noodles."

Dou Ming nodded continuously.

Pang Yulou pushed his son and pointed at Dou Zhao, saying, "Call me cousin now!"

Wang Tan looks like someone from the Pang family, with fair skin and big watery eyes. She is prettier and more beautiful than a girl.

He sweetly called Dou Zhao "sister".

Dou Zhao still remembered that in his previous life, he bumped into him kneeling at Dou Ming's feet beside the roses and begged Dou Ming bitterly: "Good sister, my brother only has his cousin Gao Mingzhu in his heart. Even if he marries you, he will not treat you well. I am different. I have liked you since I was a child. If you marry me, I will treat you well all my life. I will help you with whatever you want to do..."

Unfortunately, Dou Ming's eyes were as soft and lingering as spring water, as if they could drown people, but the look he gave Wang Tan was full of calculation.

She smiled coquettishly and said, "Then I want you to tell your grandmother in front of her that you want to marry Gao Mingzhu. Do you dare?"

Wang Tan said.

The Wang family only thought that Gao Mingzhu was having an ambiguous relationship between the brothers Wang Nan and Wang Tan, and there was no possibility for her to become the daughter-in-law of the Wang family.

Gao would rather divorce than let Dou Ming be her daughter-in-law.

Wang Nan never spoke to Dou Ming again...

When Dou Zhao saw Wang Tan again, his heart was filled with sympathy for him.

She smiled faintly at Wang Tan.

Pang Yulou pushed his son in front of Dou Zhao and said, "You two cousins ​​should get closer to each other!"

Dou Zhao said nothing.

Dou Ming ran over and pulled Wang Tan: "Let's go play with Yijieer and Shujieer."

Wang Tan smiled and responded “Okay”.

Pang Yulou glared at his son and said, "You stay here."

Wang Tan didn't dare to move and looked at Dou Ming pitifully.

Dou Ming started to cry: "I want to play with Tan Ge'er, I want to play with Tan Ge'er!"

Dou Shiying frowned.

Wang Yingxue glanced at Pang Yulou unhappily, and coaxed Wang Tan and Dou Ming: "Okay, okay, don't cry anymore. Yijieer and Shujieer are in the flower hall, go and play with them!"

Wang Tan and Dou Ming went to the flower hall hand in hand.

Pang Yulou sighed secretly in his heart, then smiled and said to Dou Shiying, "My two nephews from my mother's side, Xiu Ge'er and Kun Ge'er, are here too. They want to come in and pay their respects to aunt."

When Dou Duo died, Pang Yulou's three brothers came in person to pay their respects, but they didn't know that her nephew from her mother's side had also come.

Anyone who comes is a guest.

Dou Shiying did not refuse.

Pang Jixiu is the son of Pang Jinlou, he is fifteen years old this year, and Pang Kunbai is the son of Pang Yinlou, he is twelve years old this year. Both children are handsome and polite in their gestures. If one of them had a look that was too sly and the other too shrewd, they would have looked like handsome young men.

Pang Yulou introduced Dou Zhao to the two of them: "This is your eldest cousin."

The two men saluted Dou Zhao.

Dou Zhao had no intention of socializing with the Pang family. He nodded indifferently without returning the greeting, seeming a little aloof.

Dou Shiying had never expected that Pang Yulou's two nephews were so old. When they saw Pang Yulou acting like this, they were unhappy, but naturally they did not think that Dou Zhao was being rude.

He exchanged a few cold words with Pang Jixiu and Pang Kunbai, then took Dou Zhao to the mourning hall.

Wang Yingxue pulled Pang Yulou to the side room and whispered, "What are you doing?"

Pang Yulou looked helpless: "You also know that my brothers from my mother's side are still doing business in Lingbi County. They want to hook up with the Dou family. When they heard that the fourth young lady was of similar age to Xiu and Kun, they wanted to marry her. I also know that Xiu and Kun are not worthy of the fourth young lady, but no matter what I say, they won't listen. Instead, they blame me for interfering. I have no choice but to bring my two nephews here to see if I can win the favor of the aunt." He added, "However, I think if the fourth young lady marries into the Pang family, it will be good for you - my sister-in-law will become her mother-in-law, and I will become her aunt. She can't disobey her elders!"

"Have you forgotten? The Wang family cannot interfere in Dou Zhao's marriage!"

"It's the parents' orders and the matchmaker's words." Pang Yulou disagreed, "We are not directly betrothing the fourth young lady."

Wang Yingxue's heart skipped a beat: "What do you mean?"

"What if the fourth young lady chooses him herself?" Pang Yulou covered his mouth and laughed, "The Zhao family didn't say that the fourth young lady couldn't marry someone from the Pang family!"

What good is Dou Zhao? Why did my second sister-in-law go to such great lengths to marry her into the Pang family...

A thought flashed through Wang Yingxue's mind, and she thought of Dou Zhao's dowry.

Her expression immediately became somewhat unclear.

If Dou Zhao married into the Pang family, this property would belong to the Pang family.

Although the Second Lady issued a gag order, those involved at the time knew it clearly in their hearts.

When Wang Yingxue looked at Pang Yulou again, she became more alert.

She is really scheming!

Wang Yingxue was thinking about it. Dou Shiying was talking to the people from the Wu family who came to pay their respects. "... He passed away so suddenly that no one expected it... As for the Hanlin Academy, I applied for Ding Xun, so it's a good opportunity for me to study hard at home..."

Wu Shan, who was following his uncle, quietly handed Dou Zhao a purse and said, "Please accept my condolences!"

But what does this have to do with your wallet?

She looked at Wu Shan in confusion.

While the adults were not paying attention, Wu Shan whispered, "I got the amulet from Dafang Temple." His voice was hurried and his ears were red.

Dou Zhao was slightly stunned, then smiled and said "thank you" with earnest and sincere words.

Wu Shan smiled with his eyes narrowed, and his ears turned even redder. Then he stood beside his uncle, his eyes focused on his nose and his nose focused on his heart, and never looked at Dou Zhao again.

Dou Zhao vaguely sensed Wu Shan's feelings for her and couldn't help falling into deep thought.

※※※※※

After the 79th day of the twelfth month, my grandfather was buried in the Dou family ancestral tomb in the north building, and the guests in the house gradually left.

Pang Yulou and Wang Yingxue discussed: "Can we let Xiu'er and Kun'er study in the Dou family's clan school?"

Wang Yingxue didn't like Pang Yulou's greed and didn't want to help. However, she was afraid that she would need to ask Pang for something in the future, so she didn't want to fall out with Pang. She pushed the blame on Dou Shiying. Dou Shiying felt that the two children looked sophisticated and was a little unhappy. He pushed the responsibility on the third uncle: "... Third Master has always been in charge of them. I don't know what the requirements are for studying in the clan school. You might as well go and ask Third Master."

Both agreed reluctantly.

Pang Yulou had heard worse things than this, but he didn't take it to heart. He took the eight-colored gift box and went to find Dou Shibang in person.

The Dou family school was quite famous in Zhending Prefecture, and children of relatives and friends often came to study there.

Dou Shibang agreed without saying a word.

In this way, Pang Jixiu and Pang Kunbai entered the Dou clan school and soon got to know Dou Zhengchang, Dou Dechang, Dou Qijun and others. Occasionally, they would find ways to follow them back to the East Palace for dinner, but they never met Dou Zhao once.

Pang Kunbai couldn't help but complain to his father: "It's totally useless."

Pang Yinlou slapped his son in the face and said, "I have been doing business for more than ten years and have only earned 20,000 to 30,000 taels of silver. How can you get such a large sum of money without any effort?" Then he taught him a lesson, "You better do your best. The money of the Dou family is not only watched by your uncle, but also by your aunt. Don't let Wang Tan get the advantage, or you will cry."

"Really?" Pang Kunbai was very surprised, "Wang Tan is four years younger than the fourth young lady of the Dou family?"

"What's wrong with being four years younger?" Pang Jinlou said, "Pang Jixiu is six years older than the fourth young lady!"

Pang Kun closed his mouth.

Pang Jixiu was more patient than Pang Kunbai. After he spent a lot of money to hire someone to investigate Dou Zhao but failed, he not only studied and wrote seriously under the guidance of Mrs. Du, the teacher of Dou's family school, but also tried his best to make friends with people in the Dou's family school.

Dou Qijun and others were used to being flattered and fawned on, and did not take it to heart. However, Pang Jixiu found out from Dou Qijun's followers that Dou Zhao would stay at the farm for a few days every summer.

In the summer of the following year, he had made preparations early. When he heard that Dou Zhao had set off to the farm, he invited Dou Zhengchang and others to go to the countryside for fun.

Dou Zhengchang and the others were unwilling to go: "It's so sunburnt. What's fun to do in the countryside?" When he said this, Dou Dechang was holding a bowl of iced sour plum soup.

Pang Jixiu also felt that there was nothing fun to do, so he said, "We can go fishing in the river!"

"It's the same when I fish by the pond." Dou Zhengchang said lazily.

Wu Shan is here.

Dou Zhengchang introduced them and asked curiously, "I thought you would come on the Dragon Boat Festival, but you didn't come on the Dragon Boat Festival. You came here in such a hot day. Is there something urgent?"