The relationship between people is sometimes very strange.

Dou Zhao thought he had seen through the world and was indifferent to others; Ji was cautious in her words and deeds, and as an elder, she was entrusted by Dou Shiying to take care of Dou Zhao, so she had to be respectful in front of Dou Zhao. Although the two had a good relationship before, it was not close. But since she got the camellia from the Eighteen Scholars, when Ji looked at Dou Zhao again, she was less reserved as an elder to the younger, and more like-minded.

After each class, she would always ask Dou Zhao a few words: "Where did you get these eighteen scholars?"

"The last time my father was renovating the East Cross Courtyard, he sent people to Jiangnan to buy flowers and trees. Someone offered this Eighteen Scholars a large sum of money to sell it. I thought it was genuine, so I bought it." In her previous life, she was surrounded by people who liked to appreciate and wear flowers, but no one liked to plant flowers. In this life, Dou Zhao finally met someone who was also interested in planting flowers and grass. She liked to talk about these things. "I also asked him to find me two six-cornered big red plants, one red red plant, one pink red plant, and one camellia." She added, "Does Sixth Aunt like Jianlan? I also asked him to help me find a few seedlings."

"You can still raise Jianlan?" Ji's eyes widened. "How can you raise Jianlan?"

Dou Zhao was surprised that he had let the cat out of the bag, and hurriedly said, "I don't know how to grow orchids. But I saw an orchid book in my father's study, and I thought it was very interesting, so I wanted to try to grow a few Jianlan plants according to the recipes on it to see if it would work." Then he smiled and said, "How do you know if it works if you don't try? Maybe you can grow a Dou's Jianlan!"

In her previous life, she liked Jianlan the most, especially the Suxin Jianlan. She thought its flowers were dignified and beautiful, simple and elegant, and it was adaptable to any environment. It can be grown anywhere, and with a little care, it can even bloom for two or three seasons.

Ji really wanted to see this orchid book, but she swallowed the words when they came to her lips. Orchids are precious. In some families that have been raising orchids for generations, the skills of raising orchids are like a family craft, and are even passed down from son to son. Who knows how Xidou got this orchid book? Instead of shamelessly peeking at Xidou's orchid book from the ignorant Dou Zhao, it would be better to let Dou Zhao give her a few orchids.

"I'm waiting for your Dou's Jianlan." She said with a smile, "Just don't forget to give a few to your sixth aunt when the time comes."

Dou Zhao heaved a sigh of relief when he saw that Ji no longer asked about Yang Lan, and he kept promising: "Of course, of course!"

Ji and her went to see the two Jianlan orchids that were still in bloom: "How do you keep them blooming until now?"

Dou Zhao no longer dared to show off and said with a smile: "I just tried to keep it in the greenhouse, but I didn't expect it to bloom until now. I still don't know why it can bloom for so long. I sent a capable maid to take care of it every day and record its daily changes. I should be able to find the reason."

Ji was very impressed: "I only knew that you were diligent in studying, but I didn't expect that you would also work so hard in growing flowers."

"Since we have to work hard anyway, why not do our best to do our best?" Dou Zhao said with a smile.

Ji kept nodding her head, her praise evident in her words.

A little maid ran in hurriedly: "Sixth Madam, Fourth Miss, Grandma Huanjiu has given birth."

Dou Zhao and Ji Shi both showed surprised expressions, and asked the little maid in unison: "Is it a young lady or a young master? Is Grandma Huanjiu safe and sound?"

The little maid hurriedly smiled and said, "Mrs. Huanjiu gave birth to a son, and both mother and child are safe."

The two of them put their hands together and chanted Amitabha at the same time.

After reading it, we found it interesting and couldn't help but laugh at each other.

Ji suggested that Dou Zhao give a pot of Jianlan to Huang as a congratulatory gift: "He is the eldest grandson of the eldest son of the family. Many relatives and friends will come to congratulate him. Maybe someone from the Huang family in Huai'an will come as well. There are many people in Jiangnan who love orchids."

Dou Zhao was a little surprised.

Ji has always kept a low profile, but these days she has been acting out of character, putting herself at the forefront of everything.

She didn't understand until she heard Haitang muttering "I'm afraid all the fourth young lady's winter clothes will have to be redone" before going to bed at night.

I am also at the age to get married.

She ended up sending a few pieces of brocade as a gift.

Ji was angry at Dou Zhao for not fighting back, and secretly reflected on herself, thinking that she was the one who made Dou Zhao like this.

Nanny Wang laughed and said, "Young Miss is truly a woman who is not surprised by insults. Madam should be happy about this."

"Yes!" Ji replied dejectedly, "But the more she acts like this, the more I can't bear to let her be buried like this."

During the Double Ninth Festival flower banquet at the Dou Mansion, she always kept Dou Zhao by her side, and occasionally asked her to make tea for the respected elders or pass them a handkerchief.

Dou Zhaoming knew what Ji was doing, but she was too strong-willed to do anything that would damage her reputation. She could only accept with a smile the compliments from the elders such as "stable, generous" and "intelligent and clever". Compared with her, Yijie'er and Shujie'er seemed one too impetuous and the other too dull.

The second wife stood aside but smiled and said nothing.

Madam Liu whispered, "Do you want to ask Sixth Madam to help check whether the chrysanthemum mountain is properly tied? Sixth Madam is from Jiangnan, so she must have seen more than us."

The Second Wife was very unhappy, but Ji was her daughter-in-law, and even with the most caring old servant, she didn't want Ji to lose face in front of Madam Liu.

"This is Shou Gu's ability," the Second Lady glanced at Madam Liu and said, "If you want to blame someone, blame those people for not teaching Sister Yi and Sister Shu well."

Aunt Liu quickly lowered her head and responded.

The second lady took the hand of the third cousin and went to the banquet hall.

Usually, it was the Sixth Aunt who supported the Second Madam.

Dou Zhao sighed secretly in his heart when he saw Ji's sullen face.

Even though she didn't know the Second Madam's intention before, after witnessing the unseen tension between the Second Madam and Ji today, she had a vague guess.

The Wang family could not interfere with her marriage. The Zhao family was thousands of miles away and could not marry her to the northwest. Her father was a man after all, so she would most likely ask Dong Dou for help. The Second Lady obviously did not want her to steal the limelight from Yijieer and Shujieer, and did not want her to look like she was getting married.

Thinking of the half of Xidou's property that was registered under her name, she, who had also been a clan wife, could understand the Second Lady's considerations very well - rather than rejecting the matchmaker who had knocked on the doorstep and offending him, it would be better to quietly marry Jing to someone who would be beneficial to the Dou family, or to keep her in the Dou family, provide her with good food and drink, and coax her into dividing the property under her name among the Dou family's nephews and nieces.

Fortunately, although the Second Lady had her own plan, she also had her own way around the wall, so she didn't have to let Ji be caught between her and the Second Lady.

After seeing off the guests, Dou Zhao asked the Second Lady to speak for her: "...I want to be a learned person like my Sixth Aunt, and my Sixth Aunt agreed. So I wrote a letter to my father, asking him to allow me to continue my studies and hire a teacher to teach at home. My father has not replied to this letter yet, and I am afraid that Madam will interfere..."

The Second Lady looked at Ji, who had a look of surprise on her face, and said with a smile, "You are still young, and it is the right time for you to study. Don't worry, I will take charge of this matter, and Wang will not say anything."

Dou Zhao happily thanked the Second Lady.

Ji sighed, patted her hand gently, and personally escorted her to the carriage.

The Second Lady did not want to be mentioned, and without waiting for Dou Shiying's reply, she had already instructed Dou Shibang to secretly find a teacher for Dou Zhao: "... he cannot be from Zhending or nearby, and he must be well-educated, and he must be able to keep Shougu interested in learning."

Dou Shibang was puzzled: "Shougu doesn't have to take the imperial examination."

The second lady said, "We spent a lot of money, but we still want to invite an unlearned person back? If others know about this, where will the face of the Dou family be? Where will the reputation of the Dou family school be?"

But there's no need to invite someone back who has no background, right?

Dou Shibang grumbled in his heart but did not dare to ask any more questions. He replied respectfully, "Yes," and found a few reliable managers to help find a teacher for Dou Zhao.

Despite this, Dou Zhao's reputation for being handsome, well-mannered, and steady spread.

Soon someone came to propose marriage.

The Second Lady rejected all the applications with the excuse that "she is too young and needs to wait until she is at least 15 years old".

Grandmother was a little worried when she heard this, and she said to Hong Gu in private: "Isn't it too late for you to get married? I'm afraid all the young men of the right age have already been engaged."

Hong Gu comforted her grandmother: "Our Shou Gu is so pretty and capable, there's no need to worry about not being able to find a good husband. There's no such thing in Zhending County, is there no such thing in Jingdou?"

"That's true." Grandma felt relieved.

Dou Zhao found out and laughed secretly.

It seems that no one mentioned Wei Tingyu.

If only she could find a way to get the token back from her uncle... then her marriage to the Wei family would be completely over.

Dou Zhao thought of his children.

It seems to remain in my memory forever, and I still look like I was fourteen or fifteen years old.

Her mood suddenly dropped.

When Dou Zhao went to Ji's place to study, he leaned unhappily on the big pillow in the carriage.

The carriage that was moving along suddenly stopped abruptly amidst the shouting. Dou Zhao, Haitang, Qiu Kui and the others stumbled and rolled into a ball. A girl's clear and trembling voice came from outside: "Miss Dou, please save my father!"

Dou Zhao's heart shuddered when he heard this.

Since it is called "rescue", it must be very dangerous.

What dangers could there be for law-abiding citizens?

As they were strangers, she had no intention of getting involved and told Haitang, "Tell the driver to hurry up and not delay your studies."

Haitang hurriedly conveyed Dou Zhao's words to the driver.

The driver whipped the rickshaw to hurry up.

The girl who was blocking the car stood in the middle of the alley with her arms wide open and refused to give way.

The driver had no choice but to whisper to the girl: "Our young lady is not yet of age, and her own affairs must be decided by the elders in the family. If you have any grievances, just go to the government office and beat the drum. How can our young lady help you?"

The little girl stood there stubbornly.

The old woman following the car jumped down and pulled the little girl.

The little girl remained motionless.

The old woman's face flushed and she called for help.

The driver and another woman who was following the carriage got off.

The little girl kept shouting at Dou Zhao's carriage, "Fourth Miss, I beg you, my father was wronged, they said we were in cahoots with bandits, but my father didn't even know that person. When my father's friends came to visit our house, I was the one who helped make tea and sell wine. I know all my father's friends. Fourth Miss, I beg you!" As she said that, she kowtowed to Dou Zhao, "dong dong dong", and no matter how the three adults tried to pull her up, she couldn't get up.