Bie Suxin met Chen Xiaofeng in the gatehouse of the outer courtyard of the Dou family.

Chen Xiaofeng lowered his head and asked Bie Suxin sadly, "Did you really take refuge with the fourth young lady of the Dou family?"

Bie Suxin smiled and said, "Can I still coax you about this matter?"

Chen Xiaofeng remained silent for a long while.

Bie Suxin said, "If Senior Brother has nothing to do, I will go back first. I have been learning the rules from the Sixth Madam in the East Palace these days." Then, "The Dou family is a talkative family with many servants. My sisters and I have just entered the palace at such an old age. It is already a bit of a stigma. If everyone hears us calling each other Senior Brother and Sister, I am afraid they will be more curious about us. From now on, I will still call Senior Brother "Big Brother"!" He also asked, "When will Big Brother Chen come out with Chen the Lame? If there is anything at home, you can ask Aunt to send someone to tell us. The Fourth Miss of the Dou family is a very good person. We can take time to visit Aunt."

Hearing what she said, Chen Xiaofeng felt even more ashamed: "I followed Chen Cripple out of confinement because he would give me a lot of money, so I wanted to help you. Now you all have someone to rely on, and my mother doesn't want me to leave home. Where is Chen Cripple?" , I have resigned."

Bie Suxin just said "Oh" and didn't comment.

There was a loud noise from the other side of the gate.

Chen Xiaofeng and Bie Suxin both looked over.

Then they saw two dusty black flat-roofed carriages parked at the gate of the west building. The steward Duan lifted the curtain and helped a man in his fifties get out of the carriage.

The man was of medium height, with a fair face and no beard. He wore a royal blue robe with floral patterns, and had the elegance of a scholar.

He looked up at the gate of the Dou family, while Duan introduced: "This is our old man's ancestral home. Mr. Song, please come in!"

The man called Mr. Song smiled and followed Duan into the mansion.

Dou Zhao had already received a letter saying that Mr. Song, the new teacher Dou Shiying had hired for her, had arrived.

Dou Zhao asked Gao Xing to settle Mr. Song.

Gao Xing is Gao Sheng's younger brother. When Dou Shiying went to Kyoto, Gao Sheng accompanied him to serve him. The household affairs were originally going to be handed over to Duan, who had served Dou Duo. However, Wang Yingxue felt that Duan was meticulous and wanted Duan to go to Kyoto with him. She proposed that Duan's cousin Du Ning be the general manager. There were many maids in the house, and Duan was brought in because he had served Dou Duo. Dou Shiying didn't care about this at all, and he nodded without thinking. Before Dou Shiying left, Dou Zhao used the excuse that his farm was short of managers, and kicked several managers who were loyal to Wang Yingxue to his own farm as managers, and promoted new managers. After Dou Shiying left, Dou Zhao instructed Gao Xing, the gatekeeper of the Dou family, to handle everything, and immediately sidelined Du Ning. Not long after, he sent those gatekeepers home on the pretext that they did not understand the affairs of the farm.

Even the maids who swept the yard of the Dou family knew what was going on, and no one dared to say anything. However, when they met Dou Zhao, their attitudes became more attentive and their smiles more flattering.

Du Ning didn't dare to say anything to Dou Zhao, and could only curse Gao Xing after getting drunk: "...What kind of a jerk is he? He can't even read the account book, and he's still the manager. Don't make me laugh so hard that my teeth fall out!"

After Dou Zhao found out, he spread the word: "Whoever I say is capable can do it, even if he can't; whoever I say is incapable can do it, even if he can!" Hearing this, people from top to bottom in the West Dou Mansion were terrified, and someone with ulterior motives spread this word to the East Mansion. The Second Lady frowned when she heard it, and privately said that Dou Zhao was arrogant. She originally wanted to help Dou Zhao, but ended up standing by and keeping silent. Someone else spread this word to Dou Zhao, who pretended not to hear it and privately told Gao Xing how to focus on the big and let go of the small. Gao Xing followed Dou Zhao's words meticulously. Although he was stern in his work, he didn't make any big mistakes in more than a year, which made the Second Lady exclaimed in surprise.

Gao Xing was gone for only half an incense stick of time before he returned.

"Fourth Miss," he reported respectfully, "Staff Du is back, and Mr. Song is accompanied by Steward Du!"

Dou Zhao raised his eyebrows.

I wonder what Duan is doing here?

She asked Gao Xing: "Did you come back on your own or did Manager Du tell you not to get involved in this matter?"

Gao Xing said honestly, "I couldn't help, and I thought I should tell the Fourth Miss, so I came back."

Dou Zhao said: "If that's the case, just pass on my message. Don't get involved in Mr. Song's affairs."

Gao Xing knew what the so-called "don't worry" meant, and said hesitantly: "But Mr. Song is the teacher that the Seventh Master hired for you. If he gets angry and runs away like Jiang Yougong..."

"What does it have to do with us?" Dou Zhaoqi asked, "Isn't Duan entertaining Mr. Song? Mr. Song was angry and ran away. Shouldn't my father settle the score with Duan?"

Gao Xing thought about it and felt that what Dou Zhao said made sense. He smiled naively and passed on Dou Zhao's words.

Duan immediately had no one to hand him a handkerchief.

He was so angry that he called Du Ning over and gave him a severe scolding.

Du Ning said aggrievedly: "I told you a long time ago that you should stay in the Dou family..."

"Bullshit!" Duan couldn't help but say, "No matter how great the Fourth Miss is, she will get married in a few years. No matter how attentive I am, the Seventh Master still likes Gao Sheng, who grew up serving him." Then he sighed, "If the Fourth Miss was a young man, I wouldn't have any hesitation and would just live my life by currying favor with her wholeheartedly!"

"But if you offend the Fourth Miss, she will dismiss you at any time. If you offend the Madam, you can still ask the Fourth Miss to work for you on her estate or in her shop..."

If the fourth young lady had not obtained half of Xidou's property, would she still be able to act so arrogantly?

Duan sighed inwardly and remained silent for a while.

Du Ning asked him cautiously, "What do you think we should do about this?"

Duan glared at Du Ning fiercely and said, "What can we do? You try to find a few people to deal with the current situation first." He added, "The madam asked me to come back this time because she has something important to do. Don't worry about the housework for now. Just listen to my orders when the time comes. As long as this matter is done, you will be the de facto chief steward of Xidou in the future." He was gritting his teeth when he finished speaking.

Du Ning nodded repeatedly and called his wife, niece, and nephew who worked in the Dou Mansion to come and help.

Mr. Song was also used to visiting wealthy families. He brought his nephew Song Yan with him to serve him. Seeing this, he couldn't help but secretly regret it and said to his nephew, "I only said before that there was a young lady in the family who wanted to learn some poetry, music, calligraphy and painting to please her. Who knew that the personnel of this family were so complicated. Alas, if I didn't have something to ask Master He, why would I come here to be the master?"

Song Yan was only fifteen or sixteen years old, but he was very calm. He smiled and comforted Mr. Song, saying, "Uncle, don't be depressed. You just need to teach that young lady. Can they afford to eat and wear less? At the very least, we can finish teaching her this year and stop teaching her next year. We can also give an explanation to Lord He."

Mr. Song nodded.

Song Yan and Duan's nephew helped to carry the boxes.

At dinner time, Dou Shibang was entrusted by Dou Zhaozhi to welcome Mr. Song: "Seventh uncle is not at home, please forgive me for any impoliteness, Mr. Song." Then he invited the uncle and nephew of the Song family to Jingfuchun.

As a result, Duan had no dinner, and he was so angry that he grabbed Gao Xing's collar and wanted to hit him.

Someone nearby persuaded the two of them to leave.

But Gao Xing said naively: "The meals at home are all fixed. If you don't go to greet the fourth young lady when you come back, the fourth young lady doesn't know. If she doesn't give instructions, there is nothing we can do. You should go and greet the fourth young lady!"

The Dou family has so much leftovers every day, is it possible that he is the only one left?

Duan An was so angry that his face turned purple, but he couldn't utter a word. Thinking of his wife's instructions when he came, he had to go and greet Dou Zhao obediently.

The maid at the second gate stopped him outside the door and said with a fake smile: "Manager Du, the young lady is older now and not the same as before. It is not appropriate for you to enter the inner courtyard. If you have anything to say, we will inform you."

They waited for two hours without even a bench to sit on. Duan's legs were numb from standing until a maid came to reply, "It's getting late. Miss Four, please ask Steward Du to come over and talk to you tomorrow morning."

Duan couldn't help but ask, "What was Miss Four doing just now?"

The little maid smiled and said, "Young Miss Four was just pruning the flowers!"

This made Duan angry again.

Dou Zhaocai was too lazy to pay attention to Duan. She asked Ganlu and a few others to make a few purses. Then she went to Daci Temple to ask for a blessing talisman for each of Dou Zhengchang, Dou Dechang, Dou Qiguang, Dou Qitai and Wu Shan who were taking the boy's examination this year. She put the talisman in the purses and sent them to the temple.

Dou Zhengchang and the others all asked their maids to convey a few words of gratitude. Only Wu Shan sent a box of white fans with lotus-leaf plum leaves: "When the flowers bloom in a few days, Fourth Sister can paint a few fans to give away."

Dou Zhao smiled and couldn't help being moved.

After Mr. Song finished explaining the passage in Mencius: "How to marry a wife? You must tell your parents," she asked him, "I used to learn flower and bird painting from the elders in my family. I want to paint a few fans. Can you teach me?"

Except for some discord on the first day, the Dou family was very peaceful and Dou Zhao was very serious in his studies, which Mr. Song was very satisfied with.

He smiled and said, "Draw a rough draft first and I'll help you take a look."

Dou Zhao readily agreed.

Mr. Song's name was Huai, and his courtesy name was Yumin. He was proficient in miscellaneous studies and was a bit casual. Perhaps because he was from the south of the Yangtze River, he did not treat Dou Zhao with indifference because she was a girl. Whenever Dou Zhao asked him something she didn't understand, he would often quote from classics and explain a lot. Dou Zhao listened with great interest and often forgot what he was going to ask. These days, he told Dou Zhao that he had made a kite while watching the spring breeze blowing on his face. When Dou Zhao took the initiative to learn something like now, he was even more interested.

When Dou Zhao got home, he found some fan painting albums to copy.

News came from the county school that Dou Zhengchang, Dou Dechang, Dou Qiguang, Dou Qitai and Wu Shan all passed the county examination. In April, several of them passed the prefectural examination. In June, except Dou Qitai, everyone else passed the academy examination, especially Wu Shan, who ranked first in the academy examination.

The Dou family's reputation became very popular.

Mrs. Wu brought Wu Ya back from Kyoto specially.