Dou Zhao walked out of Dou Zhengchang's study and ran into Ji Yong.

He asked Dou Zhao with a smile: "What? Are you leaving? You won't stay for a while." As he spoke, he raised his eyelids slightly and glanced towards the study.

Do not look at what is improper, and do not listen to what is improper.

Why does this person like to pry into other people's privacy? Where do all the books he read go?

Still raising people!

Dou Zhao was unhappy, nodded at him indifferently, and went to Ji's room.

Ji Yong turned around and saw Wu Shan sitting there with a pale face, stunned.

He called out to Wu Shan, but Wu Shan slammed the study window shut.

Ji Yong frowned, thought for a moment, and followed Dou Zhao into Ji's room.

Dou Zhao was saying goodbye to Ji.

Ji took her hand and smiled lovingly: "Come and sit with Sixth Aunt when you have time in the future." As if she would never see her again.

Dou Zhao felt a surge of guilt in his heart.

Sixth aunt treated her like a mother, but she let her sixth aunt down.

"I'm afraid that the noise will make you run away." She joked with her sixth aunt.

Ji Yong asked her with a smile: "Didn't you ask Wu Shan to help you paint a fan? Where is the fan?" He looked her up and down, "Wu Shan can't paint, right? Do you want me to paint one for you? I can paint quite well, and I learned from Zhou Liuyi, a famous scholar in Jiangnan!"

Dou Zhao felt a headache, but for the sake of his sixth aunt, he couldn't say anything too rude, so he smiled and said, "Fourth Brother Wu said he had finished the painting and asked the servant to send it to the West Mansion."

"Really?" Ji Yong was about to say something, but Ji called him out in a warning tone, "Jianming, didn't you say you were going to Mount Tai to watch the sunrise in two days? Have you packed everything? Is there anything else you didn't bring?"

Ji Yong curled her lips and said nothing more.

Dou Zhao saw a hint of helplessness pass across Ji's face.

She stood up quickly and said, "Sixth Aunt, I'll go back first. I'll have them send you the jasmine flowers you requested at dusk."

"Sorry for the trouble, Shougu." Ji smiled and asked the maid beside her, Caishu, to see Dou Zhao out. Then she couldn't help but said to Ji Yong, "What did your grandfather tell you? He told you to 'talk less and watch more'. You must not make your grandfather sad!"

Ji Yong muttered "I know" but couldn't help asking, "Don't you think that Wu Shan has no manners and temperament and is not worthy of Shou Gu? Who is the matchmaker? It's just nonsense!"

Ji was so angry that she couldn't speak for a long time: "What nonsense are you talking about? What does it have to do with you whether she is worthy or not?"

Ji Yong said nothing.

Ji's expression softened and she said softly, "Sometimes you can't judge a thing by its surface. Don't jump to conclusions."

Ji Yong said "Oh", bowed respectfully to Ji, and retreated.

Ji looked at her nephew's tall and straight figure like a green pine and let out a long sigh.

Dou Zhao told Su Lan: "Go to the East Palace more often in the next few days. If you hear any news, tell me immediately."

Sulan is a smart and clever girl. In the past, it was inconvenient for her to place her own people in the East Palace, but with Sulan, she is much more informed.

Su Xin hesitated and said, "Miss, do you want to discuss this with Aunt Cui? Or, you can also discuss it with the Seventh Elder in Kyoto..."

She also thought that the Wu family was a good marriage.

Dou Zhao had no choice but to find an excuse: "The Wu family has a close relationship with my fifth uncle, but my fifth uncle wants to be appointed as prime minister and compete with Wang Xingyi. I just want to live a peaceful life and don't want to get involved."

Su Lan tilted her head: "But, what if the Fifth Elder can win? The novels outside all say that if you can follow the dragon, you can become the prime minister. We help the Fifth Elder now, and the Fifth Elder will definitely treat the young lady well in the future..."

Before she could finish her words, her elder sister Su Xin knocked her on the head and said, "What if the Fifth Elder loses? We don't think about others, and others don't think about us. Just like what the young lady said, we don't help anyone and live our lives steadily. If you say such opportunistic words again, be careful or I will punish you by making you stand on the stake."

Sulan stuck out her tongue and hugged Dou Zhao's arm.

Dou Zhao thought of his daughter Yin Jie'er, who also hugged her arms and acted coquettishly like this when she was being blamed. He couldn't help laughing and put his arm around Su Lan's shoulders.

Su Xin said angrily: "Miss, it's all your fault. You have spoiled her!" But the smile spread from her eyes to the corners of her mouth.

Dou Zhao laughed out loud and suddenly realized that he could not remember the facial features of his children clearly. Deep in his memory, only the appearance of one person being either cute or respectful remained.

She looked out the window and tears suddenly welled up in her eyes.

Sulan and Suxin looked at each other, and Sulan shrank even more.

Dou Zhao wiped his tears: "It's okay, it's okay, I just remembered some things from the past!"

Su Lan took out a small purse from her bosom, took out a piece of sweet-scented osmanthus cake, and said carefully: "Miss, this is what my sister bought for me. When I miss my father, I just eat a piece of cake. You can eat one too, and you won't think about the past."

Dou Zhao put a piece of osmanthus cake in his mouth with tears in his eyes and said with a smile: "It's delicious!"

Sulan smiled, her smile as bright as the sunshine, dispelling the haze in her heart.

Su Xin turned her head to the side and wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes.

Dou Zhao cheered up and said, "Let's go find Mr. Chen. I asked him to invite Chen Xiaofeng and Duan Gongyi to be my guards. I don't know how he is doing. I don't have many people around me. I always feel a little uneasy when I go out. Also, the 10,000 taels of silver must be paid as soon as possible, in case we don't have enough money to accommodate them after we invite them."

Su Lan was shocked: "Give them back money? Didn't the young lady give them a large reward?"

"Remuneration is remuneration, wages are wages, how can they be the same?"

The three of them returned to the East Mansion chatting and laughing.

Grandmother was sorting boxes and crates, shaking her head as she turned over this and that. Dou Zhao smiled and asked her, "Are you making autumn clothes or winter clothes?"

Hong Gu smiled aside.

Dou Zhao suddenly understood.

Grandma is preparing some things to add to her box.

Beads of sweat appeared on her forehead, and she took her grandmother to the hall outside.

Grandmother laughed and told her, "Please write a letter to your father and ask him to find some tailors and embroiderers from Jiangnan so that we can make some new clothes for you."

There's no need for such a large formation, right?

Seeing his grandmother's excited look, Dou Zhao agreed.

Just think of it as making her happy!

Grandmother told her which shop had the best shoes and which shop had the best wigs. No one knew where she got the information from, but Dou Zhao felt warm inside. After talking for about two cups of tea, Ganlu came in and said, "Mr. Chen wants Miss to go to the study!"

"Then go quickly!" Grandmother said hurriedly, "I'm afraid something happened in the shop."

It should be about hiring a guard.

Dou Zhao didn't point it out and went to the study.

Chen Qushui really came to her for this matter: "Chen Xiaofeng and others agreed without saying anything, but they all proposed to finish this month and wait until the boss finds someone to take over before coming. Only Duan Gongyi said that he can come in the next two days. I asked around and heard that Duan Gongyi went to the Lang family as a bodyguard at first. He was invited by the old lady of the Lang family. Later, the old lady of the Lang family passed away. The current head of the Lang family felt that Duan Gongyi's salary was a bit high, and several times I wanted to reduce the salary, but it was difficult for him to ask for it because he had served the old lady. Duan Gongyi had wanted to leave a long time ago, but his mother was paralyzed in bed and needed him to serve her and pay for medicine. He couldn't find a better job than the Lang family's guard, so he didn't dare to ask for it. I went to see him, and he was relieved. He took the initiative to ask for five taels of silver less than the Lang family. I saw that he was a person who could get the job done as soon as he came. I offered him five taels of silver more than the Lang family, but he refused to take it no matter what..."

Dou Zhao pondered and asked, "Who else is in his family?"

"His wife passed away a few years ago," Chen Qushui said, "and he didn't leave any children. His mother's illness in recent years has used up all his savings, so he has never remarried."

"Then buy a maid to serve his mother." Dou Zhao said, "We will pay for the maid's monthly salary."

Chen Qushui smiled and agreed. Dou Zhao then asked about the progress of the case: "Pang Xilou wants to sue the Dou family. Has Lord Lu accepted the lawsuit?"

"I accepted it." Chen Qushui said with a smile, "Not only did he accept the lawsuit, he also invited Pang Xilou to drink in the back court, and advised Pang Xilou to make a big deal out of a small matter. Pang Xilou was also funny. After listening to Lord Lu's words, he actually said that it was not him who wanted to sue, but his second brother who asked him to help with the lawsuit. He told Lord Lu not to be angry..."

The people of the Pang family are more interesting than she imagined.

Dou Zhao sneered and asked Chen Qushui: "I'll trouble you to pay more attention to this matter."

Chen Qu agreed with a smile. In the next few days, he arranged accommodation for the new guards, inquired about Pang Kunbai's condition, and inquired about the reaction in Kyoto. He was very busy.

Ji Yong set a date for his trip to Mount Tai, and said goodbye to the Dou family members in each room. Naturally, he had to visit Mrs. Wu, who also lived in the Dou family's guest room.

Mrs. Wu invited Ji Yong to have tea with a smile on her face.

Ji Yong was not polite and sat down below Mrs. Wu and asked, "Why haven't I seen Brother Wu Xian these few days?"

He lived in the guest room on the east side of the East Palace, and Wu Shan lived in the guest room on the west side with his mother and sister.

Mrs. Wu smiled and said, "We are leaving for Kyoto in two days. Perhaps he is afraid that his father will test his homework, so he has been studying hard in his room these days, studying until midnight, and not allowing anyone to disturb him. If it weren't for Zhi'er today, I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to knock on his door - he and Zhi'er went out, saying that some classmates wanted to see him off."

Ji Yong laughed and said, "It's no wonder that Wu Xian is so popular. He is a very generous person. If it weren't for him that day, we wouldn't have been able to find the farm!"

Mrs. Wu was stunned and asked, "What estate?"

Ji Yong's smile froze for a moment, but she quickly recovered and said, "Oh, we went out to play together that day and got lost, and it was Brother Wu Xian who helped us find the way." Then she picked up the teacup and took a few gulps of tea as if she was trying to hide something.

Mrs. Wu became suspicious.

After sending Ji Yong away, he interrogated Wu Shan's servant.

Although the servant received Wu Shan's instructions, he did not dare to hide it from Mrs. Wu, and soon told her all the details of Dou Zhao's kidnapping.

Mrs. Wu's face turned pale when she heard this, and she repeatedly asked the boy, "When you went there, that Pang Kunbai had been beaten half to death? But the fourth young lady was unharmed, and she was surrounded by unfamiliar guards?"

The servant swore, "Madam, I dare not lie to you. If I tell a lie, I will be struck by lightning and die a miserable death!"

Mrs. Wu made a gesture to stop him from talking, and whispered to the servant: "Don't mention this matter again in the future, or I will beat you to death."

The servant shuddered, nodded repeatedly, and crawled out of the hall.