Chapter 130 The Dou Family Has Been Trapped
When Dou Wenyi arrived at the main gate, she heard Dou Bochang's smug voice coming from inside the house.
"...Madam, a thousand cups of wine are not enough when drinking with a bosom friend. I have been so happy these past few days. I have been an official for most of my life, and I have always been the one who admires others. I never thought that these people really admire me."
“They all say that my calligraphy should be on par with Yan Zhenqing’s. One after another, they’ve been chasing after me to give me some of my calligraphy, saying they want to keep it at home to enshrine it and keep it as a family heirloom!”
"Father's calligraphy is truly impressive; they certainly know their stuff!" Dou Mingyan, as always, knew how to flatter.
"Is it really that good? Master, please drink this hangover soup!" Madam Gu's voice was surprised, clearly showing some disbelief.
"Didn't I write a few pieces and put them up for sale in my study a couple of days ago? Guess what? I sold two of them yesterday!"
"A single piece costs a thousand taels. How much silver is Yan Zhenqing's original calligraphy? Meng Xiang was a Hanlin scholar, right? He wrote excellent Qingci (a type of official document), and his calligraphy was even more outstanding. He also inscribed calligraphy for the Zhuangyuan Pavilion and Huanghe Tower. At its peak, a single piece of his calligraphy sold for seven hundred taels."
"Even if I only sell calligraphy and paintings from now on, it will be enough to support my family!"
"Pah, sir, what unlucky things are you saying? You are a proper fourth-rank Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, and you will even become a prime minister in the future. Our family's wealth and honor are far from over!" Madam Gu said with a smile.
"Fourth Miss, you've arrived? Master and Madam are both here!"
With a call from the old woman, Dou Wenyi stepped across the threshold, where Dou Mingxiu and Dou Mingyan were both present.
The family was enjoying a happy time together, but her appearance abruptly ended the warm and harmonious atmosphere.
Dou Wenyi curtsied and sat down, then smiled slightly. "Father, Mother, what are you talking about? You seem so happy."
Madam Gu, with a happy expression, briefly recounted Dou Bochang's sale of calligraphy and paintings.
Very well, others have gone to great lengths to please Dou Bochang, flattering him so much that he's completely lost his bearings and actually thinks he's Yan Zhenqing.
Is his calligraphy really that good that it has been buried for decades?
Like a frog being slowly boiled in water, one careless move and becomes someone else's meal, while they remain here smugly pleased with themselves?
Dou Wenyi wondered, "Gold always shines. I wonder what kind of opportunity Father encountered to have such good fortune?"
Dou Bochang's face was still flushed with drunkenness. He coughed lightly twice. "That day, your third sister took my calligraphy and painting to be framed. She happened to run into her close friend, Jiang Yuning, the daughter of the Minister of Revenue. She also thought my calligraphy and painting was good, so she took it back to show the Minister of Revenue, Jiang Rushen. Unexpectedly, the calligraphy and painting caught his eye."
"Later, he invited me to a discussion meeting... My colleagues all said that my calligraphy and paintings were unique and that they wanted to hang them in Gui Heming's studio for sale. I never expected that someone would actually appreciate them..."
Jiang Yuning?
What a coincidence! The Jiang family is Consort Jiang's maternal family. It seems the net to hunt down the Dou family has been cast.
Dou Wenyi asked unhurriedly, "Father always gets drunk at the discussions, reeking of alcohol. This is bad for his health and might damage his reputation as an official?"
Dou Bochang's smile became somewhat forced. "What do you, a young lady from a humble family, know about matters of officialdom?"
"I heard that the owner behind Heming Study is Prince Rui. Is Father trying to get in touch with Prince Rui?"
"Are you sure?" Dou Bochang asked, slightly surprised.
"When Father and his colleagues gathered, engaging in lively discussions and drinking merrily, did he ever put pen to paper?"
Dou Wenyi smiled, her calm gaze as if she were interrogating a suspect.
Dou Bochang was immediately displeased. "If this is a refined conversation, then composing poetry and painting are elegant pursuits. How can we not use brush and ink? Why are you asking so many questions?"
"I'm afraid our Dou family is not far from being destroyed!" Dou Wenyi took a sip of tea.
The faces of the people inside the room instantly turned grim.
"What did you say?" Dou Bochang's face froze. Her words were so outrageous, like a bucket of cold water being poured over his head, chilling him to the bone.
Madam Gu's anger flared up, and she retorted angrily, "Don't think that just because you've married into a higher social class, you can do whatever you want at home. Don't forget, we are your parents!"
Dou Mingxiu had learned his lesson from the previous times and dared not provoke her, but he still felt that her words were too much.
“Dou Wenyi, don’t exaggerate. It’s just the sale of two paintings and calligraphy pieces. It’s only two thousand taels of silver. Even if there is a suspicion of bribery, it won’t be a crime against Father.”
Dou Mingyan chimed in, "Fourth sister, others just want to buy Father's paintings; they have no ill intentions. The political situation in the court has been very turbulent lately, but Father is upright and honest. You shouldn't say such unlucky things."
Dou Wenyi's eyes were filled with undisguised sarcasm as she said, word by word, "When Father writes, is he always in a sober state? Are the attendants by his side always watching him?"
"My father is always drunk. What if he writes something he shouldn't write, or signs something he shouldn't sign?"
Her voice was strong and clear.
Dou Bochang was so shocked by what he heard that he was completely sober!
Only after he became the Crown Prince's prospective father-in-law did he finally stand tall and feel proud. But recently, the old master of the Zhang family was inexplicably murdered, and those opportunists, whether intentionally or unintentionally, began to isolate him again. Even though he was already a fourth-rank Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, he had no choice but to keep a low profile.
Dou Bochang was not a naive newcomer; he was always cautious, and he would always refuse invitations from colleagues to drink and have fun.
But that was a refined gathering for intellectual conversation, a place that many civil officials dreamed of.
Ordinary people don't even have the right to enter. He has been longing for it for so many years.
He really thought they had a discerning eye and appreciated his talent, but it turned out that it was all a setup, and they were just making a fool of him.
Are they sharpening their knives behind the scenes, ready to prey on cattle and sheep?
"Impossible! I did use the pen, but I didn't write anything I shouldn't have..." Dou Bochang looked bewildered, and his voice grew weaker and weaker as he tried to explain.
Suddenly, a vivid image flashed through his mind: several colleagues surrounding him, fawning over him, urging him to write something on the spot. They clinked glasses, their smiles so genuine; he had never been so valued by these powerful figures before.
In that instant, he even felt that he had no regrets in this life!
Dou Bochang's face drained of color, and he kept shaking his head, "No, it can't be... They're all colleagues, why would they want to harm me?"
Dou Wenyi's cool gaze gently shifted to Dou Mingyan, "Because you are the Crown Prince's father-in-law! Ask yourself honestly, how have they treated you in the past, serving in the same court for so many years? Their sudden change of attitude, what else could it be but ulterior motives?"
"How can we set a trap for you if we don't flatter you? Think carefully, did you actually sign anything?"
A layer of cold sweat broke out on Dou Bochang's forehead; he seemed to have indeed signed something...
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