The relationship between people can be quite wonderful at times.

  Du Zhao thought he saw through the world's emotions and was indifferent to others; Ji Shi was cautious in speech and action, meticulous in his deeds, and as a senior, was entrusted by Du Shiyin to take care of Du Zhao. In front of Du Zhao, he couldn't help but be respectful and courteous. Although their relationship was good before, it wasn't close. But since getting that pot of eighteen scholars' tea flowers, Ji Shi looked at Du Zhao with less reserve as a senior towards his junior, and more affection due to shared interests.

  Every time after class, she would always keep Duan Zhao behind and say a few words: "Where did you get these eighteen scholars from?"

  "Last time, Father renovated the East Wing and sent someone to Jiangnan to buy flowers and trees. Someone brought these eighteen scholars' heavy gold to sell, I thought it was real, so I bought it." In her previous life, she had people around her who liked to appreciate flowers and wear flowers in their hair, but no one liked to plant them. This life, Du Zhao finally met someone who was also interested in planting flowers and playing with grass, she really enjoyed discussing these things. "I also asked him to find me two six-angle red peonies, one Chi Dan, one Fen Dan, and one tea plum." She said again, "Does Sixth Aunt like orchids? I also asked him to help me find a few strains of seedlings."

  "Will you still raise Jianlan?" Ji Shi's eyes widened in surprise, "How can you raise Jianlan?"

  Dong Zhao suddenly realized that he had misspoken, and hastily said: "I won't cultivate orchids. However, I saw a book on orchid cultivation in my father's study, thought it was very interesting, so I wanted to try planting a few according to the methods described, to see if they would grow." Then she smiled coquettishly, saying: "If you don't try, how will you know whether it works or not? Maybe I'll be able to cultivate a Dong-style orchid!"

  She liked Jianlan the most, especially pure heart Jianlan. She thought it was elegant and beautiful, simple and noble, and easy to grow anywhere. With a little care, it could even bloom two or three seasons.

  Ji was eager to take a look at this orchid spectrum, but he swallowed his words - orchids are precious, and in some families that have been raising orchids for generations, the techniques of raising orchids are like traditional craftsmanship, even passed down only to sons and not daughters. Who knows how Xi Dong got this orchid spectrum? Rather than shamelessly peeking at Xi Dong's orchid spectrum from the ignorant Du Zhao, it would be better to let Du Zhao send him a few orchids himself.

  "I'm waiting for your Du Shi Jianlan." She smiled and said, "Just don't forget to send a few to your Sixth Aunt when the time comes."

  Dou Zhao saw that Ji Shi was no longer asking about Yang Lan's affairs and let out a sigh of relief, repeatedly assuring: "Definitely. Definitely!"

  Ji and she went to see those two Phalaenopsis still in bloom: "How did you make them keep blooming until now?"

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

  "Ji's family was full of praise: 'In the past, I only knew that you studied hard, but I didn't expect that you would also put in so much effort into raising flowers.'"

  "Anyway, we have to put in effort, why not do it with all our heart and do it to the best?" said Du Zhao with a smile.

  Ji nodded without stopping, with a look of praise overflowing from his words.

  A little maid rushed in hastily: "Sixth Lady, Fourth Miss. Huanjiu has given birth."

  Dong Shaoji and others showed a surprised expression, and in unison asked the little maid: "Was it a girl or a boy? Is Madame Yuan safe?"

  The little maid hurriedly smiled and said: "Mrs. Huanjiu has given birth to a baby boy, both mother and son are safe and sound."

  The two of them simultaneously clasped their hands together and chanted "Amitabha".

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

  Ji suggested that Dou Zhao give a pot of orchids to the Huang family as a congratulatory gift: "As the eldest son of the main house, there will definitely be many relatives and friends coming to congratulate him at that time. Maybe someone from the Huang family in Huai'an will also come. People in Jiangnan love orchids more."

  Dòu Zhāo was somewhat surprised.

  Ji's family has always been low-key, but these days are an exception. Everything is pushing her to the forefront.

  It wasn't until she heard Haitang muttering "Fourth Miss's winter clothes are probably going to have to be completely remade" just before bedtime that she finally understood.

  It's also time for me to get married.

  She finally sent several pieces of brocade as a gift.

  Ji was angry with him for not fighting back, and quietly reflected on himself, feeling that he had taught Du Zhao to be this way.

  The king's wife just smiled and said: "Fourth Miss is indeed calm in the face of prosperity or adversity, Madam should be happy instead."

  "Yes!" Ji Shi replied dejectedly, "But the more she is like this, the more I don't want to let her be buried like this."

  On the Double Ninth Festival, she always kept Du Zhao by her side, occasionally letting her pour tea for respected elders or hand them a handkerchief.

  Dòu Zhāomíng knew what the Ji family was doing, but being strong-willed by nature, she really couldn't bring herself to do something that would ruin her reputation. So she had no choice but to smile and accept the praise of her elders, such as "stable and magnanimous" or "intelligent and clever". In comparison, Yí jiě and Shū jiě seemed too frivolous and too dull respectively.

  The second lady smiled but did not speak.

  Liu's wife said in a low voice, "You see, do you want to ask Sixth Aunt to help take a look at whether the chrysanthemum mountain is properly tied or not - Sixth Aunt is from Jiangnan, she must have seen more than us."

  The second mistress was very unhappy, but Ji Shi was her daughter-in-law. Even if she were the most loyal servant, she wouldn't want Ji Shi to lose face in front of Liu Mama.

  "This is Shou Gu's skill," Second Mistress glanced at Liu Mama and said, "If you want to blame someone, blame those people for not teaching Yi Jie and Shu Jie well."

  Liu Ayi busily nodded her head in response.

  The second lady helped the third sister-in-law to the flower hall where the banquet was held.

  Normally it was Sixth Aunt who supported Second Mistress.

  Dou Zhao saw the unenthusiastic face of Ji Shi and silently sighed in his heart.

  If she didn't know the intention of Er Tai before, after witnessing the tense atmosphere between Er Tai and Ji Shi today, she vaguely guessed a few points.

  The Wang family cannot interfere with her marriage, the Zhao family is far away in a thousand miles, it's impossible to marry her off to the northwest, after all, Father is a man, and her marriage will likely still be sought through Dong Su's help. And Second Madam obviously doesn't want her to steal the spotlight from Yi Jie and Shu Jie, nor does she want her to get married.

  Thinking of the half of the property under her name, she was also a woman who had been a nun. It's easy to understand Er Tai's consideration - rather than offending the matchmaker by refusing to step over the threshold, it's better to quietly marry her off to someone who is beneficial to the Duan family, or keep her in the Duan family and pamper her with good food and drink, coaxing her into dividing up the property under her name among the Duan family's children.

  Fortunately, although Mrs. Er had her own clever plan, she also had her own ladder to climb over the wall. She didn't need to let Madam Ji be caught in the middle and embarrassed between her and Mrs. Er.

  After seeing off the guests, Du Zhao asked Er Tai Furen to help her persuade: "I want to be like Liu Bo Mu, a knowledgeable and learned person. Liu Bo Mu also agreed. So I wrote a letter to my father asking him to agree to let me continue studying and hire a tutor at home. Until today, Father has not replied. I'm afraid that Tai Tai will interfere..."

  The second lady looked at Ji Shi with a hint of surprise on her face and smiled: "You're still young, it's the right time for you to study. Don't worry, I'll take charge of this matter, Wang Shi won't say anything."

  Dong Zhao happily thanked Second Mistress Tao.

  Ji sighed and gently patted her hand, personally escorting her onto the carriage.

  The second lady didn't want to make a big deal out of it, and before Du Shiying had even replied, she had already instructed Du Shibang to quietly find a teacher for Du Zhao: "...it can't be someone from the nearby area of Zhending, their scholarship must be good, and they must be able to keep Shougu interested in studying."

  Dong Shi Bang didn't understand: "Shou Gu doesn't need to go take the imperial examination to become a Zhuangyuan."

  "Have we spent our silver only to invite back someone unlearned and unskilled? What would others think of the Duan family's reputation? What about the Duan family's academic reputation?"

  It's also unnecessary to invite someone who doesn't know the roots back, right?

  Dou Shi Bang muttered in his heart, but didn't dare to ask more, and respectfully replied "yes", then found a few reliable servants to help Dou Zhao find a western-style chair.

  Despite this, Dou Zhaoshang's handsome appearance and dignified demeanor earned him a reputation for being steady and composed.

  Soon someone came to propose a marriage.

  The second lady used "being too young, at least wait until you are of age" as an excuse and pushed everything away.

  The grandmother listened with some worry. She said privately to Hong Gu: "It's getting late, isn't it? Suitable young masters are probably all already engaged."

  Hong Gu comforted her grandmother: "With our Shou Gu being so beautiful and capable, are we still worried that she can't find a good husband? If not in Zhu Ding County, surely there is one in the capital?"

  "That's also good." Grandma felt relieved.

  Dong Zhao knew and secretly smiled.

  It seems like no one mentioned Wei Tingyu.

  If only there was a way to retrieve the token from her uncle's hands... That would mean that her marriage with the Wei family would be completely off.

  Dong Zhaoming thought of his own children.

  Seems to be forever etched in memory, still with a 14 or 15-year-old appearance.

  Her mood suddenly fell.

  When going to the Ji's place for school, Dou Zhao leaned listlessly against the large headrest in the carriage.

  The horse carriage that was running smoothly suddenly stopped abruptly in the midst of shouting, and Du Shuanghua, Haitang, Qiuyi, and others tumbled into a heap. From outside came a clear and slightly trembling voice of a young girl: "Miss Du, please save my father!"

  Dou Zhao's heart skipped a beat as he heard this.

  Since it's called "rescue", it must be very dangerous.

  What danger can law-abiding citizens pose?

  They didn't know each other, and she had no intention of getting involved. She instructed Haitang: "Tell the coachman to hurry up and drive, don't delay our schedule."

  Haitang hastily conveyed Dou Zhao's words to Che Fu.

  The carman is raising his whip and about to start on the journey.

  The little girl who blocked the car stretched out her arms and stood in the middle of the alley, refusing to budge.

  The coachman could only quietly persuade the little girl: "Our young lady is not yet married, and her own affairs are managed by the elders of our family. If you have any grievances, just go to the yamen and beat the drum, what can our young lady do for you?"

  The little girl stood there stubbornly.

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

  The little girl didn't move at all.

  The old woman's face turned bright red as she shouted for someone to help her.

  The cart driver and another old woman who was following the cart also got down.

  Little girl shouted towards Du Zhao's carriage: "Fourth Miss, I beg of you, my father is being wronged! They say we're in league with bandits, but my father doesn't even know that person. When my father's friends come to our house as guests, it's always me who helps serve tea and wine. Fourth Miss, I beg of you!" As she spoke, she started kowtowing to Du Zhao, "thud thud thud", and no matter how hard the three adults tried to pull her up, they couldn't get her to stand up.

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  February 17 update.

  (*^__^*)

  I am a diligent little bee...

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