Chen Qu's words implied that He Yu had taken a liking to Duan Zhao.

  Dòu Zhāo's head suddenly swelled like a bucket.

  She and He Ye were just acquaintances, so why did he suddenly insist on marrying her?

  She asked Chen Qu: "How do you view this matter, sir?"

  Chen Qu Shui hesitated for a moment, then carefully said: "Although the He family is prominent, in my opinion, if Miss were to marry, Mr. He would not be a good husband."

  Dòu Zhāo raised an eyebrow.

  Chen Qushui calmly analyzed: "Mr. He is ten years older than the Fifth Master, and his age is already high. The eldest son of the He family was a jinshi in the year of Gui Chou, and he is currently observing politics in the Ministry of Works, with three sons and one daughter; the third son is a juren in the year of Ren Zi, with one son and one daughter. By the time Mr. He wants to establish his career, all that the He family can leave him will be just an empty name."

  For the Dus family, the preciousness of the He family lies in the He family's political resources.

  For Duan Zhao, however, the inadequacy of the He family lay in their lack of political resources.

  He Wenda could help Dou Shi at this time, but he couldn't help Dou Zhao later.

  His eldest and third sons have already established their careers, and by the time He Yu grows up and needs help, his elder brothers will have already secured their positions and divided up He Wenda's political resources. They also have children of their own, so it would be better for them to leave their political resources to their own sons rather than helping their younger brother get established. Although He Yu looks promising now, his future prospects are actually limited.

  In comparison, Dou Shixiong is young and powerful, and after Guo Yifen's death, he may enter the cabinet. Moreover, Dou Shuang and Dou Shixiong have a natural blood relationship, unlike in the He family where Dou Shuang is just one of many daughters-in-law. If she wants to get ahead, she needs to curry favor with Mrs. He, but if she succeeds in doing so, she may offend the first and third wives of the He family.

  It's better for her to focus on Dou Shixiong, who already looks at her differently because of the half-share of the Dou family property that will go to her son.

  Why should they give up their own advantages?

  "I've also been thinking about that." Dou Zhao nodded lightly and said, "Moreover, I have some concerns. Lord He and Lady He clearly knew that Young Master He's actions were inappropriate, yet they still disregarded the difference in social status and proposed a marriage between our families. This shows how much Lord He and Lady He dote on Young Master He. If I were to marry him, it's unlikely that I would have a good life with him. Once the He family feels that they've made a bad investment, my days will be even more difficult. It's really too wasteful of energy."

  "Miss Si makes sense." Chen Quanshui let out a breath.

  Although Dou Zhao had said she didn't want to get married, as someone who had experienced many hardships, he didn't take her words to heart. He thought Dou Zhao was still young and hadn't yet reached the age of romantic awakening. Suddenly, the He family proposed marriage to Dou Zhao, which made him worried that Dou Zhao would be swayed by the He family's prestigious reputation or fall for He Wei's good looks. Now seeing Dou Zhao remain calm and rational, he felt greatly relieved and said, "I have an idea, I don't know if it's feasible or not? Let me share it with you for your reference." He spoke cautiously, "The fifth elder is probably beyond hope, but after all, the seventh elder is your biological father. As long as the seventh elder firmly refuses to agree, the fifth elder can't force him to accept this marriage proposal, right? I think we can take a two-step approach: first, ask someone to speak with the seventh elder and let him know that this marriage, apart from temporarily benefiting the Dou family, would bring you nothing but harm. Given the seventh elder's love for Fourth Miss over the years, I think he will definitely consider it carefully. As for the person who should be sent to persuade him, no one is more suitable than Sixth Elder!"

  Six Auntie is about to enter the capital immediately.

  Dong Zhao smiled and said: "You want me to persuade Liu Mu?"

  "It's exactly so." Chen Qu Shui Dao said, "Sixth Master has always respected Sixth Mistress, and is also well-acquainted with Seventh Master. With Sixth Master, who is a brother of Fifth Master from the same mother, taking the lead, it can be said that this will achieve twice the result with half the effort." Speaking to this point, he smiled slightly, and a hint of cunning flashed across his face. "Moreover, if the Ji family were to find out about the marriage between the He and Dou families at this time, they might also have some ideas of their own. Who knows, we might be able to muddy the waters and slip away unscathed! This is the second step, pulling the Ji family into the water as well."

  Dong Zhaohaha laughed: "A woman marries to follow her husband, my sixth aunt wouldn't be so muddled. You'd better take advantage of our Ji Juren instead of having ideas about my sixth aunt!"

  "That's okay." Chen Quanshui, who didn't know much about Mrs. Liu, said with a smile, "Then let's just send a message to Ji Ju Ren."

  Dong Zhao sank into thought and said, "Sir's words have also reminded me. I think it is definitely not just one family that wants to stop the marriage between the Dong and He families at this time. We might as well take advantage of the Wei Manor of Jining Marquis."

  "Jining Marquis Wei's Mansion?" Chen Quanshui was somewhat puzzled.

  Because both Duan and Wei families didn't take this marriage seriously, he didn't know the relationship between Duan Shao and the Wei family.

  Dòu Zhāo told him what had happened back then.

  Chen Qu Shui was shocked and stunned, and it took him a while to come back to his senses.

  Dong Zhaoxiang said: "When the time comes, I will only say that if you want me to marry into the He family, you must first return the token my mother gave to the Wei family back then. I think this matter is something that even if Lord He doesn't care about, he should still hope that the Dong and Wei families can clarify things as soon as possible."

  Chen Qushui thought for a moment, and said somewhat hesitantly: "If that's the case, the Wei family isn't enthusiastic about this marriage. When your respected father asks the Wei family to return the betrothal gifts, they will definitely not hesitate..."

  Dong Zhao smiled and said: "You don't have to flatter me, the Wei family is not just unenthusiastic, they are simply unwilling."

  Chen Qu's face turned red as he smiled awkwardly.

  Dong Zhao turned a deaf ear, saying: "If we just wanted to return the betrothal gift, the Wei family would naturally not be able to ask for it. But since we want to return the betrothal gift in order to form an alliance with the He family, I'm afraid the Wei family won't be so easy to talk to."

  "This is it," Chen Quanshui said excitedly, "If we plan carefully, we might be able to smoothly push through the marriage between the He and Wei families, and even get back the Wei family's pledge."

  It will definitely work.

  With her understanding of Wei Tingzhen, Wei Tingzhen would make a big fuss about the Dou family's handle and then proudly and angrily call off the marriage.

  "There's another advantage to this." Duan Zhao smiled with confidence. "With the commotion my marriage has caused, it may be three, five years, or even seven, eight years before a suitable family comes knocking on our door again. Even if some ignorant family were to come forward, wouldn't they think twice when seeing the Howes standing there? The second mistress will also feel uneasy about it. It's best to just let things fade away."

  "I'll do just as Fourth Miss said." Chen Quanshui's earlier gloom and worry vanished, replaced by excitement. "I'll go make the arrangements right away," he exclaimed.

  Dong Zhao personally escorted Chen Qun out of the city gate.

  On the way back, Su Xin kept quietly sizing up Dou Zhao.

  Dòu Zhāo liked Sù Xīn's stability and meticulousness, and smiled: "What's wrong?"

  "It's nothing." Although she replied like that, Su Xin couldn't help but ask, "Fourth Miss, will you regret it in the future?"

  "It won't," Duan Zhao smiled and said, "I know what I want, so I naturally won't regret it."

  A clear mind brings a little peace of mind.

  By the second day, people from both the East and West camps knew that He Wenyao's youngest son, He Yu, had taken a liking to Dou Zhao and after returning to the capital, he asked his father to propose a marriage to the Dou family. The fifth elder of the Dou family gladly agreed.

  "Was that the handsome young man? If I had known it would turn out like this, I should have seen him before."

  The second lady sent someone to contact Du Shixiong in Kyoto, and at the same time, she said with a smile to the sixth lady: "This is a good match! Fortunately, we didn't form an alliance with the Wu family earlier, or else we would regret it now."

  Madam Liu smiled in response, but she didn't entirely agree with what Madam Er said.

  She whispered to Wang's mother, "I don't care about marrying a noble family, what's important is that the husband's family is simple and honest, and they will take good care of Shougu. Heir Hao is too young, I'm a bit worried..."

  The old woman said: "Shouldn't we remind Master Qi about it?"

  Ji hesitated and said, "But what if I'm wrong about He Gongzi? Wouldn't that delay Shou Gu's marriage? Come to think of it, this match was actually proposed by He Gongzi himself..."

  I find it difficult on both sides. Both left and right are troublesome, worrying about gains and losses, and I haven't slept well for two days.

  Dong Zhaonan didn't know that Ji Shi was worried about her, and had already written a letter to ask Chen Qu Shui to deliver it to her father overnight, asking him to retrieve the letter from the Wei family. She also wrote a letter to her aunt in the northwest, telling her about this matter, so that her aunt wouldn't be unaware of the situation and taken advantage of by others at the time.

  When my aunt first heard about her and Wu Shan's affair, she knew that the matchmaker was Sixth Aunt's friend, and she was overjoyed. She left her husband and daughters behind, packed her bags, and prepared to go directly to Beijing to meet Wu Shan. Who would have thought that before she even set off, her affair with Wu Shan had already fallen through? My aunt was heartbroken for a long time, writing several letters to my grandmother and Sixth Aunt. During the New Year's festival, she even sent someone specifically to ask after Sixth Aunt's well-being, both to thank her for taking care of her marriage and also to ask her to continue helping her find another good match.

  These drips and drops are all hidden in her heart, she just waits for an opportunity to repay them.

  Ji Yong came to visit her.

  Dong Zhao was somewhat surprised, but upon careful consideration, it was actually a reasonable thing.

  She entertained Ji Yong in the flower hall.

  Ji Yong didn't say a word, and looked at Du Zhao from head to toe as if he was seeing her for the first time.

  Dong Zhao was used to his temper and sat there calmly, letting him scrutinize her. After he finished, she even asked him, "Have you taken a good look?"

  Ji Yong answered her seriously "I've read it", then frowned and asked her: "Why did you say I'm 'not well-behaved'?"

  He didn't expect this sentence to make him so indignant, and he still had to ask for clarification half a year later.

  Dong Zhaoye replied very seriously, "I think that if a person can be innovative and independent, that's the style of a famous scholar. But if it bothers others and makes them feel uncomfortable, then that's just being foolishly annoying!"

  "How dare you scold me!" Ji Yong's face immediately turned gloomy as if it was about to rain at any moment.

  "Are you that kind of person?" asked Du Zhao.

  His forehead bulged with blue veins, and he asked Du Zhao in a gloomy tone: "Am I that kind of person?"

  Dong Zhao didn't say this to make him uncomfortable, but sincerely said: "You're all good, it's just that sometimes you're too overbearing. For example, when writing the Spring Festival couplet, Qiguan was thinking of taking the imperial examination and entering officialdom, he truly hoped for the emperor's longevity and prosperity, but you ridiculed him instead. He didn't bother you in any way, why did you have to be so harsh on him?"

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  o(n_n)o~

  The two people started arguing again...

  PS: The update tonight will be a bit late, but I'll try to get it out as soon as possible... After writing two chapters in a row, I need to take a break, or else my brain seems to be insufficient, and I feel dizzy...

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