Dong Zhao said:

  She couldn't help but cough softly, wanting to persuade Ji Yong a few more words, but before she could even open her mouth, she heard Ji Yong's cold snort with disdain and contempt: "Some people have no talent themselves, yet they always blame others for being rude to them. I despise this kind of person the most!" Although his tone was less sharp than when he was mocking someone, the words that came out were just as biting and sarcastic.

  Got it, I was wrong about what I said and who I recognized!

  Dong Zuo decided never to play the cow's piano again.

  She asked Ji Yong: "What are you looking for me?" and her attitude turned cold.

  Ji Yong furrowed his brow, rubbed his nose and said slowly: "You don't want to marry He Yu very much, do you?"

  Dong Zhao's heart skipped a beat, and he calmly asked: "What makes you say that?"

  "Otherwise, how would you have calculated me?" he said slowly and calmly.

  Dou Zhaixin's heart suddenly surged with a thousand waves, and she barely managed to not jump up, but her face had already become somewhat unsightly.

  Ji Yong smiled and nodded, seemingly in a very good mood, and said leisurely: "However, considering our relationship as relatives, I'll help you out this time." With an air of nonchalance.

  Dong Zhao was shocked.

  Ji Yong had already stood up and walked out of the flower hall.

  Dong Zhao couldn't help but rub his forehead.

  What does this poem actually mean?

  He is the pride of the Ji family, admired by his elders and juniors alike. Not to mention that he has access to the Ji family's resources and enjoys their prosperity, even if it were the sixth aunt, she would also distinguish between primary and secondary at this time, firmly standing on the side of the Duan family that her son relies on for survival, and which can offer sacrifices after her death, rather than the Ji family that gave birth to her and raised her. How could he possibly give up the Ji family to help her?

  It's just like selling out one's own interests!

  She knew him well, his words and actions often made people so angry that they couldn't help but want to vomit blood, yet the words he spoke were never broken...

  Or is he just here to mock himself?

  Dong Zhao carefully recalled the subtle clues from earlier.

  Apart from a few sarcastic remarks about himself when mentioning Du Qiguan, he seemed quite normal at other times!

  Was he here to show off to himself?

  Then why did he say something about helping her... It doesn't seem like him at all!

  Dòu Zhāo sat there shaking his head.

  Ji Yong suddenly left and returned.

  "Ah," he grinned, his smile dazzlingly bright. "I almost forgot to tell you something else. Your accountant is pretty good, but compared to me, they're far inferior. If you have any similar situations in the future, feel free to discuss them with me, I'm ready to be of better use than him."

  Dou Zhao's face turned iron-green with rage.

  Ji Yong seemed to have seen something he had been longing for, and laughed heartily as he walked away.

  Dong Zhaoming loudly called out "Su Xin": "Please ask Mr. Chen to come over, I have an urgent matter to discuss with him."

  ※※※※※

  Wu's residence in Kyoto is located near Anraku Gate in the north of the castle, in a alley called Hongfang Hutong.

  To its north are the Imperial Academy and the Temple of Confucius. To the south is the Kaiyuan Temple, to the west is Andingmen Avenue, a quiet place amidst the bustle, ideal for studying. Scholars from other parts of the country who come to Beijing like to rent lodgings in this neighborhood, and the housing prices in Chongwenmen have always been high.

  The Wu family's mansion was bought by their ancestors many years ago. The small two-story house had a west-style hawthorn and pomegranate tree, with a grape trellis in the middle of the courtyard, where several goldfish swam lazily among the water plants, exuding an atmosphere of wealth and comfort everywhere.

  Mrs. Wu and her daughter sat under the veranda, doing needlework on a beauty backrest, listening to the sound of reading coming from the west wing. Her eyebrows involuntarily furrowed into a "川" shape.

  Wu Ya looked up and saw her mother's worried face again. She asked puzzled, "Mother, what's wrong with you these days? Why do you always look so worried?" Then she teased her mother, "Am I being too obedient? Did my brother do something wrong again? Tell me, I promise not to tell Father, and I'll help you scold him!"

  "Silly child." Mrs. Wu couldn't help but stroke Wu Shan's black hair.

  After the New Year, my daughter is also 14 years old. It's time for her to get married.

  The son hasn't spoken much since that incident, originally he and his mother would chat and laugh together, now their conversations are all the same: "Are you hungry?" "No", "Do you want to eat something?" "No", "Did you sleep well?", "Yes"... She mentioned her son's unusual behavior to her husband, but he thought it was a good thing: "Our son has grown up and become more steady and mature."

  She had no choice but to tell her husband what happened at Duan's house, but she didn't dare mention a word about her son, only saying that she had chosen Duan Zhao herself.

  "Absurd, absurd!" The husband was furious after hearing this. "Such a big thing, why didn't you discuss it with me earlier? Their fourth miss is not like other young ladies from good families. When the king's family daughter was promoted to be the legitimate wife, the Duan and Zhao families had an agreement beforehand that the king's family would not interfere in the fourth miss' marriage, fearing she would suffer injustice from either the king's or Duan's family. Do you think Yuan Ji is someone who can easily intervene? He might have agreed with you, but who knows what he was thinking behind your back? You just said something that didn't suit him and pushed him away. What were you doing earlier? How could you treat Yuan Ji like this? And now you're telling me at this late hour... I need to go apologize to Yuan Ji!" Then he glared at her and shouted, "You should also write a letter of apology to the second madam! The other family has been running around for your sake, probably exhausting themselves."

  Thinking of this, Mrs. Wu felt as if there was a nail stuck in her forehead, buzzing with pain.

  If I had known it would be like this, I should have bitten my tongue and refused my son's request, and thus avoided all the subsequent troubles.

  Although Dou Yuánjí seemed completely carefree, she didn't believe they really didn't have any ideas, and stopped going to the Dou's house as often as before.

  She was lost in thought when a little maid came to report that Magistrate Wu had descended from his chambers.

  Mrs. Wu adjusted her collar and went forward with her daughter to greet them.

  Wu Song was around fifty years old, tall and majestic in stature, with a stern face. When he saw his young daughter, warm smiles involuntarily flowed out of his eyes.

  "What about Shan Er?" The reading stopped and the courtyard fell silent.

  "Look who's still reading!" Mrs. Wu's voice had just fallen when the door of the west wing creaked open and Wu Shan walked out at the sound.

  "Father!" He respectfully greeted Wu Songnian, and in his gestures, he had lost the sharpness of a young man, with more reserve after settling down.

  Wu Songnian nodded and smiled, asking about his homework.

  Wu Shan answered one by one.

  The two of them stood in the courtyard discussing their studies.

  Wu Yala pulled her mother's hem.

  Mrs. Wu seized an opportunity to interrupt the conversation between the father and son, smiling: "...... Wait till after dinner, there will be plenty of time."

  Wu Songnian was very satisfied with his son's homework and smiled as he entered the main house.

  Although Ou Shan's mouth was raised at the corners, there wasn't a hint of smile in his eyes. He followed his father into the house.

  Mrs. Wu couldn't help but sigh.

  After helping her husband wash and dress, she couldn't help but ask him: "Didn't you say that Lord Cai invited you to drink today? Why did you come back so early?"

  Wu Songnian smiled and shook his head: "Don't mention it - Old Cai has gone to be a matchmaker for someone!"

  "Act as a matchmaker?" Mrs. Wu was greatly surprised, "How could he go to be a matchmaker for everyone? Who has such great face that they can actually invite him?"

  Cai Yi's scholarship is first-rate, but as a person, he is also extremely selfish. If Cai Yi and Duan Shixiong were not relatives by marriage, the Duan family would never have associated with him, no matter what. Even so, Wu Songnian wouldn't easily enter the Cai residence unless absolutely necessary.

  "It's Mr. He," said Wu Songnian, "He wants to propose a marriage between his young son and Miss Dou, and has asked Cai Yi to act as matchmaker." After finishing speaking, he added, "From what Cai Yi said, it seems that Mr. He is afraid the Dou family will not agree, so he invited him to intervene, letting him make sure this marriage happens no matter what."

  Mrs. Wu's eyes widened: "Miss Duan's family? Which one in the order?"

  "How did I hear that?" Wu Songnian said, "Yuanji has seven brothers, and there should be several nieces in the family."

  "Niece?" Mrs. Wu was taken aback. "Isn't that a difference of generations?"

  "Indeed!" Wu Songnian furrowed his brow, "Otherwise, why would they invite Cai Ze to make an appearance? Firstly, he is a relative of the Duan family through marriage, so it's easy to discuss matters; secondly, apart from Cai Ze, who else could come up with those clever ideas and use quotes to justify this matter?" He then said with some emotion, "It seems that the He family is determined to make this marriage happen. This is also Yuan Ji's good fortune - if Zeng Guofan retires, with the help of He Guofan, Yuan Ji's entry into the imperial court would be a certainty."

  Mrs. Wu's heart suddenly churned like boiling water.

  Her husband didn't know how many young ladies were in the Duan family, but she was very clear about it.

  Dongfang's age-appropriate niece. Only Dong Zhao alone.

  She had a sudden thought and heard her son exclaim in surprise: "Could it be that Shou Gu is not going to make it?"

  The couple couldn't help but look at Wu Shanwang with admiration.

  Saw his son standing there in a daze.

  The couple exchanged a glance, but before they could say anything, their daughter Wu Ya loudly refuted: "How can it be Shou Gu? She grew up in the countryside of Zhen Ding. How would the He family know her? It must be Dou Ming. Dou Ming is after all Wang Daren's granddaughter..."

  "Not bad, not bad." Wu Shan seemed to come back to his senses, and although there were beads of sweat on his forehead, he suddenly looked refreshed and exclaimed with joy, "Shou Gu and the Wei family of Jining Hou Fu have a marriage contract, it's definitely not her, it's definitely not her..."

  Wu Songnian's face changed drastically, he sternly shouted: "Don't look at what shouldn't be seen, don't listen to what shouldn't be heard. Other people's business, we shouldn't discuss behind their backs. All of you go down first! I still have something to say to your mother."

  Wu Shan and Wu Ya retreated.

  Wu Songnian's face became even more solemn, and he asked Mrs. Wu: "The Fourth Miss you mentioned, is she the same as this Shou Gu?"

  Mrs. Wu nodded.

  "He's going to marry into the He family, and it's probably this Shou girl." Wu Songnian said in a low voice, "Today, Lord Cai went to the Jining Marquis' residence."

  "What did you say?" Mrs. Wu exclaimed in shock, "This is impossible! Duan Zhao has already been engaged to someone else's family, how can the He family still marry her? Is it that without Duan Zhao, the He family cannot find a daughter-in-law?" But in her heart, she felt a mix of emotions, unsure what taste it was.

  "What a prestigious family, it's impossible to marry off his niece just to curry favor with Yuan Ji." Wu Songnian said, feeling ridiculous himself, walking around the room with his hands behind his back. "He Yu is the youngest son, marrying a virtuous wife... I'm afraid that Fourth Miss... isn't simple!" Wu Songnian thought of this and added a few resentful tones to his voice, "You should have discussed it with me first back then. A good wife brings half the fortune, our family doesn't have many children, and the Duan family has many nephews and nieces. If we could marry off one of the Duan family's misses, our Shan'er would also have a helper..."

  Mrs. Wu's face turned red and white for a while, and she didn't say a word for half a day.

  Wu Shan, who was hiding in front of his parents' window to eavesdrop, seemed to have lost all his strength and slid down the wall carved with lotus flowers to sit on the ground.

  Following Wu Shan's actions, Wu Ya bit her lip and looked at her brother with a gloomy look in her eyes.

  ※

  Sisters and brothers who are reading the book, I'll make up for tomorrow's update.

  Looking for pink tickets...

  ※