Although reborn, Du Zhao could influence only a few people and things around him, what was meant to come would still come.

  In mid-April, Dou Wenchang, who had been studying with Dou Shixue in Kyoto, brought back a letter from home for Dou Shixue.

  Dou Shi Jiong mentioned in his family letter not only his own promotion to the Ministry of Official Affairs, but also Wang Xingyi's reinstatement. He also asked about Dou Shiying's marriage in a very tactful way, saying that he and Wang Xingyi were from the same year, Zeng Fen was forced to retire, Wang Xingyi was exiled, and his own days in Beijing for the past few years have not been good either. If Dou Shiying's marriage has not been settled yet, it would be better to settle it as soon as possible.

  Nowadays, the Emperor is getting old, and his memory is getting worse day by day. The other day, during a meeting with the Grand Council, he suddenly ordered a young eunuch to summon Chen Dong, the former head of the Imperial Censorate, who had passed away five or six years ago, to attend to his writing. Currently, the youngest Grand Councilor is Chen Jizhou from Songjiang. If he presides over the imperial examination next year, please ask Dou Dang and Dou Shi Qi to discuss early on whether all eligible sons of the Dou family should take the exam.

  Dong Dang's face changed greatly after receiving the letter, and he immediately wrote a letter to Dong Shiqi, asking Dong Wenchang to rush to Fuzhou overnight, while he took Dong Shiying to East Dong.

  Although Dou Zhao didn't know the contents of the letter, she had been worried about Wang Xingyi's recovery. Her grandfather and father's unusual behavior immediately put her on guard. She dismissed the maidservant beside her and only left Tuo Niang: "You go tell the woman at the second gate that if Grandfather and Father return, let her come report to me immediately."

  Tuo's daughter went to the second gate and passed on Du Zhao's words, guarding in front of the bed doing needlework.

  At midnight, there was news from the two gates.

  Tuo Niang called out to Dou Zhao to get up.

  Dong Zhaowen put on his clothes and went to the Crane Longevity Hall.

  Two small servants who served by grandfather's side stood guard at the door with agility.

  Seeing Du Zhao, both of them exclaimed "Fourth Miss" in unison.

  Father heard the noise and walked out with a surprised face: "Shou Gu, it's so late, why haven't you gone to bed yet?" His eyes were sternly staring at Tuo Niang.

  The young girl's legs trembled and she muttered to herself for a long time, unsure of what to say.

  Dong Zhao rushed into her father's arms with a smile: "You and Grandpa went visiting relatives, why didn't you take me?"

  Father was dumbfounded and lost his smile, carrying Du Zhao into the house.

  Grandfather sat on the kang with a solemn expression, and when he saw them coming in, his eyebrows were tightly furrowed together. He said: "If you can get married early, Shougu will also have someone to take care of her. Look at the situation at home now? In the middle of the night, Shougu is still running around in the yard. You are so self-willed and irresponsible, what else can you do except comfort yourself? On the one hand, you say you've grown up and know your responsibilities, on the other hand, you're still doing things that shirk responsibility."

  Father was speechless, unable to utter a word.

  Dong Zhao saw an opportunity from his grandfather's words and his father's attitude.

  Her mood suddenly became brighter than ever before. She decided to be nasty to her grandfather: "Grandfather, I have someone to take care of me. Cui Ayi is my grandmother."

  Grandfather's face turned iron-green, his gaze sharp as a knife blade cutting towards Duan Zhao. But Duan Zhao blinked her big eyes and smiled, nibbling on her fingers with an air of innocence.

  He was furious, trembling all over, and scolded his father: "This matter has nothing to do with you. Tomorrow, your third aunt will personally go to the various families to discuss the wedding date. From now on, you should focus on studying, and let the Zhū family handle the household matters." Then he said, "Who are the people serving beside Shòu's mother? Get rid of them all for me."

  "Father said: "It's Yu Niang taking care of Shou Gu. I promised your uncle." His tone was somewhat stubborn."

  The grandfather was so angry that he flung open the curtain and left.

  Dong Zhao wanted to remind him: This is your study! If you want to leave, it's us who should be driven out, how could you storm off first?

  Father sighed and carried Dou Zhao out of He Shou Hall.

  The night wind in April still has a slight chill, the bright moonlight spills over the pavilions and buildings, quiet and picturesque.

  Father's footsteps got slower and slower, finally stopping at the edge of the lotus pond.

  "Shougu, do you know? Your fifth uncle sent a letter," he muttered, "Your fifth uncle sent a letter to our family, Wang Xingyi, who is your Aunt Wang's father, wants to revive..."

  Dou Zhaos heart was racing wildly, and it was only then that he knew the contents of Dou Shi Zhuis letter.

  No wonder he's a future cabinet minister, his heart is really ruthless.

  She took a sharp breath in.

  All along, she thought that Wu Bo and Wang Xingyi had a common interest and shared benefits, so their relationship must be very close and solid. Wang Yingshuang's greatest reliance in the Duan family was Duan Shixiong, but she forgot that Duan Shixiong was always a member of the Duan family after all, and she also forgot about the complexities of the political situation.

  The jade hairpins planted along the lotus pond are as white as jade, shining brightly in the moonlight, emitting a fragrant scent.

  Her father sat shoulder to shoulder with her on a stone bench by the side of the lotus pond.

  "Shougu, what's going on?" He stared blankly at the lotus leaves that had just begun to emerge from the pond, saying, "I studied hard, took the imperial exams, and obtained a high rank, wasn't it all for the sake of bringing glory to our ancestors, making the Duan family more prosperous and prominent, and letting the people in the Duan family live better than others? But now, your mother has hanged herself, I've fallen out with your uncle, and we can't even observe the three-year mourning period for your mother. We might even drag the Fifth Miss of the Zhu family into this, and make your younger sister lose her mother... I haven't made the people around me live in peace and comfort, but instead, because of my actions, their situation has become more difficult. What's the point of everything I've done? I've already wronged your mother, I don't want to wrong Fifth Miss Zhu or Wang Yinxue again..."

  His father's melancholy gaze was like the faint moonlight, seemingly close yet seemingly far away.

  It made Du Zhao's heart feel sour.

  Father, so lonely, his thoughts can only be told to his innocent daughter in the quiet of the night.

  She suddenly felt a little sympathy for her father.

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  Father returned to the main room and wrote a letter, before dawn he had Xiaosheng called Gao Sheng in: "...... Hurry up and deliver it to the various families in Chengdong before Third Lady leaves."

  The promotion was quite unexpected, but he still followed his father's orders and went out.

  At noon, Third Aunt returned from various homes with a worried look on her face.

  "Little uncle, people from various families say that getting married before the Dragon Boat Festival is too rushed. Others who heard about it thought that their fifth young lady was going to rush into marriage for good luck!"

  The grandfather is not worried.

  Only those who don't take their daughter-in-law seriously would do something like a shotgun wedding.

  Everyone says this is too unpleasant to hear.

  Third Aunt also had the same feeling, but sighed and said: "It's not surprising that the Zhū family is angry. We said to wait for three years, now we're rushing to get married on Dragon Boat Festival, which is also what we said. The Zhū family is also a big household, let alone preparing the dowry in such a hurry, even notifying relatives and friends might be too late."

  "I also know. It's just that things are urgent and there's no other way," said Grandfather. "I remember that Mr. Zhu has a sister who married into the Chen family in Xinyue County next door, so why not ask Mrs. Zhu to come out and help mediate?"

  "Then I'll have lunch and set off for Xinle." Third Aunt said without hesitation.

  Grandfather said a few words of thanks and invited Third Aunt to stay for lunch.

  "The two Dong and Xi were originally one family, the matter of Seventh Uncle is just like my own. Third Aunt was polite for a while, then said: "Tonight we'll probably have to spend the night in Xinle, there are still some family matters I need to arrange. Little uncle doesn't need to be polite with me, getting this matter done is the most important thing."

  Grandfather didn't keep her anymore, and Qiufen sent Third Aunt out of the second gate.

  Afterwards, no matter who San Bumu moved to the Zhu family to discuss matters with, the Zhu family was unanimous in their refusal and would not budge.

  Third Aunt was so anxious that she had blisters on her mouth, extremely regretful: "If I had known this earlier, I should have married the younger sister of the eldest brother's family. Now even if we want to change, we need to get the divorce papers from all families, but I'm afraid it's too late."

  Grandfather was furious with Father, and on a scorching hot day, he made Father kneel in the sun-scorched front yard for an entire afternoon, until Father's knees were red and swollen, making it difficult to walk, and they had to call a doctor to treat him.

  At this time, Wang Yingxue's older brother Wang Zhibang suddenly came to visit.

  Wang Zhi Bing is only in his early thirties this year, but perhaps due to the hardships of life in recent years, he looks like a forty-year-old with a worn-out appearance.

  He stood upright in the grand hall of the royal family, as straight and sturdy as a green pine.

  "My younger sister has been dragged down by me, her older brother, and that's why she had to come out and do some business. I didn't know before, but now that I do, I'll take my younger sister back home." He said resolutely, "We haven't received any betrothal gifts from your family, nor is there any financial entanglement between us. You write a letter of divorce, and our two families will part ways, each going their separate way."

  The grandfather remained silent for half a day and had someone invite Wang Yingshuang.

  Wang Yingshu saw her brother and was both surprised and delighted.

  "Big brother, how did you come back!" She involuntarily grabbed Wang Zhi's arm and suddenly changed her expression, looking him up and down, "Is it father... something happened?" Before she finished speaking, tears were already falling.

  "No, no!" Wang Zhi's eyes also turned red as he hastily said, "Father received the imperial edict to serve as the magistrate of XinTai County in Shandong Province. He wrote a letter back home and only then did he find out that you had entered the Duan household. Father was both regretful and resentful, and slapped himself three times, saying that our family had implicated you, and told me to hurry back and bring you home."

  "What did you say?" Wang Yingxue stared blankly at Wang Zhi Bing, "Dad, has he...has he come back to life?"

  "Uh-huh!" Wang Zhi'e nodded repeatedly, "Father has recovered, and after a few days, he will take your mother and you to reunite at his post. You won't have to worry about what to eat or drink every day... From now on, let big brother handle these things!"

  "Big brother!" Wang Yingshuai grasped Wang Zhi's sleeve and burst into silent sobs.

  Wang Zhihe turned his head away, not daring to look at his sister's appearance, until Wang Yingshuai cried and wetted his sleeve, only then did he calm down.

  "Don't cry, we'll talk about it when we get home." Wang Zhibang said, looking at his grandfather, "If Master Dou doesn't have any instructions, we'll take our leave now."

  Even Wang Yingxue's washed clothes are not prepared to be taken.

  Grandfather naturally couldn't let Wang Yingshu walk away like that, and smiled: "Your respected father and our family's Yuan Ji are of the same class, not some outsider. Since you've come, why don't you sit down and have a cup of tea? Your younger sister has entered the house, and I've arranged for maids to serve her, adding some things, I'll let those maids tidy up, when the time comes, you can take everything away together. Your respected father has just been reinstated, with a thousand threads and ten thousand strands, it's necessary to sort them out one by one. Wang Shi being able to enter our family's door is all due to some mistake or other, you can't let her walk away empty-handed, can you? Others would say it's not good either!

  "It's all right!" Wang Zhi Bang had just responded with a sentence, and his sister's voice, which was somewhat sharp due to her high pitch, came from beside his ear: "What did you say? Let me follow you back, what about Ming Jie? She's only three years old!"

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  It was five o'clock when the internet went down, and I hadn't finished writing yet. I had to borrow someone else's wireless network card, but they had gone out shopping... It was all a mess and made me feel anxious. Then I revised my text again, and now it's finally updated. I'm too embarrassed to apologize for the mistakes... because after revising, it takes some time to display, so it's a bit slow. Everyone can wait a while before looking again...

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