Chapter 39: Linked Rings (Pink Ticket +30 More)

  Cai Yu smiled and helped Dou Zhao cover the red paper on the paste, then took a fan and gently fanned her from the side.

  "Zou Jie," Dou Zhao said with a smile, "it's so hot outside, why don't you take a rest? It's enough to have Tuo Niang serving here. With you around, I won't be able to write."

  Cai Wu pursed her lips and smiled, saying: "Alright, I'll wait outside the door. If you need anything, just call me."

  Dong Zhao smiled and nodded, whispering to Tuo Niang: "You go to the door and watch, if someone comes, just cough."

  The girl nodded slightly and tiptoed to the door of the study, listening carefully to the movements outside.

  Dong Zhao pulled out a piece of paper and wrote a letter to his uncle: "... Second Aunt said that if we make Wang Yiniang legitimate, her father won't compete with Fifth Uncle for the party leadership. If you don't write an agreement, I'll sue Wang Yiniang when I grow up."

  But after a few sentences, she didn't have much strength in her hand, and it took almost two incense sticks' worth of effort to finish writing, fortunately the handwriting was still quite neat.

  With the fine sand absorbing the ink, Duan Zhao folded the paper into a small strip and then beckoned to Tuo Niang, asking her in a low voice: "Do you still remember the address that Aunt Peng asked you to recite?"

  "Got it." Tuo Niang whispered back.

  Dong Zhao felt relieved and handed the note to Tuo Niang: "Later you go find Liu Bomu to ask for leave..."

  She told her plan to Tuo Niang.

  The maid nodded and said, "Don't worry, I'll make sure to cause a commotion." Then she pointed at the small note and reminded her, "Fourth Miss, sending one letter costs ten taels of silver. They count it as one letter whether you write a small note or ten pages. You might as well write a few more words. It's cheaper that way."

  Dong Zhaonan couldn't help but smile, and then said with a sigh: "If Uncle still doesn't understand what to do, only knowing how to be at odds with the Dong family and the Wang family, no matter how much I write, it's useless. It's better to take him out now, so as not to let those self-righteous and cunning people feel smug."

  The girl doesn't understand.

  "Just follow my instructions and you'll be fine." Duan Zhao smiled, "Don't worry about the rest."

  Tuo Niang carefully hid the note on her body and served Dou Zhao after lunch, then asked for leave from Ji Shi according to Dou Zhao's instructions: "Miss wants me to go back and bring her usual orchid grass pillow."

  Ji let Cai Wu go and call a horse carriage to accompany her for a walk.

  "It's all right, it's all right," said Tuo Niang hastily. "I can just walk over for a moment." She repeatedly declined.

  Ji became suspicious.

  She just nodded with a smile, not wanting to bother. But when she looked up, she saw Du Zhao sweating profusely as he wrote.

  Her small face was burning red, but she still sat up straight as instructed, serious and careful, without a hint of slackness.

  .

  If it were Zhi Ge'er, she would have probably rushed into her arms and acted coquettishly a long time ago.

  An orphan is like a blade of grass. No matter how bitter or tired, can only endure it?

  She changed her temper from before, and as soon as Tuan Niang turned around, she immediately called over a maid named Cai Wei and whispered: "Go and see what Su Xun wants to do."

  Cai Wei left at the sound of her name being called.

  Ji sat beside Duan Zhao, watching her draw red lines and occasionally reminding her of things she should pay attention to.

  After finishing writing two big characters, Ji let Cai Shu bring in the green bean soup: "Shou Gu, take a break and cool off."

  Dong Zhaoye was also a bit tired and sat there drinking mung bean soup with Ji Shi when Liu Bo returned.

  Before Sixth Aunt had a chance to exchange greetings, Sixth Uncle said in a low voice: "All the servants inside, go and stand in the outer courtyard."

  Inside the house, a sudden commotion broke out, and in an instant, only Duan Shiying, Ji Shi, and Duan Zhao were left.

  At this time, the benefits of being a child are revealed.

  Sixth Uncle casually patted Dun Zhao's head and said directly to Sixth Aunt, "The various families have invited Zhou Xuezheng to come forward and want to return the seventh brother's engagement letter. Mother and Fourth Uncle are still in a stalemate in the house, Third Brother asked me to go take a look at the situation first, don't wait for me for dinner tonight."

  So fast!

  Dòu Zhāo was shocked.

  The sixth aunt was also surprised and said: "Why did all of you suddenly say that you want to break off the engagement?"

  "The second wife of the Wang family, Pang Shi, gathered her brothers from her maiden home to cause trouble at various homes. The scholars were too ashamed to show their faces and stayed indoors with their doors closed. Once the people from the Pang family left, he went to the prefecture overnight to invite Zhou Xuezheng over." Sixth Uncle sighed as he spoke, "Zhou Xuezheng and Zhuo Ju Ren are good friends, it seems that Zhuo Ju Ren has made up his mind to break off the engagement."

  "Then go quickly!" Sixth Aunt frowned, "If you can't back out of the engagement, it's best not to. Otherwise, the Wang family will make an even bigger fuss."

  "I think so too," said Sixth Uncle. "I've already sent someone to find Old Man Pang. If he continues to cause trouble without knowing his limits, he won't be able to do business in Northern Zhili again."

  Sixth Aunt apparently also agreed with Sixth Uncle's idea, saying: "You be careful, don't let others grasp your weakness." Then she reminded Sixth Uncle a few more times and saw him out the door.

  Dong Zhaoslowly drank the mung bean soup, and after seeing Liu Bomo send off Liu Bobo, she stood in a daze in the courtyard for a while before returning to her room.

  "Shòu gū, xiǎng bù xiǎng hé wǒ qù chuàn mén a?" Liù bó mǔ wèn tā, cǎi wēi què zhé le huí lái.

  Translation:

  "Shougu, want to go door-to-door with me?" asked Sixth Aunt, but Caiwei turned back.

  "Sixth Mistress," she whispered, "Su Xiang returned to the Western Manor and got into a fight with Yu Chuan, another senior maid by Fourth Miss's side. From what I heard, it seems like Su Xiang wanted to take stock of all the things in Fourth Miss's room, but Yu Chuan said she was meddling in other people's business, and Su Xiang called her a thief. The two of them started fighting...I didn't dare stay any longer, so I hurried back."

  Just let her make a scene and take the opportunity to tell Ji Shi about Yu Chuan's theft, but unexpectedly Yu Chuan reacted so greatly that the two even fought.

  However, Tuo Niang's physique was robust and Yu Chai was no match for her. Moreover, since Tuo Niang had accompanied her to the East Mansion, even if Yu Niang knew about it, she wouldn't dare keep Tuo Niang in the West Mansion, let alone punish her. Otherwise, the fact that Yu Chai had stolen things from her own room to curry favor with Da Qing would be exposed.

  My wife has bullied me to the head of the family, and the other madams and grandmothers in the family can't just let it go like this, otherwise it won't be just a matter of beating me a few times and driving me out of the house.

  Dong Zhao was not worried.

  Ji immediately understood what was going on.

  Her face changed greatly, and she said: "Don't make a sound about this matter. As soon as Su Xian comes back, you come to report to me immediately."

  Cai Wei retreated at the sound of his voice.

  Ji took out a copy of "Three Character Classic" as if nothing had happened and began to recite it to her.

  When the sun sets in the west, Tuo Niang returned, still pretending to carry a lan grass pillow.

  Ji Shi directly asked Nuo Niang: "You and Yu Zhuo had a fight, what did Yu Niang say?"

  The girl muttered to herself for a while, looking like she didn't know what to say.

  Ji didn't ask any further, but instead said thoughtfully: "I don't think it's right for me to intervene in this matter, however... You can write a letter to Shougu's aunt and ask her to get one of the madams from our estate to help out. I'm sure no one from our estate will just sit back and watch Shougu being bullied like that. As for Yuzhen, you can tell Yu Niang tomorrow morning that Fourth Miss usually uses her own maid, and since I'll be helping Sixth Master pack his trunks these two days, she should come over to lend a hand. I have my own plans."

  Tuo Niang saw that things were indeed as Duan Zhao had predicted. She was truly delighted and couldn't help but smile, her mouth spreading wide.

  Ji looked at him and smiled, saying: "You are a loyal and honest person, I like you very much. As long as you continue to serve Shougu well, you will have your good days."

  Tuo Niang feels that her current life is already quite good. But being able to gain the praise of Lady Liu is still a delightful thing.

  She nodded repeatedly and smiled even more brightly.

  Ji saw the sun had set behind the mountains, thinking that Dou Zhao had been cooped up at home for a whole day, so he took her hand and strolled around the courtyard, casually pointing out the various flowers and grasses in the courtyard and telling Dou Zhao what they were.

  Second Aunt and Third Aunt, Fifth Aunt all came together to see Du Zhao.

  Ji was instructing the maid to arrange the fruit, while Dou Zhengchang and Dou Dechang had just finished their studies. Dou Huan Chang, who was fair-skinned and slender, and Dou Qijun, who radiated a sunny disposition, also followed behind.

  "We have come to see Fourth Sister (Fourth Aunt)."

  Ji praised the two of them profusely.

  Third Aunt's face was radiant, and she pulled her son along, laughing so hard that her mouth couldn't close.

  Dou Huan Chang smiled warmly and greeted Dou Zhao: "Fourth sister, are you getting used to living here? Is the East House fun?"

  Dong Zhaowu unintentionally pulled a relationship with them, pretending to be shy and smiled.

  The younger generation of Dongfu are all having dinner in Liu Fang's place.

  In the evening, Liu Bo didn't come back, but Grandpa did hurry back.

  The next day at noon, news came that the Zhū and Dòu families had cancelled their engagement.

  Dong Zhao didn't think it was a pity.

  A woman thinks a man is good just because he is willing to mourn for his wife for three years. It can be seen that her knowledge and experience are also very limited.

  She hummed softly and soon threw the matter to the back of her mind, not thinking about the deeper reasons - in her heart, her mother was a woman as pure as water and as fierce as fire, and there was no other woman in this world who could be more true and pure than her mother, nor anyone who could replace her.

  Dong Zhao asked about Tuo's daughter's whereabouts.

  Cai Lan smiled and told her: "Su Xian and Wang Guan Shi went to Zhending State, they will be back tomorrow afternoon."

  According to Wu Zhao's speculation, after Ji Shi knew about this matter, she would definitely secretly help her. In order not to attract the attention of the Wu family members, she would likely entrust the Ji family's shop in Zhending Prefecture to send messages, and Wang Guan Shi was precisely Ji Shi's attendant.

  She smiled slightly.

  Yu Zhuang nervously followed Cai Wei in, carrying a bundle.

  Dong Zhao was drawing red, Ji Shi sat beside Dong Zhao, as if she hadn't heard the report, her eyelids didn't even lift, while helping Dong Zhao fan herself, in a low voice and soft words praising Dong Zhao's handwriting, like this, the jade hairpin was aired for more than half an hour. When Dong Zhao finished drawing the red, Ji Shi personally helped Dong Zhao wash his hands, and then held the lotus seed soup sent by the maids to feed Dong Zhao a few mouthfuls, only then did she say: "You are Yu Chai who serves Fourth Miss?" As if she had just seen her.

  Yu Chuan's legs stood straight and trembled, hot with sweat seeping through her collar, yet she didn't dare move at all. Hearing Ji Shi's question, she hastily replied: "In response to Sixth Madame's words, I am Yu Chuan." Her attitude was extremely respectful.

  Ji said with a smile, "Go ahead," and then handed a spoonful of lotus seed soup to Du Zhao's mouth, patiently coaxing, "Our Shou girl is so clever, she has almost finished a bowl of lotus seed soup!"

  When did the ladies in the East Palace get so close to Qi?

  The seven grannies are all gone, and yet they still dote on Fourth Miss as if she were a treasure.

  Jade hairpin, gazing at it, felt a moment of daze.

  A maid had already come forward and gently pulled at her sleeve: "Haven't you retreated yet?"

  She came to herself, hastily and flusteredly walked out of the inner chamber, and heard a low, unknown voice whispering in her ear: "Isn't it said that you served the previous emperor? How come I see you looking stupid and numb, could it be that you mixed water and fish and sneaked in?"

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