A woman in her forties arrived at the Jining Marquis Manor to deliver a message. She wore a yellow-green embroidered jacket, adorned with a gilded hairpin and jade bracelet. Her plump, fair appearance suggested she was the mistress of a well-off household.

Dou Zhao recognized her. Her husband’s surname was Jin, and everyone called her Nanny Jin. She was Wei Tingzhen’s wet nurse and most trusted confidant. In her previous life, Nanny Jin had always acted according to Wei Tingzhen’s wishes, and this life would be no exception.

This must be Wei Tingzhen’s idea! Dou Zhao thought with a cold smile.

Speaking more bluntly now, Dou Zhao said, “Marriage is a matter for parents to decide and matchmakers to arrange. Why hasn’t the Jining Marquis Manor sent a matchmaker to discuss this with my father? Instead, they’ve sent a servant to inform our elders. Do they look down on the Dou family? Or do they think the women of our family are ignorant and easily bullied?”

She loudly instructed Nanny Liu, who had accompanied Nanny Jin to pay respects, “Go tell the Wei family that while they may have no shame, our Dou family still has daughters to marry off and can’t afford to lose face! If they want this marriage, fine. If not, return the jade pendant my mother gave to the Marchioness. From then on, we’ll each go our separate ways. There’s no reason to marry within a hundred days of mourning!”

Dou Zhao didn’t even glance at Nanny Jin, as if she weren’t in the room.

Nanny Jin’s heart tightened as she listened. The Young Mistress had worried that with Dou Shizu entering the cabinet, the Dou family’s status would rise. She feared that the Fourth Miss Dou would become arrogant after marrying into their family. That’s why she proposed marrying during the mourning period. She hadn’t expected the Fourth Miss Dou to be so sharp-tongued.

Nanny Jin had first sent a maid to ask the Second Madam if the Wei family had arrived. Since they had met face-to-face, she felt obliged to come to pay respects to Fourth Miss Dou. But as soon as she entered, before she could say a word, Fourth Miss Dou started berating her, leaving her at a loss for how to proceed.

Seeing how this Fourth Miss Dou behaved, it was no wonder the Young Mistress was concerned. If she married into their family, even the Young Mistress might not be able to control her!

Nanny Jin couldn’t help but say, “Fourth Miss has misunderstood! Our Lady and Young Mistress had no intention of looking down on the Dou family. It’s just that with the Marquis’s passing, our household is in disarray. We’ve heard of Fourth Miss’s virtuous reputation and hoped to welcome her into our family soon, to have her titled as Marchioness quickly, and to hand over household matters to her. Our Young Master has no other brothers, so all the family property will be his. All the household expenses will be for the Young Master and Fourth Miss…”

Before she could finish, Dou Zhao contemptuously interrupted, “Who is this person? Why does she act as if she can make decisions for the family?”

Nanny Jin, never having been treated so disrespectfully, flushed red and explained, “This old servant’s surname is Jin. I am the wet nurse of the Young Mistress of the Jing Guo Gong Manor…”

It was precisely because Dou Zhao knew this that she pressed her advantage. If it had been someone else, she wouldn’t have bothered arguing!

Striking the dog will surely alert its master, Dou Zhao thought cynically.

She snorted coldly and said, “How strange. Since when does the Young Mistress of the Jing Guo Gong Manor manage the affairs of the Jining Marquis Manor? Is this the custom of the Jining Marquis Manor or the Jing Guo Gong Manor? I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

This accusation was too much for Nanny Jin to bear. She defended herself, “Our Young Mistress is simply concerned about her brother’s family…”

Nanny Liu now understood. The Fourth Miss was giving the Wei family a warning!

Since Nanny Jin could come on behalf of the Wei family to deliver a message to the Dou family, regardless of whether she was from the Jining Marquis Manor or the Jing Guo Gong Manor, she must be a respected figure in the Wei household. Fourth Miss would eventually marry into the Jining Marquis Manor. At first, Nanny Liu thought Dou Zhao had invited Nanny Jin to win her over, but she never expected Fourth Miss to show such disregard for the Wei family.

This was good, it would prevent the Wei family from thinking the Dou family had no one to rely on!

Marrying during the mourning period – how could they even think of such a thing?

Now that the Fifth Master had entered the cabinet, although he was managing the Ministry of Justice, he had worked in the Ministry of Personnel for many years and still maintained his connections. Whether the Young Master of the Jining Marquis Manor wanted to inherit the title or seek a better position, he would need the Fifth Master’s support. Even if Fourth Miss was a bit difficult, would they dare to show her disrespect?

However, Nanny Liu found it hard to reconcile the usually graceful Dou Zhao with this furious version before her. It took her a while to regain her composure. She remained silent, pretending to be deaf and mute, as she listened to Dou Zhao thoroughly humiliate Nanny Jin. Finally, she signaled to the maid who had accompanied them, indicating that she should find an excuse to call them away.

The maid, being clever, quietly retreated, made a round outside, then hurriedly crossed the main courtyard to ask Dou Zhao’s maid to help convey a message: “The Second Madam has more questions for the nanny from the Wei family and has specifically sent me to invite her over to talk.”

Only then did Nanny Jin retreat, dejected and embarrassed. She pulled the young maid aside and asked, “Do you know what the Second Madam wants to discuss with me?”

The young maid looked at Nanny Liu and giggled.

Nanny Liu smiled discreetly and said, “Nanny Jin, why don’t you rest at my place for a while? You can pay respects to the Second Madam after lunch.”

Nanny Jin suddenly understood and thanked her profusely, secretly slipping two red envelopes to Nanny Liu.

Nanny Liu accepted them without hesitation.

As Nanny Jin left, full of resentment, Lu Ming, whom Song Mo had placed in the Dou household, heard about Dou Zhao’s engagement to the Jining Marquis’s heir. He quickly wrote a letter and secretly sent it back to the Ying Guo Gong Manor.

Song Mo took the letter to Yan Chaoqing.

“What do you think?” he handed the letter to Yan Chaoqing.

Yan Chaoqing skimmed through it quickly and let out a long sigh of relief. “Since she’s marrying into the Wei family, she’ll naturally act in the Jining Marquis Manor’s interests.”

The implication was that Dou Zhao wouldn’t oppose the Ying Guo Gong Manor for the sake of her husband’s family.

“I thought the same,” Song Mo nodded. “This makes things easier.” Suddenly, an image of Dou Zhao’s snow-white face and long eyebrows flashed in his mind. He couldn’t help but ask, “Does anyone know the Jining Marquis’s heir?”

Yan Chaoqing looked at him approvingly.

Since Fourth Miss Dou was to marry into the Jining Marquis Manor if the Young Master could befriend the Jining Marquis’s heir, it would serve as a deterrent to Dou Zhao – she certainly wouldn’t want her husband to know about everything that happened at the manor.

“The Jining Marquis passed away a few days ago,” Yan Chaoqing replied. He always kept abreast of various news in the capital and could answer Song Mo’s questions immediately. “Our family had some connections with theirs a few generations back, but we haven’t interacted in recent years, so we didn’t receive a death notice. The Jining Marquis only had one son and one daughter. The son is the heir, Wei Tingyu. After the Marquis’s seven-year mourning period, the Wei family will likely apply for the inheritance of the title. With the help of the Dou family’s Fifth Master, there shouldn’t be any problems. The daughter married Zhang Zongyao, so we could get to know Wei Tingyu through the Zhang family.”

Zhang Yuanming, courtesy name Zongyao.

Suddenly, Song Mo felt less inclined to meet Wei Tingyu.

He pondered, “Let’s discuss this matter later.”

Yan Chaoqing also felt that this couldn’t be rushed. The Jining Marquis Manor was barely a declining noble house, while the Ying Guo Gong Manor was a prosperous family still in the Emperor’s favor. One was at rock bottom, the other at the peak – they originally had no connection. If Song Mo suddenly became close to Wei Tingyu, it might arouse suspicion from many.

They would need to create an opportunity that seemed natural.

The two began discussing court matters: “The Emperor has retained Minister Lu’s memorial without issuing it, which is somewhat worrying.”

The Lu family had no relation to the Jiang family but was related by marriage to the Song family. Lu Zongyuan’s third son, Lu Zhili, had married Princess Ningde, and his granddaughter had married Zhang Xuming, the third son of Jing Guo Gong. Having Lu Fuli submit a memorial was a way of testing the waters. Now that the Emperor said nothing and retained the memorial without issuing it, they found it difficult to continue having people submit memorials.

Song Mo suddenly felt frustrated and said, “Why don’t we split our efforts and also find someone to impeach my uncle? Let’s see how the Emperor reacts.”

“I’m afraid Madam won’t agree,” Yan Chaoqing’s face darkened. This was the safest approach, but “Madam can’t bear to see the Ding Guo Gong suffer!”

Song Mo frowned.

Yan Chaoqing’s servant came running in, stumbling. Seeing Song Mo, he even forgot to bow, his face full of tears as he cried out, “The old Ding Guo Gong, they say he died from excessive torture…”

“What did you say?” Song Mo’s face instantly turned pale. He grabbed the servant’s shoulders so tightly that the servant felt as if his shoulders were caught in an iron vise, about to shatter. The pain was excruciating, but he dared not make a sound. He quickly said, “News just came from Fujian. They say the Gong was tortured by the Jinyiwei, and then forced to travel through the night without treatment. The Gong’s injuries were too severe… he has passed away…”

“The Jinyiwei were only responsible for escorting the Gong back to the capital,” Yan Chaoqing, who had followed, shouted in disbelief. “The Gong hadn’t been convicted of anything. What right did they have to torture him? Where are Xu Qing and Shi An? Weren’t they sent to protect the Gong secretly? What were they doing?”

“By the time Xu Qing and the others arrived, the Gong had already been tortured,” the servant said. “This time, the Jinyiwei sent were all elites from their ranks. By the time they managed to contact the Third Master, the Gong had already… He passed away the next day… The Third Master and Fourth Master were also tortured. The Third Master said it was because some jianghu people tried to break him out, so the Jinyiwei had an excuse to deal a fatal blow to the Gong. He told us not to cry foul, saying that both thunder and dew are the Emperor’s grace. He also said, ‘As long as the green hills remain, there’s no fear of having no firewood to burn.'”

Song Mo felt as if there was a fire burning in his chest, making all his blood boil. His ears were filled with the sound of bubbling water, and even the conversation between Yan Chaoqing and the servant became muffled.

He slowly released the servant’s shoulders and took a deep breath. “Does my mother know?” His voice was calm and rational, composed and steady.

The servant looked at Song Mo, unable to hide the terror in his eyes. It wasn’t until Yan Chaoqing’s stern gaze fell upon him that he reacted, hurriedly saying, “We… we didn’t dare tell Madam.”

Song Mo extended his hand, his palm fair and delicate, but with thin calluses on his fingertips. “Give it to me!”

The servant was confused for a moment before realizing what Song Mo meant. He quickly took out the brocade pouch from his bosom.

“I’ll go tell my mother,” Song Mo said, clutching the pouch tightly in his hand. He walked out of Yan Chaoqing’s room unhurriedly, his steps composed.

Suddenly, Yan Chaoqing felt a heart-wrenching pain.