Wang Yingxue noticed her daughter’s indifferent expression and scolded her, “Why don’t you use your brain? What kind of ceremony will Duke Ying’s residence use to welcome Dou Zhao? Once you enter the door, how will they treat Dou Zhao? A daughter who is valued by her in-laws will have a completely different status in her maternal family. Only a daughter who is cherished by her in-laws can support her maternal family in critical times; a daughter who is not valued will only receive help from her maternal family, with no support in return.”

“Marriage is meant to unite two families. If you cannot maintain that connection, what help can your maternal family offer you?”

“Your eldest sister-in-law is so formidable. You’ve barely been married a month, and she’s already encouraging your mother-in-law to have you manage the household. With so little silver on the books, she intends to swindle your dowry! Without support from your maternal family, how can you compete with your eldest sister-in-law? Are you planning to just concede and let her take whatever she wants?”

Dou Ming couldn’t help but ask, “Then what should I do?”

She had come to her mother specifically for advice.

“Am I not under house arrest right now?” Wang Yingxue sneered. “You should go find your fifth aunt and pretend to be clueless in front of all the relatives. Ask her what you should do.”

“But what if she tells me to take over managing the household?” Dou Ming was quite surprised. “They only care about their reputation; they don’t care whether I’m doing well or not.”

Wang Yingxue’s greatest hope was to pull her daughter, who had been brainwashed by the Dou family and was growing increasingly distant from her, back to her side. Otherwise, she would truly have no chance to rise again!

“You fool!” Wang Yingxue exclaimed. “Just do as your fifth aunt says! But remember, you need to visit Huai Tree Alley often to seek her advice on managing the household. When you go, wear the same few outfits repeatedly, and when you send the servants away, make sure to appear timid…”

Dou Ming was a clever girl and immediately understood.

She couldn’t help but ponder deeply.

A glimmer of satisfaction flashed in Wang Yingxue’s eyes.

Before long, a little maid returned with news.

Her parroting of what she had heard caused both Wang Yingxue and Dou Ming’s expressions to change dramatically.

“What did you say?” Wang Yingxue stood up in shock. “The marquis wants to call the fourth master ‘brother’?”

The little maid, somewhat dull-witted, wouldn’t have been sent to serve Wang Yingxue otherwise. She nodded seriously and said, “That young master Shen said so, and he also mentioned that the marquis is unfortunate to have encountered the fourth master; otherwise, he could have dealt with the fourth master separately. The master laughed when he heard this, and several of his colleagues laughed along…”

Wang Yingxue’s heart felt as if it had been doused in oil.

“Idiot!” She glared fiercely at the little maid. “Who told you to be so detailed?”

The little maid lowered her head in grievance. Wasn’t it you who told me to report everything I saw and heard in detail?

Dou Ming also felt a surge of agitation.

She asked the little maid, “What did the marquis say when the young master Shen said that?”

The little maid replied softly, “The marquis didn’t say anything.”

In other words, Wei Tingyu had also acknowledged it.

The mother and daughter fell silent, their faces dark.

Seeing this, Granny Hu wanted to ease the tension and laughed, “You silly maid, stop talking nonsense! The fourth master is here to propose marriage; aside from his biological brother and cousin, aren’t the others either young masters or vice-generals? It’s not like selling cabbages, where you can just grab one; where would all these young masters and vice-generals come from? Did you mishear?”

But the little maid, not understanding Granny Hu’s words, hurriedly defended herself, “It’s not what I said; it’s what the marquis said when he introduced them to the master. Besides, they were either wearing flying fish robes or python robes, looking very impressive! Everyone was sneaking glances along the way! Little Hongjie even said that anyone daring to wear those clothes would be executed. So it must be true!”

Wang Yingxue and Dou Ming’s faces darkened further.

Granny Hu could no longer hold back and scolded the little maid, “If you don’t speak, no one will think you’re mute!”

The little maid was so frightened that she didn’t know how to place her hands and feet.

Dou Ming felt bored and waved her hand at the little maid, “You can leave now!”

The little maid felt as if she had been granted amnesty and quickly ran away.

Wang Yingxue recovered from the shock and asked Dou Ming, “How could a young master’s status be more illustrious than the marquis’s?”

Dou Ming couldn’t help but say, “Since you married me into the Jining Marquis’s residence, didn’t you inquire about what was going on?”

Wang Yingxue felt a bit uncomfortable and replied, “I didn’t expect your sister to marry a young master. Given her circumstances, she should have married a scholar from a humble family. Perhaps your father, in a moment of impulse, would even keep her at home to find a husband…”

Dou Ming felt a surge of anger.

She had no choice but to explain the connections of the noble families to Wang Yingxue.

Wang Yingxue was somewhat dumbfounded. “So, they rely entirely on the emperor’s favor to live?”

Dou Ming nodded and said, “That’s why everyone is participating in the autumn gathering, hoping to make a name for themselves and gain the emperor’s favor, so they can rise to prominence in the future!”

Wang Yingxue immediately perked up. “This is just like scholars participating in the imperial examinations. Since there’s a way to gain a noble status, there’s nothing to fear! The marquis is skilled in archery and horsemanship; at worst, we can have your fifth uncle think of a way to help the marquis make an impression on the emperor and secure a noble status.” At this point, she reminded her daughter again, “You need to visit Huai Tree Alley more often. Especially your tenth sister-in-law, the Cai family; her maternal family is so greedy, which shows she’s not a good person. You might as well start from her.”

Dou Ming nodded, “That’s what I was thinking!”

Meanwhile, her tenth cousin, Dou Jichang, was in the flower hall drinking with the guests from the Song family who had come to urge the dowry.

He was handsome, elegant, and witty, easily winning the favor of people like Wang Qinghuai.

Ma Youming smiled and said to Zhang Xuming beside him, “The Dou family members all have good looks; the fourth miss of the Dou family must be beautiful too! Yan Tang is indeed fortunate.”

Zhang Xuming chuckled but remained silent.

Gu Yu, who had been listening intently, thought to himself, What good is being pretty? This fourth miss of the Dou family is formidable! She even dares to demand a deposit! Who knows how she will torment Tianci in the future?

On the side, Lu Zhan laughed and said, “The fourth miss of the Dou family should look quite good—when Elder Dou was selecting officials in the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry commented that Elder Dou had a ‘graceful demeanor’!”

Just as he finished speaking, Shen Qing, sitting across from him, exclaimed, “The Dou family served up dishes like lotus flower bird’s nest, chicken fluff, and braised bear paw…”

The faces of the guests from the Song family turned ashen.

Dou Jichang and the others, however, smiled brightly.

Dong Qi felt as if he were sitting on pins and needles. He thought to himself that he had never felt so embarrassed in his life. It was just a few delicacies; did it require such a fuss?

He wished he could slap Shen Qing, this nouveau riche, across the face and couldn’t help but glare at him fiercely.

As soon as Shen Qing finished speaking, he realized he had misspoken. Seeing everyone’s expressions, he shrank back and quietly defended himself, “I’ve eaten them before; I just didn’t expect the Dou family to be so extravagant when marrying off their daughter…”

The more he explained, the worse it got!

Wang Qinghuai quickly smiled at Dou Jichang, “In recent years, very few families have prepared authentic ‘bird’s nest and shark fin banquets’!”

Dou Jichang smiled gracefully, “We invited the chef from Zui Xian Lou; I don’t know how well he cooks. Everyone can taste it and see how it compares to usual. If it’s not good, we’ll have a reason to deduct their wages!”

Wang Qinghuai and Ma Youming laughed heartily, brushing the matter aside.

However, they were still deflated by Shen Qing’s comment, and during the dowry preparations, they became a bit more restrained.

In the afternoon, at the hour of You, Dou Zhao’s dowry left the Dou family’s gates.

The first item was a towering statue of the Three Immortals carved from sandalwood, followed by various gold, silver, and tin items, silks and satins, from large carved camphor wood boxes to small combs made of boxwood, Xiangfei bamboo, and Shuzhu. It was all there, and for wealthy individuals like Wang Qinghuai, it was nothing surprising.

What was surprising was that among the items was a full cart containing two boxes of silver notes, each pressed down by a pair of red gold lingzhi-shaped ruyi, making onlookers’ eyes widen in disbelief.

“Wow!” Ma Youming exclaimed, “It’s fortunate that the fourth miss of the Dou family is marrying into Duke Ying’s residence. If she were marrying into another family, I fear that as soon as the dowry entered the door, thieves would be sneaking in right after!” He said this, glancing at Wang Qinghuai with admiration, “The Dou family is truly bold!”

Even the composed Wang Qinghuai couldn’t help but change color.

Although he dealt with money daily, seeing such a large sum of silver notes presented so openly in the dowry still shocked him.

“There must be at least forty thousand taels in silver notes!” He couldn’t help but glance again, “All of them are ten-tael notes from the Tongde Silver House! The Dou family must be one of the few major clients of the Tongde Silver House; otherwise, they wouldn’t have printed so many ten-tael notes specifically for the Dou family. This must have taken at least a few months to print.”

Wang Qinghuai was sensitive to such matters, having dealt with money daily.

The Tongde Silver House was the largest silver house in Northern Zhili, one of the few old brands left from the previous dynasty, known for its integrity and strong financial backing.

To make the Tongde Silver House bow down…

Shen Qing felt a chill run down his spine. “No, it can’t be! So much silver? How could they possibly spend it all?” He then whimsically thought, “What if I borrowed some silver from Song Da? He wouldn’t refuse me, would he?”

No one paid him any mind.

Gu Yu’s face darkened.

The Dou family is giving away so much silver for their daughter’s marriage; there must be something wrong with this daughter!

Dong Qi’s mind was blank.

He only knew that Song Mo had found a very powerful family for his wife, and the gap between him and Song Mo had widened even further.

Zhang Xuming thought of how Song Mo had asked his wife to be the matchmaker and realized he needed to remind his wife about some matters.

Only Lu Zhan wore a beaming smile.

It seemed that his uncle had put a lot of thought into the marriage at Yan Tang.

He would go back and tell his grandfather; his grandfather would surely be very pleased!

Song Han’s face was blank, and it was hard to tell what he was thinking.

Dou Shishu had just left the yamen, intending to attend an appointment. As he was about to get into the sedan chair, he remembered that today was Dou Zhao’s dowry day and instructed his attendant, “You handle the dinner invitation; I want to go see what’s happening at Jing’an Temple Alley.”

It seemed that the elder was still feeling a bit guilty about the fourth miss!

The attendant repeatedly agreed and instructed the bearers to take Dou Shishu to Jing’an Temple Alley.

However, when the sedan chair reached Jing’an Temple, it couldn’t go in.

The attendant, sweating profusely, explained, “The fourth miss is sending her dowry!”

Dou Shishu grunted and lifted the curtain to look. He heard the crowd buzzing with discussion all around: “A whole cart of silver notes! Pressed down by four red gold ru yi; those ru yi are golden and over a foot long, heavy enough to blind your eyes… Those silver notes, each one is the same; there must be at least fifty thousand taels… I’ve lived this long and never seen such a lavish marriage! The Dou family truly deserves to be the richest in the current dynasty!”

The situation was exaggerated several times.