Everyone took their seats as hosts and guests. Song Mo personally brewed a pot of fine Tieguanyin tea for Dou Shiying.
The rich aroma of tea soothed Dou Shiying’s anxious mood. Recalling the Five Cities Military and Civilian Command personnel he saw at the entrance of Duke Ying’s mansion, he asked, “Have all the thieves been caught?”
“All those who broke into the mansion have been captured,” Song Mo skillfully painted a rosy picture, refilling Dou Shiying’s cup. “The Five Cities Military and Civilian Command and Shuntian Prefecture are pursuing the others.”
Dou Shiying breathed a sigh of relief.
However, Ji Yong interjected, “Duke Ying’s household is our dynasty’s foremost noble family. Duke Ying himself is the Commander-in-Chief of the Front Command of the Five Military Commands, and you, brother-in-law, are the Commander of the Front Guard of the Jinwu Guard. How dare these thieves attempt to scale walls and steal from Duke Ying’s mansion? They could devise a plan to lure the tiger away from the mountain, but didn’t they consider the consequences of failure? And they just happened to choose a time when both Duke Ying and you were away… Isn’t that strange?” By the end, he was almost mumbling to himself, but his words made Dou Shiying tense up.
“Yantan, have you offended someone?” Dou Shiying asked hesitantly. “Your and your father-in-law’s whereabouts shouldn’t be known to ordinary people, right? And the matter of the banknotes, how did it suddenly become 100,000 taels…”
The moment Song Mo saw Ji Yong, he knew trouble was coming. But he had never been one to fear trouble!
“I was careless in this matter,” Song Mo sincerely apologized to Dou Shiying. “Shouji’s and my marriage was decided hastily. Fearing gossip from busybodies, I didn’t stop people from exaggerating Shouji’s dowry when I heard it. I thought that since people first respect the clothes and then the person if it could reduce trouble for Shouji, it wouldn’t be so bad. I never imagined it would attract thieves. I’ve also considered what Lord Ji said.
Shouji summoning the stewards to the main hall is not only to stabilize morale but also to keep them in the flower hall of the upper courtyard so I could send people to investigate their recent whereabouts.” He continued, “I’m young and inexperienced. Father-in-law, you’ve crossed more bridges than I’ve walked roads. If you see anything I’ve overlooked, please remind me. I’ll mend the fold after the sheep are lost and immediately order people to handle it. We must protect Shouji’s safety at all costs – if they could leak my and my father’s whereabouts today, who knows if they might leak Shouji’s whereabouts someday!”
When it came to these specific matters, Dou Shiying was even less knowledgeable than a promoted official. Even if he wanted to give Song Mo a hint, he’d first need to find Song Mo’s shortcomings!
What advice could he possibly offer?
Seeing Song Mo’s honest and humble attitude, he nodded approvingly: “You’ve considered things very thoroughly. I’m at ease with you handling the interactions with the Five Cities Military and Civilian Command and Shuntian Prefecture. I have nothing to remind you about.”
Ji Yong was left speechless for a while.
Song Mo pretended not to notice and continued speaking softly with his father-in-law: “This is Shouji’s first time summoning the household stewards to talk, so it might take a bit long. Please try this tea first. It’s autumn tea that the heir of Marquis Yan’an, Wang Dahai, sent over recently. I’ve tasted it and found it quite good. Shouji mentioned you like Tieguanyin, so I was thinking of sending some to you in a few days…”
It seemed that Shouji and her husband were getting along well, even discussing what kind of tea he liked. His son-in-law was also considerate, thinking of sending him some good tea to try. Dou Shiying pondered, deciding not to tell Song Mo that his favorite was Xinyang Maojian – after all, he wasn’t a stubborn person, and he could drink Tieguanyin when his son-in-law was around in the future.
Song Mo, however, was secretly apologizing to his father-in-law in his heart.
He and Dou Zhao had only been married for eleven days. For half of those days, he had been in the palace. During the other half when he was with Dou Zhao, his mind was full of thoughts about what Dou Zhao liked and disliked, and how to get along better with her, leaving no room to care about other people and things. He had merely noticed that Dou Zhao liked drinking Tieguanyin, so he made a bold guess, not expecting to be correct. It seemed that in the future, he would need to build better relationships with people from the Fujian Provincial Administration Commission, as he would often need to send Tieguanyin to Jing’an Temple Lane.
The father-in-law and son-in-law smiled at each other, each with their thoughts.
Song Mo, not wanting Ji Yong’s pessimism to affect Dou Shiying’s mood, began telling Dou Shiying how Dou Zhao had first sacrificed pawns to protect the king, letting the servants retreat to the hanging flower gate to resist the thieves, how she had lit firewood to signal for help, and how she had scalded several thieves who tried to rob with boiling water, making them unable to attack the hanging flower gate at will… At first, he was just trying to attract Dou Shiying’s attention and prevent Ji Yong from talking nonsense, but as he spoke, he increasingly felt that Dou Zhao was remarkable – not only generous in character but also intelligent and brave, a rare exceptional woman. His tone gradually became tinged with admiration.
Dou Shiying, being very sensitive to matters of love, could hear the meaning in Song Mo’s words by this point. He couldn’t help but laugh heartily, unable to close his mouth.
This Dou Zhao was one Ji Yong had never seen before.
He listened, somewhat dumbfounded.
In his heart, a vague thought emerged: Dou Zhao was like a gemstone, becoming more exquisite, radiant, brilliant, and beautiful the more it was polished… Or perhaps, only such a life could make Dou Zhao reflect such dazzling brilliance?
But this thought flashed by quickly, soon ignored by Ji Yong, whether intentionally or unintentionally.
“I never imagined Fourth Sister had suffered so much!” Ji Yong sighed. “Thankfully, heaven has eyes, allowing Fourth Sister to turn danger into safety and misfortune into a blessing.” He asked Song Mo, “What plans do the Five Cities Military and Civilian Command and Shuntian Prefecture have? It’s been two or three hours since the incident, right? Even if those thieves were brainless, they would know to lay low once their plan was exposed, wouldn’t they? Beijing is so big, that if they’re determined to hide, it might be difficult to find them, right? So many things happen in Beijing every day, surely the Five Cities Military and Civilian Command and Shuntian Prefecture can’t interrogate everyone passing through Beijing for this matter every day? What if one day those people become desperate and try to rob Duke Ying’s mansion again?”
His words made Dou Shiying anxious again.
“Lord Ji may not know yet,” Song Mo said with a bland expression, “but the original Commander of the Five Cities Military and Civilian Command and the Prefect of Shuntian Prefecture have been sent to the imperial prison. The Left Military Commander, Earl of Dongping, has taken over as Commander of the Five Cities Military and Civilian Command…” He briefly informed Ji Yong about the personnel changes, “I’ve already sent someone to deliver a card to the Earl of Dongping’s residence. When the time comes, we’ll sit down with the Earl and Lord Huang to discuss. However, I think we should take this opportunity to reorganize all walks of life in Beijing, to prevent those thieves from daring to rob again without knowing the immensity of heaven and earth.”
Dou Shiying listened, dumbfounded, and after a while said, “The Prefect of Shuntian and the Commander of the Five Cities Military and Civilian Command have both been replaced?” His face was full of shock.
“Yes,” Song Mo said, “The Earl of Dongping went to the palace to express gratitude and hasn’t come out yet. He should come over as soon as he leaves the palace.”
Ji Yong, however, couldn’t stand Song Mo’s seemingly low-key but arrogant demeanor.
He said, “The Emperor must feel that those thieves have slapped the face of the meritorious nobility and that severe punishment is necessary to deter villains.”
Dou Shiying nodded continuously, and added with relief, “Yantan, this is also your good fortune. You must seize this opportunity, find a way to catch a few thieves and punish them severely. Then no one will dare to target Duke Ying’s mansion in the future.”
Song Mo smiled and agreed, “Yes.”
Ji Yong could only sigh inwardly.
A group of maids and servants escorted Dou Zhao in.
“Shouji!” Dou Shiying stepped forward to examine his daughter. Seeing her safe and sound, without a hair out of place, he nodded with a smile.
Dou Zhao felt a twinge in her heart.
“Why did you come?” She supported her father, then saw Ji Yong, “Cousin Ji!” She greeted Ji Yong with a smile, “I didn’t expect you to come see me too! How have you been these days?” She naturally asked Ji Yong.
Ji Yong glanced at Song Mo.
He saw Song Mo standing aside with a calm smile as if he didn’t care about these things at all.
Ji Yong smirked slightly and said to Dou Zhao, “It’s all over town. They say that some great thieves from the jianghu had their eyes on your dowry and that they set fire to Duke Ying’s mansion when they couldn’t get the money. Uncle Seven was so worried. I happened to hear about it and came to see you, so I came in with Uncle Seven.”
These rumors… made Dou Zhao feel both amused and exasperated.
Song Mo, however, said, “This rumor is good. We can spread the word that the thieves stole the money, which will prevent others from targeting you.”
“This plan is excellent!” Dou Shiying praised, then hesitated, “If we say the money was stolen, we’d have to write it in the complaint when reporting to the Shuntian Prefecture… Would that be appropriate?”
Song Mo smiled and said, “I will explain to Earl Dongping and Lord Huang that this is a temporary measure to corner those thieves.”
A hundred thousand taels of silver was no small amount.
If those desperate outlaws in the jianghu found out that these thieves had stolen a hundred thousand taels of silver, even if he wanted to let those thieves go, those outlaws wouldn’t let them off.
A group of thieves being hunted down would have no mind to target Duke Ying’s mansion again.
Dou Zhao smiled at Song Mo and sat down next to her father.
“…Duke Ying’s mansion is heavily guarded. This time it was just complacency that allowed petty thieves to take advantage,” she casually told her father about the affairs of the mansion, “The outer courtyard only had a stable, and a few side rooms burned – it’s nothing! Just needs some renovations.”
“Yantan has already told me,” Dou Shiying smiled at his daughter. Perhaps after hearing Song Mo’s account, he felt that his daughter seemed somewhat different from usual as if she was more beautiful… more composed than when she was in Jing’an Temple Lane.
Dou Shiying couldn’t help but smile.
He had personally taken action and immediately resolved his daughter’s marriage, unlike his aunt who still hadn’t married off Zhangru even now.
Thinking of this, Dou Shiying felt a little smug.
After talking in the study for a while, Dou Shiying had learned everything he wanted to know and stood up to take his leave: “When I came, your aunt and cousin insisted on coming along, but I didn’t know what the situation was like here, so I didn’t dare let them come. Your sixth aunt also sent someone to ask me. I need to go back and report to them, so they can be at ease.”
Dou Zhao felt a bit regretful: “It’s your first visit, and you haven’t even had a meal…”
“There will be plenty of opportunities in the future,” Dou Shiying was very satisfied with his visit. “When you come back for your home visit, I’ll have a good drink with Yantan.”
Song Mo and Dou Zhao saw Dou Shiying and Ji Yong out of Duke Ying’s mansion.