The woman who came to deliver the message from the Hou Mansion in Jining was around forty years old, wearing a light blue embroidered jacket with floral patterns, a gold-plated hairpin on her head, and a beryl bracelet on her wrist, looking plump and fair-skinned.

  Dong Zhaung remembered her.

  Her husband's surname is Jin, and everyone calls her Mrs. Jin; she was the wet nurse of Wei Tingzhen and also the person he trusted most.

  In her past life, she only followed Wei Tingzhen's lead and did things according to his facial expressions. This life would naturally be no exception.

  It must be Wei Tingzhen's idea!

  Dong Zhaoleng sneered, and her words became even more impolite: "Marriage is a matter of parental orders and matchmakers' words. The Hou Mansion of Jining didn't send a matchmaker to discuss with my father, but instead sent a servant to inform our family's elders. Are they looking down on the Dong family? Or do they think that the women in the Dong family are ignorant, weak, and easily bullied?" She loudly instructed Liu Mama, who had accompanied Jin Mama to pay her respects, "Go tell the people from the Wei family that they have no shame! Our Dong family still wants to marry off our daughters, but we can't afford to lose face with this kind of person! If they want to form an alliance, then let them do it. If not, then return the jade pendant my mother gave to Madame Hou, and from now on, we'll have nothing to do with each other. There's no reason for us to rush into a marriage within a hundred days!" She didn't even glance at Jin Mama, as if she were ignoring her presence.

  Jin Aunty's heart tightened as she listened.

  The old lady was worried that Duan Shixiu would enter the cabinet, and the status of the Duan family would rise with it. She was afraid that after the fourth miss of the Duan family married into their family, she would be arrogant and domineering, so she proposed to marry off her own daughter instead. Who knew that the fourth miss of the Duan family would turn out to be so overbearing?

  First, she sent a maid to ask the second lady if someone from the Wei family had arrived. Since they were face to face, she couldn't not come to pay her respects to Miss Duan. But as soon as she entered the door, before she could even say a word, Miss Duan started scolding her, leaving her at a loss and unable to advance or retreat.

  Looking at how Miss Duan Si behaves, it's no wonder Old Madam is worried.

  If she really marries into their family, I'm afraid even the eldest lady of the house won't be able to control her!

  "She couldn't help but say: 'Fourth Miss, you've misunderstood! Our family's lady and eldest madam didn't mean to look down on the Duan family. It's just that since the duke passed away, things at home have been in disarray. We've heard that Fourth Miss has a good reputation, so we thought of quickly marrying her into our family, and soon asking for the title of 'Hou Fu Ren' (Duke's Wife) to be bestowed upon Fourth Miss. Our young master doesn't have any other brothers, so this family property will all belong to him; the expenses and expenditures of this household are also all for the sake of our young master and Fourth Miss...'"

  She hadn't even finished speaking when Du Zhao cut her off with disdain, "Who is this? How dare you act like the mistress of the house?"

  Madam Jin had never been treated like this before, her face turned bright red as she explained: "My surname is Jin, I am the wet nurse of the eldest lady of the Jingguo Duke's manor..."

  It's precisely because I know her that I won't let her off easily. If it were someone else, I wouldn't even bother to give her the time of day!

  Hit the dog.

  Dong Zhao snorted coldly and said, "This is strange. How did the madam of the Jingguo Duke's mansion start managing the affairs of the Jining Marquis' mansion? What rules are being followed here? The rules of the Jining Marquis' mansion or the rules of the Jingguo Duke's mansion? I've never heard of this before."

  Such a big hat fell down. Jin Aiyi also couldn't bear it. She argued: "Our family's eldest lady is also concerned about her brother's family..."

  Grandma Liu can see clearly now.

  It seems Miss Fourth is going to give the Wei family a warning shot!

  Since Jin Lao Tai can come to deliver messages for the Wei family, regardless of whether she is from the Ji Ning Hou Fu or the Jing Guo Gong Fu, she must be a respectable person in the Wei family. The fourth miss will eventually marry into the Ji Ning Hou Fu. At first, Diao Zhao thought that Jin Lao Tai was brought over to win her favor, but it turned out that the fourth miss didn't take the Wei family seriously at all.

  It's better this way, otherwise the Wei family will think that the Duan family has no one left!

  It's really great that they came up with this idea of forming a family bond through marriage!

  Now that the Fifth Master has entered the cabinet, although he is in charge of the Ministry of Punishment, the Fifth Master has been an official in the Ministry of Personnel for many years. His connections have not been severed. The young master of the Jining Marquis's mansion, whether he wants to inherit the title or seek a good job, cannot do without the support of the Fifth Master. Even if the Fourth Miss is formidable, would they dare to show her a bad face?

  However, she really couldn't connect the usual calm and composed Du Shao with the scowling Du Shao at this moment, and was stunned for half a day before coming back to her senses. She silently pretended to be deaf and dumb beside him, listening to Du Shao severely humiliate that golden servant girl. Only then did she make eye contact with the maid who had followed them, indicating that the maid should find an excuse to take them away.

  Those who can follow Mrs. Liu are all clever people.

  The maid quietly retreated, circled around outside, and then hastily crossed the main courtyard. She asked Du Zhao's maid to pass on a message: "The second lady of the house still has something to ask the nanny who came from the Wei family, so I was sent to invite that nanny over for a conversation."

  Jin Laopo retreated with a gloomy face and pulled the little maid aside, asking: "I wonder what Second Mistress wants to talk to me about?"

  The little maid looked at Liu Mama with a smile.

  Liu's wife smiled subtly and said, "Let Jin go to my place to rest for a while! After having lunch, it won't be late to go and pay respects to the second madam."

  Jin's mother was overjoyed and repeatedly thanked her, quietly slipping two large red envelopes to Liu's mother.

  Liu's mother took it without hesitation.

  Jin A'niang was scolded by Du Zhao and went back without a word, while Song Mo, who was living in the Du's house, heard that Du Shao had a marriage agreement with the son of Ji Ning Hou and quickly wrote a letter to secretly send it back to the British Gong Fu.

  Song Mo took the letter and went to Yan Chaoqing's place.

  "What do you think?" He handed the letter to Yan Chaoqing.

  Yan Chaoqing scanned the letter in one glance and let out a long sigh of relief after finishing reading it: "Since she is a woman from the Wei family, naturally we have to make arrangements for the sake of the Juning Marquis's estate."

  The implication is that Duan Zhao cannot afford to offend the British Consulate for the sake of her husband's family.

  "I thought so too." Song Mo nodded, "In that case, things are easier to handle." Suddenly, the white face of Dou Zhaoxue and her long eyebrows appeared in his mind, and he couldn't help but ask: "Does anyone know the son of Jining Hou?"

  Yan Chaoqing's eyes showed appreciation.

  Miss Duan's marriage to the Hou Mansion in Jining is already settled. If the young master can get along with the young master of the Hou Mansion, it will also be a kind of deterrence for Miss Duan - she must not want her husband to know everything that happened at the Tian Zhuang.

  "Jining Marquis passed away a few days ago." All those earth-shattering events started from some insignificant small things. He was always paying attention to various news in the capital, and now that Song Mo asked him, he could answer immediately, "Our family had some connections with them several generations ago, but we haven't been in touch for a long time and didn't receive any obituary notice. The Jining Marquis only has one son and one daughter, his son is the heir apparent Wei Tingyu, after the 49th day of mourning for the old marquis, the Wei family will probably apply for the succession, with the help of Duke Tu's fifth elder, it should be no problem. His daughter married Zhang Zongyao, through whom we can get to know Wei Tingyu."

  Zhang Yuanming, courtesy name Zongyao.

  Song Mo suddenly didn't want to see Wei Tingyu again.

  "He hesitated and said: 'Let's talk about this later!'"

  Yan Chaoqing also felt that this matter could not be rushed - the Houfu of Jining was just a barely supported broken family, while the Gongfu of England was a prosperous and respected family with imperial favor. The two families were worlds apart, originally having no connection, but suddenly Song Mo became close to Wei Tingyu, which might raise suspicions among many people.

  It's necessary to have an opportunity to make water flow into the canal.

  The two of them started talking about the affairs in the court: "Lord Lu's memorial was detained by the Emperor and not issued, it's really making people worried."

  The Lu and Jiang families have no relationship, but they are related to the Song family by marriage. Lu Zongyuan's third son, Lu Zhili, married Princess Ningde, and his granddaughter married Zhang Xueming, the third son of Duke Jingguo. This led to Lu Fuli submitting a memorial, with the intention of testing the waters. Now, however, the Emperor says nothing, and leaves it undecided, making it difficult for them to continue submitting memorials.

  Song Mo was slightly annoyed and said: "Why don't we divide our troops into two routes, and also find someone to impeach the Grand Duke, let's see how the Emperor reacts?"

  "I'm afraid Madame won't agree." This was the safest approach, Yan Zhaoqing's face darkened, "Madame can't bear to part with Guo Gong Bai Yu!"

  Song Mo furrowed his brow.

  Yan Chaoqing's personal servant rushed in, stumbling and staggering, and saw Song Mo there, but forgot to even pay his respects. With a tear-stained face, he exclaimed: "Duke Dingguo...he said that the punishment was too severe and he couldn't be saved..."

  "What did you say?" Song Mo's face suddenly turned pale, and he grabbed the young servant's shoulder. The young servant felt like his shoulder was being clamped by an iron clip, and it was about to shatter. He was in extreme pain but didn't dare make a sound. He hastily said, "Just now, news came from Fujian that the Duke was executed by the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and he rushed back overnight without receiving any treatment. The Duke's injuries were too severe... and he has passed away..."

  "The Jin Yiwei is only responsible for escorting the Duke back to the capital," Yan Chaoqing, who had followed him, shouted loudly, "The Duke has not been convicted of any crime, what right do they have to use torture? Where are Xu Qing and Shi An? Weren't they supposed to lead people in secretly protecting the Duke? What are they doing?"

  "When Xu Qing and the others arrived, the Duke had already been punished," said the young servant. "This time, all the crack troops of the Imperial Guard were deployed. By the time they contacted the Third Master, the Duke was... gone by the next day. The Third Master and Fourth Master also received punishment. The Third Master said it was because some people from the rivers and lakes came to rescue him that the Imperial Guard had an excuse to kill the Duke, so we must not cry injustice. It's all the emperor's benevolence. He also said, as long as there are green hills, we don't have to worry about firewood."

  Song Mo felt as if there was a ball of fire burning in his chest, causing all the blood in his body to boil up, and his ears were filled with the sound of bubbling water, even the conversation between Yan Chaoqing and the young servant became blurred.

  He slowly released the young servant's shoulders, took a deep breath and asked: "Does my mother know?" His voice was calm and rational, composed and steady.

  The young servant looked at Song Mo, with an uncontrollable shock in his eyes. Until Yan Chaoqin's severe gaze fell on him, he came back to himself and hastily said: "We, we didn't dare tell the lady."

  Song Mo stretched out his hand, with a white and delicate palm, but there were thin calluses between his fingers: "Take it!"

  The young servant was bewildered for a moment before understanding what Song Mo meant, and hastily took out the brocade pouch from his bosom.

  "I'll go tell my mother." The silk pouch was tightly clenched in Song Mo's palm, he walked out of Yan Chaoqian's room with a calm and composed pace.

  Yan Chaoqing suddenly felt a heart-wrenching pain.

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  Sisters and brothers, let's see tomorrow's update today!

  o(n_n)o~

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