She sat in her family’s carriage on the way back to East Dou residence.
In the carriage, Dou Duo asked his son, “What did Yuan Ji say to you?”
Earlier, with the Dou family steward present, he couldn’t ask in detail. He only knew Dou Shi Shu had returned, and suspected it was about the conditions put forth by the Zhao family.
But he couldn’t understand what use Dou Shi Shu’s return would be—the Zhao family’s conditions were clearly meant to make things difficult for him, to shift responsibility onto his shoulders.
Zhao Rui Fu would never agree to write a letter of consent without getting half of West Dou’s property. With the upper hand, Zhao Rui Fu wouldn’t give up just because of Dou Shi Shu’s words.
He wouldn’t surrender half of West Dou’s property to Dou Zhao just because of Dou Shi Shu’s few words of acknowledgment. The Wang family would never let Wang Ying Xue stay in the Dou family without the Zhao family’s consent letter.
The more he thought about it, the more it seemed like a dead end!
Dou Shi Ying spoke directly: “Fifth Brother told me everything that’s happened in the family lately.”
After saying this, he fell silent, leaving Dou Duo waiting for a long while before having to ask again, “So what did Yuan Ji say to you?”
“Fifth Brother said that while our brother-in-law’s demands were emotionally understandable, they weren’t reasonable,” Dou Shi Ying said. “But with what happened to Gu Qiu, our brother-in-law’s anger is hard to dispel. His demand for compensation for Shou Gu—if we were in his position, we might have asked for even more. If it weren’t for coinciding with Magistrate Wang’s inspection tour of Gansu, our three families could have sat down to talk properly and agree on an amount that both the Zhao family finds reasonable and you could accept. We could even have refused our brother-in-law’s demands entirely, and Magistrate Wang would likely have understood. But the timing is wrong now. While the Zhao family has nothing to lose, court matters cannot be delayed—if Magistrate Wang faces impeachment, there may never be another person with such prestige and resolve to ban the border horse markets. The Emperor’s wish to stabilize the northwest would become empty talk, and Minister Zeng might once again face forced retirement. Fifth Brother asked me to advise you to consider the bigger picture and think thrice before acting.”
Dou Zhao pursed her lips.
In her past life, Wang Xing Yi had only managed to close the Lian Pass horse market1, but couldn’t ban horse trading entirely.
If the court forbade it, did that mean the Nine Borders’ generals had no other options? What would the Five Military Commission’s commanders eat and drink?
Fundamentally, the horse markets were hard to ban because they served as private coffers for all the northwestern military commanders.
This was exactly why Wang Xing Yi opposed opening the horse markets. And this was also why Shi Rui Lan remained so arrogant and defiant, with imperial censors never able to bring him down.
This wasn’t simply about whether to open horse markets or not – it involved the open and hidden struggles between civil and military officials.
In the end, Dou Qi Jun’s success in impeaching Shi Rui Lan came only after the new emperor ascended the throne and decided to take control of the Lian Pass horse market himself, sending Palace Memorial Office’s Chief Eunuch Han Wei to serve concurrently as Shaanxi Inspector General, stationed permanently in Xi’an to oversee the border horse markets…
Dou Duo sneered, “We merely rely on the East Manor for our livelihood. The bigger picture? What does that have to do with us? We don’t have that kind of insight.”
Still angry about being stuck at the Old Madam’s residence for a day and night.
He then pointed at Dou Zhao: “If she were a son, I wouldn’t just give half the family property – I’d gladly give it all. But you want me to let a mere girl take our ancestral property to another family? I’d rather the whole Dou family fall along with Zeng Yi Fen.”
Dou Shi Ying kept quiet, only gently stroking Dou Zhao’s head as if comforting her not to be afraid.
The three traveled in silence until they reached the East Manor.
Fifth Uncle personally welcomed them at the main gate.
“Uncle,” he said politely, “I should have come to pay my respects to you. But since this isn’t a private matter and we need to hear Big Sister-in-law and Second Sister-in-law’s opinions, I’m putting public matters before private ones. After this is settled, I’ll visit your residence to apologize and receive your teachings.”
Fifth Uncle smiled and got straight to the point, his gaze open and honest. His sincere attitude left Grandfather unable to find fault, forcing him to suppress his anger as he followed Fifth Uncle into the main hall with a displeased expression.
Dou Shi Ying handed his daughter to Tuo Niang: “Be good and go play. Father will pick you up from Sixth Aunt’s place later.”
Dou Zhao nodded. After Grandfather and Father entered the hall, she wandered around outside and found an opportunity to slip inside.
Fifth Uncle was speaking: “…so after thinking it over, I propose that we, the East Dou household, provide Shou Gu’s dowry!”
“Have you lost your mind?!” Grandfather and Father couldn’t hide their shock. Grandfather especially, his face turning ashen, “Do you know what you’re saying? Do you know how much half of West Dou’s assets are worth? These are our ancestral properties!” He turned to look at Second Old Madam as he spoke.
Second Old Madam kept drinking her tea with an expressionless face, as if her son had just given away not a quarter of the Dou family fortune but merely a small red porcelain bowl.
“I understand!” Fifth Uncle said gently, his demeanor warm as spring, “Our ancestors worked hard to leave us such a vast fortune, wasn’t it all for us descendants to live better lives? If this wealth becomes a burden, we can let it go. In this world, those with virtue shall prosper. I believe that even if we give up a quarter of our assets, with me,” his gaze fell on each Dou family descendant present, “with Lan’er, with Zhi’er, our lives will only become more prosperous and flourishing.”
Dou Zhao nodded secretly.
Lan’er was from the first branch, while Zhi’er was from the second branch.
No wonder her Fifth Uncle could enter the imperial cabinet. If nothing else, his impeccable way of speaking was worth studying.
Dou Duo couldn’t speak for a long while.
This Dou Shi Shu was truly clever and capable!
No wonder he took charge of this matter.
No wonder among all the Dou family descendants, only he achieved the highest official rank!
He was not only harsh on others but equally harsh on himself.
A quarter of East Dou’s assets – he could give it up just like that.
Thinking of this, Dou Duo frowned.
Wait… his son wants to elevate a concubine to main wife status, yet instead of using his own substantial wealth, he wants his nephews to contribute money… Old Five isn’t really giving up ancestral property, he’s threatening him, blatantly threatening him!
Dou Duo’s eyes immediately reddened.
He absolutely couldn’t let Old Five succeed!
Dou Duo looked towards his nephews and their wives.
First Madam lowered her eyelids, fingers constantly fidgeting with purple-red sandalwood prayer beads.
Second Madam sat composed like an ancestral portrait in a shrine.
Dou Shi Bang, who usually smiled before speaking, now sat formally with complete seriousness.
Only Dou Shi Heng sat there boldly, seeming somewhat out of place.
Dou Duo asked Dou Shi Heng: “You agree too?”
“I agree,” Sixth Uncle straightened his posture and said seriously. “I originally opposed elevating Wang to main wife status, but since it’s already decided, letting Shou Gu have some personal wealth is good. Rui Fu finally did something sensible this time.” He always spoke straightforwardly.
Dou Duo sneered: “Fine then, you all can give money to Zhao Rui Fu! I won’t contribute a single coin.”
You want to make things difficult for me? Well, let’s see how you handle this.
Unexpectedly, Dou Shi Shu smiled with relief, as if a great burden had been lifted, saying: “I was worried Uncle wouldn’t agree… Since that’s settled, Third Uncle, please bring out the account books so we can divide the property clearly, letting Uncle understand the details!”
Dou Shi Bang immediately brought in a stack of account books: “Uncle, since this is Shou Gu’s dowry, I think it should mainly consist of fields and houses.” He found one of the account books, opened it and laid it before Dou Duo, “Look, this is our estate in Hangtang, over two thousand mu of connected fields, yielding three to four hundred taels of silver annually. Then there’s the Quyang estate, also over fifteen hundred mu, bringing in three to four hundred taels yearly…”
Though Dou Duo didn’t manage household affairs, it didn’t mean he didn’t look at the account books.
The places Dou Shi Bang pointed out were all East Manor properties.
Could they really be planning to use their own money to supplement Dou Zhao?
Deep confusion flashed in Dou Duo’s eyes.
Dou Shi Shu smiled slightly and said to Dou Shi Bang: “Third Brother, you can discuss these details with Uncle later. The urgent matter now is to write a contract—everyone agrees that Shou Gu’s dowry will be jointly provided by our six branches, but verbal agreements aren’t binding. We need proof in writing, right?”
“Oh right,” Dou Shi Bang smiled, “I forgot you need to return to the capital.” He turned to ask Dou Duo, “Uncle, who do you think should write this contract?”
“Wasn’t it said that three branches would share the burden?” Dou Duo said, “How did it become six branches sharing it?”
Dou Shi Shu smiled and said: “My original intention was for our three branches to provide it, but First Sister-in-law, Second Sister-in-law, and Fourth Brother insisted on participating. After thinking it over, with their support, I’ll feel more confident, so I agreed.”
Sweat appeared on Dou Duo’s forehead.
He only had one son.
He wasn’t afraid of offending Second Uncle’s branch while having First Uncle’s branch’s support.
These cousins were just like the imperial cabinet – under the influence of interests, today you ally with me against him, tomorrow you ally with him against me… coming together and splitting apart, it was all the same thing.
But now, to protect his own assets, he was making six other branches suffer losses together, which was like tying those six branches together with one rope to unite against him who had taken their interests… none of those six branches would ever side with his branch again… his branch would be completely isolated… Yuan was currently just a newly selected provincial graduate, even if he became a metropolitan graduate, wouldn’t he need to choose an official post? Wouldn’t he need to wait for vacancies? Wouldn’t there be difficult times in his official career?
While Dou Duo was pondering, Dou Shi Bang had already quickly written up the document.
“Uncle, please check if anything is missing? If not, we can all press our fingerprints.”
It was just a thin piece of paper, but in Dou Duo’s hands it felt like it weighed a thousand jin.
He still couldn’t believe Dou Shi Shu would give up his own money.
But the document before him made it impossible not to believe.
Once the fingerprints were pressed, there would be no turning back.
As Dou Duo thought about this, sweat from his forehead fell onto the document, gradually spreading like a teardrop.
A shadow flashed before his eyes, and suddenly the document was snatched from his hand.
“I know Father’s concern, you’re afraid I won’t agree.” Dou Shi Ying tore the contract to pieces, then crumpled it into a ball and threw it in the corner, “Fifth Brother, no need to say more. Shou Gu is my daughter, her dowry should naturally come from me. I agree to provide this half of the silver.”
- Likely refers to semi-legal trading hubs where horses were bought or sold, often for military purposes. They often provided personal income to people in the military as well. ↩︎
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