Song Yan went to the Du clan school, while Song Yu Min was responsible for teaching Du Zhao and Du Ming. They rested on the first and fifteenth of each month. First, he would finish teaching Du Zhao about various philosophical texts, then teach Du Ming the Analects.
Du Ming diligently attended Song Yu Min’s classes. However, her foundation was weak. Besides her morning studies, she had to practice writing five hundred characters in the afternoon. After a few days, she was complaining endlessly.
Zhou Mama kept encouraging her: “Only through bitter hardship can one rise above others. Look at Fourth Miss – while the household managers are still using their abacuses, Fourth Miss has already calculated the amount…”
Du Ming stared at Zhou Mama: “What does accounting have to do with writing characters?”
Zhou Mama hurriedly comforted her: “Nothing, nothing. It’s just that Fourth Miss is skilled at everything, and Fifth Miss is so clever, you should also be able to master everything like Fourth Miss.”
Du Ming fell silent but stopped complaining about writing practice.
Because of the Pang Kun Bai incident, Chen Qu Shui came into the spotlight. He moved into the Du mansion, helping Du Zhao manage business affairs and newly recruited guards. Gao Xing managed the affairs of the Western Du household and the internal courtyard managers. Du Ning was reduced to being Zhou Mama’s assistant. Gao Xing considered himself Du Zhao’s person and quickly aligned with Chen Qu Shui.
After Du An died from unable to withstand the beating during his theft case, Du Ning became extremely cautious. Zhou Mama was new and couldn’t handle everything alone. Although the Western Du household was divided into three, everyone still had to watch Du Zhao’s reactions. With her annual allowance of ten thousand taels and people under her command, Du Zhao found it even more convenient to handle matters than before. Her attention shifted from the Eastern and Western Du households to the political affairs of the capital.
“Isn’t Elder Zeng almost seventy this year?” she asked Chen Qu Shui. “Wonder how many more years he can hold on?”
In her previous life, she hadn’t paid attention to these matters and didn’t know exactly when Zeng Yi Fen had passed away.
Chen Qu Shui said: “Fourth Miss’s guess is accurate! I just received news yesterday that there are rumors in the capital about ‘Zeng Yi Fen being unwell and possibly retiring.’”
“Let’s see if Fifth Uncle can seize this opportunity.”
In her previous life, Wang Xing Yi had returned to the capital before Zeng Yi Fen’s death. He seemed to have served as Vice Minister of War, but in this life, because of Wang Ying Xue, he was stuck in the position of Shaanxi Governor.
Du Zhao pondered: “Who is the current Vice Minister of War?”
Chen Qu Shui replied: “Gu Yan Jing.”
Du Zhao contemplated: “Can we pass a message to the Wang family? Say that originally Elder Zeng wanted to promote Wang Xing Yi to Vice Minister of War. But because Ye Shi Pei caught hold of the Wang family matter, Elder Zeng had to compromise and support Gu Yan Jing as Vice Minister…”
In her memory, Ye Shi Pei and Zeng Yi Fen were old rivals. Back then, Zeng Yi Fen’s retirement was his doing. If it weren’t for Ye Shi Pei’s death not long after Zeng Yi Fen’s passing, and the fact that Ye Shi Pei didn’t have strong disciples, it would have been uncertain whether Wang Xing Yi and Du Shi Shu could enter the cabinet.
The ban on horse markets was a struggle between civil and military officials, so Ye Shi Pei wouldn’t hinder Zeng Yi Fen, but now, involving the competition for third-rank positions between disciples of two cabinet ministers, Wang Xing Yi’s matter could be brought up.
Chen Qu Shui considered: “We can’t spread such words carelessly. If not handled properly, it might backfire…”
“Then let’s try to inquire about this aspect,” Du Zhao said. “We should be able to find some related discussions about this matter.” She smiled, “Even if there aren’t any, we can make them appear!”
“That’s true.” Chen Qu Shui smiled, “If the Wang family believes Wang Ying Xue hindered Wang Xing Yi’s career, I think even Madam Wang would harbor some resentment towards her daughter. Moreover, after marrying into the Du family, Wang Ying Xue never managed to establish herself and caused many troubles.”
“Removing the root cause seems cleaner and more efficient.” Du Ming nodded, asking about the shop matters.
Chen Qu Shui reported: “Only the capital shops are breaking even. The other shops are slightly at a loss, totaling over two hundred taels.”
“That’s not bad,” Du Zhao smiled. “By September, when Bei Yan’s matters are settled, you’ll need to prepare some silver for Cui Thirteen’s money lending.”
“It’s already prepared.” As Chen Qu Shui was discussing his plans with Du Zhao, Su Xin reported from behind the curtain: “Fourth Miss, Young Master Ji has arrived.”
Ji Yong?
What was he doing here?
Du Zhao finished her discussion with Chen Qu Shui and went to the flower hall to meet Ji Yong.
Ji Yong asked her: “I’m going to Baoding Prefecture, is there anything you’d like me to bring back?”
She had never been to Baoding Prefecture, how would she know what to bring?
But Du Zhao still smiled and thanked him: “There’s nothing needed. I wish Cousin Ji a safe journey!”
Hearing this, Ji Yong smiled: “Then I’ll just bring you something random!”
His smile was gentle and polite, but for some reason, Du Zhao felt he seemed to have some hidden agenda, making her feel uneasy.
“No need, no need.” Du Zhao repeatedly declined.
Ji Yong smiled without responding and rose to leave.
Du Zhao escorted him to the flower hall entrance but felt a gaze fixed intently on her.
She turned around and saw Du Ming standing under the willow tree.
Du Ming turned away expressionlessly, disappearing down the winding, willow-shaded path with her group of maids and elderly servants.
Du Zhao sighed deeply and spent half a day tending to flowers and plants in the greenhouse. Seeing that several night-blooming cereus she had planted were about to bloom, she invited Sixth Aunt to come appreciate them.
Sixth Aunt suggested: “Why not hold a flower appreciation banquet?”
Grandmother agreed: “Yes, yes, yes. Night-blooming cereus is rare. Let’s invite all the madams and ladies. We have plenty of space. We can’t always let the Eastern Mansion entertain us, we should return the favor!”
Since Du Zhao’s marriage arrangement with the Wu family fell through, her marriage had become a worry for her grandmother, who feared Du Zhao would be delayed because of it. Seeing an opportunity for Du Zhao to shine, she strongly wanted to make it happen.
Seeing her grandmother’s enthusiasm and thinking about how she usually had nowhere to go, Du Zhao smiled: “Alright, let’s have an evening banquet then!”
Sixth Aunt also became interested. The three of them whispered and discussed for a long time, finally settling the details of the flower appreciation banquet. They confirmed the guest list, sent out invitations, cleaned up the storeroom’s decorations, arranged the banquet menu and serving maids and elderly servants. The Western Du mansion hadn’t had such excitement for a long time. From the managing matrons to the senior maids, nobody was confident, but Du Zhao handled everything effortlessly, arranging each matter systematically without any difficulty. This left Madam Ji, who had come to help personally, amazed, and she asked who had helped with the planning.
“Haven’t you heard the saying ‘Even if you haven’t eaten pork, you’ve seen a pig run’!” Du Zhao said casually, “With such grand celebrations every New Year, one would learn just by watching.”
Some people are just naturally clever.
Madam Ji smiled and nodded repeatedly, saying: “It’s good that you’re so attentive to everything, so I don’t have to worry about you.” After saying this, she felt it wasn’t quite right and joked: “I should tell your Third Aunt that you compared her to a running pig!” trying to change the subject.
Du Zhao understood her intention and played along: “If Third Aunt asks, I won’t admit to it.”
Madam Ji laughed heartily.
On the day of the flower appreciation banquet, she still couldn’t help coming early. Seeing everything was arranged properly, she finally breathed a long sigh of relief.
That night, the flowers were beautiful, the wine was mellow, and the dishes were exquisite. The invited performers sang the “Hairpin Reunion” section from “The Tale of the Jade Hairpin.” Even Du Ming, who had reluctantly attended the banquet, was moved to tears, occasionally whispering with Yi’er and Shu’er.
Meanwhile, Chen Qu Shui listened to the distant sound of strings and bamboo instruments, thinking about the news from the capital, and didn’t fall asleep until dawn.
When he woke up, the sun was already high in the sky.
He hurriedly got up and asked his personal servant: “Has Fourth Miss arrived at the flower hall?”
After finishing her lessons, Du Zhao would spend half an hour in the flower hall handling household matters.
The servant brought in water for washing his face and smiled: “Fourth Miss arrived at the flower hall early!”
Chen Qu Shui felt relieved.
But then he was stunned.
In his early years, he had served as an advisor under Zhang Kai, the Governor of Fujian, but even with Zhang Kai, he had never felt such nervousness… Could it be because of the news he heard yesterday?
He sat in his room for a moment, estimating that Du Zhao would be returning to the inner courtyard soon, and hurriedly went to the flower hall.
Outside the flower hall were willows planted everywhere. In the height of summer, the willows were lush, with thousands of green branches swaying in the wind, giving people a sense of coolness. Through the four-panel window, Chen Qu Shui saw Du Zhao wearing a moon-white striped cotton gauze shirt, talking with Gao Xing.
Her posture was straight, her gaze calm, her smooth forehead and long eyebrows extending to her temples gave an impression of wisdom. Just looking at her from afar, one could tell she was an extremely intelligent and strong-willed person.
Even boys much older than her might not match up to her, right?
Chen Qu Shui thought as he entered the flower hall.
Gao Xing was excitedly talking about how well yesterday’s flower appreciation banquet went and how the people from the Eastern Mansion had praised it.
Du Zhao smiled and responded, praising Gao Xing for being “capable in handling matters.” Gao Xing left happily.
Chen Qu Shui composed himself and said solemnly: “Fourth Miss, things might really be as you said. Zeng Yi Fen originally wanted to support Wang Xing Yi as Vice Minister of War, but because Wang Xing Yi couldn’t manage his family affairs properly, Zeng Yi Fen had to agree to Ye Shi Pei’s request to let Gu Yan Jing become Vice Minister of War.”
“Oh!” Du Zhao became interested, “Did you pass the message to the Wang family as I asked?”
Although things had deviated slightly, they wouldn’t be too far off track.
Du Zhao became more confident about the future.
“The message has been passed,” Chen Qu Shui said, “Madam Wang summoned Wang shi and severely scolded her. They say Wang shi left the Wang family in tears. Not only that, but the old matter with Madam Pang was brought up again, and Madam Wang confined her to her quarters.”
Du Zhao broke into a smile.
Chen Qu Shui couldn’t help asking: “Fourth Miss, did you hear some news from somewhere? How else would you know there was something behind Gu Yan Jing’s matter…”
“No, I didn’t know,” Du Zhao smiled, “I just found it strange that Wang Xing Yi, with his illustrious military achievements, remained stuck in the position of Shaanxi Governor, while Gu Yan Jing, who had less prestige and seniority than him, advanced ahead.”
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