Blossom

Yu Momo quickly arrived with several prominent stewardesses in tow.

Yu Zan trailed behind them, her head hanging low.

First, Yu Momo sternly reprimanded Yu Zan in front of everyone, then praised Tuo Niang before asking her group: "What else did she give to Daqing's wife?"

Tuo Niang, being straightforward, spilled every trivial detail, with Haitang chiming in to add more. Yu Momo's expression grew increasingly grim as she listened, and by the time they finished, she was furious. She ordered a stewardess surnamed Huo beside her: "Go fetch Daqing's wife."

Huo Momo hesitated briefly but eventually left.

Yu Daqing's wife arrived wearing a spun silk summer dress and gilded earrings, her mercenary nature evident. Seeing the situation, she immediately shifted all blame onto Yu Zan: "...She said she wanted to recognize me as her sworn sister. It's common for sworn sisters to exchange small gifts, and since they were just trivial items, I didn't think much of it. Who knew Yu Zan had taken them secretly from the Fourth Miss?" She then made to leave, saying, "I'll return everything she gave me right away."

"Stop right there!" Yu Momo snapped coldly. "The Seventh Master entrusted me with managing the inner household—that's an honor for us servants. Don't think you can act recklessly in this mansion just because you're my daughter-in-law..."

Dou Zhao had no interest in listening further.

She only needed to know Yu Momo's decision on the matter to understand her stance.

Dou Zhao returned to her inner chamber.

Jasmine immediately followed her inside.

Dou Zhao spread out rice paper to practice calligraphy while Jasmine ground ink beside her.

After some commotion outside, everything quieted down.

Tuo Niang and Haitang, who was still grumbling indignantly, lifted the curtain and entered: "...Yu Zan only got two months' monthly allowance deducted as punishment. According to the Dou family rules, someone like her should have been publicly paddled and expelled from the mansion. And Sister-in-law Yu—she's been saying for a long time that she didn't want to work for the Dou family anymore. Now that Yu Momo has relieved her of her duties and banned her from the mansion, it might actually be what she wanted!"

Tuo Niang said, "What's the point of talking about this? Our job is to take good care of the Fourth Miss. You need to be more alert from now on—don't let anyone take advantage of the Fourth Miss again."

Haitang nodded repeatedly.

Hearing this, Dou Zhao's brush paused momentarily.

In her previous life, she had relied on people from the farmstead and the Cui family.

They had followed her from Zhen Ding to the Marquis of Jining's Mansion, and those who ultimately stood by her side were all loyal, sharp-witted individuals.

This lifetime, she still planned to use her former people. However, she was still young—bringing them to her side too abruptly might backfire. It would be better to wait two or three years; by then, even if she did anything questionable, she could simply explain it away as "precociousness."

She had never placed much hope in her mother's former attendants. In her past life, Wang Yingxue had been her stepmother—it was natural for any stepmother to clean house, suppressing some while winning over others. Back then, she had been naive and ignorant, without a full brother to support her. Over time, her mother's attendants, seeing no prospects, had naturally made their own plans—this was understandable.

Understandable, but that didn't mean she could forgive.

Thus, Dou Zhao adopted a somewhat laissez-faire attitude.

As long as everyone could muddle through these next two or three years—until her own people took over—she was willing to turn a blind eye, treating it as gratitude for their service to her mother.But now, it seemed to be her fault.

Yu Momo’s family were merely servants—what right did Yu Daqing’s wife have to declare she no longer wanted to work for the Dou family?

It was simply because, while helping her mother manage household affairs, she had lined her own pockets and now looked down on the meager wages earned from serving the Dou family.

A nameless fury instantly flared within her.

When her mother had passed away, Yu Momo had wept as if her heart would break. Dou Zhao believed in Yu Momo’s affection for her mother, but considering how Yu Momo had dealt with Yu Zan and her own daughter-in-law, she also trusted her own judgment.

Perhaps in her past life, Wang Yingxue had been able to manipulate her mother’s people precisely because she had gotten hold of some dirt on Yu Daqing.

Thinking of this, Dou Zhao set down her brush and instructed Tuo Niang, “Bring me that box with the peony design.”

As Tuo Niang went to fetch the box, Dou Zhao asked Jasmine and Haitang, “Can you tell the difference between beeswax and yellow jade?”

Both were yellow in color.

Jasmine and Haitang were both surprised—the Fourth Miss rarely spoke to them.

After a moment of silence, Jasmine shook her head. Haitang hesitated briefly before also shaking her head.

Just as expected!

Dou Zhao frowned slightly.

Her mother’s sudden death had thrown the household into chaos. These newly hired maids hadn’t received proper training, and her own young age was a fatal disadvantage. Even if she wanted to use them, they weren’t up to the task. Besides, in this household, she trusted no one except Tuo Niang—and Tuo Niang had only barely learned to recognize a few characters after coming into her service. This made Yu Zan, who could read and write, the only viable candidate to serve as her head maid.

Tuo Niang returned with the box.

Dou Zhao took out a stack of gift lists stored inside.

Her past life had shaped her into someone bold yet cautious, and she had habitually kept all the gift lists. Now, they proved useful.

If the servants harbored disloyalty, the most direct and effective method would be feigned compliance—items not recorded could be stolen without anyone knowing.

All daily necessities in her quarters were provided by the family estate, with the account books kept by her Third Uncle. Her mother’s belongings had been inventoried under the supervision of her aunt—one copy given to her father, one kept by her aunt, and one held by Yu Momo. The only things Yu Zan could tamper with were the gifts Dou Zhao had received recently.

It seemed she would have to inventory these gifts herself.

Come to think of it, it had been over a decade since she last did such a thing.

“All of you may leave,” Dou Zhao said to Tuo Niang and the others. “Just make sure Yu Zan doesn’t barge in.”

Tuo Niang acknowledged and went to the outer room.

Haitang, who had been following Tuo Niang with Jasmine, paused at the doorway.

“Fourth Miss,” she said hesitantly, “are you planning to take stock of things? My grandmother once served the Old Madam, and our family has a few old items bestowed by her. My grandmother often takes them out to polish…”

Dou Zhao replied, “Then come and help.”

Haitang cheerfully agreed and sat beside her, assisting with the inventory.

With just a little guidance, Haitang quickly learned to distinguish between agate and amber.

With more experience, she might just be usable after all.

Dou Zhao nodded inwardly in approval.

At one point, a page from Dou Shiying’s retinue came to report, “Seventh Master says he and Sixth Master have matters to attend to these next few days, so the Fourth Miss should practice her calligraphy on her own.”

Dou Zhao, who had no desire to see her father anyway, nodded and had Jasmine reward the page with a few coins before resuming her inventory with Tuo Niang and the others.In the afternoon, an inventory revealed that a gilded pomegranate stone hairpin symbolizing fertility and a string of agarwood prayer beads were missing.

Dou Zhao instructed Tuo Niang, "Go tell Yu Momo to retrieve these two items."

Tuo Niang stomped her foot angrily. "Yu Zan has some nerve! You can catch a thief once, but you can't guard against one forever. I think we should report this to the Seventh Master..."

"No need," Dou Zhao said. "Just get the items back."

Seeing Dou Zhao's stance, Tuo Niang had no choice but to let Yu Zan off. She took the gift list and stormed off to Yu Momo's quarters.

Dou Zhao had other plans.

Yu Zan dared to act so boldly precisely because she took advantage of Dou Zhao's youth and Yu Momo's control over the inner household affairs.

If this matter were brought to Father's attention, given his nature, he would at most give Yu Zan a few paddle beatings before expelling her—hardly giving it deeper thought.

It seemed men were all like this, blind to the scheming within the inner household.

She might as well find her own solution.

As Dou Zhao and Haitang were tidying up, Xuancao rushed in.

Seeing only the three of them in the room, her face lit up with excitement. "Listen to this! There's a fight over at Qi Xia Courtyard!"

Dou Zhao froze.

Moli and Haitang couldn't wait. "What happened? Xuancao-jie, tell us quickly!"

Xuancao loved gossip, something Tuo Niang often scolded her for. Delighted by their eager expressions, she said smugly, "Just now, Wang Yiniang's elder brother and his wife came to take her home, but she refused. Her brother slapped her so hard half her face swelled up. Then Wang Yiniang's second sister-in-law accused the elder sister-in-law of being cruel, saying she egged the brother on to hit Wang Yiniang. The elder sister-in-law got so mad she started arguing with the second sister-in-law, and then Wang Yiniang grabbed Mingjier and threatened to kill herself..." She clicked her tongue. "It was chaos! With the Seventh Master away, the Old Master had to step in to mediate."

"No way!" Moli and Haitang gasped in unison. "How do you know all this?"

Xuancao beamed. "It wasn't just me! Even Wan'er from Ding Yinyinai's side and Qinghai from the Seventh Master's retinue were hiding there watching! Qinghai even got caught by the Old Master, but he was quick—said the Seventh Master had ordered him to keep an eye on Qi Xia Courtyard. The Old Master was in a hurry to get there, so he let it slide and sent Qinghai to the East Mansion to fetch the Seventh Master."

Dou Zhao was stunned. "Wang Yiniang actually argued with her brother and sister-in-law right in front of the Old Master?"

Xuancao nodded vigorously.

Dou Zhao smirked coldly.

She'd met fools before, but none as foolish as Wang Yingxue.

How had she ever considered Wang Yingxue a rival in her past life?

She told Xuancao, "Go back and see what else happens."

This suited Xuancao perfectly. She agreed and dashed off.

The commotion didn't die down until lantern-lighting time.

Xuancao sighed. "...Who would've thought someone as beautiful and gentle as Wang Yiniang had suffered so much before."

Moli and Haitang immediately crowded around her, and even Dou Zhao let out an intrigued "Oh?" as she listened intently.Xuancao recounted how Wang Yingxue had tearfully described the pain of being rejected by the Lei family, how grateful she was that her elder sister-in-law could marry into the Wang family, how she had secretly vowed never to let her sister-in-law and nephew go hungry even if she had to eat chaff herself, and how difficult it had been for her to run a business in public all these years... leaving Wang Zhibing and Gao Shi utterly speechless.

“Her second sister-in-law is formidable!” Xuancao said with lingering fear. “Not only did she speak up for Wang Yiniang, but she also berated Seventh Master and the Old Master together. She threatened to sue Seventh Master and the Old Master, to ruin Seventh Master’s official career and disgrace the Old Master… She made the Old Master so angry he couldn’t even speak. Wang Yiniang’s second sister-in-law even sent her own maidservant to summon her brothers from her maternal family, saying she would take the Dou family to court!”

Dou Zhao burst into laughter.

Pang Yulou—always so delightful!