Now that you're reborn, who would still keep a mistress for their scumbag husband?

Dou Jinzhao was stunned. She had known that the eldest wife did not have many bottom lines, but now it was clear that her perception had been refreshed. "Does mother think so too?"

The lady still had some dignity and glared at Sun. "I will find a way to deal with the money. You can arrange other things that don't cost money in advance."

Dou Jinzhao agreed, and the lady wanted to talk about Lu Changting's marriage.

Lu Changting blushed, stood up and took Yao Taozhi into the lady's green gauze cupboard, where she could vaguely hear Dou Jinzhao's voice.

"Mother, we originally had our favorite matchmaker for Sister Changting, the eldest son of the Yiyang Marquis's family. A few days ago, when the Duke and I returned home, I heard that the Duke had some complaints about Young Master Liu. I wonder if we will choose a new matchmaker or keep the original one unchanged?"

The lady thought for a moment and said, "For the time being, let's keep it the same. As for Chang Yuan, I will explain everything to him."

The lady sent the people away and called Lu Changyuan in, talking about Lu Changting's marriage, "This is what the Empress wanted. The Emperor has always been very dissatisfied with the Crown Prince, but the Crown Prince is the eldest son, and the eldest son should be appointed as the heir, not the most virtuous one. This has been the rule since ancient times.

The three older princes are all descendants of the Lu family. Although we don’t take sides on this, we must be vigilant. The Yiyang Marquis’s Mansion has been a little closer to the Fourth Prince this year.”

Lu Changyuan never expected that there was this layer. The fourth prince Ling Qingchen was not born to Queen Lu, but was the only illegitimate son. He had outstanding military achievements and was both a civil and military expert. He was stationed in the northern border all year round and was known as "Nan Yuan Bei Chen" with Lu Changyuan. He was two years younger than Lu Changyuan, which showed his extraordinary talent.

Perhaps because he was the youngest son, Emperor Yongjia liked this prince very much. There was a rumor that Emperor Yongjia once patted this prince on the shoulder in the army and said, "Try hard, your elder brother is ill!"

Queen Lu was also very wary of this prince.

"Jin Zhao didn't tell me about these origins, otherwise I wouldn't be dissatisfied with the Yiyang Marquis's Mansion. I heard that the Yiyang Marquis's son would not have any future, so I felt that this marriage would not be of much help to the Dingguo Duke's Mansion. I didn't pay attention to the situation in the palace."

Madam Tai heard Lu Changyuan's dissatisfaction with Dou Jinzhao and sighed, "A united husband and wife can achieve great success. Right now, Miao Jin hasn't married yet, and we still need to rely on her for the marriage. Don't make things too awkward for now. Haven't you consummated your marriage yet?"

Lu Changyuan hummed, thinking that it was a bit cruel to let Dou Jinzhao arrange his marriage with Miaojin, "Mother, how about asking Second Aunt or Big Sister-in-law to help arrange the marriage? Jinzhao hasn't been feeling well recently, can you let her take a rest?"

"You should consummate your marriage with her as soon as possible. Miao Jin is about to marry, so it's not appropriate to delay any longer. After the date is set, the Dou family will have to pay the betrothal gift. The original plan was to pay nine thousand taels of silver, but the public treasury doesn't have that much silver. I still have three thousand taels of silver in cash, and I really can't take out more. I'm still short of five or six thousand taels. How about asking Jin Zhao to move some of it out first?"

Lu Changyuan pursed his lips tightly, and after a long while he said, "Is this an idea given to you by your aunt?"

This is true.

The Madam was also very ashamed. "When Emperor Yongjia started his rebellion, your father emptied out the family's wealth, and we haven't recovered in these years. Although the Emperor gives us a lot of rewards every year, there is no one in the entire Lu family who can take up the responsibility except you. In these years, your uncle has been managing the general affairs, but he has been doing a bad job and has been living off the family wealth. It seems that life is getting harder and harder every year."

What the lady didn't say was that all the medicine she took that year was paid for by Dou Jinzhao using her own dowry. He thought she was kind-hearted, so he targeted her.

Lu Changyuan said firmly, "Mother, we can discuss the betrothal gift later, but don't mention asking Jin Zhao to borrow money again. Please save some face for your son."

The lady was not surprised, her son was just that outstanding. "After all, it was the Emperor who granted the marriage. If it was too shabby, it would be embarrassing. Besides, you are husband and wife after all. Why should you separate at this critical moment?"

No matter what, Lu Changyuan still disagreed. "If I really don't have money, I'll go borrow money from a loan shark or sell two of the farms. Don't mention borrowing money from Jinzhao anymore."

That night, the weather turned cooler and the lady's cough worsened. Lu Changyuan wanted to ask Doctor Jiang, who was an expert in treating coughs at the Imperial Hospital, to treat the lady, but the lady insisted on asking Doctor Wu. Doctor Wu had just been despised by Lu Changyuan, so how could he possibly come?

Doctor Jiang came and wrote a prescription for the lady. After taking the medicine, the lady's symptoms were relieved and she slept soundly. Lu Changyuan breathed a sigh of relief.

Early in the morning, Dou Jinzhao received the prescription from Doctor Jiang and shook his head helplessly. It seemed that the lady would not live for many more days.

After noon, the lady had an asthma attack and was in critical condition. Lu Changyuan did not dare to neglect it any longer and personally invited Doctor Wu to come. Doctor Wu looked at the prescription and stamped his feet, cursing, "It's simply a waste of life. How can you use ephedra? Madam Dou said before that if you use ephedra, all the previous efforts will be wasted!"

Lu Changyuan immediately frowned, "Doctor Wu, it has come to this, why are you still involving my wife?"

Doctor Wu sighed. He had also heard that Lu Changyuan was going to take a concubine. Thinking that the love between husband and wife was limited, he did not say any more.

He just followed the method that Dou Jinzhao had discussed with him before. After using acupuncture on the Madam, he changed a prescription and handed it to Lu Changyuan. "If you still want me to treat the Madam, I will have to discuss the prescription with Madam Dou. I am not a skilled doctor, so I dare not give the Madam medicine alone."

Hearing this, Lu Changyuan became a little suspicious. After sending Doctor Wu away, he went to Xixiangyuan. Dou Jinzhao was writing an invitation to the wife of the Earl of Yiyang, in preparation for a blind date between the two families.

Her calligraphy of small characters with flowers in her hair is very beautiful, and her handwriting is just like her personality, with a subtle and free and easy style.

"Doctor Wu said that you know medicine, and that it was because of the medication you discussed with him over the past year that my mother's illness gradually got better? How come I didn't know that you know medicine?" Lu Changyuan looked at him with scrutiny.

Dou Jinzhao handed the note to Qiushui and asked her to pass it on. He then wiped his hands with a handkerchief and said slowly, "At the beginning, I asked Doctor Wu to treat my mother. Doctor Wu said that his medical skills were not good enough and he was afraid that it would delay the treatment. That's why I said that if medicine was used, I would also consider the prescription.

I think it is because I trust people and don’t employ people I don’t trust, that’s why Doctor Wu dared to use medicine. It has nothing to do with whether I know medicine or not.”

Lu Changyuan breathed a sigh of relief. As a commander, he certainly knew this principle. It would be good if Dou Jinzhao didn't really know medical skills.

Doctor Wu's prescription stopped the lady's asthma, but it had little effect on her cough. The weather was getting colder and colder, and she coughed so hard every day that she couldn't breathe and it was heart-wrenching. Compared with a year ago, her condition had even worsened.

Dou Jinzhao made an appointment with the wife of the Earl of Yiyang to burn incense at the Daxiangguo Temple. She asked Lu Changting to accompany her, and the wife of the Earl of Yiyang asked Liu Jing to escort her. At the gate of the Daxiangguo Temple, the two groups met Dou Miaojin together.

Dou Jinzhao glanced at Lu Changting. Lu Changting felt very relieved. She raised her chin and felt very accomplished in breaking up this marriage proposal.

She heard from Dou Miaojin that Liu Jing was a useless scholar who only studied hard, so she didn't want to marry Liu Jing.