Master Ouyang cast a disdainful glance at Young Master Dou: "Why so anxious? When I wrote to my big brother, I already requested him to mention your affair, naturally, his reply will address it."

Since they directly sent the contracts of Dou Ou Bank to the court, and also promised that even if the Emperor didn’t accept Dou Ou Bank, they would close Dou Ou Bank after the farmers repaid their loans, ensuring Dou Ou Bank wouldn’t exist forever.

The Emperor saw their astuteness, gave some face to Ouyang Hong, and in issuing a decree reprimanding the Shen Family, also reprimanded the Meng Family, condemning them for improper teaching of their daughters, causing confusion between legitimate and concubine offsprings.

Lord Meng, being an Imperial Censor, usually scolded others, but now he was scolded, which infuriated him to the point of illness. While sick, he sent for the concubine daughter Mrs. Dou Meng, called her back to the house, and scolded her fiercely, saying she was foolish, not smart in her actions. If she truly wished to kill Dou Ke, she should’ve done it quietly, rather than causing such an ugly scene, burdening her maternal family!

Mrs. Dou Meng was utterly shamed.

Her legitimate sister, who never liked her, returned deliberately, waiting for Lord Meng’s reprimand of Mrs. Dou Meng to finish, then came up to slap her twice: "You’ve implicated the reputation of the Meng Family’s daughters, these two slaps are what you deserve!"

Mrs. Dou Meng was furious, being scolded and beaten, she couldn’t endure and fainted, being carried out of the Meng Family.

The Manager Dou was not reprimanded by imperial decree, in the Emperor’s view, even scolding him was giving him face; instead, he summoned the Chief Eunuch in charge of imperial affairs for a severe reprimand.

The Imperial Eunuch was greatly angered, and immediately sent someone to the Dou Family, severely scolding Manager Dou, saying: "If you’re getting old and your mind isn’t clear, you should hand over the Dou Family to Young Master Dou, lest your second wife causes another foolish affair that will ruin us all!"

Manager Dou continuously admitted fault, stuffing a significant amount of Silver to the eunuch who came to scold him: "Please assure the Chief Eunuch that Brother Ke is the legitimate eldest son of the Dou Family, and sooner or later, the position of the Dou Family head will be his. Mrs. Dou Meng is muddled-minded, I will keep an eye on her, preventing further foolishness."

The eunuch chuckled: "Ha, Manager Dou, you indeed jest. If you could control Mrs. Dou Meng, the affair of her mistreating Young Master Dou wouldn’t have spread across the Capital."

Everyone knows that you, Manager Dou, in order to curry favor with Mrs. Dou Meng, this official’s daughter, helped her mistreat the legitimate son of the original wife.

Manager Dou was stifled by the criticism, feeling furious inside, the mistreatment incident was clearly that ungrateful son shouting at the tavern, if he had come to speak to him first, this scandal wouldn’t have been exposed.

The eunuch perceived Manager Dou’s annoyance, and laughed: "Manager Dou, the Emperor said that although Young Master Dou hails from a merchant background, his actions are noble and exemplary for courtiers. With such a son, you ought to cherish him."

He also said: "The Chief Eunuch remarked that compared to the Meng Family, isn’t the Ouyang Family better? You shouldn’t cling to worthless iron and discard fine jade."

Manager Dou shuddered, that’s true, that lad Dou Ke got connected with Ouyang Hu, although Ouyang Hu isn’t in the court hall, Ouyang Hong has been an Emperor’s Master for two generations, even the Emperor respects him, so he should treat Dou Ke better.

"Thank you for the reminder, Chief Eunuch." Manager Dou gave the eunuch who came to scold him a red envelope with silver notes worth three thousand taels, later also sent thirty thousand taels silver notes and two pieces of exquisite jade to the Imperial Eunuch, ensuring the stability of the Imperial Eunuch, without him looking into the Dou Family’s affairs, allowing the Dou Family’s goods to continue being shipped into the inner palace.

He additionally donated a hundred thousand taels of silver to the court, and sent five thousand taels of silver in cash to Dou Ke, while instructing Dou Family’s various shops to raise the amount that Young Master Dou could withdraw to 150,000 taels each time.

When Mrs. Dou Meng learned about this, she was enraged to the point of smashing a room full of items, adjusting the amount to 150,000 taels each time, if that little bastard withdraws multiple times, wouldn’t it empty the Dou Family?!

Mrs. Dou Meng couldn’t stand it anymore, sent someone to call Manager Dou, when Manager Dou met Mrs. Dou Meng, he didn’t relent, instead he gave her a sentence: "Isn’t it enough to have lost face already? You better be more reserved recently, wait until this juncture passes before causing trouble."

Saying that, he left, and instructed the servants to move his belongings to the study in the front courtyard, stating he wouldn’t rest in the main courtyard temporarily.

Mrs. Dou Meng was again so furious that she smashed items, crying several times.

Young Master Dou was overjoyed, laughing heartily: "The Emperor is indeed the Emperor, handling affairs with such grandeur, merely a few reprimanding decrees resolved what we thought was an insurmountable difficulty. Of course donating silver was harsh, though they received the silver, they didn’t mention tax reduction at all."

"Shut up! You foolish creature, so soon you’ve forgotten yourself in complacency?" Master Ouyang was so angry he wanted to beat Young Master Dou, pointing at him and scolding: "Keep your mouth shut, if it stirs up trouble and harms everyone, I won’t spare you!"

Young Master Dou laughed apologetically: "Yes, yes, I’ll definitely keep my mouth shut, please don’t be angry."

Master Ouyang huffed coldly and handed a letter to Gu Jin’an: "I know you want to see it, take it."

"Thank you, Master." Gu Jin’an accepted the letter, read it carefully, though Ouyang Hong’s letter was short, every word was filled with storm and bloodshed.

Moreover, he seemed to notice something amiss from the letter...such as the Emperor’s temperament, and the Emperor’s deep hatred towards Da Rong.

However, he was smart enough not to ask anything, after finishing the letter, he gave it back to Master Ouyang.

Master Ouyang said: "Go call Lord Magistrate and County Magistrate Zheng."

"Yes." Gu Jin’an immediately went to summon County Magistrate Zheng and Magistrate Gu.

Magistrate Gu, upon seeing it was Gu Jin’an who came to get them again, became increasingly courteous to him. This young man seems extraordinarily fortunate, having been favored by Junior Minister Ming was already lucky, and now connected to the Ouyang Family, serving by Master Ouyang’s side, causing Master Ouyang not to regard him as an outsider, truly remarkable.

"I’ve heard First Place Gu enjoys studying ancient texts? It just so happens we have some ancient texts at the house, I’ll have someone send them to you later, you can take your time reading them, no need to return them." Magistrate Gu said with a smile to Gu Jin’an.

Gu Jin’an was astonished by the honor, quickly said: "Ancient texts are precious, how can a student seize what the lord loves, just loan them for copying will suffice."

Magistrate Gu couldn’t be happier, giving the ancient texts to Gu Jin’an would indeed be a heartache.

A moment later, Magistrate Gu and the others arrived at Master Ouyang’s courtyard, receiving a letter from Ouyang Hong.

"Keep it, Magistrate Gu, if there’re still those who lack foresight and come to trouble you, show them the letter, the Emperor’s words are written on it, if they’re not afraid of death, let them continue." Master Ouyang had received two letters, one discussing the Emperor’s dealings with the Shen Family and the Dou Family, and the reaction of Capital’s nobility, as well as the Ying Family and Zongzheng Family’s act of pleading guilty before the Emperor.

Even though the Emperor hadn’t issued a decree to reprimand the Ying Family and Zongzheng Family, neither family head was foolish, upon hearing Shen Family was reprimanded, they rushed to plead guilty overnight.

The other letter was written by Ouyang Hong to Ouyang Hu, mostly discussing personal matters and advisories, a letter Ouyang Hu kept to himself without sharing.