Chapter 57 The money you owe me, you still need to pay it back!

"This is my original dowry list. If you don't believe me, the Prefect also has a copy of the gift list that was filed with the government office back then. I asked the Prefect to bring it over in advance."

As he spoke, he nodded to the Prefect of Jingzhou.

The Prefect of Jingzhou quickly smiled and took out the form bearing the official seal of the Jingzhou government. He also handed over the dowry list for Wu and the others to Min Qiao.

Politely accepting the order, Madam Min Qiao smiled and looked at Madam Wu and Madam Min Rong. Sure enough, she saw that the couple looked pale, frightened, and guilty.

Madam Min Qiao, as if this blow wasn't enough, continued, "Oh, by the way, the old Marquis took 500,000 taels of silver from me, saying it was a loan from me. He even gave me an IOU, saying that the Marquis's mansion would repay it slowly in the future."

As she spoke, she took out another IOU from the wooden box and had Granny Fang show it to everyone.

"This is the IOU that the old Marquis gave me in the name of the Marquis's mansion. It states that as long as the Marquis's mansion still exists, the Marquis's mansion will repay this debt to me."

"I originally said I didn't need to pay it back, but the old Marquis is a man of integrity and a rare gentleman. He insisted on giving me an IOU. He even said he would transfer the few remaining properties of the Marquis's mansion to my name."

“I thought, how could such a large marquis’ mansion be so poor and have no property of its own? That’s why I left those estates and shops to the marquis’ mansion.”

"The old Marquis didn't want me to suffer a loss, so he stipulated in the IOU that 30% of the Marquis's annual income would be used to repay the debt. Although it was a drop in the bucket compared to the debt of 500,000 taels, it was still a token of his goodwill and showed the Marquis's determination to repay the money."

Madam Min paused, then said helplessly, "Sigh, I wasn't planning to bring these things up. But since you have questions about the Marquis's estate, I naturally have to clarify things. Otherwise, people might really think I took a lot of good stuff from the Marquis's estate."

As she spoke, Madam Min Qiao smiled and looked at Madam Min Rong and Madam Wu, "You are now the Marquis of Xuanping and his wife. The debts that the Marquis's mansion owes me will have to be repaid by you two from now on."

These words once again left everyone speechless with astonishment.

Good heavens, this couple is really having a tough time!

Just because the Marquis's estate had too few properties, and he slightly questioned Madam Min, he ended up with a debt of 500,000 taels!

Mrs. Wu was so frightened that her face turned pale and she could barely sit still.

She looked at Min Rong with a fearful and helpless expression, hoping to find some comfort from him.

However, Min Rong was also deathly pale at this moment, with cold sweat pouring down his face.

Fortunately, Min Rong reacted quickly and immediately put on a smiling face, saying to Min Qiao Shi, "Mother, don't be angry. It was Wu Shi's ignorance that angered you."

"Mother, rest assured, I will do my utmost to repay the debts that the Marquis's family owes you. Even if I cannot repay them, I still have my son. I will never let you break the promise that Father made to you."

Min Qiao smiled and looked at Min Rong.

That's a very clever way of putting it!

First, he shifted the blame onto Ms. Wu, then used his father's usual tricks to coax her with kind words.

In her past life, she had gradually become lost in Min Ji's sweet words.

In her past life, she never mentioned to Min Rong and the others that Min An had written her an IOU, nor did she ever ask Min Rong to repay a single penny on behalf of the Marquis's mansion. Instead, she quietly used her own money to support the Marquis's mansion, Min Rong, Min Hui, and Min Yuexi...

In the end, these people drained her of her life force, plundered all her dowry, and even took her life!

Looking back now, I realize that she was incredibly stupid in her past life!

Do they know how much her dowry was?

Do they even know how poor the Marquis's mansion is?

Do they know what she has done for the Marquis's family?

Do they know that the Marquis's mansion cannot survive without her?

In their past lives, they knew nothing about this.

They would only think that her efforts were her due, while her control and harshness towards them were deserving of death!

In this lifetime, Madam Min Qiao will make them know that she is the one who supports the Marquis of Xuanping's family!

Everything in the Xuanping Marquis's mansion was obtained in exchange for her dowry!

The Xuanping Marquis's mansion can live without everyone else, but it cannot live without her, Min Qiao Shi!

Madam Min looked coldly at Min Rong and nodded slightly. "I know you are also an ambitious person. From today onwards, I will officially hand over the Marquis's mansion to you."

"The Marquis's estate, the Marquis's debts, the future of the Marquis's estate, the upbringing, marriages, and prospects of the children... everything is now in your hands."

Min Rong nodded solemnly and replied, "Yes. Your son will do his utmost to shoulder the responsibility, restore the honor of the Marquis's mansion, and never disappoint Mother."

"Yes, good, good boy! You have ambition!"

Madam Min gave a perfunctory compliment, then added with a smile, "Since the Marquis's mansion is your responsibility, you shouldn't be using my dowry to support it anymore."

“From this day forward, I will have the Marquis’s estates and my dowry completely separated. Of course, my people will only be responsible to me from now on. I and my subordinates will completely relinquish our responsibilities regarding the Marquis’s estate.”

Min Rong's eyelids twitched, and he fell into a daze.

Why is what his father taught him no longer effective?

Didn't Father say that Mother had a good temper, and that as long as he went along with her, coaxed her, and praised her highly, she would listen to him and obey him in everything?

With everything clarified, Madam Min Qiao didn't deliberately delay any longer. She had a document written out for the division of the family property, and then had the witnesses and members of each branch of the family sign and affix their fingerprints. The matter was thus settled.

The document is to be made in six copies. One copy for Madam Min Qiao, one copy for each of the three branches of the family, one copy for the Marquis's residence, and one copy must also be submitted to the yamen for filing.

All documents would be returned only after the government office had affixed its seal. But that's a story for another time.

Now that the family division is complete, everyone is saying goodbye one after another.

In the blink of an eye, only Madam Zheng and Princess Jiaoyang remained in Songhe Hall.

"Princess, why aren't you returning to the palace now? Aren't you afraid that Her Majesty the Empress will worry?"

Madam Zheng subtly helped Madam Min to send the person away.

Princess Jiaoyang, however, said dismissively, "As long as I'm happy, my mother doesn't care about me."

After saying that, he turned to look at Madam Min Qiao and asked hopefully, "Madam, may I see Madam Wang's handwritten letter?"

Madam Min Qiao was taken aback. Before she could speak, Madam Zheng twitched her lips and responded on Madam Min Qiao's behalf: "Princess, since Madam Qiao did not make it public, there must be a reason why it cannot be made public. It is not appropriate for you to pry into other people's privacy like this."

Princess Jiaoyang pouted and muttered, "I'm just curious. I won't tell anyone even if I see it."

Before Madam Zheng could say anything more, Madam Min Qiao shook her head indifferently and said with a smile, "It's alright, it's fine to let the princess see it. However, once the princess has seen it, that's it, and she must not tell anyone else."

Princess Jiaoyang's eyes lit up, and she nodded quickly, "Don't worry, Madam, I will definitely not tell anyone."

If it's not interesting, then forget it. But if it is, she'll secretly tell her grandmother. And, of course, her grandmother isn't just anyone!