Ning acted quickly, having arranged her manpower and packed the things to take to Liaodong long ago. On the morning of the third day after Xu Di returned with Xu Yao, Xu Yao kowtowed to the old lady and the marquis before being escorted to Liaodong by a group of guards.

Xu Shao was in high spirits recently, and the six rites were completed quickly. Soon, the wedding date was set and the engagement was finalized.

The wedding date was set rather hastily, in the autumn of that year. The reason given by both families was that the children were grown up and should settle down and start a family as soon as possible.

Xu Shao finally felt relieved, but the thought of the dowry she was giving away made her a little worried. Half of her dowry was gone. Not to mention her eldest son was still studying in another city, she also had a younger son. The dowry she brought to her husband's family back then had already cost a lot, and this half of the dowry consisted mostly of things from that time, with very little money.

Thinking of this, Xu Shao sighed and had someone prepare a car to take her back to her parents' home.

Because of her strained relationship with her mother-in-law, Xu Shao never asked her permission to go out. She also bought her own carriage and was free to come and go as she pleased. Although some people in the household had some complaints about this, Xu Shao spent all her own money. Even her husband, the heir of the household, had to take extra care of her because of the money she had.

Xu Shao arrived at the Yongning Marquis's residence and went directly to Madam Wu's courtyard.

Xu Shao was never favored by the old lady from a young age. Knowing Xu Shao's background, the old lady naturally didn't get close to her and always treated her coldly. Xu Shao could naturally tell that the old lady didn't like her and didn't want to try to win her favor. Gradually, she started going directly to Wu Shi's courtyard when she got home.

When Wu saw her arrive, she was pleased and poured her a cup of tea, saying, "Take a sip and try it. Take half a jin with you when you leave."

Xu Shao took a sip but didn't find anything particularly good about the tea.

Seeing that her expression was not right, Madam Wu said, "Shao'er, what's wrong with you? Siyan's marriage to Prince Yang is already arranged, why are you still unhappy?"

Xu Shao said, "Mother, I have to prepare a dowry for Siyan. That old hag from the Yang family insists on taking half of my dowry."

Upon hearing this, Madam Wu sighed and said, "If you ask me, Siyan's marriage isn't a good one either. What kind of in-laws ask their in-laws how much dowry they want?"

Xu Shao said, "I thought that since Yang Shizi was the only child in their household, everything in the household would still belong to the two of them in the future. But now, besides Siyan, I have two other sons. I'm afraid that if I give all my dowry to Siyan now, I won't have anything to offer when my two sons get married in the future."

Madam Wu said, "Things have come to this point, what can you do? Shao'er, I've given you everything I could, and I really don't have any money left to give you."

Xu Shao said, "Mother, whether I can get through this depends entirely on you."

Wu looked at Xu Shao with a troubled expression. Xu Shao lowered her head, wiped her tears with a handkerchief, and said, "Mother, if I had any other way, I wouldn't have come to you. But look at all these years, I've exhausted myself for our family. Mother, I really had no other choice but to come to you."

Seeing Xu Shao like this, Madam Wu felt quite sad. Her daughter was already in her thirties, and she was still crying like this in front of her. She sighed and said, "Shao'er, you know that your mother is not good at managing money. Otherwise, your sister-in-law wouldn't have been able to take over the power of managing the household as soon as she entered the family. All the shops and estates that your father brought with him when he got married were taken over by your father to manage. He only gives me the profits every year. What I have now is the silver that I have saved up from those profits over the years, but I have given almost all of it to you."

Upon hearing this, Xu Shao cried and said, "Mother, please help me one more time, I really have no other choice."

Madam Wu sighed and said, "In that case, I can only pawn some of your jewelry to help you make ends meet."

When Xu Shao left, she was carrying a heavy little bundle. Everyone in the manor knew that this young lady never left empty-handed when she went back to her parents' home. Later, the Marquis heard about this and sighed. He didn't dare to tell Wu the truth and could only watch helplessly as Wu gave all her wealth to the daughter of her enemy.

When the old lady heard about it, she kept sighing. Recently, everyone in the capital had been talking about the marriage between the Yongning Marquis's Mansion and the Zhongyong Marquis's Mansion. Yang Siying of the Zhongyong Marquis's Mansion was the dream lover of many young ladies in the capital who were ready to be married. No one expected that he would be engaged to the eldest daughter of the Yongning Marquis's Mansion.

Upon hearing that the fourth daughter of the Marquis of Yongping's family had been sent to Liaodong, Yang Siying returned to his residence and went to his mother's courtyard.

When Yang Siying's mother heard that her due date had arrived, she hurried out from the inner room to greet him. Seeing Yang Siying's expression, she asked in surprise, "Siying, my son, what happened?"

Yang Siying said, "Mother, do you know about the fourth daughter of the Marquis of Yongping's mansion going to Liaodong?"

Mother Yang said, "No, what does their fourth daughter going to Liaodong have to do with us?"

Yang Siying was at a loss for words. Seeing Yang Siying's expression, his mother sighed and said, "Siying, my son, you are already engaged to the Zhao family's daughter. You should not get involved with other families' daughters in the future. It would be bad if you caused trouble."

Yang Siying hesitated for a while before taking his leave. He naturally couldn't share his plans with his mother, a woman confined to the inner quarters of the house.

Yang Siying left his mother's courtyard with a sullen face. At the gate, he encountered several maids who bowed to him. Usually, he would greet them with a smile and say, "Sister Sheng, you've worked hard," but today he didn't even look at them. The maids looked at Yang Siying's back and exchanged bewildered glances.

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