Upon hearing this, Yuan Zhao raised his eyelids slightly and said calmly:

"If they dare to offer it, I dare to accept it."

"However, before that, let's talk about the dowry."

In the afternoon, a maid from Old Madam Zhou's side came to invite Yuan Zhao to come over for a meeting. Yuan Zhao didn't delay and went over with Wen Feng and Linglong.

The people from the second and third wives' families had already arrived. They looked at Yuan Zhao with disdain, and none of them gave him a friendly look.

The second wife further stated:

"My sister-in-law's incident caused quite a stir yesterday. I think there must be some misunderstanding involved."

"Perhaps someone deliberately framed him."

The third wife echoed:

"Isn't that right? After all, with my sister-in-law in trouble, some people can rightfully take control of the entire Zhou family."

Yuan Zhao glanced at Old Madam Zhou at the head of the table. She saw that the old lady had her eyes closed and was constantly turning the prayer beads in her hand while chanting Buddhist scriptures, looking completely indifferent.

She smiled gently and said:

"What do you two aunts mean by that? Are you implying that I'm the one who orchestrated this?"

“In that case, let’s go to the Prefect and ask him to investigate. If that doesn’t work, we can go to the Court of Judicial Review and ask them to uphold justice.”

"What do you two aunts think?"

The second and third wives were speechless upon hearing this. They were just joking; they wouldn't actually dare to take it to the prefect.

They shut their mouths, but Yuan Zhao had no intention of letting them off so easily. She spoke calmly:

“Yesterday, my elder brother sent someone to ask me how the dowry arrangements were going and whether they needed to come over.”

"I haven't replied to my brother yet. What do you two aunts think I should say?"

Upon hearing this, the two ladies' faces turned pale and then flushed, a truly remarkable sight.

Although the old lady assigned tasks to each room, so far, no one has produced anything.

They were all watching and waiting, hoping to stall for as long as possible.

At this moment, Old Madam Zhou, who had been chanting Buddhist scriptures with her eyes closed, opened them and said:

"Zhaozhao, your grandmother called you here today for the same reason."

“These past few days, Grandmother has been preparing, and now she has collected almost all of the things you gave her as a sign of respect.”

After saying that, she nodded to the maid beside her. A moment later, the maid came over with a large pile of jewelry, which were the various pieces of jewelry that Yuan Zhao had previously "given" to Old Madam Zhou.

Yuan Zhao glanced at it and found that there were more things in the box than he expected.

Sure enough, the only person in the Zhou household who was still conscious was Old Madam Zhou.

"Zhaozhao, you've suffered these past years. Grandmother has some savings and jewelry here. It's not much, but it's the most Grandmother can offer. Please don't look down on it."

After she finished speaking, she had someone bring over another small box, which contained some silver notes and some of Old Madam Zhou's jewelry. Yuan Zhao glanced at it and saw that they were all valuable items.

"Thank you, Grandma. You're so good to me."

Yuan Zhao wasn't stupid; she couldn't possibly refuse something offered to her.

Madam Zhou came from a prominent family and possessed many valuable items; less than one-thousandth of them were here.

In her past life, she was the only one who foolishly thought that no one had any money and generously used her dowry. Later, she learned that everyone in the inner quarters had money saved up.

Seeing that Yuan Zhao accepted her gifts without any hesitation, Old Madam Zhou's eyes flickered slightly, and then her smile became even more kind.

"Second and third wives, you also need to hurry up and make up for Zhaozhao's dowry money as soon as possible."

"She is kind and righteous, and we can't just take advantage of her easygoing nature and keep dragging this out. What will people think if word gets out?"

This is a warning to the second and third wives, since both sides have sons and daughters who are not yet engaged. If the dowry issue is not resolved, it will be difficult to find them husbands in the future.

The second and third wives clearly understood this principle, so for now, they could only reluctantly agree.

Seeing that they had stopped causing trouble, Old Madam Zhou turned to Yuan Zhao and said:

"Zhaozhao, there's another matter that Grandmother called you here for today."

"Grandmother wants to hand over the power in her hands to you. You are cautious in your work, and Grandmother is at ease letting you manage the inner quarters."

Upon hearing this, Yuan Zhao rose and bowed, without refusing:

“Grandmother trusts Zhaozhao, which is a blessing for Zhaozhao. Of course, I must do my best first.”

"Alright, in that case, Grandma will give you the key."

After saying this, Old Madam Zhou had someone fetch the key to hand to Yuan Zhao, but this time Yuan Zhao did not take it. She smiled sweetly and said:

"Grandmother, since it's a handover, it's best to check everything first. Otherwise, if something goes wrong after the keys are in my hands, it will be hard to explain."