Madam Su took out a document. "My lord, a month ago, the head of the Su family entrusted Governor Huang Yemao of Dingzhou to take charge for us. He personally went to the former Yong'an Earl's Mansion in Dingzhou, and had a concubine from the old mansion open the storeroom to transport some of the items on the dowry list back home. However, 90% of the items are still missing. This is the detailed list. Please take a look, my lord."

Lu Ning took the list handed to him by the registrar, and was excited after just one glance!

These are so numerous, any one of them would cost more than ten taels!

Lady Yong'an sneered, "You yourself said that the one in Dingzhou is a concubine in the governor's mansion. How can a concubine be in charge of the governor's mansion? The storerooms she can open are all public. How do you know that my Yong'an mansion doesn't have other assets? How can these assets be entrusted to a concubine for safekeeping?"

"So, according to you, Madam, all my dowry is in Dingzhou? And I have nothing in the capital?"

Lady Yong'an angrily rebuked, "Su! I am your elder no matter how you look at it. You questioned your mother-in-law first, and then filed a lawsuit against her. You are unfilial and disrespectful! You deserve to be divorced by my son!"

Madam Su coldly replied, "The evidence presented in court also includes a handwritten copy of my divorce agreement with Jiang Mingyi. Madam, please be careful with your words! If you continue to slander me as an abandoned woman, I will have no choice but to reveal the truth about the divorce to the world!"

Lady Yong'an pointed at her and cursed, "You...you have no respect for your elders! To accuse an elder, one must first be punished with twenty strokes of the cane! May I ask, sir, has the punishment been administered?!"

Su laughed in anger, "Jiang Mingyi and I are divorced. Do you think you're worthy to be my mother-in-law or elder?!"

Especially when she thought about how Jiang Mingyi had actually bribed assassins from the Nine Dark Gates to kill her and Xiao Youran, she couldn't control the anger in her heart.

Xiaoyou tugged at her mother's hand, and only then did she take a deep breath to calm down.

Lu Ning struck the gavel again. "As Huihe Yiren said, Huihe Yiren is no longer a member of your Jiang family, so she cannot be accused of suing an elder. Madam Yong'an, please do not evade the issue! Please answer Madam Su's question."

Lady Yong'an then gave a cold snort, which was her reply.

He was secretly annoyed. His son had spent so much money to hire assassins, yet he still hadn't succeeded.

Madam Su handed over a few more sheets of paper. “My lord, please be aware that my daughter has seen these items at the Princess’s residence or the Jiang’s residence more than once. The items drawn on these sheets of paper are all listed on the dowry list. The style, color, and other characteristics are all marked. Whether they are in the capital or not, I hope my lord will go to the site to check and make a comparison. You will know at a glance.”

"How dare you! Who dares to search the Yong'an Marquis's residence?! Do you even want to search the Princess's residence?!" The Yong'an Marquis's anger surged again.

Madam Gao, who was behind her, also stepped forward and said, "Second sister-in-law, this is where you're wrong. Your mother-in-law has already said that the things are in Dingzhou. As long as we return to Dingzhou, she will definitely return all your dowry to you. Why are you so relentless? You even want to search the mansion? It's one thing for the Yong'an Earl's mansion to be our own family, but the Princess's mansion is a legitimate member of the imperial family. How could we possibly search it because of a small suspicion?"

“I am merely a fifth-rank lady, so naturally I would not dare to search the residences of a third-rank earl or a princess.” Madam Su looked at Lu Ning. “Lord Lu, it seems I am powerless to get this dowry back.”

Lu Ning nodded and smiled.

Lady Yong'an and Lady Gao were both delighted.

Is this Su woman planning to forgo her dowry?

Then Su walked to the registrar's desk, picked up a pen, and wrote a few words on a piece of paper.

Gao asked excitedly, "Su, are you planning to give up your dowry?"

Ms. Su smiled and said, "I suppose so."

Lady Yong'an and Madam Gao couldn't help but show expressions of ecstatic joy.

"In that case, may we leave?" Lady Yong'an asked, her head held high and her chest puffed out, her arrogance growing even stronger.

"Wait! Now that you know the mansion is to be searched, you must not leave beforehand, lest you be suspected of tipping them off," Lu Ning said seriously, taking the document, whose ink was not yet completely dry, from the registrar's hand.

Lady Yong'an and Madam Gao were stunned again. Why did they have to search the mansion?

Didn't we stop searching?

Madam Su smiled without saying a word. Little Youran then stepped forward with a beaming smile and explained, “Grandmother, Mother just signed a document transferring her entire dowry to the Jingzhao Prefecture for ten taels of silver. So these things no longer belong to us, but to the Jingzhao Prefecture. You said the Jingzhao Prefecture's things are missing; don't they have the right to search the entire capital? Whether the things are in Dingzhou or the capital, since there are clues, shouldn't we find them as soon as possible?”

Let alone the Yong'an Earl's Mansion and the Princess's Mansion, we should also search for the Eldest Princess's Mansion.

The Prefect of Jingzhao Prefecture had the authority to report directly to the Emperor and was in charge of the security of the entire capital city. Apart from the Imperial Palace, where could they not search?

Lady Yong'an took a step back in shock. "What did you say?"

Madam Gao was even more shocked and dumbfounded, her lips trembling, "Ten...ten taels?"

She had witnessed firsthand the wealth of the Su family when she married into the Jiang family with a grand bridal procession—countless gold, silver, jade artifacts, and various precious ornaments. In terms of silver equivalent, it was easily worth two or three hundred thousand taels!

So... it only sold for ten taels of silver?

Lu Ning had already stamped three copies of the contract with the official seal, handed one back, and coughed lightly. "Excellent! This official just agreed with Lady Su that if she cannot reclaim this dowry, it will be transferred to the Jingzhao Prefecture for ten taels of silver. This is the signed contract. Everything on this dowry list will be deposited into the Jingzhao Prefecture's treasury. This official doesn't care whether your Jiang family has placed this dowry in Dingzhou or the capital. From this moment on, the Jingzhao Prefecture will go to your Yong'an Marquis's residence to receive these items. Within three days, everything on this dowry list will be gathered and brought to the Jingzhao Prefecture!"

He had already phrased it very tactfully: go to receive rather than search.

It means that if your Yong'an Marquis's Mansion has any shame, you should obediently hand it over. Once the Jingzhao Prefecture accepts it, this matter will be over.

Otherwise, it would be more than just a matter of losing face!

After saying that, he picked up the official seal and stamped it hard on the dowry list.

Lady Yong'an staggered back two steps, supported Madam Gao, and her face turned deathly pale.

She glared hatefully at the Su mother and daughter, "You...you two good-for-nothings!"

Xiao Youran smiled and said, "Grandma is wrong again! These things have nothing to do with us. We're not wasting the family's things! How can it be considered wasteful?"

Lady Yong'an's heart was bleeding, but you've squandered my family's possessions!

"You...you even have the surname Jiang! How can it not be related to you?!"

“Grandmother still remembers my surname is Jiang! But my mother’s dowry was originally surnamed Su! Now it belongs to the Jingzhao Prefecture! It has nothing to do with the Jiang family! So I haven’t squandered the family fortune!”