Chapter 8 Aunt's Plan

When Liu saw Qian Wang take out the dowry list, her heart skipped a beat.

Then he thought that his dowry was definitely rich enough, and Wang Shi would not be able to find any fault with it considering his money, and he immediately felt more confident.

Madam Wang looked at Liu with a smile, "Our Qian family has lived in Jiangnan for a long time and the journey is long, so we can't usually take care of our niece.

Now that she is getting married, I, as her aunt, have given her 12,000 taels of silver as a gift for her wedding, which can be regarded as a token of my gratitude for the blood relationship between us.

Alas, when my sister-in-law got married, I was the one who helped my mother-in-law to buy her trousseau. It was really a treasure trove of red and gold.

As a dowry, she included two farms in the suburbs of Beijing, eight shops, and had 50,000 taels of silver hidden in her chest.

The remaining head ornaments and collectibles number about a hundred or so pieces, each of them a top-notch masterpiece.

Later, my sister-in-law passed away. I heard that she gave all her things to Yu'er.

Ouch, how can this be possible?

How can she, a little girl, know what is right or wrong? Let me tell you, since Mrs. Liu is in charge of the money, it should be in your hands.

Don’t be fooled for nothing.”

Everyone was stunned by Qian Wang's generosity.

Add 12,000 yuan to make-up!

For an ordinary Beijing official below the fifth rank, marrying off five daughters would be enough.

But before they could sigh that the merchant was rich, they were shocked by what she revealed about Mrs. Xianjiang's dowry.

No wonder Lord Jiang gave up the official daughter and married a lady from a merchant family. This is not marrying a wife, this is marrying a mountain of gold.

In the past, these two topics alone would be enough for them to discuss for half a month.

But now, the point is not how much dowry Mrs. Jiang has, but whether the dowry is still there.

I don't want to know how it came, I just want to know how it disappeared.

This was a big news, and everyone immediately asked Mrs. Qian what was going on.

Qian Wang glared at Jiang Xinyu in reproach.

"You are such a fool, how can you give away your late mother's belongings so easily?

The painting "Traveling in Mountains and Rivers" was your grandfather's treasure, and your mother used it as her dowry because she liked it.

I didn't expect that your uncle was actually seen at someone else's house when he was visiting. What do you think...

What is this called?

Jiang Xinyu rolled her eyes and stammered, "I am just a little kid. I was only 6 years old when my mother passed away. How can I care about my dowry?"

Didn’t my aunt say it was sealed in the warehouse? How did it end up in someone else’s house?”

Liu's heart suddenly tightened. She had embezzled so many things that she had no idea when the "Traveling in Mountains and Rivers" painting was given away.

It seems that Qian Wang's intention this time is not good, probably just to check the dowry.

It was not that Liu was not on guard against the Qian family coming to check the dowry, but she felt that all the valuable items in the manor shop had been put on display, and most of the antiques and head ornaments had also been put into Jiang Xinyu's dowry.

The Qian family probably won't delve into the other details.

After all, things are dead but people are alive. She could easily say that Jiang Xinyu dropped or lost them, or that she made up for the loss of money in the shop.

She had never worn Qian's head ornaments because she thought they were unlucky, and she thought the Qian family would not catch her in any way.

But now that someone famous and fortunate enough to point out that Qian's dowry was given to an outsider, she might give people a reason to criticize her if she continued to be vague.

Just when Liu was about to say that it might be a servant who stole, Jiang Wanqiu held her mother's hand, then bowed to Lady Wang and said with a smile,

"Aunt, you have wronged my sister. The painting 'Traveling in Mountains and Rivers' was given to father when mother was still alive, and it used to hang in his study.

The painting was indeed good. Qiu'er asked about it again when the study was renovated later.

My father said that men of letters and scholars make friends through painting and calligraphy, and the value of calligraphy and painting should not be measured by money.

He found an owner for the painting who truly understood it, which was a great honor.

My sister has always believed that a woman's virtue lies in her lack of talent, so I guess she doesn't pay much attention to calligraphy and painting."

Jiang Wanqiu's words were a double entendre, which not only provided an excuse for giving away the dowry, but also took the opportunity to criticize Jiang Xinyu, implying that she and Aunt Qian were both vulgar people who only cared about money and had no knowledge of literature.

But Wang couldn't find anything wrong with this statement.

Although a woman's dowry and her husband's family cannot be changed after she gets married, it is impossible for them to remain the same for ten or twenty years.

Not to mention the rewards given to servants and other favors, even the gifts given to one's own husband are untraceable.

Qian Wang had long anticipated that Liu would embezzle the dowry, and she did this today just to get rid of Jiang Xinyu's dowry.

"Traveling in Mountains and Rivers" is just a drop in the ocean; the focus is on the farm, shops and silver.

You can say that an ornament is broken and a piece of jewellery is damaged, but you can't just give your estate and shop away to others. Even a fool wouldn't believe that.

And there is the 50,000 taels of silver in the hidden chest.

My sister-in-law was fully prepared to marry Lord Jiang, but she passed away after only 8 years. Could it be that she had spent all the 50,000 taels of silver?

Mr. Jiang has always been very proud. How could he admit that he had spent his late wife's dowry? He would have to pay back the money.

She did this not only to guard against the Jiang family, but also to guard against the Ningguo Mansion where Jiang Xinyu was about to marry.

Although the Qian family is a merchant family, they are well-informed and they naturally know what the situation is like in the Ningguo Mansion.

Originally, this marriage was considered a good one.

In fact, this marriage was possible because Mr. Qian accidentally saved the old Duke of Ning.

It was just because the Qian family was of too low status, that even if the Ningguo Mansion wanted to find a wealthy prince's wife to supplement the family income, they would not lose face by marrying a merchant's daughter.

So after all this, the marriage fell into Jiang Xinyu's hands.

Although her family background is still low, she is at least the daughter of an official. Lord Jiang is known for her talent and has made good progress. Marrying her as the Crown Prince's wife is not a disgrace to the family.

But since his daughter's death, Mr. Qian's mind has changed. Not only is he heartbroken about his daughter's death, he also regrets letting his granddaughter marry into a rich family.

Those officials are the most hypocritical. They covet their property while despising their origins.

The man named Jiang used a large sum of money from his family to smooth over connections and get promoted to a successful career, but it turned out to kill his daughter.

In these years, they have ignored their legitimate Yue family and have only the title of in-laws but are unwilling to help them at all.

Mr. Qian regretted his decision so much that his intestines turned green. He lost money, angered his wife, and even compensated his daughter. If he had known earlier, he would have used the money to bribe corrupt officials directly.

At least those people took the money and really did the job, and they wouldn't harm her daughter's life.

Unfortunately, it was too late to say anything. Not only was the concubine gone, but the granddaughter was also doomed to marry the prince of the Ningguo Mansion.

It is extremely difficult to break off the engagement.

In order to prevent her child from following her mother's old path and being inexplicably killed in the backyard, Qian Wang went to Beijing to check the dowry.

Mr. Qian still has great confidence in Wang, the daughter-in-law who will be the head of the family.

Mrs. Wang lived up to her trust. She had been in the capital for more than ten days but had not shown up. She had been quietly trying to find people to inquire about the situation of the Jiang family and her sister-in-law's dowry shop.

The shop was fine because it had a great location and business was booming.

Although the manager inside had long been replaced by someone from the Liu family, and the money would never reach the hands of the niece, it was enough as long as the shop was still there.

However, this niece was somewhat disappointing. She became just a background board for Jiang Wanqiu.

The Qian family is a wealthy family, and although they are merchants, they also have many connections in the capital.

It's not certain how powerful he is, but he is still quite well-informed when he gets to know some information.

After a lot of effort, Mrs. Wang finally got a preliminary understanding of the temperament of her niece whom she had not seen for many years.

To put it nicely, he is naive, outspoken and outspoken; to put it bluntly, he is brainless, his words offend people and he has a bad temper.

But no matter what, he is the only blood of her sister-in-law left in the world. Even if he is a hopeless case, Wang is willing to try her best to help him.

If nothing else, at least take the dowry and put it in her hands, and then use the presence of the ladies to transfer the amount smoothly.

With such a large dowry marrying into the Ningguo Mansion, if the niece died at the same young age as her sister-in-law, anyone with a brain would suspect that the Ningguo Mansion was plotting murder for money.

If the Duke of Ning was not a fool, he would not have made such a low-level mistake, which indirectly saved Jiang Xinyu's life.