Chapter 117: Dad is busy as a dog, the night before the wedding

As soon as the two came in, they bowed to Xie Yao.

"This old servant greets the princess and the lady of the borough." The old nanny spoke first.

"The old lady sent a servant to tell me that the palace has already invited everyone it needs to for tomorrow's wedding banquet. The Wenchang Marquis's residence just needs to be courteous and there's no need to compete with the palace. The old lady also said that the princess and the marquis' wife don't need to worry too much. The most important thing is to be happy."

Bai Zhu: "Early tomorrow morning, I will bring the maid and the dresser here. There will be many people in the mansion, and it will be easy to cause chaos. The prince asked me to be ready to obey the princess's orders at any time."

Xie Yao's heart moved, as what Liu Ma said was exactly what she wanted.

Of course, she didn't want her mother to spend a lot of time and effort to waste money on hosting a banquet for the Xie family, while Xie Mingan just reaped the benefits.

Old Madam Xiao did this because she didn't want the Bo family to spend too much money.

I specifically told her and her mother this to show that she only cares about her mother.

As for Bai Zhu, Xie Yao always felt that Xiao Yizi had guessed something.

She bowed and said, "Thank you, Madam and Your Majesty, for your consideration."

Xu Susu also nodded and said, "Thank you both for making this trip. Please thank the old lady for me."

After seeing them off, Xie Yao turned around and said, "Mother, look, the prince has already thought about it for us."

She took out a pair of Hetian jade bracelets that she had just taken away, put one on her wrist and the other on Xu Susu's wrist.

"These jewels were given to you by your grandfather. They are a token of your longing. There are not many left. You must not pawn them lightly."

Xu Susu lowered her eyes, looking at the warm jade bracelet, and said, "But even if Madam Xiao said that everything in the Bo Mansion should be simple and not compared with the Wang Mansion, we can't do nothing. The wedding is tomorrow, and there is no money in the account. If I don't prepare quickly, how can I have time-"

"So what? If the Xie family doesn't have the money in their account, let Xie Mingan pay for it himself. If he doesn't want to pay, then it's embarrassing. My daughter doesn't care."

Xie Yao interrupted her, curling her lips and asking, "Instead of using the money on the banquet to save face for the Xie family, why not add it all to my dowry? Doesn't mother want me to have a bigger dowry?"

Xu Susu was choked by the question, and the second half of Xie Yao's words made her heart tremble.

She stroked the jade bracelet with her fingertips and made a decision.

"Okay, I'll listen to you."

Xie Yao narrowed her eyes and looked towards Xie Mingan's study.

She spoke each word with great emphasis: "This Xie family is not worth mother spending a penny more."

What she didn't say was: Not only that, she also wanted Xie Mingan to pay double for what he swallowed!

If you can't pay it back, don't blame her.

After confirming that she would not have to pay for the banquet, Xu Susu had much less trouble. She returned to her room and checked Xie Yao's dowry.

The person who was in so much pain that he wanted to die became Xie Mingan.

When Xie Mingan learned that Xu Susu would not be in charge of the banquet, he became furious.

But the wedding was tomorrow, and he had no time to question. He could only spend money from his private treasury while his heart was bleeding, and asked Madam Zhu to take a group of servants to make preparations in a hurry.

Fortunately, the Winter Solstice Banquet had just passed, and the Bo family had experience in preparing another banquet.

In the past, Xie Mingan always left this kind of thing to Aunt Sun...

He immediately went to Aunt Sun's yard.

However, Sun Xinlan was three months pregnant and had a miscarriage due to the Sun family's affairs. She had to use her remaining pocket money to prepare a dowry for Xie Zhi. Now she was weak and her mind was not clear.

Seeing how sick Aunt Sun looked, Xie Ming'an could only say "rest and take care of the pregnancy" and left in annoyance.

Passing by Xie Zhi's house, he took a look and saw that it was dead silent.

Xie Mingan thought to himself that this daughter was completely useless. It was such a waste of his years of cultivation that she couldn't even beat Xie Yao.

Nanny Zhu came forward and whispered, "Master, the Marquis's Mansion sent someone to reply early this morning."

"Let's do what needs to be done," Xie Ming'an said coldly, waving his hand. "Go ask the old lady how she is doing."

After a moment, the nanny beside Old Madam Xie replied:

"My Lord, the old lady caught a cold after falling into the water and has been bedridden ever since. She asked me to look after you, saying that you are really working hard managing all the affairs of the mansion and that she wants a bowl of old duck soup for lunch to nourish you."

"...Thank you for your concern, mother."

Xie Mingan's expression changed, and he could only say in the end: "Let Xie Mingshou and Wang come over and help Benbo prepare the wedding banquet for that girl."

Wang was the second wife.

Nanny Zhu asked in confusion, "Master Bo usually doesn't let Second Master and Second Wife interfere in the affairs of the inner house, so why is he giving them authority now?"

Xie Mingan's face was gloomy. "I am the head of the Xie family. I share the prosperity and adversity of the family. If the wedding banquet goes well, the shame the Xie family has suffered over the past month will be nothing. They caused me to be held accountable by the emperor before, and now it is their turn to pay the price."

Nanny Zhu went to inform Mr. Xie, and the couple from the second house did not dare to refuse.

The entire Xie family was in a state of chaos the day before the wedding.

At noon, Qiliang, who had been keeping an eye on what was happening in Xie Mingan's study, came back.

"I followed Uncle Xie to the old lady's warm room. Later, I heard from the servant in the warm room that when Uncle Xie paid his respects to the old lady, he took the opportunity to take away the silver he had given her as a gift in his early years."

"Father is really just trying to be rich." Xie Yao sneered.

"Since he's taken so much trouble to arrange my marriage, it seems I should thank him properly."

As she expected, her scumbag father had already lost his dignity, but still wanted to regain some face through her wedding.

Qi Liang sighed, "Fortunately, the young lady asked the Madam to not take care of the wedding banquet, otherwise we would be the ones who are so busy that we have no time to rest."

Xie Yao calmly instructed, "The Bo Mansion is already in chaos. You should put the things in your room in the ancestral hall tonight."

Qiliang's expression became serious, his eyes showing both excitement and anxiety.

The day the young lady bought him from the matchmaker, she gave him a list of items and told him to buy them and hide them in his room.

He could only buy a little of those things at a time, which wasn't expensive, but the total price was quite high. He had already bought them all and kept them under his bed.

Qiliang looked at the young lady's calm and sharp expression, and his heart gradually calmed down.

"I understand. There's a chest inside the ancestral hall that holds candles and incense. After the Winter Solstice Feast, it's empty. Normally, no one opens it, so I'll put my things in there."

Xie Yao nodded, picked up the handkerchief and gently wiped the long sword in her hand.

The blade was snow-white, reflecting her frosty eyes.

She added, "Besides that, I want you to do two things after I leave the Bo Mansion tomorrow."

Xie Yao whispered.

After giving the order, she said, "Go and do your work. And help me call Ming'er over."

In the evening, Qiliang reported to Xie Yao that the things had been put away.

He had just stepped back when he heard faint footsteps outside the yard.

Xu Susu came to Xie Yao's door. Behind her, Sang Ruo was holding a heavy red lacquered sandalwood box in her hands.

This was the first time her mother came to her room face to face while she was awake.

At this moment, it is the eve of the wedding.

Xie Yao's eyes were slightly sore, and she immediately opened the door wide, with a look of stubbornness that Xu Susu couldn't quite understand: "Mother, please come in."

Xu Susu walked in, closed the door for her, and said, "Open it."

Sang Ruo put the box on the table and opened the copper lock with the key.

Xie Yao's eyes fixed, and she saw that in the box, on the left was a thick stack of land deeds, and on the right was a red silk, which was filled with dozens of pearls. Each pearl was the size of an oriental pearl, and it shone with a warm luster under the candlelight, and was of excellent quality.

Sang Ruo said, "Second Miss, the gold, silver, and ordinary jewelry are all in the boxes in the storeroom. These oriental pearls were found by Master Xu for Madam. He said he wanted to embed them in Madam's wedding dress, but Madam was afraid it would be too conspicuous, so he didn't use them."

Xu Susu took a deep breath, met Xie Yao's bright eyes, and said, "I wanted to personally inlay it on your phoenix crown and wedding dress, but the palace has already sent the wedding dress. I heard that it was made by the prince's mother, Madam Jingning, so I won't show off my embroidery skills."

Xie Yao's breathing trembled.

As she spoke, Xu Susu picked up the top few deeds and said, "These are farms in the suburbs of Beijing. There are six in total, each with a hundred acres of fertile land. I have recorded the annual rent in the account book, you can check it for yourself."

"I also have a house in the capital, just east of the city, not far from the Jingbei Palace. I bought it for three hundred taels, and it should be worth ten times that now. The other garden is over on Qifeng Mountain, a great place to escape the summer heat and enjoy the autumn."

"The owners of these eight shops are all veterans with many years of experience. If you check the accounts every six months, you won't make any mistakes."

"The previous manager of this bank passed away last year, and the new manager is new. He needs to check the accounts once a month."

"There are three shops in my hometown of Jiangzhou. You have to send people back to Jiangzhou to take over."

"Here are some silver notes, about one thousand taels. There are only two thousand taels of cash in the treasury, and five hundred taels of gold. As for the rest... you'll see them all tomorrow."