Chapter 57: The Liang family's reputation was cracked

Feeling Liang's stiffness, Su Rui knew that his guess was right.

Smiling, he stepped back, turned to look at the eldest prince, who was acting solely as his companion, and asked, "Your Highness, is this too much to ask?"

The eldest prince shook his head. "Since the Yong'an Marquisate wishes to sever ties with Miss Su, the dowry left by your mother must be divided."

The eldest prince's words hit Liang like a heavy blow, but before she could react, Su Rui said towards the palace gate, "You've come just in time. Since His Highness has said so, take the dowry list with the Marquis' wife to the storehouse to count. If you want half of the existing ones, how long will it take?"

Luo E had received a message from someone sent by Su Rui a long time ago and had been waiting. When she heard Su Rui calling her, she immediately stepped forward, took the book from her hand, flipped through it, and said, "One hour is enough."

Su Rui nodded, then looked at Liang and asked, "It won't be long. I'll wait here. Madam Hou, will you come with me or send someone else?"

None of the Liangs wanted to.

But seeing Su Rui's words and the look that showed she was sure of victory and would not allow her to say another word of excuse, Liang had no choice.

She didn't dare to bet on how much Su Rui knew and how much she had told the eldest prince, and she didn't even dare to bet that Su Rui was just deceiving her.

Helplessly, after weighing the pros and cons, she could only grit her teeth and take Luo E to take inventory.

Su Rui sat in the car waiting, and the eldest prince accompanied her. The people outside could not see Su Rui, nor did they dare to look directly at the eldest prince, so they naturally focused all their attention on the Marquis' Mansion.

Less than half an hour later, Luo E came out of the mansion, and the people who had been waiting there started to talk to each other in a strange manner.

"Didn't you say it would take an hour?"

"I think something went wrong. Look at the manager, he doesn't look very happy."

The eldest prince also noticed Luo E's expression, and glanced at Su Rui who lifted the curtain again, and was curious about what they were doing.

Su Rui ignored the eldest prince's gaze and pretended to be puzzled, asking everyone's question: "Why is it so fast? Didn't they say it would take an hour?"

"I originally wanted it, but, but there is only a small part of the dowry left in the storehouse, and the rest is nowhere to be found."

As they were talking, the people from Chaoyang Court brought out several boxes, placed them in front of Su Rui and opened them one by one.

There are some things in there that are considered valuable, but not precious at all, and have no possibility of appreciation. They are basically used by wealthy families to reward others.

Su Rui's dowry list was a thick book, and only these few things were left. Not to mention the nobles, even ordinary people could see the trick.

Such a large amount of dowry must be looked after by someone. Even if there is negligence in management, it may not be noticed if a dozen items are missing. But if more than half are missing, even a blind person would know that something is missing just by feeling.

With such a huge loss, no matter how powerful the thief is, it would be impossible for him to take the things away so quietly.

Unless, the employee embezzles.

"Everyone says that the wife of the Marquis of Yong'an is virtuous and treats her eldest sister's children better than her own. It seems that this is just a rumor."

"It's hard to tell whether it's true or false, but you can't fool people. If I'm really good to them, how can I not protect their property?"

"It's just empty pretense. Who, truly caring about their daughter, would teach her to be such a fool and shameless? I think this is just flattery."

"Maybe what happened five years ago was a plot. They deliberately killed her so that she wouldn't have to marry and wouldn't have to give a dowry. She wouldn't have known that her dowry was so much less."

You and I were talking at the same time, the discussion became more and more lively and increasingly unpleasant.

Regardless of whether she was speaking for Su Rui or not, the good reputation Liang had accumulated over the years was also cracked. Moreover, in front of the eldest prince, Liang could not cover her mouth no matter what.

Liang was so angry that her chest ached, but she had no choice but to leave the mansion. She turned back and said, "That day, we discovered the thief, but before we could investigate, something happened to you. The mansion was in chaos, and the thief took advantage of the commotion to escape. After that, I was so preoccupied with you that I didn't ask about it. When you checked the list today, I realized how much they had moved over the years. Not only my sister's dowry, but also a lot of the Marquis's Mansion was stolen."

"That's truly a misfortune for our family," Su Rui scoffed. "But I shouldn't be the one to bear the consequences of the Marquis's lax management of the household."

"Of course not, but these things are hard to retrieve right now. Please give me some time..."

"Then let's convert it into silver. Sixty-four thousand three hundred taels. Forget three hundred taels, sixty-four thousand will be fine."

Liang's face cracked again, and she looked at Su Rui in disbelief.

How could she know that the total amount of banknotes and cash in the mansion was exactly 64,000?

Su Rui naturally wouldn't tell her, because this time in her previous life was when the Marquis's Mansion had the lowest financial surplus. Later, Marquis Yong'an's career prospered, and Zhou Yao was able to marry into Prince Ping's Mansion. The Marquis's Mansion also became wealthy, and the money in the mansion also increased. She watched them live a carefree life for six years until their souls dissipated.

Therefore, in this life, she wants this surplus to be the highest they can have, otherwise they will not have an easy life in the future.

"What? Madam Hou doesn't want to give it?" Su Rui's tone was threatening.

Under the current circumstances, there is no way Liang would refuse.

She could only grit her teeth and try to suppress her anger as she ordered Zhou Yao: "Go and get all the banknotes and cash for your sister."

Zhou Yao didn't expect Liang to agree. This was her money, which would be used as her dowry in the future. What would she do if she gave it to Su Rui?

"Hurry up and go!" Liang scolded again. Zhou Yao knew that she couldn't disobey, so she could only bite her lip and go back home.

After a while, Zhou Yao led the servants out, holding two boxes of banknotes and seven boxes of cash, and placed them on the ground.

Luo E led the people who had come out of Chaoyang Courtyard behind her to check everything one by one, and reported to Su Rui: "Forty-seven thousand taels of silver notes, fourteen thousand six hundred and thirty taels of silver, two thousand taels of silver change, and three hundred and seventy strings of copper coins, which together amounted to exactly sixty-four thousand taels."

Listening to the count, Liang and Zhou Yao felt their hearts bleeding.

"I forgot to mention that this courtyard, from Chaoyang Courtyard to the west gate, belongs to me. I hope Madam Hou has no objection."

From Chaoyang Courtyard to the west gate, that’s most of the backyard, and she dared to open such a huge mouth.

"After all, it's not safe to keep so much silver outside. It's better to keep it near the Marquis' Mansion."

What I mean is that all these have to be put back into Chaoyang Courtyard, so that they can see but not touch them!

Liang was about to vomit blood. She took a few quick breaths to calm her anger. She gritted her teeth and nodded, "Okay, as long as you stay at the mansion, everything is fine."

"I still have to hurry back to Fahua Temple. Luo'e, I'll leave everything to you." Su Rui was about to lower the carriage curtain when he remembered something and gave a special instruction: "Today, find someone to build a wall to separate it from the Marquis' Mansion. Choose a safe place to use as a warehouse and put everything away properly to prevent it from being robbed again."

Su Rui's sarcastic remarks made the audience laugh out loud. Even though Liang had great acting skills, she blushed at this moment.

Su Rui lowered the curtain with satisfaction, and Zhuiyue understood and rode away.

The eldest prince nodded to Liang before he raised the reins and caught up with Su Rui at the entrance of the alley. He escorted her all the way out of the city. When they reached the less-traveled official road, he asked, "What would you have done if you hadn't met me today?"