Lady Pingguo frowned: "We need at least ten thousand taels, otherwise what kind of business is this?"

The Duke of Pingguo looked unwell.

At this moment, Liu Xiawei walked in angrily: "Has Mother gone mad? Give her ten thousand taels, does she, a mere village girl, deserve it?"

"Shut up!" Lady Pingguo said sternly. "This is my dowry. I can give you as much as I want."

"How can I shut up! If she were your biological daughter, I would have nothing to say, but she's an outsider, why should I spend so much money on her?" Liu Xiawei was furious. "With this money, you might as well spend it on me!"

"Where did you spend the money? Did you use it to gamble again?"

Liu Xiawei's expression changed. Thinking of the gambling debts he'd incurred yesterday, he was so anxious he was practically fuming: "Mother..."

"Don't call me that, I'm not your mother!" The Duchess of Pingguo was furious the moment she saw him: "Even if Jiaojiao isn't my biological daughter, at least she won't make me angry, and she won't just gamble and lose money all day long! She's a hundred times more filial than you."

Liu Xiawei's face twisted in rage: "You're hopeless! What mother would risk everything for an outsider while neglecting her own son's life?"

"Do I not care whether you live or die? Am I not going to feed you or clothe you?"

Liu Xiawei remained silent, his face grim.

Lady Pingguo paused, staring intently at him: "How much money do you owe this time?"

Liu Xiawei pursed his lips: "Not much, just... just thirty thousand taels..."

Lady Pingguo's face changed drastically, and she suddenly grabbed the teacup in her hand and threw it out: "Get out! Get out right now, and don't ever come back to this house!"

Liu Xiawei said angrily, "I signed a contract. If I don't return it, I'll lose a hand!"

Lady Pingguo was so angry she nearly died on the spot: "Fine, fine, then give them the hand! Less money means less losses. Get out of here!"

Liu Xiawei: "Are you really that heartless? It's only thirty thousand taels..."

"Only 30,000 taels? Our annual income is only a little over 30,000 taels. It's barely enough to cover our monthly expenses, food, clothing, and all sorts of other things. You gambled it all away in one go?"

"What's the use of talking about this now? We've already lost! Thirty thousand taels, if you sell two estates... you'll have it."

"Sell the estate? That's a golden goose that lays golden eggs! You spendthrift!"

"Me, a spendthrift? Even if I'm a spendthrift, I'm not as spendthrift as you!" Liu Xiawei roared. "That Ye Caiping originally wanted to help you set up a glass workshop. Do you know that glass is selling like hotcakes right now? You could probably earn tens of thousands of taels a month."

"And what do you do? The God of Wealth himself came knocking on your door, and you just grabbed a big broom and chased him out! You've cut off the family's path to wealth!"

"You—get out!"

"Fine, I'll get out!"

Liu Xiawei walked out filled with hatred. His mother and Li Jiaojiao were jinxes! The mother and daughter were a pair of jinxes!

They cut off all his sources of income!

Regardless, he had to find some money to pay off his gambling debts first.

If only I could get my hands on the land deeds and shop deeds for the house...

Lady Pingguo was so angry that she closed her eyes and leaned back in her chair.

The Duke of Pingguo, who had remained silent all along, stared coldly at her: "What the second son said makes some sense. It's all your fault for pushing away the God of Wealth. I don't know what you were thinking! Humph!"

The Duchess gritted her teeth: "You actually believe such a thing? What, planning to start a glass workshop with me? Ha, why didn't she say that before? She's just saying this after the fact, she's just saying it to spite people."

Although the Duchess of Pingguo kept comforting herself in this way, her heart bled whenever she thought of that glass workshop.

It's all Ye Caiping's fault! If she wanted to set up a workshop with her, she should have said so sooner.

She was too lazy to deal with him anymore, and took Granny Yu's hand to go back to her room.

Then, he had his maid call Li Jiaojiao over.

Li Jiaojiao entered the living room and saw the Duchess of Pingguo leaning listlessly against the long couch: "Mother called me?"

Seeing her, the Duchess of Pingguo's worries finally dissipated a little: "Come here. The marriage certificate has been written now. As soon as he returns to the Marquis of Ningguo's residence, you two will get married immediately. Your mother has also prepared your dowry and everything else."

Li Jiaojiao's eyes lit up: "So fast?"

"Yes. My mother had a lot of dowry before, and she gave you a portion of it. In addition, she also gave you 10,000 taels of silver as a dowry."

Li Jiaojiao was stunned. Ten thousand taels?

If she were still in the village, she would have been ecstatic to hear that number.

But now she's seen the world.

I know that even for ordinary noblewomen, the dowry is around ten thousand taels.

Those with substantial wealth will receive over 20,000 yuan in compensation.

Some even bring a dowry of fifty or sixty thousand taels of silver.

The top-tier ones will have even more...

Ye Caiping got married... It's said that the dowry was over 80,000 taels, all of which became her dowry, so her dowry was over 80,000 taels, plus a glass workshop, a furniture workshop, and a spicy soup workshop...

I...only have ten thousand taels?

Li Jiaojiao's face turned pale: "Um..."

"What, are you so happy you've gone mad?" The Duchess of Pingguo patted her hand with a smile. "That's right, the village girls you used to date only had a few taels of silver as dowry."

Li Jiaojiao swallowed back the words she wanted to ask for more, and after thinking for a moment, said, "Then... Gu Han will give me the betrothal gifts later..."

"Don't worry, it'll all be your dowry."

Li Jiaojiao breathed a sigh of relief: "I wonder how many..."

"The betrothal gifts from the Marquis of Ningguo's mansion... were probably around ten to twenty thousand taels. When Gu Shen married Lady Que, it seemed to be ten thousand taels. Before the Lunar New Year, Gu Shen discussed the marriage between Gu Yang and Shen Manman with the Shen family, and it seemed to be fifteen thousand taels as the betrothal gifts."

"Anyway, whatever amount is appropriate, we must consider the feelings of the old lady above."

This means that even if Gu Han has feelings for Li Jiaojiao, Li Jiaojiao can't be too demanding if she wants to establish herself in the Gu family.

Li Jiaojiao's face was ugly. "The total amount is at most a little over 20,000 taels."

She's nowhere near as good as Ye Caiping.

Why is Li Jiaojiao being overshadowed by her again?

Lady Pingguo smiled and said, "It's still early. While you have some free time, you can learn from me how to manage the household and keep accounts."

Li Jiaojiao frowned: "Why would I learn this?"

"Are you stupid? You think you won't have to take care of your dowry? And you won't have to manage the affairs and accounts of the Ningguo Marquis's mansion?"

Li Jiaojiao was unwilling. She was already a noblewoman and a rich person, so why did she still have to work?

When she was in the village, she envied the lives of rich people, thinking that they didn't have to do anything.

She thought that after she married Gu Han, she would enjoy a life of luxury every day, eating and sleeping, and when she got bored, she would take her maid to buy jewelry and clothes, dressing herself up beautifully every day.

Or she might attend various banquets and compete with others in beauty...

This... they actually want her to look at the ledgers? And manage a bunch of messy things? What's all this?

If you clearly have money, why don't you let the maids and nannies manage it? Why are you creating trouble for yourself? You're just wasting your time!