The steward returned to the front hall and pulled Lu Yan aside to whisper a few words. Lu Yan frowned, then nodded and turned to the Shuntian Prefecture official, saying, "Go and calculate how much silver needs to be returned. I'll go get it."
The housekeeper went to get the silver, but came back empty-handed. The official from Shuntian Prefecture guessed something and immediately called everyone aside to give Lu Yan some time.
Lu Yan followed the housekeeper all the way to Qitongju.
Bai Wanyi has never been good at winning people's hearts, so naturally no one stopped Lu Yan and said he didn't want to do this or that.
Lu Yan asked them to open the storeroom, so they did. He asked them to search the bedroom, so they started searching.
In the end, more than 5,000 taels of silver in cash and more than 20,000 taels of silver notes were found, totaling more than 30,000 taels.
Lu Yan looked at the silver and felt complicated for a moment, but now was not the time to think too much. He asked someone to carry the silver and he himself carried the box containing the banknotes to the front yard.
On the way, he met the servant who was serving in the front hall. After learning the amount of the debt, Lu Yan closed his eyes and strode into the front hall: "Here is the money, divide it among yourselves."
After saying that, Lu Yan sat at the top, lowered his eyes and said nothing.
Even if the merchants wanted to take the silver back, they did not dare to rob the silver from the Pingyang Marquis's Mansion.
Finally, the officials and housekeepers of Shuntian Prefecture began to return the money to them.
Even so, some people still don't want to return the money.
"I'm buying it for my daughter's dowry, but I'm still willing to take things."
"We were entrusted with this mission, and we want the goods, not the money."
"We've already received the deposit. If we don't bring it back, we'll not only lose money but also our reputation."
The Shuntian Prefecture official looked at the almost empty silver and looked at the housekeeper.
The housekeeper knew the financial situation of the Marquis' Mansion best, not to mention that this money was found from Qitongju. He shook his head slightly at the official from Shuntian Prefecture, and the two of them were at a loss for a moment.
When the crowd saw that they were silent, those who had taken the silver left first, leaving only the merchants who wanted to buy goods.
The Shuntian Prefecture official looked at the crowd and said to the housekeeper, "There are two people here who want Avril's rouge and powder. The others want mirrors from Mirror Flower Fragrance and glass from the Glass Workshop. Why don't you find a way to ask Madam Bai for advice?"
Lu Yan opened his eyes, looked at the Shuntian Prefecture official, and said, "To be honest, what my wife is doing in the Ministry of Works is extremely confidential. Even I can't go and take a look or pass on a message, so I really have no other choice."
Just as this was happening, a little maid came in and said, "My Lord, the Sixth Miss is here."
Lu Yan was surprised when he heard this and asked, "What is she doing here?"
The maid said, "Come up with some advice for the Marquis."
Lu Yan quickly got up and went out.
Lu Linglin, accompanied by two maids, was holding several ornately crafted boxes. They were waiting outside the door with her. Seeing Lu Yan, she didn't waste any words. After kneeling and bowing, she had the items presented. "This is the rouge and powder that my sister-in-law gave to my ninth sister and me. My ninth sister and I only used some lip balm and rouge. These are the ones in these two boxes. The rest are a complete set of rouge and powder. Please ask them. If they don't mind, you can give them all."
Lu Yan had never expected that the person who came to his rescue today was actually his half-sister whom he had never paid attention to. He said, "That's thoughtful."
Lu Linglin smiled and said, "As for the colored glass, I have no idea what to do. However, there are more colored glass shops in Beijing than just yours. But it's up to you, brother, to decide what to do. I'll be leaving now."
After Lu Linglin finished speaking, she bowed again and left with her maid.
The old woman followed Lu Yan back to the front hall. He waved his hand and had the box opened. "These are all we have here. See if they are enough."
The people who wanted rouge and powder weren't traveling merchants, but people who had come to visit relatives in the capital during the New Year holiday. They glanced at the box, opened it and examined it, and said, "Yes, I have two sets here."
"I have three sets."
There were five sets in total for the two of them. Lu Yan saw that there was still a whole box left. He thought that the two incomplete ones could also be kept. After thinking for a moment, he said, "I'll give them all to you. Consider it my apology from the Pingyang Marquisate."
"Thank you, my Lord."
The two took the things and divided them among themselves, then left.
Lu Yan said to the housekeeper, "Pick out some good material from my storeroom and send it to Miss Six and Miss Nine."
"Yes." The butler noted it down.
Lu Yan looked at the remaining merchants again and asked, "Are you sure you want Liuli?"
"nature."
Several people nodded in unison.
Lu Yan rubbed his forehead and asked them to count the orders: "I'll find a way for you, at most..."
He hesitated for a moment and said, "I'll give you an answer tomorrow afternoon, is that okay?"
Several people looked at each other. Since it had come to this, they could only agree: "Yes."
Lu Yan sent away several merchants and people from Shuntian Prefecture, took the remaining silver and went to find Wu Ziya.
Wu Ziya offered him a cup of hot tea and asked, "Is everything settled?"
Lu Yan glanced at her, not in the mood to play tricks on her: "Sixth sister knows that I'm in trouble, and you don't know if you've solved it yet?"
Wu Ziya pursed her lips and chuckled softly: "After all, this is my sister's business, so I can't butt in too much. But since my husband asked this, I can guess what he wants me to do."
Lu Yan nodded: "You can use this money. If it's not enough, you can pick anything from my warehouse. It will be my compensation to you."
What good things could be in Lu Yan’s warehouse?
Bai Wanyi took all the dowry left by his mother, Mrs. Li.
All he had were the things in his private warehouse before he went to the border, and all the spoils he had at the border were sold by Bai Wanyi.
To be honest, Wu Ziya really looked down on the things in Lu Yan's warehouse: "My husband, I appreciate your kindness, but please remember my contribution today."
After saying this, she winked playfully, and gently glared at Bai Wanyi: "If my husband really wants to make amends, when my sister comes back, I can ask her to give me something. After all, I also heard about my mother-in-law's ten-mile red makeup and was very curious."
Lu Yan also knew that his mother had left behind many good things, so he nodded and agreed without thinking. After all, this was to help Bai Wanyi.
Besides, these things originally belonged to him, not to Bai Wanyi. So what if he decided to give some to Wu Ziya?
Thinking of this, Lu Yan immediately took Wu Ziya's hand and went to Qitongju's warehouse to pick things out.
Wu Ziya looked down on the gold and silver items. She dug out a few ancient books from the storeroom and unearthed a whole box of unused, perfectly preserved lacquerware. She said as if she had found a treasure: "I want these."
Lu Yan didn't understand the value of lacquerware, so he just frowned and said, "These are not worth much, take some more."
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