When Luo Wang arrived with his men, Lu Yuyi had already ordered his servants to put away anything that did not belong to him.
He had already learned from the servants that his elder brother and sister were carrying the late madam's dowry list and moving things from one courtyard to another.
As soon as Lu Yucheng arrived, he bowed respectfully to him and pointed to the few items piled up in the courtyard, saying, "Thank you for your trouble, elder brother and elder sister. I have already had the items sorted out and asked Luo Wang to find someone to carry them away. If there are any missing items, you can send someone to my courtyard to look for them again."
Even Zhu Yu couldn't help but look at Lu Yuyi in a different light after hearing his words.
The group checked the information for a whole day, and by evening, it was almost complete.
Lu Yucheng ordered his men to move his belongings to Tongjia Courtyard. If there was not enough room, they were moved to the courtyard where he lived.
These items still need to be cataloged and entered into the database; there's still a lot of work to be done.
Aside from the shops, estates, and farmland, the two spent a whole day checking, but still found many things missing.
Many of them are extremely valuable items, such as rare books, famous paintings, jade artifacts, etc. They are lightweight and easy to carry, yet they are very expensive.
It seems the only option is to go to Madam Fang and ask her in person.
She had no family to rely on, and she didn't know where she had put these things.
On February 20th, Li Feng, with a sore back and weak legs, led the servants of Tongjia Courtyard to organize and catalog everything in the courtyard.
Lu Yucheng walked through the shops, estates, and farmland left by his mother on the dowry list, only to find that many of the managers had been replaced.
Several of the stewards at the estate didn't even recognize him as the heir of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion.
In their eyes, they only recognized the Fang family.
Furthermore, five shops changed owners, and upon inquiry, it was discovered that they had been transferred to other businesses years ago due to poor management.
Lu Yucheng came to find Zhu Yu and told him about the matter.
Zhu Yu flipped through the booklet and said, "Brother, these are all things left behind by Mother. We have to get them back."
Lu Yucheng nodded: "Yes, that's what I was thinking too. I'll go to my father in a bit and get some money from the account to buy those shops back."
Uncle Qing has been so busy these past few days that he has moved the household's account books to his courtyard, but he seems not to have found the accounts for the money he received when he sold the shop.
Zhu Yu saw that three shops were now under his name. This was easy to handle. He instructed Lu Xiaoyun to tell Yuan Xiu to return them to Lu Yucheng at a low price.
These are all things left to Lu Xiaoyun by her mother; they were definitely meant to be left to her.
There are two other companies whose owners are unknown. Feng Yan should inquire about them, buy them back from them, and then resell them to Lu Yucheng at a lower price.
"As for these rare books, calligraphy and paintings, we'll go find Fang Shi later and make her give them all back."
Lu Yucheng rubbed Zhu Yu's little head: "Okay."
My sister looks very different now than when they returned to Shengjing before.
Zhu Yu frowned slightly; he didn't like people touching his head.
But the person in front of us, well, he's Lu Xiaoyun's older brother.
"Xiaoyun, you are so good now."
Zhu Yu: "Yes, Your Highness has taught well."
Lu Yucheng: "..."
Zhu Yu looked up at Lu Yucheng: "Brother, is Mother Wei a maidservant who accompanied the stepmother during her dowry?"
Lu Yucheng frowned and thought for a moment: "Yes, why didn't she stay with the stepmother at Cuizhu Residence this time? I had forgotten about it."
Fang Shi has been under house arrest for over a month. Although Lu Jinmi has been released from the ancestral hall, she is still confined to her own courtyard and not allowed to come out.
Zhu Yu fiddled with the booklet in his hand: "Brother, where did all the unique and rare items in this book go?"
"I'm going to find Luo Wang."
Luo Wang has been keeping an eye on Wei Mama these past few days. It doesn't make sense that the mistress is confined to her quarters and her personal maid isn't watching over her. My sister's reminder is right; there's definitely something wrong here.
If the stepmother really hid it, Mother Wei will definitely go to check on it secretly these next few days to put her mind at ease.
The next day, Luo Wang saw Wei's mother, who had been lying low for several days, leave through the back door early in the morning.
Just past noon, Zhu Yu saw that it was almost time, so he pulled Lu Yucheng to Cuizhu Residence.
Inside the Green Bamboo Residence, Fang Shi was no longer as mad and disheveled as she had been when she was first imprisoned at the beginning of the year.
Her son, Lu Yuyi, was right. Rather than causing chaos in the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion and wasting the last remaining bit of affection she had for the Duke, it was better to avoid it.
It would be better to quietly wait for the Duke of Zhenguo and his son to return to the Southern Frontier. Once they leave, the entire Duke of Zhenguo's mansion will be under her control.
She only returns to Shengjing once every three years; what can they do to her?
She's so foolish; she didn't even think as thoroughly as a nine-year-old.
So, during this time, even though she knew that Lu Yucheng had taken that wretched girl and moved all of the original wife's dowry from her Begonia Garden and her children's courtyard, she didn't cry or make a fuss.
Once the Duke of Zhenguo and his son left, all these things returned to her.
She's just a wretched girl who caused her mother's death; what can she do to her?
As for Lu Jinmi's marriage to the grandson of the Duke of Ying's family, Madam Fang didn't mention it at all, quietly copying Buddhist scriptures to "reflect."
Fang wore her hair in a drooping bun, with exquisite makeup. She wore a gorgeous black and green brocade jacket with peony scrolls on the upper body and a dark red brocade horse-face skirt on the lower body.
Kesi brocade has intricate patterns and is extremely precious; even dozens of embroiderers can only weave one piece in a year.
This fabric is so precious because sometimes you can't buy it even if you have money, yet she used it to make an entire dress.
Fang was kneeling in front of the table, her back straight as she carefully copied Buddhist scriptures stroke by stroke.
Judging from this, Fang was quite attractive in her youth.
Lu Yuyi had a calligraphy practice book open beside him, and he wrote each stroke with great care.
That calligraphy copybook was also made by a famous artist.
After school, he would write five pages of characters every day on his own initiative.
"Young Master, Young Miss." The servants guarding the courtyard gate bowed respectfully to Lu Yucheng and Zhu Yu.
Lu Yucheng: "Open the door, I need to speak with Madam."
The servant pursed his lips and apologized, "Young Master, I'm afraid that won't work."
Zhu Yu glanced at the servant.
The servant was startled and hurriedly said, "It's not that I'm disobeying your orders, but the Duke of Zhenguo has ordered that no one is allowed to enter Cuizhu Residence. I'm just following orders. Please don't make things difficult for us, Young Master and Miss."
"If the young master and young lady really want to go in, they can first get a warrant from the Duke of Zhenguo. With the warrant, I will not stop them."
"Alright, I'll go ask my father for a warrant." Lu Yucheng didn't make things difficult for a mere gatekeeper and turned to walk towards the front yard.
Zhu Yu lifted his eyelids and said, "No one is allowed to enter without a warrant?"
The servant bowed respectfully, not daring to look at him: "Yes, please forgive me, Miss. I am only following orders."
Zhu Yu tugged at Lu Yucheng's sleeve. What a fine example of following orders! But trying to get away with it under his nose won't be so easy.
"What's wrong?" Lu Yucheng looked at his younger sister with a puzzled expression.
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