Chapter 56 A Poor Marquis's Mansion, A Wealthy Dowry
Princess Jiaoyang didn't care how much money the Marquis's mansion had, or how much each branch of the family would receive after the division. All she wanted now was to finish the division as quickly as possible, and then secretly go to Madam Min Qiao to get Wang's handwritten letter to see what it contained.
She felt restless and curious, as if a cat's claws were scratching at her.
But the Marquis of Xuanping and his wife are wasting her precious time here. How annoying!
Upon hearing this, all eyes turned to Min Rong and Madam Wu.
Min Rong felt uncomfortable under everyone's gaze. Just as she was about to speak, Madam Wu spoke first: "Mother, your daughter-in-law has been in charge of the Marquis's affairs for less than two months, but she has already gained some understanding of the expenses of the Marquis's mansion, both large and small."
"According to what Mother just said, the Marquis's family's annual income is less than two thousand taels, which is not enough to cover the family's expenses for a year."
"My daughter-in-law has only been in charge of the household for two months, and she's already worried herself sick. I wonder how Mother, who has been in charge of the household for decades, managed to support the Marquis's annual expenses of around five thousand taels with an income of only two thousand taels?"
These words clearly questioned whether Madam Min Qiao had embezzled the Marquis's property and then used the pretense of subsidizing the Marquis's estate with her own private funds to gain a good reputation.
Madam Min smiled and beckoned to Granny Fang, who quickly took out another wooden box and handed it to Madam Min.
Madam Min Qiao took the box, but did not rush to open it. Instead, she calmly said, "Since it is a division of the family property, each branch should naturally take its own property with it. Especially the women's dowries."
As he spoke, he opened the box and pulled out several gift lists.
"This is Yang's dowry list, and this is yours, Wu." Both lists are thin, and you can tell from their thickness that the dowry at the time wasn't much.
Wu and Yang didn't understand what Min Qiao was going to do, but they couldn't help but blush. They were worried that Min Qiao might show their dowry list to everyone in public.
Although her dowry was displayed in public when she got married, that was so many years ago! She was already ridiculed then; does she really want to be humiliated in front of others again now?
However, Madam Min Qiao did not show any intention of displaying their meager dowry. Instead, she quickly glanced at their dowry list and took out a thicker one.
"This was left by the old lady. She said she would give all of her remaining dowry to Lin. So, this can be considered Lin's dowry. Lin should remember to take it with her."
These words were spoken to the Lin family.
The old lady disliked Wang, who couldn't have children, and also disliked Min Qiao, who came from a merchant family. So she gave all her favor to Lin, her personal maid who had served her since childhood.
Even though Lady Min later gave birth to her eldest grandson, it did not change her dislike for Lady Min.
Even at the time of her death, she remained deeply troubled by Min Qiao's background.
Logically speaking, Min Qiao's status as a merchant's daughter was higher than that of Lin, a maid. Therefore, Min Qiao never understood why the old lady disliked her.
It wasn't until she experienced more that Min Qiaoshi gradually came to her senses.
The old lady's disdain wasn't for her background, but for the significance of her marriage into the Marquis's mansion.
It is no exaggeration to say that when Madam Min married into the Marquis's mansion, she brought with her a huge dowry to save the mansion! She was the Marquis's benefactor!
The more the old lady disliked Min Qiaoshi, the more pain she was in.
That was the old lady's helplessness in the face of the Marquis's decline! It was also her shame at the fact that the Marquis's mansion had fallen so low that it needed the dowry of a merchant's daughter to save it!
Unable to face the decline of the Marquis's mansion, nor her own incompetence, she had too many emotions piling up in her heart, and Min Qiaoshi naturally became the outlet for them.
Contrary to the old lady's attitude towards her, Min Ji truly regarded her as his savior. Therefore, in her view at the time, Min Ji's kindness to her was enough to offset the old lady's slight harshness towards her.
Okay, we've gone off on a tangent.
In short, the old lady was unable to find peace of mind until her death. Therefore, on her deathbed, she left all of her remaining dowry to Lin.
Madam Min Qiao had taken stock of the dowry. A large portion of the old lady's dowry had already been used to cover the Hou family's financial losses before her. What remained were only jewelry, ornaments, and decorative items worth two or three thousand taels of silver. The valuable and easily resold estates and shops had already been sold.
Nevertheless, the old lady's remaining dowry was far greater than that of Wu and Yang.
Min Qiao was also fully aware of the dowries of the two men, after all, she had personally arranged the marriages of Min Rong and Min Yao.
As for the dowry for the two of them... well, five hundred taels, that's the most I can give.
Upon hearing this, everyone was stunned.
The old lady's dowry was not given to her son and daughter-in-law, nor to her grandsons, but instead to a concubine.
Upon hearing Min Qiao's words, Lin's eyes instantly reddened.
Not long after the old lady's death, Min Qiaoshi took stock of her dowry and handed it all over to her.
Now that the old story has been brought up again, Lin couldn't help but recall the past and felt sad.
Ignoring everyone's reactions, Madam Min Qiao took out another list, thinner than the old lady's but much thicker than Wu and Yang's, and said to Wang Mian, "This is Min Hui's mother's dowry list. Min Hui will take it with him. Oh, by the way, every time Min Hui comes back to the Wang family over the years, he takes a lot of good things back from me. I've included them in his mother's dowry."
Wang Mian was taken aback, then nodded: "Of course."
Upon hearing this, Madam Wang's eyes widened, and she was about to explode, but after glancing at Wang Mian, she didn't dare to utter a sound.
After all these years of relationship, she thought all the good stuff she'd squeezed out of Min Qiao's hands was included in her sister-in-law's dowry? Wasn't that just a transfer from one hand to the other, still belonging to the Wang family?
Wang Zhangshi was so angry that she felt a tightness in her chest.
Without even glancing at Wang Zhangshi, Madam Min Qiao took out the last dowry list and waved it in front of everyone.
This is a dowry list that is much, much thicker than the previous four combined.
"This last dowry list, I think you all know whose it is without me saying it. Hehe, that's right, this one is mine."
Madam Min smiled and said without any hesitation, "Everyone knows that I come from a merchant family, and my family is one of the wealthiest in Jiangnan."
“When I married into the Xuanping Marquis’s household, I brought a dowry worth over 800,000 taels of silver. Among them, 500,000 taels of silver was in cash.”
Upon hearing this, everyone gasped in shock.
Even Princess Jiaoyang, who thought she had seen it all and was unfazed by anything, couldn't help but widen her eyes.
Ignoring the shock of the crowd, Madam Min continued in a calm and unhurried tone, "After entering the manor, the old Marquis borrowed all 500,000 taels of silver from my dowry to fill the manor's hole. The remaining jewelry, ornaments, farms, shops, houses and workshops are still kept. Over the years, thanks to these products, I have no worries about food and drink."
Everyone took another breath.
Is this what you call having no worries about food and drink?
Even if you eat shark fin, sea cucumber, abalone, fish maw, dragon liver, and phoenix marrow every day, you won't go broke!
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