They each took one, and remained silent for a moment.
Upon seeing this, Madam Jiao nimbly stood up from the ground and said loudly, "Madam Cui, our Marquis's mansion is too small to accommodate such a great figure as you. You should leave now!"
Madam Cui tossed the divorce papers in her hand, but smiled smugly.
"Don't worry, I will definitely leave, but I will take my things with me. For example, my...dowry!"
Marquis Dingbei's expression immediately changed; he suddenly realized he had fallen into a trap!
"What dowry?" Marquis Dingbei said coldly. "You've been married into the family for nearly twenty years, and your dowry has long been spent. Even if there was anything left, it was all thrown away in the north during this relocation of the capital."
"My lord, you are joking. When I married you, I brought a grand dowry that stretched for miles, along with most of the Cui family's wealth. Even if you used the 20,000 taels of silver in the dowry to curry favor with your superiors and save face, the antiques, jade artifacts, estates, and shops are still there, aren't they?" Madam Cui said calmly, pouring herself another cup of tea.
Jiao recalled the locked rooms next to the study in the front yard and guessed what was going on.
Although the Marquis usually refused to let her manage it, it was still the Marquis's property, so naturally she didn't want it taken away and spoke up in her defense.
"Sister, this is where you're wrong. The Marquis is saving face by divorcing you, yet you still want to fuss about your dowry from so many years ago? Over the years, you, as the mistress of the manor, haven't contributed anything to the weddings and funerals, but shouldn't you at least have contributed something in return?"
"It's ridiculous! I've never heard of a man taking a concubine or having his illegitimate sons and daughters marry, and the legal wife having to pay for it? Should we go out and find someone to judge this, so everyone can hear how the Marquis of Dingbei lived off his wife's dowry for so many years? And in the end, he even abandoned his wife. He's simply the most ungrateful wretch in Tianwu!"
Madam Cui was sharp-tongued and, since they were already divorced, she just kept cursing to her heart's content.
At this moment, Old Master Liu took out an old booklet.
"Before Grand Secretary Cui married off his daughter, he specially invited the three of us to his home. We personally inspected the dowry and signed the dowry list, just to prepare for this day. I originally thought it was unnecessary, but I didn't expect that the Grand Secretary was the best at judging people."
He placed the booklet on the table and sneered, "Just like Jinrou said, the dowry money can be spent, but the gold, silver, jade, farmland, and shops must be returned!"
Madam Cui added, "Most of the gold, silver, and jade artifacts in my dowry were brought to the Cui family by my mother, and they are all marked. Don't even think about hiding them, Marquis. Otherwise, if I find one of them outside, I can accuse you of theft. As for those shops and estates, they are all in Weizhou. The profits over the years have already gone to the Marquis's mansion. If it's not 100,000 taels of silver, it must be at least 50,000 or 60,000. I didn't ask for these, which is already out of consideration for old friendships."
Marquis Dingbei clenched his fists tightly, his face radiating an icy chill. He stared intently at the dowry list, leaving no room for further argument.
He knew that the Cui family's dowry was precious. Over the years, even when it was necessary to give gifts, he tried to buy them from outside and rarely used them. He never expected that they would be returned to their rightful owner now!
This is practically making him vomit up all the fat he's eaten!
But not distributing the dowry was not an option; rumors had been circulating in the court these past few days that the Emperor intended to reinstate the retired minister, Old Master Liu. If the dowry wasn't distributed today, it would create enmity between the Emperor and the Liu family...
"Fine, I'll return your dowry, but from now on we're severing all ties and never see each other again."
Madam Cui didn't give him a single extra glance, only looking at Liu Zhiheng.
Liu Zhiheng immediately took the dowry list and said with a smile, "Please, Your Excellency, let's finish checking it as soon as possible so we can take our leave."
Marquis Dingbei strode out, and Lady Cui, worried, followed him.
For so many years, her dowry had been locked in the Marquis's mansion's storeroom. She was already prepared that the silks, satins, gold, and silver were definitely gone.
But to my surprise, her jewelry, gold and silver ornaments, jade artifacts, ancient books, and wooden objects were all still there.
It wasn't lost or damaged in the slightest even because of its sudden southward journey!
She truly didn't know whether to cry or be happy. She was happy that she could get most of her dowry back, but heartbroken that her husband would rather take these inanimate objects than take her with him.
But Jiao, who caught up with them, was heartbroken. So many good things, and they were going to give them all away!
Not only that, Liu Zhiheng continued to interrogate the Marquis of Dingbei.
“My lord, a pair of jade ruyi scepters are missing from the list. Do you have them in your study? Please bring them out quickly. These ruyi scepters were specially selected by my mother from Jinrou’s dowry when she got married. They are still marked on them. If you have sold them, please let me know and I will go and redeem them.”
Marquis Dingbei's face turned red as he suppressed his anger and ordered Madam Jiao, "Bring back the pair of jade ruyi scepters that were part of the betrothal gifts and return them to them!"
Jiao was surprised that this had been brought up to her, and immediately shouted, "My lord, those ruyi scepters are my betrothal gifts, they cannot be taken out!"
Liu Zhiheng laughed mockingly, "Oh dear, the Marquis has it tough. He took his first wife's dowry, divorced her, and then married a new one. If word gets out, it'll be quite a spectacle."
Marquis Dingbei roared angrily, "Go and get it back right now! I'll make it up to you when I find something better!"
Jiao dared not disobey, and could only reluctantly take the jade ruyi.
Liu Zhiheng closed the dowry book with satisfaction, then twirled the box containing the deeds to the estates and shops in his hand and laughed.
“My lord, Jinrou’s estate and shops have yielded all their produce to the lord’s manor over the years. Surely the lord’s manor isn’t going to be so stingy now? You can bring the staff back, but please don’t take the goods from the shops or the grain from the estate. After all, if you cause too much of a commotion, outsiders will keep speculating, and it won’t look good for the lord.”
Having said that, he ignored what the Marquis of Dingbei said and ordered his men to start moving things out.
One truckload after another, more than twenty truckloads in total!
Old Master Liu and the others waited until the last carriage left the Hou Mansion before getting up to say goodbye.
The faces of Marquis Dingbei and Lady Jiao looked as if they had eaten excrement; they were extremely ugly.
Seeing that Madam Cui had left so gracefully, taking with her a large sum of money and her most beloved jade ruyi, Madam Jiao was furious and shouted loudly.
"Sister Cui, you are no longer a member of the Marquis's household. From now on, live an honest life and don't flaunt the Marquis's name outside. After all, you've lost all your innocence and are now a ruined woman. You may not care about your reputation, but we still do!"
Madam Cui originally didn't intend to argue with her. Men are unreliable, but with money to rely on, life won't be bad in the future.
Unexpectedly, Madam Jiao was relentless, and she naturally couldn't swallow her anger before leaving.
So she turned her head and looked Jiao up and down, then asked with a smile.
"My mother only gave birth to me. Where did you come from, little sister? Our Cui family is a scholarly family. My father is a Grand Secretary of the current dynasty. Even if he devoted one percent of his attention to educating his daughter, he couldn't raise a fool like you! Stop trying to find connections in the future, lest people think you look down on the Jiao family for their money and want to change your father!"
"You're talking nonsense!" Madam Jiao was furious and wanted to retort, but Madam Jiao didn't give her the chance.
She pointed at Marquis Beibei and laughed, "Oh, I forgot, you've already found yourself a father! When you two are out and about, you'd better keep your distance, otherwise people who don't know better will think it's a father taking his daughter out!"
This made even the Marquis of Dingbei furious enough to vomit blood. "How dare you!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com