Once she realized what was happening, Madam Zhong immediately pointed at the guard and shouted angrily, "You guard, how dare you lay a hand on me, the mistress of the house! You must have a death wish!"
Zhong was trembling with anger, but Su Xuening was extremely satisfied. She glanced at the guard with appreciation and then raised her chin towards Zhong's feet: "And these gold-embroidered shoes were also part of my mother's dowry."
Without saying a word, the guard stepped forward again, grabbed Zhong's feet, and quickly took off her gold-embroidered shoes, then placed them on the tray.
This series of robber-like actions made Zhong so angry that she lost her mind and shouted, "Su Xuening, you've gone too far!"
While protecting Zhong Shi, Su Feiling also glared angrily at Su Xuening.
She's really going too far!
Su Xuening, however, did not think she had done anything wrong. She looked coldly at the mother and daughter and said, "Am I wrong? These gold-embroidered shoes are my mother's dowry! When you wore these shoes, you should have expected this day to come."
Su Xuening raised her eyebrows again as she spoke: "Or do you want to keep these shoes? I remember these shoes are worth 50,000 taels of silver. If Second Aunt really likes these shoes, you can buy them back with the silver."
These shoes have been stained by Zhong Shi. If she weren't worried that they couldn't afford to pay for them, she wouldn't want them either!
"You...you..." Upon hearing that she was to pay compensation again, Madam Zhong was so angry that her heart began to ache.
Just as Zhong was about to have a stroke from anger, Cuique helped Su Muyao in.
"Madam, Second Miss."
Cuique called out to the two men with a wronged expression, then glared at the guards and complained to Su Renyi and Madam Zhong, "These people suddenly rushed into Miss's room and stole all her clothes and jewelry, as well as the decorations in the room. They even stole Miss's headdress, earrings, and bracelets! Lord Marquis and Madam, you must stand up for Miss!"
Su Muyao hadn't noticed the strange atmosphere in the main hall, nor that the jewelry on Zhong Shi and Su Feiling's heads had been pulled off. She threw herself into Zhong Shi's arms and cried silently.
Su Muyao's aggrieved look broke Zhong Shi's heart.
"My lord..."
"Father……"
As soon as Su Muyao arrived, the concubines and illegitimate children of the second wife also arrived. A group of them rushed into the main hall and surrounded Su Renyi, crying and pleading.
"These people suddenly rushed into our room and stole our jewelry and valuables."
"And the jade Buddha that you bestowed upon me, my lord, has also been stolen by them."
"They even took our Si'er's longevity lock! Your Excellency, you must do us justice!"
As Su Renyi listened to his concubine's sobs, his face darkened. He resented Su Xuening for showing him no respect whatsoever, tearing his face away so thoroughly. Yet, he dared not utter a single word against Su Xuening.
Now that things have come to this, they are completely suppressed by Su Xuening. Saying anything more now will not only prevent them from getting their things back, but they may also have to pay even more in compensation. He should just keep to himself.
Su Renyi could swallow his anger, but Madam Zhong could not. She hugged Su Muyao with heartache while glaring angrily at Su Xuening: "You even take things from our room! What's the difference between this and outright robbery? Do you really think you're so great just because you're about to become the Holy Princess? Is there no law in the capital of Dongchu?"
Upon hearing Zhong Shi's words, "She will soon be the Holy Princess Consort," Su Muyao instantly glared venomously at Su Xuening. Her long fingernails dug into her palms, drawing blood, but she didn't even notice.
Su Xuening didn't notice Su Muyao's strange behavior and sneered disdainfully, "Don't worry, I won't touch your second branch's things, but the premise is that you have to return all my eldest branch's things first. As for the rest, do you think I care?"
Without a father, the Su family would just be farmers, and Su Renyi would be nothing at all, let alone have any family fortune.
Then there's Zhong Shi. The Zhong family wasn't of high social standing to begin with, otherwise she wouldn't have chosen to marry Su Renyi. Before her marriage, her father was just a vice minister. If Zhong Shi had a lot of dowry of her own, she wouldn't have coveted her mother's dowry.
If all the things belonging to the eldest son's family are removed, what will the second son's family have left? Will she want all that junk left?
Before Zhong could speak again, Su Xuening gestured with her chin toward Bihe and Lülian: "Let's begin."
"Yes." The two responded and then went to bring back the box meant for Su Renyi and Zhong Shi.
First, there was the family fortune that Su Renzhong had previously acquired.
"The Su Family Tea House, a two-story building with three rooms at No. 5 East Street, Kyoto".
"The Su Family Cloth Shop, a two-story building at No. 31 East Street, Kyoto."
"The Su Family Restaurant, a three-story building with four rooms at No. 7 South Street, Kyoto".
"The Su Family Rice Shop, a two-story building at No. 70 South Street, Kyoto..."
As Green Lotus read the list aloud, Green Lotus searched for the house deeds and land deeds in the box the guards had taken from Su Renyi's room.
From shops to houses, farms, tea gardens, orchards, hilltops, fields... the two of them, one reading and the other searching, found them all without missing a single one.
Every time Green Lotus thought of something, Su Renyi and Zhong Shi would feel a pang of pain in their hearts.
The recovery of the actual property went relatively smoothly. Since Su Renyi became the Marquis of Yong'an, he has often received rewards, and it has not yet come to the point of selling off his property. Therefore, he has not touched his father's actual property.
Having retrieved these tangible assets, Green Lotus and Jade Lotus began to compare them with the list of gifts bestowed upon them.
The number of missing items on the gift list was less than Su Xuening had imagined. It wasn't that there were no missing items, but rather that Su Xuening had used other rewards from Su Renyi to cover the missing ones.
Su Renyi didn't say much, and Zhong's angry shouts and screams were of no use.
If Su Xuening found items of comparable value, she had Bihe and the others move them over. If there were no items of comparable value, the difference would be deducted from their gold and silver reserves.
When the Zhong family couldn't stand it and tried to snatch it, Su Xuening directly sent in the guards. In short, the Zhong family didn't get the better end of the deal.
In addition to the actual property and rewards, Su Renyi also received three years' worth of profits from his father's shop, totaling 186,320 taels, which Su Xuening directly deducted from Su Renyi's pile of gold and silver.
Looking at the items that had been retrieved intact, Su Xuening looked at Su Renyi with satisfaction: "In that case, Father's part is all settled, and Second Uncle can take back these items."
...Su Renyi stared blankly at his meager remaining gold and silver, as well as the few worthless house and land deeds in the box, without even the courage to take them back.
He knew he didn't own any property, but he had received a lot of gifts from the Emperor and Consort Su over the years, which he never expected to have squandered.
With Su Renzhong's properties and rewards, he always felt he had a lot of assets. He thought he could easily support the people in this courtyard, or even more. But in the end, he was left with nothing.
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