Chapter 21: Door-to-door transaction
The implication was that the seven thousand taels of silver should be forgotten and asked Yuanshi for it.
Pei was shocked again, feeling that one crisis was about to come.
"The old lady's idea is naturally good. My sister-in-law is smart and capable, but I feel bad for her because she will have to worry about me in the future."
Madam Hou smiled but said nothing, drinking her tea and changing the subject to something else.
Pei couldn't continue the conversation. She fidgeted for a while as if she had thorns on her butt, then left with the children.
She was just about to talk to Yuanshi, but she heard that Yuanshi had already gathered all the servants in the mansion and was holding a meeting in the pavilion in the garden.
So, there is no time to chat with Pei.
Cangbai saw Pei frowning and worried, and knew that she was worried about the loss of housekeeper power.
"Miss, why don't we unite with the Fu family and form an alliance to deal with the Yuan family."
Pei looked around quickly and fortunately there was no one around.
"you mean……"
Seeing her interest, Cangbai continued, "Mrs. Fu must want to get her dowry back. If you use this as leverage to control her, it will probably work."
Pei's eyes lit up: "Yes, she wants to take back the dowry stored here."
When Cangbai heard this, he asked someone to go out and find out where Fu Danjun lived.
In the courtyard, Fu Danjun was feeding the fish by the pond.
Lan Fang joked: "Since the master of the palace went back, we have been quiet. I don't know if the people from the Marquis' Mansion will come to make trouble again."
As soon as she finished speaking, there was a knock on the door. Lan Fang covered her mouth in panic: "Miss, am I a jinx?"
Fu Danjun burst out laughing: "When the enemy comes, the general will stop him; when the water comes, the earth will cover it. I'm used to it."
The servant who opened the door hurried over and said, "Miss, please go over and take a look. A woman is kneeling at the door with three children. They don't look like beggars by the looks of their clothes."
When Fu Danjun heard about the three children and remembered Pei who always knelt down to him, he concluded that she was the one he was talking about.
"Wait a minute, miss. I'll go take a look."
Lan Fang volunteered to leave, but Fu Danjun stopped her: "I won't leave until I see you."
Pei Shi didn't come to ask for help, so how could he kneel down casually?
"Hey, isn't this Sister Pei? What a rare guest."
Fu Danjun and Lan Fang came over and saw the three children kneeling behind them with their faces sunburned like monkey butts. They felt contempt for them.
"Sister, it's so unfortunate to be your child. I have to kneel down from time to time."
Pei's body froze, but when she saw that Fu Danjun didn't immediately drive her away, she pretended to be happy: "Sister, you are in a good mood. I am so happy."
Fu Danjun hated hypocrisy the most. His expression suddenly turned cold: "Stop keeping me in suspense and just say what you want to say!"
Pei immediately apologized: "It's my fault. I made my sister angry."
Seeing that she was still rambling on and on, Fu Danjun could only say, "Let's talk behind closed doors."
When Pei heard this, she stood up and took the three children into the yard.
Fu Danjun pointed to the stone table and stone bench and said, "If you have something to say, sit down and talk. When you're done, leave quickly."
The three children were young after all, and when they saw that the yard was big and beautiful and they didn’t have to kneel down, they ran and played with laughter.
Pei loudly instructed Lu Wu to take good care of his younger brother and sister-in-law.
Then, smiling, he said to Fu Danjun, "The Marquis is about to officially marry me. Everyone in the mansion is busy, so I took the opportunity to come and tell my sister the good news."
Fu Danjun said coldly: "Do you think I will be happy?"
Pei quickly said with a smile: "I have to tell my sister. Although she is divorced, she is still an old member of the Marquis' Mansion."
Lan Fang couldn't stand it any longer: "Young Madam, if you can speak, then speak. If you can't, don't be annoying. What newcomer or oldcomer?"
Pei pursed her lips and smiled: "Sister is open-minded and won't care about me."
Fu Danjun really didn't care about whether she was a newcomer or an old friend. He was just curious as to why she was kneeling at the door when she came to announce the good news.
Is she just afraid that I won't open the door or pay attention to her?
"Sister, you will have to come back to the mansion someday. After all, the dowry is still withheld here. Don't you want it?"
Fu Danjun took the tea from the nanny and took a sip: "Of course I have to."
Pei took the opportunity to say, "Yuan is now the head of the household. My mother-in-law has handed over the reins of the household to her. My sister will have to look for her to get her dowry back."
Fu Danjun finally understood the main point of the conversation. Pei and Yuan had a grudge against each other over the power of the family.
"I see. Thank goodness you told me."
Fu Danjun pretended to agree, hoping to get more inside information out.
Seeing her interest, Pei continued, "If I, the head of the household, were better, I could protect your sister's dowry, but the head of the Yuan household would just give it to the pawnshop."
Fu Danjun sneered. She knew exactly what kind of person Pei was. But Pei was good at pretending, putting on a disgusting white lotus face without realizing it.
"They're the same, why compare them?"
Pei was suddenly confronted and was speechless for a moment.
Fu Danjun took the opportunity to say, "If you were a good person and stopped instigating Lu Yu, my dowry wouldn't have been withheld."
Pei was about to argue when she suddenly heard a "bang" in the room.
Something seemed to have broken, and there was a cry from the nanny: "Miss, come quickly, this is terrible."
Lan Fang had already rushed in and screamed, "This is the jade vase that the young lady brought as a dowry. It's only been put out today!"
It turned out that Pei Wu sneaked in to play and knocked over the jade bottle on the table.
But he showed no apology at all. He spread his hands and said, "The jade bottle is too fragile. It must be a fake."
Fu Danjun originally didn't want to argue with the kid, but when he heard him say it was a fake and had such a shameless look on his face, he felt really disgusted.
"You can find someone to identify whether it's a fake or not. If it's genuine, you have to compensate me!"
Pei Wu saw Fu Danjun's eyebrows turned upside down, and was so scared that he shrank behind Pei.
Pei comforted him distressedly: "Don't be afraid, dear, mother is here."
Then she smiled and said to Fu Danjun: "Wu'er is a child, it's inevitable that he will be naughty. There's no need for me to get angry over such a jade bottle."
Lan Fangxian couldn't help but retort, "Children make mistakes, and as an adult, you have to cover for them. I'll get someone to appraise the value, and you'll pay whatever it's worth."
Fu Danjun nodded with satisfaction: "That's the truth."
Pei quickly smiled apologetically: "Sister, instead of worrying about this jade bottle, you should be more concerned about the dowry that is being withheld in the mansion. Anyway, I have already conveyed the message, so please do as you wish."
After saying that, she took the child and walked out.
Fu Danjun raised her eyebrows and shouted, "Wait a minute."
Pei Shi felt hopeful, and with a smug look in her eyes, she asked, "Sister, is there anything else?"
Fu Danjun said firmly, "If you help me get my dowry back, not only will I not let your son pay for the jade bottle, I will also help you fight for the right to manage the family."
Pei remained silent, and Fu Danjun added, "I will still be your good friend, and all our past grudges will be wiped out."
Pei really wanted her help, but returning all the dowry was too much.
The Marquis's family is now relying on the dowry to make a living. If she returns, she will be scolded to death by the old lady.
"Sister, your dowry is all large items. I don't think it will be easy to transport them out."
Fu Danjun listened to her complaints and started to get annoyed: "Okay, I'll give you seven days. If you can do it, do it. If you can't, don't come to my house and kneel down and refuse to leave."
As Pei was about to leave, Fu Danjun said, "I've recorded the broken jade bottle in my account book. You need to pay for it."
Pei turned around and forced a smile: "I'll go back and think about it."
The door of the house was closed again.
Lan Fang picked up the broken pieces of the jade bottle and placed them in a silk bag. She said to Fu Danjun, "The broken pieces can be sold for a few taels of silver. Why don't I take them to the pawnshop tomorrow and ask the owner to help me sell them?"
Fu Danjun agreed, but was worried about Lan Fang going out alone.
She came to the pawnshop with Lan Fang.
The shopkeeper took one look at Fu Danjun and said with a smile, "I was just about to ask someone to invite the young lady over. Come and take a look at these."
He led Fu Danjun to the warehouse in the backyard, pointed at the antique jewelry and furniture on the floor and said, "Miss, you must know this."
Lan Fang was the first to exclaim: "Oh my God, aren't these all the young lady's dowry?"
Fu Danjun hurriedly said: "It is indeed my dowry, but it is all withheld at the Marquis' Mansion, how could it be here?"
The shopkeeper clapped his hands and lamented, "I heard that the Marquis's Mansion was having a wedding and was short of money, so they sent cartloads of stuff here. All this stuff is only worth seven thousand taels of silver."
Lan Fang and Fu Danjun said in unison: "Huh?"
Fu Danjun gritted his teeth and said, "My dowry is worth at least 30,000 taels, but they pawned it for only 7,000. I'm really broke."
The shopkeeper was delighted: "Isn't this better? Everything is back in the hands of the young lady."
Fu Danjun sighed, feeling that she was not strong enough and was really angry and cried.
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