Chapter 27: Accept the Prosperity
To put it bluntly, it means money!
Fu Danjun was very clear-headed. Winning an argument was useless; money was the only thing that mattered.
When Lu Yu and the three women heard that they were asked for money, they were so angry that they glared at each other.
Madam Hou continued to question: "Didn't I ask you? How do you know these items were in the pawnshop? Do you have any evidence that we pawned them?"
Lan Fang couldn't stand it any longer and helped the young lady to retort: "That agate Ruyi pillow was taken back from the pawnshop. I still have the pawn ticket. Would you like to take a look at it, old lady?"
Madam Hou chuckled softly, a hint of pride lingering on her lips: "I gave that agate Ruyi pillow away as a gift. It might have been given away because the family was short of money. It has nothing to do with our Marquis Mansion."
Lan Fang retorted again: "The dowry I retrieved from the pawnshop totaled thousands of pieces, and they were all given away by the old lady as gifts."
Pei Shi didn't dare to offend Fu Danjun, but she had no worries about Lan Fang: "The masters are talking, why are you interrupting me? Why don't you leave?"
Fu Danjun laughed and said, "Lan Fang said exactly what I was thinking. It cost over 7,000 taels of silver to get this dowry back from the pawnshop. The old lady was really generous in giving out gifts."
Seeing his mother's lies exposed, Lu Yu was defeated.
"Fu, don't forget that your father is just a merchant. He is not as powerful as our Marquis' Mansion. If you insist on going against us, then you can forget about living a peaceful life in Kyoto."
After hearing this, Fu Danjun wanted to come up and tear him to pieces.
But she maintained a trace of rationality and for the sake of her parents, she endured and did not confront the enemy. Now that the dowry had returned to her, she decided to take advantage of the situation!
What Lu Yu said was also true. Merchants were not as powerful as the marquisates, and they would only suffer losses if they came into conflict.
Although a tyrant can be a backer, he cannot be relied upon all the time.
"Oh, the Marquis is showing off his power? I'm so scared."
In order to make it easier to save face, Fu Danjun started to make jokes and pave the way.
Lu Yu's face was full of disgust: "Stop acting like a spoiled child with me, it's disgusting."
Yuan took the opportunity to tease: "Fu, why are you acting so coquettish? Are you trying to reconcile?"
Madam Hou and Mrs. Pei couldn't help laughing.
Fu Danjun yawned and said, "I'm tired and hungry right now. I don't want to argue with you anymore. Someone, show me out!"
After hearing this, Lu Yu breathed a sigh of relief and was about to leave with his mother.
Fu Danjun turned around and taunted: "You came to my house to give these dowries, are you under pressure? You act like I don't know anything, how funny."
Lu Yu shuddered, knowing that Fu Danjun was referring to the emperor.
"Shameless woman, you still have the nerve to be so proud"
Madam Hou didn't want to continue making a fuss, so she quickly said to Lu Yu, "The dowry has been returned, and from now on, we should keep our distance and not bother with her anymore."
The family returned to the Marquis' Mansion, all with sad faces.
Fu Danjun's dowry is gone, where can she get money to arrange the wedding of Lu Yu and Pei?
Madam Hou had some private money that she didn't want to give out, so she had no choice but to force Yuan Shi to find a solution: "Since you insist on taking charge of the family, I will let you be the head of the family. Now it's your turn to do something big, but don't let me down or let outsiders laugh at you."
Yuan Shi cursed in her heart, thinking that without money, she could do nothing.
Could it be that she was going to take out her private money? When she was serving breakfast to the old lady, Pei happened to be there too.
Yuanshi then chatted about some family matters, and then turned the subject to marriage.
"Although Fu is a merchant's daughter, she brought a generous dowry. If my sister-in-law doesn't bring a generous dowry this time, outsiders will definitely talk about it."
Mrs. Hou understood immediately that Yuanshi couldn't raise the money and now she was eyeing Pei's dowry.
This is actually a solution, so I pretended not to hear.
Pei was furious. After all, her father was only a captain, and the accompanying gifts would not be very generous.
If she hadn't seen that the Marquis's Mansion was wealthier than her own family, she wouldn't have forced herself on Lu Yu, who was already married.
"What my sister-in-law said is true. I thought so too. But my father is far away at the border. It's a long way to transport the dowry to Kyoto. Wouldn't it be a waste if we encounter bandits on the way?"
Yuan covered her mouth with her handkerchief and chuckled: "It can be converted into silver and remitted through the bank."
Upon hearing this, Madam Hou stopped talking and said, "Alright, Miss Pei's family is not doing well either. Just let them decide how much dowry to give. Are we going to force them to give? If this gets out, they'll be laughed at."
Yuan was speechless, and after sitting for a while, she left.
Pei returned to her room and began to cry, crying in front of Lu Yu: "My father's battles at the border aren't tough enough, and yet he's still worrying about my dowry. My younger siblings are so thoughtful, they're deliberately trying to embarrass me in front of my mother-in-law."
Lu Yu tried to persuade her kindly: "Your sister-in-law is also worried. Don't worry about her. I will take care of the wedding expenses. Don't worry."
Ever since Xie Changsheng said he wanted to promote him, Lu Yu became bolder.
Anyway, my financial situation will improve once I get promoted, so I might as well go out and borrow some money now.
After strolling around the street, Lu Yu was too embarrassed to talk to his relatives and friends, so he had to go into a money shop to borrow money at interest.
Fu Danjun asked Lan Fang to count the dowry.
At this point, the dispute between him and the Marquis's Mansion over silver and money was almost settled.
Early that morning, the servant returned with a letter: "Miss, this is from the pawnshop owner. He said it's a letter from home."
Fu Danjun was delighted and could tell at a glance that the handwriting on the envelope was from his brother.
As expected, the brother wrote in the letter that he had learned about his sister's recent situation through the pawnshop owner. He would come to Beijing to see her in a month, and he also brought his new niece with him.
Fu Danjun cried with joy and quickly read the letter to Lan Fang.
Lan Fang also cried with joy: "That's great, we are going to be reunited."
The letter had two pages in total. One page contained greetings, while the other page mentioned Qiao Yishan and described how Qiao Yishan saved his wife. It also asked Fu Danjun to take care of Qiao Yishan if he had the chance.
Fu Danjun immediately asked Lan Fang to grind ink and write a reply to her brother.
She wrote in detail about her chance encounter with Qiao Yishan. As for the grudges with the Marquis's Mansion and her divorce from Lu Yu, she hesitated for a long time before writing them down. She repeatedly told him not to worry about her, saying that she was living alone and was doing well.
The next day, Fu Danjun took Lan Fang out to mail a letter and inspected his own shop, stopping by the cloth shop first.
The shopkeeper saw Fu Danjun and said with a smile: "Since you are here, please choose some materials to take back. After all, they are our own things."
Fu Danjun noticed that the customer flow was good and smiled and praised: "I can see that you are very dedicated. I will treat you to a meal some other day."
The shopkeeper was flattered: "No, no, no."
Fu Danjun then asked: "Which kind of fabric sells best?"
The shopkeeper quickly pointed to a piece of material on the counter and said, "It's this kind of brocade. Even the ones in the warehouse have been reserved. Other stores in Kyoto can't get any of it. It shows how popular it is."
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