Who would choose gray fabric for their dowry? Isn't that offensive? Wealthy families are particular about their belongings; why would they wear fabric of this color?
Gray, in their view, symbolizes decay and decline, and is considered unlucky. Even the servants below them wear colors like brown and dark blue.
But these dowries were all prepared by Madam Fu for the two sisters, Fu Zige and Fu Ziwu, long ago. It is unknown whether she knew about them or not.
She must... know about it, right? Lu Qingyan touched the fabric with her hand, and she could tell that it wasn't cheap, and it wasn't something that ordinary people could afford.
Spending a lot of money to appease her is quite a waste of money.
Magpie was furious at the sight: "Your Highness, those people in the manor have gone too far. How could they put such a colored fabric in your dowry? It would be terrible if the Prince found out and minded. You've only been married for one day and you've already had a falling out with the Prince. Who knows what people outside will think of you if word gets out?"
"Don't worry," Lu Qingyan said with a smile, shaking the round fan in her hand. "The prince isn't that petty. He won't hold it against me for this. If you're worried, you can take these fabrics out and re-dye them. You can leave them as rewards later. They're all good fabrics; we can't waste them."
"Yes, Your Highness. This servant understands." Magpie replied somewhat displeased.
Lu Qingyan opened the second box, which contained jewelry.
The father of the Fu family was an imperial censor, known for his integrity, and had not saved much money. However, the Fu family was extremely wealthy, and the Fu family's dowry was the envy of everyone in the capital.
It's impossible for a wedding at Prince De's residence to be without a dowry. Considering all that, the Fu family giving Fu Ziwu a box of jewelry wouldn't be a problem.
But right now, all the jewelry in the box is worthless.
Lu Qingyan looked at the pearls of uneven color and size in the box, which lay awkwardly strung together in the red lacquered camphor wood box.
Lu Qingyan sneered, "This box is far more valuable than this pearl necklace."
The gold ornament beside the pearl gleamed brightly. Lu Qingyan reached out and weighed it in her hand; the weight was off. Gold was precious; it couldn't be this light. The hairpin in her hand looked more like gilded silver.
Lu Qingyan threw the hairpin back into the box.
The two objects collided, but the sound wasn't crisp enough. Lu Qingyan knew she didn't need to look at the box anymore.
They opened another box, which was filled with porcelain. The texture was delicate and the glaze was bright; it was a top-quality piece from the imperial kilns. This time, they weren't trying to fool people anymore.
There was also a small box containing a stack of silver notes, which could not be faked.
Lu Qingyan held the silver notes in her arms and called Sun Ping over: "I don't know what happened, but that box of jewelry was replaced with something that was neither real nor fake. You can pick out those things and send them to the Fu residence. I will also write a letter and ask Steward Sun to deliver it to Master Fu."
Sun Ping was initially stunned to hear that the princess's dowry had been switched. Just as he was about to apologize, the princess said she was going to send the items to the Fu residence. This was… done by the Fu family? Sun Ping couldn't help but click his tongue in astonishment. The Fu family was the princess's maternal family; how could they have allowed someone to slip through the loopholes in her dowry? It was truly…
“Your Highness, this is not a good idea. It would be disrespectful for the royal family to start a fight with your family right after your wedding.” Sun Ping voiced his thoughts and suggested, “Why don’t we send a letter to Censor Fu to sound him out first?”
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