After listening to Xu Ningyan's calculations, Gu Dajun gritted his teeth, opened the red velvet bag, and poured out two heavy gold bracelets, two gold rings, and a piece of warm, smooth mutton-fat jade pendant.
When Gu Yong saw those things, he couldn't help but close his eyes.
Gu Dajun pushed the items in front of Xu Ningyan: "These are all old items, they should be worth at least 1,700 yuan, right?"
Before Xu Ningyan could speak, Jiang Yuan stood up, walked to the table, picked up the gold bracelet, gold ring, and jade pendant, examined them one by one, and then trembled all over.
Seeing that something was wrong, Xu Ningyan quickly helped Jiang Yuan up and asked with concern, "Aunt Jiang, what's wrong? Is something wrong with this thing?"
Jiang Yuan took a deep breath, her usually gentle eyes now blazing with anger: "Of course the things are right! Absolutely right! These were all my dowry back then! Gu Yong, I really misjudged you! These things were all part of my dowry when I married you, weren't they? A few years ago you said it wasn't safe to keep these things at home, so you asked me to give them to you and help you put them in a safe place! We'll take them out again when things are better in the future!"
"This is the safe place you were talking about?"
In a fit of rage, Jiang Yuan threw the gold bracelet in her hand at Gu Yong's face.
Gu Yong didn't move. He lowered his head and let the heavy gold bracelet hit his face. The clasp on the bracelet popped off, grazed Gu Yong's cheek, leaving a bloody mark, and fell to the ground.
"What? This is your dowry, Auntie?" This was a development that Xu Ningyan had not expected.
She glanced at Gu Yong with disdain. She never expected that Gu Yong, a dignified army commander, would do something like this—using his second wife's dowry to subsidize his first son!
When the Gu family elders saw Gu Yong's bloodied face, they didn't dare to utter a sound.
Fang Dani couldn't hold back any longer: "Why do you say it's your dowry? Couldn't it have been given to you when Da Yong was fighting—"
"Shut up!" Gu Yong immediately snapped.
She glared at Fang Dani with disgust. "She's so brainless! How can she say something like that?"
If word gets out, wouldn't it imply that he was secretly profiting during the war? Wouldn't that add another charge against him? And give Gu Zhiyuan and his associates another handle against him?
Jiang Yuan sneered as she picked up the remaining gold bracelet, pointed to the inner circle, and said, "Open your eyes wide and look carefully. Do you see this character? Jiang! Jiang Yuan's Jiang! Jiang of the Jiang family!"
Xu Ningyan immediately realized something: "Aunt Jiang, how much did you give to Commander Gu back then? Do you have a list?"
Jiang Yuan pulled out a piece of red paper sprinkled with gold from the inner pocket of her notebook. It was neatly folded. When she opened it, a long strip of things was written in small, delicate characters on it.
The first item is a pair of gold bracelets inlaid with jewels and intricately strung.
Under the disdainful gazes of Jiang Yuan and Xu Ningyan, Gu Yong reached out, opened the two boxes, and pushed them in front of Jiang Yuan: "Apart from the few pieces of jewelry for the eldest and second eldest, I haven't touched the rest. I planned to save them for the third and fourth eldest—"
"Hehe—" Xu Ningyan laughed sarcastically, "Commander Gu is really generous! So magnanimous! He took Aunt Jiang's dowry and gave it to the children born to other women first, leaving the rest for Brother Gu and his family! Oh, what a loving father! At least he kept a few things and didn't give them all away!"
"Brother Gu, you must thank Commander Gu! You must remember his fatherly love! Otherwise, you might not have been able to get any of these things!"
Gu Yong's face turned purple, but he was speechless.
This was all due to his own selfish motives.
He was genuinely worried that Jiang Yuan might get into trouble with these things, so he kept them in a safe in his study. No one knew the password except him, and it was kept with the military documents and files, making it the safest place possible.
But then Gu Dajun saw it by chance and implied that he wanted it back.
At first he refused, but as time went on, he began to waver. After all, any one of these valuable items could be passed down through generations, and Da Jun and Da Kui were his blood relatives! He couldn't bear to give them away completely!
So she secretly picked out a few items and gave them to Dajun and Da Kui, telling them to keep them hidden and not show them to Jiang Yuan.
He didn't mention that it was Jiang Yuan's dowry, so Gu Dajun and Gu Daikui assumed that Gu Yong was favoring them and was afraid that Jiang Yuan would see it and ask for it on behalf of Gu Zhiyuan and the others, so they kept it well hidden.
If I hadn't been forced into this situation today, I doubt I would have taken it out.
I didn't expect to be exposed!
Gu Yong felt utterly ashamed.
Jiang Yuan had already looked at the box and checked the contents. She said coldly, "We're still missing a gold necklace, a gold locket, a pair of jade bracelets, a pair of earrings, and two gold ingots for a long and happy marriage!"
Gu Zhixing immediately realized what was happening and kicked Gu Da Kui: "Hand it over now!"
Gu Daikui looked completely bewildered: "I only have a gold necklace, a gold locket, and two gold ingots! I don't know anything about the jade bracelet or earrings!"
Fang Dani, who was standing to the side, couldn't help but look away, which Xu Ningyan noticed. She immediately had a bad feeling about it!
Could it be that Gu Yong secretly gave Jiang Yuan's dowry jewelry to Fang Dani?
Gu Zhixing kicked Gu Da Kui upstairs to take down Jiang Yuan's dowry jewelry. Not long after, Gu Da Kui came down, and Zhang Yanan's shrill cries echoed from upstairs.
But no one had time to pay attention.
Everyone was staring at Gu Yong.
"What about the rest?" Jiang Yuan asked.
Gu Yong remained silent for a long while before finally saying, "I've given you gifts. Name your price for these items, whatever it is, I'll buy them, okay? If you don't have enough money, I'll give you an IOU! Jiang Yuan—"
He looked at Jiang Yuan pleadingly.
Fang Dani couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief behind Gu Yong.
After calming down, Jiang Yuan didn't speak. She stared at Gu Yong for a while, then suddenly asked, "Is he with Fang Dani?"
Gu Yong closed his eyes in pain and covered his face.
Fang Dani waved her hands frantically in fright: "No! It's not here! I didn't see any bracelet or earrings—"
"Slap—" A slap landed on Fang Dani's face. Jiang Yuan's face was frosty, her eyes filled with undisguised disgust and contempt: "What? You want to secretly sleep with my man, and secretly wear my dowry? Fang Dani, are you a rat in a ditch? Or a cockroach? Doing all these shameful, filthy, and despicable things? Stealing other people's things and wearing them, are you so happy? Don't you feel disgusted?"
Fang Dani covered her face and remained silent.
Jiang Yuan waved her hand dismissively: "The man is tainted, I don't want him anymore, he's yours! But you have to hand over my dowry intact! Think of your son, your grandson—"
Fang Dani shrank back, covered her face and went back into the house. A moment later, she came out with a small cloth bag and placed it on the table.
Upon opening it, a pair of jade bracelets depicting the auspicious symbols of fortune, prosperity, and longevity, and a pair of gold earrings featuring a white rabbit pounding medicine lay quietly inside.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
