Chapter 30: Scam the Second Wife
The second wife couldn't control herself for a moment and threw the teacup in her hand onto the six-legged lotus-leaf-shaped incense table made of huanghuali wood. Her beautiful, well-maintained face was filled with anger.
She specifically specified that her dowry be pawned at Dechang Pawnshop because she knew that the person behind the pawnshop was Madam Shen.
Such a large amount of goods in the pawnshop would definitely alarm Mrs. Shen. Once Mrs. Shen saw the list, she would definitely recognize that it was Shen Qingtan's dowry and would definitely not resell it.
Liu Yue said in Shi'an Hall that she saw someone buy a flat pot. She knew that it was said deliberately as a lead to bring up the matter of the dowry being pawned.
The second wife had a plan in mind. She planned to ask Mrs. Shen to return the dowry after Zhao Jue bought military rations and escorted them to the northern border.
Shen Qingtan took the initiative to attack, catching her off guard and forcing her to take back her dowry first.
Unexpectedly, the pawnshop clerk tripled the original pawn money.
The court official said politely, "Madam, we run a shop and do business, so we have to make money. This is not a charity. We can earn a lot of interest by putting the money we pawned for you in a bank."
The second wife was furious, but she suppressed her anger and said, "Do you know who I am? I am your boss's relative. Please ask her to come here, and I will negotiate the ransom with her personally."
"Madam, our boss is a genuine businessman. He only came to Beijing to do business a few years ago. His in-laws are all in his hometown, not in the capital."
The smile on Chao Feng's face remained unchanged: "The boss's relatives are quite wealthy. If there are any difficulties in business and you have to pawn your belongings, the boss will not sit idly by and will definitely provide financial support."
The second lady was choked with anger.
She wanted to take back the dowry for free. If Madam Shen loved Shen Mingzhu, she would definitely not let her take away the dowry without paying a single copper coin.
Otherwise, why would she come out in person and be ridiculed by ignorant people for being poor and having random relatives?
The second wife had to show her status and said arrogantly: "I am the second wife of the Duke of Zhao's Mansion, and I am a relative of your boss's wife, Madam Shen."
“Madam, our boss is not Madam Shen. If you don’t believe it, you can go to the government to check.”
The court attendant noticed that some water had spilled from the teacup, so he wiped the water away with a handkerchief and poured another cup of tea.
He continued, "If you want to mortgage it, we will follow the rules written in the pawn ticket. You can pay the pawn money and interest and take the things away.
You are a pawnshop, so we will negotiate the price in person. The payment will be in full. You cannot redeem it at the original price. It is clearly written in black and white.
As for the selling price, we have the final say. If you think it's not worth it, you don't have to buy it back."
"I see you are bullying our customers because of your wealth. I will give you the same amount of silver I pawned to you to redeem you."
The Second Madam was unsure who owned the pawnshop, but she was unwilling to endure this humiliation and sneered, "How dare you, a fool, bully the Duke of Zhao!"
Chao Feng was terrified and hurriedly explained, "We are honest businessmen. How dare we bully our customers in this imperial city? Don't even mention that you are from the Duke of Zhao's mansion. Even if you were to go to the emperor and beat the drum to report us, we wouldn't be afraid."
The second wife's face was as dark as water, and her fingers were shaking with anger.
Chao Feng seemed a little concerned about her status, so his attitude was not as strong as at the beginning: "I will go and ask the shopkeeper for instructions."
The Second Lady was only using her status to scare the Imperial Court Official, she would never dare to make a scene.
Now seeing that Chao Feng seemed afraid, she snorted coldly: "Go."
When the second lady saw Chaofeng leave the room, she felt a little relieved and turned her attention to look around the room.
The room was decorated very elegantly. A pair of blue and white painted plum vases were placed on the table, and a slender green-glazed porcelain vase with a delicate and beautiful peach blossom in it was placed on the flower table.
Famous paintings are hung on the walls, each of which has a unique history and is priceless.
The second wife felt very jealous. Is it so profitable to open a pawnshop?
She leaned sideways, holding the teacup, and only then noticed that on the incense table was an exquisite copper-based cloisonné enamel double-handled incense burner with a lotus pattern. The incense burning there was also the most expensive sinking water incense, which was even more luxurious than the one she used in the Duke of Zhao's mansion.
She couldn't even finish half a sip of tea, and with a gloomy face, she put the teacup back on the incense table.
On second thought, he was just a lowly merchant. No matter how extravagant he was, how could he be as noble and respectable as these officials' families?
The Second Lady saw Chao Feng coming back and put on airs. She said calmly, "What does your shopkeeper say?"
The court official held up four fingers and said, "The shopkeeper said this number."
The Second Madam raised her eyebrows: "Forty thousand taels?"
She complained, "You only gave me 30,000 taels as silver."
Chao Feng shook his head: "The shopkeeper said to double it."
The Second Lady stared in amazement, about to lose her temper, when she heard the court attendant say, "The shopkeeper said he's used to seeing people being bullied by others. We're doing legitimate business, so there's no need to be afraid. If you keep making trouble, I'll double your salary."
The Second Madam glared at him, "Are you going to go against the Duke Zhao's Mansion?"
"I dare not." Chao Feng's face appeared respectful, but his words were not polite at all. "Everyone says that the Duke of Zhao is honest and upright. We want to see if the rumors are true. If they really want to use their power to coerce us, we will give up our business and expose the true face of the Duke of Zhao's mansion."
The second wife was stunned by the harsh words. She knew that she had offended the people in the pawnshop. If she didn't buy back the dowry today, the news that the Duke of Zhao's Mansion was using power to bully others would spread throughout the capital within a day.
Not only did she embezzle her niece's wife's dowry and pawn it, she also used her power to put pressure on the pawnshop. Either way, she was challenging Duke Zhao's bottom line.
Duke Zhao hated bureaucrats who abused their power for personal gain the most in his life. If he knew that she was bullying others outside, with his stubborn temper, he would not let the second branch inherit the title even if the Duke Zhao's mansion was cut off.
The dowry was only worth 30,000 taels, while the ransom was 120,000 taels.
This is like cutting her heart with a blunt knife!
The Second Madam's teeth were almost broken. The pawnshop was indeed a place where people were eaten without leaving any bones. No wonder it was so rich. The furnishings in the house were all exquisite and valuable.
She understood the saying "Don't pawn your goods until you're broke". Lowering the value of the goods to the lowest was equivalent to selling them at a low price. If she wanted to redeem them, she would be skinned alive.
The court official ordered them to leave: "Madam, please go back. We won't sell it to you anymore."
"I'm already here, how can you just not sell it?" The second wife regretted it so much that her intestines turned green. She shouldn't have pawned her dowry just to get a bargain.
If I had known that I would have to spend a lot of money, I would rather use my private savings to buy military rations for Zhao Jue.
She endured the pain and said hatefully, "I bought it."
She kept comforting herself in her heart that the value of the title of Duke was not comparable to these hundreds of thousands of taels of silver.
Chao Feng's face was full of smiles as he offered the Second Madam another cup of hot tea: "I knew you were a straightforward person."
The Second Madam had a cold face and took out a list from her sleeve and handed it to the court official: "Bring all the items back to me without missing a single one."
Chao Feng nodded and agreed.
There was silence in the next room. The first lady looked at the second lady in astonishment, like a rich and stupid person with a lot of money, allowing the pawnshop people to cheat her out of her money.
She realized a problem: "Where did Luo Lingzhi get so much money?"
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