Chapter 8 Dowry
Shen Mingzhu accidentally saw this jade pendant in Shen Qingtan's boudoir. She was immediately attracted to it and couldn't help but hold it in her hand to admire it. She wanted to ask Shen Qingtan for it.
Then he accidentally discovered a few lines of small words engraved on the heart knot.
“The heart is like a double silk net, with thousands of knots in it.
As long as the sky is not old, love will not fade away."
Liu Yue told her that this heart-knot jade pendant was a token of love given to her by Zhao Jue.
Now Shen Qingtan gave it to her casually with an indifferent attitude, as if he didn't care about the jade pendant at all, or didn't care about Zhao Jue.
Shen Qingtan didn't want it anymore, so he threw it to her.
Shen Mingzhu didn't want it, but if she didn't accept it, it would be inconsiderate.
She accepted the jade pendant with a tense face: "Thank you, sister...Second sister-in-law." She felt extremely sad because Zhao Jue had never given her a token of love.
Zhao Jue stared at the jade pendant without blinking, his face darkening.
He gave the jade pendant to Shen Qingtan to express his love and made a vow to stay together for life.
She tied a silk tassel to the jade pendant to express her willingness to spend her life with him.
Now she cut off the silk tassel and gave the jade pendant to Shen Mingzhu.
She told him clearly that as long as he was not the one to spend her life with, she would not worry about him, nor would she stay for him.
She will only run towards another person who shares the same goal with her in a better attitude.
Zhao Jue looked at Shen Qingtan standing beside Zhao Yi. One was gentle and graceful, the other was elegant and refined. They really seemed like a match made in heaven.
He ignored the discomfort in his heart and sneered, "Just a woman."
Zhao Yi glanced at the jade pendant, recognized it, and a look of surprise flashed in his eyes.
Is she trying to break up with Zhao Jue?
There was an ambiguous look in his eyes when he looked at Shen Qingtan. She was more decisive than he thought.
In the eyes of those who did not know the truth, all this seemed to be Shen Qingtan's kindness. As long as Shen Mingzhu wanted something, no matter how valuable it was, she would give it to her.
The old lady knew the inside story of the marriage exchange and felt that Shen Qingtan was letting bygones be bygones.
She was very satisfied seeing this, as this was the demeanor a clan wife should have.
When Shen Mingzhu saw that everyone was looking at Shen Qingtan with admiration, her eyes suddenly turned red.
She couldn't help but think of the jade bracelet the old lady gave her, but she didn't put it on her herself.
Comparing the two, the old lady also likes Shen Qingtan more.
She looked weak and soft as she said, "Sister, the dowry of more than one hundred pieces was originally for you, but it's now in the warehouse. If you want it, I'll have someone send it to you."
Shen Qingtan has always been very generous to her. As long as she asks for something, he will give it to her.
Now she offered to return it, but Shen Qingtan would definitely not accept it given his pride.
Not only did she keep the dowry, she also showed her magnanimity and won the favor of the old lady.
She even secretly hoped that Shen Qingtan would fight for the dowry, revealing his greedy and ugly face, so that the old lady would be disgusted.
Shen Qingtan sneered in her heart. She was not the biological daughter of the Shen family, and she was not greedy for this dowry. But Madam Shen secretly abducted her back and separated her from her biological parents.
In their previous life, they never gave up looking for her until she died, which shows that they were always suffering from the pain of separation from their loved ones.
Since the Marquis's Mansion was going to give this dowry in her name, she would make them happy.
The Marquis' Mansion was not acting in an upright manner and was using such despicable means to plot against her, so she didn't have to show any mercy.
"Mother said that you haven't learned how to manage accounts and you won't be able to manage the dowry well, so she handed it all over to me and asked me to take care of you on a daily basis." Shen Qingtan agreed immediately: "Since you mentioned this, I will ask someone to move the dowry later."
Shen Mingzhu was dumbfounded. Shen Qingtan actually asked for a dowry, and even gave such a plausible reason that made it impossible to find fault with it.
"We were sisters before we got married, and sisters-in-law after we got married. Our relationship is closer than that of ordinary people." Shen Qingtan said in a friendly tone: "I won't say anything polite to you."
This sentence blocked Shen Mingzhu's words, and she could only stare at Shen Qingtan.
The second wife was so angry that she was fuming and secretly called Shen Mingzhu a fool.
Why would you give up something you have already obtained?
She was about to speak.
Shen Qingtan spoke first: "Second Aunt, my second sister and I got into the wrong bridal sedan by mistake. This matter should be kept secret among our family. If it gets out, it will only make people laugh at us.
If anyone mentions this, I'll explain it to them. After my second sister returned to her ancestral home, the order of seniority was disrupted, so our two families privately negotiated a marriage.
I was the eldest son of the Shen family, so I married the eldest son of the Zhao family. My second sister was the second daughter, so she married the second son of the Zhao family. But because we were afraid of public gossip, we didn't spread the news.
My second sister and I are family, so this dowry is the same for anyone. It's just that everyone knows that the thousand acres of fertile land and the ten miles of red dowry are prepared for me. If I marry into the second room, this exchange marriage will be unclear.
Maybe they don't think it's an accident, but think there's some other dirty secret. If they spread it out, it will tarnish our reputation, and wouldn't that be a disgrace to the Duke's Mansion?"
She pulled out a dowry list from her sleeve and handed it to the Second Madam. "The masters of our family are all serving as officials outside, so they need a respectable one. If these troubles hinder their future, it would be a loss of the greater for the smaller. Second Madam, please help count the dowry today."
The Second Lady's face darkened. The Duke cared most about the Zhao family's century-old reputation. If she didn't return the dowry to Shen Qingtan, it would mean that she was trying to embezzle it and disregard the reputation of the Duke's Mansion.
Now the old Duke has not yet requested to confer a title on his grandson. If they anger the second branch because of this matter, then they will lose more than they gain.
After all, Zhao Jue is not the only grandson in the Duke's Mansion.
"We don't eat fried cakes, and we don't get our hands dirty with oil. Go and count your own dowry." The Second Madam glanced at the dowry list and didn't reach out to take it. "Besides, this dowry isn't ours. It's all piled up in the warehouse, and no one has touched a cent."
Shen Qingtan smiled and said, "I knew Second Aunt was the most sensible."
The second wife's face darkened. Thinking that more than a hundred pieces of dowry had been taken away by Shen Qingtan, her heart ached.
She blamed all of this on Shen Mingzhu and glared at her fiercely.
Shen Mingzhu's face turned pale, and she hated Shen Qingtan in her heart. This bitch not only stole her identity, but also took away her dowry, causing her to be disliked by her husband's family.
If Shen Qingtan hadn't been there, she would have been the one favored by everyone in the Duke's Mansion...
Shen Mingzhu lowered her eyelids to hide the sinister look in her eyes.
The old lady didn't sleep well last night, and the second room was causing trouble again today, so she didn't keep anyone to have dinner with her and sent everyone away.
In the end, only the eldest master and the eldest lady were left to talk.
The Second Lady left the front hall, heavy with worry. Standing by the screen wall, she grabbed the Second Master's arm and asked anxiously, "What does Mother want to do by keeping the First Wife? She knows we colluded with the Marquis's Mansion to swap brides, and she gave me a cold shoulder this morning, just to give me a warning. Now she's sending us away, but keeping the First Wife... I'm worried she wants to give the throne of heir apparent to the First Wife."
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