Chapter 9: Continue to saw
Aunt Tian didn't have much hope for Jiang Xinyu at first, and after being there for a long time she just hid in the crowd and remained silent.
It was not until Jiang Xinyu showed up and acted in front of everyone with ease that Mrs. Wang realized that the rumors outside were not credible.
Her niece had obviously seen through Liu's true nature of sweet words and bitter heart, and she didn't seem to be a stupid person.
That's good. This time her help won't be met with a cold shoulder.
Mrs. Wang had come to see Jiang Xinyu the year her sister-in-law died, but the child was drugged by Liu and spoke coldly to the Qian family.
She said that they were corrupt and brought shame to her reputation, and she even couldn't tolerate the maids around her mother and drove them all away.
Mr. Jiang said that the children were ignorant, and at the same time, he said that after the lady passed away, these servants stole the dowry and refused to obey the rules, so he took the opportunity to clear out all the people in the Qian family.
A new emperor appoints new ministers. Since the Jiang family's backyard has become the Liu family's world, even if they leave behind a few slaves, it won't be of much use.
Mr. Qian sighed, but finally took the loss and recalled all his people.
No matter how close the child is to the maternal grandparents, they still have the word "foreign". If the child is willing, it's fine. But if the children are not willing, they will definitely not be able to compete with their biological father.
Fortunately, the imperial court has its own laws. As long as Jiang Xinyu is alive, Qian's dowry will always be in the Jiang family. If anything happens to Jiang Xinyu, the dowry list must be returned.
Mr. Qian knew that Lord Jiang was not a fool, and Jiang Xinyu would be fine even for the money, so he returned to Jiangnan and cut off contact with the Jiang family.
It turns out that Jiang Xinyu was also a fool. She had never thought of contacting her maternal grandparents.
Jiang Xinyu looked at her aunt, who had an explosive fighting ability, covering the corners of her mouth with a handkerchief. She really forgot about her original maternal grandparents' home.
This is not surprising. After all, the plot revolves around the male and female protagonists. Even she, the female supporting role, is just a foil, and the female supporting role's relatives are even less worthy of wasting time.
As for why there is no news about the Qian family in the original text, it may be that the author thought it was not important and therefore did not write it.
But no matter what, she didn't let the plot reduce her intelligence to that of a fool, so she certainly wouldn't be stupid enough to push away a ready-made ally.
Even if we only look at it from the perspective of interests, the enemy of my enemy is my friend, so it doesn't matter even if the Qian family wants to use her.
She was still willing to give up some benefits to an aunt who could speak for her and criticize Liu's mother and daughter.
Mrs. Wang was obviously well prepared. She spread out the dowry list and read out a few items on it. Then she started to criticize Jiang Xinyu for other reasons.
In short, it means the same thing.
Your mother had all her makeup done in great glory, why did it become tattered when it came to you?
Why has the dowry been reduced to this extent?
There are so many wives of the head of the family here, so there is no way the twists and turns in the backyard can be hidden from anyone.
Qian Wang openly scolded Miss Jiang, but in fact every word she said was directed at Liu.
Most people have a wrong view of Liu. Why can't she be so poor in dowry?
It's corruption!
It's a pity that Liu has always been acting like a virtuous person. It turns out that she is such a virtuous person.
Jiang Wanqiu immediately tugged at Liu's sleeve when she saw that public opinion was not right, and at the same time she felt a little resentful towards her mother in her heart.
My mother always said that she loved me the most, but in her heart she was still thinking about her two younger brothers.
If he really loved her, he would have cut back on her dowry, just to save some for his two younger brothers.
Now that Madam Wang has made trouble, if nothing is done to remedy the situation, the good reputation that they have built up over the years will be ruined. How can she then marry into the Ningguo Mansion and become the second wife?
Liu also understood this truth. Now she was in a difficult situation and could only smile and say,
"Aunt, please don't blame the eldest girl. This thing is dead. It has been left in the warehouse for more than 20 years and has been eaten by insects and rats. It is inevitable that it will be damaged.
When the first wife passed away, the eldest daughter was just a little kid. Now she is getting married, how can anything remain the same?"
Madam Wang smiled cheerfully and did not respond to Liu's words. Instead, she looked at Jiang Xinyu.
"Forget it, forget it. If something is missing, it's fine. But I hope the money in this manor shop will be destroyed by rats.
Then I will have to talk about it in detail."
Jiang Xinyu turned her gaze to Liu, "I don't know what my aunt asked.
Auntie, what do you think?
Liu gritted her teeth and forced a smile, "Of course not."
Wang refused to give in, "But I see there is only one farm and four shops here.
Could it be that all these years have been wasted?
That shouldn’t be the case. I went to those places to buy something a few days ago and I haven’t heard that they have changed their owners.”
Jiang Wanqiu's heart sank again when she heard this. She thought her mother would deduct some of her dowry, but she didn't expect it to be so cruel.
She said that she would give all of Qian's dowry to herself, but in reality, it was probably less than half.
Mrs. Liu had not expected that the Qian family would arrive so early. To say that all the losses were incurred would seem like an attempt to cover up one's mistake.
Thinking of this, Liu clenched her fists and then smiled and said, "What are you talking about, Madam Wang?"
Although I am the one who runs the madam's dowry shop, my husband has already said that it will be used as a dowry for the eldest daughter in the future.
How could I deduct it secretly?
Forget it, forget it. I originally wanted to keep a low profile and quietly give those things to the girl as a deposit.
This would also avoid slapping the former Crown Prince's wife in the face and making it difficult for the sisters-in-law to get along with each other.
But since my aunt has brought it up, let's do it in front of everyone, so I don't have to waste my efforts for nothing."
As soon as she finished speaking, Liu told her maid to get a rosewood box from her bedside, then she wiped the corners of her eyes with a handkerchief, looking as if she was compromising.
Mrs. Wang raised her eyebrows. She had underestimated Liu. She was really capable.
The discussions around suddenly changed direction, and everyone praised Liu for her thoughtfulness, saying that she was worthy of being a lady from an official family.
Now it seems that Aunt Qian has some petty intentions.
The former Crown Prince's wife that Liu was referring to was Zhao Chengye's sister-in-law Liu. If she hadn't mentioned it, many people would have forgotten that there was such a person in the Ningguo Mansion.
Zhao Chengye was not originally the eldest son of the Ningguo Mansion. He had an older brother named Zhao Chengzong.
From the names, it can be seen that his eldest brother is the heir to the Ningguo Mansion, and Zhao Chengye is the second legitimate son.
If his elder brother inherited the title after the old Duke died, Zhao Chengye would only be given some of the family property and be forced to move out.
But who made this guy so lucky?
His eldest brother died of a cold shortly after getting married, and left no offspring, so the position of crown prince naturally fell to him.
This is also the reason why Jiang Xinyu was not liked by her mother-in-law and sister-in-law in the original novel.
For the daughter of a fourth-rank official, marrying a second son who does not inherit the title is acceptable, but marrying a crown prince is too high a goal.
But this engagement was made when they were young, and she couldn't break off the engagement just because Zhao Chengye's situation had changed.
Even if it wasn't for fame, they would still be reluctant to give up the dowry worth hundreds of thousands of taels.
They disliked her but had to marry her, so it was understandable that Jiang Xinyu could not please the Ningguo family.
And what Liu said about hiding the dowry for the sake of harmony between the sisters-in-law did make sense.
This is also the rule of wealthy families.
The younger sister-in-law who marries later should try not to exceed the dowry of the eldest sister-in-law. If the family is really wealthy, she can convert the dowry into banknotes and keep it as a deposit at the bottom of the box.
At least on the surface, you should lower yourself to your elder sister-in-law to show respect.
It seems that Liu had made all the necessary preparations and had actually managed to pull this off.
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