Now that the first month of the 32nd year of Kangxi's reign has passed, the mourning period for the Fourth Prince Yinzhen and his wife has ended.
The Fourth Prince married young and is only 15 years old now, still going through puberty.
The Fourth Prince's wife married him at the age of 10 and is still a 12-year-old girl.
It is now March of the 32nd year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign.
This year, the Emperor led everyone to Changchun Garden early, and the princes naturally followed.
Because the Fourth Prince's wife had not attended the gatherings among her sisters-in-law during her previous mourning period, she sent out invitations to all the princes' wives shortly after arriving at the garden.
Donghui took out a gold-embossed invitation card, gave a slight curtsy, and said, "Your Highness, this is the invitation card from the Fourth Princess Consort. Please take a look."
He Zhuo dried his hands, took the post, and flipped through it. The post was edged in gold, which made it look quite impressive.
Although the handwriting in the post was neat and somewhat immature, it was still quite good for a woman, and it was clearly written by the Fourth Prince's wife.
It should be noted that many Manchu women, even those of noble birth, were not very literate and could only read account books.
The Fourth Prince's wife is young, so her writing style is always a bit weak, but it's not bad that she can write like this.
"Since the Fourth Princess Consort has finished her mourning period, she naturally has to make an appearance. The invitation says that she is going to admire the flowers. It says that the Fourth Princess Consort has acquired a new camellia, 'Er Qiao,' and invites us to go admire the flowers."
He Zhuo put down the invitation and said to Dong Hui, "Dong Hui, go and tell her that I will arrive on time."
After Donghui left, Granny Shi lifted the curtain and came in, giving a proper bow: "Madam, someone from your dowry shops has come. They are the three shops on Gulou East Street. Their master is going to take up a post elsewhere, and the lease will not be renewed when it expires in September this year. They came to tell us in advance."
He Zhuo glanced at Granny Shi and asked, "Is it those shops on Gulou East Street, the ones where the rent is 600 taels of silver per shop per year?"
Granny Shi stood beside He Zhuo: "Yes, the contract expires this September. They came to let us know in advance."
He Zhuo nodded: "It's alright, the location is good, there's no need to worry about finding tenants, we can just rent it out later."
Granny Shi noticed how well the dowry shops of the Third and Fourth Prince's wives were managed, while her own wife was neglecting them, resulting in such a good dowry shop being rented out for several years.
That area is very bustling, with moderate prices and a high daily foot traffic.
Thinking of this, Granny Shi couldn't help but say, "In my opinion, the Princess Consort should take back the shop and start her own business. The shop is in a good location, so it's sure to make money."
He Zhuo paused for a moment. It wasn't that she hadn't thought about it, but she was too lazy to manage these things; they were too troublesome.
Of course, knowing that the nanny meant well, she said:
"Making a living? I can't think of anything to do right now. What did your old family do?"
“Madam, our shop is rented to the Liu family. They use two shops as a restaurant and one shop as a pastry and fruit shop.”
He Zhuo simply said "Oh," and that was the end of it.
Seeing that her mistress hadn't followed up again, Granny Shi was worried for her. This couldn't go on like this, just sitting around and doing nothing.
Although the land and farmland that Fujin did bring in as dowry were somewhat profitable, along with a cloth shop, a grain store, and a restaurant, these businesses didn't generate much profit. In total, they only brought in 3,500 taels of silver a year. Adding the 1,800 taels of rent from the three shops, it wasn't nearly enough to cover any expenses.
Granny Shi rolled her eyes and said:
"My lady, I've heard that the shops that Fourth Prince's family gave her as part of her dowry are incredibly lucrative."
That's a bit of an exaggeration, but the shop's annual income is at least ten thousand taels, plus the profits from the estate, and we have several princes and princesses who will all need money in the future."
The old woman kindly reminded her.
These gifts may seem like a lot, but in reality, they will be insufficient. After all, after marriage, especially if one marries into the palace, gift-giving is an expense that can be as expensive as water.
However, Ho Cho is alright; gift-giving is basically free.
So all these years of hard work and wealth have been saved up by Khoja. In fact, there is no place in the palace where money is spent, and he has a share of food, clothing and other necessities.
Whether it was gifts from elders in the palace, between princes and princesses, or from families and members of the imperial clan outside the palace, Khoja didn't actually spend any money on this major expense of gift-giving, so there was nothing for him to spend money on.
That money has been saved, hasn't it?
So, not counting the gold and silver in the storage ring, just the dowry, the allowances for the princes and their wives, and the allowances for the imperial princes and grandsons—basically, none of it was spent—is all stored away. It's all cash that can be taken out immediately.
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