Chapter 5: Taking the blame and looking at Shen Wuyu's dowry with envy
Chen Lianxiu returned to Zhuoxinzhai, washed her face and hands, changed her clothes, and rested for a while. Then, it began to darken.
It was cold in early spring, and there was no sun today, so it was even colder. Chen Lianxiu just sat down with a hand warmer when Zhou Linjin came back.
She saw the fine snow on his shoulders and realized that it had started snowing again outside.
Zhou Linjin sat down opposite her first. Chen Lianxiu looked at the snow particles on his clothes and almost reached out to brush them off for him, but she reacted and stopped, then reached for the pine nuts in the plate on the table. At this time, a maid came forward to change Zhou Linjin's outer clothes.
Chen Lianxiu peeled a pine nut and put it into her mouth, waiting for Zhou Linjin to speak.
Unexpectedly, Zhou Linjin did not bring up the matter of consummating the marriage with Yang. Instead, he told Shen Lianxiu, "Next month is Grandmother's sixtieth birthday. Father will also be returning to Beijing to report on his work and celebrate Grandmother's birthday. Our family will be very busy during this period."
He paused, then continued, "Mother gets a cough every spring, and she hasn't been feeling well lately, barely managing the household. So, planning Grandmother's birthday has been handed over to Aunt. But Mother told me she'd like you to join her in planning it, and asked if I agree. I've already agreed."
Shen Lianxiu had been listening quietly, but she didn't expect Zhou Linjin to do this to her. She was not Shen Wuyu at all, and she didn't want to appear in front of everyone in the Zhou family. How could he agree to this?
The pine nut shells she was twisting in her hand fell to the ground, and Shen Lianxiu became anxious: "No, I can't do this. Go and tell my wife, I can't do this."
Although it has been a short time since they got married, Zhou Linjin has never seen her so anxious that she almost jumped up. He suddenly became interested in teasing her.
Zhou Linjin raised his eyebrows and said slowly, "What should I do? I've already agreed. If I go back on my word, my mother will be angry. If you want to talk, go and tell her yourself."
He was afraid that Yang would be angry. Shen Lianxiu was already trembling with fear when marrying into the Zhou family, and she would be even more afraid if she went to Yang to refuse.
"How could you do this?" Chen Lianxiu stood up unconsciously and said angrily, "You clearly agreed to it, but you want me to go back on my word..."
Zhou Linjin laughed.
"Alright," he stretched out his hand and swung it forward. Sure enough, he grabbed Shen Lianxiu's arm and felt what seemed to be a wooden bracelet on her hand. Then he pulled her to sit down again. "Mother also means well. Aunt is not from our family. You are the wife of the prince. In the future, you will have to shoulder the heavy responsibility. Start learning slowly now, so that you won't be so flustered when the time comes."
Chen Lianxiu was speechless for a moment. She understood what Zhou Linjin meant. She wanted to get involved in family affairs as soon as possible so that she could establish herself in the Duke's Mansion as soon as possible. However, she herself was already in danger here, so how could she take on the important responsibility like the real Shen Wuyu?
However, she couldn't find any excuse to refute him.
This is a matter of course.
She finally murmured, "I can't do it..."
Zhou Linjin said: "No one can do it right from the beginning."
Chen Lianxiu took on the job reluctantly.
Mrs. Wu's birthday was just around the corner, so Shen Lianxiu quickly went to report to Mrs. Wu's place.
Xiao Wu treated Chen Lianxiu very warmly and considerately. In addition to Chen Lianxiu, she also brought her daughter-in-law Su Qiong, saying that they would teach them together and let the sisters-in-law get to know each other better.
However, after a few days, Shen Lianxiu discovered something was wrong.
Normally, for an event as significant as Wu's sixtieth birthday, the majority of the funds would come from the public treasury of the Chengguo Mansion, with each branch contributing their own gifts and gifts. Therefore, any initial expenditures would naturally come from the public treasury, but young Wu was in no rush to do so.
She said to Shen Lianxiu and Su Qiong, "It's troublesome to withdraw gold and silver from the public bank. Time is tight right now. Why don't we fill in the silver ourselves first and use it. Then I will go to the public bank to make the withdrawal."
Su Qiong agreed immediately, but when she arrived at Chenlianxiu, she hesitated.
Firstly, she had no money at all, and secondly, she always felt that this was not right.
So she asked Zhou Linjin indirectly, "Is it difficult to get money from the Duke of Cheng's Mansion?"
Zhou Linjin said directly: "It's not difficult, what's wrong?"
Shen Lianxiu felt relieved.
It was Wu's 60th birthday, and the Duke Cheng's Mansion was going to hold a grand celebration. How could they not set aside some money, let alone have difficulty in withdrawing it?
But she only said to Zhou Linjin: "Nothing, I just asked casually."
Zhou Linjin did not ask any further questions.
With Zhou Linjin's answer, Shen Lianxiu refused to give in.
Xiao Wu did not force her to take out the money. After a few days, Xiao Wu finally went to the public treasury to get the silver and money she needed.
"Finally, it's here." Little Wu was no longer as warm to Shen Lianxiu as she had been at the beginning, and her words were even more sarcastic. "Everyone is concerned about the old lady's birthday. Apart from the fear that things won't go well, everything else is unimportant. It's a pity that some people are short-sighted. If everyone is like this, what will happen if important things are missed?"
Chen Lianxiu knew that she was talking about herself, but she was also a subordinate of the Chen family. A few harmless and sarcastic words didn't mean much, so she pretended not to understand and continued to work with the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law every day as before.
On this day, several carts of flowers were delivered, each pot containing buds. There were many rare and precious varieties, and they cost a lot of money. They were all prepared for Mrs. Wu's birthday.
Su Qiong went back first because her son was making a fuss, leaving only Xiao Wu and Shen Lianxiu in charge.
While Xiao Wu had someone go and count the flowers, she said to Shen Lianxiu, "The deposit has already been paid. Go and get the remaining money."
As he spoke, he handed the key to Shen Lianxiu: "There is a red lacquer box in the wenge wood cabinet on the left side of the room. This is the money."
Since Xiao Wu spent all the money, she naturally kept it herself and kept it in her courtyard on a daily basis. Chen Lianxiu knew where it was kept after following Xiao Wu.
So Chen Lianxiu went to get the red lacquer box as if she was familiar with the place and locked the door. The person guarding the door was an old woman who was dozing off against the porch pillar. When she heard the sound of Chen Lianxiu locking the door, she looked up and then continued to doze off, not taking her seriously.
Over there, Xiao Wu had also finished counting, and just then Shen Lianxiu came over with the money to settle the bill.
After paying the money, they were about to call it a day when they saw the maidservant beside Xiao Wu coming hurriedly. They heard footsteps from afar, and Shen Lianxiu felt a tightness in her heart for no reason.
"The money was stolen." The maid said so.
Xiao Wu looked at Shen Lianxiu. Before she could ask, Shen Lianxiu said, "I locked the door when I left, and the old woman who was guarding the door saw it."
Little Wu was a smart person, so she naturally wouldn't accuse Chen Lianxiu of anything. She first called everyone over and asked them about it. This was not a trivial matter, but it couldn't be announced casually. It was best to keep it secret from Wu and Yang.
Soon Su Qiong got the news and came over. Xiao Wu asked around but still couldn't find the whereabouts of the money.
Seeing this, Su Qiong said, "Mother had that lock made specially for her. She's used it countless times over the years to lock important things, and it's never failed. I don't know what kind of thief came from our house..."
"Speak less," Xiao Wu interrupted Su Qiong and turned to Shen Lianxiu, who had been standing silently beside her, and said, "Your sister-in-law doesn't know how to speak. She doesn't mean to doubt you, but..."
Little Wu paused for a moment and did not continue. Shen Lianxiu had already thought about it several times in her mind. She had a rough idea of the current situation and said, "If you have anything to say, just tell me, Auntie."
Hearing her say this, Xiao Wu was secretly delighted and said, "You lost so much money after all, and now things are urgent. If we bring it to the old lady, she will definitely be unhappy. Why don't I investigate secretly first, but you have to make up for the money first."
Shen Lianxiu thought to himself, it’s finally here.
Previously, Xiao Wu wanted to get some money from her, but she refused. Unexpectedly, Xiao Wu still did not give up and was waiting for her here.
Chen had prepared a lot of dowry for Shen Wuyu, which could be said to be extremely generous. Those dowries were carried into the Chengguo Mansion one by one, and everyone in the Zhou family saw it with their own eyes. After all, the Chengguo Mansion was actually the home of the eldest wife, and all this was earned by Zhou Chang. The second wife was actually just staying here temporarily and didn't have much money. It was understandable that Xiao Wu was jealous of Shen Wuyu's dowry and had some ideas about it.
But the problem is, these are only what they saw, and Chen Lianxiu is not Shen Wuyu. Although the dowry is not less on the surface, many of the dowry given to her by Chen are empty boxes, or only have a surface layer. The little dowry given to her is also firmly guarded by the servants assigned by Chen, and Chen Lianxiu has no right to use it at all.
Xiao Wu had a good plan. If it were another bride who had just married a few days ago, she might have gritted her teeth and accepted it, but Chen Lianxiu couldn't come up with the money to make up for it.
Chen Lianxiu had no choice but to find a way to deal with Xiao Wu: "Why not go and talk to the lady."
Little Wu didn't respond, but Su Qiong immediately said, "How can this be possible? If the Madam knew about this, she'd definitely blame Mother for not handling things properly. We're still young, so it's fine, but where will Mother's face be? Please don't say anything. We'll just solve this quietly."
The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law sang the same tune, and in short, they were determined to let Chen Lianxiu take the blame.
Seeing that Shen Lianxiu was silent, Xiao Wu didn't push her too hard. She just smiled and said, "It's late today. You all should go home and eat first. We'll talk about it tomorrow. I'll investigate again. Who knows, we might be able to catch the thief in one night."
Chen Lianxiu had no choice but to follow Su Qiong's lead. Xiao Wu looked at Chen Lianxiu again and said deliberately, "Tomorrow, there will definitely be a result."
Chen Lianxiu returned to Zhuoxinzhai and sat down on the couch by the window in silence.
He neither thought of secretly looking for the whereabouts of the money nor of scraping together some money.
Xiao Wu had obviously set a trap. Even if she sealed the door, a thief would still come out. How could she find any money at this moment? As for filling the hole, even if she added up all the money she had on hand, it wouldn't be enough to fill a single cent.
Chen Lianxiu had thought about secretly going to find Yang, but that would be tantamount to complaining to Yang. After all, Xiao Wu was the second wife in the mansion and had been keeping an eye on her. It would not be a good thing if she really offended her.
The maid placed the candlestick in front of Chen Lianxiu. The candlelight flickered and Chen Lianxiu sighed.
She refused to pay a single penny, and in the end, Mrs. Wu would certainly not be able to do anything to her, but she would not let her off so easily. Mrs. Wu must have swallowed the lost silver, and then accused her of being careless and reported her to Mrs. Wu.
It seems that this is the only way. Since she can't come up with the money anyway, Mrs. Wu and Mrs. Yang will just blame her for being careless.
"What's wrong?" A voice as smooth as a clear spring came from behind. Chen Lianxiu was so worried about himself that he didn't notice that Zhou Linjin was already in front of him.
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