Favoring the concubine and ignoring the wife? The mistress is reborn and marries the villain in the

Chapter 31: Make up the Dowry within Three Days

Nanny Li gently consoled Xu Yan, "Madam Xu, you should know that in the old lady's mind, you are the only wife of the prince. Now that the family is in trouble, you have helped them with all your strength. Once the family gets through this difficult time, you will have more blessings in the future."

Xu Yan forced a smile and said, "Yes, Madam Li is right."

Without a dowry, a woman’s life would be extremely difficult.

Nanny Li and Zhuier actually knew this truth, but now they could only say something to make Xu Yan feel at ease.

In her heart, Nanny Li still felt that the old lady's behavior was inappropriate, but that was the order of her master, and she, a servant, could not change it.

Now she still had to watch Madam Xu count her dowry so that she could sell it when the time came to help the Marquisate survive this crisis.

Huang Rongli did not bring the servants of the Marquis' Mansion back to the Jingzhao Prefecture Yamen for interrogation. This was the last bit of dignity he left for the Marquis' Mansion.

Old Lord Shen and Shen Ling had been accompanying Huang Rongli in the main hall, drinking tea and waiting for the results of the investigation.

But ever since Gu Nianping came, Huang Rongli refused to even say a word to the two of them.

"Sir Huang, this is Shopkeeper Bai from Rongji Pawnshop. The Crown Prince's wife's dowry was pawned by Rongji."

Chief Justice Song Shiyu brought his men in to report.

Shen Ling was shocked. He stared at the owner of Rongji Pawnshop in disbelief.

Rongji Pawnshop is the property of the current queen's family. No matter who checks, Rongji will not say a word about any property pawned in the shop.

Because of Rongji Pawnshop’s good reputation, many valuables in Kyoto City that were not allowed to be seen in public were sent to Rongji Pawnshop.

Shen Ling never expected that Huang Rongli would send Song Shiyu to Rongji Pawnshop as soon as he investigated the case!
But the owner of Rongji Pawnshop actually followed Song Shiyu here!
Shopkeeper Bai stepped forward to greet him. He was a man in his fifties, wearing a fox fur coat, and looked like a master from a wealthy family.

"Bai Er greets Lord Shen, Lord Huang, Lord Gu, and the Crown Prince."

Shopkeeper Bai was very respectful and greeted them one by one.

Shen Ling couldn't hold his temper: "Manager Bai, my wife's dowry was sent to Rongji Pawnshop?"

Shopkeeper Bai took out a box from his sleeve and handed it to Song Shiyu: "In reply to the prince, Bai Er does not know whose dowry that is. He only knows that it was sent to be pawned by the Marquis's Mansion. It is a dead pawn. Here is the pawn ticket, please take a look."

Song Shiyu was the deputy of the prefect Huang Rongli, a fifth-rank official, whose official position was higher than Shen Ling. He took a look at the pawn ticket in his hand, and then presented it to Huang Rongli: "Sir, please take a look."

Huang Rongli asked Gu Nianping to look with him: "Master Gu, please take a look. Is this Miss Gu's dowry?"

Gu Nianping just glanced at it and said, "It is indeed my sister's dowry. My sister's dowry was also registered at the government office. There is one dowry list for the Marquis' Mansion and one for the General's Mansion. Just take a pair and you will know."

Shen Ling and Old Lord Shen looked dejected.

It's over, it's over.

They originally thought that they could deny it until their death, but now that Rong Ji has exposed them, it is only a matter of time before the matter is traced back to them.

The father and son looked at each other and quickly made up their minds.

Gu Nianping asked someone to go to Haitangyuan to get the dowry list for comparison.

Shen Ling stood up and bowed to Gu Nianping to apologize: "Brother, please give our mansion some face in this matter. Shen Ling will definitely investigate this matter thoroughly and get all of Nianchu's dowry back!"

Old Marquis Shen sighed and agreed, "It is unfortunate for our family. This has happened. I am too embarrassed to see my in-laws. Please give me some face, my nephew." Huang Rongli heard what they said, and he bowed to Gu Nianping and said, "Master Gu, how do you think this matter should be handled?"

Gu Nianping groaned for a moment and said, "Okay, since Lord Shen and Prince Shen have said so, then I will agree on behalf of Nianchu. Within three days, please give our General's Mansion a satisfactory answer."

"Please ask Mr. Huang to be a witness. Pay all of Nianchu's dowry within three days, and I will persuade Nianchu to withdraw the lawsuit."

This can be considered a concession by the General's Mansion.

Old Lord Shen and Shen Ling did not dare to say anything else in front of Huang Rongli and the others. They just stammered that this was what they should do.

The matter was settled, and Gu Nianping went to Haitang Garden to meet Gu Nianchu.

Gu Nianchu greeted Gu Nianping at the door: "Thank you, brother."

Gu Nianping said softly, "Nianchu, my elder brother has already promised Lord Shen and the prince that they will make up your dowry within three days, and then you withdraw the petition. Will you blame my elder brother for taking the initiative?"

Gu Nianchu shook his head: "Brother, what are you talking about? Whatever you do is planned for me. How can I blame you? I originally wanted to get my dowry back first. What you do is what I want."

The brother and sister talked around the fireplace for a while. Gu Nianchu invited Gu Nianping to have dinner at Haitang Garden before sending him away.

"My dear, you guessed right. Madam Xu is now counting her dowry with tears in her eyes. It is said that the old lady not only asked her to count out all the remaining betrothal gifts from last time, but also count out all her dowry to sell. She also counted out all the farms, shops and other things she had on hand."

Qiu Bi went out to investigate and came back to report with a proud look on her face.

"Well, she still doesn't have enough."

Gu Nianchu smiled faintly. What they ate had to be vomited out. The Shen family must be feeling very uncomfortable at this time.

"Miss, the old lady asks you to come over."

Fushoutang sent someone to invite Gu Nianchu, but Gu Nianchu waved her hand and said, "Tell the old lady that I am too sad and sick."

She didn't want to listen to Old Madam Shen's nagging.

It's really good to break up with each other, there's no need to save face for this family at all.

"Miss, the person who came said that the old lady said that if you don't go, then the old lady will let the prince divorce you."

Chunlan said what the newcomer said with some embarrassment, and Gu Nianchu said indifferently: "Then let him divorce, and see if he dares! If he dares to write this divorce letter, I will respect him as a man."

This family is full of bullies who only care about the weak and fear the strong. Now that the General's Mansion has not fallen, how dare they divorce me, the most favored eldest daughter of the General's Mansion?

"Yes, Miss, I will reply right away."

Chunlan took Hanchan and Zhuyi directly to Fushoutang to reply, and replied to Gu Nianchu's words verbatim. Old Madam Shen was so angry that she almost vomited blood.

"Gu, she is so brave! Since she won't come to see me, the mother-in-law, then I will go to see her in person. I want to see if she is going to die. She can't even be invited by her mother-in-law!"

Chunlan and the others didn't care whether Old Madam Shen was angry or not, they just turned around and left.

It was the maidservant beside Old Madam Shen who mustered up the courage to persuade the old lady not to act rashly: "Old Madam, the wife of the Crown Prince has a very bad temper nowadays. She will beat anyone who comes. It will be bad if she hurts you."

(End of this chapter)