Chapter 296 Keep Owing Duke Yong’s Mansion without Returning the Money!
When the lavish gifts Duke Xing’s Mansion were sent to Ningyuan Army General’s Mansion, Qin Wanru was walking with Shui Ruolan in the garden.
Shui Ruolan was in good spirits. Qin Wanru had asked someone to nurse her body well. Since Madam Di and her daughter were locked up, the mansion became much quieter.
“Madam, Madam of Duke Xing has sent lavish gifts to Miss Qi and asked you to send someone to check them!” An old maid hurried over to report it and presented the gift list.
“Lavish gifts?” Shui Ruolan raised her eyebrows but did not take the list.
“Yes, lavish gifts. At this time, they have been delivered here. There were several big boxes. Madam of Duke Xing asked Madam Shui to choose a day on which Madam of Duke Xing is going to take Miss Qi back!” Reported the old maid.
“Mother, ask Qi Rongzhi’s servants to check them!” Qin Wanru suggested.
Although Qi Rongzhi lived in their mansion, she was not a formal Miss of their mansion. It was inappropriate for the Qin’s Mansion to handle this kind of property affair for her. If there was nothing wrong, it would be fine. But if there was something wrong, it was difficult to clarify it and would even make others consider the Qin’s Mansion coveted Qi Rongzhi’s property.
Her words were agreeable to Shui Ruolan. Shui Ruolan immediately nodded and instructed the old maid, “Send the lavish gifts as well as the gift list to Miss Qi’s yard!”
Shui Ruolan was also wary of Madam of Duke Xing. After returning from the palace, Qin Wanru told Madam Dowager and Shui Ruolan that Madam of Duke Xing had asked her to take care of Wang Yishu and Wang Yishu intended to frame her up as soon as they met. Since then, both Madam Dowager and Shui Ruolan no longer believed in Madam of Duke Xing.
She now sent lavish gifts here with a great fanfare, but Shui Ruolan didn’t want to take it over. It was originally the matter between Duke Xing’s Mansion and the Qi’s Mansion. If it weren’t for Qi Rongzhi living in the Qin’s Mansion, it had nothing to do with the Qin’s Mansion.
The old maid promised and was about to leave. Qin Wanru suddenly stopped the old maid, turned to Shui Ruolan and said, “Mother, send the gifts to the Qi’s Mansion directly. Although Qi Rongzhi lives in our mansion, she still has her own family. It’s inappropriate to place those gifts in our mansion! ”
“Wanru, you mean that we can ask the Qi’s Mansion to check them?” Shui Ruolan said thoughtfully.
“This is the best way. All the lavish gifts are sent to the Qi’s Mansion. Even if anything goes wrong after that, it has nothing to do with us. None of our mansion has touched them!” Qin Wanru suggested with a smile. It was not that she was too cautious. She just had to be cautious when confronting Madam of Duke Xing.
This Madam of Duke Xing was like a venomous snake which hid in the grass and would come out at any time. Be cautious did no harm to them.
“Okay, so be it!” Shui Ruolan also understood Qin Wanru’s meaning, nodded and instructed the old maid again. The old maid promised and left.
“Mother, have you found anything from Madam Di’s dowry list?” Qin Wanru asked, looking at the back of the old maid.
“I haven’t found anything, but the deficit is really suspicious!” Shui Ruolan shook her head in confusion. She had also got married, and Madam Dowager was generous to her at that time. She had two shops, so she wasn’t completely ignorant of business. It was impossible that the shop kept losing money and Madam Di kept investing in the shop. What was more, it was a shop belonging to a married lady.
But the account was almost perfect so that she couldn’t find any flaws from it.
“Mother, you haven’t found anything” Qin Wanru asked softly.
“Yes, I haven’t found anything!” Shui Ruolan shook her head and said extremely innocently. It was frustrating that although she knew there must be something wrong, she couldn’t find anything after going through the account repeatedly.
“Mother, what do you mean?” Qin Wanru asked calmly, reached out to gently help Shui Ruolan and told her to be careful of a small stone under her feet.
After striding over the small stone, Shui Ruolan gently wiped her forehead with her handkerchief. Her forehead had been slightly sweated, because she was a little tired. She raised her head to look around, reached out to point at an octagonal pavilion in front of them and said, “Wanru, let’s go to have a seat in front!”
“Mother, we shouldn’t go to the pavilion because of the strong wind there. Let’s go sit in the empty yard!” Qin Wanru shook her head and looked at an empty yard on the left.
There were a few masters in the Qin’s Mansion, so many yards were still empty. The yard in front of them was not small, but no one lived there. Only when some masters strolled around here in leisure time, they would take a short break here.
The masters, who liked to stroll recently, were Shui Ruolan and Qin Wanru who accompanied Shui Ruolan. Madam Dowager spent most of the time resting in quietude, not very willing to move.
Shui Ruolan nodded. They entered the courtyard with several maids, and sat down in the main room.
The maids were busy setting up a stove to warming the room.
There were other maids lighting the stove to boil water. Because Shui Ruolan had usually come here to rest for a while, various utensils were well prepared.
This courtyard was uninhabited, so the layout was mainly for enjoying the view. The large window facing the main room was open and slightly transparent. Through the window, they could see a few plum blossoms in full bloom on the opposite side. There were red plum blossoms on the strong branches. It was a very elegant place to rest.
The maids retreated to the door after serving the tea. Qin Wanru personally reached out to pour a cup of tea for Shui Ruolan, and then poured another cup of tea for herself. The tea smelled so good!
“Wanru, what about we send the dowry list to your Big Sister?” Shui Ruolan smiled.
“Big sister’s dowry list?” Qin Wanru smiled with ripples in her eyes.
“Yes, it’s your Big Sister’s dowry list. Your Big Sister’s engagement with the heir of Duke Yong has been settled. It seems impossible to change, so we should begin to prepare her dowry!” Shui Ruolan picked up the teacup, put it down after taking a sip and then said meaningfully.
Qin Yuru’s dowry had actually been prepared long ago. Qin Yuru could be considered married once in Jiangzhou. Her dowry had been sent to the Qi’s Mansion. After that, there was a conflict between the two mansions on the marriage. In order to compensate for the loss of the Qi’s Mansion, the Qin’s Mansion didn’t ask the dowry back and left the dowry in the Qi’s Mansion.
A noble aristocratic family usually began to prepare the dowry for their legitimate Miss before her teens. Qin Huaiyong could be considered powerful in Jiangzhou at that time, so Qin Yuru’s dowry was abundant with much good stuff, but they were all left in the Qi’s Mansion in Jiangzhou. She was going to get married, so they had to prepare the dowry again.
However, this re-prepared dowry would definitely not be better than that in Jiangzhou, and even much worse. There was no doubt.
The Qin’s Mansion, which had just moved to the capital, was no longer the powerful Ningyuan Army General’s Mansion in Jiangzhou. Besides, in such a short period of time, they couldn’t buy many things even if they had enough money. Shui Ruolan understood the meaning of this, Qin Wanru did, and even Madam Di did, but Qin Yuru, who set her mind on becoming the noble Princess of Duke Yong and then a distinguished noble lady in the capital, didn’t necessarily understand.
“Father has prepared the dowry?” Qin Wanru asked with a gentle smile and rolled her watery eyes like a little fox.
“Your father has prepared and intended to show it to your Big Sister, but it’s just a lot less!” Shui Ruolan bluntly said. Even she knew the dowry shrank a lot, but they could do nothing about it. All expenses of the Qin’s Mansion now were very limited. Such a dowry was squeezed out by Qin Huaiyong, and Madam Dowager also added a lot of private property in it.
But even so, the previous dowry was incomparable to that they had prepared now.
“We’ll subsidize Big Sister with Madam Di’s shop?” Qin Wanru had understood Shui Ruolan’s intention.
“There are too few dowries, so we have to subsidize it. But our mansion has not many properties, and even Madam Dowager offered her private property. Yuru is the only daughter of Madam Di, so she is supposed to subsidize it with her dowry. Even you don’t mind it. I don’t think Madam Di will mind it! “Shui Ruolan said calmly.
“Mother, you’ve come up with a good idea!” Qin Wanru laughed. This was her idea originally. She was thinking about giving her a hint, but didn’t need to do that now.
There was a problem with Madam Di’s shop. Duke Yong’s Mansion had embezzled the money from her dowry shop. Now they gave the shop to Duke Yong’s Mansion and thus to make Duke Yong’s Mansion suffer through their own misdeeds.
Moreover, everyone knowing about the truth could reap the fruits of their actions, but Qin Yuru couldn’t. At the thought of this, Qin Wanru slightly raised the corners of her mouth with more deepness in her watery eyes.
She would love to see Shui Ruolan came up with such an idea. If Shui Ruolan was still so weak, how could she protect her child? Without any means, she would only end up in the collusion between Duke Yong’s Mansion and Madam Di as she did in the last life!
“What about the advance payment?” After thinking about it, Qin Wanru reminded Shui Ruolan. The reason was in the hands of Duke Yong’s Mansion. In this respect, Ningyuan Army General’s Mansion owed Duke Yong’s Mansion lots of money.
“Just keep owing them. We are a family anyway, and can talk over any problem!” Shui Ruolan said. Since she saw her ex-husband’s family, she clearly knew that she and Madam Di couldn’t coexist. That being the case, she couldn’t endure the hardship without fighting back.
“That’s true. Madam Di is married to father, and now Big Sister is going to marry Childe Di. We and Duke Yong’s Mansion are as intimate as a family. With such a close relationship, they won’t rip open the face and ask us to return the money, right?” Qin Wanru smiled with increasing delight. She and Shui Ruolan glanced at each other and sensed the intention in each other’s eyes.
They could keep owing Duke Yong’s Mansion without returning the money!
Moreover, it would be Qin Yuru’s dowry in the future and be sent to Duke Yong’s Mansion with Qin Yuru. No matter how much Duke Yong’s Mansion had embezzled from the shop, it would be in the charge of Duke Yong’s Mansion. Even if there was something fishy behind it, it was Qin Yuru’s business.
It had nothing to do with the Qin’s Mansion!
Now that this matter had been settled, Shui Ruolan and Qin Wanru talked about Qin Yuru’s dowry in detail. This kind of thing was usually discussed by Madam Dowager and Shui Ruolan. But Shui Ruolan did not hide it from Qin Wanru and told her in detail. Imperceptibly Shui Ruolan had already regarded Qin Wanru as the mainstay, and couldn’t rest assured until she told Qin Wanru about this.
Qin Wanru listened, while helping Shui Ruolan add a few things she didn’t notice before, and Shui Ruolan nodded repeatedly.
While they were talking, a maid suddenly hurried in and reported in the porch, “Madam, Countess Yong asks to meet you!”