Son as Wife

Chapter 23 Outburst

Although Mrs. Yan was always serious, she seldom got angry. At this moment, she suddenly reprimanded An Guogong and his wife. The two of them were immediately panicked, and both knelt down on the ground, admitting their mistakes repeatedly.

"It's the son/daughter-in-law's fault. It's the son's negligence. Don't be angry, mother. Please pay attention to your body."

An Guogong has always entrusted the affairs of the inner house to Mrs. Xie. He has been married to Mrs. Xie for many years, and he also trusts Mrs. Xie very much. He never asked too many questions, but now he heard what Mrs. Yan said, and he also felt that Mrs. Xie did something wrong.

But he also knew that it was unrealistic to really give half of the family property to Yan Jingshu as a dowry, but he was afraid that if he said something wrong again, he would offend Mrs. Yan, so he said in a carefully considered tone: "Mother is right, this dowry It's indeed too little, but the son doesn't know much about it, so I don't know how much dowry the mother thinks it is appropriate to prepare?"

Mrs. Yan's face eased a little, paused, and then said: "If you want to listen to me, then follow my advice. Considering the amount of Jiang Chenghan's betrothal gift, and then turning it over and rounding it up, it will be... 20,000 taels of silver. Of course, if you feel that it is too much to part with, then just treat me as an old woman meddling in my own business, and pretend you didn't hear it After all, now that you are in charge of the family, you have the final say."

"Whatever the mother says, the son, the son will feel ashamed--" Mrs. Yan's words are as cruel as An Guogong's heart. Where could he say a word of "no", he immediately said: "My son is ashamed, he didn't think carefully, thanks to his mother's teaching, everything is according to his mother's will."

An Guogong said it really willingly, he was from his old age When the Duke took over the Duke's Mansion, he also had a certain understanding of the property of the Duke's Mansion, and the dowry proposed by Mrs. Yan to Yan Jingshu was not even a tenth of the Duke's family property. How could he be reluctant to part with the half of the book that should have been given, and even felt more and more indebted to Yan Jingshu in his heart.

Mrs. Yan nodded in satisfaction after hearing what An Guogong said, and then looked at Mrs. Xie.

Mrs. Xie listened to the mother and son, you doubled the original dowry amount by several times, her face trembled, and she pinched the handkerchief tightly, so as not to let herself lose her composure and show dissatisfaction.

She was already very reluctant to give Yan Jingshu a few thousand taels of silver as a dowry, and now asking her to pay 20,000 taels would be no less than cutting her flesh. She couldn't agree so easily.

Seeing that Mrs. Yan and Mr. An had looked over, waiting for her reply, Mrs. Xie slightly lowered her eyes, made a look of embarrassment and self-blame, and said: "Mother, master, I also hope that there will be more books. With some dowry, I won't be bullied by my husband's family in the future, but the mansion really, really can't afford so much money.

In recent years, there have been natural disasters and wars, and the court has raised donations several times. Our family has never failed to pay. Compared with other similar families in Beijing, the donations are more or less. In addition, there are hailstorms in various villages, or severe droughts there. Our family has always been kind to the tenants in the village. Ziben has very little income. If there is a disaster and the production is reduced, not only will the rent be exempted on the spot, but also subsidize the grain money for those tenants. Up to now, they have been unable to make ends meet for a long time, only relying on the savings from previous years.

This time I bought a dowry for Shu'er, because the matter was urgent and the time was tight, I couldn't get much money out of the account at the moment, so I had to pawn some of my concubine's dowry to finally make up enough. Now my mother Master and I want my concubine to come up with 20,000 taels of silver, and I will not be able to get out my concubine's body anyway, so please forgive my mother."

Xie wept and cried as if complaining about his hard work and embarrassment. Mrs. Yan has been in the family for many years, but she has known Xie's nature for a long time, and she doesn't like her. She knows that she is just putting on a show, but An Guogong is different, and he is stunned.

He clearly remembered that when he took over the title, the mansion didn't mention the properties of various places, but there were thirty or forty thousand taels of silver in the account. How come it's only been six or seven years, and it's even twenty thousand taels of silver? Can't come out?

"The mansion is in such a difficult situation, why didn't you tell me earlier?" An Guogong couldn't help but said.

Mrs. Xie wiped her tears with a handkerchief, and said: "It's my concubine's fault, but my concubine's body can't bear the pain of the master, thinking that although it is difficult now, but sooner or later, I can get through it, but I don't want Shu'er's marriage to come like this." Suddenly, the concubine and the concubine are really helpless..."

Mrs. Xie cried so wronged and sad that even if Duke An wanted to say something, he couldn't say it now.

Mrs. Yan looked at it coldly, she knew that Mrs. Xie was just fooling her and Mr. An with clever words, but since Mrs. Xie dared to say that to them, presumably the accounts were flawless, making it easy for people to see nothing. Even if we go to investigate, I'm afraid we won't be able to find anything for a while.

And now Yan Jingshu's marriage is less than a month away, and she has no time to spend with Xie on it. But Mrs. Xie wanted to fool Yan Jingshu's dowry just like that, but Mrs. Yan would not allow it.

Picking up a cup of tea and taking a sip, Mrs. Yan suddenly remembered something, and said, "...I remember, it seems that a few years ago, you got a batch of high-quality red sandalwood and huanghuali wood, and you said at that time that you would make it Furniture, as a dowry for Yu'er, now Yu'er is almost fifteen, and the furniture is almost ready, right?" It

's all happened many years ago, Duke An suddenly heard Mrs. Yan's mention, he was taken aback for a moment Thinking about it, he hurriedly said: "Back to mother, the furniture has indeed been packed, and it is stored in the warehouse. There are a total of 108 pieces, and they are all made by the best carpenters from Jiangnan."

"Are there so many?" This time Mrs. Yan was a little surprised. She still remembered the batch of wood that Duke An brought back. She only thought that it could hold sixty or seventy pieces of utensils. too much.

An Guogong smiled again and said: "It's my son and Shuer's mother. I heard that girls in the south need a complete set of furniture when they get married, and the more the better. After that, I collected some wood and finally put together this set One hundred and eight pieces came out."

"Really, that's fine." Mrs. Yan nodded, and finally showed a little smile on her face, and said: "Since there is not much money in the account, I will take out two thousand taels from my private room." Make a box of silver for Shu'er, pick some treasures and antiques from the warehouse, and add these one hundred and eight pieces of household utensils to Shu'er's dowry. With these, even other things The dowry is a bit lower, and no one else would say anything if you think about it. As for Yu'er, she doesn't even have a marriage right now, and even if she wants to get married, it will be two or three years later, and I will buy it for her slowly during this period."

Mrs. Xie Listening to Mrs. Yan's understatement, she gave Yan Jingshu the dowry utensils that she had spent countless efforts and tens of thousands of taels of silver for her daughter. She almost gritted her teeth with hatred, but finally couldn't bear it and said: "Mother, This, the daughter-in-law told Yuer a long time ago that those furniture will be used for her to marry in the future, and now that she has given it to Shuer, the daughter-in-law of Yuer really doesn't know what to say."

Mrs. Yan didn't care, Said: "Shu'er is now like this, all because of Yu'er, she owed Shu'er, but a few pieces of furniture should be used to make up for Shu'er. If she really repents, she won't be unwilling. By the way, How is

Yu'er doing now?" Speaking of Yan Jingyu, Mrs. Yan remembered that she hadn't entered the ancestral hall yet.

Mrs. Xie had an inexplicably bad premonition, but when Mrs. Yan asked, she had no choice but to reply: "Yu'er is still the same now, the doctor said that she was so frightened that she hurt her spirits, and she needs to be recuperated for half a year to recover." Good."

Mrs. Yan was not surprised to hear this answer, and she didn't even feel angry in her heart, she just said lightly: "Shu'er is going to get married in another month, we can't let him go away with resentment in his heart, Yu'er His punishment cannot be delayed any longer."

Mrs. Xie's heart tightened immediately, knowing that it was useless to beg Mrs. Yan, she looked at An Guogong with pleading eyes.

"What does mother mean?" An Guogong didn't notice Mrs. Xie, and only looked at Mrs. Yan questioningly.

He thinks the same as Mrs. Yan, if Yan Jingshu is gone, what's the point of punishing Yan Jingyu. It's just that Yan Jingyu has been ill all the time, and with Xie's obstruction, he can't really forcefully throw the seriously ill Yan Jingyu into the ancestral hall, so he can only delay it day by day. Now Mrs. Yan seems to have some intentions in her words, compared to Mrs. Xie's uneasiness, Mr. An is somewhat happy to see Mrs. Yan solve this embarrassment for him.

"You can't go to the ancestral hall. It's a trivial matter if she frightens herself. It's a big sin to disturb the ancestors." Mrs. Yan shook her head, and continued: "Isn't she afraid of ghosts? Then send her there A place where evil spirits do not invade and all ghosts are protected."

Mrs. Xie and Mr. An were stunned, not knowing what Old Madam Yan meant. But soon, they understood.

"The small Buddhist hall in my courtyard is quiet and secluded, and is blessed by Bodhisattva Buddha, so there will be no ghosts. Let Yu'er go to the Buddhist hall to copy the scriptures and meditate."

After Mrs. Yan finished speaking, Anguo The Duke immediately agreed to this matter, Mrs. Xie did not expect that Mrs. Yan would get Yan Jingyu under her nose, and she still didn't know how to use her Yu'er, so she couldn't help being worried and resentful. But now An Guogong has agreed, and her power alone is irreversible, so she has to grit her teeth and endure it for the time being.

After discussing the matter of Yan Jingshu's dowry, An Guogong immediately took people to the warehouse without further delay, and picked out the dowry for Yan Jingshu one by one.

Mrs. Xie originally went with An Guogong, so that he could add it to the dowry list when An Guogong made a selection. But looking at the coral bonsai, the gold inlaid jade Ruyi, the cloisonné enamel animal ear incense burner, the gold-painted glazed mirror, etc., all of which are valuable, they have long been regarded as treasures in her pocket, like flowing water He was carried out of the storeroom, and couldn't help feeling dizzy.

At this moment, the servant girl from Linglong Pavilion suddenly ran over in a panic and informed that Mrs. Xie had personally sent someone to take Yan Jingyu away.