Chapter 25: The Matriarch's Inheritance
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"Dowry?"
Mrs. Zhao was taken aback for a moment, meeting Wang Qifang's piercing gaze, feeling both relieved and embarrassed.
Fortunately, she finally decided to cheer up this time. After all, Qī Niáng was the one she had brought up since childhood. For more than 20 years, except for when she was a little girl and would argue with Guān Jiāo's mother about money and household chores, but after being verbally abused by Old Master Zheng's wife, she never paid attention to these worldly things again.
Not even when Qīniáng got married and was secretly hidden and replaced by Zheng's wife with a large amount of dowry, did she say a word of protest or discontent. Let alone after marrying into the Zhao family, those several accompanying rooms and maids selected by Zheng's wife almost cleaned out Qīniáng's few remaining shops and gold and silver, Qīniáng didn't say a word, nor did she think about defending or fighting for them.
Every time she, as a nanny, couldn't bear to see this, reminded the young lady to take good care of her purse, but Seventh Mother would instead advise her "Why bother getting worked up over such trivial things?" / "Anyway, with the Wang and Zhao families around, we won't lack for food and drink."
Alas, as for Qīniáng's idea, Zhao's mother didn't know where to start advising her. In a large family that adheres to rules and etiquette, everything from food to clothing to expenses has its own allocation, and even the mistress of the house or the housekeeper wouldn't dare to arbitrarily cut corners. What Qīniáng said makes sense in theory, but which household doesn't have internal conflicts? With conflicts come the need for tools to fight with, and aside from support from her natal family, silver is the most useful tool. Without spare money on hand, what can be used to reward or bribe the servants? Can they rely solely on their monthly allowance?
Besides, if she can't even protect her own dowry, let alone the maids and personal servants brought by her husband's family, those women in the husband's household won't take a weak mistress seriously. So later on, when Seventh Lady wanted to see Xiaoyu, use better cosmetics, or eat fresh fruits and vegetables, she had to bribe those managing women. Qiefang only got twelve taels of allowance per month, with no other income, how could it be enough?!
Now, five or six years have passed, and the shops and fields that Wang's family brought as dowry have all changed hands. If it weren't for Old Lady Zhao holding on to them, perhaps even Seventh Sister's jewelry would have been taken away by those cunning slaves.
Even so, Seventh Sister pawned many pieces of jewelry and antiques to prevent Xiao Yu from being bullied by the servants and to prevent her from suffering grievances. The valuable things on her body became fewer and fewer. The magnificent dowry of ten miles of red makeup from back then might now be reduced to just some empty boxes and clothes that the mistress had worn.
This is also the reason why Zhao's mother was in a dilemma. Dowry? Alas, what dowry does Seventh Sister have?
"Really? Not even a little bit?"
Wang Qifang's eyes widened in disbelief, her remaining memories telling her that even if her stepmother had deducted and replaced a lot of dowry, she still had 128 sedan chairs when she got married. Moreover, those land deeds, house deeds, silver tickets, and the contracts for selling servants were not counted as part of the dowry, so how could they all be gone in just a few years?!
It suddenly occurred to her that there were several large bundles in the kang cabinet that didn't even have half a cent, and Wang Qifang seemed to understand something, but this was also too absurd.
“……Well, nothing is left,” Madam Zhao saw Wang Qifang's devastated look and felt very sympathetic, so she quickly comforted her, “Right, not everything is gone, we still have the house deed and land deed. According to the rules of the Wang family, the shops and estates that came with you as dowry cannot be sold. The three shops and two estates are all rented out, they haven't been sold!”
Rent? That's about right, Wang Qifang calculated in her heart, three shops, just rent two taels of silver per month, can collect 72 taels of silver a year; and the farm, yes, according to the custom of the Great Zhou, it can be called a farm, with at least over 100 mu of land, she has two farms, that's more than 200 mu of land...
However, the rental period is a bit longer," Wang Qifang was calculating the accounts with a loud noise, and Zhao Ayi endured it for a moment before telling her the true situation, "That's right, both the shop and the farm have been rented for 50 years!"
"What? Fifty years?" Wang Qifang's mind had just conjured up a golden treasure, but it was instantly shattered by Zhao Ayi's words. She stared straight at the nanny and saw her nodding in difficulty. Trying to control her emotions, she swallowed hard and comforted herself, "Fifty years is just fifty years, after all, three or four years have already passed, which means that forty-six or seven years later, the Zhuangzi and the shop will still be mine. And a long rental period also means stable rent, right? I can collect quite a bit of rent too!"
"Alas, no rent!" Zhao's aunt was reluctant to pour cold water on Wang Qifang, but that was the reality. She turned her face away, not daring to look at Wang Qifang, and continued: "It's not that we didn't collect any money, it's just that all the rent was collected in one lump sum when the house was first rented out. If you want to collect more, you'll have to wait until 46 years later!"
"Pffft!"
She couldn't bear it anymore, and Wang Qifang's little man in her heart fiercely spat out a mouthful of blood. She grabbed Zhao Ayi's sturdy arm with one hand, asking without any hope: "What about the rent? The rent for fifty years? Won't it all be spent?"
“……”
This time, Zhao Ayi really didn't know how to speak, slowly nodded and told Wang Qifang the answer.
"What about the sale contract of the servant girl now that the dowry is gone?"
If Aunt Zhao told her again that her previous incarnation not only couldn't keep the dowry, but also returned the sale contract of the servant to the person, then she would have no choice but to accept her fate.
"In short, everyone's IOU is here, it's just that they are all being kept in the government office for now!"
To be more precise, it was in Xiaoyao's hands, alas, if Xiaoyao hadn't been clever and prepared ahead of time, I reckon the servants in the mansion would have already manipulated Qiuniang into returning the contract to its rightful owner.
"Ah, that's good!" Wang Qifang's battered heart finally got some comfort, she nodded in satisfaction, thinking of her failed past self, she let out a soft sigh, "Alas, nanny, I was really too much of a failure back then, being looked down on by the servants is one thing, but how could I even fail to protect the last bit of thought my mother left me?!"
"Seventh girl, don't be sad, fortunately you finally understand now. From now on, let's live a good life." After hearing Wang Qifang's words full of guilt, Zhao Ayi also felt a sour heart. She patted Seventh Girl's shoulder and said, "The last thought? No, that's not the last one. The mistress still has something placed here with me."
The old lady hastily ran back to her own room, rummaged through the trunk and found a tightly wrapped silk package. She unwrapped it and inside was an ancient jewelry box about half a foot square. Zhao Ayi wiped the lid with her sleeve and carefully handed it over to Wang Qifang:
"Madam said as she was leaving, this is something she left for you to save your life, unless absolutely necessary, don't touch it!"
PS: Wooo, thank you stinkyfox22, book friend 100722111420502 for the gift, thank you stillia and liuyina for the review, and also piggyai for the update ticket. Unfortunately, I didn't earn any this time, will work harder next time! Also want to thank all of you for your support, O (Bookworm's Hall) O thank you
