Chapter 40 - Dowry
Shen Ziqiao impatiently glared at Shen Ziyang. “Are you leaving or not?”
“What right does an unruly person like you have to chase me away?” When Shen Ziyang saw that his two friends were staring at him in disdain, he shook with fury. How could he admit defeat in front of Shen Ziqiao?
“This is my place.” Shen Ziqiao said.
Spat. “This is Shen Family’s village. When did that become yours?” Shen Ziyang insulted her for being shameless. Maybe Grandmother would gift him this place in the future, so how could it possibly be Shen Ziqiao’s?
Lady Meng suddenly looked up when she heard this. She wore a hurt expression and glanced at Shen Ziqiao, blaming herself for this matter.
“You’re not leaving?” Shen Ziqiao chuckled. Before Shen Ziyang could react, she quickly picked up the broom on the ground and swung it at his face.
Shen Ziyang hurriedly ducked. “You dare to hit me!” He shouted, shocked.
“Get out!” Shen Ziqiao chased the three of them away. Everyone was dumbstruck by the scene. They had never seen such a fierce Shen Ziqiao.
After chasing Shen Ziyang away, Shen Ziqiao threw the broom down and patted her hands, sighing. She finally felt satisfied.
Hong Yu quickly brought the pinky-sized century-old ginseng back as well as the one thousand dollar worth of banknotes, left untouched. “When Landlord Liu heard that you were the one that needed ginseng, he refused the banknotes and said you could just go to his house to get any other medicinal ingredients that you need.”
Shen Ziqiao smiled, feeling moved. “He’s such a kind person.”
Lady Meng and the others knew very well that Landlord Liu was very far from being a kind person. He was well-known for being a stingy person. Most likely, the reason he generously gave her the ginseng was because he coveted the Shen Family’s power and wanted to use this chance to seek connections with Shen Xiao.
After the physician set Tie Dan’s bone in place, he had someone bring over a wooden board and carefully carry Tie Dan back to rest.
Thankfully, the horse hoof didn’t kick Tie Dan’s body, otherwise he would’ve died. The physician sighed with feelings. If that was the case, no matter how much ginseng he ate, it would be useless.
Lady Lin kowtowed at the physician and Shen Ziqiao as if her life depended on it.
Shen Ziqiao pulled Lady Lin up and thanked the physician, having Hong Yu give him ten silvers for the treatment fee. She asked him to pay more attention to Tie Dan these days and come over to check on him every day, just in case an accident happened.
The physician accepted the treatment fee and indicated that he would come every day to check on Tie Dan’s pulse.
After sending the physician away and checking on Tie Dan, Shen Ziqiao returned to her room. She curled up tiredly on the wide lounge chair with embroidered beastial patterns against the window. She was starting to feel tired, living a life that wasn’t the heroine’s after transmigrating over.
She didn’t have a good-luck halo, so she needed to be careful every day and scheme her way across. Just one careless mistake and she could become the rumored cannon fodder at any point.
What should she do?
Hong Yu stood outside the door and cracked it open, only to see Shen Ziqiao’s unhappy expression. She hesitated for a bit but, in the end, decided not to disturb her Miss. Instead, she just sighed worriedly.
Lady Meng appeared by the steps and, seeing Hong Yu outside the door, she specially made her steps lighter. She indicated for Hong Yu to come over.
“Lady Meng, Third Miss isn’t feeling good. Why are you looking for her?” Hong Yu lowered her voice as she asked.
“Hong Yu, I have to ask you something. Tell me the truth.” Lady Meng pulled Hong Yu to a corner and asked in a soft voice and serious expression.
“You can ask.” Hong Yu nodded.
Lady Meng glanced toward the door and then said, “Third Miss said that she has no silvers. Is this the truth or not?”
Hong Yu didn’t expect her to ask this. “You think that Third Miss doesn’t want to spend money to treat Tie Dan? You misunderstood Third Miss. She only has about fifty or so silvers in her personal account. She doesn’t have any more than that. She doesn’t even have that many valuable pieces of jewelry. Because she was tight on time, she didn’t bring anything over.”
Hearing Hong Yu’s words, the unyielding Lady Meng’s eyes teared up. “Third Miss only has... Only has fifty or so silvers in her private account? Then, then what about the dowry the Madam left for her?”
“What dowry? I never heard of it before.” Hong Yu asked confusedly.
Lady Meng couldn’t hold it in anymore and she started to cry. She blamed herself even more. She never thought that the dowry Madam had left for Third Miss was gone just like that.
So that’s why…
When the Madam passed away from her sickness, the Old Madam persisted in having the Third Miss live in the De’an Courtyard. In two months, it was unclear what sort of things Old Madam had brainwashed Third Miss with, but she kicked away all of Madam’s personal maids.
The Old Madam must’ve been after the dowry Madam had left for the Third Miss! Because they all knew that the Madam had left the Third Miss her dowry, they were kicked out without reason.
They never thought of how the Third Miss was not even four back then, so how could she possibly know any better…?
It was all their fault!
Lady Meng couldn’t hold in the hurt and blame, rushing into the room while tears streamed down her face. She hoarsely called out, “Third Miss!”
Shen Ziqiao was frightened by Lady Meng’s expression. “What happened? Did something happen to Tie Dan?”
“This servant girl apologizes to the Madam and to you!” Lady Meng kneeled down as she cried, kowtowing firmly. After a few times, her forehead was red.
“Quickly get up, quickly get up. What made you do this? Get up and talk to us.” Shen Ziqiao jumped off the lounge chair and tugged on Lady Meng’s arm, pulling her up. “Hong Yu, come help me. Why is she kneeling down for no apparent reason? It’s not like something major happened.”
Lady Meng wouldn’t get up. “Third Miss, listen to me. This servant girl is wrong, incredibly wrong.”
“Get up and talk to me. Otherwise, I won’t listen to you.” Shen Ziqiao’s face darkened.
Hong Yu tugged Lady Meng and forced her to stand up. She didn’t know what Lady Meng had done wrong either.
“If it weren’t for this servant girl who was blinded back then and didn’t think carefully about what that old woman was up to, how could we have been schemed by her?” Lady Meng choked. “It’s this servant girl’s fault that the Old Madam seized all of the Third Miss’s dowry. It’s this servant girl’s fault.”
Shen Ziqiao was stunned. This was the first time she heard that she had any dowry. “Explain clearly. What dowry?”
Lady Meng said, “When the Madam passed away, she left all her dowry for you, Third Miss. With her last breath, she had the Lord promise her that when you became of age, he would return all the dowry to you. The Lord is a man, so why would he personally look after these trivial matters? The Old Madam probably has possession of all the jewelry and lands.”
The Pan Family wasn’t just well-off, so the Madam should probably have quite a bit of dowry.
Shen Ziqiao asked, “How much dowry did my mother have?”
Lady Meng sucked in a harsh breath. “Even if we don’t mention the rare precious stones and jewelry or the fertile lands outside of the capital, the village, the fruit garden, and the nearby thousands of acres of lands are all under the Madam’s name. The top five best shops on the North Street in the capital make a lot of money each year. The amount of dowry that the Madam had back then made a sensation in the capital.”
“My mother… Left it all for me?” Shen Ziqiao asked incredulously. “Was my Elder Brother not from the same mother as me?”
How come she left it all for her daughter and not her son?
Lady Meng said, “The Madam said that the Eldest Master is the oldest son of the family, so he’ll naturally inherit the Lord’s business. The Madam was just worried that you might suffer after she died.”
Shen Ziqiao felt a warm current passing by her heart. The Pan Madam had really loved her daughter.