“Si meimei, you…”
Gu Yue stared at Gu Shan in disbelief.
Gu Shan avoided her gaze the whole time, refusing to say a single word.
Gu Yue let out a sharp cry: “I won’t let you succeed, never!”
With that, she dashed out of Zhilan Yuan.
Gu Zhen burst into giggles, looking extremely pleased with herself.
Gu Shan’s face turned crimson with embarrassment. “I’m worried something might happen to san jiejie. I’ll go take a look.”
“Walk slowly, si meimei. If san meimei bullies you, don’t hold back.” Gu Zhen beamed mischievously.
Gu Shan nodded awkwardly and rose to leave.
Gu Lin’s eyes spun around quickly; only now did she realise an astonishing fact.
“Taitai doesn’t value san jiejie anymore? How could that be?”
Gu Zhen spread her arms with a grin. “Why not? Taitai has almost been angered to death by her. Who knows how much fire she’s suppressing inside. It’s just that Gu Yue herself is too blind to see, still thinking this is the Northwest. She even dared to question er meimei, where’s her shame?”
Gu Lin’s mouth hung wide open, her jaw nearly dropping to the ground.
Gu Jiu spoke up: “Da jiejie really had no need to tear her face with san meimei in public.”
“Thanks for the concern, er meimei. But when I see her strutting around smugly, I just can’t resist provoking her. Er meimei, don’t you want to see san meimei weeping bitterly?”
Gu Jiu looked at Gu Zhen with a faint, ambiguous smile. “If san meimei truly cries and repents, then taitai will just end up soft-hearted again.”
Gu Zhen was left speechless.
She gave a wry laugh. “Er meimei sees more clearly. I was foolish, why bother waking her up? If Taitai softens, won’t san meimei feel proud again?”
Gu Jiu smiled slightly. “That, da jiejie, you needn’t worry about. From the look on san meimei’s face, she didn’t seem the type to weep and repent. I’d say nothing matters more to her right now than her dowry.”
Gu Zhen suddenly understood, then burst into laughter. “Er meimei, you’re brilliant! Why didn’t I think of that? San meimei must have gone to taitai to demand her dowry. With her temper, she’ll probably anger taitai to death.”
She didn’t say the rest aloud: if Xie shi really got angered to death, Gu Jiu would deserve part of the credit too.
After all, Gu Jiu was betrothed to Gongzi Zhao, and that meant preparing a huge dowry.
With Xie shi’s miserly nature, this dowry alone was enough to make her heart bleed.
Meanwhile, in Furong Yuan, Xie shi was indeed discussing dowries with Gu daren.
“Yue’er needs a dowry, er yatou was ordered a marriage to the wang fu, another dowry. If da yatou’s marriage is set this year, that makes three dowries to prepare. The public funds won’t give a single coin. At this rate, laoye, our second branch will be starving.”
Xie shi cried poor in front of Gu daren, of course with intent.
She still remembered what Zhang shi had said earlier.
Gu Jiu marrying the imperial grandson, such a match would require no less than tens of thousands of taels in dowry. How could she bear it?
This was the moment to cry poor, to make Gu daren realise: don’t think being engaged to the imperial family was all good fortune, the dowry alone could kill them.
Gu daren’s fatherly love was overflowing now. Thinking of how Gu Jiu was taking this burden for him, he felt all the more indebted to her.
His face darkened. “Leave the others aside for now. Xiao Jiu’s dowry cannot be stingy. She’s marrying the imperial grandson, we cannot let others look down on her. I plan to prepare forty thousand taels for her dowry.”
“Laoye?!”
Xie shi’s facial flesh trembled, her fingers shook.
She wanted nothing more than to jab her finger in Gu daren’s face and ask: What grudge do you hold against me, that you want to bleed this household dry?
“Forty thousand taels for er yatou’s dowry? Where will we find that much money? Don’t forget, da yatou and Yue’er also need dowries. The boys are reaching marriage age too, we’ll need betrothal gifts.”
Gu daren said sternly: “Prepare twenty thousand taels for Yue’er’s dowry. For da yatou, if her marriage can be arranged by dasao, then give her eight thousand taels.”
Xie shi felt dizzy, blood rushing to her head.
She dropped all pretence, bluntly saying: “Laoye, there’s no money in the accounts. Producing seventy thousand taels at once, qieshen cannot do it.”
Gu daren frowned.
Xie shi pursed her lips, saying nothing. But her meaning was clear: preparing forty thousand taels for Gu Jiu’s dowry, dream on.
Her own daughter was only getting twenty thousand, exactly half of Gu Jiu’s. Did they really think the daughter she bore was worth less than the one the first wife bore?
Gu daren thought for a while. “The dowry Su shi left behind, divide half, that’s about twenty thousand. Add in five thousand from the public purse, that makes twenty-five thousand. I’ll put in another ten thousand myself, and the remaining five thousand will come from the accounts.”
That just made up forty thousand taels.
Xie shi’s eyes widened, her face turned pale, as though struck hard.
“Laoye means Su jiejie left behind a full forty thousand taels in dowry?”
How could there be so much?
Xie shi could hardly believe it.
Gu daren nodded. “Benguan has been serving outside all these years, while Su shi’s estates and shops in the capital have gone untended. Had we returned earlier to manage them properly, Xiao Jiu’s forty thousand dowry could’ve been covered just from her late mother’s share.”
Xie shi was tongue-tied, face flushing red.
She clenched her teeth. “Laoye, isn’t forty thousand too much for er yatou’s dowry? Our second branch’s accounts are thin.”
Gu daren gave her a displeased look. “Don’t tell me you can’t even produce five thousand taels?”
“It’s not that we can’t… It’s just that the expenses are too great.”
Gu daren snorted coldly. “Xiao Jiu… marrying into the wang fu, if her dowry is less than forty thousand taels, how could she possibly hold her head high in front of others? On the very first day, she would be ridiculed and mocked. Just thinking about Xiao Jiu being looked down upon in the wang fu, my heart…”
He clutched at his chest. He had intended to say “my heart aches”, but suddenly remembered himself. With Xie shi right before him, he still had to preserve his authority, so he swallowed those last two words.
Yet Xie shi heard the unspoken sentiment.
Her brows drew together slightly. Has laoye lost his wits? Since when has he grown so tender toward Gu Jiu? Something isn’t right.
Grinding her teeth, she said, “Laoye, thirty-five thousand taels is already no small dowry. Even the young ladies of a hou fu marry out with about that much.”
Gu daren looked at her icily. “Furen, did you not hear weifu’s words? I spoke plainly: Xiao Jiu’s dowry cannot be less than forty thousand taels. Of this sum, thirty-five thousand has nothing to do with you. What, even a mere five thousand taels you cannot bear to part with? Truly, is it that stepmothers never treat stepdaughters as human?”
“Laoye wrongs me!” Xie shi felt terribly aggrieved, tears already welling. “When has qieshen ever not treated er yatou as my own? All these years, has it not been qieshen who has cared for her?
“When Su jiejie first bore her, she was a frail, tiny child. Had qieshen truly harboured ill intent, all I need have done was delay calling the physician for a day or two, would er yatou even be alive today?
“Qieshen has poured out my heart, borne children for you, raised them with hardship until they came of age. And yet laoye utters such cruel words, stabbing straight at my heart. Qieshen cannot live, I cannot live!”
She sobbed bitterly, utterly wretched.
Gu daren felt a twinge of regret; perhaps his words had been too harsh. Seeing that she had conducted herself well through the New Year, and that at yesterday’s banquet her family had not come to cause offence, he softened his tone: “It was weifu who misunderstood you. But Xiao Jiu’s dowry, forty thousand taels, not a coin less. The household accounts need only provide five thousand. It will not affect what is set aside for Yue’er, nor for da yatou’s dowry.”
Still Xie shi wept, covering her face with her sleeve, her heart seething with resentment.
What does he mean ‘the household only needs to provide five thousand’? Is that private silver of his not money?
For Gu Jiu’s dowry, Gu daren had actually been willing to take out ten thousand taels of his personal funds. Everyone knew that money was meant for her sons, Gu Cheng and Gu Gong, in the future.
This was no different from taking her sons’ inheritance to fatten up Gu Jiu. How could she endure it?
But one look at Gu daren’s resolute expression told her, resistance was useless. His mind was set: Gu Jiu’s dowry would be forty thousand taels.
Xie shi’s heart twisted. Tears dripped down her cheeks one after another. Life is impossible like this.
She lay across the couch, weeping uncontrollably.
Gu daren frowned. “Why are you crying again? I already said, those words just now were my misunderstanding. Must you be so petty?”
In a muffled voice, she replied, “Qieshen is simply heartbroken, simply wishes to weep. Laoye, don’t concern yourself with me. Go.”
His brows knit tighter. “Don’t make a scene! Let’s finish the serious matter first.”
Biting her lip, she said, “Serious matters are for laoye to decide; I have no objections. Only, Yue’er’s dowry is half of er yatou’s. If this reaches the Haixi bo fu, what will they think? That Yue’er is worth less than her sister? That we parents are partial? Will they then mistreat her?”
“You think too much.”
Gu daren rubbed his brow. “Gu Jiu is marrying an imperial grandson; her dowry being greater than Yue’er’s is only natural. Even if the Haixi bo fu family hears of it, they will understand. Do they truly wish to compare themselves against the wang fu?”
Xie shi choked on her words, but still she would not give up. Tearfully she added, “Qieshen only feels wronged on Yue’er’s behalf.”
At last, Gu daren understood what all this fuss was about.
“Enough. For Yue’er’s dowry, I’ll add another five thousand taels, as a token of a father’s affection. For Zhen yatou’s dowry, I’ll add three thousand. Does this satisfy you?”
Xie shi ground her teeth, then gradually quieted her sobs. Sitting up, her eyes swollen, she said, “On behalf of Yue’er and Zhen yatou, I accept laoye’s kindness. When they learn of this, they will be overjoyed.”
Gu daren grunted his assent. “See to the children’s dowries quickly. Never mind, I will first draw up a list, modelled after Su shi’s dowry back then. As for the specific arrangements, we’ll decide later.”
A sudden change of plan.
Originally, he had intended for Xie shi to take charge of preparing Gu Jiu’s dowry. That, after all, was the customary order.
But then Gu daren thought it over. If he were to let Xie shi manage Gu Jiu’s dowry, of the forty thousand taels of silver, at most only thirty thousand would actually be spent on it.
The remaining ten thousand, no need to ask, would certainly end up in Xie shi’s own pocket.
Since there was no need to say this aloud, Gu daren simply decided to have his own people prepare the dowry. After all, estates, shops, and various household items were already available.
As for the rest, it would be fine to let dasao, Zhang shi, keep an extra close watch.
Xie shi opened her mouth but closed it again. She had already guessed what Gu daren was thinking.
But she said nothing.
Because she truly didn’t want to prepare Gu Jiu’s dowry. Even if she could gain some benefit from it, she still didn’t want to.
She feared she would be angered to death.
Especially when Gu Jiu’s dowry stood in stark contrast with Gu Yue’s.
As for money, Xie shi really wasn’t lacking. After following Gu daren for so many years outside, and with the help of her second brother, she had saved up quite a fortune.
Once the busy New Year season was over, she also planned to buy estates and shops in the capital, to increase her income. At the same time, she would arrange proper positions for all the idle people around her.
Gu daren still wanted to remind Xie shi about a few things, but seeing her expression, he gave up the thought.
Instead, he said, “I still have matters to attend to. I’ll be going.”
“Laoye!”
Xie shi called him back. Her eyes shimmered like autumn waters, and Gu daren couldn’t help but recall his wild youthful days.
Putting on a stern face, he asked, “What is it?”
The more his heart drifted toward those wild years, the more severe he made his expression.
That was simply Gu daren’s nature.
Xie shi said, “Tomorrow we are going to visit the hou fu. I wish to ask laoye, what kind of gift should I prepare?”
Gu daren replied, “I’ll have Gu Quan take care of this. You needn’t worry about it.”
With that, Gu daren left Furong Yuan.
Hearing the commotion, Gu Yue quickly hid in the side room, not daring to show herself.
She had been at Furong Yuan long before, stopping the maid from announcing her presence.
She stood under the window, secretly listening for quite some time.
When she heard that forty thousand taels would be prepared for Gu Jiu’s dowry, while hers had been only twenty thousand, her teeth clenched so tightly in rage that she nearly crushed them to pieces.
Only after Gu daren left did Gu Yue step out from the side room.
Chun He was standing under the eaves. Seeing her, she deliberately raised her voice: “San guniang is here. This servant will go in and report.”
“Is it Yue’er? Let her in,” Xie shi’s voice came from inside.
Chunhe smiled sweetly at Gu Yue. “San guniang, please go in. Taitai is waiting for you.”
Gu Yue entered the main room with a blank face. “Nü’er greets Mother.”
“Sit down and speak,” Xie shi said languidly, as though she had no energy.
She sat upright in the chair, her heart full of mixed emotions. Her nose stung, grievance welled up, and tears began to fall.
She stared at Gu Yue. “Why are you crying?”
“I’m not crying about anything… only that my heart feels heavy.”
“You heard everything, didn’t you?” Xie shi asked with no expression.
Gu Yue panicked, her eyes flickering, afraid that Xie shi would scold her. But it turned out Xie shi was only testing her.
“From your reaction, it seems you did hear the conversation between me and your father. Chun He is getting more and more outrageous; she even let you eavesdrop.”
“It wasn’t Chun He jiejie’s fault. It was mine. I was the one who insisted on listening.”
Xie shi let out a soft ‘oh.’ “How rare… you actually think of others for once.”
Gu Yue’s face flushed crimson in an instant.
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