Chapter 428 - 428 Entering The Capital For A Reward (21)
“Good. Find out why the third son of the Gu family is here as soon as possible.”
“Got it. Mother, you go to bed early; I still have official documents to deal with.”
Through their conversation, Zhou Ying quickly confirmed that this man was the Minister of Revenue, Yang Shicheng.
She thought to herself that this man sure took good care of himself. She would have thought he was only in his thirties if she didn’t know that he was almost forty.
She thought of the dowry list that Yang Wanning had mentioned before. She immediately searched Madam Cui’s house. Sure enough, a dowry list was on the wall in a small secret compartment.
She hesitated momentarily, tried to see if she could take it out, and was surprised to see she had succeeded.
She opened the booklet in her hand and read it. She got envious after reading it.
On it were five shops, two villages, and a residence. There was also jewelry, cloth, calligraphy, antiques, ornaments, porcelain, and more.
Zhou Ying closed it and muttered, “No wonder ancient weddings were said to have ten miles of red dresses. It’s sure scary.
“No wonder the Gu family was targeted. Their raid probably filled up more than half of the national treasury.”
After looking at it, she took it and returned to the villa.
She made a copy of it before putting it back in the safe.
Zhou Ying then turned around and went to work.
Later, she handed the photocopied list to Gu Chengrui and said, “Take a look at this. This is the dowry list of your aunt. 1 just don’t know how we should deal with this.”
“What a ridiculous list of dowries. It’s a pity that even this many things haven’t fed them enough.” Gu Chengrui sighed.
He added, “The handwriting on this is Second Uncle’s. I’ll write a letter back later. If there’s a copy on their end, I’ll ask them to send it over. Otherwise, we’ll just create one and fake it.”
“Alright, send a letter to Uncle Liu as well so that this isn’t leaked.”
“I will. I hope this can help the siblings.”
“Right, I suspect that Yang Wanning is a regressor.” Zhou Ying told him what she found today.
“Regressor? You mean she returned here from the future?”
“Yes, I heard from her that the Emperor plans to choose concubines for the few princes. It might be because of this that someone is plotting against her.
“Her stepmother…”
“That’s right. Yang Wanning is the eldest daughter of the Yang family.”
“It looks like we’ve caught up in something fun. There’s going to be a good show.”
“Yeah, but we must be careful if we get dragged in.
“In addition, be more careful from now on. I feel that Lord Yang will investigate us and the Gu family.”
“Don’t worry, he won’t be able to make it in time. The Third Prince said that the concubine selection banquet will be held in the afternoon three days from now. It will also be the rewarding ceremony.” Gu Chengrui paused and continued, “Oh right, the Third Emperor said that someone would come tomorrow morning to tailor our clothes. So, he told us not to head out tomorrow morning.”
“Alright.” Zhou Ying nodded.
To avoid causing trouble for the Third Prince, they stayed in residence for the next two days. They sightsee the vast residence, and Zhou Ying started learning palace etiquette from the old women.
The Yang family, on the other hand, was not as peaceful. Madam Cui and her nephew, including Yang Wanyu, the Yang family’s second daughter, had devised a plan with the guards to prevent Yang Wanning from participating in the selection.
Yang Wanning, who had planned it, had avoided their sly schemes. Instead, she replaced Qing Tao, one of Mrs. Cui’s maidservants, as the one who fell victim to the trap.
In the end, with the scholar in her hands as a hostage, Lord Yang finally allowed her to participate in the consort selection.
However, he had not prepared any appropriate clothing or jewelry for her. She also had no money, so she had no choice but to ask the couple for assistance..