It has been almost a month since Zhou Caiwei lived in this mansion again, and at first there were people who were worried about her from time to time why her dowry had not been sent, and when the days passed, but they couldn't even see the shadow of a dowry, some people suspected that most of the people who gave the dowry ran away from her orphan girl's dowry, or there was no one to give her a dowry, and the idea left to her by her father had already been swallowed up by the fifth master when he went to Meizhou Zhou's house to help take care of Master Zhou's funeral.

I didn't want to hear that these dozens of big boxes had been delivered to the gate at this time, and many people's hearts were alive again.

Mrs. Tai glanced at everyone and ordered, "Please ask a few masters to accompany that gentleman in!" My wife is a lot older, but I don't have to shy away from him. ”

Obedient and listening, several wives were busy with the young master and young ladies and were about to retire, Du Zhou Caiwei and Mrs. Lu were both stopped by Mrs. Tai, "Wei girl, since it is your makeup, you can stay, and the second wife, also stay behind the screen to listen." ”

After a pillar of incense, I saw the three old men of the Bofu accompany a man in a green shirt and a short beard into the upper room.

These days, Zhou Caiwei has heard people chewing on the root of her tongue in her ears, inquiring about her dowry on the road, and no matter how some rumors spread in this mansion, she just ignored it. In her heart, she never doubted that Uncle Geng would live up to her father's trust, she believed in her father's vision of knowing people and making friends, her father was in Japan, and once said to her that although he had a wide range of friends in his life, he knew that he was only two or three, but everyone could live and die together, and this life was enough!

At this time, seeing that Uncle Geng really came as promised, he was really happy in his heart, and hurriedly stepped forward to salute. Although she has been away from Meizhou for less than two months, she has missed her homeland very much, and seeing Uncle Geng again at this time is like seeing relatives, she only hates that there are too many people sitting in this hall, and she can't talk to Uncle Geng a few more words, so he will finish explaining the matter and go out to the outer courtyard.

Not to mention how Zhou Caiwei reluctantly sent Mr. Geng out of the Hanging Flower Gate, as soon as Mrs. Lu in the second room returned to her main courtyard, her only daughter Yihui greeted her, and after holding a cup of tea for her mother, she asked: "Mother, did that gentleman really give Cousin Zhou a dowry?" ”

Mrs. Lu nodded, seeing her daughter's curiosity, knowing what she wanted to ask more, she deliberately kept her mouth shut, and saw her daughter struggling there for a long time before she blushed and said: "Mother, the child knows that she shouldn't ask like this, but the child just wants to know, how much does Sister Zhou's makeup have?" ”

Mrs. Lu feigned anger and said, "Is this what you should ask as a lady who has not yet come out of the cabinet?" ”

Yi Hui hurriedly said: "Mother, the child knows that he is wrong, there are really a lot of words about Sister Zhou's makeup in the house these days, and the child is a little curious, but he doesn't want to make his mother angry, and the child will not talk so much in the future." ”

Seeing that her daughter was so well-behaved and sensible, and that she was so considerate and filial to her, Mrs. Lu couldn't help but pull her daughter into her arms and comforted: "If you follow the rules, the family of the girl who has not decided to leave the cabinet is not interested in mentioning the dowry, but your father is gone, and my mother wants to accompany you for a long time, and she can't accompany you for a lifetime. ”

Yi Hui snuggled in her mother's arms, only to feel extremely relieved, "Mother wants to mention something to her daughter, daughter must be good to learn from her mother, keep her mother's teachings in mind, and never forget it for the rest of her life!" ”

Mrs. Lu stroked her back and said: "It's not a teaching, my mother just wants to tell you about your cousin's makeup of the Zhou family, even if you don't ask, your mother will tell you, it's really ......."

"What's the matter, mother, is Cousin Zhou's makeup so pitiful or is it really swallowed?" These days, many people in the house have spread it like this.

Mrs. Lu shook her head, "Your uncle of the Zhou family is not an ordinary person, he was a first-class talent of Sanyuan and the first rank back then, thinking that he has been an official in the court for more than ten years, and it must be unusual for him to be a member of the party from official to second-class." Since he entrusted this man to give his daughter's property, he was a reliable one. Your uncle is just Caiwei's daughter, how can he not prepare a beautiful dowry for her? ”

Yi Hui tilted her head and said puzzledly: "I heard that Uncle Zhou handed over most of the family property to the national treasury!" ”

Mrs. Lu sighed and said: "Your Uncle Zhou originally had two sons, but unfortunately when he was a teenager, both of them were gone, and your aunt couldn't afford to be sick because of this, although there is still your cousin Zhou, but the Zhou family has become a household in the end, according to the law, only the daughter's household is to hand over half of the family property to the treasury, and the remaining half will go to his daughter*." Listen to that Mr. Geng said, your Uncle Zhou had already arranged a family property before he left, and the Zhou family had a total of more than 360 hectares of ** land, and your Uncle Zhou not only handed over 350 hectares of fertile land to the national treasury, but also donated 50,000 taels of silver to the national treasury, and calculated that he donated a total of more than 200,000 taels of silver to the imperial court. ”

"The rest of the family property is about more than 80,000 taels, your uncle gave the old lady a heavy gift worth about 10,000 gold, and each room in the house also gave a generous gift, and the four rooms together are only worth 10,000 gold, and the remaining 60,000 taels of family property will be left to your cousin Zhou as a dowry."

Yi Hui couldn't help but exclaim: "I can't imagine that Uncle Zhou's family is so rich, he donated so much land and silver, and Cousin Zhou still has such a rich dowry, if Uncle Zhou doesn't donate so much, wouldn't Cousin Zhou's dowry be even more, well, it's more than 100,000!" Why didn't my uncle leave more property for his cousin? ”

Hearing this, Mrs. Lu nodded on her daughter's forehead again, "If your Uncle Zhou is a long-lived man, he is not afraid to give your cousin more dowry, but now, what is the situation of your cousin?" Both parents died, her brother died early, she was only a helpless orphan girl, if your uncle Zhou left her a dowry of more than 100,000 yuan, it would be like a young child walking in the downtown with a gold ingot in his hand, you see if you can keep it from being taken away? ”

"My cousin is helpless, she lives in our house, who dares to bully her."

Mrs. Lu asked her rhetorically, "What if the people in this house bully her?" deceived her into an orphan girl in the name of her relatives and swallowed all her dowry, who can she find to reason? ”

"This-" Yi Hui still couldn't believe it, "everyone is close to each other, not to mention that our family is not short of money to spend, so why do we want to do such a thing to my cousin and an orphan girl, such a morally unethical thing." ”

Mrs. Lu's eyes were a little complicated, "It seems that my mother protected you too well before, but fortunately, it's not too late to let you know that people's hearts are sinister." What about the closest relatives of flesh and blood, when it really comes to the head of the word, it is a fight between brothers and sisters. Don't say it far away, just say that in our house, your uncle was not born by your grandmother, but just a concubine, but he wanted to rob your father of the title of the eldest son, if they are not born to a mother, so they are not close, but your fourth uncle and fifth uncle are always brothers of the same mother, and now they are not fighting for this title like a black-eyed chicken. Your fifth uncle would even prefer to pass on his eldest son to me as an heir for this title? ”

"What's more, our family looks glamorous and wealthy, but in fact, it's just barely supporting, I've been in charge of the middle feed of the house for so many years, and I still don't understand what the situation is at home now. Mother may as well tell you now, there are a total of 500 hectares of land in our house, of which 400 hectares are meritorious fields, and when the earl's title comes to an end, it will be returned to the treasury, and there are 100 hectares of land left after the ancestors divided the family twice. The annual income in the field is only about 20,000 silver, and then there are five or six shops, and the annual income is 7 or 8,000 taels of silver, but because of the increasing number of teeth in this house, and the regulations of the ancestors, the annual expenses are more than 30,000 silver, and your father has to make up another 7 or 8,000 silver every year to be enough. ”

"But now, whether it is your fourth uncle or your heir, they all have no official position, even if they are officials, they can't be like your father who is a general guarding the coastal defense, and they can get so much silver. I don't know where to make up for the difference of seven or eight thousand taels of silver that I spend every year? is to use the silver deposit in the treasury, but the remaining silver deposit of the ancestor in the treasury is only 70,000 taels, and there are ten brothers and sisters who have not done major things, no matter who is in charge of the family in the future, they will have to be annoyed. ”

"Besides, our family seems to be a big business now, but once the title comes to an end, or those who don't have a title, they don't actually have much property in their hands. If the family is divided now, except for the one room with the title in hand, there is more property, and the other three rooms can only get a quarter of the 100 hectares of ancestral property, plus one or two shops, and the maximum amount of silver in a year will be 2 or 3,000 taels of silver, where can we live such a prosperous life as we do now. ”

"You must know that these rooms in our house, the annual cost of at least five or six thousand taels of silver is enough, your uncle is precisely because he saw through this, and no matter how ugly the matter of fighting with your father that day was, he insisted on brazenly raising the pretense of 'parents are not separated, and they must honor their mother-in-law' to live and die in this mansion. Blame the matter of the dispute on his aunt and your □□ mother, saying that he is dedicated to honoring his mother-in-law, and if your grandmother does not recognize him as a son, she will drive them out, and he will hang himself in front of the gate of this mansion with his family. If it weren't for their shameless bastards, your grandmother would have wanted to separate them from the room. ”

The first time Yi Hui heard her mother tell her about the secrets in the uncle's mansion in such detail, she couldn't help but be a little stunned, and asked for a long time: "Is it because of this that the fourth and fifth uncles want to think of Fang Er's to fight for this title?" ”

Mrs. Lu nodded, "This third-class earl who was awarded by your great-grandfather for merit can be hereditary for the fifth generation, and your father is the third generation, and he can inherit two more generations, which is naturally what everyone wants." In fact, speaking of the earl's fortune, there are not many of them, that is, there are more than 400 hectares of meritorious land, and more than 15,000 taels of silver a year, but your cousin Zhou's dowry is 60,000 taels of silver, can it not make people blush? ”

What's more, her dowry worth 60,000 taels of silver is also a little improper. What your Uncle Zhou left to your cousin was five acres of medium land in Meizhou, and an old house and two houses on Meizhou Street worth a total of 5,000 taels of silver, and a three-entry house in Chang'an City, and 500 acres of wasteland around it, worth 5,000 taels of silver. In addition, your aunt's marriage in the capital, a three-entry courtyard and 300 acres of land in the suburbs of Beijing, is also an industry of 5,000 taels of silver. There is also a silk shop in Beijing, and two rented out storefronts on Zhengyang Street, worth a total of 10,000 taels of silver, these are all purchased property, as well as a few people who marry and those maids, but a small box will contain all the house deeds, land deeds, and body deeds. ”

"The rest is almost all cash silver, and the dozens of boxes sent by Mr. Geng are all boxes of silver ingots worth about 5,000 taels in addition to antique porcelain worth about 5,000 taels, a total of 30,000 taels of silver, of which 10,000 taels are for your cousin when he leaves the cabinet, and 20,000 taels of silver are entrusted to us to help your cousin Zhou buy jewelry, satin clothes, furniture and other things."

"What's wrong with this dowry?" Yihui didn't feel anything wrong after listening to it, she felt that this dowry was quite thoughtful, and she thought of everything, but why did she want to buy such an estate in Chang'an?

"The first thing that is wrong is that your uncle Zhou sent too much cash, and he sent 30,000 taels of cash at once, this cash silver is the easiest to be swallowed privately, if you send something, others want to take it, there is always some inconvenience, if you are recognized one day, it will be a shame and a big loss."

"Maybe Uncle Zhou thinks that if he buys these jewelry and clothes for his cousin in advance, when his cousin leaves the pavilion, they are all old styles, and they are new from time to time, so he sent silver over, please buy them for her when my cousin comes out of the cabinet."

Mrs. Lu shook her head and said: "Then you can also use these 30,000 taels of silver to buy all the Narita production houses, and the silver that is recorded in the account every year will be saved for three or two years, and then it will be enough to buy jewelry, clothing, and furniture for Cai Wei." That Mr. Geng said that these properties of Caiwei, your Uncle Zhou in Chang'an and Meizhou entrusted him to take care of them, and the annual income was used to pay taxes and donate to Meishan Academy, and the acres and shops in Yanjing were entrusted to our house to take care of them, and the more than 3,000 taels of silver that were produced every year were used as fat powder money for your cousin Zhou to spend in the house. How can your grandmother agree, only saying that the house should take care of the shop and the property for her, but the three thousand taels of silver will be saved every year to give her a dowry when Cai Wei leaves the pavilion. ”

"Alas, the old lady is a square person, but I don't know how much of the 30,000 taels of silver will be left when Cai Wei comes out of the pavilion! is her other 30,000 taels of property, but I am afraid that at most half of it can be saved. ”

"Mother, why is that? Aren't these all land deeds and house deeds? How can it be so easy to be swallowed? ”

"My son, you only know that there are land deeds, house deeds, etc., but you do not know that there is also great knowledge in these deeds. It is divided into official deed and private deed, the so-called official deed is to go to the government to deposit a file, although the official deed is to pay ten taxes and one official deed tax silver, but once the land and real estate into the official deed are to change hands, it needs to be confirmed and verified by the government before the transfer. Unlike the private deed, because you haven't been to the government, if the deed is stolen and sold by someone else, then your land and real estate will be someone else's. ”

"When the old lady asked me to help her inspect the deeds because of her dazzle, I took a closer look, and the deeds of the servants who accompanied the marriage and the properties of Meizhou and Chang'an were all entered into the official deeds, that is, here in Kyoto, and the house and land property that your aunt married were also entered into the official deeds. However, these houses and fields do not have much income from silver every year, but the silk shop and the two stores in central Beijing, which are extremely profitable, are not included in the official deed, but only a private deed. Looking at the years on the deed, it seems that your Uncle Zhou has only bought the property for a short time, and I think it is a new purchase and I haven't had time to go to Shuntian Mansion to complete the official deed, if I am looked down upon, I am afraid——"

Yi Hui shook her mother's arm, "Mother, if the third brother attacks the knight, and then he will still be the director of the mother's family, let's protect some Sister Wei?" ”

Mrs. Lu shook her head, "It's your third brother who attacked the lord, but I'm afraid that the power of the head of the council of this uncle is still in the hands of your fifth aunt." I am now a widow, I want to keep filial piety for three years, where is it convenient to show up to preside over family affairs, and socialize the relatives of various families, besides, your fifth aunt is Ming Ge'er's biological mother, and she is the old lady's niece, I am afraid that when I finish the three-year filial piety period, most of the right to give back will not be able to get it back, that is, I want to support more Wei girl, but I am afraid that I am also powerless. ”

"What I can still do now, that is, I try my best to protect you thoroughly, I have long planned your family affairs for you, you and Brother Yu are both aunts and cousins, and they often played together when they were children, and their temperament and temperament are known to each other, and they can be regarded as childhood sweethearts. When I was in my mother's house, I had a very good relationship with your aunt and sister-in-law, and she also liked you very much, and my mother-in-law would not embarrass you after you got married. There is also your dowry, my mother has also calculated it for you, you are the concubine of the Bofu, and the public will give a dowry of 10,000 taels of silver when you get married, and the old lady has promised me that when you leave the cabinet, the public will add another 10,000 taels of silver. ”

Yi Hui vaguely understood in her heart that her grandmother would give her an extra dowry of 10,000 taels of silver, most of which was for the matter of stepping her third brother as the heir. "But mother, if you give me more, the other sisters will ......"

"Don't be afraid, you are the eldest daughter of a serious earl, and you are married to the son of Xing'an, when the time comes, I will ask your aunt to give you a dowry of 30,000 taels of silver, and our house will have to come up with a total of so many dowries. At that time, in addition to the 20,000 silver in the public school, the mother's dowry back then still has 16,000 taels of silver left in the property and things, and the mother only needs to leave ten acres of land for the elderly, and the rest will be given to you. And the silver that your father sent back over the years, I have also saved 20,000 taels of silver, and I have managed a few shops, and I will buy all the remaining silver taels for you into a field of property, and all the deeds will be put on the official deeds, and when the time comes, I will say that I will use the dowry given by your uncle's family to buy you the property. In this way, my son also has a dowry of 50,000 taels, and my mother will see if she can save some more for you to marry in the past three years, and it will not be much worse than Wei Yatou. ”

"Mother!" Yi Hui threw herself into her mother's arms, her heart was moved and a little sad, "Mother, you bother so much for your daughter, your daughter ......"

Mrs. Lu stroked her hair lovingly and said, "Silly child, my mother is just your daughter, my mother doesn't bother about you, who else can I hurt?" ”

Yi Hui raised her little face, "But my mother gave me most of the dowry, and the third brother ...... there."

"Don't worry, I told the old lady that day, I only have one daughter, and most of my dowry will naturally be given to you, as for your third brother, when I die, I will give him all the remaining things behind me, and it is also the mother-son relationship between me and him. Besides, this kid doesn't have a bad heart, and he doesn't look like an accountant who compares these things. ”

Yi Hui didn't speak anymore, just hugged her mother tightly, she rarely saw her father since she was a child, and at this time she felt that her father was gone, that is, they lost the title of earl in the second room, as long as her mother was still by her side, she still didn't have to be afraid of anything as before, every qiē had her mother, and her mother would protect her well, and she would not be hurt by half a point.

"A mother's child is a treasure, this sentence is not false at all!" Yi Hui sighed with emotion in her heart, and couldn't help but think of Cousin Cai Wei, who had no mother and no father, and the sympathy in her heart was even stronger, and after thinking for a long time, she suddenly looked up and asked, "Didn't my mother just say that Uncle Zhou is not an ordinary person?" So since he dared to leave such a rich dowry for his cousin and send so much cash, it is not that he has not thought of a way to preserve it, right? ”

Mrs. Lu praised, "My son is smart! Your Uncle Zhou has indeed thought of a good way to keep your cousin's dowry. ”