Lin Wei watched coldly, refusing to admit that she was burning with envy.
How could that old hag of the Marquis of Wuwei’s Estate and the first-wife-in-charge of the second branch, Mrs. Fu, possibly be willing to spare a large sum of betrothal gifts for that wastrel Shao Xun to take a wife?
It was merely superficial posturing done for the sake of the Marquis’s Estate’s reputation!
Carefully calculated, aside from the items strictly required by a Marquis’s status, none of these betrothal gifts were anything good!
Only someone as shortsighted and inexperienced as Lin Yulan would beam with joy. Once she herself became the Duchess of Rongguo, she’d have plenty of time to regret this.
As luck would have it, the Meng family also came to deliver betrothal gifts today. Six chests of betrothal gifts were carried in, and both in terms of quantity and quality, they were thoroughly and far outshone by the Marquis of Wuwei’s Estate. The household servants looked on and praised them admiringly: whoever said the Mistress didn’t care for the Eldest Miss, they would personally step up to argue on the Mistress’s behalf! Such a fine marriage was given entirely to the Eldest Miss—if this wasn’t good, what on earth could be considered good?
The contrast was too heart-piercing, and Lin Wei couldn’t help feeling stifled and aggrieved. No longer able to maintain her calm and breezy demeanor, she glared fiercely at Lin Yulan, turned around, and left, preferring out of sight to out of mind.
Lady Gu, however, could not manage out of sight and out of mind. When her husband told her that all the betrothal gifts sent by the Marquis’s Estate would be given to Lin Yulan as her dowry, and furthermore that seventy percent of the dowry originally prepared for Lin Wei would also be apportioned to Lin Yulan, Lady Gu completely broke down.
“Master! The good things among the betrothal gifts sent by the Marquis’s Estate are not few! According to the rules, even if we kept a small portion, it would be entirely fitting; keeping them for future social favors, gift-giving, or household use would be fine. How can you give all of them to Yulan? The Meng family’s financial situation is poor, so the dowry originally prepared for Wei’er should naturally still remain hers. How can you distribute the lion’s share to Yulan? This is simply too unfair!”
Lin Daohui had originally intended to keep some of the betrothal gifts, but what his eldest daughter said made sense, and furthermore, his eldest daughter had expressed tearful gratitude by kneeling down to kowtow and thank him. As a father, he truly had no face to go back on his word.
“What kind of talk is this? How can the betrothal gifts from the Marquis’s Estate be used for social favors and gift-giving? In case someone recognizes them, where will our dignity go? The threshold of the Marquis’s Estate is high, and we are already marrying upward into this match. If the dowry isn’t decent and bountiful, not only will Yulan have a difficult time, but our family will also become a laughingstock! My wife, take a longer-term view. Once the marital alliance is formed, there will inevitably be benefits in the future. As for Wei’er, the Meng family is an ordinary family after all, and they won’t need much of a dowry.”
“Master!”
“This matter is settled just like this. Handle it properly and don’t try to hoodwink me, or I won’t let it pass.”
With Lin Daohui leaving, Lady Gu smashed a teacup in anger.
Nanny Zhang asked cautiously, “Mistress, are… are we preparing things according to what the Master said?”
“In your dreams!” Lady Gu gritted her teeth, her gaze venomous as she smiled coldly. “He says to give it, so I give it? That little bitch hasn’t had enough of taking advantage? All the benefits are hers? Aren’t she afraid she’ll eat too much and burst to death?”
The moment Lin Yulan opened her own dowry inventory list, she knew Lady Gu had tampered with it.
Though she hadn’t personally inspected the list of betrothal gifts from the Marquis’s Estate, she had kept many of the actual items in mind, yet they were nowhere to be found on the dowry inventory list. She roughly knew how large Lin Wei’s dowry had been in her previous life, so why was the amount on this list so paltry?
That note written in black and white could finally come in handy.
Learning that Lin Yulan was requesting an audience, Lady Gu sneered, “What is she here for? Is she here to gloat in front of me? Hmph, shortsighted trash, let her in!”
“Greetings, Mother.”
“Heh, instead of staying properly in your room preparing for the wedding, what are you doing here again?”
Lin Yulan said gently, “I feel that the dowry inventory list is somewhat incorrect, so I specifically came to ask Mother if there are still items that haven’t been packed and organized properly?”
Lady Gu looked at her with utter astonishment. “Did you swallow bear’s heart and leopard’s gall? You’re asking about this? Go back, your dowry inventory list is entirely correct!”
“But upon careful reflection, I still feel it’s wrong. Father said—”
“Enough! If you have the capability, go file a complaint with your father; go on then!”
Lin Yulan naturally would not go. If she went, while she might seemingly be in the right, she would inevitably leave an impression before her father of disrespecting her legitimate mother, being grasping and aggressive, and acting greedy.
Her father valued such things quite a bit and would be displeased.
Once he was displeased and spoke out, this matter would become irrecoverable.
“Not only did Father say that, didn’t Mother mean the exact same thing? Younger sister told me this.”
Lady Gu, who was about to scold her, froze. “What?”
“Younger sister said Mother told her to inform me that Mother would give me all the betrothal gifts from the Marquis’s Estate and take seventy percent of the dowry originally prepared for her. As for this matter, Younger sister said she had no objections to it either.”
“Nonsense!”
“For fear that I wouldn’t believe it, Younger sister even specially gave me a written note so that I could set my mind at ease. It is written clearly and plainly in black and white, and it also bears Mother’s personal fingerprint seal.”
“Nonsense! I certainly never—”
Lady Gu could not go on.
Because she suddenly recalled that a few days ago, waking up from an afternoon nap, she had found a large patch of red stained on her right thumb. At the time, she had been quite puzzled and had asked Nanny Zhang, Meixiang, and Lanxiang, but they had also been completely clueless.
The matter had been too baffling, and unable to figure it out, she hadn’t dwelled on it.
Could it be—
Lin Yulan smiled. “It seems Mother has remembered.”
Lady Gu trembled with anger. “You…”
“Since Mother promised Daughter, why go back on your word? I won’t show the written note to Mother; if Mother doesn’t believe me, you can ask Younger sister yourself!”
Lin Yulan smiled, curtsied, and withdrew.
Lady Gu panted, exasperatedly telling someone to summon Lin Wei.
Lin Wei had been wilted all over due to being traumatized by the dowry matter. When her mother brought it up, she was startled.
She had originally wanted to muddle through, but realizing she simply couldn’t deny it, she bluntly stated, “That’s right, I wrote that note. I had Mother press her fingerprint while she was asleep. I merely did that to appease Lin Yulan and stop her from making trouble. I don’t care about that petty little bit of dowry anyway; only she treats it like a treasure. Mother, believe me, the marriage into the Marquis’s Estate is just superficial brilliance; Big Brother Meng will definitely have a great future!”
With a crisp “Slap!”, Lady Gu struck Lin Wei across the face, crying out of sheer anger. “How could I… have raised such a… disaster of a child!”
Lin Wei also covered her face and cried. “Mother, why won’t you believe me? Why are you so shortsighted too!”
Crying heavily, Lin Wei ran out. Lady Gu turned pale, collapsing backward onto the couch.
Nanny Zhang hurried forward to smooth her breath. “Mistress…”
Tears streaming down her face, Lady Gu felt her heart turn to ash. “Go. Just do as the Master said, and supplement that dead girl’s dowry.”
“Mistress!”
“Heh! Why should I play the wicked villain in vain? People don’t even appreciate it—they’re generous enough! Didn’t you hear? She doesn’t give a damn about that little bit of wretched dowry! All my fretting and scheming—for whom was it, for whom was I doing it? Today, I won’t bother fretting anymore!”
Lady Gu was truly heartbroken. She had wholeheartedly wished the best for her daughter, scheming and plotting for her, only to have her efforts treated like discarded shoes, not to mention being so cruelly backstabbed.
Why should she bother?
The next day, Nanny Zhang delivered the new dowry inventory list to Lin Yulan. Lin Yulan looked it over, smiled, nodded, and expressed her thanks.
It seemed her legitimate mother’s heart had truly been broken by Lin Wei, restoring the missing portion of the dowry to her so quickly.
Nanny Zhang wore a dark expression. “Eldest Miss, that written note…”