allonlinenovel Chapter 161 Dowry
Chapter 161 Dowry
Madam Jiang cried out in poverty: "Grandson-in-law, it's been more than ten years. How can we find all those things? Fang's shops and farms were not doing well and many of them have closed down. How can we get them out?"
Xie Changan sneered: "If you still don't come out, then I'll use the money to pay off the debt."
He said calmly: "Do it!"
The Jinyiwei came in one after another and started moving things.
The female members of the family all screamed and cried, and many of them wanted to run back into their rooms, but were stopped by the Jinyiwei armed with knives.
Any servant or maid who dared to break in or smuggle valuables would be executed on the spot by the Embroidered Uniform Guards without any discrimination.
Blood splattered everywhere, making everyone in the Jiang residence tremble with fear.
Old Madam Jiang sat down on the ground and burst into tears.
"What sin have I committed that I can't even enjoy my old age!"
Xie Changan sneered, isn't it your own fault?
Jiang Xiuyuan looked dejected, slumped in his chair, and said nothing.
At first, Zhao and other female relatives thought that this future brother-in-law was handsome and could not help but steal glances at him. But how could they dare to look at him now?
Under that handsome face that seems to be smiling, there is clearly a devil!
No wonder he is called “evil star”!
The Jinyiwei gradually piled up the things they had moved out in the yard. A group of accountants from the Longmen Trading Company came and were busy registering these items.
The rat "spies" lurking in the Jiang Mansion had already found out all the valuables that the Jiang Mansion people had buried under trees, hidden in walls, cellars, and secret compartments.
Jiang Li drew a "treasure map" based on the locations they reported, and the Jinyiwei followed the map and dug out those things one by one.
When Jiang Fu and others saw that the Jinyiwei dug three feet into the ground and found all their hidden things, they couldn't help but turn pale.
Finally, after calculations by the accountants, it was found that the Jiang family was insolvent. Even if they sold this house to pay off the debts, they still owed Marquis Jing'an about 100,000 taels of silver!
When Madam Jiang heard that the house was also going to be sold to pay off the debt, she burst into tears: "Ari, how can you be so cruel! Are you going to let your elderly grandmother live on the streets?"
Xie Changan smiled slightly, took out a silver note worth one hundred taels and handed it to Jiang Xiuyuan.
"This is the monthly maintenance allowance of one hundred taels promised by our Lord. Father-in-law, take it and find a house to settle your family as soon as possible."
He then said coldly, "We will come back to take over this house in three days."
After the Imperial Guards moved away all the valuable furniture and belongings, the Jiang Mansion suddenly became empty.
The dowries of Zhao, Zhou, Song and others were not touched at all, which also made them feel relieved.
Fortunately, at least I still have something to live on.
When Old Madam Jiang saw her house which looked like a snow cave, her eyes went dark and she really fainted this time.
Zhao had no choice but to assume the responsibilities of a mistress, and arranged to hire a doctor for Old Madam Jiang and take inventory of the remaining items in the house.
Zhao called the housekeeper and asked where the items that were smuggled out of the mansion a few days ago were placed.
The housekeeper's face turned bitter: "The eldest young master's wife didn't know? Sir Xie's Jinyiwei had been waiting outside long ago. Everything that left the mansion must have fallen into their hands a long time ago!"
Zhao's eyes went dark as well. Helplessly, she had to order the housekeeper to find a house quickly.
No matter how miserable and panicked the Jiang family and others were, they still had to move out of this magnificent mansion three days later.
The family of more than one hundred people squeezed into a dilapidated courtyard in the civilian area of the outer city.
Although this courtyard was old and shabby, it was still large enough that the several masters of the Jiang Mansion could each have a courtyard of their own. The rest of the concubines and maids had to squeeze into one courtyard, and they all had complaints.
Zhao said coldly, "I won't stop you from pursuing your career. If you want to leave, take the indenture from me and leave quickly. It just so happens that my family can't support so many people."
None of the concubines dared to say a word, for fear that Zhao would get angry and sell them out.
Jiang Xiuyuan looked at the mottled walls and the bare yard, feeling ashamed and angry.
He studied hard and passed the imperial examination at a young age. He worked hard to climb to the third rank, but he never expected that he would end up in such a situation because of an evil girl!
If Jiang Li knew what he was thinking, he would definitely retort.
Dad, the wealth and glory you have had for the past decade were nothing more than stolen from the Fang family, and now you’ve returned to your original state!
The next day, the Marquis of Jing'an Mansion sent another IOU and asked Jiang Xiuyuan to sign it.
When Jiang Xiuyuan saw it, he remembered that he still owed that evil girl a huge sum of one hundred thousand taels of silver!
He said weakly, "The eldest daughter's dowry is at the mansion, as well as Fang's things."
Manager Liu said respectfully: "In that case, we will come back in three days."
Jiang Xiuyuan called his three sons and asked them to go to Gao's and Yu's mansions to ask for Fang's property.
"If they don't give it to you, go to Jinyiwei to find your brother-in-law, or go to Shuntianfu to find Lord Zhu."
When Jiang Feng heard this, he felt that his family was about to starve to death, yet Jiang Yao and Yu Gongming were still occupying Fang's property and living a life of luxury. This was outrageous!
He immediately took his two younger brothers and headed straight for Gao's house in a heroic and high-spirited manner.
The crowd had watched the good shows at the Jiang Mansion for several days in a row and still were not satisfied. Now that they saw there was more fun to watch, they flocked to the Gao Mansion.
Gao Yisong was afraid of being implicated because of his in-laws' affairs, but he didn't expect that others who were watching the fun would actually see him coming to his doorstep!
His face turned pale: "Call the young lady out!"
With a cold snort, he turned away, leaving Jiang to deal with Jiang Feng and the other two.
Because of Yu's death, Jiang Yao kept the courtyard door closed and cried in her room all day.
She was afraid of being blamed by Jiang, so she did not dare to worship openly and could only burn some paper money secretly in her own yard.
Even the husband Gao Wenxuan felt a hint of blame, complaining that Yu's methods were too vicious, causing him to not dare to get close to them even though he had a sister-in-law like Marquis of Jing'an and a brother-in-law like the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.
Upon hearing that Jiang Feng and the other two were coming to visit, Jiang Yao and Gao Wenxuan hurried to the front yard.
"I wonder what the three brothers have to say?"
Jiang Yao asked anxiously.
"Ayao, father asked you to count the dowry. Have you packed up those things that originally belonged to Fang?"
Jiang Feng said bluntly.
Jiang Yao's face suddenly changed, and she cried, "Brother, what nonsense are you talking about? How could there be anything from Fang Shi in my dowry?"
Jiang Feng sneered, "You think I don't know? Not only Fang's, but also A-Li's dowry will all belong to you, right?"
Jiang and Gao Wenxuan were shocked. Even the dowry of Marquis Jing'an was seized?
If Marquis Jing'an came in person to ask for the dowry, the scene would be quite spectacular!
"Jiang family! Is what Master Jiang said true?"
Jiang's face turned pale.
"Mother, I...how would I know? The dowry was prepared by my family..."
Jiang Yao said in a trembling voice.
Seeing her hesitant look, Jiang almost fell down. This must be true!
"Quick, take out your dowry list!"
Jiang Yao had to go back to her room to get the dowry list.
Jiang Feng snatched it away and compared it one by one with Fang's dowry copied for him by Shuntian Prefecture and the dowry list that Fang prepared for Jiang Li. Almost all of them were Fang and Jiang Li's things!