While Cui Xingzhou was causing havoc at the Duke of Qing’s residence, Miantang was personally brewing a nourishing soup for her sister-in-law.
Recovering from a miscarriage is more taxing than postpartum recovery, requiring extra caution in everything to avoid lifelong health issues. Mama Li fanned herself gently, sighing, “I wonder if the Prince will be able to sort things out.”
Miantang wasn’t worried: “When your Prince takes action, there’s nothing he can’t accomplish. Besides, what the Duchess of Qing did was inhuman. Even if we took this to court, we’d be in the right… Oh, and sister shouldn’t exert herself now. Later, call her maid to organize her dowry list. The Prince can then send people to retrieve it. We won’t let the Duke of Qing’s household take advantage of us in any way!”
Mama Li, being older, had different concerns: “We haven’t informed the Dowager Princess yet. When she learns of this, she’ll surely worry about the young miss…”
Miantang smiled slightly: “My sister is still young; we can’t waste her youth. There are plenty of fine young men in the capital. This time, we must choose someone from a reputable and peaceful household for her. Once we have prospects for the sister’s second marriage, we’ll inform the mother. This way, we’ll spare the old lady from worrying.”
Mama Li marveled at how the Prince and his wife treated such a seemingly earth-shattering event as if it were merely a minor inconvenience. She couldn’t help but feel she was too old to keep up with current customs.
Miantang checked the sand pot and saw the eel stew needed more time. She instructed Mama Li to watch over it, then removed her apron and left the kitchen with Bicao and a few other maids.
As she reached the moon gate connecting the inner and outer courtyards, Miantang saw Lu Yi waiting with two of his brothers. She sent the other maids, except Bicao, to stand at a distance, then approached them and asked, “You weren’t seen yesterday, were you?”
Lu Yi bowed and replied softly, “The back mountain was deserted. We used the alcohol we carried to help the fire spread, burning in the shape of Guanyin. Then we hid nearby. Soon, the temple monks came to extinguish the fire. When they saw the burn marks resembled the Bodhisattva, they were so frightened they immediately knelt and began chanting sutras. By then, we had already left.”
Miantang nodded, “Find some children in the market to create rhymes about how the Duchess of Qing’s mistreatment of her daughter-in-law angered the Bodhisattva, causing this manifestation. Spread the story to tarnish the Duke of Qing’s reputation… Also, many commoners were affected by this incident. In truth, it was because of the fire we set… Give them some silver to compensate for their lost income due to injuries.”
Lu Yi disagreed, “We only set the fire. We didn’t drive carriages into the crowd. Why should we pay? That Sun woman should be held accountable!”
Although Lu Yi was considered the brains among the four brothers, his bandit nature was hard to change, and once he set his mind on something, he was as stubborn as nine mules.
Miantang frowned, “That woman is now a consort in the palace. Asking her for money would be like asking the Emperor to admit fault. I don’t have that ability. Unless you want to go set fire to the palace and see if she’ll pay up?”
Realizing he had angered the boss, Lu Yi quickly agreed to her instructions and left to carry them out.
When Cui Xingzhou returned, he first delivered the divorce papers to his sister, saying the Guo family had agreed.
Cui Fu wasn’t concerned about her dowry; she only feared the Guo family wouldn’t allow Jin’er to stay with her. Seeing the divorce papers stated that Jin’er would remain with her until he was thirteen, she breathed a sigh of relief. Jin’er was the legitimate son of the Duke of Qing’s household and would inherit the title in the future. Naturally, he couldn’t change his surname to Cui. By the age of thirteen, even if she hadn’t divorced Guo Yi, Jin’er would have entered school and left his parents’ side anyway.
Thinking about no longer having to face the Duchess of Qing, Cui Fu felt much lighter.
However, retrieving the dowry proved to be challenging. As Miantang was pregnant and couldn’t go to the Duke’s residence, she sent Mama Li with three stewards to oversee the packing.
When the young miss had married, the Huaiyang Wang household was prosperous. To match the Duke of Qing’s status, the old Prince of Huaiyang had spared no expense in preparing her dowry.
But after marrying into the Duke’s household, Cui Fu discovered that they weren’t as wealthy as her natal family. After all, the old Prince had achieved great military merit, received numerous rewards, and had rich feudal lands, naturally providing more resources than the Duke of Qing’s household, which was living off its past glory.
The Duke of Qing’s household followed a scholarly tradition and didn’t encourage their sons to indulge in external pleasures. So after Guo Yi married, his monthly allowance was limited. However, Guo Yi was naturally sociable and often found himself short of funds when going out with his classmates, which was embarrassing.
Cui Fu couldn’t bear to see her husband in such a state, so she naturally supplemented his expenses. Over time, the Duchess of Qing took this for granted, pretending not to know her son didn’t have enough money and letting Cui Fu cover the shortfall.
Later, when Guo Yi became an official, things improved, but the previous expenses had already created a deficit.
Mama Li sternly went through the list of expenses item by item. The Duchess of Qing, feeling cornered, angrily retorted, “She was particular about her food and clothing, buying the best of everything. Naturally, she spent it on herself. How can she now expect our Duke of Qing’s household to make up for it?”
Mama Li’s face darkened like spilled ink, and she said with a long face, “Our young miss said she won’t bother with the small amounts, considering it charity for a fallen household. But when you celebrated your fiftieth birthday, Madam, you found the furniture in your room lacking and took a fancy to the set of burl wood furniture from our young miss’s dowry, wanting to have a similar set made. But your son’s half-year salary wasn’t enough to buy even one carved bed, so you had to borrow a sum from our young miss to show filial piety. That entire set of burl wood furniture is still in your room, Madam. Don’t you think we should settle this account?”
That money had come from the shops in Cui Fu’s dowry and could be traced. They had evidence to win a lawsuit if they went to court. The Duchess of Qing was so angry her hairpins were shaking. She spat out, “Since she’s no longer my daughter-in-law, I naturally don’t care for her false filial piety. You can go to my room and pack up that shabby furniture. Let the Cui family take it all away!”
Mama Li calmly turned another page and said, “When Master Guo first came to the capital and needed to establish connections, he also borrowed a sum from our young miss. Now that he’s been promoted, but our miss isn’t benefiting from it, this money should be repaid as well.”
Hearing this, the old Duchess couldn’t take it anymore. She said stiffly, “That was an expense they agreed upon as husband and wife. What does it have to do with the Duke’s household?”
Mama Li, following Miantang’s instructions, smiled sarcastically, “This money was spent to secure Master Guo’s promotions. How else could he have established himself in the capital? All the old and young in your Duke’s household have benefited from it. How can you say it has nothing to do with the Duke of Qing’s household?”
The Duchess glared, “Don’t mention these things to me! Whoever spent it, go talk to them!” After all, Guo Yi had already left the capital under the pretext of inspecting the countryside to avoid the situation. She refused to acknowledge anything, wondering what the Cui family could do about it.
Both were from noble households, how could they act so prettily? How shameless to demand every single coin!
Mama Li wasn’t anxious at all. She repeated Miantang’s words verbatim: “If the household is in difficulty, our young miss won’t pressure you. After all, she’s now a woman who has lost her husband’s family and has no support. She might as well throw away her pride and go door to door to the households Master Guo has visited, asking for repayment. I’m sure those lords and officials value their reputation and won’t shamelessly keep a divorced woman’s dowry money. So we’ll be leaving now. While it’s still early, we should be able to visit three to five households…”
Hearing this, the Duchess panicked. If Cui Fu acted so shamelessly, wouldn’t her son offend countless nobles in the capital? How could he still stand in court?
“Stop right there!” the Duchess hurriedly called out to Mama Li, her fish-like eyes rolling in anger. Finally, she gritted her teeth and said, “I’ll pay this sum!”
After counting the banknotes and verifying that the jewelry and other dowry items hadn’t been switched, Mama Li ordered the chests to be carried away.
The long procession filled ten large carts, making its way back to the Huaiyang Wang residence in grand fashion.
Many of the furnishings had been borrowed by Guo Yi to decorate their new home in the capital. Now that everything was being taken back, the halls of the Duke of Qing’s residence looked empty.
Although the Duchess didn’t miss Cui Fu, she was reluctant to part with so many possessions. Watching them being taken away one by one was heartbreaking.
Guo Yi’s newly favored concubine, Yu Rang, seeing her mother-in-law’s distress, approached her sweetly to console her: “Mother, it’s good that they’ve taken everything away. Now you won’t be reminded of that woman and feel upset when you see these things.”
The Duchess, having no other outlet for her anger, turned on Yu Rang: “At least when she married in, she brought chests full of belongings. What about you? Even as a concubine, you should have brought something to make a show. You came in almost empty-handed, bringing nothing but a mouth to feed. How have you helped your husband?”
Now that Cui Fu was gone, the Duchess found her chosen favored concubine lacking. She directed all her bitterness towards this daughter from a concubine of her own family. She was already thinking about finding a more prestigious in-law family than the Cui family, determined to show them that her son would have no trouble finding a good wife!
Yu Rang, suddenly berated, could only kneel and endure the scolding with tears in her eyes.
The servants of the Duke of Qing’s household shook their heads inwardly – no wonder even such a good woman as the young miss couldn’t be kept and had to divorce! With such a mother-in-law, whoever encountered her would be unfortunate!
Having reclaimed her dowry, Cui Fu felt more secure and could focus on her recovery.
Miantang, however, couldn’t rest easy. When Cui Xingzhou returned, he found Miantang poring over several thick ledgers.
Cui Xingzhou approached her, massaging her slender shoulders, and said, “Weren’t you exhausted enough yesterday? What are you straining your eyes over now?”
Miantang pointed to the ledgers and replied, “These are the household staff registers. I need to review them thoroughly… I fear this household may not be entirely clean!”