The dowry inventory?

Yang Shi’s wooden expression shifted slightly.

Years ago, when the Princess of Huayang married into the Marquis of Changchun’s estate, the wedding procession’s front had reached the marquis estate’s main gate while its tail hadn’t yet entered the city—calling it a ten-li bridal trousseau was no exaggeration.

Back then, she had stood in the crowd watching the noble and beautiful princess worship heaven and earth with the cousin she had long admired. She could only hide her tears in her heart, not daring to let anyone see.

Later, she became the mistress of the marquis estate and finally had the chance to see that thick dowry inventory.

In that moment, what she felt first was not joy, but bitterness.

She was a dependent cousin girl living in the marquis estate with no one to rely on, while the other was a lofty princess. During those years, in her maternal aunt’s subtle favoritism, in the gentle gazes her cousin secretly cast her way, she often forgot the gulf between them.

She thought the other wasn’t superior to her in any way—just happened to have a good birth.

But that dowry inventory ruthlessly mocked her ignorance.

Birth—that was an impassable chasm she could never cross no matter how hard she tried in life.

And then came the satisfaction.

So what if she was lofty and impassable? Now even the dowry inventory had fallen into her hands. That dowry carried from the distant Prince of Zhennan’s estate—in the end, wasn’t it she and her children who enjoyed it?

The position of heir to the Marquis of Changchun belonged to Nan’er, and these inexhaustible gold, silver, and jewels couldn’t be left to benefit the pair of children the Princess of Huayang had left behind.

Through years of covert sabotage, Cousin had finally expelled Xu Xi from the family.

She had succeeded. If not for inexplicably provoking that mad dog of a Miss Luo, how smoothly things would be going now…

Yang Shi knew better than anyone how abundant the dowry the Princess of Huayang had brought was. Therefore, when she heard that Xu Fang had come to make trouble over the dowry, her heart suddenly sank.

“You still remember how much dowry that previous mistress brought, don’t you?”

The gatekeeper woman clicked her tongue: “Of course I remember! When I saw that dowry laid out in the marquis estate’s courtyard, I thought—the Prince of Zhennan’s estate isn’t marrying off a daughter, they’ve simply moved over a golden mountain.”

“Indeed. But everyone knows what state the marquis estate is in now. How much can the eldest young miss take when she marries out? Forget about much—emptying the entire marquis estate probably wouldn’t fill even half the gap…” Sister Xi seemed to have opened her chatterbox. “Dowry inventories are always made in duplicate—one copy stays with the maiden family, one is brought to the husband’s family. When that mistress died, the eldest young mistress was young. The dowry inventory she saw from the marquis before her marriage wasn’t handled casually at all. Who would have thought she’d obtain the complete one from Miss Luo…”

Yang Shi’s eyes tightened.

Miss Luo, Miss Luo again!

That cheap woman was truly a lingering ghost.

The gatekeeper woman was clearly excited by this enormous piece of gossip: “My heavens! If the marquis really has to compensate according to the dowry inventory, selling the entire marquis estate up and down wouldn’t be enough, would it?”

No wonder the money sent over was so little.

Strictly speaking, she shouldn’t get excited over gossip, since if the marquis estate fell on hard times, it wouldn’t benefit her either.

But that was something to consider after hearing the gossip. While listening to gossip, one should have the proper attitude for it.

Besides, she’d gained quite a bit of profit recently. Even if the marquis estate met misfortune in the future, it wouldn’t affect a mere servant woman attending to a cast-off wife. With this money in hand, her latter half of life was secure.

The gatekeeper woman listened to the gossip with full confidence.

“Of course it’s not enough!” Perhaps due to her exclamation, Sister Xi unconsciously raised her voice. “Our marquis estate has an awkward position because of that previous mistress—what major income could there be? All these years of fine clothes and jade food—what do you think it relied on?”

The gatekeeper woman let out a knowing laugh.

Relied on what? Relied on the Princess of Huayang’s dowry, of course. Otherwise, relied on Yang Shi who had eaten, drunk, and lived in the marquis estate since her maiden days?

“If the eldest young mistress refuses to yield, this gap is one the marquis must fill, since the law stipulates it thus. Though the law is mostly for show, now that the eldest young mistress has married out with her husband’s family and the Duke of Ningguo’s estate backing her, the law is no longer for show. Speaking of which, it’s also the eldest young mistress’s good fortune to have obtained that dowry inventory. Otherwise, even with backing, there would be nothing they could do…”

The gatekeeper woman grew anxious: “Aiya, Sister Xi, just tell me quickly how this matter ended.”

Sister Xi lowered her voice: “I heard this secretly—you mustn’t tell anyone.”

The gatekeeper woman nodded repeatedly: “Don’t worry, who would I tell? I’m only attending to one person.”

Sister Xi glanced toward the main hall.

Hidden behind the tree, Yang Shi’s entire body tensed, not daring to make a sound.

Confused these past days, in this moment she was lucid.

Perhaps it was maternal instinct—when her children’s vital interests were at stake, it forced her to be lucid.

“The eldest young mistress said if the eldest young master is restored to the family and granted the title of heir, if the second and third young masters are sent back to the ancestral home, and if the second young miss’s future marriage is decided by her, then she won’t pursue the dowry matter.”

The gatekeeper woman couldn’t help but exclaim: “Such an outrageous thing—would the marquis agree?”

Behind the tree, Yang Shi’s face turned pale as a fierce ghost.

Sister Xi chuckled: “Why wouldn’t he agree?”

The gatekeeper woman still couldn’t believe it: “But the eldest young master was expelled from the family! Restoration might be one thing, but requesting the title of heir—the noble above wouldn’t possibly agree, would he?”

“Times change. Even the Crown Prince has been deposed—who knows if the noble’s attitude toward the eldest young master’s maternal family has changed.”

“True… But let that go. Sending the second and third young masters back to the ancestral home, having the second young miss’s marriage decided by the eldest young mistress—doesn’t that amount to… ruining these three? Would the marquis agree?”

“Previously, the eldest young mistress was dragged along without betrothal until she was quite old, the eldest young master was directly expelled from the family—didn’t the marquis pay no mind then either?” Sister Xi’s tone was full of reflection. “What difference is there?”

Men, in the end, care only about themselves.

“So the marquis agreed?”

Having heard the gossip to its end, the result must be known.

Hiding behind the tree, Yang Shi wanted to know even more.

Her long nails carved mark after mark into the rough tree bark, ruining her delicate nails as well.

Yang Shi didn’t care at all, nor did she feel the pain.

All she cared about was that result.

Had Cousin truly, as Sister Xi said, agreed to ruin her three children?

Nan’er and the others were so outstanding, far beyond what trash like Xu Xi could compare to. How could Cousin bear to—

“He agreed! When I left, the marquis was instructing the steward to go to the clan school to bring back the two young masters. The eldest young mistress was sitting right there in the hall, saying she had to personally watch the two young masters being sent away—”

Yang Shi felt as if a sharp sword had struck her heart, severing her last thread of hope.

Yes, how could he bear not to? Years ago, after strangling the Princess of Huayang, when Cousin suspected Xu Fang had witnessed it, he had even harbored murderous intent toward his young daughter. Compared to that, what did merely sending away his sons and carelessly marrying off his daughter amount to?

The only person Cousin couldn’t bear to part with was himself.

She would fight this ruthless, heartless man to the end!

Yang Shi rushed swiftly toward the courtyard gate.