Chapter 98 - Wailing

“I must retrieve the bracelet that I gave to Chen Xueling. Who knows how much silver I’d have to spend in order to buy another one? The enamel furnace box and red sandalwood wood embedded ruyi that I gifted to Madam Liang as well…” Madam Zhou glanced at the list of dowry items that Old Lord Pan gave, anxiously pacing around the room. She almost shrieked out loud.

A decade! It had been a decade since Shen Ziqiao had cut off ties with Pan Family. Who knew that Old Lord Pan would intervene and get back the dowry for that stupid girl? She already gifted some items to people. Why would she still have them now?

Where was she going to retrieve these items?! There were many antiques that couldn’t be bought.

“Why don’t we go discuss this with the old madam?” The mama by her side asked.

Speaking of Old Madam Shen, Madam Zhou was even angrier. “That old woman has already fallen sick. The girl was clearly slashing her heart by asking her to give back those items. You think that she’d help to subsidize us with her secret stash of money? Don’t even think about it.”

“Then what should we do? There’s no way we can retrieve these items back.”

Madam Zhou clenched her teeth and glanced at the list of items. She felt that the thin piece of paper was like a hot potato. “I’ll go ask the Old Madam.”

Speaking of, the Old Madam took many of the items of the list. Even if they were to compensate for this, she shouldn’t be the one to pay for everything.

Damned Old Lord Pan! Damned Shen Ziqiao!

Madam Zhou arrived at De’an Courtyard in protest. After Old Madam Shen saw the list, she felt her heart aching and she couldn’t stand up. She laid limp on the bed and kept on shouting, “my silvers, my silvers!”

Mama Li comforted her by the side.

“Mother, what’s the matter?” Madam Zhou placed away the displeasure on her face and walked to the bed, asking worriedly.

These were all Pan Madam’s items. If it weren’t for the old woman insisting that it was fine, she wouldn’t have exchanged Pan Madam’s things for silvers.

For the past years, she had been spending silvers like running water. She didn’t know to restrain herself. Thinking of needing to control herself and giving up her silvers, she wanted to spit a mouthful of blood on the old woman’s face.

“She wants to force me to die! She might as well stab me with a knife!” Old Madam Shen started weeping from anger. It was already hers, and now she has to give them all up. She’d rather die.

Impatience flickered through Madam Zhou’s eyes. “Mother, these aren’t ours from the start. Since Old Lord Pan personally came over, it’s not like we can just keep claiming the dowry as ours, right?”

“I refuse. What can they do about it?” Old Madam Shen exclaimed.

Only she was able to say such shameless words!

Madam Zhou replied, “If we want the Shen Family to be inferior to the other families in the capital and become the laughingstock, we don’t need to give the dowry back.”

Old Madam Shen felt her heart aching even more.

“Mother, I want to count the items in the storage room.There are quite a few things missing. In the past, you had taken two four-sided mirrors and a collection of rainbow lotus flower porcelain bowls to give to other people. We’re also missing twelve furong white jaded cups and eight white jade chawan. You gave them to the Second Lord’s superiors… What should we do about all of this?” Madam Zhou held the list and asked.

Old Madam Shen shifted her gaze and didn’t even bother to look. “Do as you see fit.”

So she wasn’t planning on compensating for these items?

Madam Zhou was furious and criticized in her heart: old evil woman!

“Okay, then I’ll tell the Lord that we spent half of the dowry which is why we couldn’t give them back. I hope that he can be more understanding and not argue with our Shen Family.” Madam Zhou said coldly.

Outsiders knew that Old Madam Shen managed the items left by Pan Madam. Now that the items have been embezzled, what would people think of Shen Family? Who dared to marry Shen Family’s ladies in the future? The Old Madam was already old enough to the point where she may die any day now. However, the ladies were still very young.

If news of this spread, her social circle in the capital would be done for. Even if she wasn’t the main culprit, the Old Madam was her maiden family’s aunt and also her mother-in-law. Who would show her respect in the future anymore?

The more Madam Zhou thought about it, the more angry she was. “I think that he won’t argue with you. After all, you’re just spending your daughter-in-law and granddaughter’s silvers…”

Old Madam Shen tossed a soft pillow at Madam Zhou. “What do you mean by that? Didn’t the items go to the second household? You will be in charge of filling up whatever items are missing from the list.”

“Then I may as well repay them with my life.” Madam Zhou shook with fury. She just took some antiques and jewelry, and spent most of them on her husband’s superiors. Now that she was told to repay them with silvers, where was she going to get the money from?

“Mother, if you want the Lord and Second Lord to lose their futures, just keep holding onto the silvers.” After that, Madam Zhou walked out without even looking back.

Old Madam Shen’s expression changed and she started wailing out loud.

   ……

At the lounge of Qiao Xin Courtyard, Old Lord Pan was sipping from the enamel chawan slowly. The fragrance of the tea overflowed within the air and he nodded in satisfaction.

“Grandfather, are you hungry? I’ll have someone cook a few dishes?” Shen Ziqiao moved over eagerly and kissed up, asking.

Ever since Old Lord Pan took out the list of dowry items and saw that the old woman also fainted from anger, Shen Ziqiao felt as if she was in the clouds, feeling arrogant and proud. She almost laughed out loud.

Old Lord Pan glanced at her and exclaimed moodily, “Look at you. You can’t even get back your mother’s items. You’re lacking compared to your mother.”

“Yes, yes. I am very useless. Grandfather, you’re amazing.” Shen Ziqiao hurriedly nodded. She was insignificant in the Shen Family and couldn’t compare to that old woman’s power accumulated from the past decade. She didn’t dare to fall out with them because she was scared that Pan Family won’t back her up.

She had a determined heart and was independent. However, she wasn’t allowed to reveal this given the morals of the time.

Shen Zikai was watching by the side and laughed, shaking his head pampering. He said to Old Lord Pan, “Grandfather, don’t blame Jiao Jiao. It’s been very hard on her.”

“How is the woman that your father is going to marry?” Old Lord Pan naturally wouldn’t really bicker with Shen Ziqiao. He was more concerned with the woman that was going to become his grandchildren’s stepmother.

Shen Ziqiao pursed her lips. “That woman… looks very similar to my mother. She is already trying to beat me down although she hasn’t married into the family. Grandfather, she’s a superficial woman with her eyes above her head.”

Old Lord Pan chuckled, feeling as if Shen Ziqiao was just saying this moodily and didn’t mean it. He wanted to hear Shen Zikai’s words.

“She’s not a good match for father. He was forced.” Shen Zikai sighed.

“You’re going to the northwest next month?” Old Lord Pan slowly scraped the cover of the tea against the tea cup, looking at Shen Ziqiao meaningfully.

Shen Zikai nodded solemnly. He was just worried that no one would support Jiao Jiao in the Shen Family once he went to the northwest and might be bullied.

Old Lord Pan hummed in agreement, placing the tea cup down. He smiled at Shen Ziqiao. “You wrote that letter to me?”

Shen Ziqiao wrote a letter to Old Lord Pan not long after returning from the village. She admitted to being too young and ignorant, not realizing her mistakes from the past. She hoped to gain her grandfather’s forgiveness.

She listened to the Lord’s question and hastily nodded. “I wrote it. Grandfather, I didn’t treat uncle and aunt nicely in the past. It’s my fault. I was also silly and foolish, but I am sensible now.”

Old Lord Pan laughed out loud. “Foolish girl. You are gullible and believe in anything anyone says. Do you remember how old you were back then? Could you possibly have been able to distinguish between right and wrong?”

Back then, his son and daughter-in-law weren’t that good either. They clearly wanted his daughter’s dowry back and didn’t really care for their niece. Later on, he talked to Old Madam Shen about raising Shen Ziqiao in the Pan Family, but they rejected him.

Plus, Shen Ziqiao never contacted him, so he thought she had been living well. If he hadn’t received her letter, he really didn’t know that Old Madam Shen was contemptible. Kai’er wasn’t at home that much either, so it was inevitable that he neglected his sister.

Thankfully, Jiao Jiao was sensible now.

“Grandfather, will they really give my mother’s things back to me?” Shen Ziqiao was scared that the old woman would find another excuse to keep the dowry.

Old Lord Pan wasn’t worried at all. “Even if she doesn’t want to, she has to. Learn after your mother. It’s one thing to be filial, but your grandmother is clearly in the wrong. You just need to snatch your things back. Are you scared of being kicked out of the Shen Family? Why should you care about the Shen Family? Once this is over, you’re coming back to the Pan Family with me!”

Shen Ziqiao was delighted. She had been waiting for this.

“Grandfather, you’re really my grandfather.” Shen Ziqiao exclaimed, feeling gratified.

This caused Old Lord Pan and Shen Zikai to laugh out loud.

When Lady Meng and the rest heard that Old Lord Pan was here, they all wanted to come and pay respects, feeling emotional. Right now, they were outside the door and they heard Old Lord Pan’s loud laugh. They couldn’t help but tear up.

That’s great! That’s really great! The Lord will protect Third Miss in the future and no one would dare to bully her anymore. Even if she gets a stepmother, Third Miss wouldn’t need to be afraid.

While laughter filled the room, the Old Madam was still howling and bawling in De’an Courtyard. Mama Li had no choice but to seek Shen Xiao.

Shen Xiao was shocked after hearing that half of Pan Madam’s dowry was gone.

Not only didn’t Old Madam Shen feel guilty, she even cursed out Pan Madam for harboring evil intentions and even scolded Shen Ziqiao for being unfilial. She was joining forces with the Pan Family to force her to a dead end.

“Mother, those were the dowries left by the Pan Madam for Jiao Jiao in the first place. How… how can you personally just take them without permission?” Shen Xiao was furious inside, questioning and suppressing his feelings.

“Since she married into the Shen Family, that belongs to the family!” Old Madam Shen shouted.

Shen Xiao stood up and angrily walked around the room, his face turning purple. “Mother, what were you thinking? Is the Shen Family lacking in anything? Why do you have to covet after Pan Family’s things? Those are the remnants left for Jiao Jiao. You clearly don’t want Pan Madam to die a peaceful death or do you want the Shen Family to become the laughing stock of the capital? Everyone has already been commenting on this. Can you not add oil to the fire?”

This was the first time Old Madam Shen was scolded by her own son. She froze and even stopped bawling, glaring at Shen Xiao in shock.

“I’ll tell Jiao Jiao that the items lacking from the list will be made up for. I’ll repay her through silvers from Shen Family’s account. I’ll make sure she gets everything back.” Shen Xiao said, determined.

“She is our Shen Family’s daughter…” What’s wrong with using her things?

Before Old Madam Shen could finish talking, Shen Xiao said sternly, “Our Shen Family isn’t poor.”

Old Madam almost fainted.