Chapter 21
"These things now belong to the imperial court. If you want to keep them, don't blame me when the Ministry of Revenue comes to take them later." Lin Jitong had never known that Zhou Yutang could be so unreasonable. He felt a twinge of regret in his heart.
After all, looking at so many fine things that were originally his, now they had become someone else's.
The more Lin Jitong thought about it, the more unwilling he became. If he hadn't listened to Zhou Yutang, Li Zhiwei would be his wife by now.
And wouldn't he be able to use Li Zhiwei's dowry as he pleased?
"Cousin, are you regretting it?" Zhou Yutang, who had originally wanted to make a scene with Lin Jitong, asked with a strange feeling when she saw Lin Jitong suddenly fall silent.
"Come on, what are you thinking about? I'll take these things to Father first." Lin Jitong picked up the things and left.
He left Zhou Yutang, who was full of indignation. But at this moment, Zhou Yutang didn't dare to make a scene anymore.
After all, if she really made a scene, it wouldn't do her any good.
"Madam, what should we do now?" Qiu'er walked up to Zhou Yutang discontentedly and asked.
"What should I do? How would I know? Since these things are what the master wants, am I going to go and snatch them back?" Zhou Yutang stood up and pushed Qiu'er away impatiently.
In Mingxiang Courtyard, Madam Zhou frowned tightly as she looked at the things that had been brought back. Although these things had been retrieved, there were still some in Consort Lin's place, and they didn't dare to go and ask for them back.
"Are all the things here?" Lin Qihua asked Madam Zhou impatiently.
He hadn't expected that before the girl even entered the mansion, they had already divided up all the things.
If Li Zhiwei had married into the Lin family, she probably wouldn't have dared to say much.
But now, the girl hadn't even married in, yet these things were going to be confiscated into the national treasury.
These things had to be retrieved. He had boasted in front of the emperor that he would return them all to the imperial court.
"Master, there are still some that haven't been found," Madam Zhou said through gritted teeth.
"Not found? Do you think I'm so easy to deceive?" Lin Qihua stared fixedly at Madam Zhou and asked coldly.
Madam Zhou trembled all over when she heard this. Finally, she murmured, "Master, we also sent betrothal gifts to the Li family. Since her dowry is going to be taken away, shouldn't they return the betrothal gifts to us?"
"Nonsense! Do you want to disgrace me by asking for back the little things we sent?" Lin Qihua said dissatisfiedly.
Madam Zhou fell silent, thinking that the betrothal gifts they had sent to the Li family were not a small amount. Why should they let the Li family have them for free?
"Tell me honestly, where are those things?" Lin Qihua glared at Madam Zhou and asked.
"They're with the imperial concubine," Madam Zhou said in a low voice.
"Idiot!" Lin Qihua was furious. They had sent the things into the palace before even marrying the girl.
The emperor already had a bad impression of them. It would be extremely difficult to go into the palace to ask Lin Lanzhi for the things back.
After all, Lin Lanzhi was just a low - ranking imperial concubine. It wasn't easy for her family to see her.
"Master, what should we do now?" Madam Zhou was really anxious at this moment.
"Humph! If you knew this would happen, what were you doing before?" Lin Qihua flung his sleeves. He was both angry at Madam Zhou's actions but also had nothing much to say.
After all, his daughter had entered the palace and was pregnant. She needed to make some arrangements.
"Take some things from the warehouse to make up for it. If anyone asks, just say that the things were accidentally broken by the servants in the mansion," Lin Qihua instructed.
As soon as Xu Heming returned to the mansion, his son dragged him to the warehouse that was originally filled with Li Zhiwei's dowry.
"Father, what do you see?" Little Xu Qingshi put his hands on his hips and looked at Xu Heming.
"What?" Xu Heming looked at Xu Qingshi in confusion, not knowing what his son was up to this time.
"It was originally full here!" Xu Qingshi thought to himself that no wonder his father didn't have a woman by his side until now.
With such a stupid head, which woman would take a fancy to him? Fortunately, he was careful and had brought a girl back.
It was a pity that as soon as she married his father, she became a pauper.
Thinking that his mother had lost her life after marrying his father, and now the unlucky Li Zhiwei had become a pauper right after marrying his father, it seemed that his father was really unlucky in his marriages.
"Oh," Xu Heming nodded and didn't say anything.
He knew about this. Li Zhiwei's dowry had been donated to the imperial court.
He just didn't expect that Tang Xiuyong had acted so quickly.
"Father, don't you have anything to say?" Xu Qingshi looked up at his father.
"It's okay. I know about this," Xu Heming thought that Xu Qingshi just wanted to tell him that Tang Xiuyong had come to move the things.
"Father, you're not going to be unlucky to your son too, are you? Am I going to be unlucky because of you someday?" Xu Qingshi took a few steps back and asked cautiously.
"???" Xu Heming was full of question marks. Unlucky to his son?
What did that mean?
"Father, look. The step - mother became a pauper on the first day she married you. And my mother died after marrying you. Now, the poor Li Zhiwei has become a pauper right after marrying you. It seems that you're really unlucky in your marriages," Xu Qingshi saw that his father didn't understand, and since they were father and son, he just said it directly.
Xu Heming was at a loss for words when he heard this. He really couldn't refute it.
However, Li Zhiwei's dowry had nothing to do with him. But his wife's death was somewhat related to him.
After all, she had lost her life trying to give birth to a son for him.
"Don't talk nonsense," Xu Heming sighed and said.
"I'm not talking nonsense," Xu Qingshi said dissatisfiedly when he saw his father's expression, knowing that his father wouldn't admit it.
"Li's dowry was donated to the imperial court voluntarily. It has nothing to do with me," Xu Heming didn't know why, but he really minded the thought that it was because of him.
"Father, you'd better go and tell the step - mother. I left two things for her," Xu Qingshi said proudly, pointing to the room behind him.
"What?" Xu Heming was stunned. He didn't expect that this little kid would leave something for someone.
However, he knew that these things were promised by Li Zhiwei to be given to the imperial court. If they weren't given, the emperor might blame Li Zhiwei.
Xu Heming quickly went to look at the things in the room.
He couldn't let the emperor think that he was a man who didn't keep his word. He might as well buy these things on Li Zhiwei's behalf.
"Qingsong, go and get twenty thousand taels of silver notes," Xu Heming said.
"Father, what do you need so much silver for?" Xu Qingshi frowned when he heard this. He knew that usually he only had a hundred taels of silver at most. Twenty thousand taels of silver notes must be a huge amount, right?
"Moyu, take the young master back to Liangxi Courtyard!" Xu Heming took a deep breath and didn't want to deal with this annoying kid.
