Chapter 49: Separation (Pink Ticket 180 Plus Update)

  Yu Shiying first mentioned Yu Chuan's marriage in the letter, then listed the fields and houses he planned to divide for Du Zhaochang, and finally asked Mrs. Zhao: "... if there is any objection, you can discuss it with Liu Ye. Elegant words and sentimental talk."

  This matter was entrusted to Dou Shixiang.

  Mrs. Zhao frowned as she held the letter and asked Peng Qinqin: "Do you think what Du Shiying said can be trusted?"

  Dòu Zhāoyě was full of doubts.

  "It's hard to say whether it can be believed or not." Peng said hesitantly, "But if we let Tang Shifu investigate the details of these fields and houses, it will definitely save time compared to our blind exploration."

  Mrs. Zhao nodded and handed a copy of Du Shiying's letter to Peng Yiniang: "You take this to Master Tang."

  Tang Shiyeh received the letter and went to investigate with someone overnight. Zhao TaiTai, on the other hand, spent her days chatting with Duan Zhao or Second Madame, visiting First Madame, or talking with Ji Shi... It didn't seem like she came to discuss Duan Zhao's dowry with the Duan family, but rather as if she were visiting relatives. If someone asked, she would only say "The master has invited people to help with the contract, I don't understand these things, the person is still on the way".

  The property didn't belong to the Dong family, and neither was it related to them by blood. The people of the Dong family were naturally not in a hurry. Taking advantage of Mrs. Zhao's presence as a guest at home, the second lady treated Mrs. Zhao with great enthusiasm. Erniang and San Niang took the opportunity to persuade the second lady to invite a female storyteller to come to their home to tell stories. The second lady received a hint from her son and thought that if Mrs. Zhao also agreed to let Dong Zhaonan stay in the East Mansion, this matter would be easy to handle. Therefore, not only did she invite a female storyteller to tell stories at home, but after a few days, she also invited an opera troupe to perform at home and invited the mistresses of wealthy families from Dingzhen County to come as companions. The people in the house came and went, laughing and chatting, more lively than during the Chinese New Year. This made Wang Yuxue and Pang Shi feel uneasy and worried, not knowing what had happened.

  More than half a month had passed, and there was news from Tang Shiyeh that the several places of Du Shiying's example were extremely good. Especially the houses located on Nanjie Street and Beijie Street in Qingyuan County, with shops facing the street, all connected together, occupying more than half of the two streets, with an annual rent of over 10,000 taels of silver.

  Qingyuan County is the prefectural city of Baoding Prefecture, and Nanjie Street is also the most prosperous main street in Qingyuan County.

  Mrs. Zhao couldn't help but feel emotional: "I knew the Duan family was wealthy, but I didn't think they were this wealthy."

  Mrs. Peng smiled and said, "Thanks to the Wang family this time."

  Mrs. Zhao couldn't help but laugh when she saw the Wang family again.

  The next day, Tang Shiye was introduced to Dou Shibo.

  Dong Shibang took Tang Shiyeye to Dong Dang's place to discuss the dowry for Dong Zhao.

  Dong Dong was ready. He took out a thick stack of paper: "These are for Shou Gu."

  Tang Shiyeye looked and smiled: "The meaning of our family's master is that Miss Biao, as a woman, will not be able to manage these things like oil extraction workshops and bamboo product shops. It would be better to focus on literature and poetry, but also have some land and houses." After finishing speaking, he handed over the list that had been discussed with Mrs. Zhao.

  Dong Dong's face turned gloomy as if it were about to rain, and he gave Dou Shi Bang a cold glance.

  Dou Shi Bang suffered this unprovoked disaster, and couldn't help but pick up the note written by Tang Shifu. Suddenly, he cursed in his heart, "Who reported to the Zhao family? Several places where they counted money were all listed here."

  No wonder Third Uncle glared at him.

  But this really wasn't his doing!

  He was on the verge of tears.

  But also just accompanied by one side continue to simmer.

  The two families dragged on for over ten days, and the Zhao family gave up some of their land. They took over several workshops, and Xi Dong also yielded a few houses, and things were more or less settled like this.

  Mrs. Zhao wrapped up several gold ingots, ten pieces of new-style embroidered silk, and some pearl hairpins to visit Third Aunt: "...... These days have troubled Third Master. In the future, Shougu's affairs will still need to ask Third Aunt for help."

  Looking at the nearly two thousand taels of silver in front of her, Third Aunt's smile couldn't help but increase.

  After leaving Sanfang, Mrs. Zhao went to Er Tai's place.

  "Look, the child is so young and doesn't understand anything. The tiger's kin are brothers, and on the battlefield, fathers and sons are soldiers. In our master's opinion, it would be better to invite the child's uncles and elder brothers to help manage this property."

  The second mistress's eyes lit up.

  The dragon has nine sons, each with different characteristics. The Duan family has people like Duan Shixiong who was named on the golden list at a young age, and also people like Duan Shibang who became a scholar only after passing 40 years old. If they let the Duan family members help Duan Zhao manage his business, it would be a decent job to talk about.

  Can the Zhao family rest assured if they let the Duan family manage things?

  She remembered the "over thirty" clause that had made her so angry she was about to spit blood.

  "I'm afraid it's because the Duan family can't manage properly." The second lady said tactfully, "It would be a waste of Mrs. Zhao's good intentions!"

  "How can it be poorly managed!" Mrs. Zhao laughed, "Now the ones helping with the management are all from the Duan family. Fortunately, Shou Gu got some land, houses and other things, I don't understand business, but I'm very clear about the land. If there's a good harvest year, collect a few more jin, if there's a disaster year, collect a few less jin, it's just that the amount is different, with a term of ten years, the average annual income will also have a number. In my opinion, why not take the average annual income for the past decade as the standard, calculate how much the annual income is, and then use the annual income as the standard in the future? If there's more, let the manager collect it first, and when the harvest is poor, take it out to make up for it. If there are ten consecutive good harvest years, it must be that the Bodhisattva wants to reward his hard work, of course, he will get everything."

  "Ah!" At this point, even Second Mistress Li could no longer remain seated.

  That half of the industry is too big, even if it's a little more, it's not a small amount.

  She called several wives of the rooms to discuss this matter.

  The big wife smiled and listened on the side - Lan Ge couldn't give up his career to help with household chores.

  The three sons are still young and inexperienced, unless Su Shi-Bang secretly takes charge, otherwise they don't have the ability.

  Four houses are in Xinyang, five houses are in Kyoto, and six houses only have a single room.

  It all adds up to one thing: this matter can only be attributed to the second house.

  Ji sighed silently.

  I don't know who came up with this idea?

  That's really awesome!

  Duan Zhao is, after all, a daughter of the Duan family and will continue to live in the Duan household. Even after she gets married, she will still rely on her uncles and brothers from the Duan family for support. The Zhao family has had an unpleasant experience with the Duan family due to the death of Zhao Guqiu and has taken over half of the Duan family's property. Some people in the Duan family have been secretly complaining that the Zhao family is making things difficult for them, and if the second mistress of the Duan family were to say a word, they would immediately withdraw all the managers and accountants who had been assigned to take care of Duan Zhao's dowry, causing chaos on the other side. The Zhao family does not have the ability or manpower to take over those properties in such a short period of time. Now that Madam Zhao has proposed that someone from the Duan family help Duan Zhao manage her property and has offered such generous terms, whoever takes over the management of Duan Zhao's property will be tied to Duan Zhao by a thread and become her most solid supporter in the Duan family. If this person were to come from the second branch of the family, and if the second mistress were to be the matriarch of the Duan family... Duan Zhao's life in the Duan household would become even easier.

  She glanced at the second wife.

  The second lady's eyes flashed with a bright and moving light.

  The Zhao family has indeed come prepared this time!

  Ji smiled and said, "Our sixth uncle just passed the imperial examination this year and is eager to participate in the spring exam. Hui and Zhi still need someone to take care of them, so we won't be involved in this matter."

  The big wife also heard and quickly expressed her attitude: "Tomorrow, Spring Lan's brother will take the stage, and we'll be reading diligently until midnight. We're afraid we have the heart but not the strength."

  Third Madame hesitated for a moment, then said: "We three masters are in charge of the Dou Mansion's property. Not to mention that he is busy every day, even if he wants to avoid suspicion, it's not convenient for him to help Shou Girl manage the property."

  The second lady asked the second wife: "What's your idea?"

  The second lady said, "Eldest brother is with Fifth Uncle in Kyoto, while Second Brother, Third Brother and Fifth Brother are all at home. Can't we choose one from among them?"

  "All right." The second lady said with a smile, "You've made up your mind, come and tell me, I'll also give an explanation to Mrs. Zhao."

  This can also be seen as a reward for Er Tai's support of her son during the Dou Zhao incident.

  The second lady knew it in her heart and after returning home, she called her son and daughter-in-law to discuss this matter.

  Dou Zhao knew about it and chose Dou Xiuchang, his third elder brother.

  In the previous generation, Eldest Brother had always followed Fifth Uncle, and later Fifth Uncle paved the way for Eldest Brother to inherit his title. Second Brother had passed the imperial examination as a jinshi and would not rest on his laurels; Third Brother and Fifth Brother had nothing to do with her, but she remembered that after Third Uncle's death, Third Brother had helped Second Brother manage the miscellaneous affairs of the Duan family, showing that Third Brother was still capable of handling important tasks. Moreover, Third Brother's eldest son, Duan Qijun, was the most promising among those in the "Qi" generation.

  She said while chatting with her aunt: "… Third Aunt scolded Seventh Uncle, saying that he was no better than Zhi Ge'er in reading books."

  Mrs. Zhao immediately remembered it in her heart and sent someone to inquire about Dou Qijun.

  When the second lady asked her aunt to go over and discuss, her aunt chose the third elder brother between the third elder brother and the fifth elder brother: "......Xiu San Ye is older, and he is also the father of several children, so he should be more steady and calm."

  The two wives didn't care; they were all her sons.

  Dou Xiu Chang and his family were overjoyed.

  For those who live on a monthly salary, having an extra income means their children can eat better and dress more decently.

  It's just Duan Dong, and there's no way to oppose it.

  He and Dou Xiu Chang's father, that is, Dou Zhao's second uncle Luo Shi Qi had a very good relationship.

  Dòu Xiùchāng took over Dòu Zhāo's dowry very smoothly, and his aunt also handed the letter of consent to the second lady.

  After finishing all these things, it was already Winter Solstice, and every household ate dumplings.

  The aunt and Dou Xiuchang discussed: "Why don't you also take over the property left to Shougu's mother? Wangshi is about to enter the door, and it's not good for Yu Niang to continue staying in the West House. It's better to take this opportunity to let her enjoy her old age, and her son and daughter-in-law will also be freed from their obligations, which can be considered as serving our family's aunt."

  If it were someone else, they would probably worry that this would lead people to misunderstand that as soon as they took over Su Zhao's industry, they would eliminate dissenting voices. But Su Xiu Chang is the legitimate master of the Su family, so why would he care what those servants say?

  "Go ahead!" he replied carelessly, "One sheep is also let go, two sheep are also let go."

  The aunt invited Yu's mother to come and talk, asking Yu Daqing to hand over the account to Dou Xiuchang in the afternoon.

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