The Emperor's Capital 4: Wang's Scheme
Wang's calculation
In the Fang Yi courtyard where the mistress of the Ye household resided, Wang's face was ashen and her expression twisted in anger as she berated Ye Li and Madam Xu. The floor was littered with shattered tea cups and porcelain. Delicate and elegant Ye Ying stood silently to one side, watching her mother vent her rage, a hint of disdain flashing in her eyes.
"Mother, don't get too upset. Sit down and take a rest." Ye Ying said with a worried expression after Wang's anger had subsided.
The Wang family saw their daughter's gentle and beautiful face, and couldn't help but feel a sense of injustice. They pulled Ye Ying and fell to tears, "I have worked hard for this house for so many years, when have I ever wronged her? Now she actually wants to fight with you over that little bit of dowry. Good daughter, if you marry into the Li Wang Fu and don't have enough dowry, not only will you be laughed at, but it will also affect the face of Consort Shao's mother. Am I not thinking about the house? That dead girl actually found someone from the Xu family to come and cause trouble!" Ye Ying's eyes sparkled, and she smiled softly to comfort Wang Shi, "Mother, Lord Li is truly kind to me, he won't mind that our dowry is small. Besides... this time it was indeed unfair to sister, giving her more dowry is only right. If outsiders see it, it will show that you are kind and generous, not neglecting your own daughter, right? Second sister will definitely understand mother's difficulties."
Wang's expression changed, and she thought of Ye Li's similar appearance and demeanor to Xu Shi. Looking at her own daughter, who was forcing herself to endure humiliation, a wicked fire ignited in her heart. She grabbed Ye Ying's hand and patted it, saying: "Don't worry, Mother will not let you be humiliated. Even if I don't care about your dowry, I absolutely cannot let that girl bring so much dowry into our family!" The last sentence already had a tone of gritted teeth.
Ye Ying furrowed her brow in concern, "What does she want to do?"
Wang smiled complacently and said, "You have your own ideas, just prepare the dowry well."
The second daughter of the Ye family is currently the most favored imperial concubine, and now two daughters are to be married off to the emperor's most favored princes. The Ye family is naturally flourishing, and with the news of the marriages spreading, officials and nobles flocked to visit, causing the king and the old lady to be overjoyed. The Ye family was busy preparing for the weddings and dowries of the two daughters, especially focusing on the fourth daughter, Ye Ying. Because the king had said that the fourth daughter's wedding would take place half a month before the third daughter's, they prepared for the fourth daughter first. In reality, the servants in the Ye household knew that the king did not want to prepare a dowry for the third daughter, and whatever good things there were, he would prioritize preparing them for the fourth daughter. Fortunately, the old lady was aware of what was important, although the two princes had different ranks, neither of whom could be offended by the Ye family. The king reluctantly gave out eight estates, twelve shops, and three plots of forest land, and then allocated 10,000 taels of silver from the public funds to ask a relative's wife to help prepare the dowry. He also allocated another 10,000 taels from his own private funds for Ye Ying's dowry, in order to appease the king. The king was not satisfied but did not dare openly argue with the old lady, and could only hand over the deeds and silver tickets given by the old lady before leaving.
The lady who came to prepare the dowry for Ye Lian was Ye Shangshu's paternal aunt. Although her family's master was only a fifth-grade official, not as prominent as the Ye family, she was also a kind-hearted person. Usually, when chatting with her sisters-in-law, she had heard about the three daughters of the Ye family and felt some sympathy for Ye Lian, the eldest daughter of the Ye family. She thought that Ye Lian was just a quiet girl who rarely went out, not as unbearable as outsiders said, and naturally understood that those words were probably spread by Wang Shi. Now, after meeting her, although she didn't seem as beautiful and charming as Ye Lian's second sister or as delicate and lovely as the fourth sister, she had a gentle and elegant temperament, and her speech and behavior were very proper. Especially her calm eyes seemed to be still water, but they always made people feel that there was something different about her compared to other girls. Although she wasn't like the soft and beautiful women that many men liked, she was not inferior to Ye Lian's sisters either. She couldn't help but feel some sympathy for Ye Lian, who had married a sickly and useless prince, and this dowry of 10,000 taels, which was a lot for ordinary families, was not as good as that of the older sisters in the Ye family. Fortunately, the old lady was reasonable and returned the original wife's estate to Ye Lian, otherwise, this matter would have been embarrassing for the Ye family.
Ye Li withdrew the industry left by her mother and was in a good mood, so she didn't bother to care about Old Lady Wang giving Ye Ying 10,000 taels of silver and using a lot of public money to prepare Ye Ying's dowry. Originally, children in the same family have their own favorites, just like how fingers on the hand are not all the same length. The Ye family favored Ye Ying more, but she didn't mind as long as her own dignity wasn't compromised. As for the future, although she didn't think this maternal home could provide much support, they couldn't afford to fall out before she even got married. After spending two days reviewing the accounts of the shops, Ye Li furrowed her brow at the results. Out of 12 shops, 5 were losing money, 4 were breaking even, and only 3 were making a small profit. Eight estates had four that weren't originally theirs; Wang Shi explained that when Consort Shao entered the palace, four estates were given to her as gifts, so they supplemented with four more from the mansion. Ye Li knew without looking what kind of character those four supplemented estates were. If she hadn't brought it up with Old Lady first, perhaps by the time she wanted the estates, all eight would have been replaced.
Early in the morning, after greeting the old lady, Ye Li took Qingfeng out to inspect the shop.
Ye Li rarely goes out, and almost no one in the capital knows her. After walking around this circle, not only did Qingfeng's eyes flash with anger, but even Ye Li herself, who thought she had a good temper, was furious. Among the twelve shops, seven owners were new to their positions just two days before they took over from her and knew nothing about what happened in the shops beforehand. There was also a jewelry store that looked busy, but its account book showed only losses. As for the two profitable shops, the goods were old, the employees were listless, and even the counter had accumulated a lot of dust; it would be strange if anyone came to visit.
"Miss, madam has gone too far! I'll definitely tell old madam and the master when I get back!" Qingfeng said indignantly.
"What's the point of saying that? Her two daughters, one is already a concubine and about to become a consort, the other is going to be the princess of Lei, do you think her father and grandmother will treat her well?" Ye Li looked at Qingfeng with a faint smile. Qingfeng was speechless, resentful and unjust, "Is it just going to end like this? The mistress obviously wants to humiliate Miss. This kind of dowry is no different from not having any at all?"
"Is it embarrassing? I think it's embarrassing if your family's daughter is embarrassed, but I don't feel embarrassed so it's not embarrassing."
Qingfeng blinked her eyes and looked at her mistress with an expectant face. "Is there anything good to pay attention to, miss?"
Ye Li smiled but didn't speak, and walked ahead with Qingfeng. Qingfeng wrinkled her nose, a joyful expression on her face as she followed, "Miss, the last one is just up ahead. Shen De Xuan, it's an antique shop."
