Chapter 12: Opening the Warehouse

The official sedan of the Prefect of Luoyang came to a halt before the gates of the Duke of Wei's manor. Tang Wen, the manager of the front courtyard, stepped forward to welcome the guest into the estate.

"Please forgive the Prefect, Excellency. The Duke has departed for war on imperial orders and has not yet returned. The front courtyard is temporarily managed by this humble servant. Please excuse any improprieties."

"No matter. I have come today on imperial orders. Please trouble the Old Madam of the Duke of Wei and the Madam instead."

Tang Wen's heart skipped a beat. He tested the waters, asking, "This is an imperial matter; how are the female members of the household involved?"

"Manager, you are mistaken. This matter involves the internal household affairs of your noble estate. The ladies manage the household's internal affairs; how could they not have authority?"

"The eldest young lady of your house is benevolent. She has voluntarily donated her entire dowry, as well as that of her late mother, to aid the disaster victims. I have already reported this matter to the Emperor," Yin Wei said, cupping his hands in greeting. "His Majesty has issued an edict commanding the Duke of Wei's manor to cooperate fully and to settle the disaster relief funds as quickly as possible."

As if a thunderclap had exploded beside his ear, Tang Wen felt dizzy. He bit the tip of his tongue hard; the piercing pain brought him a sliver of clarity. "The internal affairs are managed by the Madam. Please wait a moment, Excellency; I shall go and seek her instructions immediately."

With that, he hurried away, leaving Yin Wei alone to leisurely enjoy tea and snacks.

In the back courtyard of the Duke of Wei's manor, the second wife, Lady An, had experienced a massive increase in appetite since her third month of pregnancy. Aside from her two regular meals, fruits, pastries, and soups were delivered to Shengnin Hall without interruption.

After consuming a plate of walnut cakes and two bowls of hen ginseng soup, Lady An was preparing to take her usual midday nap when she heard a flurry of hurried footsteps.

Frowning, Lady An said displeasedly, "What is all this panic about?"

Nanny Zhao ran all the way there, gasping for breath. It took a while before she could speak. "Madam, something terrible has happened!"

Lady An remained indifferent. Since the death of Lady Song, she had been elevated to the position of the official Madam of the Duke of Wei, managing the household's internal affairs. Aside from not having given birth to a son, her life had been exceptionally smooth.

Now that she was pregnant, she had spent a fortune to hire skilled gynecologists to check her pulse and confirm the gender of the child. She was merely waiting for the birth in four months to deliver a son; her only lingering worry had vanished.

Life was going so according to her wishes; what could be terrible?

"Madam, Manager Tang just sent someone to deliver word. He said... he said the eldest young lady has donated all of her and her mother's dowries to the disaster victims!"

"Nonsense! I haven't even finished preparing Ming'er's dowry; how could she have donated anything?" Lady An said with a face full of disdain. "The relief silver for the victims can be scraped together from any province, or they could just send some rotten, moldy grain from the estate's granaries. Whether those victims live or die is their own fate; what does it have to do with the Duke of Wei's manor?"

"Madam, it wasn't Miss Ming'er, it was Tang Zhao! That eldest young lady whom you sent away to the manor, and who later married into the Prince of Xuan's estate!"

Lady An shot Nanny Zhao a displeased glare. "Nanny, just say her name. Is that little wench even worthy of being called the eldest young lady?"

"If she donated it, then so be it. It was her own property after all. Although a married daughter is like spilled water, she is still a daughter of the Duke of Wei's manor. If she has nothing to eat or wear in the future, even if she kneels and begs me, I could still grant her a mouthful of food or a piece of clothing. After all, I am her mother."

The more Lady An spoke, the more satisfied she became, as if she could already see Tang Zhao dressed in rags, yellow-faced and emaciated, kneeling at her feet like a dog, begging for a scrap of food.

Seeing that her mistress was missing the point, Nanny Zhao broke into a sweat from anxiety. "Madam! Tang Zhao didn't just donate her own dowry—she donated Lady Song's as well!"

"!" Lady An snapped out of her fantasy and cursed, "That little wench is doing this intentionally to spite me! She says she'll donate it, but I, her Madam, do not consent. She cannot donate it!"

Does she truly think her wings have grown just because she is married?

In her dreams!

"Your words show that you truly lack any sense of propriety," an old, stern voice suddenly rang out. "If you had read more books, understood the law, and possessed even a modicum of vision, you would never utter such ridiculous words that invite public ridicule!"

Startled, Lady An clutched her protruding belly and bowed to the newcomer, feeling immensely wronged. "Old Madam, your words are too harsh. How could your daughter-in-law lack vision? It is that little wen—" Under the Old Madam's piercing gaze, Lady An corrected herself, "It is Tang Zhao who has overstepped. It is one thing to put on airs with her own things, but she is trying to act grand using the property of our Duke of Wei's manor."

"The property of the Duke of Wei's manor?" the Old Madam countered. "Since when did a woman's dowry become the property of her husband's family?"

Lady An froze. When she was seven or eight, her family's fortunes had declined. To rebuild the family business, her parents and brothers had focused on sending the sisters into wealthy households as concubines, hoping to use those connections to help their brothers.

Consequently, from a young age, she had learned the rules of being a concubine. Her mother had daily emphasized to her sisters-in-law that once a woman married, all her dowry and assets belonged to her husband's family!

Was it not so?

Looking at Lady An's bewildered expression, the Old Madam felt a pang of regret. In her attempt to help her younger brother, she had first taken her niece as a concubine and then forcibly elevated the concubine to the position of primary wife, resulting in a high-ranking Duchess who possessed no sense of the bigger picture.

Looking at Lady An's visibly swollen belly, the Old Madam suppressed her fury. "You need not concern yourself with this matter. I will handle it myself. Focus on nurturing your pregnancy."

"Aunt!" Lady An was terrified, but the Old Madam ignored her and led her entourage grandly toward the front courtyard.

A moment later, word came that the Old Madam had ordered the household keys to be taken away.

Lady An felt as if struck by lightning. "What did I say wrong? I am carrying the heir to the Duke's manor, yet Aunt slaps my face like this!"

Nanny Zhao was a highly paid governess brought in by the An family, and her perspective far exceeded Lady An's. She began to break down the situation for her.

Lady An gradually stopped crying and asked fearfully, "Then what should we do? I have been subsidizing my maiden family for years and have taken much of Lady Song's dowry. If the government discovers the shortage, what will happen?"

Nanny Zhao was also filled with dread. She had helped the Madam devise schemes to take assets from the Duke of Wei's manor to support the An family. Trinkets and silver could be replaced, but the farms and shops they had sent...

Nanny Zhao murmured, "I only hope the government does not have a record of the dowry inventory."

***

In the main hall of the front courtyard of the Duke of Wei's manor.

Yin Wei produced the dowry inventory. "Old Madam, please look. This is the property donated by your eldest young lady on behalf of her mother. It is clearly documented in black and white. I shall not take a single cent more, but I cannot accept a single cent less."

"After all, hundreds of thousands of disaster victims are waiting for this money."

The Old Madam of the Duke of Wei fiddled with her prayer beads. "The Excellency is correct. However, as much time has passed, the number of damaged or discarded items is countless. It may require a great deal of effort."

"The Old Madam is quite right. Therefore, I have specifically reported this to His Majesty and requested personnel from the Ministry of Revenue and the Five Cities Military Command to assist. I ask for the cooperation of the Old Madam and the Duke's manor."

"His Majesty has decreed that in the face of this disaster, the Duke of Wei's manor must cooperate."

Tang Wen entered to report, "Old Madam, Excellency Yin, the officials from the Ministry of Revenue and the Five Cities Military Command have arrived."

The Old Madam's hand stopped moving the beads. "Manager Tang, open the storehouses and invite the officials into the manor."