Chapter 851 - 853 Bridal Gifts (6)
The manor was utterly outlandish, located at the foot of Zixia Mountain on the western suburb of the Capital. Zixia Mountain was a public cemetery that housed countless dead, brewing a very ominous atmosphere. Consequently, no one was willing to lease the manor below the mountain, so the rent charged to tenant farmers was very cheap, not even half of what other manors would cost. Yet, even with such low rates, no one was willing to rent!
When Du Wanying saw all the underhanded dealings hidden in her sister’s bridal gifts, she naturally refused to let the matter rest. Clutching the list of bridal gifts, she angrily went to consult with her father. Her mother was gravely ill and unconscious, utterly unreliable, and her sister was daily seeking ways to end her misery and certainly wouldn’t bother about the extent of the bridal gifts. Thus, Du Wanying could only rely on her father for support!
Seeing the list of his eldest daughter’s bridal gifts, Du Yongzhi also harbored many thoughts about the Second Room, taking the list to consult with Duke An.
Originally feeling guilty towards his granddaughter Du Wanqiu, Du Ruohai became furious upon discovering the disgraceful scenario caused by the Second Room. He summoned the couple from the Second Room and scolded them harshly, not only forcing them to complete the bridal gifts — from the initially thirty-two loads to sixty-four loads — but also determined that each item must be of high quality. Besides, he ordered them to hand over all deeds of the family’s shops and manor lands to the main room, allowing Du Wanqiu to personally select her choice. Furthermore, she was to pick double portions because Du Wanqiu had suffered wrongs for the family’s sake by marrying an eunuch, hence, Du Ruohai intended to compensate her financially.
Lady Wang felt so heartbroken she almost vomited blood, but she dared not defy her father-in-law’s wishes and had to re-arrange Du Wanqiu’s bridal gifts accordingly, sending all the deeds of houses and lands to the main room for Du Wanqiu to choose.
Immersed in anguish, Du Wanqiu paid no attention to this matter. Du Wanying overstepped boundaries on behalf of her sister, selecting the two finest manors and two shops from the mansion to include in her sister’s bridal gifts.
Actually, she would have preferred to keep these for her own future bridal gifts, but she was acutely aware that even if she kept them, they wouldn’t belong to her, for her cousins from the Second Room were a year older than her. Thus, since she couldn’t have them, she thought it better to let her sister take them, also to show outsiders how dignified and affluent their main room was, which could be beneficial when she sought her own marriage prospects!
After being scolded by her father-in-law and having to hand over so many good items to Du Wanqiu, Lady Wang, who already felt like a wimp, saw the best manors and shops taken away by the main room and instantly got so angry that she fell ill and couldn’t get off the Kang.
Those two manors and shops were originally intended for her precious twin daughters, Du Wanyue and Du Wanru, and she had long regarded them as her own property. Having them suddenly taken away, and by the main room she despised so much, how could she swallow this grievance?