usatvline Chapter 451 Leaving them half of the dowry is not too much
Chapter 451 Leaving them half of the dowry is not too much
"Your humble servant greets Her Majesty the Queen, Your Highness."
Gu Jianchu walked past everyone and went straight to the top seat. After Zhuxi put the cushions on the armchair, she sat down and said, "Everyone, stand up."
"Please sit down." After the queen sat down, she took the hot water bottle that Qiutou handed to her.
Ever since Mu Yao returned to her parents' home, the Shangshu Mansion, which had no subsidy from Mu Yao's dowry, became completely impoverished. In addition, the old lady still needed medicine, and there was almost nothing left of the monthly salary given by the Shangshu. Even the monthly wages of the servants in the mansion were delayed. What's more, it was winter now, and more things were needed, but there was no money to buy them. The winter clothes they wore were still the ones Mu Yao bought for them last year.
You can save up your winter clothes by wearing last year's, but you can't use charcoal fires. You can't get through the winter without them, especially on snowy days.
Although they bought some charcoal, it would not last through the winter, so they generally tried to burn as little as possible. The old lady was still sick, so they had to burn more charcoal in her room. As for others, they could only reduce the amount and try not to burn any charcoal.
It had just snowed yesterday and it was extremely cold, so the only thing they could do in the hall was to use a charcoal brazier. However, the charcoal they burned was of low quality, which was not only pungent but also not very warm. One could feel a chill as soon as they entered the room, so Gu Jianchu did not take off his cloak and just wrapped it tightly around himself.
Because there is no floor heating, the ground is cold when you step on it.
His feet were so cold that his whole body was cold, and Gu Jianchu could only put his feet on the support under the armchair.
I had heard before that the Shangshu Mansion was poor, and today I saw that it was indeed as its reputation was. It couldn't even afford to light a charcoal brazier.
After Gu Jianchu stood up, everyone sat down according to their seniority.
However, only the old lady of the Shangshu Mansion, the Shangshu's wife, the Pingxibo's wife, and the Pingxibo's prince's wife could sit down. The remaining two younger generations could only stand behind the elders.
Wen even hid behind Kong Lin, trying to reduce her presence as much as possible.
Wen's body was trembling slightly. Kong Lin thought she was afraid, so he quietly held Wen's hand with his fingers hidden under his sleeves, giving her enough sense of security. He even deliberately lowered his voice, saying in a voice that only the two of them could hear, "Don't worry, I will protect you."
"The Queen is not the kind of person who will treat her servants casually." Kong Lin didn't know the Queen well, he just wanted to comfort Wen Shi so that she wouldn't be so scared.
Wen just nodded and didn't say anything. She didn't want Kong Lin to talk to her, as this would attract the queen's attention.
Kong Lin wanted to say something, but Wen took Long Lin's hand and shook her head, signaling Kong Lin not to continue.
Only then did Kong Lin turn around and look at the queen again.
Knowing that the queen was afraid of the cold, Yunhe was worried that the room was so cold that the queen would not be able to bear it, so he simply brought two people and moved the charcoal brazier from their carriage into the room and placed it on both sides of Gu Jianchu.
They didn't expect to encounter such a situation. They didn't prepare much charcoal when they left the palace, and they didn't know when the work in the Shangshu Mansion would be over. Yunhe arranged for people from the Imperial City Bureau to go out and buy some red charcoal.
After all, the people from the Imperial City Bureau have good legs and can run faster.
After lighting two charcoal pots, I felt much warmer instantly, but it was still cold.
"I just came here and heard that the Shangshu Mansion was so lively. I just don't know what happened just now that made it so lively?" Gu Jianchu swept his gentle eyes over everyone.
Although Gu Jianchu's tone was gentle, he exuded the majesty of a superior.
Pingxibo had only seen this kind of majesty in the emperor.
I have to sigh, these two people are really a couple.
The temperament of each is exactly the same.
I have never seen any emperor or empress with such a similar temperament. Let alone the emperor and empress, it is rare even for an ordinary couple.
Since the Queen had asked, Pingxi Bo didn't give the old lady of the Shangshu Mansion a chance to speak and went straight to complain, "Nothing happened. It's just that the old lady of the Shangshu Mansion asked us to leave half of the dowry to them after the divorce. The laws of Jin clearly state that after a divorce, a woman's dowry must be taken away. Unless it is a divorce, the husband's family can withhold all of it, or only half can be taken away. We felt that the old lady's statement was unreasonable, so we argued with her, and who knew that the Queen would come over."
"It's indeed unreasonable." Gu Jianchu nodded and took the hot tea handed to him by the maid from the Shangshu Mansion.
The maid also brought over two plates of cakes. The cakes did not look delicate at first glance, which showed that the chef in the mansion was not a very skilled person.
Gu Jianchu casually lifted the lid of the tea and took a look. It was just inferior tea leaves. However, when she saw that the tea that Pingxibo had thrown to the ground and had not had time to clean up was just tea leaves, she knew that the tea served to her by Shangshu Mansion was already good tea.
They don’t even have anything to entertain guests, which shows how poor they are.
After hearing Gu Jianchu's words, the old lady of the Shangshu Mansion panicked. Just as she was about to explain, the wife of the prince beside her reacted very quickly and said sarcastically, "Your Majesty, it's not the old lady of the Shangshu Mansion's fault for saying this. The old lady of the Shangshu Mansion has always believed that it was Mu Yao who pushed the concubine, causing the concubine to miscarry. She wanted to withhold half of Mu Yao's dowry and ask us for compensation. But in fact, this matter was not really done by Mu Yao. She was just a concubine. Even if she could give birth, it would only be a bastard son. It would not threaten the status of our Pingxibo Mansion girls in the slightest."
The Crown Prince's wife deliberately did not give the old lady of the Shangshu Mansion a chance to speak. In this kind of matter, one has to strike first. Whoever speaks first has the final say. If the old lady were to speak, who knows how she would slander their sister-in-law.
They did not wrongly accuse the Shangshu Mansion, they just explained the facts to the Empress.
The old lady in the Shangshu Mansion never had a chance to speak. When she heard them complaining to the Queen, she was so angry that she kept rolling her eyes.
After the Crown Prince's wife finished speaking, the old lady finally had the chance to speak, "Your Majesty, please be wise. What they said is simply untrue. Mu Yao was the one who caused the concubine's miscarriage. Half of the servants in the mansion saw it. It's not too much for me to leave them half of the dowry."
"I came here today to deal with these matters. Old Madam and the Crown Prince's wife, please stand up and talk first." Gu Jianchu turned the jade pendant on his waist and looked at the two of them in a calm voice.
Xie Qingzhi, who was standing by, went to the palace and invited the queen out with great relief. She would never be able to handle these things on her own.
Moreover, the two families blamed each other and both claimed that their maids saw it. Without any other actual evidence, there was no way to deal with it, and the matter still had to rely on the queen.