TCPCHW Chapter 9 Part 1

The Crown Prince Chases His Wife

Chapter 9             Dowry (1/2)

Qin Yan asked Shen Huai to offer the imperial decree in the Shen family ancestral hall according to the customs, so as not to be cited by the Imperial Censor Bureau on the grounds of disrespecting the imperial family.

It was reported that since Taizi supervised the country, the Imperial Censor had been presenting memorials to Taizi frequently. Taizi seemed to have the attitude of cleaning up the officials of the imperial court.

Qin Yan’s name was also listed on the Qin family genealogy and the imperial decree should have been offered in the Qin Mansion ancestral hall. However, Eunuch Li who issued the decree today made a trip to the Qin Mansion, just to humiliate the Qin Mansion. If she went to the Qin Mansion again with the imperial edict, it would be too much and it was the same anyway.

It was just that no one knew Li Fuquan’s actions today were his own intentions or the intentions of the person on the throne. In any case, she should also accept this affection.

——

Qin Yan had the habit of taking a nap in the afternoon. After getting up, she drank a cup of green tea to refresh herself. Shen Huai came to report as usual.

“There is news from the Duke, he will be in the capital in the next few days.”

“Hmm.” Xiaoguan’s affairs were complicated, and it took a lot of time for her grandfather to hand over to the Ministry of War, but after counting the days, it was indeed time to return to the capital.

“Uncle Huai, how’s the investigation?” Qin Yan suddenly thought of another thing that made her extremely uncomfortable.

“There were mainly four kinds of dowry items for the young lady back then. One is the Xi Garden, which is located next to Qin Mansion. The second is the shops on two streets in the West City and East City of the capital. The third is the two villages in the southern suburbs. And the fourth is the gold, silver, antiques, jewelry, calligraphy, and painting stored in the Xi Garden’s warehouse.”

Shen Huai closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying his best to calm down. Then he said, “Miss, the shopkeepers of all the shops and the heads of the two villages are no longer the people who were originally arranged by the Duke Mansion. After the young lady got married to Prime Minister Qin, she has been using her dowry to supplement the Qin Mansion’s household. Prime Minister Qin arranged for the Qin family to manage the shops and villages. A few years ago, the shops and villages were sold at a low price on the grounds of poor management. And the buyer was Song Mei.”

“What? She used Madam’s money to buy Madam’s shops and villages. They are really shameless!” Shen Ying, who was serving tea next to her, widened her eyes in disbelief and was extremely angry.

“Continue.” Qin Yan sipped the tea quietly, unable to tell any changes on her face.

“Whether the title deed of Xi Garden is still in the name of the young lady is still unclear. But before the young lady got married, the Duke bought several houses adjacent to the Qin Mansion and built the Xi Garden for the young lady with great fanfare. It was a well-known thing. Thinking about it, they won’t dare to be too arrogant and dare to think about Xi Garden.”

“The gold and silver antiques, jewelry, calligraphy, and paintings, including house deeds and land deeds, stored in Xi Garden’s warehouse should have been gone.”

“There was a time when the young lady became interested and made a lot of paintings and calligraphy by herself. She replaced the famous masterpieces hanging in the Qiushui Courtyard of Xi Garden and let me put them in the warehouse. One of them is the painting of watching the moon in the river of spring by Master Yishan. A few days ago, I happened to see this painting hanging in a bookstore as a treasure in West City. I looked at it, and it should be authentic. Maybe it was given away, sold, or pawned. I was unable to find out.”

With a “bang”, Shen Ying put down the teapot in her hand and said angrily, “The warehouse hidden at the bottom of the pond can be opened up and moved up. If it’s not to get the things inside, is it really to protect the collection from moisture? It’s too shameless.”

“Young lady married a bad husband, if at that time…” Shen Huai’s voice choked in his throat.

“The young lady said that these are all dowries left for Master…” Shen Huai looked at Qin Yan.

Qin Yan was sitting in a simple armchair, playing with the red sandalwood bracelet newly sent by Mister Ji. “It’s definitely more troublesome than I thought.”

“Shen Ying, invite Mister Ji into the mansion.” Qin Yan raised her eyes and commanded.

“Mister Ji is already waiting in the reception hall.” Shen Ying replied immediately.

“That’s just right.” Ji Nanfeng always took Qin Yan into consideration, and she never had to worry too much about it.

——

After a while, Ji Nanfeng came in.

“Master.” Ji Nanfeng saluted Qin Yan.

Qin Yan nodded.

Ji Nanfeng turned to Shen Huai and bowed again, “Master*.”

(Master* – Ji Nanfeng address Shen Huai as his teacher)

Shen Huai nodded, “Nanfeng, you are here.”

Back then, Qin Yan brought back Ji Nanfeng and handed him over to Shen Huai. Shen Huai trained him as his successor, then handed him back to Qin Yan. After that, Shen Huai took care of the affairs between Qin Yan and the Duke of Zhenguo. On the other hand, Ji Nanfeng handled Qin Yan’s private property and managed the affairs of the mansion.

“Uncle Huai, after you leave, tell Mister Ji about the situations of my mother’s properties that you found out in every detail.”

“Yes, Master,” Shen Huai replied.

“Mister Ji, no matter the cost, take down the shops that Song Mei runs and other shops in the same business. Let the heads of the trading establishments in various prefectures select competent talents and come to the capital as soon as possible.” Qin Yan’s voice was slightly cold. It was time to arrange Song Mei’s affairs.

“Mister Ji, have you checked Wen Luo, the shopkeeper of the Yu family’s trading establishment in Gu City?” Qin Yan asked Ji Nanfeng.

Ji Nanfeng eloquently explained the information he had investigated, “Wen Luo, a wealthy businessman from Yangzhou, came from the Yu family. As the adopted son of the former head of the Yu family, he has been doing business in the south for many years. He is shrewd with a calm personality and ruthless behavior. At present, he is marginalized by the current head of the Yu family, depressed and unwilling. At one point, he wanted to retire and return to his hometown. Previously, he was tied down to repay the kindness of the Yu family’s upbringing but never had any evil intention. His moral conduct is pretty decent.”

“Does Master want to use him?” Ji Nanfeng asked.

“It can’t be said to use. This person has the ability and ambition, but all he lacks is opportunity. We can let him use our strength to support him and help him make a comeback. There are some things that our people are inconvenient to come forward, so it’s just right to let him do it. This is cooperation.” Qin Yan’s tone was light.

Ji Nanfeng frowned slightly, “Master, it’s a rule set before that the trading establishments do not enter the capital. I’m worried about the imperial family…”

“Today is different from the past. Now I’m the Princess of Zhaoren, I just want to avenge my personal grudge honestly and openly. As early as in Gu City, several groups of people were already investigating us, and we couldn’t continue to hide.” Qin Yan spoke slowly but was really determined.

“Mister Ji, what about the mansion?”

“The Princess Mansion in Xishan has been taken care of by someone. The courtyard reserved for the Princess of Jingyi has also been arranged according to the list given by the Princess. What other arrangements does Master have?”

“Choose a date and move to the mansion. Let’s arrange a housewarming banquet!” Qin Yan remembered Feng Yuyao’s joke.

“Master, are we not going back to Xi Garden anymore? Didn’t that let those people take advantage of it in vain?” Shen Ying was furious.

“Don’t worry, even if they have the ability to take it, it also depends on whether they have the ability to keep it.”

Just play with them.

——

In the early morning of the next day, Taipu Temple read out the scale of the Mulan Horse Farm handed over by Princess of Zhaoren in front of the ministers. There were more than one hundred thousand adult horses, more than fifty thousand foals, countless cattle and sheep, and tens of thousands of camels. Among them, more than ten Ferghana horses had been transported to the Western Suburbs Horse Farm.

The whole court was shocked by the large scale and value of Mulan Horse Farm. And Princess of Zhaoren turned in all of them, which was really a lot of money.

It was only then that the courtier suddenly realized that it was no wonder that she was able to obtain the title of Princess. Before, they felt that a fief of five thousand households was out of regulation, but now they felt ashamed. With such resources, she might not look up to this fief.

After the court, whether it was a civil official or a military general, took turns to congratulate Prime Minister Qin, and they all praised Prime Minister Qin for teaching his daughter well with righteousness.

Prime Minister Qin was speechless. As Qin Yan’s father, he did not know about the horse farm in advance. When a colleague asked about this, he could only ambiguously talk about it.

After the court, Prime Minister Qin found a restaurant, went up to the private room on the second floor by the window, and sat alone.

His eldest daughter was an eye-opener, and she did have that kind of arrogance. Just how much financial and material resources it took to raise this horse farm, the young people today were really incredible. He didn’t think he have that kind of power to do so. Over the years, he had calculated Shen Shiying’s properties, which were also Qin Yan’s dowry. He hoped those things couldn’t get into the eyes of today’s Qin Yan.

Prime Minister Qin had a few drinks in the restaurant. There would be an important morning meeting tomorrow and he didn’t dare to drink freely so as not to get drunk and make mistakes. When it was almost dusk, he got up and returned to the mansion.

Prime Minister Qin dragged his heavy steps as he was already tired. What awaited him in the mansion was his mother’s questioning, Song Mei’s crying, and his daughter’s resentment. Even Ming’er had repeatedly asked about his eldest sister Qin Yan in recent days. As the son of a civil official, he was now enrolled in the Imperial Academy. He actually said how much he admired his eldest sister and hoped that he could become an official with military achievements. Yesterday, the father and son quarreled endlessly and parted on bad terms.

When he came down from the second floor and passed the hall, he heard everyone marvel at the fate of Princess of Zhaoren, and they were all envious.

Along with it, the mother of Princess of Zhaoren, Shen Shiying, the number one beauty in the capital back then, was the white moonlight* in the hearts of many people.

(white moonlight* – refers to the unreachable person in the heart or unforgettable first love)

Yes, including Qin Wenzheng, who met Shen Shiying at the beginning of that year…

He couldn’t think about it anymore, the dead was gone. Prime Minister Qin felt that he was several years old these days and left in a hurry.

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