After the replacement marriage, I was forced to fight at home

Four days later, all the prominent members of the Zhou family sat in the main hall of Junyue Residence. Zhou Yiheng and the head of the Zhou family gave way to each other and sat in the main seat.

Looking at the people with different expressions, Zhou Yiheng sighed first, "It is really an unreasonable request to invite everyone here today. Over the years, the princess has been taking care of the household chores, teaching the children, and managing the inner house. Whether it is the affairs of the palace or the affairs of the clan, she has devoted all her heart and soul. I think everyone has no objection."

The clan leader is Zhou Yiheng's uncle, who is in his early seventies. He slipped on the snow in the early spring and has been able to walk for a few days. Hearing Zhou Yiheng say this, he stroked his beard and nodded frequently, "Yes, the princess has been humble and kind over the years, kind-hearted, knowledgeable and reasonable. Not to mention our clan, even the in-laws and the aristocratic families all praise her virtue."

Mrs. Hu stood up and bowed to the clan leader. "I don't deserve such praise from my uncle. I just did my duty. Everything depends on the support and recognition of everyone in the clan. It's not easy to live up to everyone's expectations and disappoint the prince for so many years."

Zhou Yiheng nodded, "In fact, ever since Brother Yu's wife came into the family, the princess told me that Wang's dowry should be handed over to Brother Yu's wife to manage. But at that time, Brother Yu's wife had just come into the family, and Brother Yu had been here for so many years... Well, this is my responsibility. As the saying goes, it is the fault of the father if he does not teach his son well. Let's not talk about these. But no matter how much dowry Wang has, it is all left for Sister Rong and Brother Yu. Even if there is only one or two taels of silver, it must be handed over to them siblings."

Zhou Yingrong let out a "ha" sound, interrupting what Zhou Yiheng was about to say, which made Zhou Yiheng a little angry for a moment, and he looked at Zhou Yingrong with a slightly red face.

Zhou Yingrong didn't look at him, but tilted her head to look at Zhou Yu. Zhou Yiheng looked at Zhou Yu again, only to see Zhou Yu half lying in a chair with a boneless look, playing with a starched snuff bottle in his hand. Perhaps sensing Zhou Yiheng's gaze, Zhou Yu lazily raised his head, and when the father and son's eyes met, Zhou Yiheng saw the mockery in Zhou Yu's eyes.

Seeing Zhou Yiheng about to get angry, Mrs. Hu stood up quickly and said, "Your Highness, please don't mention the past. Fortunately, I have lived up to your trust. Over the years, no matter how your sister's dowry was, I always tried my best to take care of it. I would do my best to get more. I invited everyone here today to be a witness. I will hand over all your sister's dowry account books in a moment. I will remember every book and every entry clearly. In order to explain the confusion between Yingrong and Yu Ge, I have also found some of the people who handled it back then. Then we will understand it together."

Everyone praised Hu for her thoughtfulness. Hu breathed a sigh of relief and put on a modest smile. Her efforts to coax Zhou Yiheng during this period were not in vain. With Zhou Yiheng's opening remarks, Wang's remaining dowry was determined.

Mrs. Luo said in a shrill voice, "Sister-in-law, why are you saying so much? You have worked so hard for so many years but have not received any thanks. Instead, you are suspected everywhere. This is what they call hard work without any thanks."

"Second sister-in-law, what you said makes sense. Whether your effort is appreciated or not depends on the result. If you planted the land for a year, and in autumn the crops were stolen by field mice, what would you say?" Lin slowly scraped the teacup, looking at Luo with a sidelong glance, as if smiling.

Mrs. Luo blushed. She wanted to take advantage of the presence of the prince and the clan leader to help Mrs. Hu gain face and curry favor with her. However, who knew that Mrs. Lin, who was usually taciturn, would show her ability at this moment.

Seeing that Luo was about to retort, the clan leader's wife smiled and said, "In that case, Princess, please quickly take out the account book and give it to them. I heard from the sixth daughter-in-law that you prepared a sumptuous lunch for us."

Mrs. Hu smiled and said, "That's right. It's a rare opportunity for everyone to come and help, and it's also a rare opportunity for our Zhou family to get together. We should at least stay in the palace and have lunch today."

Then, there was another round of compliments and praises.

Zhou Yiheng nodded and said, "Uncle, please go to the study with me and wait for a while. Let them take care of the women's affairs. I will have a couple more drinks with you later."

Zhou Yiheng stood up and made a gesture of invitation to the patriarch, and the men stood up one after another.

Zhou Yu saw Zhou Ming and Zhou Zheng were about to follow him out, so he said loudly, "Don't all leave, at least leave two people to help move the account books." Then he smiled and said, "Thank you, big brother and third brother, for your hard work. When my mother's dowry is collected, I will treat you to a drink. How about it?"

After hearing this, Mrs. Hu went to see Zhou Yiheng. Zhou Yiheng thought about it and nodded, "In that case, it would be good for you two to stay."

After the other men had left, Zhou Yingrong took Meng Wan's hand and stood up. "Where are you going to hand over these account books, Princess? Here, or in the accounting office, or directly in the warehouse to check the actual items? But I'm afraid that the farm and the shop won't be checked today, right?"

Mrs. Hu smiled and said, "Let's go to the accounting office. It's convenient there. As for the farm and shop you mentioned, they're nothing special. I've called the head of the farm and the shopkeeper back and taken their account books. It's a relief for the two of us to go together, so there's no need to go. You two can take a look later. If you like, you can change it. If you don't like it, just use it."

"Okay, sister, let's go. We need to finish the handover as soon as possible. We also need to tell mom."

Hearing this, Mrs. Hu's face changed slightly, but she recovered her composure after a moment. She turned around and supported the clan leader's wife. They all left the upper room and got on the sedan chairs and headed towards the accounting office in the inner courtyard.

Guan Wei's wife, Zhong's wife, and two other accountants stood at the door and respectfully greeted Hu's group. Hu had just gotten off the sedan chair when Zhou Zheng leaned forward and whispered a few words. Hu frowned and glanced at Zhou Yu.

Zhou Yuzheng reached out to support Zhou Yingrong. Zhou Yingrong looked at the mother and daughter who were whispering to each other and smiled slightly, "What did you do again?"

"I didn't do anything. The village head from the farm outside the city accidentally overturned his ox cart on the way here. It has nothing to do with me. The owner of my mother's largest shop almost couldn't find the account book when he came this morning. It has nothing to do with me."

"Wu Hen is really good at this."

"That's right. Everyone thought he couldn't do anything after he was injured. Who are you looking down on?" Zhou Yu proudly helped Zhou Yingrong walk forward, then turned to Meng Wan and said, "Wife, hurry up. Have you found the people I asked you to find?"

"Brother Yu, who do you want your nephew's wife to find?" Lin came over and asked.

"Of course it's the maid who's moving things. Mother left so many things for me and my sister. They've been in the princess's storehouse for so many years. We can't trouble them anymore. After we check the accounts, we'll move everything to our yard. Sister, come and move whatever you want."

Zhou Yingrong smiled slightly, stroking her belly and said, "That's great. I'll have to pick out a few things that suit my taste and give them to your niece as a dowry in the future. Wanjie, how about that?"

Meng Wan stepped forward and said with a smile, "Of course, not to mention my niece's dowry, even the betrothal gifts for my two nephews are enough."

Hu watched the conversations and laughter of several people, and suddenly had a bad feeling in her heart, feeling inexplicably irritated and flustered. Thinking about how Bi'er finally came back two days ago, but told her that she had not seen Zhuang Jing, and only left a note saying that she had gone out for something and would come to Beijing to see Hu in person.

Mrs. Hu was puzzled. After Mrs. Wang passed away, Zhuang Jing left the capital. A few years later, Bier came to her with her handwritten letter, and everything that happened afterwards was communicated by Bier.

For so many years, she had gone to get medicine twice a year without any accidents, except that this time she took a long time and did not get the medicine back. And Zhuang Jing actually said that she wanted to come to Beijing to find her, what was the matter? This made Mrs. Hu lose her direction all of a sudden. She and Zhuang Jing had always been taking what they needed and achieving their own goals. She had a hunch that Zhuang Jing's visit to Beijing this time must be bad news.

Bier didn't see Zhuang Jing, so naturally she didn't take the medicine back. Although other medicines and medicated oils did work, they were not as good as the ones she was used to.

It just so happened that Zhou Zheng just got the news that the village head and the shopkeeper had some minor accidents on their way here, which made Hu even more upset.

The accounting office in the inner house is a three-room building, with the main room in the middle and the east side where the maids keep accounts and take care of things. The room on the west side is locked, and all the accounts of the inner courtyard are kept in it.

Mrs. Hu walked to the door of the west room and smiled apologetically, "The room is small, so there is really no room for so many people. Auntie, who would be more suitable to go in and watch the old woman take it out?"

The clan leader's wife looked at everyone and said, "Brother Yu and Brother Zheng, plus Sister Rong and you and me, how about that?"

Hu nodded. After hearing this, Guan Weijia took out the key from his waist and opened a lock. Mrs. Zhong also stepped forward to open another lock, and the door opened.

There was a wall of mahogany cabinets with grids of different sizes, each with a lock. There were notes on them with the time and the name of the account book written on them. Lime was sprinkled on the corners of the room, and it smelled a bit unpleasant.

Zhou Yingrong took out a handkerchief, covered her mouth and nose, and stepped out, "Sister Wan, come on, it's really choking in here."

Hu turned around. This was the second time Zhou Yingrong had called Meng Wan like this today. Just now, she saw Zhou Yu's attitude towards Meng Wan, and now Zhou Yingrong called her like this again. Was she pretending to be so close for everyone to see, or were they originally so close, and she had only pretended to be so close to herself before?

Thinking that it was becoming increasingly difficult to get news about Qinghe Garden, she had no idea how Zhou Yu and Meng Wan were getting along. However, she had a hunch that since the New Year, the relationship between the two had been getting better and better, and their intimacy and tacit understanding were more like an old couple who had been married for more than ten years.