General, you should rest now; the lady is even more ruthless.

The next day, Jiang Qiqi slept in late, which was unusual for her. When she got up, it took her a while to realize what had happened the day before, looking at the unfamiliar surroundings.

The other side of the bed was empty, with the blankets neatly laid out.

Jiang Qiqi got out of bed and called Xiang'er to come in and wash up.

“Miss, the tenth steward said that we don’t need to wait for the general for meals on weekdays, and we can use the kitchen in the mansion whenever we want. That’s wonderful, Miss.”

Xiang'er was so excited she almost cried, "You finally don't have to eat those dry wild vegetables anymore!"

Jiang Qiqi looked at her master and servant, who were now as thin as skeletal remains, and nodded sincerely: "That's great."

After washing up, Xiang'er tidied the table and set out the breakfast she had prepared.

"How is Zheng Lin'er? Did you apply medicine to her yesterday?"

Her health had only just improved, and she had to stay curled up in the box for so long, which might aggravate her wounds. Therefore, Jiang Qiqi instructed Xiang'er to bring wound medicine to treat her.

Xiang'er nodded: "Miss, you are truly a prophet. Zheng Lin'er did indeed have two open wounds on her back, but there are no other problems."

"Has anyone suspected her?"

Xiang'er shook her head: "Yesterday there were many people and it was chaotic. It seems that the General's Mansion did not notice that we came. I told her as you instructed that she was a maid of the young lady, just like me, and no one suspected anything."

Jiang Qiqi scooped the porridge with a spoon, looking thoughtful.

"By the way, go and wander around the mansion in a bit and find out what kind of people live here."

Jiang Qiqi had never been married, but she had watched those TV dramas. In those dramas, the backyards of high-ranking officials always involved things like faking fainting, pretending to fall, poisoning, and miscarriages.

She had never dabbled in these things before, but she could learn them if needed.

I don't know what's so great about this little patch of land; maybe it's just about saving face?

Xiang'er got excited as she spoke: "Miss, I inquired about this this morning. For now, the only masters in the manor are the General and you. As for the servants, there are more than 20, all living in the backyard and the adjacent courtyard."

Jiang Qiqi remembered that Xiang'er was a native of ancient times and had grown up in the backyard, so she must be more sensitive to these things.

“Miss, I think God has been so good to us. Although the general’s son-in-law is disabled, his official position is higher than that of the master. He is young and there are no women in the household. With you here, you will be the only mistress. Such a husband is hard to find even with a lantern.”

She was extremely satisfied.

“Miss, when you return to your parents’ home in a few days, you must take me with you. I need to go to the ancestral hall to tell Madam this good news. Madam’s spirit in heaven will surely be very happy.”

This was the second time Jiang Qiqi had heard Xiang'er mention Madam, who was the original owner's biological mother.

She said casually, "I'll go with you too. I haven't seen my mother in a long time."

Xiang'er thought for a moment and said, "That's right, Miss. You haven't visited Madam at the ancestral hall since you fell seriously ill and were bedridden last year. You'll have to offer a few more incense sticks then."

She carefully chose her words, afraid of accidentally upsetting the young lady.

"Although Madam left you early, her heart has always been with you. Look, almost all of the dowry we brought into the General's Mansion was prepared by Madam for Miss back then."

"So these dowries were left by my mother."

Jiang Qiqi had always thought that the dowry was prepared by Lord Jiang because he wanted to save face, but she never expected that it was actually arranged in advance by her long-deceased mother.

"Miss, it's normal that you don't know."

"Back then, your wet nurse, Granny Wang, fell seriously ill and didn't have time to tell you anything. She only instructed me to take good care of these dowries, saying that they were the lady's trump card for you. Now that you are married, I suppose the lady has fulfilled another wish."

Xiang'er spoke casually, but Jiang Qiqi sensed something was off: "Where is the dowry? Let's go see in a bit and see what Mother left for me."

After dinner, Jiang Qiqi went with Xiang'er to visit Zheng Lin'er.

Her back wound had reopened, and she was resting on the bed. When she saw her savior arrive, she wanted to get up and bow, but Jiang Qiqi waved her hand to stop her.

"From now on, you can claim to be my maid, named Lin'er. No one will make things difficult for you. Revenge is not something that can be accomplished in a day. Your task now is to recover your health."

"Thank you, Jiang... thank you, Miss."

After leaving Lin'er's room, the two went straight to the storeroom.

The dowry that was moved in yesterday has been neatly packed and piled up in the corner of the storeroom.

"Go and open those boxes."

Jiang Qiqi was a little curious. She had never seen what a dowry looked like in ancient times. Was it stacked silver ingots, or golden and dazzling gold and silver jewelry?

Both of them were dumbfounded when they opened it.

Xiang'er took the items out of the box one by one.

There were ten boxes, the first of which contained a box of old clothes.

The second item was some simply packaged porcelain.

The third one contains several calligraphy and paintings...

The last two boxes contained two old cotton quilts.

Is this a dowry or junk?

The Shen residence is much cleaner now that it's been tidied up.

Xiang'er panicked: "Miss, what, what's going on?" She kept looking through the boxes, tears streaming down her face. "Miss, this can't be the dowry that Madam left for you. What's going on?"

Jiang Qiqi frowned: "Don't rush. Tell me slowly what was in these dowry items before, and where the boxes were kept."

"Yes," Xiang'er said, sobbing as she recounted the story.

"When the servants first took over these dowry items ten years ago, they opened and looked at them once. There were gold ingots, silver, jewelry, house deeds, silk, calligraphy and paintings, ornaments and bedding. After looking at them once, the servants sealed all the boxes with seals, and only went to the storeroom every now and then to see if anyone had touched the seals."

"Do you have the key to the storeroom?"

"This servant doesn't have one. I have to ask the Second Madam to let me borrow it every time. Although the Second Madam is not good to us, she is always very quick to give us the key."

"The storeroom key is in Jiang Chenshi's hands, so she must know that my mother's dowry for me is in the storeroom. When was the last time you went to the storeroom?"

"Ten days ago, I heard Master say that he was going to marry you off to the General of the State, so I went to the storeroom to take another look at these boxes. At that time, the seals were still on the boxes and they were intact."

"But there were no seals when we came in."

"Because the young lady instructed me to put Lin'er in the box, I was afraid it would be strange if only one of them wasn't sealed, so I tore off the others."

"Jiang Chenshi knows that these boxes are my mother's dowry, right?"

"This servant is not sure, but she should know. The Second Madam is familiar with every item in the storeroom."

Jiang Qiqi had heard Xiang'er say that Jiang Chenshi was originally Jiang Qianzhong's concubine, and was only elevated to the position of principal wife after her mother's death.

Jiang Yunruan, the daughter of Jiang Chenshi, was born when she was a concubine, so she was an illegitimate daughter.

The conditions in the mansion were not bad, but she, the eldest daughter of the main wife, lived in the worst house and ate just enough to keep her from starving.

The original owner was already in poor health, and after living under such conditions for more than ten years, he eventually died of illness.

Even without having dealt with her before, Jiang Qiqi could guess what kind of person Jiang Chenshi was.

It goes without saying who ended up with those dowries.

"Don't worry," Jiang Qiqi comforted Xiang'er, who was crying loudly beside her. "The day of returning to the bride's parents' home is in two days. I will make them return everything they shouldn't have taken."