My stepsister tried to steal the prince's hand in marriage, but little did she know I had been

General Chu pondered for a moment before deciding to trust her for the time being.

"Alright," General Chu said helplessly, "Just say what you want to say."

Wen Shuyao looked at him and said softly, "I hope that my maternal grandfather can grant my father's request... After all these years... my father has also raised me."

Her voice was soft and gentle, and every word she spoke was in support of the Duke of Wen.

Although General Chu was prepared, he was still quite angry.

Wen Shuyao held his hand the whole time; such soft hands and such a tender gesture were something he had never imagined.

He never even held the child born to his daughter, whom he and his wife had doted on for most of their lives, as if the child had grown up in the blink of an eye.

After a moment, General Chu waved his hand and said, "Very well, I'll give you another ten days. Within ten days, you must gather everything on this list!"

"Otherwise..." he sneered a few times, "you can wait to come with me to the Emperor's presence!"

After saying that, General Chu took Wen Shuyao's hand and walked out: "Her maternal grandmother misses her very much, so she will stay in our general's mansion for the next ten days."

Wen Shuyao could only look back every few steps, watching Duke Wen with worry, until she walked out of the gate of Duke Wen's mansion.

After the two left, in front of all the servants, Duke Wen could no longer control his anger and slapped Madam Wen.

This slap left Madam Wen unable to lift her head.

"Look what you've done!" Duke Wen said through gritted teeth. "Let me tell you, if you can't gather everything on this list within ten days... then you can pack your bags and go back to the Zhang family!"

His eyes were filled with rage, a fierce look that Madam Wen had never seen before.

Madam Wen was frightened and hurriedly grabbed his sleeve: "Husband, please let me explain, I'm doing this for the sake of our Duke's mansion..."

"Why would a young woman take so much with her when she gets married?" Madam Wen blurted out in a panic. "A married daughter is like water spilled from a cup. If all this dowry goes with her, what will our Yi'er have left?"

"Yi'er and Yitong are also your children. You must consider them!" Madam Wen's words were earnest and came from the bottom of her heart.

However, Duke Wen found her words laughable.

"The Wen family is vast and powerful, with countless properties inherited from their ancestors. Do you really need to deduct from Wanqing's dowry?" The Wen family sneered repeatedly. "I think you've lost your mind! You don't know what you're saying!"

The reason the Chu family was able to give Chu Wanqing such a large sum of money was because General Chu and his sons fought for the emperor in the north and south, and the emperor bestowed upon them countless treasures.

The Duke of Wen's mansion can only rely on the wealth left by their ancestors, so it is naturally much poorer, but this is in comparison to the Chu family.

Looking across the entire capital, which powerful family dares to rival the Chu family in terms of wealth?

Compared to other prominent families, the Wen family's ancestors had accumulated more wealth than any other family.

"That's Wanqing's dowry," the Duke of Wen said impatiently, his tone sharp. "Our Duke of Wen's mansion isn't so poor that we have to use her dowry!"

"How much of what you said before was true and how much was false?" Duke Wen said angrily. "I have been married to you for more than ten years, and I never thought that you would be such a greedy woman!"

"I'm telling you, whether you steal it or rob it, you absolutely must complete Wanqing's dowry list! Otherwise..."

Duke Wen snorted coldly and left the storeroom directly.

Watching his departing figure, Madam Wen stood there helplessly.

Her face turned pale and then purple, but in the end, she revealed a deep-seated hatred.

It's all Wen Shuyao's fault! That little slut Wen Shuyao actually had this trick up her sleeve!

She harbored resentment in her heart, and only then did Granny Lin dare to step forward to help her up: "Madam, you..."

“Go!” Madam Wen’s heart was bleeding as she said this. “Bring back everything that has been moved from the storeroom over the years.”

The dowry given to Chu Wanqing by the Chu family consisted of many fine items, and she was discerning enough to appreciate their value. Over the years, the items that had been moved out of the dowry are now either displayed in her room or in the rooms of Wen Yitong and Wen Yiyi.

Bringing these things back will make up for a lot of the losses.

“But that cash…” Granny Lin’s voice trembled, “we’ve already lent it all out, and it’s not time to get our principal back yet!”

Madam Wen swept her gaze across her sharply: "These are the kinds of things you can say in public?"

Upon hearing this, Granny Lin immediately lowered her head.

However, Granny Lin's heart was in turmoil, and she was always uneasy.

Madam Wen closed her eyes briefly: "I will make a trip to the palace tomorrow."

Only her older sister can help her with this.

The grandfather and grandson, who had just left the Duke of Wen's mansion, stood facing each other in front of a row of tall horses.

Old Master Chu rubbed his nose in annoyance. In a fit of anger, he wanted to take Wen Shuyao away, but when he got to the door, he realized that he had come in a hurry and had ridden over with his soldiers.

Wen Shuyao looks delicate and frail; she doesn't seem like someone who can ride a horse at all.

However, Wen Shuyao nimbly and skillfully mounted the horse, and apart from her initial stiff movements, there was nothing wrong with her movements.

General Chu looked Wen Shuyao up and down. She was still the same delicate and frail young lady, but her skill in mounting a horse was quite impressive.

"Practice?"

"I learned by watching my second sister and the others ride horses," Wen Shuyao said with a shy smile.

Her words made General Chu's face darken even more.

"They won't even let you ride a horse?" General Chu cursed through gritted teeth. "That vicious woman Zhang! I will definitely..."

“Grandfather, it’s not really her fault.” Wen Shuyao interrupted him softly. “In this mansion, everyone flatters the powerful and bullies the weak. They saw that my mother died early and my father ignored me, so they assumed that I was a helpless and weak person, and naturally they wouldn’t try to please me.”

"How could that be?" General Chu said coldly. "Do you think our Chu family members are dead?"

The power of the Chu family far surpasses that of the Duke of Wen's mansion.

Wen Shuyao lowered her head: "They all think that the Chu family despises me because of my mother, even though I have the blood of the Wen family flowing in my veins."

"After all these years... no one from the Chu family has ever come to see me."

Wen Shuyao's voice was very soft, but loud enough for General Chu to hear clearly.

General Chu's eyes widened in disbelief: "Your maternal grandmother and I have been stationed at the border for many years, and we knew we couldn't be there to help you, so we entrusted this to you..."

Having said that, General Chu dared not say any more.

Wen Shuyao's current figure is not the result of a single day's efforts; it must have been the result of years of hard work and accumulation.

Duke Wen was always good at putting on airs. If he knew that the Chu family was still taking care of Wen Shuyao, he would never have treated her so heartlessly. This shows that... she was the one he entrusted with this responsibility...