The cousin's family is extremely wealthy; she deserves to be a concubine.

"Yes, Lady Hou is willing to go to great lengths for my niece, Hua, and we common folk have no reason not to be grateful."

"Then I'll continue. The second option is to respect Rong's preferences and choose the weaver's son as her heir. However, the child is still young, so whether he lives with Rong in the Marquis's mansion or continues to stay with his biological father depends on Rong's decision."

"There's another thing. What Rong'er has always been worried about is adopting a son. She's worried that the adopted son's biological parents will take the opportunity to seize Rong'er's family business."

Before I came, I discussed it carefully with the clan chief, and this matter is easy to handle.

When the adopted son is chosen, the family property left by Rong's father will be divided in two, with each of you siblings keeping half.

Before Rongyatou got married, whether she handed over her business to her brothers or managed it herself was none of the clan's business.

What do you think of this approach, Rong'er?

What else could Hua Sirong say? She had a well-thought-out plan.

She has already given a portion of her family fortune to the clan, and now she wants to adopt someone into her family so that she can openly take the other half away from her.

As expected of the Hua family of Xishan, who started their business, this is not all. If she chooses to adopt the son of the Weaver Girl's family, the child is still young. She does not want the family business to fall into the hands of his stepmother and stepfather, so she will have to raise the child with her.

But where is she now? At the Marquis's residence.

That boy grew up in the Marquis's mansion, but his roots are in the Hua family of Xishan. He is not only the link between the entire Hua clan and the Marquis's mansion, but he may also receive great fortune in the future and give back to his clan.

The clan chief and the others all wished they had a baby of such suitable seniority in their own family, so that they could send him to Hua Sirong.

But what they didn't know was that Hua Sirong had been heartbroken by them and was wary of everyone, let alone her aunt and maternal relatives in the capital whom she had never met. She had already found a good place to put her family's wealth.

She said in a helpless tone, "The clan is making such plans for my family. I, a weak woman, should not have spoken out against it."

However, the matter of adopting a son is certainly possible. I must thank my uncles and elders in the clan for their generosity in giving up their own sons.

The only problem right now is that, regardless of whether the adopted son is the elder or younger brother, they will only receive the Hua family's old house and a few acres of fertile land; they will lose all other shops, estates, and silver.

Before she could finish speaking, the clan chief's younger brother and eldest cousin became restless. "Rong girl, what do you mean by this? Do you want to gain a brother for free without considering the bond between siblings?"

You're going to keep all the wealth your father left you, leaving your brother with just a dilapidated house?

You live a life of luxury while your brother suffers poverty and toils in the fields.

Your second uncle gave you away as a concubine, and you blamed the clan for ignoring you. But look at your own words and actions—where have you ever put the clan first?

"It really proves the saying that once a daughter is married, she's like water spilled from a bowl. It'll be several more years before you get married, and you're already putting all your family's wealth into your future husband's family. How wonderful, how wonderful!"

The uncle was furious. He felt that he had come with sincerity to resolve the issue for the sake of the Marquis's Mansion and the Shen family. However, Hua Sirong, a mere girl, was short-sighted and relied on the power of the Marquis's Mansion to disregard her father's clan.

Lady Hou remained silent, her brows slightly furrowed. Rong-jie'er had indeed spoken inappropriately about this matter.

Those who come from the Merchants' Home are too focused on money.

She had originally intended to arrange a suitable marriage for her niece in the future, out of consideration for her deceased third sister and without any conflict of interest with her family.

But with this woman so tainted by money, was she supposed to find her a husband among a group of merchants? That would only tarnish the reputation of the Muqing Marquis's mansion.

Seeing that both her paternal and maternal clans were dissatisfied with her, Hua Sirong cracked her knuckles and calmly added, "Uncle is wrong. It's not that I'm unwilling to share my wealth with my future brothers, it's just that my family really doesn't have much wealth left."

All that's left is the old house, the fertile field next to the sacrificial field, and the little bit of silver I have left.

Surely my uncle can't just rob me of the several thousand taels of silver I have on me, can he?

My niece is staying temporarily at the Marquis's residence, which will inevitably incur expenses. It's not good to trouble your aunt with everything, don't you think?

Seeing that Hua Sirong wasn't joking, the clan chief's younger brother asked in a trembling voice, "Is the family fortune your father left behind really only what you're talking about?"

Seeing Hua Sirong's expression, he disregarded his pride and the watchful eyes of the Lady Hou beside him, and relentlessly pressed on, "Before we came, we already knew that you had converted all the shops, estates and fields in your home that could be exchanged for silver into cash, and the prices were extremely low."

Let's not talk about that for now. I just want to ask one question: where's the money?

Hua Sirong was infuriating. She lowered her head, her lips curving slightly, and said, "That's all."

The clan leader's younger brother was on the verge of exploding; if he hadn't retained a shred of reason, he would have slapped him on the spot.

"Those shops and estates have all been sold off. Even if they were below market price, they still amount to about 300,000 to 400,000 taels of silver. Such a large sum of money, and now you're telling me it's gone so easily?"

"I'm asking you, Hua Sirong, where's the money? Where's the money? Where's the money?" Each shout grew louder than the last.

Lady Hou did not scold her. She had not expected that her niece would be holding such a large sum of money. When they entered the mansion, the three of them, mistress and servant, only carried a few bundles and had nothing else.

People in the manor were secretly gossiping that her cousin, the wife of the Marquis, was just a freeloader.

Unexpectedly, he was someone who didn't flaunt his wealth.

But judging from this girl's genuinely poor expression, she doesn't seem to be faking it. So where is the money?

She really wanted to know!

Shen calmly picked up her teacup, took a sip, and watched the uncle and nephew continue their contest without showing any emotion.

Hua Sirong was so frightened by her uncle's murderous expression that she hid behind Wang Mama. "That money was earned by my father. I am his own daughter and have the right to dispose of it."

You despise me because I'm a girl and can't be filial to my parents, so I'm performing rituals for them at Baiyun Temple and lighting eternal lamps.

Upon hearing this, the clan chief's younger brother breathed a sigh of relief. How much did it cost? At most, a few thousand taels of silver—a small sum.

Then Hua Sirong said something that almost sent him to his grave: "But I feel that this filial piety is far from enough, so I kept only enough for myself to spend over the next few years, and donated all the rest of the money to the temple to do good deeds, to do good for my parents in the afterlife, so that they can be reborn into a good family and live a long life in their next life."

The clan chief's younger brother, his hand trembling, pointed at Hua Sirong and said, "All...all...all donated? Really, all donated? Sister Rong, this is no laughing matter. That's a lot of silver. Could it be that you were tricked by those bald monks at the temple because you're so young?" He spoke in a very soft voice.

The eldest cousin was so shocked that he couldn't speak.