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

"Now there's a ready-made god of wealth, but it's been snatched away by my younger sister. Does this mean that from now on, I, as the elder sister-in-law, will lead my whole family to the Marquis's mansion to beg for money?"

"My sister is the wife of a marquis; she should have some dignity. It wouldn't be right for her to eat meat and not even leave a drop of soup for her family. That would be too cold-hearted if word got out."

This is getting more and more out of control. The Shen family has been running the business for two generations and is no longer what it used to be.

With the support of her third sister's husband over the years, she has never been reduced to begging. It's just that her sister-in-law is using the excuse of being poor to ask for favors.

Madam Shen was furious. Madam Min had been a good housekeeper all these years, but sometimes she didn't care about her background and acted like a scoundrel. Madam Shen, a married woman, had no way to deal with her.

So she decided to unleash her trump card: "Sister-in-law, you may not know this, but a couple of days ago, people from the Xishan Hua family came and specifically asked to adopt a child for our third sister and her husband. The condition is that they want half of Rong'er's family property."

Now that Madam Min was really into it, she sat up straight, as if afraid of missing a single word.

"But Rongjie only agreed to be adopted, but was unwilling to share the family property."

Madam Min smiled and then nodded in agreement, “Rong’er has a good idea. Of course, it’s best to keep the family fortune in your own hands. However, I’m afraid the matter of adopting a child will not be possible.”

But it doesn't matter. Anyway, even if she inherits it, it will only be a merchant's name. Rong-jie has money in her own hands, so she's not afraid of not living a good life.

If you ask me, her parents can only die in peace if she's doing well herself. Now that you mention it, I'm actually quite interested in meeting this clever girl." She really acted like a loving aunt.

After finishing her speech, Madam Min looked around as if she really wanted to see her niece.

"I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you, sister-in-law. Rong'er isn't the kind of clever girl you like. She's unwilling to give up half of the family fortune, not because she's unwilling, but because she's empty-handed herself."

"What?" Madam Min raised her voice, her raised hand nearly knocking over the teacup beside her.

"What do you mean by empty-handed?" Madam Min couldn't believe it and was determined to get an answer.

“As Rong’er herself said, she sold her father’s family fortune at a low price. On her way to the capital, she came across Baiyun Temple, which happened to be her father’s 100th day memorial. So, to show her filial piety, she donated all her family fortune to Baiyun Temple.”

Before Madam Min could slam her hand on the table, Madam Shen continued calmly, "I have already sent someone to Baiyun Temple to verify this matter, and it is indeed true."

The abbot of Baiyun Temple personally confirmed it; monks don't lie, so this can't be faked. If you don't believe me, you can go and check it out yourself.”

Min's heart was like a roller coaster, going up and down.

Having experienced several ups and downs, she has now calmed down.

She looked at her sister-in-law suspiciously, "Rong'er has no money, why would you kindly take her in at your residence, letting her eat and drink for free?"

Madam Shen chuckled and took a sip of tea. “Look at what you’re saying, sister-in-law. I’m the Lady of the Marquis, and Rong’er is my third sister’s child. We’re still connected by blood, even if we break our bones.”

Bringing a mere maid into the household is no big deal; it's just adding another pair of chopsticks. How could anyone truly bear to watch her die?

Min didn't believe it. When she married into the Shen family, Shen was still unmarried. She knew her personality all too well.

As for the claim that the eldest sister-in-law has a good relationship with the third sister-in-law, it might be possible to make it up to fool others, but it's not something you can fool her about.

"Has my younger sister switched to Buddhist chanting?" Madam Min mocked Madam Shen. Although the Marquis had favored Concubine Shui in the inner courtyard all these years, he had never stopped taking concubines. Yet he only had one son born out of wedlock. She didn't believe that her younger sister hadn't pulled some strings.

“Sister-in-law, you’re joking. My third brother-in-law has sent me a lot of things over the years. I’m just raising his daughter for three years now. When she gets married, I’ll give him a little dowry. It’s just a small thing. Consider it my way of repaying him.”

Looking at Madam Shen, Madam Min seemed unsure of herself, as it appeared she wasn't joking.

Finally, still unwilling to give up, she asked, "Didn't that girl Rong'er hide anything? Did she really donate it all? How much money would that be? Isn't she afraid that she won't be able to survive if she runs out of money later?"

Could there really be such a silly girl?

Madam Shen would never admit that she had received a bribe from Rong-jie. "When they came to our mansion, the three of them, mistress and servants, only brought a few sets of clothes. They came in a hurry, and our servants thought they were poor relatives who had fled from somewhere and wanted to beg for money."

Who would have thought that Rong-jie used to have plenty of food and clothing?

Upon hearing this, Madam Min believed it to some extent, since the servants in the mansion were the most opportunistic and had the best judgment of people.

Moreover, these things can be found out with a little inquiry, so there's no need for the Shen family to lie about them.

Min was furious, knowing she had to return empty-handed today. Whether she still had other plans in mind was unknown.

After seeing off Madam Min, Madam Shen carefully examined the box that Mama Wang had brought.

She spotted the shops immediately; upon closer inspection, she found two, both gold shops. Below them was a stack of silver notes, which, after counting, amounted to a total of twelve thousand taels—truly the mark of a wealthy young lady from a merchant family.

What she casually tossed away were just some of her dowry items from back then.

She put the box away and then looked for the painting, asking, "When Mama Wang went out of the courtyard gate, did she meet my sister-in-law from my maternal family?"

Wen Hua had already received an order from Madam Shen and went to the second gate to wait for Madam Min, so she naturally knew, "Reporting to Madam, we missed each other. Wang Mama went into the garden first and headed towards Qingwu Courtyard. Madam Shen had just arrived at the entrance of our Yimei Garden. She glanced at her from afar, but I suppose she was too far away for either of them to recognize her."

Ms. Shen nodded, "That's good."

She didn't want the Min family to interfere again.

She has now benefited and doesn't want to share any of it, and Rong-jie has indeed won her favor, so she is now willing to take care of her.

-----

The next day, Qingwuyuan and her servant got ready early and headed towards Shen's Yimei Garden.

When she reached the outside of Yimei Garden, Wang Mama thought of the somewhat familiar lady she had seen yesterday.

"Oh dear, I remember now," Wang's mother suddenly said, startling Hua Sirong.

"What did Mom remember? Why is she so agitated?"

Looking around to make sure no one was watching, Wang Mama slowed Hua Sirong's pace. "Yesterday, after I delivered the things to Madam Hou, I happened to run into an old friend here when I was leaving. I hadn't been able to remember who it was until now, and suddenly I realized, isn't that the young lady's aunt?"

"Although we haven't seen each other for many years, Mother is certain, without a doubt, that Madam Shen must have come to the Marquis's residence yesterday."

Hua Sirong wanted to say a few more words to Wang Mama.

There were already maids at the gate of Yimei Garden looking around. When they saw the two of them, they came over to greet them and lead the way.