Allure of a Country Maiden
Chapter 766 - 764

Chapter 766: Chapter 764

Upon hearing footsteps, Mrs. Gu quickly stuffed a jade bracelet that was evidently not ordinary into her sleeve pocket. She then hurriedly closed the jewelry box and rushed out, locking the door behind her.

Meanwhile, the team from Prince An’s Mansion had come to collect the dowry led by Du Wei, an official by Du Zhokai’s side, and they crossed the Moon Gate and entered.

The accountant had just returned as well.

Mrs. Gu’s heart pounded rapidly as she composed herself, putting on an air of nonchalance and smiling at the approaching group.

To his surprise, the accountant saw Mrs. Gu. "Why is the mistress here? Where’s Xiao Yue?" he thought.

However, with the people from Wang Mansion present, the accountant couldn’t voice his question. But a sense of foreboding filled his heart.

Du Wei was somewhat taken aback to see Mrs. Gu at this time. "The Crown Prince has arrived, and the young lady is about to bid farewell to her parents. Why is she still here?" he wondered. But there was no time for contemplation, so he spoke up, "Madam, people from Prince An’s Mansion have come to collect the dowry."

The servant from Prince An’s mansion found it odd hearing Du Wei’s address. "Why is the mistress of the Du Mansion standing at the door of the warehouse?" But there was no time to dwell on it. The dowry, mostly consisting of rare treasures or expensive jewelry, had to go before the wedding procession and must be handled carefully to avoid any damage. Mr. Du said there would be 138 loads of dowry. It would take a while to move them all. So, he bowed to Mrs. Gu, "Mrs. Du, I am Furong, I’m here to oversee the collection of the Crown Princess’s dowry."

Mrs. Gu responded with a calm smile, "Thank you, Mr. Furong."

"An official of the third rank attends to the business of the prime minister’s gate. The third rank official is far more important than my husband!" Mrs. Gu thought to herself.

"I don’t deserve to be called ’sir’; I am merely a lowly servant," Furong replied with a polite smile after hearing Mrs. Gu’s remarks.

Du Wei and the accountant were both fighting the urge to facepalm.

"He is merely a steward, why is she calling him ’sir’! She’s elevating him too much!"

"Mr. Furong, you are too modest!" Mrs. Gu handed the keys back to the accountant after she finished speaking, "Make sure to double-check the dowry. Don’t miss anything."

Furong suppressed a smirk. "Checking the dowry now? Shouldn’t this have been done earlier? There isn’t enough time now!"

Feeling guilty, Mrs. Gu didn’t dare to stay any longer. She quickly departed after saying these words.

Everyone assumed she was rushing back to the main courtyard.

The accountant suppressed his worry, offered a bow to Furong, and then opened the door to the warehouse, "Mr. Furong, we’ve already sorted through the dowry, please come in."

"Thank you, Mr. Du," Furong nodded, relieved. he thought, "The mistress of the Du Mansion really is clueless about basic manners. Even an accountant knows better. Mr. Du’s fine cabbage has truly been ruined by a pig!"

As this thought flashed through his mind, he turned towards the servants from the Wang Mansion, "Be careful when you move the Crown Princess’ dowry back to the mansion. Avoid any damages."

"Yes!" the servants from the Wang Mansion responded in unison.

Du Wei and the accountant looked at each other. "The servants from the Wang Mansion are indeed well trained!" they thought.

There were over two hundred people from the Wang Mansion to collect the dowry because Mr. Du said there would be 138 loads of dowry. However, Furong, looking at the dowry in the room, felt that it fell short. The room at most contained ninety loads, and they all seemed to be betrothal gifts from the Crown Prince since he was familiar with them, having led the group that delivered them.

Furong kept his assumption to himself, thinking if he should discreetly dismiss some of the servants. If so many people showed up to carry the dowry and there wasn’t enough dowry to carry away, it would be a big embarrassment for both the Wang and Du Mansions.

Furong knew that the Du Mansion was understaffed. The servants that they had for the day’s banquet were temporary workers hired from the broker; these people always had the loosest lips!

Just as he was about to walk over and have some of the servants quietly leave, Du Wei walked into another room, opened the door and said, "Mr. Furong, the warehouse is too small to fit all the dowry. There are some pieces in this room. This is the list of my young mistress’s dowry. You may count them."

After saying this, Du Wei handed over a red paper list of the dowry items.

This brought a sigh of relief to Furong. Good thing he hadn’t made a mistake. Taking the dowry list, he smiled, "Okay!"

He took a quick glance back at the original warehouse—although not large compared to the several stories in Wang Mansion, it still seemed spacious enough! Why was the dowry divided between two rooms? This thought crossed his mind, but he didn’t dwell on it.

He then began to count the items on the dowry list as he watched each load of the dowry being taken away, reminding everyone to handle the items with care.

Mrs. Gu found a place to hide the jewelry she had pilfered and then hid herself, watching as each load of the dowry was taken away. Her heart bled as she watched!

"There wasn’t enough time earlier! I didn’t manage to take many valuable items. It was such a loss!" she thought.

After ninety-nine loads of dowry were carried away, Mrs. Gu was about to go back to the main courtyard.

Then she saw more loads of dowry, tied with large red ribbons, being carried out from another room!

Mrs. Gu’s eyes widened in shock. "What’s going on?!"

The keys to that room were only held by her husband. In all these years, no one except him had ever entered that room!

She had asked her husband, and he had told her it was a small Buddhist temple for Du Yijin’s late mother. There was even a memorial tablet for her inside. If she wished to, she could go in and pay respects.

After hearing this, how could she be willing to enter such a place!

So Du Zhongkai had deceived her. That room was not a Buddhist temple; it was another storehouse!

"Humph! He said I had embezzled all of the Du family’s wealth and used it to pay off the gambling debts of my brother, Gu Honggen. It was all a lie!" she thought.

So Du Zhongkai had been guarding against her all this while. Even before she married into the family, he had set up two warehouses!

She suspected that the real treasures were very likely housed in that "little Buddhist temple"!

"How dare he! All these years I married him, I’ve raised both the children that his deceased wife left. Even if I did not contribute much, I still put a lot of effort into it. Yet Du Zhongkai dares to hide things like this from me!"

"Why should everything from the Du Family go to Du Yijin! What will my son, Chunkang, use to marry his wife!"

"No, the wealth of the Du family cannot be taken away by Du Yijin!" Mrs. Gu saw each load of dowry being moved away, she could not hold back anymore and was ready to rush forward to stop them.

The betrothal gifts that came from Prince An’s mansion and the rewards from the Empress Dowager, and the extra dowry items given by relatives to Du Yijin, she did not care about. She could take it all. However, she refused to give up the Du family’s wealth.

Just as Mrs. Gu was about to interfere, her maid found her, "Madam, there’s trouble!"

"Of course there’s trouble! The house is close to being emptied!" Seeing her maid come running over, Mrs. Gu said urgently, "Runiang, you’re just in time! Quickly help me put a stop to them. They are just about to clean out the Du Mansion."

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