Fierce Consort

Chapter 105

After Shen Yi Yao and Xue-shi left, the old madam had Chen-shi scram as well. She then sat with a dark expression, not saying anything for a long while.

Matron Zhao didn't dare say anything to comfort her. It was useless to say anything at this moment. Since the old madam didn't wish for the estate's financial situation to be known, they could only brace themselves.

But where was this thousand taels of silver supposed to come from?

Matron Zhao was filled with worry. The old madam had no silver left. No one knew this more clearly than Matron Zhao.

"Go take the gold headdress inlaid with jade in my jewelry box and deal with it."

Matron Zhao shook all over and couldn't help but say: "But, but that's old madam's favorite headdress. Such a precious thing will be hard to find in the future."

That headdress was given to the old madam by Shen Yi Yao for her fiftieth birthday.

The headdress was made up of twelve pieces. There were hairpins for the top and sides, for the main pattern, for the covering and for the topknot, as well as the headpiece. They were all made with a good amount of pure gold and inlaid with jade. Not only was it exquisitely crafted, the inlaid jades were all emerald green and lustrous. They were the finest quality monarch jades. The old madam was extremely fond of it and was reluctant to even wear it normally. This was one of her most expensive pieces of jewelry.

"Hard to find? That thing isn't worth its price just sitting there. Shen Yi Yao gifted it, and now it's being used for her daughter's sake. It can't be called a loss."

As of now, the old madam could only comfort herself this way.

Matron Zhao hesitated for a bit and asked: "Are we pawning or selling?"

As she asked this, she hurriedly held her breath.
As expected, the old madam's face twisted and she panted heavily. After a while, she finally said: "Sell it!"

A long, long time ago, every time the old madam had Matron Zhao pawn off pieces of her dowry, she had some wishful thoughts. She thought that once she had the money, she would buy it all back. However, every time she ended up with some silver, there was always somewhere else that needed it. As time passed, these things were purposefully forgotten by her.

As they pawned more and more things, the old madam had also understood the reality of the situation. Selling was worth over twice as much as pawning. This was why Matron Zhao asked this.

In the end, that headdress was sold for over twenty-five hundred taels. Not only was it enough to deal with Shen Yi Yao's demands but the old madam also had quite a bit left over.

~~~~~~~~

Xue-shi spent the entire night tossing and turning. Yan Zhi was also unable to sleep because of her, and sat up.

"Why are you flipping like a pancake instead of sleeping at this hour!?"

Xue-shi also sat up and lit the small lamp by the bed before leaning against her pillow.

She chattered for a while, telling him about what had happened today. She then said: "Do you think our household is really out of silver? Where did all those businesses go? The old madam doesn't even care about her face anymore. I truly cannot figure out why she would do this. Based on the income from our businesses, it should be sufficient for everyone to be well off. Why be so miserly?"

Yan Zhi frowned and said impatiently: "How should I know?!"

"Say, do you think the old madam screwed up all the businesses? But the estate hasn't spent any significant sum of money over the years. Do you think our Yan Ru can still get a dowry from the estate once her marriage is settled? We've done our best to save up over the years and have sufficient silver to give Yan Ru a dowry. Yet apart from that, the rest of us still have to make a living. Furthermore, our oldest son isn't young anymore, he's sixteen. It's not too late for him to marry in a couple of years, but at that time we have to offer betrothal gifts to the bride. That's another sum of silver. There's also lass Ling, and also old two...."