Now that you're reborn, who would still keep a mistress for their scumbag husband?

In the 18th year of Yongjia, in the 10th month of autumn, the emperor issued an edict granting marriage to Lu Changyuan and Miaojin, the second daughter of the Dou family. "Miaojin of the Dou family is virtuous and kind, with noble character, suitable for a family, and worthy of being the wife of Duke Dingguo. They are a perfect match and will be together forever..."

The eunuchs in the palace came to announce the decree, and the entire Dingguo Mansion became noisy. People changed into their grand costumes, set up incense tables, and hung lanterns and decorations. It was extremely lively.

After Lu Changyuan kowtowed three times and nine times, he took the imperial edict from the eunuch. He was very happy to get what he wanted. "Eunuch, please stay for a while and have a cup of tea before you leave!"

The eunuch took the purse from the steward's hand, weighed it, and found it was much smaller than usual. He knew what was going on, but said calmly, "The Duke is very happy. I will come back to ask for a glass of wine another day."

The lady was very observant. After the eunuch left, she asked the steward, "How big was the silver ingot in the purse just now?"

The steward shuddered, "To answer Madam Tai, it's five taels of silver."

The Madam scolded angrily, "How foolish! Anyone who gets such an assignment must be a well-known person in the palace. How dare you be so negligent!"

The steward knelt on the ground and said, "Madam, please calm down. It is my fault for not doing my job well. Please forgive me!"

The Madam had been in charge of household affairs before, so she knew that this kind of problem would not normally occur. She asked, "You are following the rules, but this matter is obviously against the rules. Didn't you ask the mistress for permission?"

The steward kowtowed and said, "In reply to Madam Tai's question, I asked someone to ask Madam Tai, and Madam Tai said that there was no precedent in the mansion, and asked me to ask the Duke. The Duke has been busy and has not been in the mansion recently. I had no choice but to make the decision on my own and sealed five taels of silver according to the custom."

The old lady snorted coldly and stood up on the way back to Xuancao Hall. Lu Changting approached the old lady and said, "Mother, this is clearly Dou Jinzhao's fault. She has always been good at doing things. I don't believe that she has to ask my brother for help without any idea. She obviously did it on purpose."

The Madam also had the same idea and ordered, "Where's Jin Zhao? Let her come see me!"

Dou Jinzhao was sitting in front of the window watching Luoxia fiddling with the flower petals. Her hands were white, with slender fingers, like works of art carved from mutton-fat jade. The maids always took good care of these hands.

The weather was very good, with clear and crisp autumn air. Luoxia picked some osmanthus flowers from the yard to dye her nails beautifully.

The lady's people came over. It was said that Dou Jinzhao changed her clothes and asked Qiu Shui to accompany her.

Today, there were many people in Xuancao Hall, including two aunts from the second and third rooms, several sisters, Lu Changting, and the cousin Yao Taozhi who had been living in the Duke Dingguo's Mansion. Dou Jinzhao went over to pay her respects to the elders, but the lady-in-waiting wanted to set rules for her and, contrary to her usual practice, did not give her a seat.

"You said that my brother took a concubine. There was no precedent in your mansion before. You even gave the wrong reward to the eunuch who came to announce the imperial decree. Are you deliberately offending the people in the palace?" Lu Changting took the initiative and questioned.

Dou Jinzhao raised his eyelids and glanced at her, "Changting, did your mother ask you to ask this?"

The lady didn't expect that Dou Jinzhao's attitude was so tough. She was very unhappy and did not hide it. "Big brother's wife, I asked Changting to ask this question."

"Since mother asked, I dare not not reply. Not to mention that the Duke Ding's Mansion has no precedent of marrying a concubine, even the powerful families in the capital have no such precedent. If mother lets me take care of this matter, I will finalize the rules first. Otherwise, there will be so many things in the future, and I don't know how to decide."

Yao Taozhi glared at Dou Jinzhao with disgust. "My cousin's wife has always been capable. How could she not be able to do something like this? It's a pity that my aunt always praises my cousin's wife."

Yao Taozhi has been without a mother since childhood. Madam Gao was worried that she would have a hard time making a living under her stepmother, so she took her to the Mansion of Duke Dingguo. She had been deeply in love with Lu Changyuan since childhood, but Lu Changyuan was engaged to Dou Jinzhao, so she could only bury all her thoughts deep in her heart.

Who could have thought that Lu Changyuan was going to marry a concubine now? Dou Jinzhao was really cunning. Since he couldn't give birth himself, he tried to marry his sister to him. He insisted on giving birth to a child with Dou family bloodline. What was he thinking!

Dou Jinzhao just thought she was talking nonsense. She was just a cousin living under someone else's roof and her words had little influence, so she didn't take it seriously.

The scene was a bit awkward, but Dou Jinzhao was like a dead pig that was not afraid of boiling water.

The lady had no choice but to say, "You are in charge of the household affairs at home, so naturally you should be in charge of this marriage. Jinzhao, you are not outsiders. Miaojin is your sister, Changyuan is your husband, and this is a marriage granted by the emperor. No one else can handle it well except you."

Dou Jinzhao smiled and said, "Mother, I am not afraid of being burdened, I am just afraid of breaking the rules. Everything should be done according to the rules, and I will be fine if I follow them. How much should the betrothal gifts be prepared, how many tables should be set for the banquet, should I follow the rules of marrying a legitimate wife, or should I follow the rules of marrying a concubine? Mother, I am young and my status is awkward, so it is really difficult for me to make a decision."

She thought that the old lady really treated her as her daughter. Not to mention her past life, over the past year, she had done her best to treat the old lady's illness and regulate her body. Who knew that in return, she would get this kind of kindness now.

Dou Jinzhao stood on the ground like a group of old women, wives, and maids, completely disgraceful.

Qiu Shui was so furious that he wondered who his master was and how could he be tortured by this old hag here? It was outrageous!

"Just a little less than when you got married."

"I wonder how much less?"

"I can't reduce it by 10%. I can't let you go beyond my expectation." The old lady raised her chin. It's not like the Duke Dingguo's Mansion couldn't come up with the money. They only reduced it by 10% to let Dou Jinzhao see that if she becomes someone else's daughter-in-law, she shouldn't think about not being wronged.

Today, she was ruining things in Duke Dingguo's Mansion.

Dou Jinzhao saw it and sneered in his heart, "That day, the Duke came to the Dou family to propose marriage, and the betrothal gift was 10,000 taels of silver. If it is reduced by 10%, then the betrothal gift this time will be 9,000 taels of silver. Mother, there are only 2,000 taels of silver left in the treasury now, and 300 taels of silver must be used to pay off the interest on the loan we borrowed before, leaving only 1,700 taels.

We will need to make winter clothes soon, which will be a huge expense, so I am afraid that mother will have to use your private savings to pay for the betrothal gift!"

She knew that the old lady didn't have much private money, and before she got married, the old lady often used her private money to supplement the family expenses.

Lu Changting exclaimed, "What did you say? You said we don't have winter clothes to wear? Dou Jinzhao, are you still a human being? You have been in charge of the finances for so long, and the public treasury is in such a deficit, don't you have any responsibility?"

Dou Jinzhao raised her hand, and her maid brought in a sandalwood box. "All the accounts are here. You can find out everything about the public treasury in the past and the present. I have not touched a single tael of silver from the public treasury. In the past year since I got married, my maid and I have never received a single penny of silver from the mansion."

Upon hearing this, the old lady was furious, "Did you expect this day to come? Jin Zhao, I have treated you well, but at this critical moment, you are so ignorant. I am so disappointed."

The eldest wife was born out of wedlock and had always been flattering the second wife. Aunt Sun said, "Jinzhao, your dowry is quite a lot. Changyuan is not marrying someone else, but your sister. You can give some money as a betrothal gift. Anyway, the money won't flow to outsiders. Why be so stingy?"