I support the army through farming and business.

Chapter 12 Opening the Warehouse
The official sedan chair of the prefect of Luoyang stopped in front of the Duke of Wei's mansion, and Tang Wenying, the chief steward of the front yard, stepped forward to invite him into the mansion.

"Master Yin, please forgive me. The Duke has been ordered to go to war and has not yet returned. I am temporarily in charge of the front yard. Please forgive me for any impoliteness."

"No problem. I'm here today by imperial decree. Please excuse me, Madam Wei and Madam Wei."

Tang Wen's heart skipped a beat, and he asked tentatively, "How do women handle an important mission entrusted to them by the Emperor?"

"Steward, you are wrong. This matter involves your household expenses. The women are in charge of the household expenses. How can they not make the decision?"

"Your eldest daughter is kindhearted and has voluntarily donated her entire dowry and that of her deceased mother to aid the disaster victims. I have reported this to the emperor," Yin Wei said, clasping his fists to the sky. "Your Majesty has ordered the Duke of Wei's mansion to fully cooperate and expedite the liquidation of the disaster relief funds."

It was like thunder exploding in Tang Wen's ears. He felt dizzy and bit his tongue hard. The piercing pain brought him back to a clear mind. "Madam is in charge of the household affairs in the mansion. Please wait a moment. I will send someone to ask Madam for instructions."

After saying this, he left in a hurry, leaving Yin Wei alone to drink tea and eat snacks comfortably.

In the backyard of the Duke of Wei's mansion, the second wife An's appetite has increased greatly since she became pregnant for three months. In addition to the normal two meals a day, fruits, snacks and soups are continuously delivered to Shengning Hall.

Mrs. An had a plate of walnut cakes and two bowls of hen and ginseng soup. She was just about to take a nap as usual when she heard hurried footsteps.

An frowned and asked unhappily, "Why are you so flustered?"

Nanny Zhao came running over, panting heavily. After a while, she said, "Madam, something terrible has happened!"

An didn't take it seriously. After Song's death, she was promoted to be the wife of the Duke of Wei and was in charge of the household affairs of the Duke's Mansion. Except for not giving birth to a son, her life was extremely smooth.

Now she is pregnant. She spent a large sum of money to hire a gynecologist to check her pulse and confirm the gender of the baby in her belly. She is only waiting to give birth to the boy in four months, and her only worry will be gone.

What's wrong with her having such a happy life?

"Madam, Steward Tang just sent someone to tell me that the eldest daughter has donated all of her and her mother's dowries to the disaster victims!"

"Nonsense! I haven't even prepared tomorrow's dowry yet, so how can I donate it?" An's face was filled with disdain. "To provide disaster relief to the victims, just take some money from your savings, or take some rotten and moldy old grain from the mansion's grain store and send it to them. Whether they live or die is up to the fate of the disaster victims. What does the Duke's Mansion have to do with it?"

"Madam, it's not Miss Ming, it's Tang Zhao! The eldest daughter you drove to the farm and later married into Prince Xuan's palace!"

An glared at Madam Zhao unhappily, "Madam, you should just say her name. How can that little bitch be worthy of being called Miss?"

"Just donate it. It's her own stuff anyway. Although a daughter who is married off is like spilled water, she is still a daughter of the Duke's Mansion. If she has nothing to eat or wear in the future and she begs me on her knees, I can still give her a meal and a piece of clothing. After all, I am her mother."

An became more and more excited as she spoke, as if she could already see Tang Zhao kneeling at her feet in rags, looking pale and emaciated from hunger, begging her for food like a dog.

Seeing that Madam hadn't grasped the key point, Nanny Zhao was so anxious that sweat broke out on her forehead, "Madam! Tang Zhao not only donated his own dowry, but also Song's!"

"!" An came back to her senses from her fantasy and cursed, "That little bitch is deliberately trying to upset me. She can donate if she wants to, but she can't donate if I don't agree!"

Do you really think you will become more independent after getting married?
dream!

"You've said that, showing you're completely ignorant," an old, solemn voice suddenly rang out. "If you'd read more, understood the law, and had a bit of vision, you wouldn't have said such a ridiculous thing!" An was startled. She saluted the newcomer, her belly bulging, feeling extremely aggrieved. "Old Madam, you're being too harsh! How could a daughter-in-law be so ignorant? It's just that I'm a bitch." Under the sharp gaze of the Duke of Wei's wife, An changed her words. "It's Tang Zhao who's overreaching. Not only does he use his own things to show off, but he's also using our Duke of Wei's things to make a big profit."

"Things from the Duke of Wei's mansion?" the old lady asked, "When did a woman's dowry become her husband's family's property?"

An was stunned. When she was seven or eight years old, her family fell into poverty. In order to revive the family business, her parents and brothers sent their sisters to wealthy families as concubines, hoping to help their brothers through nepotism.

Therefore, she learned the rules of being a concubine since she was a child. Her mother emphasized to her sisters-in-law every day that when a woman gets married, all her dowry and property belong to her husband's family!

But isn't it?
Seeing An's confused look, the old lady regretted her decision. In order to help her brother, she first took her niece as a concubine, and then forced the concubine to become the wife, so that the wife of a first-rank duke had no sense of the overall situation at all.

The old lady of the Duke of Wei looked at An's bulging belly and suppressed her anger. "Don't worry about this matter. I will handle it myself. Just rest assured and take care of the baby."

"Aunt!" An was scared, but the old lady ignored her and led her people to the front yard.

After a while, someone came to report that the key to the mansion had been taken away by the old lady.

An was struck by lightning. "What did I say wrong? I'm still pregnant with the Duke's son, and my aunt is slapping me in the face like this!"

Nanny Zhao was the governess hired by the An family at a great expense. Her vision far surpassed An's, and she broke the whole story down to her.

An gradually stopped crying and said fearfully, "What should I do? I've been supporting my parents' family for these years, and I've taken quite a bit of dowry from the Song family. What if the government finds out there's something missing?"

Madam Zhao was also worried. She helped the Madam come up with a plan to get money and property from the Duke of Wei's mansion to subsidize the family's settlement. She could also buy new toys and gold and silver to replace them, even the farm and shop that had been given away.

Madam Zhao murmured, "I hope the government doesn't have the dowry list."

In the lobby of the front yard of Duke Wei's Mansion.

Yin Wei took out the dowry list and said, "Please look, old lady. This is the property donated by your eldest daughter on behalf of her mother. It is clearly written in black and white. I will not take a penny more, but I cannot take a penny less either."

"After all, hundreds of thousands of disaster victims are still waiting for this money."

The old lady of the Duke of Wei fiddled with the Buddhist beads in her hand. "Your Excellency is right. It's just that it's been so long, and there are so many damaged and discarded things. I'm afraid it will take a lot of effort to find them all."

"Old Madam is absolutely right. Therefore, I have specially informed Your Majesty that I will be borrowing personnel from the Ministry of Revenue and the Five Cities Military Commission to assist. I also ask for your cooperation, Old Madam, and the Duke's Mansion."

"Your Majesty has issued an order. In the face of this disaster, the Duke of Wei's Mansion must cooperate."

Tang Wen came in to report, "Old Madam, Lord Yin, the officials from the Ministry of Revenue and the Five Cities Military Commission are here."

The old lady stopped fiddling with her Buddhist beads and said, "Manager Tang, please open the storeroom and invite everyone into the mansion."

(End of this chapter)