After being forced into a marriage with a wealthy family, the virtuous wife caused a huge uproar.

"No." Madam Su refused without even thinking.

How could her dowry possibly go to the Rong family?

"Mother, since you won't agree, I'll have no choice but to send my second brother to the authorities and deal with him according to the law. He'll definitely be charged with theft, and the higher the value, the heavier the sentence. Sixteen thousand taels of silver, what kind of serious crime do you think he should be sentenced for?" Rong Yingluo bent down, her eyes sharp.

"No! A-Ce, you must persuade Liu-Li. A-Xi is your own brother. Our eldest son's family only has two male members. Now that your father is not home, you can't abandon your second brother." Madam Su had no one else to turn to, so she went to Gu Ce for help.

We're family behind closed doors, why make things so awkward?

If I had known that Rong would be so difficult to deal with, I shouldn't have chosen her to marry Gu Ce in the first place. Unfortunately, there's no such thing as knowing beforehand.

"Mother, some things are not without evidence, so just pretend they never happened."

If you want to live a peaceful and stable life as the Duchess, you'd better hand over your dowry.

"Besides, your dowry is far from 160,000 taels of silver. Do you want to give the entire Duke's mansion to my wife? If it really comes to that, and she wants to kick everyone out of the mansion, what will you do?" Gu Ce was obviously speaking up for Rong Yingluo.

"A-Ce, what do you mean by that?" Su was stunned.

"Mother, do you think I don't know anything about how the four wives you arranged for me to marry died?"

"And where did all the dowries they brought into the mansion go? Do you think I'd believe you when you say they were all returned to their maternal families?" Gu Ce didn't mind saying more.

The old lady should also know this.

"You..." Madam Su looked at Gu Ce in horror.

Their eyes met. Gu Ce's gaze was like that of a demon, while Su Shi's eyes held an unconcealed fear.

This wolf cub is no longer pretending to be confused.

Isn't he afraid that after the Crown Prince ascends the throne, he will wipe out the entire Gu family?

"Have you thought it through, Mother?" Gu Ce's gloomy tone was like a cold wind, sending a chill down Su Shi's spine.

"I'll give it to you, I'll give it to you," Su said, finally giving in.

The old lady continued to punish the servants.

The maid named Yuqing was taken away for punishment, and it's estimated that we'll never see her again. Granny Zhao was punished with twenty strokes of the cane for failing to properly guard the keys.

Rong Yingluo's dowry was under her own management.

Su Jingyi was given two days to deliver her dowry to Yinliu Courtyard, and then confined for half a month. During this period, the Second Madam would manage the household, with Rong Yingluo assisting her.

"No one is allowed to spread what happened in this courtyard today. Anyone who dares to speak out against it will be beaten to death." The old lady coldly swept her gaze over everyone present.

Each of them said they dared not.

Rong Yingluo greatly admired the old lady's decisiveness; she handled matters methodically and meticulously. Rong Yingluo had learned a lot; she truly lived up to the old lady's reputation.

The dowry dispute was thus resolved.

Gu Ce and Rong Yingluo returned to Yinliu Courtyard, where Ling Feng and Ling Yun, who had been hiding in the shadows, appeared.

Now that Gu Ce is the Prime Minister, there are many more people in the outer courtyard. Rong Yingluo took the opportunity to arrange her four guards to join the ranks. Others would think they were newly recruited by Gu Ce, but they were actually her people.

These two men remembered their master's words perfectly and protected her at all times. Wherever she went, they would secretly follow. In contrast, Huo Hu and Chen Qi, each having lost an arm, could only do errands. The other two were from the battlefield and only possessed external martial arts skills, not light-footed skills.

"Master, apart from the two paintings we saw today that were sold out, the rest of your dowry is still at the gambling den. Do you need us to send someone to retrieve them for you?" Ling Yun said.

"How do you plan to take it? By stealing it?" Rong Yingluo became interested.

In her eyes, those paintings were just discarded paintings that her master was not satisfied with.

But in the eyes of Beijingers, even discarded paintings are treasures.

The dozen or so ornaments were actually worth some money, so it was necessary to bring them back. They were things that my father and three older brothers had traveled all over the country to buy for my eldest sister.

We can't let that gambling den get away with it for nothing.

"Master, how could we possibly steal it? That's the lowest of the low, and besides, the two of us couldn't possibly steal it."

"The Heaven and Earth Gambling House is Yuwen Yi's most profitable business in the capital, and it's heavily guarded." Ling Yun wasn't so arrogant as to think that the two of them would dare to sneak into the Heaven and Earth Gambling House and steal things.

That was the largest underground gambling den in the capital.

"So how do you plan to get my things back?" Rong Yingluo asked curiously.

These two guards were a gift from her brother-in-law; she didn't know what other skills they had besides martial arts.

"Master, Ling Feng is a skilled gambler, winning nine out of ten times. We plan to win back what we've lost, but we don't have much capital. We need some capital from you," Ling Yun said somewhat embarrassedly.

Their former master kept them, but didn't leave them much silver. Their current master only gives them ten taels of silver a month.

With that little money, they couldn't even get into the gambling den.

"Oh? Ling Feng, you also know gambling skills?" Rong Yingluo looked at Ling Feng in surprise.

"Yes, Master Qin's capital for doing business all came from my winnings at the gambling den." Ling Feng betrayed his former master without the slightest hesitation.

The former master only needed to eat, drink, have fun, and travel around, but after meeting Miss Rong, he refused to leave. He started doing business like the head of the Rong family, even proposed marriage, and has been trapped in Nanxia for two years without wanting to leave.

He insisted on marrying her before he planned to go back.

Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned, and an unexpected turn of events occurred, forcing him and Ling Yun to protect Miss Rong for two years.

I'm so bored with nothing to do every day.

Gu Ce felt a little unhappy when he heard the name of Master Qin.

Liuli has been married to him for two months, and these two still haven't left.

But he couldn't openly kick them out. With only two guards, if he actually did so, the lady would surely be displeased.

"Great, then I have a new plan." With such a talented person by her side, Rong Yingluo naturally wanted to make the most of him.

"What does Master want to do?" Ling Feng sensed something strange about Rong Yingluo's smile.

"If I asked you to win the entire Tiandi Casino for me, could you do it?" Rong Yingluo asked audaciously.

"That's the Crown Prince's property. Aren't you afraid he'll retaliate later?" Ling Feng was stunned. This master was even more audacious than his previous master.

"What's there to be afraid of? I have my husband as my backer. If the Crown Prince gets angry, he'll take it out on my husband. I'm just a housewife, and I rarely even get to see him." Rong Yingluo was ruthless in her schemes against Gu Ce.

"Madam, this matter must be handled with utmost precision. If it fails the first time, we won't be able to take the money with us."

Moreover, even if one wins the entire gambling den, taking over smoothly won't be easy. The gambling den owner only needs to give an order, and all the guards will be mobilized; killing Ling Feng would be perfectly normal," Gu Ce said.

"So we need to think this over carefully and consider it thoroughly." The reason Rong Yingluo brought this up was to discuss it with everyone and make full preparations before venturing into the Heaven and Earth Gambling House.

"An Yi, go and summon Prince Li," Gu Ce instructed.

It is indeed not easy to snatch food from the Crown Prince's mouth, as he has only recently been promoted to Prime Minister and has few people at his disposal.