Chapter 60

Chapter 60

Shen Qinglan's few words left Shen Qingbai and Shen Qingshuang speechless, their chests aching with anger.

Elder Sister-in-law Lü Shurou was also displeased by Shen Qinglan's showing off, but wary of past lessons and unable to outtalk him, she could only roll her eyes and make sour remarks.

She secretly consoled herself that you can't live on love alone, and once this brother-in-law marries out, he will surely suffer hardships.

The more they fumed, the happier Shen Qinglan felt.

He had never liked these half-siblings who always taunted him, usually ignoring them as much as possible. But lately, convinced he had no future, they had brought their gossip to his face.

If he didn't react, wouldn't they think he was made of clay?

After the "showing-off session" ended, only Shen Huaizhi and his wife stayed to chat with their brother, while the rest left in indignation.

Back in their rooms, Shen Qingbai and Shen Qingshuang couldn't calm down.

Each complained bitterly to their respective concubine mothers: "A hundred or two hundred thousand taels at a stroke—Second Brother really has a big mouth!"

"And the legitimate mother is so biased! She sits on a mountain of gold and silver, yet won't give us even one tael for dowry. We call her 'mother' too—would a little crumb from her fingers hurt? What kind of mistress of the house is so stingy? Doesn't she care about her own dignity?"

"She only took Second Brother's marriage arrangement—with her connections, why worry about finding a good match for him? Why be so petty and stingy..."

"And Father is useless! A head of the household, an official for years, yet can't even manage his own wife."

"If Father could make the main wife hand over her dowry, wouldn't life in this household be less tight? How else would my own dowry be so meager..."

Concubine Mei and Concubine Song thought the same.

Concubine Mei, a former courtesan, grumbled: "Isn't the Master useless! When I heard the main wife was the daughter of a wealthy Jiangnan merchant, with a million-tael dowry entering the Shen family, I thought there was a fortune to be had. That's why I worked so hard to catch this poor official from a humble background."

"Who knew he'd be so pathetic—can't touch a copper of his wife's dowry, and can't even profit from his position. He's made us live in such penury!"

Concubine Mei bitterly regretted becoming the Master's concubine.

If she had known how useless he was, she would never have relied on his favor to provoke the main wife. Better to have fawned on the main wife, the living golden Buddha.

The main wife was so rich—if she was happy, a casual reward would have been enough for her to eat well.

Ah, such a mistake!

Meanwhile, Concubine Song, who had been the Master's childhood sweetheart, also railed to her son in her room:

"It's all your father's fault, that coward! He promised to take the million-tael dowry from Rong Huiying, then 'conveniently' let her die of illness and make me the legitimate wife..."

"But he couldn't kill that bitch Rong Huiying, and instead ended up under her thumb. So I had to be a concubine while pregnant."

"After I came in, the promised riches never appeared. Now I can't even scrape together enough for my son's dowry. What a useless man I've fallen in with..."

Concubine Song also regretted bitterly. She should never have trusted the Master's lies.

If she had known he was so unreliable, she would have stayed as his cousin, sponging off him from time to time. Wouldn't Rong Huiying, as her cousin's wife, have had to take care of her?

Thinking this, Concubine Song echoed Concubine Mei's lament.

"What a mistake!"

If the Master, this useless piece of trash, couldn't afford concubines, why take them in the first place!

...

The complaints from the second and third branches weren't secret.

Everyone in the Shen residence knew that the Master's wife was the family's golden goose—even the Master had to beg her for money. Concubines Mei and Song, who depended on the Master, couldn't be generous themselves.

So the servants openly courted favor with the main courtyard, reporting any gossip from the concubines' side for rewards.

When the Master's wife heard the private complaints from the two concubines and their children, she felt refreshed and sighed to her trusted maid.

"In my younger days, I was foolish. I didn't understand my own worth, and still longed for that faithless man's affection, wasting energy competing with Concubines Mei and the others."

"Now I see—once I stop expecting anything from the Master, with my natal family backing me and a rich dowry, life is comfortable however I live."

"Let the second and third branches fuss all they want. And those two—Bai Ge'er and Shuang Jie'er—after what they did to my son, always wishing him a miserable life, and they expect me to add to their dowry? In their dreams! I'm not a fool."

The trusted maid praised with relief: "Madam is clear-sighted now..."

Her young mistress had finally come to her senses. What was the point of fighting over the Master? Putting pressure on the Master, the root cause, was a permanent solution.

The Mistress laughed happily: "Of course! I'm quite clever—I just had a moment of stupidity back then. Enough about the Master, that disappointment. Has the shop received a new batch of bird's nest?"

"Have the kitchen stew some quickly and send it to Lan Ge'er to nourish him... and don't forget Second Son's wife either—she's a good one."

The trusted maid nodded: "And the eldest son's wife?"

"Don't bother. She was just making sour remarks about my Lan Ge'er. If she looks down on us, then she can't touch my things."

The Mistress beamed with joy, never hiding her likes and dislikes—blatantly biased.

The trusted maid thought: So it's no wonder Second Young Master has that personality...

Shen Qinglan, enjoying the bird's nest nourishing soup his mother sent, quickly put the annoying people out of mind. Happily, he ordered servants to deliver a letter to An Yongyan at the Junior Preceptor's Residence.

An Ge'er was his best friend—such a major event as his betrothal naturally had to be shared first.

...

When An Yongyan received the news of his good friend's betrothal, he hurried over in concern.

"Lan Ge'er, didn't you say you wanted to enter the palace through the draft? How did you suddenly settle on a marriage—and to a Xiucai from a humble background?"

The two had been close since childhood, sharing almost everything except the possibility of marrying the same man.

An Yongyan and his husband had also married for love, and he had often shared his private affairs with Shen Qinglan.

So now, Shen Qinglan naturally wouldn't hide things from him. Besides, he had been dying to share his love story—now was the perfect chance to chat with his best friend.

Shen Qinglan's face was full of

Your friend Brother Han seems to be a good man now, but the Han family are rural farmers after all, and his relatives might be hard to get along with. You'll need to be more cautious in everything after marriage..."

"If anything happens in the future, come to the Junior Preceptor's Mansion to find me. We'll exchange letters often and make plans to go out for tea and music."

He knew how things were for his friend at home: Second Brother Shen, who doted on Lan Geer, lacked ambition, while Big Brother Shen, who was successful, didn't like Lan Geer. Lan Geer might not be able to rely on his natal family later, so only he, as a close friend, could help support him.

His father was a Third-Rank Official, and his husband's family even had a First-Rank Official. As long as this Han fellow's official rank wasn't higher than his family's, for his friend's sake, the man wouldn't dare to mistreat Lan Geer.

Shen Qinglan wasn't truly foolish; he picked up on what An Ge'er was hinting at and was really touched.

"An Ge'er, you're so good to me..."

"And you also saved my life back then. When we were children and encountered kidnappers, if you hadn't carried me on your back and ran off, I would've ended up suffering who knows where. Now, if I'm not good to you, who else would I be good to?"

This life-or-death bond made them closer than blood brothers!

An Ge'er then shoved a wooden box into Shen Qinglan's hands. "Take a look—my wedding gift to you."

"Oh, it's so heavy! An Ge'er, how many treasures did you cram in here for me?"

Shen Qinglan hugged the heavy box joyfully and quickly opened it.

Inside was a whole box of pearls and jewels, all in his favorite colors and styles, but the most precious item was a land deed.

"A hot spring estate outside the capital?!"

Shen Qinglan was pleasantly surprised.

Every inch of land in the capital was worth its weight in gold. Those prime spots were already snatched up by real big shots. A fifth-rank family like the Shen Mansion couldn't even buy one if they had the cash.

An Ge'er's eyes curved into crescents. "Haven't you always been talking about a hot spring estate? I've been looking out for you. I stumbled across this one a few days ago and quickly acquired it, just waiting to give it to you when you got married."

"This hot spring estate is right next to mine. Have it nicely renovated, and in winter we'll go stay together in the suburbs. One day we'll soak in yours, the next day we'll enjoy the view at mine—different scenery every day."

"Great! I'll send someone to fix it up tomorrow. This winter we'll go together..."

Just thinking about it had Shen Qinglan over the moon.

With a husband by his side and a close friend to spend time with, life would be like heaven on earth.

"Oh, by the way, An Ge'er, take some of this crystal soap home. It's wonderful to use. I've only given it to you, my mother, and my second brother and his wife..."

Shen Qinglan shared his good things with his friend.

They chatted about the soap for ages before An Yongyan finally headed home, not wanting to leave.

The hot spring estate thing was way too big to keep quiet. When the second and third branches of the family heard the news, they were green with envy all over again.

How could Shen Qinglan, that idiot, be so lucky?

Not only did he have a mother who was a walking gold mine, but he also had such a wonderful close friend!

And what did they have?

Just a useless, penniless father!

Concubine Mei and Concubine Song were once again fuming: That useless master—if they had known, they'd have been better off sucking up to the lady of the house instead of him.