Thirteenth Lady's Comback: Her Everyday Life as a Bystander-Chapter 263 - 15: Family Fortune (First Update)

Susu was pulled into the bedroom by Hong Sheng, then taken to the bedside. She quickly said, "In broad daylight, what do you want to do?"

Hong Sheng looked at his wife gloomily, "In your eyes, am I just a lecher who thinks about that all day?"

Susu touched her own waist, still feeling a bit sore, and nodded firmly, "You are exactly that kind of person!"

Hong Sheng looked at Susu with grievance: Baby’s heart feels bitter, but baby will not say.

Susu: I’ll just quietly watch you act!

The couple childishly played a game of "whoever blinks first loses." In the end, Hong Sheng couldn’t hold it any longer and laughed, "Alright, alright, I lost. My wife looks so beautiful even when glaring that it makes bubbles pop up, making it irresistible!" 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Susu rolled her eyes at him and laughed too. How did they become so childish?

The large bed in the bedroom was custom-made even before the marriage by Hong Sheng. He knew Susu would follow him to the Northwest, and heavy furniture from the dowry couldn’t be brought over, so he had already collected a lot of good wood, intending to craft a thousand-worker bed for Susu.

Following him to the Northwest was already a grievance for Susu, and Hong Sheng just wanted to give Susu the best of what he could.

The bed Hong Sheng prepared was more exquisite and luxurious than what the Old Madam had prepared for Susu. It was an agarwood bed with inlaid, hollowed-out engravings adorned with gems.

However, Susu had never known that there was actually a hidden compartment mechanism under the bed during all the time she spent on it.

Hong Sheng moved all the bedding aside, lifted the vermilion carpet that was underneath, and fumbled a bit at the edge of the bed. Soon, Susu saw that the bed board next to the wall slowly slid open.

Only then did she discover that the entire space under the bed was empty, with thin iron panels embedded under the thin bed boards, and all sorts of boxes placed below.

Hong Sheng took a mahogany box from the top. The size was like that of a doctor’s medical kit, and he handed it to Susu, slightly embarrassed, "The household’s income and my silver coin stipend, a portion was used for the betrothal gifts, some for daily expenses, the rest is here. It’s not much. You use it first. Once the land rent comes in, it’ll be more sufficient."

Susu opened it and saw that inside there was a piece of gold the size of a cubic inch, two large "yellowfish" (gold bars of ten taels each), seven to eight silver ingots of ten taels each, and some scattered silver, totaling about thirteen hundred taels of silver.

The land rent Hong Sheng mentioned should be from those five hundred acres of military land, which grew spring wheat, ready for harvest by July or August, plus drying and trading, it would take at most a month. It was now the end of May, only two or three months away.

Susu said helplessly, "I might have been a bit extravagant before, but I’m not a spendthrift wife. Our family isn’t some large prominent household with scores of servants. Even if I eat bird’s nest and abalone every day, it wouldn’t cost more than a thousand taels in two or three months." Finally, Susu earnestly added, "I really am not a spendthrift."

Hong Sheng waved his hand dismissively, "It’s fine, it’s fine. Buy whatever you want. Your husband can afford you."

Haha, never believe a woman when she says she’s not a spendthrift. Whoever believes it is foolish. This is hard-earned wisdom from the predecessors.

Though Hong Sheng spoke pleasantly, Susu could tell at a glance that he didn’t believe her. Damn! What about the trust between people!

Hong Sheng quickly handed Susu a palm-sized small box to please his wife, "See if you like it?"

Inside the small box were five rubies the size of lychees, two pigeon-blood red, one rose red, and two peach red, all of superior quality, pure and transparent.

Susu did have quite a few gemstones of such color and quality, but none so big.

"Originally, I wanted to include them in the betrothal gifts to make it more presentable, but they stood out too much, so I can only give them to you in private. Later, add them to your dowry list and just count them as gifts from Old Madam Song."

After speaking, Hong Sheng pointed toward seven or eight boxes the same size as in Susu’s hand under the bed, "They contain similar stuff—gemstones, pearls, diamonds. Those two boxes there contain nephrite jade and jadeite. Keep them all. If you wish to make jewelry, do; if you send them to the Capital as gifts later, they’ll be quite impressive."

Previously in Beijing, Hong Sheng had already given Susu a lot of good stuff. She was astonished, "Where did all these things come from? Don’t tell me you all..."

Susu knew that some soldiers, in armor, were soldiers, but without it, turned into bandits, engaging in robbery and murder.

Seeing Susu’s expression, Hong Sheng knew she misunderstood and hurriedly waved his hands, "Don’t overthink. Not to mention that Qin Dusi comes from the Duke Zhen’s Mansion, never lacking silver, even the Hami Guard’s superior, the miserably frugal Commander Liu from a poor family, is a gentleman who loves wealth in the right way."

"Hami is situated on the Silk Road, frequented by caravans and travelers, naturally attracting quite a few bandits too. Anyway, troops must be regularly exercised, so Commander Liu often sends the brothers to clear out bandit lairs nearby, protecting travelers and fetching some benefits for the brothers."

Hong Sheng pointed to several chests, "Most of these things were acquired secretly after I became a household head and led troops to sweep out a big bandit lair. In our family’s garden rockery, there’s also a secret room filled with bronze ware, porcelain, and ornamental utensils I exchanged gold and silver for."

Afraid Susu might laugh at him, he said embarrassedly, "When I was an escort, traveling far and wide, I knew that wealthy families favored old artifacts. However, I didn’t have much insight and didn’t know what was valuable. It seemed such things were not as favored as genuine gold and silver by the brothers, so I exchanged for them cheaply. I’ll sort them out later, and you can have a look. If there are good pieces, they could be heirlooms."

Susu thought Hong Sheng was sensible. She knew the value of those artifacts to noble families.

The Heir’s wife’s dowry over a hundred lifts, yet what really caught the Song Family’s eyes were just those twenty lifts of antique objects. Even imperial gifts were just for show, the Song Family did have them, but they were not scarce.

Only those twenty lifts of antiques were truly heirloom treasures. After all, the older an antique, the more precious it becomes. And speaking bluntly, imperial gifts would be worthless if the dynasty changed."

Susu wondered out loud, "Wasn’t the house bought as it is? How come there’s a secret room in the rockery, did you build it?"

Hong Sheng shook his head, "Hami has always been a contested battleground. The Tartar Wala have long looked covetously upon the Central Plains. Not even in the previous dynasty or the militarily powerful Great Chu’s 150-year existence has Hami remained unbroken, having been breached three times, all resulting in massacres, city demolitions, arson, and looting. So, constructing hidden passages and secret chambers has been customary here, providing peace of mind whether for hiding people or valuables! This house was no exception when it was built!"

Susu nodded, showing understanding!

"Here are also two boxes of gold and silver jewelry and scattered gemstones and pearls, all obtained during battles, which you can have refined or crafted into whatever you like."

These pieces were prizes Hong Sheng was entitled to by rank, all duly recorded and thus at Susu’s disposal.

"The visible things in our house are all in the storage, which you’ve seen—mostly heavy furniture and furs and fabrics. You may choose from here as a gift for the visit to Commander Liu Mansion; it shouldn’t be too bare."

Upon hearing this, Susu recalled Hong Sheng seemed to mention Commander Liu’s poor family background, being excessively fond of money.

Thinking about Mrs. Qin from the Duke Zhen’s Mansion, who was wealthy, Susu couldn’t help but think of a Disney animation—Beauty and the Beast.