Chapter 32: Reclaiming the Dowry

He looked again at Su An'an, who was still standing motionless in the hall, and squinted slightly, his right hand rubbing the ring on his thumb, a sign that he was getting angry.

After Su Nian finished speaking, she looked at Su An'an provocatively, just wanting to stir up Su An'an's anger for a big argument with their father later.

Su An'an, this person, is just an empty beauty, actually a dimwit, otherwise, how could she have been fooled by Su Pingping before.

Su Nian was waiting for a good show, feeling elated, but who knew the next second, she saw Su An'an raise her eyebrows and reveal a poised and elegant smile.

Then she gently bowed to her father in a respectful manner and said, "How could that be? The decree of parents and the words of a matchmaker are as righteous as the earth and sky, and as Father has raised An'an for so long, how could An'an not know to be grateful."

"I was just looking at Father because it seems you've lost some weight over the past few days since we last met, and An'an was worried that Father might be unwell, that's all."

Su Sheng was surprised, she was indeed observant. He had indeed been under the weather the other day, which inevitably made him look dispirited, but he was much better today.

After all, she was a daughter who had grown up under his nose, always obedient and unlikely to be so clueless. His anger dissipated, and Su Sheng explained, "It's nothing, just caught a cold the other day, no need to worry, sit down, An'an."

Su An'an nodded, preparing to sit down, but as she took a step, she pretended to be surprised and asked, "Where's Mother? How come I haven't seen her come out?"

The mother she referred to was Su Pingping's biological mother and later elevated concubine, Mrs. Lu.

Initially unaware of how much Su Pingping and Mrs. Lu disdained her, she truly called Mrs. Lu her mother.

Su Sheng didn't want to mention her, so he casually said, "She's also been unwell recently and has been in the ancestral hall every day with your sister, copying Buddhist scriptures for the family's blessings."

Su An'an understood, it seemed that because of Su Pingping, Mrs. Lu was punished along with her, and they were both confined to the ancestral hall to copy scriptures.

She smiled and said, "No wonder."

Su Sheng: "No wonder what?"

Su An'an looked up, "No wonder the inner courtyard is unmanaged; even a small concubine-born daughter has forgotten her place and not only failed to pay respects upon seeing me but even directly referred to me as sister."

A concubine-born daughter does not have the privilege to call her sister; she must address her as the eldest young miss.

Her manner was very natural, with a hint of the previous arrogance and domineering. "Father, don't you think so? If word of the Su Family's disregard for hierarchy and a concubine-born overstepping her bounds spread, others would say our family's tradition is improper."

Upon hearing this, Su Sheng furrowed his brows; An'an was right. The order of seniority must be clear, and the distinctions between the legitimate and the concubine should be distinct. A concubine-born daughter is just that and must never equate herself with the main daughter.

After all, a man like him wouldn't notice all these details, and with Mrs. Lu confined, there wasn't anyone around to remind him, so he hadn't paid attention at the time.

He had only been thinking about grooming Su Nian these days, planning to send her to the Minister of Revenue later as a concubine to gain some influence, and had forgotten to reprimand her.

Immediately, Su Sheng coughed lightly, his face slightly darkened, "Nian Nian, quickly pay your respects to your legitimate sister."

Su Nian widened her eyes, never expecting that not only did Su An'an not get angry, but she also took the opportunity to belittle her.

Underestimated her.

Su Nian was very capable of bending or stretching; she immediately bowed and apologized, saying she was too happy to see the eldest young miss back home and forgot the rules, asking for her forgiveness.

Su An'an just smiled as she approached her, and just as Su Nian thought she might act magnanimously and extend a hand to help her up, she suddenly felt something loosen in her hair.

The treasured Plum Blossom Glaze Hairpin she had just received was gone.

She disregarded the rules and instinctively stepped forward to seize it, "This was given to me by Father."

Su An'an, as if she had foreseen it, elegantly dodged Su Nian's hand with a sidestep, feigning surprise as she said, "Father, if I remember correctly, this Plum Blossom Glaze Hairpin is Mother's belonging from when she was alive, right?"

She questioned, "Didn't Mother say these were to be left for me as dowry in the future? You also said they would be kept for me, so why is it now on the head of a concubine-born sister?"

Su Sheng furrowed his brows, he truly didn't know this was one of An'an's mother's belongings before her death.

He just randomly picked a few decent pieces of jewelry from the storage to reward Su Nian, so she had a few presentable items.

He made a few perfunctory remarks, saying, "It must have been inadvertently overlooked during the dowry inventory. Since it's your mother's keepsake, you just take it back."

But as soon as he spoke, he saw Su An'an suddenly start crying sadly.

Like a longing triggered by the keepsake, she said, "It's not just this one Glaze Hairpin, I also remember that Mother loved wearing golden tassels, jade bracelets, pearl hairpins..."

She listed off several names of accessories.

Su An'an's mother, Madam Feng, originally also did business fearing her daughter would be aggrieved at marrying Su Sheng, her maternal family gave her a substantial dowry, which her mother didn't bear to use, saying it was kept for her.

In a previous life, this dowry didn't fall into her hands, and in this life, the precious items were still withheld by her father.

Su An'an had been thinking about how to ask her father to return them before, but now that Su Nian brought one out, it just happened to give her an excuse.

Then she cried even harder, saying, "I remember Mother often gently held me, and the tassels swaying in her hair were so beautiful. Back then, I was bored and even counted. Mother had ten golden tassels alone. Every single one of them is filled with my memories of Mother."

She seemed lost in a beautiful memory, her eyes clear, "But when my dowry entered storage at Shen Manor the day before yesterday, none of these jewelry pieces were in the inventory. Father, did you forget to give them to An'an?"

As she said this, Su Sheng immediately furrowed his brows. He hadn't forgotten; he had intentionally not given them, withholding a box of the most valuable items.

No one fears having too much money, and An'an was just married to a small place, and her future would be like that. Su Sheng wasn't foolish; why give so much dowry?

However, she questioned him tearfully as if she hadn't guessed her father's intentions and was merely speculating whether Father had forgotten.

An'an might have only thought about the keepsakes, but to outsiders, it sounded like he looked down on the Shen Family and deliberately decided not to give the dowry.

Sure enough, he noticed Yue Luo, that Shen Family maid who had been keeping her head down, had already lifted her eyes to look over, with brows contemplative, seemingly planning to report back.

Rumors in the countryside are most easily exaggerated, and if it spread, it would be another unpleasant reputation.

Su Sheng's expression was unhappy, never expecting a small hairpin could implicate the dowry issue.

He glanced at Su Nian, feeling even more displeased. Didn't she know to keep a low profile? She was so eager to show it off.

In a dilemma, faced with his daughter's "innocent" questioning, he had to appear magnanimous and said, "Is that so? Perhaps the person guarding the storeroom was replaced earlier and didn't know which items were your mother's keepsakes, and made a mistake. How about this, An'an, when you leave, go to the storeroom yourself and see what else your mother left for you, and take them all."

Su An'an quickly wiped her tears, bowed, and thanked him.