Hidden Side Task

He still remembered that when Luo Shuyu married into the Third Prince's courtyard, Liu had been the one who'd help taking care of his dowry. In the past, Luo Shuyu didn't have any opinion on this. Besides, he wasn't very good at making demands, not to mention that he believed that things would be taken care of properly, given Luo Renshou's position in the Department of State Affairs. Considering that his family wasn't as well off as others, he felt that it didn't matter.

It was only after he opened the storage room containing his mother's dowry that he realized how stupid he was back then, and just how long Luo Renshou had fooled him.

His mother's dowry procession had stretched 10 li¹, and all of the many boxes were placed here. Even though much of it was embezzled by Liu over the years, the larger items were still there. She didn't dare to take them out blatantly. All of them were first-class goods.

It's really embarrassing. If he hadn't suddenly pressured Luo Renshou, wouldn't all of this be stolen by them? As a son, he really felt sorry for his late mother. He blamed himself for believing too much in those with ulterior motives.

Fortunately, this time, he wasn't too late.

He got his mother's dowry list thanks to that official's wife from his past life who talked about his mother's sable-fur coat that Luo Shuyŭ was wearing.

After being reborn, Luo Shuyu immediately asked Qing Wang to send someone to find his grandfather's family. Although the Chen family fell into misfortune, a skinny camel was still bigger than a horse. As a big and influential family, there are still signs of them in the capital. After looking through several of their shops, Luo Shuyu found his mother's wetnurse from when she was a child. A few days ago, she was quietly invited to the Luo Mansion to meet with Luo Shuyu. With tears in her eyes, she passed him a box, saying that she was finally able to pass this on for the Young Lady. Inside it was a list of Chen's dowry and an unsigned letter.

The letter had been written by his grandfather to his mother, but it was too bad that she fell ill soon after they left the capital. The letter never made it to its intended recipient. If he hadn't been reborn, he never would have seen it either. The letter itself was not long, mainly expressing the hope that his mother would take good care of herself and not to worry too much about her family. Even if they were forced back to their ancestral home, they would still live well.

The Chen family was at one point very prosperous in the capital, and were favored by the Emperor. It's just that the Emperor's favor was fickle, and when you are famous, it's easy to become the target of others. Something happened, and Luo Shuyu's grandfather was dismissed from his official position and forced to leave the capital.

The wetnurse said that it wasn't that she didn't try to go to the Luo Estate to find his mother back then, but the people from the estate always chased her out. They always had some reasons to not to let them meet, saying that they were afraid that the Chen family's troubles would hurt the Luo family. In fact, they were just trying to hide something from the Chen's.

Luo Shuyu calculated the timing, and found that the wetnurse had shown up around the same time that his mother was ill. Her sickness came violently, and it wasn't long before she had passed away. When the wetnurse came to the gate again, only then did she learn of his mother's death. Because of this, the letter entrusted to her by his grandfather was never delivered until now.

Now, it had been almost ten years since his mother's died, and the Chen family had long left the capital.

If Luo Shuyu hadn't been reborn and seen that novel, perhaps he never would have known that his grandfather left them a letter and a copy of the dowry list.

Luo Shuyu personally checked the storage room. When Luo Renshou finally handed him the key, Luo Shuyu insisted that everything Liu took needed to be returned, or else he would need to make up the missing portion with silver. His mother had never touched the storage room before her death, and after she passed, all the good things were ruined by those people. The dowry was not only used to support them, but they used it to bully her son. If his mother's spirit was watching from Heaven, she must have been angry enough to climb out of her coffin.

Luo Shuyu didn't know when Liu began managing the storage room, but the things inside could only be fewer than what originally were.

He took inventory of the dowry left in the storage room and compared it to the original list piece-by-piece, documenting everything that was missing. With the people brought by Feng-momo, the time it took was greatly reduced, but it still took two days to sort everything out. Afterwards, he wrote up a list and handed it to Luo Renshou to make up for the missing items.

Luo Renshou pretended to lock up Liu that day because he was afraid that Luo Shuyu would stir things up and cause him to loose face. If others knew that the Minister of Affairs was coveting the dowry of his late wife, and had let his new wife squander it recklessly in order to subsidize the family, the Imperial Censor wouldn't let him off. He had carefully cultivated his image as an upright official over the years, he couldn't risk loosing it here. He was afraid that if this matter got out, his career would be over.

With the list in hand, Luo Shuyu arrived to Luo Renshou's study to ask for accountability and compensation.

Luo Renshou felt his teeth ache when he saw Luo Shuyu these days. He would rather not meet him at all. He felt that he was like a vengeful ghost that's haunting him.

He hadn't been comfortable for a day since he received the imperial edict, and the matter of his late wife's dowry was giving him a headache.

"Father, this is the list of items that are missing from the dowry. I won't say much more than this; The key was originally in your hands, and it was Liu who embezzled it. You know better than me the difference between right and wrong. None of the items misappropriated by Liu were used on me. I only came here today to get back the dowry that I am rightfully mine, otherwise I can only go door-to-door to get my things back. I have thicker skin than yours, and I think you don't want to see that either."

Luo Renshou was blocked by his pre-emptive move.

He looked at this son of his, who had been quiet and well-behaved since he was a child. Looking back, he'd always held a perfunctory attitude towards this son, and rarely cared about him. But ever since the day the imperial edict was handed down, it was like he became a different person.

It turned out that it wasn't that he didn't want to fight for what was his, but that his engagement to the Third Prince gave him the opportunity to do so.

Besides, in terms of etiquette, he had no reason to refuse to return Chen's dowry. There was simply nothing he could do about it.

Luo Renshou thought about it, and once again pushed all the blame onto Liu: "Liu was born into a small family, and she is small-minded. Seeing all that money, she was inevitably greedy. I will make it up to you later."

"Thank you, Father." Luo Shuyu thought, talking about money hurts feelings, but if there are no feelings, you can only talk about money. "Father will certainly be fair and unbiased."

Luo Renshou was confused again by the tall hat he had been given, and felt choked, so he sent for the steward.

In fact, when Luo Shuyu went to find Luo Renshou, he had sent someone over to summon the steward in advance. Luo Renshou thought of some words he could say to project the image of a loving father, but before he got the chance to speak, the steward had already arrived. It was now impossible for him to play the emotional card, and Luo Shuyu didn't have the slightest smile on his face.

Although the steward is a servant, he had worked in the Luo Estate long before Luo Shuyu had been born. He more or less followed Luo Renshou's usual attitude towards Luo Shuyu. He never paid much attention to this child, but now, he had switched his attitude and become more respectful, not daring to make the slightest mistake.

Luo Reshou asked him: "How is it going with the things I asked you to do two days ago?"

When the steward saw Luo Shuyu, he immediately knew which things he was referring to. The most troublesome thing in recent days was the fact that the Young Master in front of him wanted his birth mother's dowry. Everyone in the estate knew all about it. People were saying that his sudden change in temperament was due to the late Madam giving him a dream. Otherwise, why else would he suddenly stop tolerating it? The steward had been working for the Luo family for many years, and had seen many private things. His heart shook slightly. He didn't dare to hold up his head in front of Luo Shuyu and speak as usual.

The steward: "Master, I have put all the things that can be recovered into boxes. I have searched the First Young Master, the Second Young Master, the Fourth Young Master, and the Fifth Young Lady. Right now, the items are locked in the second storage room and I dare not move them."

Luo Renshou: "Tomorrow, I will send someone to move them to Shuyu's yard."

The steward: "Yes. This is the list. Please read it, Master and Third Young Master." He made two copies, one for each of them.

Luo Shuyu glanced at the list, and sneered lightly. It seemed that Liu was not willing to cooperate. There was about 30% of the dowry that was unaccounted befor, and this list only contained a fraction of that 30%.

Luo Renshou also frowned: "This is it?" What does Liu mean by this? Now, he has lost all face front of Luo Shuyu. Doesn't she knows how to share his worries with him? She's still hiding some of it even now!

The steward said: "That's everything the madam handed over."

Luo Renshou slapped the list down on the table: "She is really brave."

Luo Shuyu thought that Luo Renshou was still acting just to show him, which was really boring.

Steward: "Master, this…"

Luo Renshou looked at Luo Shuyu: "Shuyu, tomorrow I will ask Liu to give you an explanation, and I will make sure to compensate you for what you're owed."

Luo Shuyu didn't leave any room for Luo Renshou to bargain, pointing out the price listed beside each item: "Father, if you can't get it back, don't force it. I only want what I am owed, and I will not ask for a cent more. I only hope that my mother can be at peace, and doesn't have to worry about me. The list I gave you has the corresponding value of each item. If you really can't get it back, you can just compensate me according to the price that's listed. Over the years, Liu's younger brother has used your name to buy a lot of property outside. Presumably, our family's money has been sent out. As for the dowry for my marriage, you can do as you see fit. It doesn't matter if it's less. The Third Prince wouldn't embarrass our family just for few pieces of dowry."

When Luo Renshou heard him mention Liu's younger brother, he couldn't help being startled. How did Luo Shuyu know? Even he didn't know that Liu had been keeping such a thing from him! Later, when he saw the total value of the lost dowry, he almost fainted. He could only pretend to be calm now, it seemed reasonable for Luo Shuyu to not show him any affection.

He feigned helplessness and sighed: "Okay, I am very sorry to you and your mother for this matter. I will come up with the money and settle this matter the day after tomorrow at the latest. These years, it was my fault due to ignorance." The subsidy to Liu's brother must also be settled properly.

Luo Shuyu didn't answer him, just listened blankly. Luo Renshou was at a loss, none of his emotional plays seemed to have any impact. He felt a little embarrassed. Gone the days where he could scold Luo Shuyu.

At this time, the servants outside announced the arrival of the Eldest young master and Shen young master.

Luo Shuyu raised his eyelids. It seems that the relationship between his eldest brother and Shen Mingyun was as good as ever.

Liu had two sons, the eldest brother, Luo Shumo, and the second brother, Luo Shuhan.

Luo Renshou immediately said: "Let them in."

If Luo Shumo and Luo Shuhan came to Luo Renshou's study together, Luo Shuyu would have avoided them. But since Shen Mingyun was there, he stayed put. He wanted to see what Shen Mingyun was up to this time.

Shen Mingyun's System releases tasks very frequently.

As soon as the two came in, they saw Luo Shuyu drinking tea leisurely.

Luo Renshou wanted to send Luo Shuyu away, but what had happened just now made him so ashamed that the words wouldn't leave his mouth.

Luo Shumo greeted him: "Shuyu."

Luo Shuyu didn't have a deep impression of this elder brother, but he knew that he had always been close with the First Pince. As a child, he had even entered the palace as the prince's reading companion for a time.

Luo Renshou was able to get to the position of Shangshu, so his brains certainly weren't bad. His eldest son was close to the Eldest Prince, and his second son was close to the Crown Prince. Neither could be offended, anyone who asks will only say that they are doing things for the Emperor.

Among the princes who were currently adults were the First Prince, the Crown Prince, the Third Prince, and the Fourth Prince. The one who was most likely to get the throne was, of course, the Crown Prince, but he was not very liked by the Emperor. This was because the Concubine Lin, the mother of the First Prince, was currently the most favored by the Emperor. At this point, anything was possible.

So was there a reason for Luo Shumo and Shen Mingyun, who were close to the First Prince, to come and find Luo Renshou?

Luo Shuyu smiled slightly at Luo Shumo, his eyes sharp. He seemingly asked unintentionally: "Brother, where did you come from? The corners of your clothes are covered in mud."

When he asked this, Shen Mingyun paused slightly. At this moment, the familiar System task prompt sounded in his head.

[The Host triggers a special hidden side task: Please stop the wedding of the Third Prince, Li Mingjin, and Luo Shuyu on the tenth of the eighth month as soon as possible. Task reward: 200 points.]