After being expelled from the palace, she returned with her cub and amazed the whole city

The next day.

Not wanting to be criticized, the Prime Minister's Mansion quickly sent a small sedan to carry Jiang Jiaojiao into the mansion.

Aunt Chen heard from her servants that Jiang Jiaojiao didn't bring a dowry, so she quickly sent her mother-in-law to find out what was going on.

According to the customs of the Wanling Kingdom, there is no betrothal gift for a concubine, but a dowry is required when marrying a legitimate daughter. A dowry should be given when a daughter is married off in the Shangshu Mansion.

In the courtyard, Jiang Jiaojiao opened her hijab and saw that the gauze curtain and quilt on the bed were all pink. She threw the hijab to the ground.

"Miss, this is no longer the Shangshu Mansion. Every move we make may be watched by others. Don't show anything on your mind." Caiyan glanced at the door and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that no maid came in. .

Jiang Jiaojiao raised her eyes and looked around. The furnishings in the room were not as good as those she had in Shangshu Mansion.

"Is this yard very remote?"

Caiyan lowered her eyes, "Miss, don't worry about where you live now. As long as my uncle treats you well, it doesn't matter if you are a little more partial."

The sedan entered the house through the Ermen, and arrived quickly after entering the house. The Ermen was usually located in the corner of the backyard. Jiang Jiaojiao didn't expect to live in a nice yard, but she didn't expect that the yard assigned to him was too out of the way.

She walked to the window and looked out. There were several trees outside the window, and not far away was an undulating courtyard wall. No one could be seen outside the window.

She looked away and asked, "Have you seen my uncle?"

Caiyan shook her head, "I didn't see it. I only saw a rough servant in the courtyard. The courtyard was deserted, and there wasn't even a big red happy word posted on it."

"You brave bitch, the third master is your master, not your uncle. If you can't even tell the difference, how can you still work in the house?"

Before Cai Yan could finish her words, a servant girl in blue clothes appeared at the door with a cold look on her face.

The maid's triangular eyes showed contempt as she looked coldly into the room.

Jiang Jiaojiao glared at the servant girl in displeasure, "What do you want to call him in my own room? That's our business, what does it have to do with you?"

Jiang Jiaojiao immediately regretted her words. This was the Prime Minister's Mansion. As a concubine, she was thankful that the servants didn't make things difficult for her.

She calmed down her expression, softened her tone a bit, and said bluntly: "What I mean is that I will address Third Master outside and will not embarrass Third Master."

"The old lady and the eldest lady in the house are the most disciplined. Aunt Jiang is better to stick to her duties."

The maid's tone was full of warning. Caiyan quickly bowed to the maid and said, "Mom, thank you for your trouble. This young lady from the slave family is new here. Please be patient."

The maid walked into the room with a straight face and glanced around. There was a dowry box in front of the dressing mirror. There was indeed no dowry in the room.

The maid gave Jiang Jiaojiao a perfunctory bow and put the key in her hand on the table, "This is the key to the warehouse of Wangchun Yuan. Aunt Jiang must keep it."

Jiang Jiaojiao signaled Caiyan to put the keys away.

She quickly regained her composure, nodded slightly to the servant girl, and asked Caiyan to reward her with a silver pin.

The servant woman's expression softened a lot after she took the reward, and she bowed and said, "Thank you Aunt Jiang for the reward. Aunt Chen was worried that your dowry would have nowhere to be placed, so she specially ordered the old slave to come over and deliver the keys to the warehouse."

"You mean there's nothing in the warehouse?" Jiang Jiaojiao finally thought about it. It turned out that the Wei family didn't know that she was demoted to a concubine, and thought she had a generous dowry.

"Since the death of the last aunt, this yard has been empty, and of course the warehouse is also empty. Aunt Jiang can use it without worries."

"Has anyone died in this courtyard?" Jiang Jiaojiao was so shocked that she almost jumped up.

The maid said expressionlessly: "Aunt Jiang, don't be afraid, it happened several years ago."

After the servant girl left, Jiang Jiaojiao waved to Caiyan, "Go and find out whose aunt died in this courtyard? Go and ask the steward for some red silk."

It's so unlucky. The courtyard where people have died is inhabited by people who feel alienated. Hanging some red silk to ward off evil spirits is better than leaving it bare.

There were no flowers and candles in the bridal chamber, and even the groom was nowhere to be seen. Jiang Jiaojiao was so angry that she gritted her silver teeth.

Caiyan put down the warehouse key and went out to inquire.

Jiang Jiaojiao looked at the warehouse key in frustration. Her father was so angry that he refused to see her, let alone the dowry.

The makeup box on the dressing table contained all her belongings. It contained some valuable jewelry and the personal money secretly hidden by her mother. Plus the remaining pocket money she spent, the total was only a thousand taels of silver notes and some broken silver. .

The room was deserted, and Jiang Jiaojiao had not had a good meal since yesterday.

Feeling hungry, she looked at the dried fruit plate on the table. There were only peanuts, walnuts and pine nuts in it.

There were no jujubes or lotus seeds that meant she would have a son soon. Jiang Jiaojiao sneered secretly in her heart. Was she afraid that she would give birth to a concubine's eldest son?

She recalled that she was disturbed by someone in the private room of the teahouse yesterday, and Wei Mingzhou retreated halfway. Without the last tremor, she would naturally not have the chance to get pregnant.

She secretly swore that she would not go as far as the old godly woman wanted and would definitely give birth to a concubine's eldest son. When the time comes for the division of the house, the mother might be able to be rehabilitated based on the son's worth.

After a while, Caiyan came back with two pieces of red silk in her hand.

"Miss, I heard that the Prime Minister's concubine once lived in this courtyard. I heard that the concubine died of illness."

"Have you asked my uncle when he will come?"

As a noble family in the capital, many women died in the big houses. Death from illness was not a scary thing, but Jiang Jiaojiao was afraid of hanging.

She heard a story told by the wet nurse about a man who hanged himself with his tongue hanging out.

She was afraid that when she opened her eyes in the middle of the night, she would see the long-tongued ghost standing in front of her bed.

Cai Yan put down the red silk in her hand, without a trace of joy on her face, "The maids and old women looked at me and avoided me. I finally found a simple-looking servant, who said that the third young master went to the old lady's courtyard."

"Forget it, no one has passed the message, so I won't go to see the old lady. You hang one of these silk strips on the head of the bed and another on the door of the room."

Concubines are not qualified to go to the upper room, and Jiang Jiaojiao didn't want to go and make trouble. It was still early, and Wei Mingzhou must have come to the courtyard to spend the night.

The dinner was delivered with two meat dishes and two vegetables. Jiang Jiaojiao was very hungry, but she ate it without being picky.

Cai Yan had also seen how the concubines in the Shangshu Mansion lived. It was good to have two meat dishes and two vegetables today. If the young lady was not favored, I'm afraid that even such simple meals would be a luxury in the future.

Wei Mingzhou didn't come until three quarters after the evening.

As the saying goes, a new toilet can be rare for three days, and Wei Mingzhou is no exception.

As soon as he entered the room, he wanted to hug Jiang Jiaojiao and get on the bed.

"Sanlang, you are so cruel! My good legitimate daughter has become your concubine. You didn't promise me this at the beginning." Jiang Jiaojiao restrained her spoiled nature and hugged Wei Mingzhou's neck to act coquettishly.

"Jiao'er, you have to understand Sanlang too! My legitimate mother is strict, and my grandmother is stricter with the younger generation. Now I haven't married yet, Jiao'er is my legal wife in my heart."

Wei Mingzhou said as if he was visiting a brothel, and he was eager to pull Jiang Jiaojiao's pink dress.