Chapter 12

The scent of sandalwood was gentle and elegant, with a faint spicy note at the end that gave it a sharp quality.

Several scrolls that came with her dowry were painted by famous masters, and one of them was even a unique piece. Each scroll had a shaft made of old sandalwood, which not only kept out moisture but also prevented insects. The decorations were gilded, giving them an elegant and luxurious look.

Shen Qingtan took out one scroll. It didn’t have the warm, delicate sandalwood smell—it had a bitter, astringent odor. The gilding was shiny, as if it had just been plated.

The real gilding on her family’s heirloom scrolls had a soft, aged sheen—simple and natural.

There was no doubt: the item had been swapped.

She unrolled the scroll and, after careful inspection, saw that it was a fake.

The painting was vivid and skillful—so realistic it could fool anyone.

If she hadn’t grown up seeing these specific works of art, she wouldn’t have known it was a forgery.

She put the scroll back in the chest and opened other boxes. All the gold, silver, jade, and gemstones were fake copies made to look exactly like the originals.

Madam Liu noticed something was wrong. “Second Young Madam, is there a problem with the dowry?”

Shen Qingtan glanced at Qiuchan and Chunjiao, who were standing under the eaves. With so many people around, she didn’t want to say too much.

“These paintings are priceless works by great masters. I noticed some dampness just now and worried it might damage them,” she said, then ordered Qiuchan and Chunjiao, “Take people and move the dowry into storage.”

Qiuchan and Chunjiao had been scolded by Shen Mingzhu and sent to serve Shen Qingtan.

Shen Qingtan didn’t trust them. The household affairs were in the hands of Zhao Yi’s wet nurse, and important tasks went to Madam Liu. Clearly, she had no intention of giving Qiuchan and Chunjiao any real responsibility. Their lives in the duke’s household would only get harder.

For now, the two didn’t dare to scheme. They quickly helped the servants move the dowry.

“Madam Liu, come with me.” Shen Qingtan went into the room and signaled her to shut the door. “When you went to get the dowry, did the second household give you trouble?”

“The Second Madam refused to return it at first. Only when I said I would report it to the authorities did she let us bring it back.” Realizing there was something wrong with the dowry, Madam Liu told her everything that happened, without hiding anything. Nervously, she asked, “Second Young Madam, is something wrong with it?”

“Oh, there’s a problem all right.”

Shen Qingtan’s face turned cold. The only ones who could have swapped the dowry were her family or the second household.

Her own family cared about appearances—they might take the dowry back for Shen Mingzhu, but they wouldn’t send fakes.

So it had to be the second household.

In her previous life, right after her wedding, she fell ill and was bedridden. Zhao Jue took on a task to buy grain for the army and had a shortage of tens of thousands of silver taels. He asked to borrow her dowry.

She thought they were husband and wife, sharing honor and hardship.

If Zhao Jue succeeded, he’d earn credit, maybe even a promotion—which would also bring her more prestige. So she gave him the dowry.

If the items had been fake, Zhao Jue would have told her.

It was likely the second household gave him the real dowry so as not to harm his mission.

But this time, since she married Zhao Yi, they sent her the fake dowry.

Her eyes turned icy—this had to be the Second Madam’s doing.

The woman was greedy and short-sighted. Since a dowry was a wife’s private property, she couldn’t openly take it, so she secretly swapped it.

As for how she got the inventory list—most likely Shen Mingzhu had leaked it before the wedding.

Otherwise, how could they prepare such convincing fakes in just a day or two?

Madam Shen’s plan in arranging the marriage swap was to give the dowry to Shen Mingzhu in reality, so she must have given her the list.

“All the valuable items in the dowry have been swapped. Even the silver notes at the bottom of the chest probably can’t be exchanged for real silver. Only the properties and shops remain—they’re too public to touch.”

Shen Qingtan’s gaze sharpened. “The second household made a show of arguing with you just to lower our guard, so we wouldn’t suspect the items were fake.”

“You’re certain it was them?” Madam Liu asked.

Shen Qingtan replied, “My family sent me off with a grand procession—if they sent fakes and it got out, it would ruin their reputation and create enmity with the Duke’s household.”

Madam Liu grew angry. “Then I’ll go confront the Second Madam—”

Shen Qingtan cut her off. “Even if you do, they’ll never admit it. Instead, they’ll accuse me of slandering them.”

Madam Liu fumed. “So we just swallow this loss?”

“I can put up with anything—but not a loss,” Shen Qingtan said coldly. “I’ll make them return every single thing.”

And with interest.

If they dared to steal from her, they had to be ready to pay the price.

Madam Liu stared at her in surprise. She had thought Shen Qingtan was gentle, but now she saw a woman with a calm mind and sharp methods.

Most people would panic if their dowry was stolen, but Shen Qingtan was still calm—and already had a plan.

“Pretend you don’t know about this,” Shen Qingtan instructed. “Later, take people out for drinks—don’t save money on my account.”

Madam Liu, quick-witted, guessed that Shen Qingtan wanted to act as if she knew nothing, then catch the second household off guard later.

She nodded. “I’ll make a big show of it so the whole household knows.”

“One more thing—Second Master isn’t in good health and is working for the court. Don’t let this small matter reach his ears.”

“I understand.”

Madam Liu went into the inner room to get some silver.

Shen Qingtan watched her leave, remembering the past.

The Great Zhou had four main grain stores, which should have been well stocked. But last year’s weather was disastrous—floods in Jiangnan during the rainy season, then drought in the hot summer, followed by locusts. The people had no harvest, and the stored grain had been used for disaster relief.

Now it was only April, and the new harvest hadn’t come in yet. The government offices hadn’t collected grain to refill the stores. The great families had already donated grain last year for relief.

This time, the army urgently needed grain—it was almost impossible to get more from the wealthy families.

Collecting grain from commoners would take too long, and they had little to spare after the disasters.

The Old Duke was worried, so he sent Zhao Jue to find grain.

In her past life, Zhao Jue had contacted Merchant Qin through her and bought the grain, completing the task and soon being named heir.

This time, Shen Qingtan’s eyes darkened. She wanted to see if Zhao Jue could still step on her to become heir.

“Second Young Madam,” Madam Liu came out with three taels of silver. Wanting to make up for her earlier mistake, she asked, “Do you have any other orders?”

“I do.”

Shen Qingtan remembered that before her wedding, Qin Yao had come to add to her dowry and mentioned that Merchant Qin was going to Jiangnan for half a month and would return around the time of her homecoming visit.

She said, “My mother likes the emerald bean cakes from Baixiangzhai. Go in my name and have their owner make them personally. On the morning of my homecoming, I’ll go pick them up.”

Merchant Qin was the hidden owner of Baixiangzhai—this was their secret signal for arranging a meeting.