Upon returning to Changchun Garden, their mother, Lady Du, along with Xiao Qing, Xiao Hong, and Cai Fei, was busy making dim sum. Wen’er and Wu’er were also at home, today was a day off from school. Both the youngsters were bustling around, Wen’er was assisting his mother, and Wu’er was sitting beside Lady Mei, keeping her company. The family was busy talking and laughing, it was an atmosphere of harmony!
Seeing her daughter return, Lady Du quickly got up, wanting to prepare a meal for her. Cai Wei stopped her, laughing, and said, "Mother, no need to rush. Let me finish talking with you, then I will prepare it myself."
After saying this, she took out the House and Land Deeds for a manor from her embrace and handed them to Lady Du.
Lady Du looked at the deeds in her hand, dumbfounded.
"This is a manor in the Southern Suburbs of the Capital, I’ve already bought it. When we have some free time, I plan on taking the whole family there for a short stay."
Hearing that Cai Wei had bought a manor, the entire family was astounded. They all forgot what they were previously doing, their eyes wide open, gaping, as they stared at Cai Wei.
"But...where did you get the money to buy the manor?"
Lady Du was shocked as she looked at her daughter. The property deed showed that the manor was quite extensive. Such a large manor, suddenly bought by her daughter without so much as batting an eyelid or even discussing it with her beforehand, as if she’d merely bought a pancake or a piece of sesame candy. It didn’t seem like a big deal, but this manor her daughter had purchased was worth over ten thousand taels of silver! Where did she get all this money from?
Coughing slightly, Cai Wei, feeling a twinge of guilt within her heart, repeated the lie she had told her father.
"It was borrowed from my master. My master is quite wealthy, taking out ten or twenty thousand taels of silver doesn’t mean much to him."
In reality, her silver had been obtained from the Lü Zheng Ma Family’s robbery. After melting and recasting the silver in the Great Immortal Turtle’s Alchemy Furnace, the Lü family’s marks had disappeared. Consequently, Cai Wei could freely spend the new silver blocks.
"I see, your master is indeed a generous person. However, even if someone is wealthy, we shouldn’t take advantage of them. We must save money diligently and pay back your master as soon as possible. Oh! And we also have to pay interest. Even if it’s not as high as the interest charged by the money printers, let’s still give him a one percent interest...."
Lady Du started to prattle on, talking endlessly about saving money and repaying debts, which gave Cai Wei a headache. So, she went and sat beside Lady Mei, sitting on the edge of the Kang, and said with a smile: "Grandmother, we now have our own manor. Tomorrow, once your eyes are better, I’ll take you to live in the manor for a while. The scenery there is graceful, the air is fresh, you will certainly like it!"
Lady Mei was nodding her head continuously, responding: "Hmm, hmm, I feel content knowing that Sister Wei has such good intentions. I wouldn’t dare to seek more than being able to leave this place..."
Even though Lady Mei’s words sounded pessimistic, they were not without reason. Although Duke An’s Mansion was in decline, it adhered strictly to traditional rules. As per the family rules, only concubines with sons could leave the mansion with their children, but they needed the consent of the House Masters or the Mistress. Even when living outside, the House Masters or the Mistress could summon her back at any time, which meant that she would not have personal freedom even outside the mansion.
For those concubines who did not have a child or only had daughters, they could not leave the mansion for their entire life, unless they died!
Lady Mei had never even thought of ever being able to leave. She did not dare to even fantasize about it. In her remaining years of life, being able to enjoy the happiness of her grandchildren was sufficient. Now, even if she was to die, she could go to the Nine Springs Smiling.
After hearing her grandmother’s words, Cai Wei responded with a cold, dismissive laugh.