Tianliangyuan

Chapter 345 Dowry

Xu Zhuzi immediately nodded: "Yes, yes, yes, I will go and arrange a house right away. Where would you like it, Master?"

Xu Zhaozhao laughed: "I can't control where the house you bought is. But Dingxiang and I grew up together since we were little, and we're like sisters. I bought a house in Yongningfang as Dingxiang's dowry."

Even if the Daxing Dynasty were to reopen up and become more tolerant of women, women would still not be allowed to own property, except in two circumstances.

One type is the "extinction of the family line," meaning there are no men in the family, so a female household is established.

Another type is when a woman prepares a dowry for her marriage.

Otherwise, women are not allowed to own land.

Of course, properties like mansions are not included. Any woman with money can own a mansion, but to own land, one can only do so under the two circumstances mentioned above.

Of course, rules are rules, but people are flexible.

Some women were able to expand their land holdings after marriage. Some used their power to convert it into their own dowry, while others used it to purchase slaves who had signed life contracts with them.

The Deng family had done this several times before.

Xu Zhaozhao said, "Xu Zhuzi, I hope you will go back and discuss it with your parents. The dowry I want is very simple: twenty acres of land, preferably not far from the estate. I will transfer these twenty acres of land to Dingxiang's name as her dowry and bring it to your family. What do you think?"

Xu Zhaozhao was unsure whether she could truly stay in the capital, and even less certain whether she and Xie Zheng could truly live to be a hundred years old.

In such a cannibalistic place, one can easily be tricked if one is not careful.

The same applies to the massive Duke of Protectorate's mansion.

Dingxiang treated her well, so Xu Zhaozhao wanted to give Dingxiang a sense of security and did her best to arrange all her future plans.

This is one of the main reasons why Xu Zhaozhao gave Dingxiang her freedom.

Although Xu Zhuzi could be considered a servant born into a family, he was still different from others.

If the opportunity arises in the future, she will also give Xu Zhuzi his freedom.

Of course, not now.

Giving Dingxiang her freedom was only to let them see her kindness and generosity, not to mean that everyone could get what she wanted.

There always has to be something to hold onto for it to work.

Moreover, Xu Zhuzi's situation is different from Ding Xiang's. He still has parents, and even if I really grant him his freedom, his parents will not agree.

If it weren't for Mr. Xu's help back then, the couple would probably be gone now, and there wouldn't even be a Xu Zhuzi.

Therefore, Xu Zhaozhao knew that now was not the time to bestow any more favors upon Zhu Zi's family.

Twenty acres of farmland is quite precious for ordinary people, and its price is also very high.

Xu Zhuzi had accumulated a considerable fortune by working for Xu Zhaozhao over the past few years. He figured he could easily afford twenty acres of land, but he couldn't afford a house for the time being.

Because the dowry couldn't really be just twenty acres of land, and he had already helped his sister a lot before. Although he had some spare money now, even a small house in the capital would cost at least 500 strings of cash, and he didn't have that much on hand.

Xu Zhaozhao had obviously guessed how much money he had on hand.

Besides the twenty acres of fertile land, there were also expenses for a banquet, cloth, and other household items, so it was impossible to raise five hundred strings of cash.

However, Xu Zhaozhao just mentioned that she has already prepared a house for Dingxiang in Yongningfang. The young couple can live there alone, which will save them trouble and allow them to come over to pay their respects to their master more often.

Xu Zhuzi didn't think much of it and immediately agreed.

Anyway, he's married and doesn't plan to divorce her later, so whether it's his child or Dingxiang's, they will both be their children in the future.

Having figured these things out, Xu Zhuzi felt much more at ease.

“Master, acquiring land is no problem, I’ll take care of it right away, but this house will probably have to wait.”

"It's alright. The dowry I gave Dingxiang can be used by you two as a couple. By the way, after you get married, Dingxiang will stay in the city, right?"

"Yes, yes, no need to worry about my parents. They are in good health now, and there are some servants who made mistakes working on the estate. My parents don't need us to be around to take care of them. We just need to go back and visit them when we have time."

To put it bluntly, Zhu Zi's parents are practically masters on the estate now, with people waiting on them!

Xu Zhaozhao was very satisfied with this.

As a soul that returned from thousands of years in the future, she naturally understood the difficulties in the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law.

Regardless of wealth or poverty, if either the mother-in-law or daughter-in-law is difficult to deal with, life will never be peaceful.

"Alright, let's do it this way. Go back and discuss it with your parents. I won't leave the manor for the next few days; I'll be waiting for you."

"Yes, thank you, Master! I will never be able to repay your great kindness in my lifetime. No, I can never repay it. After I marry Sister Dingxiang, our children will definitely come back to serve you, Master, to repay your kindness."

Phew!

Peony, standing to the side, could no longer hold back.

When Xu Zhuzi was in front of his master, he no longer had any of the demeanor of a steward he used to have.

Xu Zhaozhao glared at her, implying that she should restrain herself a bit.

"Alright, you may all leave. Dingxiang, go and see Steward Xu off."

"Yes, master."

Everyone understood that this was to give the two of them time to talk and discuss some wedding details on their own.

"Don't worry, I will do everything according to my master's orders. I will treat you well in the future."

Dingxiang's face was slightly flushed, and her eyes were still a little red and swollen.

“I will live with you from now on, but I will always remember you, my master. If we get married in the future, I will still come back to you if you ever need me.”

"Okay, no problem, whatever you say goes."

Once the two reached an agreement, things became much simpler.

Xu Zhaozhao gathered Dingxiang and several head maids together and explained her plan.

"If you two get married in the future, I will also provide a dowry similar to Dingxiang's. However, Dingxiang and Shaoyao are special because they grew up with me since childhood and are like sisters to me. Therefore, only Shaoyao can have the same dowry house as Dingxiang. Do you have any objections?"

Both Zisu and Haitang, the head maid who was promoted after marrying into the Duke's mansion, shook their heads.

Zisu was originally a female bodyguard trained by Xie Zheng. Her main responsibility in staying by Xu Zhaozhao's side was to protect her safety.

Unlike Haitang, Haitang was someone Wang Ruolan specially selected from her own household servants for the wedding. She had always been a second-class maidservant for Xu Zhaozhao, but before the wedding, she was promoted to head maidservant and brought along as part of her dowry.

"Alright, besides the mansion, your dowries will be the same as those of the lilacs and peonies. I won't be biased."