Chapter 3
Three days flew by.
Only half of my mother’s dowry was returned.
My stepmother and sister had sold off most of the jewelry and could only scrape together one-tenth of its value.
In desperation, they shoved a lot of fakes into the pile.
A vase with celadon glaze that was supposed to be an antique looked like a modern copy at a glance. The glaze was uneven, and it was nothing like the piece my mother left behind.
Even the embroidered scrolls had been swapped. An embroidery that showed peacocks spreading their tails on all three sides had been swapped for a single-sided piece.
They must have forgotten that I was raised to be an empress. I could tell real from fake with one look.
Mixed in with the items were a few pieces from the palace itself, which proved that the Emperor truly favored Margaret.
“Hallie, go fetch the butler. He’ll recognize these things.”
Hallie was the woman I brought from the Regent’s place. She followed my orders without question.
Margaret's and Elizabeth’s faces went pale.
“What do you mean? Do you think I’d give you fakes?” Elizabeth’s expression turned grim.
It was too bad I no longer feared her. The little girl she used to whip with a thin bamboo rod had grown up.
“I’m taking these to the Regent’s place. My mother’s belongings are genuine. If I were to bring in fakes, who do you think the Regent would punish… Me, or the family?”
“These items are old. There could be some losses or damage over time…”
“It’s barely been eight years. How could they be considered old?” I stared at her with a faint, knowing smile playing on my lips.
When I refused to back down, Margaret straightened and put on her empress-to-be airs. “I am to be the Empress! Even the Regent cannot deny me a foothold!”
“Is that so? Hallie, send for the Regent!”
If it had been the previous dynasty’s emperor, I might have trembled.
However, the current Regent was the Emperor’s uncle, and the Emperor, still young and unsteady on his throne, had never dared to defy him.
…
“Eleanor was arranged to marry to the Emperor from birth, yet you, as the stepdaughter, had secretly met with him multiple times and stolen your sister’s marriage. And you! As the stepmother, you stole the dowry left by Eleanor’s mother. What are you thinking?”
The matter was brought before the Regent, and even my father, who usually turned a blind eye to the family affairs, had no choice but to stand up.
He looked stunned as though he had only just learned the truth. Disappointment washed over his face as he stared at Elizabeth.
“Look at the daughter you raised!”
Neither Margaret nor I could be challenged, so he had no choice but to vent his fury on Elizabeth.
Elizabeth dropped to her knees and was about to put on a show again. “Do you think I did it for myself? I did it for this family! Haven’t you benefited from it as well?"
“You… How could you say that? Is the monthly salary I earn not enough to keep this family running? Did I need you to stoop to such menial deeds?”
My father stepped forward. His fingers nearly touched Elizabeth’s lips in warning.
He must have known, deep down, that the household had been using my mother’s dowry all along. No one had mentioned it to him, so he simply acted as if he did not know about it.
Everyone assumed he loved Elizabeth more than he loved my mother, but in truth, he loved no one but himself and anyone who could benefit him.
After the Regent listened to the whole story, his hawk-like eyes grew icy cold.
“So, your family has been cooking the books? Others might not notice, but I know these things well. If my lady’s dowry is short, whoever runs the household will answer for it. Guards! Drag that old woman out and beat her!”
“Your Highness, please stand down!”
An eunuch yelled from outside. Margaret’s fiancé, the Emperor, had arrived.
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