Chapter 179: Settling Accounts

Seeing Xingnong effortlessly lift the box of books, Shen Ruolan felt relieved: Her husband was right, you can’t judge a book by its cover.

Songbai lifted the other box with equal ease and placed it onto the carriage.

Princess Changle, her eyes red-rimmed, held Xingqing’s hand and said with reluctance, “Sister, you must come back quickly, I will miss you!”

Xingqing nodded, “I know, oh right, before, when I went shopping with you, I bought some things, the shops said they would come to the Princess’s Residence at the end of the month to settle the bill, it’s the end of the month now, so in these next two days…”

Before Xingqing could finish, Princess Changle immediately said, “Sister, don’t worry, I will have someone settle it! You don’t need to worry about these things, you just need to go back safely, write to me when you get back!”

Xingnong deliberately praised, “Princess Changle is so good to Princess Funing!”

Xingqing smiled, “Changle has always been very good to me!”

Indeed!

Elder Sister said that after she leaves, those shops will come to collect the silver. When she leaves, she will remind Changle in front of outsiders, and Changle will definitely agree.

The first shop Xingqing bought things on credit from was the silver shop. Later, she went out with the Princess again and bought some things from the fabric shop and the cosmetics shop, also on credit.

Princess Changle readily agreed, “I only have this one sister, if I’m not good to you, who would I be good to? My silver is your silver! Don’t worry about the bills, I’ll pay them for you!”

Princess Changle thought about Xingqing’s petty ways developed from long-term poverty. She always chose the cheapest things when buying, so the bills she owed couldn’t be more than ten taels!

It’s nothing to pay for her, in exchange for a good reputation!

Songbai immediately said, “Princess Changle is so good to Princess Funing, truly beautiful and kind-hearted, and generous!”

Wen Ruiqing happened to hear this. He glanced at the two bodyguards and felt that he should also show generosity at this time. So, he reluctantly took out a one-hundred-tael silver note from his sleeve pocket and gave it to Xingqing, “Take this silver note with you for self-defense, if you run out of silver, write to Dad, I’ll send you some!”

Shen Ruolan was very happy to see this: Her husband still liked Xingqing very much!

Songbai praised again!

Xingqing looked touched, “Thank you, Dad, thank you, Changle, then I’ll be going!”

Princess Changle then signaled to her maid to give Xingnong and Songbai half a tael of silver each as a reward.

Then, after bidding farewell to everyone, Xingqing got into the carriage and went home.

~

Ancient people were superstitious and didn’t like people coming to collect debts early in the morning. So, it was almost noon, nearly two hours after Xingqing and the others had left, that the shopkeepers from the fabric shop, silver shop, and other shops began to arrive one after another to collect their silver, all gathered together.

The first to arrive was the fabric shop. After hearing the gatekeeper’s report, Princess Changle gave ten taels of silver to her maid to settle the bill.

For this kind of matter, she didn’t need to show up herself.

Although ten taels of silver was not a small amount, she considered it as giving alms to beggars, and it was also compensation for her going to marry into Zhao.

Not long after, the maid hurried back in, “Princess, it’s bad!”

Princess Changle frowned, “What’s with the panic?”

The maid said breathlessly, “Princess, several shops have come to collect silver.”

Princess Changle was displeased upon hearing this ━ greedy! But she didn’t think it would be much silver. She impatiently interrupted the maid, “I know, if it’s not enough, you can go get more silver from the money box.”

Forget it, it must be that Shen Xingqing bought some gifts for the villagers. When she goes back, she can give them to the villagers and casually tell them that she paid for it, which would also earn her a good reputation.

Although it hurt a little!

The maid waved her hands vigorously, almost crying, “Princess, the silver shop is asking for nine thousand six hundred taels, the fabric shop is asking for one thousand three hundred and twenty-eight taels, and the cosmetics shop is asking for five hundred and fifty taels! What should we do?!”

Hearing the amount reported by the maid, Princess Changle wondered if she had heard correctly, “How much?”

Did she get the unit wrong? It’s not taels, but copper coins, right?

This time the maid really cried, saying in anger and anxiety, “Princess, that wretch actually secretly bought so many things without telling you, and all of them were sent to the imperial bestowed residence!! Now the three shops have a total of eleven thousand four hundred and seventy-eight taels on credit!”

✿✿✿

Princess Changle was so angry that she almost exploded. After a long while, she was able to speak, saying angrily, “Go tell those shopkeepers, whoever bought the things, they should go ask them for the silver, it has nothing to do with me!”

Eleven thousand four hundred and seventy-eight taels?

The silver she had painstakingly saved over the years, including the dowry left by the Eldest Princess, only amounted to about twenty thousand taels!

If she paid this sum for her, she would be bankrupt!

She added, “Isn’t Shen Xingqing Shen Ruolan’s precious daughter? Let them ask Shen Ruolan for it!”

“Yes!” The maid responded and hurried out.

After half an incense stick’s time, the maid returned, saying urgently, “Princess, Madam doesn’t have that much silver either, there’s only a little over a thousand taels in the storeroom. Then I told those shopkeepers that the Princess didn’t buy that many things, and they should ask Princess Funing and Madam for the silver. But they all said that when Princess Funing was buying things, the Princess was also present, and it was the Princess who personally told them in the shops that all those things should be charged to the Princess’s account. They even said, does the Princess want to imitate the Zhao Kingdom Princess and refuse to pay her debts! They also said…”

The maid recounted the shopkeepers’ words to Princess Changle one by one.

“My silver is Elder Sister’s! Elder Sister, don’t be polite, just buy what you like!”

“A thousand gold is hard to buy what the heart desires, Elder Sister, don’t worry about it being too expensive! As long as Elder Sister likes it, I can buy it for you!”

“Shopkeeper, all the things my Elder Sister likes, charge them to my account!”

Hearing the maid’s vivid retelling, Princess Changle wished she could slap herself twice!

She was about to die of anger!

What a Shen Xingqing!

It turned out that her act of not buying anything in front of her, or only buying the cheapest things, was all a pretense!

Princess Changle really wanted to ignore this debt, but recently the people in the capital had been scolding the Zhao Kingdom’s Princess Xiang for being shameless, untrustworthy, and refusing to pay her debts.

Now the people in the capital were condemning those who refused to pay their debts.

If she didn’t pay this time, those shops were the biggest shops in the capital, and all the wealthy families in the capital bought things from them. If they said a word in front of those people, would she still have any reputation left?

After all, she had always been creating an image in front of everyone that she took great care of her elder sister, Shen Xingqing.

Princess Changle weighed the pros and cons in her heart.

If she didn’t pay, the persona she had built would collapse!

If she paid, her dowry silver would be gone! Shen Ruolan and Wen Ruiqing would definitely not be able to gather such a large sum of silver for her dowry.

But if she paid, her reputation would definitely reach a new level. She would no longer have to worry that after Shen Xingqing went to marry into Zhao, people would say she was vicious and hypocritical.

She knew that some people were already talking about her like this in private.

If she paid the silver, everyone would know that Shen Xingqing had actually cheated her out of such a large sum of money behind her back, and they would only think that Shen Xingqing was a greedy and insatiable person, who deserved to be sent to marry into Zhao!

Finally, after much struggle, Princess Changle considered that the imperial bestowed residence, which was worth tens of thousands of taels and almost as big as the Princess’s Residence, was definitely impossible for Xingqing to take with her to Zhao. Wouldn’t it be hers then?

If she didn’t settle these bills now, it would be very detrimental to her reputation when she took over that residence later!

Also, if Shen Xingqing’s reputation was ruined because of this debt of over ten thousand taels, what if the Zhao Kingdom changed their mind and didn’t want her to marry into their country? That would be a huge loss!

After weighing the pros and cons, Princess Changle said with a heart pierced by a hundred arrows, “Forget it, let’s just pay the silver!”

She wanted to marry a prince and become empress in the future, so she couldn’t ruin her reputation for kindness!

But why did her heart ache so much?

It felt suffocating!

~

In the carriage, Xingqing and Xingnong sat together, eating dry rations for lunch. Thinking about the shopkeepers coming to collect debts today, she asked, “Elder Sister, do you think Princess Changle paid that silver?”

Xingnong said with certainty, “She definitely paid.”