Under Dou Zhao's strong insistence, Wei Tingyu actually lay down in his room and dozed off in a daze. When he opened his eyes, it was already near dusk.
Hearing the noisy commotion coming from outside in the courtyard, his mind gradually cleared. He stretched heavily and then got up, stepping out of the room.
But as soon as he stepped outside, Wei Tingyu was nearly shocked to the point that his jaw dropped to the ground!
Because the entire courtyard was now filled with more than twenty boxes of all sizes!
All the boxes were open, revealing their contents—either fine silks and brocades or jade artifacts and antiques!
One box even contained stacks of silver ingots, which at a glance must have been worth about twenty thousand taels!
Dou Zhao, Miao Ansu, and Zhao Zhangru—the three women—were leading several accountants from the household, inspecting each box, counting, registering, and recording the items.
Wei Tingyu's sudden appearance naturally caught everyone's attention, especially the three women.
Upon seeing Wei Tingyu come out, they immediately smiled and stepped forward to greet him.
"Lord Hou, you're awake?" Dou Zhao stepped forward with a slight bow. Seeing Wei Tingyu's astonished expression, a secret smile appeared on her face.
She had already anticipated how Wei Tingyu would react upon seeing all these treasures in the courtyard—and now she finally had the answer. It was pretty much exactly what she had expected.
Miao Ansu and Zhao Zhangru were more cautious and humble. Following Dou Zhao, they merely bowed slightly with lowered heads and softly said, "Lord Hou, we wish you good health!"
"What's going on here?" Wei Tingyu blinked, nodded to the three women indicating no need for formalities, and then looked at Dou Zhao directly to ask.
"These two beauties have been brought to your home as your concubines! From now on, they belong to you!" Dou Zhao smiled as she took out the concubine contracts of Miao Ansu and Zhao Zhangru from her bosom and presented them like treasures to Wei Tingyu.
Wei Tingyu was stunned for a moment, thinking to himself, "Wow, Dou Zhao really acts decisively!"
Earlier, when she told him to rest in his room, she said she would take care of bringing these two girlfriends in as concubines today. Now he woke up to find the matter completely settled!
Looking at the two women now, shyly lowering their heads and avoiding his gaze, he didn't even need to look at the contracts to know it was done!
Miao Ansu's shy expression was expected. But how come even Zhao Zhangru—the straightforward and tomboyish one—was now showing a delicate and bashful demeanor?
This showed that beneath her tough exterior, she actually had a tender and delicate heart!
Such two wonderful women had really been brought into his household by Dou Zhao?!
Wei Tingyu felt very happy, nodded, but pushed the contracts back.
"Madam, you keep their contracts. After all, you're good sisters…"
"All right!" Dou Zhao was briefly taken aback but then smiled and tucked the two contracts into her bosom.
She knew Wei Tingyu trusted her and believed she would treat his concubines well! In a way, this was also Wei Tingyu showing respect and face to Dou Zhao as the main wife in front of the new concubines and the other servants.
Miao Ansu and Zhao Zhangru also breathed a sigh of relief. When they saw Wei Tingyu push the contracts back to Dou Zhao just now, their hearts sank halfway—but now they truly relaxed.
"What about all these valuables... are they the betrothal gifts?" After the concubine contracts, Wei Tingyu naturally shifted his attention to the courtyard full of treasures.
The Hou family's financial situation wasn't good! Although he was confident that his perfume business would bring in big money, this was just the first day of sales, and no dividends had arrived yet. There was no way the Hou family could afford such lavish betrothal gifts!
The only explanation was that Dou Zhao had taken part of her dowry as the betrothal gifts...
Thinking of this, Wei Tingyu felt somewhat touched. What kind of madam was this so virtuous—to spend her own money so generously for her husband's concubines?
"Pfft!"
As soon as Wei Tingyu finished speaking, the three women all covered their mouths and giggled.
Even the once shy Miao Ansu now smiled with eyes curved like the moon!
"The girls are already here. How could the betrothal gifts still be sitting at home? Lord Hou, are you still half asleep?" Zhao Zhangru, true to her bold personality, immediately teased him.
"Right!" Wei Tingyu slapped his forehead. He thought to himself, "That makes sense! You wouldn't bring them home first and then forget to give the betrothal gifts!"
"These are the sisters' dowries!" Dou Zhao smiled and stopped teasing, revealing the truth.
"Dowries?" Wei Tingyu was dumbfounded.
Good grief! The total value of all the gifts in the courtyard was probably around a hundred thousand taels!
Zhao Zhangru's family was officialdom, so their contribution wasn't very extravagant, but they still gave a relatively generous dowry. Moreover, this mostly came from the savings Zhao Zhangru had accumulated over the years doing business with Dou Zhao, totaling around twenty thousand taels.
She basically brought all her savings into the Hou family!
As for Miao Ansu, it was different. Since this was about forging ties with the Hou family, the Miao family had to spend big! They gave a dowry worth sixty to seventy thousand taels to help Miao Ansu establish a foothold in the Hou household.
Adding in the twenty thousand taels Miao Ansu earned herself, this explained the spectacular scene of the entire courtyard filled with gold and silver treasures!
After hearing Dou Zhao's explanation, Wei Tingyu was totally stunned.
Wow! Not only did he get two beauties for free, but he also made a big profit?!
No denying it—this way of "eating soft rice" was truly skillful! Eyes closed and opened again, and a hundred thousand taels of silver had been stuffed into his pocket!
Of course, Wei Tingyu wasn't really used to relying on others for money. Besides, as a transmigrator with a system, he would never arbitrarily covet his wives' or concubines' dowries—such people even he despised!
But if this matter spread, how many princes and nobles would envy him—taking concubines and making money at the same time! In the entire capital, probably only Wei Tingyu had such an ability!