The disgraced official I took care of was actually Zhu Houcong's childhood friend.

Chapter 661

Yang sighed.

"I have a lot of money. My second brother put Zuixianlou in my name before. Although it is no longer in my name now, all the money earned in those years is in my name. It's a lot. Also, when I was fighting pirates at sea, I would take out a portion of the money I captured to use as military expenses, and I would also keep a small portion for myself. Not to mention, I have five or six million taels now."

Yun Jin carefully calculated, but couldn't figure out how much money she had, so she gave a conservative estimate.

Before Yun Jin was appointed as the General of Zhenbei, Zuixianlou had always been under her name. Over the years, it had earned her an unknown amount of money. Zhou Chu did not take a single penny of this money; it all went to Yun Jin.

Both Lady Yang and Princess Deqing widened their eyes upon hearing this.

"How many?"

Yang immediately realized what was happening and looked at Yun Jin with a worried expression.

"Shouldn't all the seized money be handed over to the court and to His Majesty? If you keep it privately, His Majesty will probably be very angry when he finds out."

Yun Jin smiled when she heard this.

"What's the big deal? His Majesty already knew. His Majesty is a magnanimous man and wouldn't care about such a small amount of money. Besides, most of my money came from Zuixianlou, and the money I kept was only about one million taels."

Yun Jin had one more thing she didn't say: actually, Zhou Chu had instructed her to take the money. A general who took the money would make the emperor feel more at ease.

However, these words could not be said directly in front of Princess Deqing.

"Since Yun Jin is so wealthy, let's each contribute one million taels as a dowry. What do you think?"

Princess Deqing really went all out this time. A woman's greatest confidence after marriage comes from her dowry. Even if her husband's family mistreats her, with such a generous dowry in hand, she won't suffer.

However, this is relative to ordinary people. Zhou Chu has no shortage of money. Zhou Chu is all alone and has no so-called husband's family. Neither Princess Deqing nor Yang Shi is worried about what hardships Lin Yao and Yun Jin will suffer in the future.

The reason for preparing such a generous dowry was twofold: firstly, to match Zhou Chu's status and wealth, and secondly, to demonstrate the prestige and strength of both families.

After all, one of them was the Princess's Mansion, and Lin Yao's elder brother, Lin Lu, was a Marquis and a Grand General. The Lu family was not bad either, with Lu Bing also being enfeoffed as a Marquis and a close minister of the Emperor, enjoying great honor and favor. Yun Jin himself was the General Who Guards the North.

Given the social standing of both families, the dowry naturally couldn't be lacking.

"I'll listen to my sister."

Now that Yang was free of worries, she realized for the first time how wealthy Yun Jin was, and she felt much more confident. Hearing Princess Deqing's words, she was not intimidated at all and replied.

"Then it's settled. I'll have Yun Gui Fang prepare the finest silk fabrics and jewelry and send them to you later."

Princess Deqing made the decision.

Soon, the day of Zhou Chu's engagement arrived. Zhou Chu went to the Lu family to get engaged first, and then went to the princess's residence the day after. Princess Deqing and Lin Yao had no objection to this. After all, everything should be done in order of arrival. Lin Yao was so excited that she couldn't sleep at night these days because she was able to get what she wanted. She didn't care about these things.

On the day of the engagement, Zhou Chu rode a black horse with a red rope and an embroidered ball tied to its head. Behind him followed a grand procession of carriages, each loaded with boxes of fine jewelry. All the boxes were open so that the onlookers could see what was inside.

The engagement of Zhou Chu caused a sensation throughout the capital, with countless people coming to watch. Everyone was dazzled by the boxes of wealth on the carriage.

"How could Lord Zhou be so wealthy? Could it be...?"

One of the onlookers, seeing so much money, couldn't help but say something.

"What nonsense are you spouting? Lord Zhou was already very wealthy before he became the Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Zuixianlou was originally his, and Yun Gui Fang is also his. Just think how much money Yun Gui Fang has made?"

His friend, standing beside him, looked at him with disdain and said...

"Aren't you all ignorant? You've heard of Li Xingruo, haven't you?"

Another person standing nearby boasted.

"Of course I've heard of her. She's the most legendary female merchant in the Ming Dynasty. Who doesn't know that?"

"That's what the man said earlier."

“According to a friend of mine, when Li Xingruo was in Suzhou Prefecture, she was working for Lord Zhou. Have you forgotten what Li Xingruo mainly dealt in? Frosting, MSG, and glassware. When Zuixianlou opened, it used the finest glassware and the best frost. Don’t you understand?”

The man shook his head and said.

Upon hearing this, the people nearby suddenly realized what was going on.

"If Li Xingruo is running a business for Lord Zhou!"

"Yes!"

"hiss!"

.....

Once everyone understood this, they couldn't help but gasp. If it were true, they couldn't even imagine how much money Lord Zhou had.

"Look at that box, it's full of top-quality pearls, each one worth at least one or two thousand taels of silver. It's a whole box full, how much money is that?"

Just then, a carriage drove past them, and they were almost blinded by the entire box of pearls.

"Yun Gui Fang, it's not surprising. Everyone knows that Yun Gui Fang's pearls are the best on the market. I heard that Yun Gui Fang employs many pearl divers to collect pearls for them. But to gather such a large box of such top-quality pearls, I wonder how many pearl divers have to work there."

The man sighed.

"That's not quite right. Pearl divers in the East China Sea have always had a tough time, but Yun Gui Fang treats them very well. I've heard that Yun Gui Fang supports many pearl divers and doesn't keep the same one diving all the time. They also pay them a lot. One of my nephews works in a cloth shop in Yun Gui Fang. The wages they pay are much higher than elsewhere, and they eat very well every day, with meat at every meal."

another person retorted.

“That’s true. Yun Gui Fang is famous in the capital for its benevolence and integrity. Everyone who works at Yun Gui Fang Cloth Shop praises it. Do you have any connections? I’d like to get my husband in there too.”

"Don't even think about it. Right now, Yun Gui Fang Cloth Shop is a one-man shop. Nobody's stupid enough to give up such a good job."

.......

Zhou Chu ignored what these people were saying, and rode his horse around the capital with the valuables. After all, the Zhou residence and the Lu residence were next to each other, so he couldn't just go from one gate to the other. According to the rules, Zhou Chu had to go in the opposite direction, circle the capital, and then enter the Lu residence.