Chapter 24 The coming of crisis (including V-entry notice) The coming of crisis...

"Brother Yan, brother Xian, why are you two monkeys here today?" Jiang had a very good relationship with her natal family and was very happy to see her nephews.

Jiang Yan smiled and said, "In reply to Aunt, Madam asked us to bring Mid-Autumn Festival gifts over, so it's a good opportunity for my nephew and brother Xian to come and visit Aunt."

Jiang Yan's great-grandfather had served as Vice-Chancellor, his grandfather had been Taizhu of the Taichang Temple, and his father had also relied on the influence of his ancestors to serve as a school official in Fujian. Although each generation is inferior to the previous one nowadays, Jiang Yan is the eldest son of the eldest house and the future clan leader, so naturally he should not be underestimated. As for Jiang Xian's grandfather, he died early and his father was raised by the eldest son's family in his early years. Therefore, Jiang Xian and Jiang Yantang have the closest relationship.

Now that Jiang Xian's grandparents have passed away and his father is far away in Fujian, his mother sent him here to deliver the holiday gifts.

Jiang then asked how the mother of Jiang Yan and Jiang Xian was doing. They both said she was fine. As she was talking, she saw the aunt coming over. She blinked her eyes and smiled, "Why is the aunt here?"

"I have some delicious delicacies, so I specially brought them to my sister-in-law. I didn't expect you had guests here." The aunt was looking at the brothers from the Jiang family.

As they all had daughters, Jiang knew what the aunt was thinking. If it were before, the two sides would be a good match, as Mei Paner's father was a Jinshi after all. But now Uncle Mei made mistakes while in office and has to resign. My aunt's family is extremely poor. The old lady gave a dowry of 20,000 strings of cash to my aunt when she got married, but when she came back she didn't even have complete clothes, so it was obvious that there was no dowry left.

Although there are no officials from the eldest branch of the Jiang family today, they are still an extremely wealthy family.

Besides, she and her aunt didn't get along, and she didn't want her nephew to have anything to do with her aunt's daughter, so she just smiled and said, "Brother Yan, Brother Xian, you pay your respects to your aunt."

The Jiang brothers immediately paid their respects to their aunt, who immediately praised them, "They are really good-looking." She then asked them their ages and learned that Jiang Yan was thirteen years old and Jiang Xian was ten years old. She immediately praised them a few words.

After paying her respects, Jiang sent her two nephews away.

Seeing this, the aunt had no choice but to ask the old lady, "It seems that these two children are not the eldest sister-in-law's nephews?"

The old lady smiled and said, "Of course not. These two are from the eldest branch. Since the eldest branch had a prime minister, three generations have been living off the legacy of their ancestors. Jiang Yan, whom you mentioned, is better off. His father is a school official, and he will be the head of the family in the future. Jiang Xian's father was not good at studying, and he spent his days fighting cocks and running dogs. His wife is even a shrew. Your sister-in-law's family is from the second branch. Her father has just retired, but her brother is just an official with the help of his ancestors, and her nephews have never heard of anyone who likes to study."

As soon as her daughter's tail lifted, she knew what he meant, so she continued, "Now they are just a few rich and idle people. If it were you, I would find a young and ambitious scholar so that you can live a good life in the future."

"Mother, my daughter really hopes to have such a person, but it is hard to find one." Where can she meet these young and ambitious scholars from wealthy families?

My eldest brother has four daughters, and Yunying is unmarried. If there is a good one, will they leave it to her?

Besides, she did marry a Jinshi, but not only was he not ambitious, but he also spent all her dowry on him. Now she would rather not have a husband who is too ambitious, but also have a more prosperous family.

It's a pity that the Jiang family hasn't been an official for several generations. They look glamorous on the outside, but they may not be good on the inside.

The old lady advised: "You don't have to be anxious, Pan'er is still young."

But how could the aunt dare to tell the truth? If it was not settled early, and the nieces from the eldest house were settled first and the dowry was prepared first, how much would Pan'er have when it was her turn? Yes, the old lady did love them. She had 300 strings of cash in her hands to spend, but this money was not enough for the dowry.

Her dowry at that time was 20,000 strings of cash, so a daughter would need at least 10,000 strings of cash.

**

It is also said that the Mid-Autumn Festival is approaching, and Jinniang has finally finished making the pearl dress. The knots of her laces are made into peony buds, and there is also a purse with a peony fowl. The clever thing about this purse is that the button is a fowl holding a flower in its beak.

After the girl put on this dress, she looked delicate, charming, graceful and beautiful. Even Jiang did not expect that her daughter would be so outstanding. Not to mention the Zhou sisters, even the old lady's eyes widened when she saw it. As expected, Jinniang received a hundred coins as a reward from Jiang, and the eldest girl asked someone to give her two pieces of silk as a reward.

Cloth is hard currency, and one piece of cloth is worth about two strings of coins. But she thought that if she went out to make clothes herself, it would probably cost more than that.

But this is just a thought. How much money do you have? Why think so much?

After finishing the beaded dress, Jinniang rested for a few days. It is said that the dress received a lot of praise, especially when the eldest girl returned to her maternal grandparents' home, she was stopped by several people to ask about it. Jinniang, who made this dress, also had a lot of customers. The third girl was very good at dealing with people. She often asked people to send some tea, snacks, handkerchiefs and hair ornaments quietly, without showing off.

During this period, whenever she had time, she would teach Si'er how to lock edges, make purses, how to cut purses, what flowers to embroider, and how to match colors. Her teaching of three points was enough for a beginner like Si'er to learn.

The Zhou family was also very lively. First, the second wife, Mrs. Wu, gave birth to a boy. Then, Mrs. Miao also gave birth to a boy. After the boys were one month old, the family welcomed two more scholars.

Lan Xue and her friends in the teahouse were very well-informed, and they immediately started gossiping with Jin Niang: "The two scholars who came this time are our concubine's son, Mr. He San, who is a relative of our family and is quite handsome. The other is a student of the same year as our master, who looks like a child from a poor family."

These things have nothing to do with Jinniang and the others, but they are afraid that the eldest lady will ask the sewing room to make clothes for them, which will add more work. As the saying goes, the excitement is theirs, and they will not only have nothing, but also have more work to do.

The lady of the aunt's aunt took it to heart. This time she had really inquired about the situation. She found out that Mr. He San was the youngest son of the prefect of Jiangling. He was well-educated and came from a wealthy family. He was not a child from a poor family and was a perfect match for her daughter.

"Sister Shan, Sister Shan, come here." said the aunt.

Sister Shan put down her needlework and came over immediately, "Madam, what can I do for you?"

The aunt smiled and said, "You embroider a handkerchief for the young lady. Do it well and the more exquisite the better." She knew very well that if she used legitimate means, Jiang would definitely obstruct her in every way, but if she succeeded, the relatives would always give way to prevent gossip.

Even if it doesn't work, it was done by a hired maid, so we can just put the blame on her when the time comes.

As she said this, the aunt smiled for the first time and gave her two hundred coins as a reward: "It's really hard for you to do needlework these days."

Sister Shan was so overjoyed holding the reward money that she had no idea the crisis was about to come.