Chapter 32: Jealousy I really don’t want her to marry in such a grand manner…

When Madam Zhai heard this, her face immediately lit up with joy, and she said repeatedly, "Good, good, now that the date is set, I can finally feel at ease."

"Although the date is a bit tight, with a family like ours, we can naturally prepare everything."

As Old Lady Zhai spoke, she looked at Cui Lingyan, who was sitting below, with a smile on her face, and said lovingly, "Our little girl Yan should just wait for her marriage with peace of mind."

After saying this, Madam Zhai instructed the head maid Daimao, "Go and call Madam over to me so we can discuss the matter of Yan's dowry."

Madam Zhai glanced at Cui Lingyan again and said, "You went to pay your respects to your mother today. Why didn't you come along? It would have saved us having to send someone to go and ask her to come."

Cui Lingyan's expression showed no sign of abnormality. She replied, "Mother stayed up late last night and looked a little unwell. Perhaps she didn't want to worry Grandmother."

Mrs. Zhai thought of what her aunt, Mrs. Zhan, and her cousin, Miss Qi Ruoruo, had said in private. How could she not guess that Mrs. Qi must be so angry about those rumors that she couldn't sleep.

She nodded and said, "Your mother is in charge of the household expenses. She works hard on weekdays. After your wedding is over, she can take a break and recuperate."

After saying this, the old lady gestured to Daimao, who bowed and stepped out.

After a while, Mrs. Qi brought Nanny Jiang to Xilan Courtyard.

Upon hearing that the Imperial Astronomical Observatory had matched the horoscopes and set the wedding for the 16th of next month, Qi's eyes showed a hint of surprise. She forced a smile and said, "It's really fast! You're so anxious. I wonder if you can prepare properly?"

Madam Zhai glanced at the powder on Qi's face and understood. She didn't mention the matter of Zhan and her aunt's wife Zhan. She just smiled and said, "The other things are handled by the subordinates. What we want to discuss is Yan's dowry."

After saying this, Madam Zhai glanced at Cui Lingyan and said softly, "Girl Yan, please go back to your room first. The dowry matters are complicated and you won't be bored listening to them anymore."

Cui Lingyan knew that the old lady would not say this in front of her, so she replied yes and obediently left.

Seeing Cui Lingyan leave, Madam Zhai thought for a moment and said, "For a family like ours, the dowry for a young lady in the mansion should be paid by the family first. Previously, this marriage was for Miss Hui, and the family contributed 20,000 taels of silver. Now that it's Miss Yan's turn, I'm thinking of giving out 20,000 taels as well. We'll also prepare other clothes, cloth, furnishings, jewelry, and so on, to make up a dowry of 120 sets."

Qi opened her mouth and said subconsciously: "Mother, isn't twenty thousand taels a bit too much, Yan girl..."

Madam Zhai has been with Qi for so many years, how could she not guess what Qi was thinking.

Before she could finish her words, Madam Zhai glared at her and said unhappily, "As a mother, you should love Yan a little more. Yan and Hui are both legitimate daughters of the eldest son's family. Do you think you want Yan's dowry to be less because of Hui?"

"To be honest, Yan girl has saved the mansion from trouble. Otherwise, if Hui girl had caused such trouble, the Empress Dowager would have been furious with our Ningshou Marquisate. Although Hui girl has the Zhenguo Duke's family as her in-laws, and the mansion loves her more, they can't always let her younger sister be inferior to her. Besides, Yan girl will be the wife of the Duke of Weiguo's prince in the future. If her dowry is too little, people will look down on her, and she will not be able to be confident in her position as the prince's wife in the future."

"You want others to think you're a good stepmother, which is true, but there has to be a limit to everything. Yan is your biological daughter. If you don't even love your own daughter, how can others see you?"

Old Lady Zhai said this directly, almost saying that Qi's kindness to Cui Linghui was all fake, and that she was simply using Cui Linghui, her stepdaughter, to establish a good reputation for herself.

Qi's face flushed and paled, and she was about to open her mouth to make some excuses, but Old Lady Zhai didn't continue the topic and said, "I also want to give Yan girl two shops in the capital and a farm in the suburbs as additional dowry."

"That's probably all we have in the palace. If we take some out of your dowry, the second and third wives will also get some extra dowries."

Although Qi had a smile on her face, she was extremely reluctant to give all the things she had accumulated over the years to Cui Lingyan, such an unfilial daughter.

But because of what her mother-in-law had just said, even if she didn't want to, she couldn't show it at all, so as not to upset her mother-in-law.

Madam Zhai continued, "That's basically all the dowry is. Other things like maids and nannies are the most important. The people who serve you every day are the most important."

"As for the dowry maids, Birou has always been steady and can go with her without worry. Bitao has served Yan Yatou since she was a child, so naturally she should go with her. There are two left, so you can decide which one to go with. If you think Qiuzhi, the head maid in your room, is any good, you can give her indenture to Yan Yatou and ask her to go with you. If you hold the indenture yourself, how can Yan Yatou trust her with her?"

Qi was a little embarrassed and wanted to explain something, but when she met Madam Zhai's gaze, she didn't know how to start.

She had been a marquis' wife for so many years, but in the eyes of her mother-in-law, she was still somewhat unpresentable.

Mrs. Zhai definitely didn't treat her brother's wife, Bian, in this way.

Qi complained in her heart, but she didn't dare to say it in front of the old lady.

......

In less than a moment, the news that Cui Lingyan and Lu Bingzhi's wedding was scheduled for the 16th of next month spread throughout the Ningshou Marquis Mansion.

As the news spread, everyone in the mansion became busy.

Bilanyuan

After hearing Cai Ling's words, Cui Lingyin's lips revealed a hint of sarcasm: "You're really in a hurry to get married. If you didn't know better, you'd think it was a wedding for good luck."

Her words were blunt, even a little harsh.

Cai Ling knew that she was in a bad mood because she had been punished by the old lady to kneel for an hour, and she was even more resentful of the third lady, Cui Lingyan. So she was not surprised to hear these words. She just said, "Perhaps it's because of the incident of Master Lu being poisoned, plus the rumors about the eldest lady falling into the water and catching a cold. The sooner this marriage is done, the faster things will calm down. It's true that I was a little anxious, but the date chosen by the Imperial Astronomical Office will probably be okay."

"I wonder how much dowry the mansion has prepared for the third young lady? It can't be the same amount as the one they planned to give to the eldest young lady, right?"

Cui Lingyin frowned and glanced at Cai Ling. "What nonsense! How can she compare to Cui Linghui? Even if Cui Linghui has displeased Grandmother, she still has the Zhenguo Mansion as her in-laws. Besides, my aunt has always wanted to be known as a kind and loving person. After so many years of acting like that, it's natural that she has to put on some pretense."

"Not to mention my aunt, I know her a little bit. She doesn't even consider Cui Lingyan her own daughter. She probably wishes she could stay in the Qi family forever and never return to the capital. If this marriage hadn't been arranged in the palace, my aunt might not have been happy with Cui Lingyan becoming the Crown Prince's wife. After all, she feels guilty about it."

As they were talking, they heard footsteps outside. Cui Lingyin looked towards the door and saw her biological mother, Concubine Wen, coming in.

She waved her hand and asked Cai Ling to leave, leaving only her and Madam Wen in the room.

Cai Ling had served Cui Lingyin for many years and knew that the second lady and the concubine did not interact much on a daily basis, but in fact they had a very good relationship.

She bowed, turned around and walked out.

When Madam Wen saw her leave, she quickly walked over to the couch and glanced at Cui Lingyin's knees. She said with a look of distress, "Madam, I heard you were punished and was really worried. You've always been steady and never fought for anything, and you've even been somewhat respectable with the old lady. Why would the old lady lose face by making you kneel for an hour?"

"Besides, Madam just sent me some cloth and a headdress. I couldn't feel at ease, so I came here to ask you in person. Don't worry, you came from my womb after all. If you were punished and I, your biological mother, didn't come to visit, Madam would think it was inappropriate."

When Cui Lingyin heard what Madam Wen said, her eyes turned red. She then began to tell her about what she had heard her aunt Zhan and her cousin Qi Ruoruo talking behind the rockery that day. She also said that she had reported this to her stepmother Bian, and that was how the rumors started to spread in the mansion.

Listening to this, Madam Wen sighed softly, "No wonder Madam sent something to my courtyard. It turns out she wanted to use me, your biological mother, to comfort you. You also received this punishment for Madam's sake."

"You've always been so prudent, how could you tell this to the Madam? If not, why would you endure this suffering? No matter how much conflict there is between the relatives of the eldest house, it has nothing to do with you, a girl from the second house."

Cui Lingyin was a little annoyed and couldn't help but say, "How is it irrelevant? If Cui Lingyan hadn't returned to the capital, this marriage might have fallen on me."

"How am I inferior to Cui Lingyan, who just returned home? It's just because I'm the concubine's daughter that people look down on me. It's also true that Grandmother treats me well on a daily basis and gives me some respect, but when things really get bad and she wants to vent her anger, I'm the soft persimmon that can be squeezed at will. Grandmother wanted to save face for my aunt and mother, but she punished me by making me kneel for an hour. Although I did some things wrong, who doesn't gossip about others in private? Are we all wrong? She was just bullying me because I was born out of wedlock and had no one to rely on."

"Auntie, I feel really bad. I'm jealous of Cui Lingyan, and I feel like she stole the marriage that should have been mine. I really don't want her to marry into the Duke of Wei's mansion in such a grand manner."