Chapter 41 (Combined Chapters)

As the saying goes, "If you don't want others to know, don't do it in the first place." Da Bao never expected that she and her husband, who usually bullied people in the village, would simply kneel down and say a few kind words, and people would forgive them for fear of retaliation. She didn't know how she had run into such a tough nut to crack this time.

During the escort, she told her youngest son, "Go find your aunt and ask her to find someone from her second wife's family to bail me out."

Since Xu Erpeng has married into the Xiao family, he must have a way.

Madam Bao immediately went to find Xu Erpeng. While any other man would have had his wife relay the message, Xu Erpeng went straight to her and said, “Your sister planted someone else’s land. When they wanted it back, she got angry and tried to seize it. When they refused, she and her family fought and even stabbed someone. How can you expect me to cover for you after something like this? I haven’t even blamed her dog for biting your nephew yet!”

"Second Brother, what are you saying? This wasn't my sister's wish either." Bao felt a little guilty when Xu Erpeng brought it up. In fact, her sister had told her privately that it was intentional, saying it was to help her get revenge.

Xu Erpeng had already secretly questioned the neighbors from that time and learned that it was Da Bao Shi who had sent Jian Ge'er forward to set the dog on the victim. Now, seeing Bao Shi like this, he knew even more that she was also aware of the situation. He was filled with resentment, but his face remained unchanged. He only said, "I have no choice. If you are willing, go to the yamen and pay money to redeem your sister from the caning. I didn't accuse her of the vicious dog injuring someone, and I've already given her forty lashes out of consideration for our kinship."

When Madam Bao saw that Xu Erpeng refused outright, she wished she could kick him while he was down. She was originally a person who was all bark and no bite. After being intimidated by Xu Erpeng, she didn't care anymore and just let her sister and nephew beat her and lock her up.

Xu Erpeng thought to himself, "This Bao family is bound to bring about their own downfall because of their many evil deeds. He doesn't need to do anything at all. She can just fight them to the bitter end. He just needs to let them persist in their lawsuit and uphold justice."

Time flies, and it's already winter. Miaozhen is wearing a padded jacket and sitting in her room reading. The bamboo curtain at the door has been replaced with a single silk curtain. On her desk are a writing brush, an inkstone, and a vase of plum blossoms. The black ink and red plum blossoms create a unique artistic conception.

Madam Yao came over from the front hall and was talking to Madam Mei about the Xiao family: "The fiancée of that third young master is the daughter of the county clerk. His family used to be instructors in Jiangyin, and they were lucky enough to become clerks in this county. Next year will be their last year. I heard that Clerk Lou gave his daughter a acre of top-quality land as dowry, and eight hundred taels of cash. It's not even as much as my niece's dowry."

Madam Mei calculated in her mind that her husband had originally prepared a thousand taels of cash, and Miaozhen had also brought back jewelry, clothes, fabrics, and silver, which was also about a thousand taels. Not to mention the furniture and trunks, it was quite a lot at the time. Later, the family used the betrothal money from the Xiao family and Miaozhen's private savings to buy a plot of land from the Lin family and a mansion in Fengmen.

Leaving aside the fees Miaozhen has received for treating patients since her return, they were all afraid that their daughter's dowry would be too small, so they saved some money in a fit of pique, fearing that the gap between them and their other sisters-in-law would be too large. Yet, they have now surpassed them all.

She was very happy and thanked Mrs. Yao, saying, "Thank you for taking care of our family."

Mrs. Yao smiled and said, "Don't mention it. My son is all thanks to Zhenzhen."

After Mrs. Yao left, Madam Mei brought up the matter with Miao Zhen. Miao Zhen thought to herself that she had been so engrossed in reading a new medical book that she had completely forgotten about her upcoming marriage.

If this were to be told to others, probably no one would believe it.

She could only say, "As the saying goes, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Father has saved up for his daughter for so long, and now the hard times are finally over."

"Although she can't compare to the salt merchant's daughter, she's still very good." Madam Mei hoped her daughter would excel in everything and stand tall with pride.

As the saying goes, saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda. Her daughter has saved so many lives; she will surely receive immense blessings in the future.

The mother and daughter talked for a while longer. Mei took Miaozhen to the storeroom to take a look at her dowry. The "A" grade items contained both interior and exterior furniture. The so-called exterior furniture included armchairs, benches, tea tables, desks, painting tables, and eight-immortal tables, while the interior furniture was for the bedroom, including canopy beds, chaise lounges, wardrobes, washbasin stands, dressing mirrors, gilded chests, camphor wood chests, spring benches, embroidered stools, and stools, etc.

The second room was filled with small items, such as colorful satin fabrics, tinware, bronzeware, melon-shaped boxes of various sizes, and porcelain from Jingdezhen—it was simply dazzling.

It's fortunate that her father quietly prepared all of this.

Xu Erpeng quietly made a fortune. His bookstore alone now earns him nearly five hundred taels of silver a year, after deducting all external expenses for his employees and servants. Later, with the addition of his own resources, he was able to use a significant portion of Miaozhen's consultation fees to support his family. They had enough rice, grain, and meat to live on.

Don't be fooled by the fact that some people earn a lot; they put on airs and earn a lot, but they don't save much.

If he saves up slowly like this, he'll have five thousand taels in ten years, which will be more than enough.

Moreover, his daughter has left behind the fifty taels of gold from the betrothal gifts, and in the past three or four years, in addition to his daughter's dowry, he has also saved more than a thousand taels.

Even after his daughter got married, he still had two thousand taels in hand, which was enough to make ends meet.

Meanwhile, while Miaozhen and the others had their dowry preparations settled, Miaolian was still being urged to get hers done. Her parents were not very sensible, complaining about the price and quality of the timber they were choosing, so much so that by March of next year, the furniture would still not be ready.

Bao Shi was carefree and never worried about anything. Whenever someone said they were busy at the shop, or if the shop needed her, she would say she had family matters to attend to. Uncle Xu had no choice but to take care of everything himself. He used to run a tea and snack shop that required getting up early and working late, but he was impatient with the mundane affairs and kept putting things off.

Miaolian, on the other hand, was anxious and upset. Old Mrs. Xu noticed this and told her Uncle Xu.

Uncle Xu heard that there were old furniture pieces that could be painted red and looked just like new, and he was about to consider buying them when Miaolian said, "Everyone else gets married with brand new furniture, why am I using old furniture? What do you mean by that?"

Thus, Uncle Xu took out twenty taels of silver and found a small timber shop to make furniture.

At that time, during the Jiajing era, ginseng was not as expensive as it was in the Qing Dynasty; one jin (500 grams) of ginseng cost only 1.5 qian (approximately 0.75 grams) of silver. Miaozhen bought two jin and put them in a tin tea caddy.

After entering the twelfth lunar month, the weather turned cold, and the wind outside was as sharp as a knife.

Xu Erpeng found a tailor to make new clothes for Miaozhen. Twenty garments were made, including gauze, silk, and satin jackets, and eight cloaks. Not to mention the summer clothes, there were twelve shirts in total, including single-layer shirts, Lu silk, Hu silk, cocoon silk, and silver-striped gauze shirts.

It seems that the closer the wedding date gets, the more everyone gets up every morning to take stock of what's still missing and needs to be done quickly.

Xiao Jingshi returned in the twelfth lunar month. He dismounted and went to pay his respects to Second Madam Xiao. He happened to run into First Madam Chao, who was teasing him, saying, "I was just discussing your marriage with your mother when the bride-to-be returned."

Xiao Jingshi smiled slightly, recalling that his aunt, Madam Chao, came from a scholarly family, with her father and grandfather both being teachers, and she herself often dabbled in literature and calligraphy. However, his cousin's wife was completely illiterate.

Thinking about it this way, he felt a little better.

He only said that after he entered the house, Madam Xiao hurriedly had eight dishes of tea, snacks, and fruit prepared, along with two kinds of tea, before letting him sit down: "How were you at your uncle's house?"

"My uncle's family treats my son well, and they even take him and my older brother Tian out to socialize." As for the gossip in the inner quarters, he doesn't say much.

But he didn't say it. This was what Mrs. Xiao was most concerned about. She was one of two sisters-in-law. Although her eldest sister-in-law, Chao, was also a bit aloof, they respected each other. But her third sister-in-law, relying on her high social standing, looked down on them, a merchant family. Mrs. Xiao suffered a lot at Chao's hands, and she still had to send money to her every year.

Therefore, Mrs. Xiao asked many questions: "Who do you live with?"

“My son lives in his own place, and my third uncle arranged for a courtyard to be allocated to me,” Xiao Jingshi said.

After asking a few questions, Xiao Jingshi grew impatient with her constant inquiries about the inner quarters of the third wife's household. Sure enough, after a while, Xiao Jingshi stopped and chuckled, "At the beginning of this year, I fell ill. Thankfully, the Xu family's daughter not only sent medicine but also soups like Scutellaria baicalensis and snow pear soup, and kudzu root and pork bone soup. Not to mention her regular free medical consultations and medicine services. When Madam Yao's son was bitten by a rabid dog, other doctors said it was hydrophobia and were afraid to go, but she cured him."

Xiao Jingshi listened without saying a word. He had a good memory and quickly recalled the day they met in Lilac Lane. She seemed very generous and focused entirely on her medical skills, but she wasn't a bookworm. It was clear that she was a very opinionated person. She spoke with few interjections and didn't have the timidity or gentleness of a typical woman. She seemed to be a capable person who could get things done, and she appeared neither humble nor arrogant.

Seeing that her son was silent, Mrs. Xiao thought to herself, "Why wasn't he silent when I asked him to deliver the mink coat last time?"

Last year was a widow's year, so her son's marriage was delayed for a year. She said with a smile, "You two will get married on the eighth day of the second lunar month, and your younger brother will get married at the end of the second lunar month. This way, distant relatives can stay for a while, saving them from having to make several trips."

"I understand." Xiao Jingshi didn't say anything more.

Mrs. Xiao complained about her eldest daughter-in-law: "Your sister-in-law dresses up all day long, but she doesn't seem to have any ability to conceive. She's been married for several years—"

Listening to his mother's complaints, Xiao Jingshi knew very well that this was not about his sister-in-law not being able to have children, but rather a mother-in-law complaining about her daughter-in-law. She couldn't find fault with her, so she had to find something to blame.

Whose people help whom? Mother said this about my sister-in-law, and my eldest brother didn't even step forward. What right does he have to step forward? Therefore, she simply changed the subject: "Scholar Cen is also studying with me at my uncle's place. Because my second sister from the third branch was engaged before she was of marriageable age, she is getting married this year. I'm afraid my third aunt will also have to come back to help with the wedding."

Although Madam Xiao Er disliked her third brother's wife, Rao Shi, she still sighed: "Her own daughter was betrothed when your uncle was the county magistrate, and the marriage wasn't very good. When your uncle rose to a higher position, she ended up with a bunch of concubines. It was just bad luck."

“The Cen family may not be any better,” Xiao Jingshi said dismissively.

Madam Xiao said, "Why is it not good? His mentor, Magistrate Cen, is now an official in the Ministry of Personnel. He was selected to be the magistrate of Hanyang. He will be promoted further in the future and may not be worse than your uncle. Besides, the young man in the Cen family is also a scholar. If he is successful in the future, even if he does not become an official, he will have a bright future."

Xiao Jingshi laughed and said, "Mother, I don't like to pretend when I'm angry with someone, but some people clearly despise the poor and love the rich, yet they still pretend to be indifferent and do nothing."

As soon as Xiao Jingshi returned, Chao, the eldest daughter of the Xiao family, was talking to her husband about something: "In the past, our family always arranged things according to our own order, which made things messy. Next February, two wives will be married into the second branch, and the third branch has three sons, one of whom is also of marriageable age. I want to arrange the order together, so that it can show that the three branches of our family are all close."

After a moment of contemplation, Master Xiao said, "That makes sense. It's better for everyone to be born together, so they'll be closer. Mother will be happy too. Your idea is good."

“If you agree, I’ll talk to my second sister-in-law tomorrow.” Madam Chao was overjoyed to see that her husband had agreed to her suggestion.

Lady Chao is the matriarch of the family and has the determination to command thousands of troops. Unfortunately, she only has one son. Now that the family is gradually growing, she finally has the opportunity to make her mark.

Miaozhen was naturally unaware of these matters concerning the Xiao family. She rarely went out these days, partly because it got dark too early and was too cold, and partly because she was about to get married, and it wouldn't be good if something unexpected happened before the wedding.

Xu Erpeng was currently dismissing Li, the shop assistant, while he and two scribes, Zhu and Zhang, were writing wedding invitations. The last time the Xu family had a celebration was when their youngest son, Kun, was celebrating his third-day birthday.

Miao Zhen's family had already prepared all the dowry in advance, and now they were really free. Although she also had a dowry list, it was for the Xiao family, and she had copied and transcribed it herself.

Feng Niang came upstairs and said, "Miss, Madam wants you to rest more and take good care of your health."

"I know what's going on. I didn't sleep well the other day because I drank too much tea," Miaozhen said with a smile.

Feng Niang then said, "You don't know Miss Du, do you?"

"How could I not know? Her family was working on a story with my family, and it was going well. Could she possibly grow wings and fly away?" Miaozhen raised her hand and made a butterfly flapping its wings gesture.

Feng Niang said, "I'm not talking about that. It's that Du's daughter got engaged a few days ago and married the young master of the Liu family."

"This man is a notorious playboy, a son of a frequent visitor to the brothels of our three departments." Miaozhen often provided free medical consultations at the Fengmen residence, and people talked about him, so she heard a lot of gossip.

Feng Niang said, "That's right. I heard that the Liu family's son saw Miss Du by the roadside and immediately insisted on marrying her. This Liu family's son is unworthy, and Master Du would never agree to it. But Miss Du agreed, which made Master Du so angry that he fainted. That Miss Du is quite shrewd. After entering the family, she forced the young master Liu to study for a month, and the young master listened to her. As a result, some of the young men and prostitutes who were on good terms with her were not satisfied and all went to the Liu family's door to stalk her."

Miao Zhen smiled and said, "I didn't expect Miss Du to be so capable. Although I don't believe in the saying 'a prodigal son who returns is more precious than gold,' it would be a good thing if she could live a good life."

"That's why Miss Du asked me to buy a bottle of Baiwei Pills from you," Feng Niang said.

Miaozhen frowned: "According to you, she's only been married for a few days, why does she want this?"

This Baiwei pill is for treating female infertility. Miaozhen didn't expect her to be in such a hurry, but since the person wanted to buy it, she couldn't refuse to sell it. She simply said, "This Baiwei pill costs one qian and two fen per bottle."

Feng Niang went out for a while and came back with three coins, asking Miao Zhen to make two more bottles.

Miaozhen made more than she could because there were more than twenty kinds of medicinal herbs used to make these pills. She made three bottles of them and had them delivered to the Du family. She received a total of three qian and six fen in profit.

It was snowing heavily outside. Miaozhen said to Tianjie and Mier, "Although a good snow promises a good harvest, it is still quite cold when it snows. I remember there are two light white and light green brocade jackets with trim. You can each wear one."

She made this when she was at the Cheng family's house, giving one to each of the two young maids. She had worked in other people's homes and knew the hardships of life. A piece of clothing that you casually wear might keep someone warm and prevent them from getting sick.

Xiao Xi said from the side, "Keep these safe, Miss. Xiao Taoyuan and I also gave you a few sets. Change into them so the Xiao family won't laugh at you."

There only needs to be one person in charge of things in each room. Miaozhen doesn't get involved. She just needs to relay any tasks to Xier. This is how everyone has their own responsibilities. Otherwise, if everyone tries to manage everything, things will become more and more chaotic, and they won't be able to do their own proper work.

On such a snowy day, Du Hengzhi returned with several servants. There was a brazier in the carriage, she carried a copper hand warmer in her hand, and she wore a Zhaojun headdress.

She used to hate snowy days the most, wearing thin clothes and quilts, and her feet were often wet and cold because she couldn't afford leather boots. But now she was in the mood to go out. Although the young master of the Liu family was lustful and incompetent, he was only keeping her company at home for a moment. She still pinned her hopes on the next generation.

She studied the eight-legged essay with her father all her life and loved it the most, but she was still born a man.

If she could raise her son to be a literary giant like Ouyang Xiu's mother, she would die without regrets. As for Cen Yuan, she knew he was also getting married, so she married first to avoid being ridiculed.

When the snow was half a foot high, it was already New Year's Eve. This year, Uncle San's family still came here to celebrate the New Year. Miaolian pulled her coat tighter around her as she came into the inner room.

"It's still warmer here."

"I ordered two charcoal braziers." Miaozhen then asked someone to bring tea: "Sister Tian, ​​bring me the salt and pepper filling biscuits."

Miao Lian didn't like it: "I haven't liked eating that for a long time now."

Miaozhen opened the drawer herself and took out a plate of soft, fragrant cakes to hand to her. Miaolian simply didn't eat them, probably to express that although she wasn't as rich as Miaozhen, she wasn't craving Miaozhen's food.

In fact, there are many such silent competitions between people. When you have nothing, you are very ambitious and talkative, for fear that you will lose everything if you make a wrong move. But when you have everything, you become much more relaxed.

Miaozhen is able to live so leisurely now because her dowry is all prepared and quite substantial, while Miaolian still has to worry about her dowry. It's just like when she was in the Cheng family. The Cheng family girls had huge dowries and there were people specifically in charge of them, so they didn't have to worry about anything, while she could only wait in the wind and snow for a little reward.

“Sister Zhenzhen, recently I’ve been going into wealthy households with other people to collect needlework, and then I sell it to those embroidery shops. In the past month, I’ve actually earned more than I usually do when I’m weaving cloth,” Miaolian said.

Miaozhen realized that this was the same as a "sell-a-mother" (or "sell-a-mother"). A "sell-a-mother" was someone who exchanged gold and silver jewelry for others, sold handkerchiefs and silk threads, and even performed facial hair removal. They were often seen with chests full of jewels, moving between wealthy households.

Two of the gossipy aunts and uncles were from that family, and then Miaozhen asked, "How much do you earn in a month?"

Miaolian held up two fingers: "I earned twenty taels last month, but it wasn't easy. I had to sell pearl flowers and snacks to please them to make it this way. I also had to pay out of my own pocket a lot of money."

“But you can still make money. I heard that exchanging gold and silver is even more profitable.” Miaozhen had bought some pearl hairpins from a woman selling pearl hairpins before.

In fact, the income from selling cloth was not very stable. She was only entitled to twenty taels of silver, and she had already spent ten taels on bright and beautiful cloth. However, Miaolian was unwilling to show weakness in front of her cousin, so she just smiled mysteriously.

Miaozhen got up and picked up a medical book to read. Even though she didn't make house calls anymore, she would read books every day. The reason she was able to quickly come up with a prescription for hydrophobia last time was because she had read a lot of books.

Seeing Miaozhen reading, Miaolian couldn't help but say, "Yesterday, He Huai personally delivered the New Year's gifts. I wonder if Brother-in-law Xiao came? I just heard from Second Aunt that the Xiao family has returned."

"The Xiao family was sent by the same old steward; there was no one else."

At this point, Miaolian would be very smug. She had done this about three or four times. When she went to the front hall, Xiaoxi couldn't help but say, "What is she showing off all day long? Everyone knows what she's thinking. The He family borrowed money to buy the betrothal gifts, and her father was only willing to take out half of it as dowry. Now it's hard to find a wife. After she enters the family, she will have to pay off the debt with them. What's so great about that?"

Miao Zhen snorted coldly: "Let her show off if she wants to. We'll talk about it when I've established myself in the Xiao family. Why bother arguing with her now?"

She understood Miaolian's meaning, realizing that although she had married into a higher social class, she was not favored by her fiancé, unlike He Huai who was often more attentive to her.

But she hasn't used any of her tricks yet. Even if she doesn't get her husband's favor, she will break free and create her own world. However, one cannot talk about ice with a summer insect.

After the New Year, Miaozhen turned seventeen. On the fifth day of the second lunar month, Xu Erpeng hired people to carry her dowry. It consisted of two people carrying each load, including the servants' luggage, totaling eighty loads.

At the head are sixteen tiles wrapped in colored paper, symbolizing sixteen rooms, which is the house with the Fengmen gate. Next to the tiles is a large piece of adobe, symbolizing an acre of land.

Next came the exterior and interior furniture. The Huanghuali moon-shaped canopy bed and the gilded and painted rosewood canopy bed were already stunning, not to mention the other furniture, all of which were simple and elegant, with a touch of wealth.

Then came the antique-style bonsai, calligraphy and paintings, tinware, copperware, porcelain, official leather boxes, all kinds of dressing boxes, carrying boxes, food boxes, rouge and powder, eighty bolts of fine silk and satin, twelve quilts, clothes for all four seasons, shoes, socks, purses, needles and thread—a dazzling array of items, shimmering with color.

Next came the jewelry, carried in eight loads. Not to mention the original gifts from the Xiao family, the Xu family's own gifts included a silver-threaded cloud-shaped hairpin with two pairs of bracelets, six hairpins, four pairs of rings, a silver-threaded bun with more than a dozen pieces of jewelry, a black crepe gauze silver-threaded bun with ten pieces of jewelry, two boxes of jade flowers, and a box of gold grass insect-pecking needles.

Finally, there were six boxes of books, both new and old.

The Xiao family members and friends gathered around to look at the dowry, and all praised it. Mrs. Xiao was overjoyed, and Feng Niang and Xiao Xi, who delivered the dowry, as well as Aunt Xu and Aunt Mei, also looked radiant.

Strangely enough, the sky had been overcast until the eighth day of the month, and even when the Xiao family sent over the wedding banquet, it was still gloomy. But on the eighth day, the first snow cleared and the sun shone brightly.