Chapter 2 Chapter 2 First Encounter
"Except for the farm, shop, and land I'm going to give you as a dowry, I wish they would steal all my dowry so that I can add more boxes to my dowry and make it look more beautiful."
Chu Xian was at her ease. She lifted the mirror cover and sat in front of the mirror, combing her hair comfortably.
"Xian'er? Stop talking nonsense." Guo Luoluo was dumbfounded and her face turned purple.
"In this world, no matter if a family is rich or poor, if a girl marries off, as long as there is a chance of marriage, she must give a dowry, not to mention adding a dowry or a room. If a girl does not have a dowry, she will definitely be looked down upon by her husband's family."
"In the past few years, your reckless brothers have almost taken away all your dowry. How can you add more to your dowry?"
"How much of your 120-carton dowry is left now?"
Chu Xian pursed her lips and suppressed a smile: "One hundred and forty-two."
"You really are...huh?" Guo Luoluo was stunned. "Why are you stealing more and more?"
"Auntie, you must be lying to me."
Chu Xian rolled up her wide sleeves and tucked the embroidered handkerchief under her pipa lapel. Smiling, she grasped Wan Ning's hand and said, "It's true. Long before my second and third brothers stole my dowry, I had already stolen it all myself."
"My mother passed away early. My eldest brother, second brother, and third brother are not from the same mother as me. My biological fourth brother and fifth brother are far away in the Northwest Army. Most of my dowry is from my mother's previous dowry. How can I let outsiders get it for free?"
"I steal worse than them."
"I have already replaced all my dowry with cheap goods. I have exchanged the animal furs for a thousand-piece coat patched with scraps of leather. I have also swapped out my gold jewelry for copper-plated gold jewelry, and my silver jewelry for tin-plated silver jewelry. They are not worth a few ounces of silver."
"I'll go back and take the dowry list to my father and make a fuss for a few days. I can return a lot of the stolen dowry. My father is very proud, and what he returns is all real gold and silver. It's worth it to exchange gold and copper for real gold and silver."
Chu Xian did not tell the whole truth. Her private property was not included in the dowry list. If these private properties were exchanged for silver and money, the dowry list could be quadrupled.
She picked up the purple powder box and played with it, lowering her eyes and cutting off her chaotic thoughts.
She stole her own dowry with selfish motives. Although a woman's dowry will not be incorporated into her husband's property after marriage, she has the right to decide the ownership and control of the dowry.
But after she married the Fourth Prince, she had to be rewarded with concubines in the harem. Even as a prince's wife, her annual salary was only four hundred taels. Historically, Emperor Yongzheng had many concubines in his private residence, so this was just a drop in the bucket.
Asking her to use her dowry to support the concubines in the harem to maintain the family image would be more painful than killing her.
It was bad luck for her to marry the future Emperor Yongzheng. Even if she brought mountains of gold and silver with her, the Fourth Prince would not look upon her with any respect.
She was destined to be out of favor in this life, and if she had no money and had to live on others' mercy all day long, it would be better for her to be killed.
No one can touch her money!
Guo Luoluo was stunned. "That's fine. Children like us without a mother have to fight for our own future. Your father may be soft-hearted, but at least you still have him."
Seeing Wan Ning becoming increasingly depressed, Chu Xian hurriedly took out a blue-gold butterfly hairpin with kingfisher feathers from her dressing box and inserted it diagonally into her hair.
"Ning'er, you sleep on thick mats and eat from a wide variety of dishes in Prince An's mansion. Although your grandfather, Prince An, has passed away, your uncles treat you very well. I envy them so much."
"Let's not talk about these spoilers, Xian'er, what did Nanny Yin teach you today?"
"Men, women, and love. What else can you teach?"
Chu Xian changed into soft-soled slippers, yawned, and took out the small box from under the bookcase.
"These are all given to you. Take them later and hide them back home so no one can see them."
Guo Luoluo opened the mother-of-pearl lacquer box and played with the bronze man curiously.
"Xian'er, have you learned how to accept the grace and dew today?"
"Puff..." Chu Xian was gargling with light bamboo salt water when she suddenly heard these obscene words used indiscriminately in the erotic drama, and she immediately spat out a mouthful of tea.
"Ahem...how else can I hold it? Just hold it like that."
"Pick it up with your mouth?" Guo Luoluo's cheeks flushed as she fiddled with the inseparable pair of Tantric Laughing Buddhas.
Cheng En Diaolu's words were so serious, but they were completely smeared by fans.
Chu Xian wanted to cry but had no tears. She raised her hand and slapped the back of Wan Ning's hand: "You should watch less of the pink drama."
Guo Luoluo grinned and said, "Speaking of opera, the Neijing troupe has meticulously re-staged 'The Battle of Wancheng'. Shall we go and watch it tomorrow?"
Chu Xian blushed and closed her eyes, the scene of watching "Battle of Wancheng" last month emerged in her mind.
The plot is both bloody and erotic. When the stage changes, an embroidered bed appears inexplicably, and a male actor hugs a female actor, portraying their lewd expressions vividly.
The female actor's three-inch golden lotus hooked around the man's neck and moved her body in an ambiguous manner.
The red gauze curtain swayed, revealing a part of the thin legs in embroidered shoes. The slender lotus feet sometimes curled up and sometimes stretched, swaying up and down absurdly.
From time to time, the charming and delicate sound of a woman could be heard from inside the tent, and egg whites were sprinkled out from the cracks in the tent. You didn't have to guess what the egg whites represented.
She was only ten steps away from the stage at the time, and her ears were filled with blushing shouts. She never expected that the seemingly conservative ancients could be so unrestrained.
She was extremely scared, and was really afraid that the two people on the stage would not be able to control themselves and do it on the spot.
Thanks to Wan Ning, that night she personally experienced the dregs of ancient opera - powder opera.
No wonder Empress Dowager Cixi asked Emperor Guangxu to accompany her to watch a play, but Emperor Guangxu still despised her.
If Cixi was obsessed with such intimate scenes all day long and even asked Emperor Guangxu to watch them with her, it would be simply insane.
"Wait until you come back and see." Chu Xian muttered softly with a red face.
"Hey, girl, it's time for you to practice calligraphy." A tall and strong figure was reflected in the window lattice.
When the wet nurse, Nanny Chun, heard that Miss Wan Ning was instigating her daughter to do bad things again, she immediately raised her voice.
My daughter is introverted and is only good friends with Miss Wan Ning, the granddaughter of Prince An. However, Miss Wan Ning's personality is too lively, like a naughty monkey that cannot be suppressed.
"Xian'er, I have to go back now. I'll bring you some leather materials when I get back from Mulan Paddock."
After her parents both died and she lived under someone else's roof for several years, Guo Luoluo understood what the play meant and immediately got up to leave.
"I'll take you there."
Chu Xian didn't have time to change her slippers. She took Wan Ning's slightly cold hand and the two of them walked around the steps and courtyard flowers, leaving behind the maids and servants behind.
"Ning'er, I've made a new Yurong powder this year. I just had the maid put it in your carriage. The sun is scorching during the Mulan Autumn Hunt, and the horses' hair is brittle. You should apply more Yurong powder to prevent your hair from getting tanned."
"Good Xian'er, I was just thinking that the Yurong Powder sold outside couldn't compare to the one you made. I will gladly accept it." Guo Luoluo's eyes were full of smiles as she held Xian'er tightly.
"Who are we? Why are we being so polite?"
Chu Xian sneered and personally escorted Wan Ning out of the hanging flower door before returning to her boudoir.
"Miss, the master just sent someone to deliver two hundred taels of silver so that you can go and replace the things that the third master took away today." Nanny Chun walked over leisurely, holding a copper washbasin.
"Well, put the silver in the old place, and then buy some new scrap metal so they can continue stealing."
"Madam Chun, I'm going out tomorrow to inspect the seven dowry farms outside the capital. Please stay in the mansion and keep an eye on them."
"Miss, think twice. Shuntian Prefecture has been hit by a locust plague. The people are displaced and suffering. It's horrifying and heartbreaking. I can't bear to read it."
"The Nine Gates have refused to allow refugees from Shuntian Prefecture to enter the Forty-Nine City. They are now lingering in the suburbs of Beijing. Recently, the people of the suburbs are in dire straits. Bandits are everywhere, unrepentant and wicked, bringing disaster upon innocent people. How can you possibly go to a place like that, where the people are so corrupt and scoundrels run rampant?"
Chu Xian didn't care. What could happen under the emperor's feet?
If she didn't leave the mansion, how could she let her good brothers continue to steal the dowry?
There is also the dowry farm on the southern foot of Baiwang Mountain in the suburbs of Beijing. She has to go there in person to keep an eye on it to feel at ease.
Nanny Chun kept muttering all night, but she still couldn't change the girl's mind. She hurried to the master and started complaining.
Fei Yanggu has been busy these days with the many trivial matters of the Mulan Autumn Hunt. He retired early in his life and is now idle at home.
In the officialdom, he has always been more inclined to curry favor with the powerful. He has been retired for many years and has been ignored by everyone.
Next autumn, Xian'er will be marrying the Fourth Prince, so he has to take advantage of Mulan's autumn hunt to scheme for her.
This would prevent His Majesty from completely forgetting him, an old minister who had retired for many years. This would also allow Xian'er to speak with dignity among the princes and their sisters-in-law.
Fei Yanggu couldn't help but feel proud that his daughter became the prince's wife.
This marriage that was out of his reach finally happened to his precious daughter, which made his efforts to save her worthwhile.
A hundred years later, he will have the face to meet Xian'er's mother.
Thinking of his late second wife, Jueluo, Fei Yanggu lowered his head and wiped away his tears.
Fei Yanggu scratched the cooled teacup with his fingertips a few times, pondered for a moment, and then calmly instructed: "Let Xianrong and Suiqing, the two skilled maids, go and serve. No one in the capital dares to touch my daughter, Fei Yanggu!"
Hearing about Xianrong and Suiqing, Nanny Chun fell silent in relief and patted her waist: "With those two maids waiting on us, it will be safe."
Chu Xian knew that her father would never refuse her.
Before Nanny Chun returned from the study in the front yard, she had already ordered people to prepare a birch carriage with a black-green curtain for ordinary people.
The carriage went out of the corner gate along the ballast stone slabs. Cicadas and crickets chirped along the way, and horses neighed and carts honked. If one came across a carriage with red wheels and purple reins, embroidered curtains, red hubs, brocade curtains, and silver bridles, one had to avoid it, which was quite time-consuming.
Leaving the inner city, the cobblestone road was extremely bumpy, and the humid steam and the earthy smell penetrated into my nostrils.
There was a sudden rain and strong wind yesterday, and the road ahead became even more muddy and difficult to walk on.
The ruts become deep after a long journey, and if you are not careful, the carriage will cut its axle, making the journey even slower.
Inside the carriage, the maid Xianrong helped the girl change into a simple and plain dress, which had a light and airy charm like that of someone walking under the trees, and was a delight to the eyes.
The girl was wearing an ordinary plain shirt worn by Han women, which was surprisingly more elegant and beautiful than the baggy robes worn by Manchu women.
"Xianrong, when we get to the farm, if anyone asks, just say the three of us are the servants guarding the farm that came with the young lady's dowry."
"We have to stay at the village until my father returns from Mulan Paddock."
The mansion is only considered home when her father and her fourth brother Wu Ge are there. If they are not there, she doesn't want to stay for a moment.
"Girl, but... Ouch, girl, be careful!"
The carriage tilted suddenly, and the little maidservant screamed and called out to the girl.
"Miss, the axle of the carriage is broken." The voice of the maid Sui Qing came from outside.
"Don't panic. How far are we from the farm?" Chu Xian, supported by two maids, climbed out of the carriage in a panic.
Her feet instantly sank into the hot mud. When she pulled her legs out, her embroidered shoes were gone.
"Miss, if we go around the mountain ahead, we will reach the village."
As the maid Xianrong spoke, she bent over and pulled out the embroidered shoes covered in black mud.
The fat black worm on the upper half of the shoe was twisting its body and crawling into the shoe. Chu Xian was so close that she could even see a thick yellow-green liquid flowing out of the fat worm's body.
"..." Chu Xian was so frightened that she pushed her embroidered shoes away and jumped into the grass by the roadside in panic.
She covered her chest and gasped in fear, and was about to ask the maid to bring her some new shoes when she was caught off guard and her ankle was grabbed tightly.
She was so frightened that her scalp went numb and she held her breath: "Help...ah..."
The force on her ankle suddenly tightened, and Chu Xian cried out in pain. She lowered her head and looked into a face covered in blood.
"Where did this scoundrel come from! Let me go!" Her eyebrows immediately raised, and she raised her foot and kicked the man hard, hitting him right in the face.
A black muddy footprint immediately appeared diagonally on the man's bloody face.
"Let go! Let go! Let me go!"
"You..." The young man was already dying, and before he could ask for help, he was kicked hard by the vicious woman.
This was outrageous. He was so angry and anxious that his eyes went dark and he was kicked unconscious.
"Miss, you almost kicked him to death... I saw that he was too weak to stand up. He doesn't look like a pervert."
"Yes, girl, this young man doesn't look like a bad person."
"Don't worry about him. You can't just pick up a wild man on the roadside. It's definitely not a good thing. Let's go quickly."
Chu Xian said as she raised her leg and kicked the wild boy further away.
The author has something to say:
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[Red Heart][Red Heart] Please collect it, my dears! Thank you!
After checking some information, I found out that the Fourth Lady had four brothers: Fuchan, Fuchang, Fucun, and Wuge.
Some sources say that Wu Ge is the fourth wife's younger brother, while others say that he is her older brother. In this article, Wu Ge is the fourth brother of the heroine.
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