Chapter 51 Liu Mingyue, a master at spreading rumors
At today's palace banquet, in front of the Emperor and Empress, Tan Zhuoyan didn't want to make a scene, and didn't show strong disgust towards Liu Mingyue, but her expression wasn't very kind, and anyone with a discerning eye could see it.
Liu Mingyue didn’t know whether others cared about her sincerely, but Zhou Baili was definitely not sincere.
Mentioning Tan Zhuoyan was just to laugh at Liu Mingyue's joke. Looking into Zhou Baili's eyes, she saw that she was not even restraining her smile. Liu Mingyue was speechless. She should at least be more sincere in her acting.
"Sister, you misunderstood. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is just not good at speaking. He treats me well in private. The couple respect each other like guests, so it's not that bad." Liu Mingyue didn't want to talk about how good her relationship with Tan Zhuoyan was, so she just said a few words casually.
"Sister, are you saying this because you don't want us to worry? Look at your face. I think your days in Dingbei Marquis' Mansion are not going well." Zhou Baili sighed softly.
If they weren't in the palace, Liu Mingyue felt that Zhou Baili would not be able to control her laughter.
"Why hide anything from us? We all saw how the prince treated you in Qinghe Palace. How can you lie?"
Zhou Qianqian curled the corners of her mouth slightly and exchanged glances with Zhou Baihe, and they sang the same tune to poke at Liu Mingyue's sore spot.
Liu Mingyue just watched the two of them lie with their eyes open. Her life in the Marquis' Mansion was indeed average, but she had her own business privately, and the food was not bad. In fact, she had gained some weight in these days in the Marquis' Mansion than in Zhou's Mansion.
Adjusting her clothes, Liu Mingyue felt that the clothes she wore recently were much tighter. Zhou Baili had to say that she was not doing well, otherwise how could she laugh at the adopted daughter she looked down upon?
But since Zhou Baili and Zhou Qianqian insisted on making fun of her, she might as well go along with their words to disgust them.
"Sister, you understand me. I am not living well in the Marquis' Mansion. The Mansion is no longer as glorious as it was in the past. Life is difficult and even the expenses are very tight. Even the master has to be frugal. I dare not spend the money in the Mansion."
As Liu Mingyue spoke, she took out a handkerchief and wiped the non-existent tears from the corners of her eyes.
Not far away, there were dots of fire on the corridor approaching this side. They were palace maids holding palace lanterns.
Zhou Baili and Zhou Qianqian did not expect that Liu Mingyue would suddenly complain. They said that they were wronged, but it was just a casual remark. They did not expect to unexpectedly learn that the Marquis' Mansion was now in such a difficult situation.
"The marriage with the Marquis' Mansion was originally supposed to be the marriage between my sister and the prince. Due to some reasons, I married my sister to the Marquis' Mansion. Despite this, the Zhou Mansion was in financial difficulty and the dowry they gave was only two hundred taels."
Liu Mingyue was so immersed in the play that she actually started to sob: "It was only later that my biological mother added more than 300 taels to give me this 500 taels dowry, but even with this little, it was not enough to subsidize the expenses of the Marquis's Mansion."
Liu Mingyue didn't need to cry too much to say these words; just saying them would make people dumbfounded.
The Dingbei Marquisate is the descendant of a meritorious official, and was granted the title by the previous emperor. How could it fall into such a state? And now they have to calculate the dowry subsidy of several hundred taels for the new bride. It is really shocking.
Today, the Qinghe Palace held a palace banquet, and there would be palace servants and imperial guards patrolling the palace from time to time. Zhou Baihe and Zhou Qianqian saw this and intercepted Liu Mingyue halfway to embarrass her.
The patrolling palace maids were approaching, and Liu Mingyue mentioned the matter of substitute marriage, which made Zhou Baili panic.
"I didn't expect that the adopted daughter of the Zhou family would marry into the Dingbei Marquis's Mansion, and she was actually marrying in place of her eldest sister?" The palace servants' comments were not loud, but it was quiet in the garden, so how could they not hear it?
"Why aren't you saying anything, my two sisters? I'm not complaining, it's just that you said I was wronged in the Marquis' Mansion and I feel sad when you mentioned my sad story." Liu Mingyue said tearfully.
Zhou Baili and Zhou Qianqian had different expressions, and the changes in their facial expressions were like magic, it was really exciting.
"In fact, there are many people in the Zhou family. I just followed my biological mother to the Zhou Mansion. I am not a real daughter of the Zhou family. Even if I am marrying in place of my sister, it is reasonable to have only these dowries. I don't mean to bring shame to the Zhou family."
Liu Mingyue said the opposite of what she meant. She said verbally that she understood, but to others it meant something else.
The Zhou family treated their adopted daughter so ruthlessly that it was frowned upon. General Zhou had made many military achievements at the frontier, because it was rare for our dynasty to have such talented generals. The Zhou army was once so powerful, so how could the government be short of money?
Of course they didn't want to give it because they didn't want to. Besides the fact that the Zhou Mansion was despicable, the palace people were even more shocked that the conditions in the Marquis' Mansion were so poor that they had to rely on the bride's dowry to subsidize it.
"Sister, when you got married, you couldn't be too extravagant because you were an adopted daughter. Daddy was indeed an official in the court, but he was incorruptible. How could he have had much money? It's right for you to feel resentful."
Zhou Baili wanted to turn the tables and defend the Zhou family. Two hundred taels was enough for an ordinary family to spend for ten years, but for a second-rank official, it was nothing.
What's more, it's a girl's wedding, and she only gets two hundred taels. If you tell others about it, people will laugh at you.
"Sister, you are right. I know I am not as good as you. As early as when you were born, the mistress prepared a dowry for you. I heard that it was as much as 6,000 taels. It is indeed beyond my reach."
Liu Mingyue sighed, looked at Zhou Qianqian who wanted to stay out of the show, and frowned, "Don't you think so, Miss Zhou Er?"
Zhou Qianqian was horrified when she heard this.
When she was less than ten years old, Zhou Qianqian knew that Zhou Baili was jealous, so she always acted humble in front of her.
Liu Mingyue used a trick to divert the trouble to someone else and dragged Zhou Qianqian into the water. Zhou Qianqian glanced at the palace maid not far away and gritted her teeth secretly.
She didn't want to be criticized by the palace people, but if she didn't speak up for Zhou Baili now, she would have a hard time in the future.
"Parents who love their children will make long-term plans for them. They wanted you to marry off because your fate was a perfect match for His Royal Highness. At that time, my sister was sick one after another, so it was not suitable for her to get married. As for the dowry, as an adopted daughter, it was acceptable."
Zhou Qianqian spoke with gritted teeth, and Zhou Baili looked at her with satisfaction, feeling that her answer was very much to her liking.
Isn't that right? Liu Mingyue's own mother is incompetent, what does it have to do with her? It is her honor to marry a useless ugly woman.
"Sister is right. Even if I come from the mansion of the second-rank generals of the Left and Right Jinwu Guards and only get two hundred taels of dowry, I will be satisfied. Even if the Marquis's Mansion is concerned about my dowry, I have no complaints." Liu Mingyue deliberately emphasized Zhou Junyuan's official position.
Not to mention the salary of a second-rank official, the reward for Zhou Jun's army's long expedition was a thousand taels of silver, not including the imperial gifts. The dowry of a thousand taels for the adopted daughter was not too bad to justify the occasion.
I didn't expect that he didn't even put in the superficial effort. Two hundred taels of silver is not as much as the subsidy from my aunt. It's really embarrassing.
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