Sun watched as Ye Panjiu smiled as she read the letter, then nudged Guan Muning's arm, urging her to look at her too.
"Look how calm and collected Sister Pan Jiu is, yet she's still so obsessed with love. Aren't you planning to meet someone else? I can introduce you to someone!"
Guan Muning shook her head. "I finally got rid of the Guan family, and I'm so free. Second sister-in-law, please don't introduce me to anyone, I absolutely won't look at them."
Mrs. Sun had no choice but to wave her hand, "Alright, alright, I won't introduce you."
She nudged Jiang Leyue on her right before she could speak.
Jiang Leyue then said, "I need to observe three years of mourning for my brother, so I won't consider this matter."
Sun opened her mouth, but the words were choked back down.
So much free time!
After reading Su Yan's letter, Ye Panjiu finally opened Sheng Ping's letter.
"I am pleased to receive this letter. I am astonished that Sister Panjiu has departed without saying goodbye. This is an imperial edict bestowing upon Sister Panjiu the title of First-Rank Imperial Lady, as a reward for her. I, Shengping, am unworthy, but fortunate to have been born into an imperial family. With the help of Sister Panjiu, Brother Su, and others, I have been able to ascend to this high position. From now on, if Sister Panjiu has any matters to report, please have Yanyu deliver them. Shengping."
The letter was very brief and was written in Shengping's handwriting.
Now that he had become emperor, his tone was no longer as warm as before.
Ye Panjiu unfolded another cloth-wrapped imperial edict, proclaiming her as a first-rank imperial lady.
Sheng Ping did not bestow upon her the title of Prime Minister's wife, but instead named her after her maternal family, the Ye family, which was quite good.
From then on, they were ruler and subject, or rather, not even subject; she was just an ordinary commoner.
April 2nd is an auspicious day for marriage.
The Ye family went to the village to attend Ye Siqi's wedding banquet in a very orderly manner.
Ye Siqi's grandmother and Old Lady Ye were sisters. Ye Siqi was Ye Guihua's cousin and was fifteen years old.
The Ye family had been called out the night before, but no invitations had been sent.
But since they had called out and heard it, they had no choice but to agree.
Ye Panjiu then asked Old Madam Ye, "Mother, how much money should we give as a wedding gift?"
Grandma Ye frowned. "In the village now, people usually give 100 coins for weddings, or 200 coins for more. Since we are relatives, we will give 500 coins."
"Alright, since we're a big family, you and Dad will each give one share, and I, your eldest brother and second brother, will each give one share?"
Grandma Ye shook her head. "That won't do. In the village, everyone comes to the wedding feast as a whole family, and each family only gives one gift. There are many families with more money than our Ye family, so giving five hundred is more than enough. When we were starving to death, they didn't even ask us a question. Giving five hundred is just our kindness."
Ye Panjiu nodded, "Okay, I'll listen to Mother."
Sun chimed in, "Holding a wedding banquet in the village, with all the food and meat from our own farm, how much could it cost? Five hundred coins is enough for one person to live on in the village for a year!"
“Even if they are relatives, they would usually only give a maximum of two hundred coins,” Ye Erniu said.
Having reached this agreement, the Ye family gave five hundred coins when they went there today.
This was quite eye-catching among the many lucky money coins of one or two hundred coins.
The person recording the gifts shouted, "Ye Xingchao's family, five hundred coins!"
Those around heard it and praised it.
"The Ye family has really made a name for itself."
"These must be relatives from the bride's family, right? They gave so much; enough for the bride to spend for a year!"
Ye Siqi was sitting in the room. The wedding procession had already ended, and she was at the groom's house.
She tossed the red veil aside, sat casually on the bed, and heard the sound of "five hundred coins."
She pressed down on the corner of her mouth, clearly displeased.
When Ye Siqi's mother came in and saw her like this, she quickly advised, "Siqi, your husband might come in at any time. How can you take off your red veil? It's bad luck!"
Ye Siqi slapped away her mother's hand, which was about to cover her head with a veil. "What good or bad luck? When Ye Panjiu got married, they made all sorts of auspicious things, even ate whole raw dumplings! I won't eat this stuff! And in the end, she still became a divorced woman. How shameful!"
Old Mrs. Ye, who had just reached the door, turned cold upon hearing these words.
Sun opened her mouth to curse, but Ye Panjiu covered her mouth and shook her head.
She wanted to hear what else her cousin had to say.
“The Ye family is not what it used to be. They are rich now and have connections with the county magistrate. Why are you saying such unpleasant things?” Ye Siqi’s mother looked at her disapprovingly.
Ye Siqi snorted coldly, "What does having money have to do with us? Look at that stingy one, only five hundred coins! Even if you just let a little slip through their fingers, it would be more than that. Who are they trying to fool?! Stingy bastards!"
"That's five hundred coins! That's a lot! How much do you want?" Ye Siqi's mother looked at her own daughter in surprise. How could she be so greedy?
Ye Siqi raised her head and said, "Look how much the Ye family spent on Ye Lei's wedding! Wang Jiao had two gold hairpins on her head! It would be reasonable for me to give them at least two taels of silver."
Grandma Ye couldn't stand it anymore and knocked on the door.
"Who is it?" Ye Siqi's mother asked, startled.
She knew that what her daughter had just said was unpleasant, and that it would be incredibly embarrassing if word got out.
“I am a stingy member of the Ye family,” Old Mrs. Ye replied coldly.
Ye Siqi's face turned bright red.
Her mother quickly opened the door with a smile, "Auntie, what are you saying? The child is young and doesn't understand, you can't take it to heart!"
Ye Panjiu finally let Sun Shi shut up.
"Yes, she's married and a wife, how can she be so unreasonable? Is that unreasonable?"
Sun was so angry that she pointed at her mother's nose, "This is insatiable greed! Five hundred coins is enough for you to live on for a year, and you still want two taels of silver? Why don't you just ask the Ye family to give you all their money?"
Ye Siqi blushed, unable to bear the scolding, and stood up to argue with Sun Shi, "Your family has a big brick house with tiles, and you can easily give me two taels of silver, but you only gave me five hundred coins. Isn't that stingy?"
Ye Panjiu smiled and said, "What my niece said makes sense. I'll let everyone hear what she has to say."
With that, she turned and walked out.
Sun's shouting was already quite loud, which attracted many people to come and join in the fun.
But because the house had a small courtyard gate, no one came in.
"Panjiu, don't go! Siqi knows she was wrong. You adults are magnanimous, don't hold it against her!" Siqi's mother stepped forward to try to pull her away.
Ye Panjiu didn't give her a chance. Without saying a word or hesitating at all, she opened the courtyard gate directly.
"Everyone come in and judge for yourselves, and see for yourselves."
She smiled and said it very kindly.
The village was already hosting a banquet, which attracted a lot of people, and upon hearing this, everyone rushed in.
The courtyard was immediately filled with people.
Siqi's mother pushed Ye Siqi, urging her to hurry inside.
Ye Siqi retorted, "I did nothing wrong! It's just that Ye Panjiu is stingy! She spent a full ten taels of silver to buy Ling'er, and that was for someone who wasn't related to her by blood. I'm her distant niece! And she only gave her five hundred coins! Is that fair?!"
Sun wanted to continue scolding her, but Ye Panjiu spoke up with a smile, "Siqi, you are my niece. We gave you five hundred coins for your wedding today, which is more than enough. Yet you showed no gratitude at all. You are greedy and only have money in your eyes. No wonder my family was starving and we couldn't even afford to eat. I didn't see you send a single grain of rice to the Ye family."
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