Matchmaker Li stretched out her hand and counted, "Few girls from town marry into the village. The lowest dowry is five taels. As you all know, the highest is the eldest daughter of Manager Zhou from Xiangweifang. She married the county magistrate as a concubine and received a dowry of twenty taels, plus a pair of gold hairpins and a pair of gold earrings. Oh my, Manager Zhou was so happy."
Grandma Ye reached out and stopped her, "Don't talk about selling your daughter for personal gain. Give me an answer, how much do you think should be given?"
Matchmaker Li became serious, "Jiaojiao lost her mother when she was young, and Butcher Wang only has this one daughter. Butcher Wang will definitely give all the betrothal gifts you give to Jiaojiao. I think you can give more."
Ye Panjiu and Madam Sun exchanged a glance, Madam Sun's face showing bitterness.
Ye Panjiu said with a smile, "Okay, Granny Li, let's discuss it. Once we've reached an agreement, we'll trouble you to take the betrothal gifts and make another trip to the Wang family."
Upon hearing this, Matchmaker Li stood up and said, "It's only right. Don't worry, the Wang family is easy to talk to and won't let the bride price ruin the harmony."
Ye Panjiu said, "That's right, our Ye family can't afford to mistreat Jiaojiao."
Matchmaker Li patted her hand with satisfaction, "Pan Jiu is a good friend. Alright, don't see me off anymore, I'm going back."
Standing at the door, watching the matchmaker's retreating figure, Mrs. Sun said with a wry smile, "Five taels is already quite a lot, and they want more than five taels... this..."
All the money from the second wife's entire family that she had saved up over the years amounted to only seven or eight taels of silver. After paying five taels for the bride price and holding a grand wedding banquet, there was nothing left.
If the price is any higher, the second wife's money simply won't be enough.
Ye Panjiu smiled and held her hand, "Don't you still have me?"
Upon hearing this, Old Lady Ye's eyes twitched. "What do you mean, 'you'? Lei'er's wedding is going to be paid for by the public funds. You've already let me keep all ten taels of silver from the academy, which is more than enough for building a house. Giving ten taels to Lei'er for his wedding is more than enough."
Sun looked at Ye Panjiu, then at Old Lady Ye, and was deeply moved.
Ye Lei's eyes sparkled. "Thank you, Mother. Thank you, Grandma. Thank you, Aunt."
Grandma Ye tugged at his sleeve, "Grandma loves her great-granddaughter so much! Grandma prefers her daughters, but her great-granddaughter is even better!"
Ye Lei's face turned bright red, and he kept scratching his head.
Ye Panjiu was actually looking forward to Wang Jiao marrying into the family; she genuinely felt a connection with the girl.
Although her mother was worried about her money, she still wanted to add some more.
Sun took Ye's arm affectionately, "Mother is so kind. So, Mother, how much dowry should we offer?"
Old Mrs. Ye glanced at her sideways and said, "Consider my ten taels as a bride price. The rest is up to you, the second branch of the family."
“Okay,” Mrs. Sun replied readily.
She patted Ye Lei on the shoulder, "You've really grown up."
Ye Lei laughed, "Mom, I'm almost twenty, of course I'm getting old."
Sun and Ye Erniu exchanged a glance, both seeing the pain in each other's eyes.
Before their son got married, they were a family of four; after he got married, they became two separate families.
...
Du E'li looked out the window and saw her eldest brother return home looking dejected, and a smile crept onto her lips.
Ever since Ye Panjiu was divorced, the Du family has been plagued by misfortune, as if they had offended someone powerful in the dark.
After she was slapped in public by Liu last time, she thought her brother would definitely go to Liu's house to seek an explanation for her, but her brother never came back.
He deserves to be so dejected now.
She lowered her gaze. It seemed that staying in the Du family any longer would not end well. She had to find a higher branch to climb up to, so that her elder brother would understand what to do.
"Mother, E'li, I'm back."
Du E'li suppressed all her emotions and walked out with a face full of concern. "Big brother, you're finally back. What happened to you?"
When Granny Du saw her son's appearance, she quickly brought him a cup of hot tea. "What's wrong?"
She had never seen her son so physically and mentally exhausted.
"The Liu family, not a single good person in the Liu family! They're all opportunists who seduce the powerful and bully the weak! They're utterly depraved!" Du Pengzhi's eyes were bloodshot, and he reeked of alcohol.
"Oh dear, I've always thought Liu was a slut, how could she be worthy of my son! Luckily we didn't write a marriage certificate, so let's just pretend it never happened. Anyway, Liu's reputation is definitely ruined, she's a stinky slut, no one will marry her!" Old Lady Du's shrill voice echoed.
Du E'li remained silent and did not continue to speak ill of the Liu family.
Isn't the result obvious? The eldest brother is a scholar, and he's not the only scholar in Qingshui County. The Liu family only has a secretary, and they don't care about the eldest brother at all.
Then she would have to find a powerful figure who would make the Liu family tremble with fear. At that time, with just a word from her, it would be incredibly easy for the Liu family to kneel in the marketplace and slap themselves in the face.
Du Pengzhi slammed his head on the table in agony, slurring his words, "Not Liu, but Wang! The good daughter raised by the Wang family of Shuzhou! A slut! A worthless slut!"
Du E'li frowned and exchanged a glance with Granny Du.
Granny Du was filled with panic; that was the clerk's wife!
How could her own son get involved with her?
Du E'li shook her head slightly, signaling her to be quiet, and asked in a soft voice, "Which Shuzhou Wang family is Brother referring to?"
"Who else could it be? The prefect of Shuzhou is surnamed Wang! He's Wang's own uncle! That bitch said she'd let me see the prefect! What a slut!" Du Pengzhi got angrier and angrier as he spoke, and smashed his teacup.
Although Wang looked much younger than the average peasant woman, it couldn't hide the fact that she was a middle-aged woman.
What did he get in return for all his efforts to please and serve him?!
Having obtained the information she wanted, Du E'li gestured to Granny Du with her chin, "Mother, brother has had too much to drink, let him go to sleep."
Old Mrs. Du listened to her daughter the most, nodded, and helped Du Pengzhi to bed.
Du E'li smiled brightly as she watched Du Pengzhi's retreating figure.
She realized that heaven was still looking out for her.
Du E'li walked back to her room and pulled a box out from under the floor tiles in the middle of the room.
The box was completely full of money.
These were gifts from various men in Qingshui County who pursued her, but she rejected them all.
But the more she refused, the more those men gave her, which was ridiculous.
So each time, the money eventually ends up back in her hands.
The higher she climbs, the more people like the Liu family and Ye Panjiu will have to grovel at her feet.
Ye Panjiu was completely unaware of this; she had no idea about the Du family at all, as she was busy making money.
On the second day of setting up a stall in the county, another unexpected event occurred.
"Young lady, you're not going to stop setting up your stall in town from now on, are you?"
Ye Panjiu looked in the direction of the sound and saw the woman in blue who had given her a bowl of braised food when she was setting up a stall in town.
"That's how it is, Auntie."
The little girl the woman was leading pouted and sniffed, "But we live so far from the county, it will be hard to get this food in the future."
The woman sighed, "Young lady, bring twenty bowls of meat dishes and twenty bowls of vegetarian dishes. My family is large, and these can last for two meals."
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