Chapter 92 Chapter 92 Shen Xuan learned that one of the brothers of the Shen family...
Shen Xuan was also surprised to learn that one of the brothers of the Shen family had married Xue Fengli as a concubine.
After all, although the Shen family is not a high-ranking family, they still have some reputation. Although it is not easy to marry into a wealthy family, it is not difficult for her to marry an ordinary merchant and become his legal husband.
Xue Fengli was arrogant and rude, and had a weird personality. Shen Xuan disliked him even at the first sight. I don't know how desperate that guy was to choose such a scumbag as his concubine.
Xue Fenglin smiled when he saw Shen Xuan's surprised expression and said, "There are only a few men or women in the world who are as independent as you. Most people just want to marry into a wealthy family to change their fate, and give birth to a child in the future so that they can become famous because of the child."
"I noticed something fishy when I was there that day. Although Xue Fengli has always been unscrupulous, that boy is definitely not innocent. The two of them are a perfect match, and it was only thanks to my stepmother's cleverness that she brought the boy from the Shen family into the family that such a scandal occurred."
"To be honest, I, a distant relative of the Shen family, have no dignity at all. I actually sent my own offspring to the marquis's mansion to be a concubine." Shen Xuan said with some regret.
"Having a relationship with the Marquis' Mansion is exactly what they want, isn't it?" Xue Fenglin said, "Although my father is a little confused, he has somehow managed to get to the second rank in the court, and he can be considered a help to Master Shen."
Master Shen was originally transferred from the eldest prince's side, so he is in the same faction as them. Tying it tighter now will also help him get promoted faster in the court.
Of course, Xue Fenglin didn't say any more about this to Shen Xuan, as he didn't want to cause Shen Xuan any more trouble.
The situation in the court is complicated. He is now closer to the Second Prince, which makes the First Prince even more unhappy with him. He has long regarded him as a thorn in his side.
However, now that he has voluntarily asked to leave Beijing, he has escaped from the core circle of party struggles, and I think he can relax for a few days.
What he needs to do now is to quickly choose an auspicious day to marry Shen Xuan so that he can go to Sarawak to take up his post earlier and leave this place of trouble.
Xue Fenglin sent someone to calculate his and Shen Xuan's horoscopes, and the nearest auspicious day was the tenth day of May, which was more than a month later.
After all, getting married is a big event and requires a lot of preparation. One month is just enough.
For example, for the wedding dresses for the two of them, Xue Fenglin hired an embroidery shop to work day and night, but it took a full twenty days to complete them.
There are still some betrothal gifts that need to be prepared. Since he wants to marry Shen Xuan, he wants him to marry in a grand manner so that all the boys and girls in the capital will be envious.
After Xue Fenglin and Shen Xuan agreed on the date, they reported it to the Ministry of Rites.
Xue Fenglin was busy preparing the betrothal gifts, and Shen Xuan also began to prepare the dowry.
It’s just that Shen Xuan was only eight years old when he traveled through time, and has been living in the modern world ever since. Now he doesn’t know how Da Jin’s dowry was prepared.
He specifically called Suyun and Suyue to ask, but they both knew nothing about anything. Shen Xuan was helpless, so he thought of asking others for help.
Among his good friends in Beijing, Princess Jinning was one. However, the Jinning County Lady's leg injury had not yet healed, so it was inconvenient for her to help him with many things.
Apart from him, the only person who could be found was Ye Mi, the younger brother of the Ye family. Shen Xuan then wrote a note and sent it to Wang's house. The next day, he received a reply from Secretary Ye, inviting him to visit his home.
Shen Xuan took a car to Wang's house. As soon as he got off the car, he was greeted by Ye Mi's first-class attendant and led to Ye Mi's courtyard.
Secretary Ye was very friendly when he saw Shen Xuan. He asked the cook to prepare some fruit and snacks for him to entertain him. He also said to him, "As for the dowry, married husbands like us know it best. You are right to ask me."
"Marriage in the capital also depends on the family's financial situation. Generally speaking, according to the betrothal gift given by the husband's family, the family can take out two-thirds of the betrothal gift and add a few different things."
"For a richer dowry, it would be to take out most of the betrothal gifts sent by the husband's family, and then add some jewelry, clothes, quilts, cotton wool, etc. that one uses at home."
"If the conditions are better, a few acres of land or a shop can be given as a dowry, which is already a very prestigious thing."
"If you have land or a shop as a dowry, you will have money to spend, and you won't have to look at other people's faces in your husband's family."
At this point, Ye Mi paused and said, "You are the one who should not worry about the dowry. Feng Lin loves you wholeheartedly, so the betrothal gifts will certainly not be small. You don't have a family, so when the time comes, you just need to bring all the betrothal gifts back."
"Besides, I know you still run two shops in Beijing, so you should have some cash on hand. If you buy some more clothes and jewelry to add to your dowry, it will be quite generous."
"I'm not sure what kind of clothing and jewelry to sell, so I'd like to ask Brother Ye to help me think about it." Shen Xuan said quickly.
"Of course." Ye Mi smiled and said, "I will accompany you to prepare the dowry these days. I have nothing to do at home anyway."
After Secretary Ye finished speaking, he accompanied Shen Xuan to the street to choose fabrics.
Chen Xuan didn't know much about fabrics, he only cared about whether they were natural and comfortable. Secretary Ye knew a lot and introduced many of the most popular materials in Beijing.
Every time Secretary Ye introduced one, Shen Xuan bought one. In addition, the material came in different colors, so Shen Xuan bought them one by one, and bought more than a hundred pieces at once.
"Enough, enough!" Secretary Ye didn't expect Shen Xuan to buy so much fabric at once, and hurriedly said to him: "How long will it take to wear so much fabric? Prime Minister Li's daughter got married a few days ago, and he didn't pay so much fabric! Feng Lin will blame me if he finds out!"
“I heard that among the famous families in the capital, the dowry has always been very competitive.” Shen Xuan said.
"Not to mention the marriage of Jinwen County Lady last year, which cost a hundred thousand taels of silver and countless treasures. Just take the marriage of the daughter of the Minister of Rites in Beijing a while ago. It is said that the dowry stretched for half a mile, and more than a hundred people were hired to carry the dowry.
Secretary Ye was shocked when he heard that Shen Xuan mentioned all the royal relatives. After thinking for a while, he said, "When these princes and sisters get married, if they are legitimate children, they will have a lot of dowry. Their family accumulation is not comparable to ordinary people. Most ordinary court officials don't have as much dowry as them."
"In order to let me marry in style, the prince went to the palace to ask His Majesty for a marriage." Chen Xuan said to Ye Mi, "He has done so much for me, so I must give him the best face. I will prepare this dowry in a grand manner and not let him lose face."
Ye Mi was moved when he heard this, and he took Shen Xuan’s hand and said, “Good boy, you love the prince in your heart, if he knew, I don’t know how happy he would be.”
After saying this, he no longer stopped Shen Xuan, but took him to the jewelry shop and the bedding shop.
After all the dowry was prepared, Shen Xuan spent more than three thousand taels of silver.
Secretary Ye looked at Chen Xuan with some worry as he asked someone to transport the dowry back home, thinking to himself: Although Brother Chen runs two shops, he must have emptied his family's savings to spend so much money on the dowry at once.
How could he know that Shen Xuan was now just a Xuanzifang who sold soap and made more than three thousand taels of silver a month.
Due to the locust plague, the theater took a break for a while after the New Year. It was reopened some time ago. Although it doesn't make as much as Xuan Zi Fang, it still makes nearly one thousand taels of silver a month.
After Shen Xuan returned home, he looked at the dowry he had purchased, but still felt it was not enough.
Xue Fenglin had asked him to sell a batch of grain to the Xue family before, and he received 18,000 taels of silver. Since the two shops opened, he has earned nearly 20,000 taels of silver.
Add to that the silver he earned every month from making royal soap for the palace, and the total amount would be nearly 10,000 taels.
Shen Xuan did a simple calculation and found that he had a savings of more than 50,000 taels of silver.
He was determined in his mind, so he thought it would be better to buy the theater and Xianwei's shop as well, and then go to the suburbs of Beijing to buy a few farms and include them in his dowry list.
Having two shops on Zhijin Street and some land was considered more respectable. After all, even if the shops on Zhijin Street were rented for a year, they would still generate several thousand taels of silver in revenue. Even if they were taken to the Marquis' Mansion, it would be quite prestigious.
Thinking this way, he simply called his broker and asked him to help him run the business of the theater's Xianwei shop.
The shop was in a good location. Although it wasn't big, it still cost 10,000 taels of silver to buy it.
Chen Xuan gritted his teeth and paid to book the shop. Tomorrow, when the agent went to the government to file a case, the shop would be Chen Xuan's own property.
After the shop business was settled, Shen Xuan asked about the farms around the capital.
After hearing this, the broker said, "What a coincidence. In the past, there were few people selling land in the suburbs of Beijing. Even if you wanted to buy it, it would be difficult for you, Brother Chen."
"It just so happened that there was a locust plague last year, and the fields outside Beijing were also affected, and the grain production was very low. In addition, there was a serious food shortage after the Chinese New Year this year. Some families really had no rice, so they had to sell their farms in exchange for rice."
"There are a few farms in the suburbs of Beijing looking for buyers, and the prices are not too high. If you are willing, I will take you to have a look tomorrow."
Shen Xuan heard this and naturally had no objection. The next day, he followed the broker out to see the farms that were for sale.
One of the farms is located in the northwest of the capital, not far from Lord Ye’s camp and the Ye family farm.
The farm was quite large, with more than 120 acres of land and supporting 30 people.
In the past, although this village had a large population, they only spent more on food and other necessities, which was not a big deal. At least they could earn three or four hundred taels of silver a year.
But during this famine, the farm did not produce much grain, but there were so many people needing grain. The owner of the farm felt it was too much of a burden to support his family, so he thought of selling the farm.
Chen Xuan saw a small hill in the farm with many fruit trees planted on it and a stream running through it. The scenery was very nice.
The manor is now being sold at a reduced price, but it still costs four thousand taels of silver. Land in the suburbs of Beijing is already very expensive. If it weren't for the locust plague, an acre of good farmland would cost at least fifty taels of silver. This farm couldn't even be bought with six thousand taels of silver!
Shen Xuan didn't expect to make money from the farm, he just wanted to buy more properties to share the risk. After asking the price, he thought it was a good deal and bought it immediately.
He didn't have much else at home, but he had enough food. We are seeing that grain prices are gradually falling and there will be new grain coming in this autumn.
Although thirty people are a large number, the more than one hundred stones of grain are enough for them to eat until the autumn harvest.
The Ya people were also very happy to see Shen Xuan being so straightforward. He immediately prepared the land deed of the farm and the house deed of the shop and handed them over to Shen Xuan.
Chen Xuan looked at the two deeds in his hand, feeling somewhat emotional. He was now an owner of a house and land, and he had his own property in Beijing, and he also had a sense of belonging.
A year ago, when he just woke up in Yunshui Village, did he ever think that he would be able to return to Beijing so soon and earn such a fortune?
Although this property is only a drop in the bucket compared to what the Duke's Mansion had when his parents were alive, it is enough for him to have food and clothing for the rest of his life.
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