Chapter 98 Chapter 98 At the gate of Xue's house, Xue Fenglin was in high spirits...
At the gate of Xue's residence, Xue Fenglin stood at the door welcoming guests with a look of high spirits and smugness on his face. The Ye family members were also present and helped him to entertain the guests.
Bai and Marquis Xue stood side by side at the door, with Xue Fengli and concubine Shen Congshuang beside them, all of them looking unhappy.
The marriage between Xue Fenglin and Shen Xuan was arranged by Emperor Wu of Jin himself. As the heads of the Xue family, Lord Xue and his wife could not neglect it.
Although they were very dissatisfied with this marriage, they dared not play any tricks in the middle. They just threw it to Xue Fenglin and did not show up themselves.
However, after the famine, the Xue family now has little savings, so the public treasury cannot take out much money.
Bai also specifically instructed her servants that if the prince came to ask, they would only give the silver needed for an ordinary wedding ceremony in the capital, and no more.
Xue Fenglin had Ye's dowry as his private property, and Lord Xue and Bai had always known about it.
However, the exact amount of dowry left was in the hands of Xue Fenglin himself, so they had no idea.
Xue Fenglin is getting married today. When they saw the long list of betrothal gifts and the porters carrying out boxes and crates like a stream, they were shocked to realize that Xue Fenglin actually had more private property than they had imagined!
Over the years, Xue Fenglin has also invested in many industries privately, with some losses and some gains, but overall he has lost less than he gained. The dowry left by Ye not only did not decrease, but increased instead.
Seeing Xue Fenglin being so extravagant that he even gave small change to the people on the street, Bai was so jealous that her nails dug deeply into her palms.
After all her business ventures over the years, she had only saved a little over a thousand taels of silver, a farm and a shop at a canal dock. Even if all these properties were given to Xue Fengli, plus half of the properties of the Marquis' Mansion, they would not be considered much, and were far from the grandeur of Xue Fenglin!
"The prince is really generous." Mrs. Bai couldn't help but say sourly, "He can even hand out money on the street, but there was a famine a while ago, and the family was short of rice and oil. My father's hair turned white with worry, but I don't see him giving me any money."
Lord Xue and Lady Bai now have a rift because of the famine and the issue of offspring, and they are no longer as close as before. But after hearing what Bai said, he still felt angry and couldn't help but blame Xue Fenglin for not taking the initiative to share his worries.
"The prince didn't live at home every day before, so how could he know that the Marquis was worried about food?" Madam Wen said with a sweet smile, stroking her five-month-old belly.
"He knew that my concubine sister had no money to eat, so he sent money and food. Later, when he heard that I was pregnant with the master's child, he was afraid that the fetus would not have enough nutrition, so he sent a lot of rice, flour, food and silver. It was obvious that he was thinking about my family."
"I just thought that the Marquis and his wife's place is the main house after all, so they should not lack anything, so there is no extra care, right?"
Madam Wen always speaks softly and gently. Now that she is pregnant, Lord Xue dotes on her very much as he has a child in his old age.
Her words immediately extinguished the anger in Lord Xue's heart. Instead, he nodded and said, "Madam Wen is right. The prince has always been lenient towards his half brothers and half sisters. Li'er, you should learn more from him in this regard."
Xue Fengli was unexpectedly called upon by Lord Xue. Although he felt depressed, he had to nod in agreement, and his face turned even darker.
Bai's instigation did not affect Xue Fenglin, but instead affected her own son Xue Fengli. I felt upset but couldn't say anything more.
He just glared at Madam Wen secretly, thinking that this woman seemed quiet and not very beautiful before, so he thought she was harmless, but unexpectedly she was a biting dog. Now she is asked to become big, which is really frustrating.
But Lord Xue was keeping an eye on her, so she couldn't take direct action against Madam Wen. She could only pray that she would give birth to a daughter.
After all, if it was a daughter, the Marquis would no longer pamper Madam Wen as he does now, and he would no longer be able to compete with his own Li'er for the family property.
Once the Marquis' attention is diverted, it won't be too late for her to take action against Madam Wen.
Shen Congshuang stood beside Xue Fengli, looking at the grand wedding ceremony at the door, feeling mixed emotions.
He originally thought that it would be nice to marry into a marquis's mansion and become a concubine. But Xue Fengli loved to torture people, and even if Shen Congshuang could endure it, it would be too much for her to bear after a long time.
What's more, her mother-in-law, Mrs. Bai, was not a easy person to get along with. She would find opportunities to make her set rules for her.
Now he saw that Shen Xuan, whose family background was not as good as his, had married in such a grand manner, and the prince treated him very well, and even the list of betrothal gifts was astonishingly large. I felt both envious and jealous.
This Shen Xuan is really lucky, Shen Congshuang couldn't help but think secretly in his heart.
In addition to him, the Shen family, as relatives of Shen Congshuang, also came to attend the prince's wedding.
Shen Congyu and Shen Congxin also came together, and the expressions on their faces were even uglier than Shen Congshuang's.
After all, they felt that the grand wedding ceremony and betrothal gifts were almost theirs. Now, all of them have been snatched away by the country boy whom he looked down upon. It is really hard to accept.
Shen Xuan's sedan chair landed at the gate of the Marquis' Mansion, but he couldn't go in directly. According to the procedure, he had to wait until his dowry arrived before he could enter the house and worship Xue Fenglin.
The guests and people watching nearby couldn't help but start discussing:
"How much dowry do you think this Brother Shen brought?"
"How much can it be? Just a country boy? But he has no parents or brothers at home. The betrothal gifts that the prince sent just now should all be brought back."
"The prince prepared so many betrothal gifts for him to show his support. It's really sad. I wonder how many lifetimes this guy has accumulated to be so blessed!"
…
The entrance to the Marquis's Mansion was extremely noisy, and Shen Xuan, sitting in the sedan chair, could not hear what people outside were talking about.
After a while, another group of porters came over with their loads, and the old woman guarding the bride at the door said loudly: "Chen's dowry is here! Please ask the Xue family to count the dowry quickly and don't delay the auspicious time!"
Before Chen Xuan left, he had already told Suyun and Suyue to add the betrothal gifts sent by Xue Fenglin to the dowry and send it back.
At the front of the dowry line were the betrothal gifts that had just been sent out from the Xue Mansion.
"Just as I expected, this Brother Chen brought back all the betrothal gifts sent by the prince."
"That's not bad. Some families are shameless and will at least withhold half of the betrothal gift. Even if there is a dowry, it won't be too much."
"However, the famous families in the capital have always given generous dowries. Even if they leave some of the betrothal gifts, the value of the dowry they bring back is about the same. They will not deliberately deduct much, so as to avoid giving people a reason to criticize them."
"So, the prince will not lose money by marrying this brother Chen, but the husband's family has no help, which is a disadvantage. However, this is a marriage granted by the current emperor, so this result is also very decent!"
…
As the dowry line grew longer, people's discussions gradually changed.
The betrothal gift team that Xue Fenglin had sent had all returned, and there was even a long group of people following the dowry team...
"Why isn't it over yet? There seem to be dozens of boxes and cages in the back."
"Behind the red box, it seems that it is not the betrothal gift sent by the Marquis' Mansion. Could the brown boxes behind it be the dowry added by the Shen family's son?"
"Isn't Chen a country boy? Where did he get so many boxes of dowry? Did he bring some empty boxes to save face?"
"Who knows? The dowry list will be read out soon. Let's listen carefully to see how much dowry this Chen brother paid!"
…
Shen Xuan's dowry team filled the entire street. Even though the road in front of Xue's mansion was wide, with so many boxes and cages piled together and many onlookers, it was still a little too full.
Jinzhi and Jingui walked at the end of the team, one holding a golden nanmu box containing Shen Xuan's personal belongings, and the other holding a list of dowry.
After arriving at the gate of the marquis's mansion, Jingui handed the dowry list to the maid who was guarding the bride's room and asked her to give it to the matchmaker in the mansion to read it out.
The matchmaker took the envelope containing the dowry list, opened it, and read aloud, "A wonderful match from heaven, a happy marriage that will bring you prosperity, health, and longevity. A match made in heaven, a match filled with joy and great blessings."
"The Shen family's son Shen Xuan is to marry Xue Fenglin from the Xue family. The dowry is as follows..."
"First, the Xue family's betrothal gifts will all be returned as dowry. Second, the emperor gave a pair of white jade ruyi and a pair of jadeite ruyi. The emperor gave a set of copper gilt floor candlesticks with a number of mandarin duck double happiness candles. The emperor gave a tin oil lamp with fragrant honey, lamp oil and red wick. The emperor gave a gilt timer and two pairs of silver pots..."
"Third, fifty rolls of the finest tribute satin, fifty rolls of Hu yarn, and ten sets of the finest silk embroidered with a hundred children pattern bed curtains. Fifty rolls of the finest brocade satin, and finely embroidered cotton cloth..."
"Fourth, a set of imperially bestowed colored glaze tableware, a set of gold and blue flower tableware, and a set of seashell tableware. A pair of imperially bestowed blue and white tribute porcelain vases, and a pair of famille rose mandarin duck plum vases..."
"Five. Dried seafood, fruits, aged wine..."
"Six, orchid bonsai, kumquat bonsai..."
…
The dowry list was quite long, listing everything in detail.
The matchmaker's voice became hoarse as she kept reciting, and the guests who were watching gradually fell silent.
Such a dowry is rare, let alone for a country boy, even for a famous family in Beijing.
Even if the imperial gifts were removed, the remaining dowry would be worth at least several thousand taels of silver! I wonder how Brother Chen could come up with so much dowry? Could it be the remaining assets of the Duke’s Mansion? No wonder people say that a lean camel is bigger than a horse!
When Lord Xue heard the dowry list, his face became more and more rosy.
He originally thought that Shen Xuan had no family background and no property, and had no substance or reputation, and was not good in any way. Now it seems that although he has no family background, he has a lot of property. It also made up for a shortcoming, making Lord Xue feel that it was quite helpful.
On the contrary, Bai and Xue Fengli had gloomy faces, wondering where on earth Shen Xuan got so much dowry. Could it really be left behind by Duke Shen and his wife?
After all, Bai's brother Bai Yan had specially investigated Shen Xuan's background and found out that he lived like a livestock in the countryside and had no property, so they brought him to Beijing to marry Xue Fenglin.
Could it be that Shen Xuan hid the property left by Duke Shen and his wife? Pretending to be poor? No wonder Xue Fenglin ignored him at first, but later changed his attitude and became attentive to this country boy!
Most of the items listed at the beginning of the dowry list were specific, which surprised the guests attending the wedding.
I didn't expect that the last few lines would be even more explosive. The matchmaker first read out the various head ornaments and jewelry that Shen Xuan brought as a dowry, then suddenly paused and took a deep breath.
Everyone thought the dowry list had been read out and was about to start discussing it when suddenly the matchmaker spoke again, "Fourteenth, there is a farm in the northwest of the capital, with 120 acres of land and 30 tenant farmers."
"Fifteen, two shops on Zijin Street, one is Xianwei Theater and the other is Xuanzifang, along with two shop deeds."
"Sixteen. Thirty thousand taels of silver as a dowry."
…
After the matchmaker finished reading out the last item of dowry, the entire entrance to the mansion fell into silence.
Then there was a loud bang, and the crowd of onlookers burst into huge discussions, all of them were shocked by Shen Xuan's extremely generous dowry!
"The theater Xianwei and Xuanzifang are actually his properties? They are the best locations on Zijin Street! The deeds of these two shops alone must be worth 40,000 to 50,000 taels of silver, right? Not to mention the annual business income!"
"This dowry must be worth nearly 100,000 taels of silver, right? He is not just a country boy, his dowry is even more than that of a princess!"
"No wonder the prince gave such a generous betrothal gift. If the betrothal gift is less, it would not be able to cover such a large dowry!"
"Don't worry about this boy's background. Just based on the dowry and the shops and farms he owns, there will be people in the capital lining up to marry him. I originally thought that the Xue family's eldest son was at a disadvantage by marrying such a boy, but now it seems that he is a smart one. It's just a little embarrassing, but he has gained a lot of wealth!"
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