Chapter 99 Chapter 99 Lord Xue was overjoyed, his eyes...
Lord Xue was overjoyed, his eyes shining with joy as he welcomed the congratulations from everyone around him.
According to the laws of the Great Jin Dynasty, the dowry money should be the private property of the newlyweds. But how can people actually make such a clear distinction?
If the dowry is large, the husband's family will definitely benefit greatly. For example, if we encounter a famine like the one that happens every year, and if the husband's family is short of money for food, can the younger generation still stick to their dowry and not give a penny?
Not to mention Lord Xue, even the relatives of the Xue family felt proud of it. They have always relied on the Marquis's Mansion for their livelihood, and they also have to take money from the public treasury every year.
It is always a good thing that the Marquis married a rich husband. It will be easier to ask for money from the Marquis in the future!
Bai and Xue Fengli were both very upset at this time, especially Xue Fengli. When he thought about how he had spent a lot of money at the Xianwei Theater, he felt even more upset.
"My Lord and Madam, the dowry list has been read out. May the new groom come in?" the matchmaker stepped forward and asked.
"Of course!" the Marquis said hastily, smiling as he asked everyone to make way for him.
Xue Fenglin then walked to Shen Xuan's sedan chair, opened the curtain, and said to him, "Come, hold my hand."
Shen Xuan was covered with a veil, and could only see a big hand through the gap in the veil. Just as he stretched out his hand to hold it, his body suddenly felt lighter and Xue Fenglin held him in his arms.
Shen Xuan was startled and quickly put his arms around Xue Fenglin's neck. At this time, the matchmaker next to her clapped her hands and said loudly: "Good! Good! The new husband must not step on the ground before entering the house, so that he can have a lifetime of happiness!"
Shen Xuan then realized that there was such a saying, and his heart warmed, but he was also a little worried that Xue Fenglin was tired. After all, he is a tall man, not a petite woman.
Xue Fenglin walked like the wind and in just a few steps he crossed the threshold and entered the Marquis' Mansion.
Shen Xuan quickly whispered in Xue Fenglin’s ear: “It’s okay, put me down and walk by yourself, don’t get tired.”
Xue Fenglin chuckled, lowering his voice so that only the two of them could hear him, "Am I so useless in your eyes? Not to mention carrying you to the wedding room, I can even hold you and do it to you without taking a breath."
Shen Xuan's face turned red at Xue Fenglin's shameless words, but fortunately, she was covered with a veil so the color on her face could not be seen.
“Stop talking nonsense, be careful not to be heard.” Shen Xuan muttered anxiously.
"You will know if it's nonsense or not if you try it." Xue Fenglin said, and Shen Xuan suddenly felt empty under his body and was put on the ground by Xue Fenglin.
It turned out that Xue Fenglin walked very fast and had left the others behind. In just a few words, the two of them had already arrived at the wedding hall!
"I have prepared food and drinks for you. You don't have to wait for me in the room after the ceremony. Eat your fill quickly." Xue Fenglin gave Shen Xuan one last word before a large group of people entered the room.
According to the custom of the Jin Dynasty, the groom has to take turns to propose toasts at weddings. Usually the bride and groom will wait in the room, and then they will have a meal and drink the wedding wine together after the groom comes back.
This wait takes a very long time, and people are often very hungry. Some newlyweds prepare more, so they just eat a few snacks to fill their stomachs. Shen Xuan also specially prepared cakes, just in case he was hungry.
He had just sent some snacks to the carriage, and now he was worried that he would not have enough to eat.
Shen Xuan wanted to laugh in his heart, but he was also quite relieved. Although the wedding ceremony of the Great Jin Dynasty is complicated, but with Xue Fenglin thinking about himself so much, what does it matter?
The wedding ceremony was carried out step by step. Shen Xuan offered tea to the Marquis and Mrs. Bai. Marquis Xue accepted it readily, but Mrs. Bai hesitated for a while and then accepted it reluctantly.
After the two of them drank tea, each of them gave Chen Xuan a box, which contained a gift, usually jewelry, gold and silver and the like. It would not be opened now, and could only be opened after Chen Xuan entered the room.
After the ceremony, Xue Fenglin and Shen Xuan's marriage was officially completed. Lord Xue sent someone to deliver their marriage certificate to the government office to confirm the registration. From now on, Shen Xuan became Xue Fenglin's legal husband.
Shen Xuan was helped by the matchmaker into the bridal chamber, while Xue Fenglin was detained and dragged to the wedding banquet to drink.
Not long after Shen Xuan entered the bridal chamber and sat on the bed, he heard the voices of Wuxin and Wuwang outside the door. Then Jin Zhi Jingui came in. Jingui came to Chen Xuan and said, "Master, there is no one else here now, you can take off your veil."
Shen Xuan quickly lifted the veil, only to see that the door of the room was closed, and besides himself, Jin Zhi and Jin Gui were the only ones in the room.
"Master, the prince has prepared the best wine and food for you. The snacks we brought are useless." Jinzhi said with a smile.
"Okay, from what you said, you're just greedy. You two have been busy until now and must be hungry. Share the snacks you brought among yourselves." Shen Xuan said to them.
"Yes!" Jinzhi and Jingui agreed immediately and happily shared the snacks and fruits.
Shen Xuan had eaten in the carriage before, so he was not hungry now, but he went to the table to look at the wine and food Xue Fenglin had prepared for him.
On an octagonal table, covered with a bright red embroidered tablecloth, were more than ten dishes of delicious food, all of which were his favorites in the past.
In order to prevent the food from getting cold, we use special warming plates. This plate is double-layered, and the bottom layer is filled with hot water. Even if the food is delayed for a while, it will not get cold.
"Is this the prince's room?" Shen Xuan asked, looking at the bedroom carefully.
"Yes, this courtyard has always belonged to the prince." Jinzhi Jingui was well aware of the affairs of the Marquis' Mansion and answered quickly.
Shen Xuan saw that the room was very large, more than three times the size of the guest room he had stayed in at the Marquis' Mansion.
The whole room is divided into three parts: a bedroom for sleeping, a small hall for eating and meeting guests, and a room with a wall full of bookshelves and a desk. There is also a chaise longue behind the desk, where you can take a nap when you are tired of writing.
Everything in the room is very precious and you can tell at first glance that they are not ordinary items. The whole room was decorated very elegantly. Because it was a newly-married occasion, many red candles were lit, and the bed curtains and bedding were replaced with bright red, making it look more festive and lively.
Chen Xuan went back to the bed and took a look. The bed was at least ten feet wide, and there was a bulge under the bedding.
He lifted the quilt with the picture of a hundred children and saw that the bed was indeed covered with red dates, longans and peanuts. They are all things that symbolize having a child and are also the folk customs of the Dajin Dynasty.
"When you finish eating, put away all the things on the bed." Shen Xuan said to Jinzhi and Jingui.
"Let's collect it now." Jinzhi and Jingui wiped their mouths and said quickly. After saying that, he took a red winnowing basket and went over to collect the fruits on the bed.
"Master, this is the first time in my life that I have seen such a grand wedding ceremony! The prince treats you so well!" Jinzhi couldn't help but say while picking the fruits.
"Master, you can't see the appearance of those people outside from the sedan chair. When the matchmaker read out your dowry list, their eyes widened. Such a dowry list has been displayed in the whole capital for more than ten years and no one has surpassed it! This time you have shut up those people!" Jin Gui also said.
“Okay, just call me Brother Chen when no one is around.” Shen Xuan said.
Jin Zhi Jingui suddenly changed her tone, which made him feel uncomfortable. Jin Zhi and Jin Gui looked at each other, and Jin Gui changed her words and said, "Chen Ge'er, when the prince was here, did we also call you Chen Ge'er? Just now Wu Xin and Wu Wang told us to change our words and not call you Chen Ge'er anymore."
"It's okay, I'll talk to him." Shen Xuan gave them a reassurance.
After they finished making the bed and put the dustpan aside, Shen Xuan re-laid the quilt and sat on it.
After a while, there was a knock on the door, and then Wuxin's voice was heard: "My dear husband, Tianjie is here to see you. She is outside the yard. Should we let her in?"
Shen Xuan was stunned. After listening to Jinzhi's explanation, he realized that Tianjie was the daughter of Madam Wen and the half-sister of Xue Fenglin.
Generally speaking, when an elder brother gets married, his other brothers and sisters can just meet each other the next morning. But there are also real brothers and sisters, where the younger sister will come to see the new sister-in-law in advance and help her brother take care of her, which can be regarded as a gesture of goodwill to the newlyweds.
This sweet girl is just Xue Fenglin's half-sister, and they are not very close. Coming here so early was obviously to please Shen Xuan, the new husband.
"Okay, let her in." Shen Xuan nodded.
Although he didn't know much about the affairs of the Xue Mansion, he knew that Madam Wen was pregnant, and Xue Fenglin's attitude towards her was not as disgusting as his attitude towards Mrs. Bai.
Shen Xuan would not reject such a relative who took the initiative to show goodwill, so he let Wuxin let Tian Jieer in.
After a while, there were two faint knocks on the door, followed by a creak and the wooden door was pushed open. A little girl of about twelve or thirteen, with two buns on her head, came in carrying a food box.
When she saw the full table of food on the Eight Immortals Table, the little girl was obviously stunned for a moment, then looked at Shen Xuan who was sitting on the bed, and said with a red face: "My little mother was afraid that you, the new sister-in-law, would be hungry, so she made some snacks and asked me to bring them over. It seems that we worried too much."
When Shen Xuan saw that Tian Jieer had a round face, looked quite festive, and spoke in a pleasing way, he felt a little fond of her. He called Jinzhi over and took her food box, then led her to the bedside to talk.
Jin Gui moved a chair for Tian Jie'er, and Tian Jie'er sat on the chair, carefully looking at Shen Xuan from head to toe, her eyes full of curiosity.
Chen Xuan opened the food box, shared the osmanthus glutinous rice cake with Tian Jie'er, and took out a piece for himself to eat, saying, "I'm not hungry now, and I just want to eat something. The gift you and Madam Wen gave is very thoughtful, and Madam Wen's cooking skills are good. This snack is not sweet or greasy, just what I like."
When Sweetie came in just now, she saw a food box filled with snacks next to the table. The snacks and fruits inside were better than the ones in hers.
But Mr. Shen gave her a lot of face and even ate the snacks she sent. It was worth it that her mother went to the kitchen to prepare them even though she was pregnant. She was surprised and happy.
When Shen Xuan lived in Xue's house before, she had seen Shen Xuan once at a banquet, but the time was too short. She only remembered that Shen Xuan looked quite handsome, but looked like a man, and she didn't know anything else.
Now that she had gotten along with him for a while, she felt that Shen Xuan was a generous and kind person, just like Sister Yin Shuang who was beside her mother. He was really a very easy person to get along with.
Tian Jie'er knew that the Xue Mansion would most likely fall into the hands of the prince in the future, and that he was quite good to her and could be her support in the future, so she came here specifically to curry favor with Shen Xuan, her new sister-in-law.
Now that she knew Shen Xuan was such a kind sister-in-law, and that it was the best thing for her and Madam Wen, she couldn't help but relax, and talked to Shen Xuan about some things in the Marquis' Mansion, and even said a lot more than usual.
Shen Xuan listened to her explaining many small details that needed attention in the mansion with a smile, and nodded repeatedly.
In fact, Xue Fenglin had already told him that he didn't need to worry about the affairs in the mansion. In less than a month, they would leave the capital and go to Sarawak to take up their posts.
But when this sweet girl suddenly came over to show her goodwill, he did not reject her kindness, but listened to her patiently.
After Tian Jie'er had finished speaking, Shen Xuan asked Jin Zhi to pour her a cup of tea and said, "Thank you for your reminder, Tian Jie'er. It really helps me."
After he finished speaking, he winked at Jingui, who then took out a small box and handed it to Shen Xuan.
Chen Xuan then said to Tian Jie'er, "This is a gift for me and my new sister. I was going to have someone send it to Madam Wen tomorrow. Since you came early today, I'll give it to you to take back."
It is common for a new sister-in-law to give a gift. Tian Jie'er was pleasantly surprised and stood up to receive it.
He took the box back and handed it to Madam Wen, then recounted in detail how he had been treated by Shen Xuan.
"No wonder the prince values this brother Chen so much." Upon hearing this, Madam Wen said, "His dowry has been in the spotlight today. The two most popular shops in and outside the capital are actually his dowry."
"Look at how he treats people. He doesn't seem like someone from the countryside. Instead, he is very generous and polite. Perhaps he learned well in the Duke Shen's mansion since he was a child. Even though he has fallen into poverty later, he still has the temperament of a nobleman. It's the Madam who made a mistake."
Having said that, she opened the small box that Shen Xuan gave to Tian Jie'er. I originally thought it would be some gold and silver jewelry such as pearl hairpins, but I didn't expect it to be a set of jade inkstone and jade-handled brushes.
Although the jade used for the inkstone is not top-grade, it is large in size and has good water content, and it is obviously worth a lot of money at first glance. The jade on the brush handle is also crystal clear and looks very lustrous.
Madam Wen was silent for a while, then looked at Tian Jie'er who seemed a little confused and said, "Tian Jie'er, your new sister-in-law is really a nice person. This set of gifts is much more valuable than those pearl hairpins and jewelry!"
Sweetie blinked in confusion and said, "Are these jade inkstones and jade pens very expensive? I can't tell the price of these items."
"Of course it's not cheap." Madam Wen said, "But it's about the same price as a set of fine jewelry."
"This gift is valuable not because of its price, but because of the thought behind it. Your sister-in-law gave you this gift to encourage you to study more. People say that girls and boys don't need to study, but boys and girls from famous families have been studying since childhood, and the marriages of talented girls are higher than those of others."
Although Tian Jie'er is not very old, she knows that in order to allow her to read more, Madam Wen fought wits and courage with the lady and spent a lot of effort. She also asked the prince for help, which gave her the opportunity to study.
Brother Chen also asked her to read more, which was of course for her own good.
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