Chapter 25 The Wedding Night in Huajing City
"You're saying my son Sang Ji married a country girl?!"
Before Song could even react, the imperial decree for the marriage was issued.
The Sang family was thrown into chaos.
Inside the ancestral hall, memorial tablets stood tall like a forest, and almost all the heads of the Sang family were present.
Song's sobs continued.
Sang Hong's face was even more somber. As Sang Ji's father, he sat in the main seat with his head down, body stiff, and brows furrowed, without a trace of a smile in his eyes.
The elders whispered among themselves, all sighing and shaking their heads, lamenting the misfortune of their family.
No one brought up the matter of Liu Jiao marrying into the Sang family.
They were all caught off guard by this sudden and devastating news.
"Sir, we must pay the tax to the Liu family today!"
"We can't delay any longer; the wedding date has already been set. If we wait any longer, it will be seen as disrespecting the royal family and defying imperial authority..."
The old housekeeper, who had been by Sang Hong's side for many years, entered the room with small steps and gave a reminder.
"Nazheng" means to give betrothal gifts to the Liu family.
Logically, the betrothal gifts should be presented before the wedding date is set.
However, when Crown Prince Xinping bestowed the marriage, he arbitrarily set the wedding dates for Sang Ji and Liu Jiao, making them marry on the same day as Xinyuehu and Li Du.
The payment of taxes was scheduled after the request for payment.
Upon hearing this, Sang Hong waved his hand, signaling him to step back.
"What do you elders think?"
This brought order to the chaotic ancestral hall.
People began to comment on the marriage and express their opinions.
Sang Hong was so annoyed that he pinched his brow.
Song's shrill voice drowned out everyone else's:
"Pay back the tax? Give that village girl a betrothal gift?"
"How utterly ridiculous! It's incredibly lucky that she got to marry into our Sang family! It's like a lucky break that cost us countless good deeds!"
"I think we should send the dowry I prepared for my niece's maid in the backyard to that Liu Jiao first, just to tide us over..."
Sang Hong said in a slightly hoarse voice, "After all, it is a marriage bestowed by the emperor. Giving a servant's dowry as a wife seems a bit inappropriate."
Sang Hong looked troubled, but his words were vague; he did not explicitly state that he intended to stop it.
This only fueled Song's anger, making her tone even louder:
“We women in the backyard are in charge of the household. You men are only concerned with fighting in the officialdom and don’t know anything about the accounts in our home.”
"Besides, the government was flooded a few days ago, so where would we get so much spare money to pay taxes?"
Some of the elders present wanted to speak frankly and say it was inappropriate, but they were stopped by the other elders who were more astute.
The several thousand-year-old foxes exchanged glances and understood that Sang Hong and the Song couple were of one mind and did not want to spend more money on betrothal gifts.
One was the good cop and the other the bad cop.
Naturally, they all echoed Song's sentiments and urged Sang Hong to agree.
Sang Hong finally sighed, "Forget it, our Sang family won't get hung up on a dowry."
"The reason I have summoned you elders here today is to ask you what you think about the matter of that country girl from Jiangnan marrying my son Sang Ji."
Upon hearing this, the faces of all the clan elders were clouded with worry.
Just as Sang Hong was changing the subject, about to "reluctantly" agree—
"Since you're here, make the best of it. Don't look so downcast."
"No matter how much you ponder and grieve, can you change the marriage bestowed by the royal family?"
A deep, aged voice drifted leisurely from the entrance of the ancestral hall, followed by the sounds of footsteps and a cane.
“Father.” Sang Hong looked up at the sound of the voice and saw that the man was about eighty years old, wearing a brown robe, with a white beard and eyebrows, leaning on a cane with a unicorn head, and a kind and broad face.
He recognized his father—the current head of the Sang family, Sang Wujin—and immediately rose from the main seat, handing it to him.
Sangwujin smiled and shook his head, then sat down in the folding chair.
With a magnanimous demeanor, he calmed the unrest in the ancestral hall.
"Since we can't change it, let's think about the good things about this young lady from the Liu family marrying into the family."
"Father is always the most thoughtful."
"That's right, Father!"
Sang Hong and Song Shi hurriedly smiled awkwardly and waited by Sang Wujin's side.
Sangwujin naturally didn't expect his short-sighted, selfish, foolish, and stingy son and daughter-in-law to spend money on betrothal gifts.
After all, they married a daughter-in-law they didn't like.
Sang Wujin knows his two sons' character very well.
They can be this foolish, but he's an old man, and he still holds sway over the Sang family, the most prestigious family in Huajing. He can't afford to be ignorant.
The betrothal gifts, also known as the betrothal ceremony, were a matter of face for the Sang family and a sign of respect for the royal family.
So he added a lot of betrothal gifts and had his steward, Sun, open Sangwujin's own warehouse.
This made the amount of betrothal gifts paid into compliance with regulations.
Logically speaking, there shouldn't be any more mistakes or trouble.
However, they still had a falling out with the Liu family.
The head of the betrothal gifts, Granny Song, was a confidante of Madam Song. She was indignant on behalf of her master's family and had watched Sang Jisheng grow up. She knew best how promising and capable her young master was.
Back then, she watched her baby boy grow up and thought he would at least be able to marry a county princess.
Who would have thought...
Granny Song led the betrothal party around for an hour before finally finding Liu Jiao's mud-walled, thatched-roof house in the grass village.
The road was muddy and treacherous, with insects, grass, and snakes everywhere, which made Granny Song, who had always lived in the northern capital city of Huajing, look disgusted and surprised.
We've finally arrived.
She rolled her eyes, her face darkening.
The servants who brought the betrothal gifts then blocked the gate of Liu Jiao's house.
Her arrival was so sudden that Gu Su and Madam Xiao had only just received the news from Sang Ji when Granny Song had already knocked on the door.
"Granny Song."
Gu Su and Madam Xiao hurriedly went to greet her and instructed Liu Jiao to stay obediently in her bedroom and not come out.
Even if they were very unhappy with their daughter's marriage, they still put on a smiling face and a kind demeanor so that their daughter would have a better life in her husband's family.
Unexpectedly:
Gu Su invited her to sit down, but Granny Song "accidentally" kicked the chair over.
When Madam Xiao slipped her some silver, Granny Song didn't even look at it, assuming the gleaming gold inside was just a few coins. No sooner had Madam Xiao handed it to her than Granny Song casually gave it to the stable boy who was tending to the horse.
...
As soon as the loud sound of the door closing reached Liu Jiao's ears, her parents pushed open her bedroom door one after the other.
Liu Jiao immediately stopped embroidering her wedding dress and asked her parents with anticipation.
But Gu Su's face was gloomy, and Xiao Shi was so angry that she pounded on the door.
Liu Jiao: "Huh?"
Gu Su came in and went straight to Liu Jiao, snatching the wedding dress that was already being finished from her hands.
Liu Jiao: "Dad? What's wrong?"
My God, Dad, please don't have an attack at this time.
Gu Su snorted coldly: "We're not getting married."
Mother was already packing her bags: "If we can't resist, can't we at least run away or hide?"
Liu Jiao: ?
What!
Why did Mother also fall ill?
A royal marriage decree, defying the imperial order—what a ridiculous act!
Only after asking did Liu Jiao learn that her parents had been mistreated by Granny Song, who had been sent from Jiangnan by the Sang family.
My parents have relapsed into their habit of avoiding problems.
Upon learning of the situation, Liu Jiao decisively went to snatch the wedding dress, trying to change their cowardly mentality, and patiently explained:
"Father, Mother, I don't want to endure this for the rest of my life."
For some reason, the room became quiet.
Surprisingly, her parents didn't argue with her.
Liu Jiao was still puzzled.
The next moment, Xiao's sickly eyes reddened and tears streamed down her face, while Gu Su's tiger-like eyes also welled up with tears.
Especially Gu Su, whose eyes held a look of heartache he had never seen before when he looked at Liu Jiao.
A long time passed.
He quietly folded the wedding dress and returned it to Liu Jiao.
Liu Jiao was confused.
“Alright, we can’t bear to do it.” Gu Su took Xiao Shi’s hand and led her away. “Your parents will support you.”
The parents, with tears streaming down their faces, agreed to the marriage.
By the time Liu Jiao realized what was happening, the two had already gone out to the hall, and the couple were discussing something.
What?
Liu Jiao thought there would be a fierce battle.
She was just pretending to be pitiful, but who would have thought that it would actually make her parents feel sorry for her?
In the hall, Gu Su and Madam Xiao sat facing each other, their eyes fixed on each other.
That night, servants from the Gu family in Jiangnan carried basket after basket of Huabao's valuables to Huajing City.
After the betrothal gifts are paid, the woman is required to remarry.
Song initially disdained to pay it any attention.
Hearing that the Liu family had remarried, she didn't even glance at them and just wanted to tell Granny Song to stop bothering her.
But Granny Song looked troubled and said:
"Madam, you should take a look."
As she stepped aside, making room:
Baskets of black wooden boxes were being carried into the storeroom by about a hundred servants.
Granny Song respectfully handed over the list of return betrothal gifts.
Song casually took it, then stared at it intently, her eyes widening in surprise.
A luminous pearl from Jiangnan, a canopy bed made of yellow pear wood, a jade ruyi (a type of scepter), and a set of plain tricolor porcelain.
Five mountain villas...
Even Song, who had grown up in luxury and now managed the finances of the Sang family, the most prestigious family in Huajing, was astonished.
Didn't you say you had no money?
Wasn't it supposed to be a country girl?
The return gifts were still being carried to the Sang residence, box after box.
The Song family had neither joy nor sorrow.
“This Liu family girl…does indeed have some wealth.”
After flipping through the return offer form two or three times, Mrs. Song gave a lukewarm compliment.
But then he changed the subject: "They're just merchants, not ladies from noble families, their status isn't high enough."
As she walked toward the box containing the Jiangnan luminous pearl in the storeroom, she said to Granny Song:
"Vulgar."
Meanwhile, outside Yangzhou city, there were willows and painted bridges.
A bridal sedan chair and a long procession of betrothal gifts were escorted by soldiers.
The bridal sedan chair was stuffy and hot. Madam Xiao held Liu Jiao's hand and kept stuffing silver into Liu Jiao's hand.
On the eve of Liu Jiao's departure for her wedding in Huajing, Gu Su bid farewell to his daughter from afar, earnestly saying:
"Tell me if you're having any difficulties. Our family isn't afraid of them!"
Gu Su's expression was serious.
The Gu family in Jiangnan are local strongmen, and they are not afraid of a direct confrontation.
Liu Jiao had no idea her father was serious, so she forced a smile:
"I appreciate your kind intentions."
To be honest...
Dad hasn't done that yet.
Liu Jiao had no expectations whatsoever.
*
Huajing, Sangfu.
After Liu Jiao stepped onto the Matai Mountain—
The wedding date has arrived.
Palace lanterns with gilded red gauze hung high from the eaves, and inside the bridal chamber, dragon and phoenix red candles burned brightly, their red glow almost dripping with oil.
Gilded hooks hung the silk curtains.
Liu Jiao, with a bright red veil covering her face, sat in the center of the bed with the inscription "May you have a son soon," her hands clenched tightly, waiting for Sang Ji to return to the room.
She sat beneath a white handkerchief.
According to the old woman, it was to see the "fallen blood".
Suddenly, a night breeze swept through the hall.
The pomegranate tree shadows swayed wildly above the white wall.
-----------------------
Author's Note: There will be another chapter tonight! [kiss][kiss]
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
