Chapter 427 People from the Lin Family Arrive
With only five or six days left until Lin Changning's wedding, the Lin family has been extremely busy lately, with many things to prepare for the wedding. Even the Prince's Mansion has drawn a lot of people to help.
The wives of Lao Ma and Lao Zhou have recently been helping Lin's mother and your two sisters-in-law at the Lin residence with their wedding preparations, purchasing items, arranging decorations, and managing the household maids and servants.
However, with the people from the Prince's Mansion around, there wasn't much to worry about. All that was needed was to check it once and listen to the nanny's advice, and it was done quite quickly.
A few days ago, the Lin family carried the betrothal gifts to the Prince's Mansion in one load after another. Many people said that the Lin family really went all out, carrying a total of sixty-six loads of betrothal gifts. The gold and silver utensils alone contained nearly 30,000 taels of silver, and there were also many silks and antiques.
However, most of these antiques were collected by Qi Rong, Li Mingxiu, and Li Mingde. Lin Changning, on the other hand, had a weak foundation and could not collect many rare antiques. He had no choice but to ask Qi Rong for help, and they went to many places to collect ten loads of rare antiques.
As for silk and satin, the Lin family owns an embroidery workshop. Apart from a few types of silk that are exclusively supplied to the palace, they can buy the rest. Fortunately, when they brought the group leader back a few days ago, the Prince of Chu and his wife gave them a lot of gifts, which were just enough to make up a total of sixty-six sets of betrothal gifts to be carried to the Prince's mansion.
Since Lin's father had passed away, Lin Changning sought out his close friends Lao Ma and Lao Zhou, who then took Lin's second brother and mother to the Prince's Mansion.
However, Lin Changning still felt that no one was there to keep things in order, so he asked Qi Rong and Li Mingxiu to make a trip and specifically ask Qin Zhong to accompany them.
Lin Changning put a lot of thought into appearances. Although they were supposed to be covering for each other, Lin Changning felt that they should still take responsibility and give the woman the respect she deserved.
Sometimes I feel that apart from the difference in gender, I am actually no different from a man.
It's just a piece of meat that's missing.
After the betrothal gifts were delivered that day, people all over Taiyuan were discussing the Lin family's plan to marry a woman who had been married before. Some said the Lin family was wealthy, some said Lin Changning was trying to climb the social ladder, and others said the Lin family were all sensible people. There were all sorts of opinions.
Lin Changning had anticipated this kind of talk. The day after the rumors started, he found all sorts of children and spread the word all over the streets that he and the princess were truly in love.
The story is, of course, old-fashioned, smearing the Marquis's family with handfuls of mud: favoring concubines over wives, imprisoning the legitimate wife, withholding dowry, poisoning their own daughter...
He told the common people of Taiyuan how inhuman the Hou family was, how much the princess suffered in that kind of family, and of course, Lin Changning also wrote a story of a hero rescuing a beauty.
It's roughly about Lin Changning being ordered to bring the princess back to the manor. The two went through life and death together and developed feelings for each other. There are stories about Lin Changning shielding the princess from arrows, and the princess carrying Lin Changning and her daughter on her back, trekking all the way to escape the pursuit.
The story was written in the most touching way possible, and within three days, all the negative rumors about the two disappeared without a trace.
Everyone in Taiyuan, except for the aristocratic families, even the common people in the countryside, knew how difficult their journey had been and how deep their affection was.
People have a natural inclination towards gossip. Nowadays, when Lin Changning and Li Mingshu are mentioned, everyone knows that their relationship was earth-shattering. As for Lin Changning spending his family fortune to marry the princess, most people offer their blessings.
When Lin Shilang's grandfather and his family first arrived in Taiyuan, they were looking for a roadside stall to rest. When they inquired about the Lin family, they heard gossip about Lin Changning.
"If you put it that way, the princess and Lord Lin really have it tough; they're truly a pair of star-crossed lovers."
"Who can argue with that? The two of them have been chased and killed all the way, and fought wild beasts in the mountains. They have gone through a lot of hardships. Now that things are finally a little better, I would say, let's stop talking nonsense. The princess and Lord Lin have had it tough enough."
"Who knows? I only heard it from others. I heard that our new Lord Lin is trying to climb into the Prince's household, so he's eagerly trying to marry a woman who has been married before."
"Pah! Who told you that? If they really cared about whether or not a woman could remarry, how could they possibly have spent all their wealth to raise sixty-six taels of betrothal gifts for the princess?"
"That's right. A few years ago, when the eldest son of the Wang family in our area got married, the dowry was only thirty-two sets of gifts. If the two of them weren't truly in love, how could they have raised so much money?"
"So, in that case, our Lord Lin is truly deeply affectionate. I heard that Lord Lin isn't very old this year, is he?"
The stall owner, who was wrapping wontons, thought for a moment and then suddenly interjected, "I do have some impression of that Lord Lin. He and his colleagues ate wontons here before. He was indeed quite young, around seventeen or eighteen years old."
"Wow, he's reached the fourth rank at such a young age?"
A look of surprise flashed across the face of the customer who was eating wontons, and he couldn't help but sigh.
The stall owner served another bowl of wontons and placed it on Shiro's grandfather's table, then turned around and started gossiping with the customers again.
"I've heard of this sir. I've heard he's born with superhuman strength and is quite brave on the battlefield. He's highly regarded by our young master and is a rare young warrior."
Upon hearing this, Shiro's grandfather took a bite of the wonton, put it in his mouth, and seeing that his son and daughter-in-law seemed about to speak, he raised his hand to interrupt them, gestured with his chin toward the stall owner, and signaled his son and daughter-in-law to listen quickly.
It's rare to hear gossip about Changning. He had just overheard these people discussing Lin Changning, which is why he had his son and daughter-in-law stop here and sit down to eat a bowl of wontons.
After the stall owner finished speaking, he went back to work. However, one of the scholars seemed quite indignant upon hearing Lin Changning's age and current official position: "He's just a martial artist, and so young. What kind of innate superhuman strength is he talking about? Maybe it's just a hoax. I don't believe it. I heard that Lord Lin is quite the ladies' man and has a close relationship with Prince Qi. Who knows, he might be someone who uses his looks to climb the social ladder."
The scholar had barely finished speaking and hadn't even put the wontons in his mouth when he saw a chopstick stuck straight up next to his bowl. Startled, he looked up to see a young man glaring at him with a cold expression.
"Watch your mouth."
As Wei Shao spoke, he forcefully plunged his chopsticks deep into the table next to the scholar, gripping his waist knife in his other hand. Dressed in the uniform of a Right Guard Hundred-Household Commander, he coldly stared at the scholar who had spoken so rudely.
The scholar, seemingly unconvinced, retorted, "I didn't use any foul language! Who do you think you are? What gives you the right to say I have a dirty mouth!"
Wei Shao snorted coldly, snatched the bowl from the scholar's hand, and slammed it down on the scholar's head.
"I am Wei Shao, Right Guard Hundred-Household Commander! You claim to be a subordinate of Lord Lin, using his connections to get ahead. If you continue to spew such vulgarities, you'd better watch out!!!"
After saying that, he threw two coins at the stall owner: "Shopkeeper, I'll make up for your bowl!"
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