Qin Ru went on to describe the battle of wits and courage at the Chai family. "...most of the dowry has been sorted out, and it will be finished in a few days. Alas, Chai Zhengguan is a spendthrift, and there may not even be 50,000 taels of silver left."
Xu Lanzhou was so angry that he cursed under his breath.
Xu Lanyin said, "As long as Chai Zhengguan and Old Shen get their comeuppance, everything will be worth it. Dealing with that family is annoying, cousin, thank you for the hard work."
She had heard that Chai Zhengguan and his legitimate son and grandson, both of whom were officials, had resigned, and the Ministry of Personnel had approved their resignations. Most court officials were astute and guessed there were other reasons for their resignations. However, a few said that the Chai father and son were noble and exemplary, and that when a female relative secretly committed misdeeds, they not only did not cover up for their mistakes but also punished themselves as a warning to others...
These rumors were disgusting, and the Xu family and Chai Shi from the Nanyang Princess's Mansion were not in a position to explain further.
After dinner, Xu Lan went to school, so Qin Ru went to Chai's house again.
After Xiao Xingxing got up and had breakfast, Xu Lanyin took him back to Princess Nanyang's Mansion.
Xu Lanyin calculated the time and saw that Ma and other female relatives were paying their respects to the eldest princess, so she went there directly.
As soon as I entered the hanging flower gate, I saw many unfamiliar faces standing in the yard, and I could also hear the laughter of the eldest princess and other women coming from the main room.
There must be a distinguished guest there now. Xu Lanyin took Xiao Xingxing by the hand and went directly to the west wing where she lived.
Throughout the whole day, seven families came to the Princess's Mansion to propose marriage to Chai Jingjing, and there will definitely be many more tomorrow and the day after tomorrow.
Many families had proposed marriage to Chai Jingjing before, but not many either. To dare to propose marriage to Chai Jingjing, one must not only have a good family background, but also be outstanding. There were many such families in the capital, but some were reluctant to marry into the clan, including those who considered themselves to be educated and refined, and some feared that marrying a daughter-in-law from such a family would be difficult to please.
In addition, Chai Jingjing was picky and still hadn't gotten engaged at the age of fifteen, so the whole family was very anxious.
But yesterday, the already outstanding Chai Jingjing made a stunning debut, attracting countless unmarried men.
Therefore, no matter whether they are outstanding enough, clean or not, afraid or not, or even if there is some age gap, all the young men who love the girls of the Chai family will beg their parents to go to the Chai family to propose marriage.
What’s more, one of them is actually the Prince Ping’s Mansion.
There are not many marriages between the prince's palace or the prince's palace and the princess's palace. Before, neither the Prince Ping's Palace nor the Princess Nanyang's Palace had thought of pairing Liu Yuanfeng and Chai Jingjing.
But yesterday, at the Wanshou Festival, the young Prince Ping took a fancy to Chai Jingjing, and this morning, the old Princess Ping went to the palace to see the Queen Mother. The Queen Mother was very fond of Liu Yuanfeng and Chai Jingjing, and upon hearing about it, she said that if the Nanyang Princess's Mansion also agreed, she would be willing to grant the marriage.
The old Princess Ping was overjoyed and sent someone to ask the Princess of Nanyang in the afternoon. The Princess of Nanyang also liked Liu Yuanfeng very much, but because he was the Prince of Ping, she had not considered it in this way. Now that she heard that he was interested and even the Empress Dowager agreed and was willing to grant the marriage, she immediately agreed.
On the morning of October 21st, the imperial decree granting marriage arrived simultaneously at the residences of Prince Ping and Princess Nanyang. The Empress Dowager granted marriage to Prince Ping, Liu Yuanfeng, and Princess Qingyang, Chai Jingjing, with the wedding scheduled for July 28th of the following year.
Everyone in Princess Nanyang's mansion was very happy.
While Xu Lanyin was happy for Chai Jingjing, she also secretly thought that Miss Su must be heartbroken right now. Previously, she had viewed Gu Wangchen as a mere backup. If she truly married him, her own worth wouldn't meet Gu Wangchen's expectations. Add to that Old Lady Gu's vulgarity and greed, and her life would be difficult.
At this time, in the ancient mansion, Su Qing was in a very bad mood.
Yesterday the doctor confirmed that she was pregnant, and her depressed mood had just improved when at noon she heard the master's servant come back to the mansion to report that Lord Chai's sister was engaged to Prince Tongping. Lord Chai was happy and invited guests to dinner in the evening, but the master would not be back for dinner.
Su Qing's face was gloomy, her hands trembling as she twisted her handkerchief. She hated Madam Su even more for preventing her from leaving the palace. If she had been able to leave the palace a few days earlier, and presented the Ruyu Regenerating Cream to Princess Ping before the Min family did, then everything would have been different...
At this time, Yu Pozi, who was beside the old lady, came into the room. The maids and servants who served Gu Pozi were all spies placed there by Su Qing.
Mrs. Gu was worried about her, so she bought a maid with her own money, but Su Qing also secretly bribed her with money.
Mrs. Yu came up to her and said loudly, "Grandma, the old lady wants you to go to her place. She said she has something important to discuss with you." Then she whispered, "The old lady said that you are pregnant and can't serve me. She said Honghua is pretty and you like her, so she wants you to bring her back and put her in your house. Oh, that little bitch Honghua, when she heard the old lady say she was going to give her to you, she was like a cat in heat..."
Honghua was the maid that Gu Po bought herself, and she also gave her name.
Su Qing was furious. She said, "Go back and tell the old lady that I suddenly feel sick and will come over later."
Mrs. Yu retreated.
Su Qing whispered a few words to the maid Xiaohe.
Xiao He nodded and said with a smile, "Grandma is pregnant. I will go back to the Marquis' Mansion to announce the good news."
Going back to the Marquis' Mansion was just a nice way of saying it. Because Marquis Su had taken the wrong team and disliked Su Qing, and the Su family's eldest lady was in charge again, her family was always looking for trouble with Su Qing, making it worse than not having her.
It was the Mei family that really made Xiao He return. That old woman had to have the Mei family send someone to deal with her so that Gu Wangchen wouldn't notice it was her who did it.
After so long, Su Qing has had enough of that old man.
A few days after Su Qing married Gu Wangchen, Mrs. Gu began to complain about how other men had three wives and four concubines, but her son was pathetic, with only one woman by his side, who couldn't even bear a child. She also said the Gu family was small, and that her son needed to take in many concubines so he could have more children.
Now that Su Qing is finally pregnant, she still has an excuse to force women into her son's arms.
And he was insatiable, never satisfied with any of Su Qing's filial piety. At first, a single gold hairpin or satin dress would keep her happy for days. Later, he'd acquire all sorts of jewel-inlaid gold hairpins, fine jade bracelets, embroidered satin, and all sorts of valuable ornaments... His appetite grew, and the intervals between requests grew shorter and shorter. He even went so far as to say that his son was the head of the household, and that the house they currently lived in should be renamed after him. She figured that only if her dowry was in their names would she be satisfied.
Humph, the easiest people to deal with are those who are rude and greedy.
And her son Gu Wangchen.
In his previous life, he was so warm, as warm as the spring sunshine in the sky. And he was so elegant, as elegant as the dust-free breeze in the mountains.
But when I finally married him, I found that he was not what I had imagined.
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