"Thank you, Godfather!" Jiayin cheered up again, gave the Marquis a big kiss on the cheek, and then ran to the storeroom to "roll around" like a mouse that had fallen into a rice jar.
Wow! The gemstone is huge!
"We've struck it rich! We've really struck it rich!"
"This is kaori yarn! I want to make a dress with it in the summer, it'll be so pretty!"
"Gold bracelets! There are so many gold bracelets in this box!"
The Marquis followed behind the chubby girl with a smile, and couldn't help but laugh as he listened to her constant excited shouts.
Fortunately, he managed to prepare all these things in a hurry, otherwise it would be difficult to please the chubby girl now.
Thinking back to the first time he stayed at the Li family's house, he was seriously ill and on the verge of death. This girl couldn't even speak yet, but she already knew how to trade with him, holding a pill in one hand and a silver ingot in the other!
The chubby little girl, drooling over the silver, was the funniest and most heartwarming scene in his memory.
It was as if the dark clouds of his life had been cleared away, illuminating his world.
His early life was cold and full of hardship, but after meeting the Li family and this chubby girl, all the bitterness and wounds were gradually soothed by the warmth of everyday life...
When the father and daughter returned to Suijintan in a horse-drawn carriage with four lamb legs, the Li family had already lit their lamps.
Winter dusks come early, and with snow on the way, it's even dimmer.
On the table in the main room was a two-foot square box, inside which were the spoils that Li Laosi had been given.
As soon as the Marquis received the good news and stepped onto the steps, he heard Old Man Li shout, "This bracelet is set with gemstones, keep it for Fu Niu'er's dowry, and this pearl necklace is also beautiful, keep it for Fu Niu'er too!"
The Marquis and Jiayin exchanged a glance and then smiled.
Jiayin, like a little butterfly, ran into the house, grabbed her father's waist, and cried out in a spoiled tone, "Daddy, do you dislike Fu Niu'er? Waaah, Fu Niu'er is so sad. Daddy wants to marry Fu Niu'er off so soon."
Although Li Laosi was honest and simple, he was all too familiar with his daughter's tricks.
At this moment, he picked up his daughter, laughed heartily, and spun her around the room a few times, making her laugh back before he stopped.
Tao Hongying scolded him playfully, afraid that her husband would drop their daughter, so she snatched her daughter and held her in her arms, saying, "Your father, that blockhead, is surprisingly farsighted and still remembers to save up for your dowry."
"Take a look, keep whatever you like, and save the rest for your grandma!"
Jiayin said, "My godfather also prepared a lot for me. Father brought these back, and Mother and Grandma picked out more. The rest can be saved for my brothers to find wives in the future!"
Before Tao Hongying could speak, Old Lady Li waved her hand and said, "Of course the family will make arrangements for your brothers' weddings, but these are the money your father earned from his military campaigns, so they should be given to you."
Seeing that she couldn't push it out, Jiayin stepped onto a stool, sat down next to the box, and started picking through the items.
"Alright, let my brothers worry about finding wives themselves. I'll just focus on making Grandma and Mom look beautiful."
Jiayin grinned and lay on the box, her chubby little hands deftly picking through the items.
In a short while, she gave her grandmother a small kesi (silk tapestry) table screen, a set of cat's-eye stone headdress jewelry, a pair of jadeite longevity character gold hairpins, and a pair of smooth, open red gold bracelets.
Tao Hongying was also given a set of gold jewelry inlaid with kingfisher feathers, a pair of gold bracelets with silk threads, and a small table screen embroidered with hibiscus flowers.
Wenjuan wore a pair of jade openwork orchid hairpins and a pair of small white jade safety buckles.
There was also a pair of long hairpins with auspicious cloud patterns, which were for my third aunt who was not at home.
Jiayin even picked out a pair of red coral hairpins inlaid with broken gemstones and asked her grandmother to give them to Xing Wan'er as an engagement gift.
Xing Wan'er stayed at the Wen family's house for half a month to serve her mother. Her filial piety, gentleness, and generous behavior pleased the Li family greatly.
Once Jiaren returns, the marriage can be finalized.
Grandma Li and Tao Hongying were fine with it, but they knew best that the chubby girl was extravagant and always wanted to share everything with her family, otherwise she wouldn't feel at ease keeping it.
Seeing that there were still most of the items in the box, they stopped refusing.
Wenjuan, on the other hand, was quite apprehensive. If her father-in-law got the spoils of war, it would be reasonable for him to share some with her, his daughter-in-law.
But now that her uncle from another branch of the family is preparing a dowry for her cousin, she, as the sister-in-law, is trying to take advantage of the situation. This is unacceptable.
She tried to return the items, but Old Lady Li pushed all of Zhao Yuru's things towards her, saying, "Your sister gave them to you, so keep them. Also, please keep your mother-in-law's things safe, and give them to her when she comes back for the New Year."
"If you feel you've taken advantage of your sister, then when she gets married or needs your support in the future, you can help her out more."
Wenjuan accepted it, feeling extremely happy and grateful.
Such a family of in-laws, and such a sister-in-law, are truly hard to find even with a lantern!
When she returned to her parents' home on the second day of the Lunar New Year, she dressed up and let her family take a good look at her.
Leaving aside Wenjuan's thoughts, let's just say that when Old Lady Li thought about her granddaughter going to the palace, she asked her in detail.
Jiayin was afraid that her family would get angry, so she said casually, "The Third Princess is jealous of my shop's good business and wants to take it over."
“I told my uncle that I wanted the Third Princess to open a branch store and sell the pastries from my shop.”
"The shop and the recipe have nothing to do with her. As long as she takes the pastries, she makes money if she sells them, and loses money if she doesn't."
Old Mrs. Li's face darkened upon hearing this, and she angrily muttered, "This shameless bastard! I let him bully you last time, and now he's trying to steal your shop again?!"
"Is she really the Emperor's daughter? She's so shallow-minded, she's not even as good as the girls in our village!"
Tao Hongying also said, "I knew it! Suddenly bringing Fu Niu'er into the palace couldn't be anything good!"
Jiayin quickly hugged her grandmother's arm and said with a grin, "Grandma, Uncle Huang also knows that the Third Princess was wrong, so he rewarded me with a lot of good things."
"If I sold it, I would have at least five or six hundred taels of silver, enough to buy a small shop, so I didn't lose out."
"Let the Third Princess do whatever she wants. Even if she loses money, her uncle will think she's stupid."
"Hmph!" Old Mrs. Li snorted coldly. She treated her granddaughter like the apple of her eye, and she wouldn't allow her granddaughter to suffer any loss, let alone even the slightest one.
She had initially thought the Emperor was alright, but now she was starting to feel dissatisfied, and lowered her voice even further as she said, "If he truly thought his daughter was wrong, he wouldn't have summoned you to the palace..."
"Alright, Grandma, it's just a small matter, not worth mentioning." Jiayin then hugged her grandmother's neck and acted coquettishly.
"Grandma's granddaughter is so smart, it's not hard for her to deal with a stupid girl. We'll just not stoop to her level!"
“If she behaves herself in the future, I won’t mind sharing some benefits with her, just to please my uncle.”
"If she dares to cause trouble, I'll show her what real suffering is!"
After saying that, she clenched her fist and waved it, looking like a little bully, which made everyone in her family laugh.
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