After Lu Chengyu's marriage was settled, Lu Tong's marriage was also settled.
Lu Lin was taken aback when he heard about Lu Tong's choice of husband.
Lu Tong has chosen the Li family! How could it be the Li family?
Li Jizheng was the man that Wang the matchmaker had introduced to Tang. Tang had previously disliked him because he was a widower and had a child left by his ex-wife. She was very dissatisfied with the marriage and even had a big argument with Wang the matchmaker. Unexpectedly, she agreed to it.
Mrs. Tang is very concerned about her reputation, and now she's actually going back to an old flame. It seems the situation is not optimistic!
Chen Xiaomi pursed her lips and said, "Last year, when taxes were due, most of the eligible young men were already married because they were afraid of paying taxes." Three taels of silver is still a lot of money. People like Lu Chengyu, who would rather pay taxes than compromise, are a minority. "A dowry of twenty taels is not something that just any family can afford."
Although Li Ji had a wife and a child from his previous marriage, the Li family was still quite well-off.
"I didn't expect Lu Tong to agree," Lu Lin said.
In Lu Lin's memory, Lu Tong aspired to be an official's wife, so the fact that she agreed to marry into the family and become a stepmother was somewhat unexpected.
Chen Xiaomi pouted and said, "She can't refuse even if she doesn't agree!" Lu Chengyu wants to marry the town's rich girl, which seems to be very expensive. In the countryside, a simple animal is enough to bring the bride back. When Lu Lin married into the family, a door plank was used to transport her. However, Chen Xiaomi heard that the Lu family plans to make a big fuss this time in order to please the new bride's family. The Lu family seems to be planning to rent a sedan chair in town, and the dowry is also indispensable. In the countryside, poor people can get married by buying some rice, flour, and cooking oil, but if they want to marry a town's rich girl, they seem to have to prepare at least a few pieces of jewelry.
Although the Lu family owns a lot of land, they probably don't have much money left to support Lu Chengyu's education. If they want to hold a big celebration now, they might have to sell land. Farmers won't consider selling land unless they have no other choice. Land is easy to sell, but not so easy to buy back.
Since Lu Tong is going to get married anyway, the betrothal gifts collected from Lu Tong's marriage can be used to pay the betrothal to Lu Chengyu.
Lu Lin smiled bitterly, thinking to himself: In my previous life, the price of betrothal gifts was so high that many villagers had to live frugally and sell their possessions to borrow money from all over the place for their sons' weddings. After the wedding, they were left with a mess of debts. It's pretty much the same in this era!
"I heard that the old lady in the Li family is not someone to be trifled with."
In Lu Lin's memory, his cousin was someone who shirked responsibility and had a very arrogant attitude. If she married into the Li family, she would probably have a hard time getting along with them. She had a formidable mother-in-law and a child left behind by her ex-wife.
Although Madam Tang loved this daughter dearly, it seemed she was willing to sacrifice Lu Tong for Lu Chengyu's sake.
Lu Lin thought for a moment and realized that if Madam Tang didn't care about this daughter, then he didn't need to worry about her either. Besides, Lu Tong wasn't a good person either.
As far as I can remember, whenever Lu Tong got into trouble, she would frame the original owner of the body. For example, when Lu Tong stole eggs from the house, she would falsely accuse Lu Lin of eating them, causing the original owner to be punished by kneeling. There were many similar incidents.
Lu Tong was at home preparing for her wedding, and she was in a very bad mood.
Lu Tong was very dissatisfied with the marriage, but she had no choice. Compared with other families who came to propose marriage, Li Ji's family, although they had a son from a previous marriage, at least had decent financial conditions and did not haggle over the dowry.
Several families came to propose marriage, but they were all destitute and couldn't afford even two taels of silver, let alone twenty taels as a betrothal gift.
With her tax due soon, her family seemed increasingly anxious. Seeing that no one else was proposing marriage, they simply agreed to the Li family's proposal.
Lu Tong had once dreamed of a grand wedding, but she never expected that she would end up with such a family.
Being a stepmother is tough. The ex-wife left behind a son. I heard that the old lady of the Li family doesn't like her son's ex-wife very much, but she still loves her grandson very much. If she marries into the family and gives birth to a son, that would be fine. But if she gives birth to a daughter or twins, then everything in the Li family in the future will probably fall on the eldest son.
Lu Tong felt irritated just thinking about it and really wanted to refuse the marriage, but it was too late. Her family had already agreed to the marriage and accepted the betrothal gifts.
The family has been busy preparing for my older brother's wedding lately, so they haven't been paying much attention to hers.
Lu Tong suddenly realized that her family had become unfamiliar. Lu Tong unconsciously became much more silent. Lu Tong secretly walked to the door and heard her mother and older brother discussing something inside.
"Do we need to buy a hairpin?" Madam Tang asked, somewhat reluctantly.
Lu Chengyu nodded and said, "Since they are from a town, they should have one or two pieces of jewelry that they can show off."
Mrs. Tang gritted her teeth and said, "Then there's no need to buy gold!" In the countryside, silver jewelry is perfectly respectable; why buy gold?
“After all, she is a young lady from the town. It is said that when her sister got married, she received a dowry of eighty taels of silver, three pieces of gold jewelry, and two cartloads of silk and satin,” Lu Chengyu said.
Madam Tang sighed, somewhat embarrassed, and said, "Isn't she married the Registrar? We don't need to compare ourselves to the Registrar!"
Lu Chengyu gritted his teeth and said, "Even so, it can't be too bad, or people will think we're stingy. Fangyue's family isn't short of money, and they should bring back the betrothal gifts we give as part of their dowry."
Madam Tang gritted her teeth and said, "Preparing such a grand banquet will probably cost too much money!"
Lu Chengyu pursed his lips and said, "If all else fails, we'll have to sell a few acres of land first."
Tang frowned and said, "The crops have only just been planted in this field. It's not worth selling them now. There's nothing we can do about it. I'll buy them back after I pass the imperial examination." Lu Chengyu gritted his teeth and said.
Two days ago, Lu Chengyu ran into Chen Jing when she went out. Because of what happened before, the two had become mortal enemies.
Lu Chengyu had always looked down on Chen Jing, but unexpectedly Chen Jing passed the preliminary examination and became a student. Chen Jing spoke very rudely to Lu Chengyu, saying that they were both students now, and if his luck came, he might be able to pass the county-level examination before Lu Chengyu. Lu Chengyu felt that Chen Jing's words were an insult to him.
Tang squinted and said, "Chen Xiaomi's family has quite a bit of money. If we could borrow some, we wouldn't need to sell the land."
Lu Chengyu shook his head and said, "Forget it. Chen Xiaomi is a tough guy. If he causes trouble and it affects the wedding, it won't be good."
The fact that the Lu family arranged for Lu Lin to marry into the family for ten taels of silver was not exactly honorable. Lu Chengyu valued his reputation and did not want to cause any more trouble at this time, lest the matter reach his brother-in-law's ears.
Mrs. Tang gritted her teeth, feeling somewhat reluctant, yet vaguely sensing that she was letting Lu Lin off easy.
Lin Xiuer stayed at home, feeling somewhat depressed, and sighed.
Cheng Yu's wedding is such a grand affair! They've prepared twenty tables for the banquet. Why invite so many people? Back when Lu Lin married into Chen Xiaomi's family, he was carried out in a single door plank.
Lu An glanced at Lin Xiuer and said, "How can Lu Lin compare to Cheng Yu? Cheng Yu is a scholar, so he naturally has more rules."
Lin Xiuer said sullenly, "I've been studying for so long, but I still haven't passed the imperial examination. How much money has my family spent on this?" She added, "I'm not as good as Lu Lin. Lu Lin worked for my family for so many years, and even after marrying into the family, he still earned ten taels of silver for them."
“Once Cheng Yu’s wife marries into the family, things might be easier with the help of the Registrar,” Lu An said.
Lin Xiuer sighed and said, "I hope so. How much dowry does Cheng Yu plan to offer?"
“About thirty taels,” Lu An said.
Lin Xiuer gritted her teeth and said, "Thirty taels? This is murder!" The family got thirty taels from Lu Lin's marriage and Lu Tong's marriage. Even if Lu Chengyu married a wife, it wouldn't be enough to cover the cost.
"Thirty taels is just the betrothal money. Cloth, jewelry, and other items need to be prepared separately, I'm afraid..." Fifty taels wouldn't be enough. The old man had discussed it with him, hoping he could get an advance on three months' wages, but Lu An refused, fearing it would give a bad impression to his superiors.
Lin Xiuer gritted her teeth, a few worries flashing through her mind. The new bride had a powerful background, and the family's attitude was as if they were going to treat that girl like royalty. Tang Shi was troublesome enough, but if this woman joined forces with Tang Shi after entering the family, then she would not only have to watch Tang Shi's face, but also the new bride's face.
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