Chapter 1332 Heartache (September Monthly Ticket Plus 5)
At this time, Mrs. Chen was pulling Mrs. Bai to talk about the marriage of their two children again.
Although Mrs. Bai was very tempted, she still did not agree immediately. The child's marriage was a big deal, and her husband and mother-in-law had not yet given their approval. Moreover, Dalang fell ill just after returning, and she had not had time to ask his opinion.
Unlike Bai Erlang who grew up in their doting, Bai Dalang was raised by Master Bai since he was a child. When he was a little older, he was sent out to study. Later, Mr. Zhuang was specially invited to teach him.
When he grew up a little, he was sent to the county school. Not long after, he was sent directly from the county school to the provincial school. Since Mr. Bai often had to go out, he would go to the provincial school to see him every month.
Mrs. Bai seldom saw her eldest son. She loved him but also felt a little strange and in awe of him.
Unlike when she was talking to Erlang, she could hold him and give him earnest advice, she could pull his ears and scold him, she could even search his room for the silver and keep it for him.
But she couldn't do these things to Bai Dalang, so she mostly discussed things with him.
After all, he was the eldest son, and Mrs. Bai could not decide his marriage alone, so she did not agree to it outright, but she also planned to discuss it with Mr. Bai when she returned home in the evening.
The Chinese New Year is coming soon, and my sister-in-law can't stay here for too long. She originally brought her nephew and niece to see her, and they should go back in two days, so she has to give people a definite answer whether this matter should be settled or not.
As a result, when she returned home in the evening, Mr. Bai refused her just as she started.
Mrs. Bai was shocked. "Didn't you object when I mentioned it to you earlier?"
"Well," Mr. Bai responded, "I just suddenly remembered something. Dalang will be an official in the future. My family doesn't have many connections in the court, so I'm afraid I can't help him. So I want to marry him to a lady from an official family."
Upon hearing this, Mrs. Bai couldn't help but sit up straight and asked with sparkling eyes, "Has someone chosen?"
Mr. Bai: ...
He coughed uncomfortably and said vaguely, "It's almost done. I haven't decided yet. I'll tell you when I make up my mind. But my uncle should just refuse it."
He said, "Our two families are already related. Whether we marry or not, it's still his maternal grandfather's family. How can his father-in-law's family be closer than his maternal grandfather's family?"
Mr. Bai said righteously, "So there's no need to kiss each other."
Mrs. Bai nodded, but she was also embarrassed. "How can I refuse? My sister-in-law has asked me twice, and I didn't refuse the first two times."
Mr. Bai thought for a moment and said, "Just tell us that you went to the Taoist temple and had a divination. It's not suitable for Dalang to get married early. You have to wait another two years. It would be bad for us to delay the birth of the child."
Mrs. Bai: "So I have to go to the Taoist temple tomorrow?"
"Go, go," said Mr. Bai, "You can also take your sister-in-law up there for a walk. It just so happens that Dalang is ill. You can donate some incense money to him and ask the Lord Tianzun to bless him to recover soon."
"That's right," Mrs. Bai said gravely, "the child became so ill right after returning home. Did he run into some sneaky trick along the way?"
Mr. Bai had not expected his wife to be so radiant. He lay down on the bed, pulled up the quilt to cover himself and said, "A man should not speak of strange things, so don't talk nonsense."
"If you still don't talk about strange and supernatural things, then why do you want me to worship the Lord of Heaven?"
Mr. Bai thought about it and realized that it was true. Why didn't he count these two things together?
He rubbed his forehead and said, "Yes, you are right. Let's do as you say."
The matter of the Bai family was settled, but the matter of the Zhou family just started.
Manbao hid in Bai's house and had lunch, afternoon tea, and even dinner at Bai's house.
After dinner, the four of them sat together and chatted for a while. Manbao then gave Bai Dalang the last injection of the day, prescribed some medicine, and reluctantly went home.
As soon as he got home, Old Zhou and Qian took him to the main room and asked him to confess and be treated leniently.
After Old Zhou came back from the headman's house in the afternoon and learned about the value of the silk, he wanted San Ya to go to the Bai family and call Manbao back for questioning.
As a result, Qian stopped the people and insisted on waiting for Manbao to come back by herself. As a result, it was almost dark when she waited.
Old Zhou sat on the bed with his eyes wide open. "You really are becoming less and less at home. If it weren't dark, would you still be staying at the Bai family's overnight?"
Qian patted him and said, "Keep your voice down. Is this nice to hear?"
Old Zhou fell silent instantly.
Manbao poured him some water and said, "Dad, what you said is contradictory. How can we stay overnight if it's not dark?"
Qian also glared at Manbao, "Stop your jokes. If your father doesn't beat you, be careful I will."
Manbao shrank her neck. She was really afraid of her mother.
Old Zhou snorted and asked, "Let me ask you, how much is this silk worth per piece?"
Manbao said, "The ones given to Dad and Mom were given by the palace. If they were sold, they would cost about fifty or sixty taels a piece. But if you want to buy them, it would probably cost one or two hundred taels, and you might not even be able to buy them."
Old Zhou covered his chest and said, "How ruthless! How can a businessman be so ruthless? He made so much money in vain just by going in and out?"
Manbao nodded.
"Then can't we just sell it directly to those who want to buy it?"
Manbao sighed and shook his head, "We tried, but those people didn't believe it. Even those who did believe it didn't buy it."
Old Zhou: “…Why?”
"Those who don't believe want to buy, but they only buy from the big cloth shops. No matter how hard we try, they won't believe us. As for those who do believe, their families don't lack these cloths, but even if they do, they won't buy from me."
Now even Qian was confused and asked along with Old Zhou: "Why?"
Manbao said in a daze, "Because the material is limited. The material given to me by the palace is no secret in some people's backyards. If I bought it to make clothes, they might be laughed at when they go out to banquets. Besides, it doesn't seem right to sell the things given by the emperor..."
Manbao whispered, "Bai Shan and I have checked the law books. There's no explicit prohibition on selling items bestowed by the emperor. However, it seems that there is a rule that buying and selling items bestowed by the emperor is illegal. If someone reports it to the authorities, even if they don't get beaten, they will definitely be reprimanded..."
That's why she and Arya felt that the risk was too great and the benefits were too small, and there was no need to worry so much about a pile of cloth, so they put it aside.
Anyway, these cloths can be used as money. In the capital, there are many restrictions because they are imperial gifts. Why not take them out of the capital and use them later?
Once outside the capital, who would know who Zhou Man was, and who would know that the thing in her hand was a gift from the emperor?
Wouldn't it be enough to just say that it was silk and satin as good as the tribute?
Old Zhou heaved a sigh of relief, and touched the silk with the back of his hand. Then he said thankfully, "Fortunately, I didn't have time to tell your mother yesterday to cut the cloth to make new clothes, otherwise these one or two hundred taels would have been wasted."
He emphasized: "One or two hundred taels!"
good evening
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
