9 Marry into a high family
◎Now even the charcoal for heating is being cut, this is too much!◎
The next day, after the younger generation came to ask about her well-being, Wu left Miss Chu alone.
She sat on the couch, one arm resting on the soft pillow, and told what happened at the dinner table yesterday. Unexpectedly, before she opened her mouth, Chu Jinhe's face turned pale and she hurriedly shouted, "Mom, I don't want it!"
Wu had raised her daughter since she was little, so she had anticipated her reaction. So she gently advised, "Mother, I think what your father said makes some sense. You might as well calm down and think about it carefully."
Chu Jinhe felt aggrieved. The Pei family was indeed a good family, but what about Pei's nephew? The Pei family was only a scholar, so how could they hold any influence among the military officers? Besides, how many people could consider their nephew their own son? How could they gamble on such an imaginary future? What if Pei Yue really only became a minor general? Wouldn't his life be ruined?
"Mother! Think about it, Minister Pei already has his own biological son, so why waste all his energy on his nephew? And how many people in this world can truly treat other people's children as their own? You always say that you want me to marry into a good family to bring honor to you. How can Pei Yue be considered a good place?"
Mrs. Wu clutched her handkerchief and said nothing. She had put a lot of thought into her daughter since she was young, and she felt it was a pity to marry her off to a warrior. However, according to what the master said, the kinship with the Pei family was extremely important and related to her future career, so she was in a dilemma.
Seeing her mother hesitate, Miss Chu made up her mind, twisted the handkerchief in her hand, and whispered, "Mother, my daughter, my daughter has someone in her heart!"
Wu stood up and asked in surprise, "Whose young master is this?"
"...Mingxuan Marquis Mansion, Prince Zhao." A faint blush appeared on her face.
The corners of Wu's lips twitched slightly. She really hoped that her daughter would marry into a wealthy family to save face for herself, but how could the Chu family even dream of owning a marquisate? So she took a deep breath and said, "Prince Zhao? He'er, you're confused! Do you know how high the threshold to a marquisate is? Your father is only a fifth-rank doctor in the Ministry of Works, and you..."
"Mother!" Chu Jinhe stepped forward to interrupt her, her eyes stubborn. "That day at the Li family, I heard Prince Zhao chatting with someone. He said that choosing a wife has nothing to do with family background; as long as the couple's feelings are connected, it's enough!"
"Although our Chu family isn't prestigious, we're still considered a wealthy one. In terms of appearance and talent, I believe I'm no less talented than anyone else. Even the teacher says I have a talent for poetry, so why can't I try? Mother, didn't you impress Dad with your poem 'Clear Lotus' at a poetry gathering? The upcoming Xiaohan Festival will be your chance!"
"Telepathy?" Wu sneered, "Back then, your father also said that he liked my talent for writing about catkins the most, but later on, didn't he still—"
"But mother, you don't regret it, do you? How much benefit has my grandparents gained because of you? If it weren't for you, my uncle wouldn't even be able to become a clerk, let alone a county magistrate! Besides, in the end, you are the mistress of the Chu family, and father still rests in your room every day!"
Looking at her daughter's eyes, which mirrored her own, Wu felt a momentary trance. Eighteen years ago, standing in front of the Wu family hall, hadn't she argued with her mother in the same way? Wasn't it thanks to her stubbornness back then that she was able to live the life she had today?
Her eyes fell on the hem of her golden-threaded skirt, and she suddenly smiled. She reached out to straighten her daughter's clothes and said, "Okay, you are a person with great ambition. I will help you fight for this future."
Chu Jinhe threw herself into her mother's arms, tears falling.
Half a minute later, she washed her face and put on makeup again, then walked out of Yunxi Hall with her head held high. Mother Meng brought her some freshly brewed tea and whispered, "Madam, it's not easy to be the mistress of a noble family, let alone a marquis's mansion..."
Wu brushed away the tea leaves, shook her head, and blew gently. "Nothing in this world is easy. He'er is right. Put aside all the storms, and if the result is good, then it will be done."
With He'er's beauty and talent, if she puts in the effort, she might be able to win over Prince Zhao. If she could one day become the wife of Marquis Mingxuan, it would bring honor to the Chu family! Doctor Wang's wife is the Shangshu's cousin? And she, Wu Wanzhi, is the Marquis's mother-in-law! Forget about the position of Minister of Works. Even if Junze enters the court in the future, he'll have something to gain. Status is something you can earn yourself.
It is not convenient to tell the master about this matter now. Let's put it on hold and talk about it after the winter solstice party next month.
The room was filled with the smell of incense. Mrs. Wu put down her teacup, picked up the account book at hand and looked through it. After a moment, she frowned and closed the account book again, feeling a little annoyed.
The threshold to enter a marquis's mansion is high, and that's not just talk. The custom of lavish marriages is prevalent in Dayan. The man's family sends a heavy betrothal gift, and the woman's family also has to prepare a generous dowry. The amount of the dowry must be equal to the betrothal gift, or even more.
If He'er and Prince Zhao can really get together, the Marquis's family can afford the bride price, but the Chu family will probably have to pay it all.
He opened the account book in his hand, and the densely packed tiny calligraphy listed all the expenses, including lamp oil and charcoal, food expenses for each courtyard, ancestral hall repairs, and personal relationships. He could not finish reading them at a glance. He had just presented charcoal to Minister Pei and Minister Hu at the beginning of the month. Two months later, it was the Spring Festival, and the New Year gifts from various places were another huge expense. It made his head hurt just looking at it.
All of this is far-fetched. To put it simply, the wife of Minister Luo of the Ministry of Rites holds a winter party every year. Before the party, she has to buy new clothes and headwear for herself and her daughter. If she wears last year's styles this year, she will probably be laughed at.
After much calculation, she beckoned Mother Meng over and said, "Tell the storehouse to save as much as possible on the expenses of the second girl and Aunt Bai. As for how to save, let them figure it out on their own."
When Wu mentioned the silly second girl, she thought of the dowry she was preparing for her. With a pang of pain in her heart, she added, "Especially the second girl in the courtyard. If she asks about it, just tell her that marrying into the Li family will require a dowry to maintain her dignity. Everything costs money, so she should just be frugal in her daily life!"
Mother Meng nodded in agreement.
By early October, the temperature dropped sharply. The short journey to greet the ancestors in the early morning could freeze people to death. Therefore, Mrs. Wu exempted the younger generations from greeting the ancestors in recent days, saying that they would wait until the weather was warmer.
Chu Yufu had a rare opportunity to sleep in, and she lay there until noon without wanting to get up. It was not purely because she was lazy, but also because the charcoal fire that had been burning all night was extinguished, and it was very cold outside the quilt.
She wrapped herself tightly in the quilt and sighed, thinking that winter without air conditioning or heating was too hard to endure. Before she could finish her sigh, Lan Zhu stormed in, pushing the door open. The moment the door opened, a cold wind rushed in, blowing away the layers of gauze curtains in the room.
"I'm so pissed!"
"Has Mrs. Liao gone crazy? She sent five baskets of silver charcoal to the eldest daughter's room, but only gave us two. How can we survive in this freezing weather?"
Chu Yufu had been pampering the maids lately, and now they barged in without even knocking. Chu Yufu couldn't help but scold them, "You even forgot the etiquette of knocking."
Then he asked carefully, "You did ask Mother Liao, are there only these two baskets of charcoal?"
Lan Zhu was so angry that her eyes turned red, her hair bun kept shaking, and she bit her lip and bowed: "I didn't see Madam Liao, it was her maid who told me that Madam Liao said that this is the amount of our Zhuyuyuan's allowance."
A few days ago, she was worried that the girl would have a hard time after breaking off the engagement. Now, life is already so difficult before she even breaks off the engagement!
Chu Yufu turned over and sat up, her pretty eyebrows furrowed into a small mountain, her face tense.
Her relationship with her cousin has eased a lot recently, but her stepmother and stepsister have not slacked off either. Since Yunsui knew that she had bought a lot of medicinal herbs, she specially made a few sachets and sent them to her, putting a lot of effort on her face and acting gentle and well-behaved. Even so, is it possible that her stepmother would not let her have a good winter?
Starting seven days ago, the candles delivered to the courtyard were changed from white wax to yellow wax, the rice paper that was replenished was changed from pure skin rice paper to cotton rice paper, and even the dishes were changed from two meat dishes and two vegetable dishes to one meat dish and two vegetable dishes.
She had originally thought she would endure it no matter what, and would only make plans when she was completely on her grandmother's side. But now they were even cutting back on the charcoal for heating. That was too much! If Wu did this, then what would all her recent compliments and greetings mean?
Is she stupid? Is she easy to bully?
Chu Yufu doesn't cause trouble but isn't afraid of it either. Withholding charcoal is no different from any other matter. It's a matter of life and death in this cold winter. If she gets sick from the cold, all her future arrangements will be in vain.
Thinking of this, she no longer felt cold. She lifted the quilt and asked Lanzhu and Yunsui to help her dress and wash up. She had to ask Mother Liao clearly in person.
The storehouse was close to the south corner gate, and Zhuyuyuan was at the northernmost end. When they walked there with two maids and found Mother Liao who was in charge of the storehouse, the girl, who had been blown by the cold wind all the way, had calmed down. She raised a decent smile and said in a crisp voice.
"The little girl in my courtyard is too careless. She just came to get some charcoal and forgot to count it. I have to trouble Madam Liao to tell the servants."
Mother Liao stood in the corridor of the warehouse, bowed with her hands in her pockets, and then smiled calmly and replied, "That's right, Second Miss. What was left in the Zhuyuyuan account book were two baskets of charcoal."
The second girl was visibly stunned when she heard this. After a pause, she blinked her eyes and said hesitantly, "But I remember there were four baskets a month last year. How come it's been cut in half in an instant?"
"I heard that my sister is still the same as before..." There was a hint of helplessness in the ending tone of his voice.
Mother Liao laughed: "My daughter, you are about to get married, how can you compare with an older girl!"
"What do you mean, Mom?" The second girl was a little confused.
"Miss, a woman must have a dowry to support her when she gets married. Gold and silver jewelry, utensils, curtains, everything needs money. If you don't save money in your daily expenses, how will you come up with the money when the time comes?"
Madam Liao counted the dowry carefully with her fingers, then lowered her voice and said, "Madam is doing this for your own good. A little hardship now is nothing. But if the dowry is too little and it brings disgrace to the Li family, what will we do then?"
Ever since she cut the expenses of Zhuyuyuan a few days ago, she had prepared these words and was waiting for the second girl to come and question her at any time. However, she did not expect that the other party would be so patient and would not come until the day of setting off the charcoal.
Chu Yufu's eyelashes trembled slightly. She twisted the handkerchief with her fingertips for a moment before releasing it. She raised her head and smiled with difficulty: "It turns out that mother loves me. It's my fault for not knowing the trick. Thank you, mother Liao, for telling me."
"But girl, it's so cold, two baskets of charcoal are really not enough!" Lan Zhu stamped her feet anxiously. She didn't understand what dowry was. The girl was weak, and it was so cold this year, how could she possibly endure it!
"Lanzhu, shut up!"
Chu Yufu shouted to stop her, but suddenly choked on a mouthful of cold air and started coughing: "Cough, cough, what do you know? Mother, mother is doing this for my own good. Of course, my future reputation is more important than anything else, cough!"
After saying that, he raised his pair of bright eyes that were filled with tears, smiled at Mother Liao again, turned around and walked out of the warehouse yard, stepping on the creaking snow.
After the people had gone away, a little maid poked her head out of the storeroom and asked in a low voice, "Mom, do we still need to send this basket of red charcoal in the room to Zhuyuyuan?"
Mother Liao put her hands back into her sleeves, gave her a blank look, and smiled: "Why send me a gift? Just carry it to my room and put it there later!"
The lady asked her to be frugal, but she didn't care how frugal she was. The actual surplus money had to be put on the account every month, so she thought of the trick of "compromise".
If I give the second girl three baskets of charcoal at the beginning, if she comes to make a fuss, she will definitely want four baskets, and then it will be difficult for me to do it.
If you give her two baskets of silver charcoal at the beginning, and she starts to make a fuss, then add another basket of inferior red charcoal. If both sides give in and don't let her go back empty-handed, both sides will look good, and the relationship will be maintained without damaging the relationship.
But what she didn't expect was that the second girl was a weak and soft persimmon that could be easily manipulated. Before she could even say a second round of refusal, she just took the maid away. Not only did she save herself from talking too much, but she also got an advantage for free!
On their way back, the master and his servants were silent until they passed by the small garden and saw the plum blossoms in bloom. Chu Yufu smiled and said, "The snow fell early this year, and the plum blossoms bloomed early too. Go pick a few good ones, and I'll take them to my cousin later."
Lan Zhu bit her lip and looked at her: "Miss, you still care about others."
Chu Yufu chuckled twice without saying anything, and gently pushed her: "Just go quickly."
The little girls walked into the garden and busied themselves picking flowers. Chu Yufu turned around, her expression darkening as she glanced coldly in the direction of the warehouse.
The dowry of a woman in the Yan Dynasty was divided into two parts: one was the betrothal gift given by the man, and the other was the additional dowry prepared by her parents.
Wu wanted to look good and appear virtuous in front of the Li family, but she didn't want to spend extra money on her. So she asked her to be more frugal and kept saying that it was for her own good. She really had a good plan.
Of course, this is just on the surface.
Chu Yufu reached out and picked up a handful of cold snow, crushed it between her fingertips, and the coolness rushed straight to her heart.
The reason why Aunt Wan was married as a concubine was because her father accidentally offended a powerful official, so he sent his daughter to the Chu family for protection. Unlike ordinary concubines, she brought some private property with her. Later, she died of illness, and all those things fell into the hands of the mistress, Mrs. Wu.
Now it seems that Mrs. Wu has no intention of returning this thing to her. Instead, she wants her to save money from her teeth and add it to her dowry!
In the Yan Dynasty, the larger the dowry, the higher the woman's status in the family. The higher the man's family background, the larger the betrothal gift, and the larger the dowry the woman needed to prepare. The stepmother was determined to marry her own daughter into a wealthy family and carefully prepared a dowry for her daughter, but what about her? Did she deserve to be exploited?
When she read novels and watched movies in the past, she always couldn't understand why everyone had to fight and scheme against each other in this small house. Wouldn't it be better to just be a Buddhist and live a peaceful life?
Now that she has truly become part of the game, she knows that there are only so many limited resources. If you are unwilling to fight for them, there will be many people who will step on you to climb up.
She just went to see Mrs. Liao and wanted Lanzhu, Yunsui, and the maids and servants working in the warehouse to hear what Mrs. Liao said with their own ears!
After folding the flowers, the two came back with two bunches of pink plums: "Girl, are these enough?"
"That's enough."
Chu Yufu lowered her head and sniffed the plum blossom fragrance, then took the flowers from Yunsui's hand and said with a smile, "Yunsui, come with me to Cishoutang, and Lanzhu, go back and trim the flowers, find a narrow-mouthed vase to put them in, and place them on the dressing table." The two agreed in unison.
Lu Jiaan lived with the old lady, and his food, clothing and other expenses were all handled by the people from Cishoutang. Naturally, no one dared to fool him. When the maid pushed open the door of the east wing, Chu Yufu immediately felt a burst of heat coming towards her.
Lu Jiaan was leaning on the couch, flipping through a storybook in his hand. When he saw her come in with plum blossoms, his eyes lit up. He put the book down and said with a smile, "I was wondering why my left eyelid kept twitching. It turns out that my second sister came to give me plum blossoms."
Chu Yufu handed the flowers to her, her almond-shaped eyes curved, and she said sweetly, "I knew you would like it."
Last month, her grandmother said that the sachet was effective in helping her sleep, so she specially asked her to come over and talk to her. On the way, she happened to meet Lu Jiaan. Chu Yufu was sweet-talking, and since they had already talked before, it didn't take long for her to make her cousin Lu laugh out loud. She then asked her to read a storybook together when she was free.
Lu Jiaan had few friends in Beijing and was bored staying at home all day. Now that he had a playmate of the same age, the two of them became very close after a few times.
Cousin Lu was wearing a light orange jacket and skirt today. Her hair was tied up in a double bun and pinned with a gilded peony hairpin. The peony petals on the hairpin were stacked one on top of the other, which was very delicate. Chu Yufu glanced at the hairpin and praised, "Sister, this gold hairpin is really beautiful."
Lu Jiaan took the plum blossom, his face flushed slightly. He raised his hand to touch the hairpin shyly, then pulled her over to sit on the couch, and changed the subject somewhat awkwardly: "Come and sit down. I want to tell you about this new book I got, The Sutra of the Wise and the Foolish. It's quite interesting, with stories like feeding a tiger with one's own body and savoring an eagle with one's own flesh..."
Chu Yufu pursed her lips and smiled, looking down at the book in her hand. "The Sutra of the Wise and the Foolish? It sounds like it has something to do with Buddhism. I'm sure Grandma will be interested! I recently learned a technique for clearing the meridians and aiding sleep from a book, and I was thinking of trying it on Grandma. Why don't we go together, and you tell the story to Grandma and me at the same time."
"Alright!" Lu Jia'an closed the book and called out, "Sang Lu, bring me a cloak!"
【Author’s words】
General Pei is online: ? Thirty years on the west side of the river, thirty years on the east side of the river, don’t look down on the poor young man, if you ignore me today, you will be out of my reach tomorrow [lemon]
Angels, this article will be updated with the list before V, and will be updated every day after V. Because the word count has reached 30,000, there will be no update tomorrow, please don't miss it, and it will be updated as usual at 9 am the day after tomorrow. Angels who haven't collected it, please collect it, your collection and comments are the motivation for me to write [erect ears rabbit head]
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
