Chapter 437 Dowry

The Miao couple knew that their son had many ideas. When they heard this, their eyes lit up and they asked in unison, "What do you have in mind?"

Miao Anping smiled slyly and said, "One man picks the other, and the other woman takes advantage of the Song family. They just took advantage of us because we have no money and therefore dare not ask for a betrothal gift. But the betrothal gift is always given before the betrothal gift. We can just cheat them out of the betrothal gift first."

Miao's father immediately understood what his son meant.

He shook his head like a wave drum: "That won't do. The amount of betrothal gifts and dowry is clearly written in the marriage certificate. We won't be able to take it out when the time comes..." At this point, he paused, clapped his hands, and looked at his son with eyes full of relief and admiration, saying, "Why didn't I think of it? This is a marriage arranged by Yu Ci. Will the Song family cancel the engagement when the time comes?"

Miao's mother was so frightened that she said hurriedly, "No, no! If the Song family sues us, how can we withstand it? If you and your son are locked up in jail, how can I live?" As she said this, she covered her face and cried.

"It's such a happy day, why are you crying out in mourning?" Miao's father scolded Miao's mother impatiently, but Miao's mother's words still made him look a little worried.

Miao Anping listened with his eyes rolling around, and immediately had an idea, saying: "I'm afraid they won't file a complaint! If they do file a complaint... it's because the Song family wants to save face, and they use their eldest son as an example, and they insist that our family give us so much dowry. Our family thinks this is a gift of marriage, a supreme honor. Although our family is not rich, we are still prepared to find a way to collect the dowry. Unexpectedly, we have borrowed from all relatives and friends, but still can't collect the money. If the Song family is willing, our family is willing to write an IOU, and slowly make up for An Su's dowry in the future. What do you think, if the emperor listens to what we say, will he reward us with 10,000 or 20,000 taels of silver for our family expenses?"

Father Miao nodded happily and praised: "You are smart! We will discuss this with your uncle later. When your sister gets married, with her means, she will not be able to control your brother-in-law. Since the Duke of England has given your brother-in-law such a large fortune, any money that leaks from your sister's fingers will be enough for us to use in the future. Maybe we can even make up for the missing money. This is a really good idea!"

Miao Anping smiled proudly.

Miao's mother felt that this was not right, and she said tremblingly, "But our family didn't borrow money for An Su's wedding, did they?"

Father Miao wanted to kick this spoiling woman out with one kick, and said viciously: "Didn't our family borrow a lot of money from others before? Just take out those IOUs when the time comes."

Miao's mother wanted to say that some of the IOUs were from two or three years ago, and some were from recent times. She could fool others by saying that the ones from recent times were borrowed for An Su, but no one knew where the marriage was from two or three years ago, so how could she fool people?

But seeing Miao's father's angry look, she swallowed the words back when they were about to come to her lips.

Apparently, Miao's father had thought of this, and he told his son, "Go and exchange those IOUs and say that you want to recalculate the interest, so as not to reveal your true identity."

Miao Anping replied "yes" and left the compartment one after another with his father.

Miao's mother had no choice but to follow her husband and son out the door.

The eldest aunt of the Miao family, who was sitting at the female table with Mrs. Song San, was secretly puzzled when she received the news.

Last year, my brother came to her house and borrowed fifty taels of silver from her. How come he had money when he married his daughter? Was he trying to take advantage of her?

Thinking of this, she was very unhappy in her heart, but in front of Mrs. Song San, she still forced a smile and said, "After all, it is a marriage arranged by Yu Ci. If it is delayed for a long time, it will inevitably be suspected of neglect. I think Mrs. Song San, the man should choose the woman - our Miao family will give 20,000 taels of silver to marry our daughter. As for the wedding date, after the banquet is over, ask a few matchmakers to choose a few auspicious days, and then ask the Duke to decide one."

The man usually chooses the date and the woman sets the date. The Miao family did it completely the other way around, just to get the marriage done as soon as possible and get the betrothal money from the Duke of Ying's mansion.

Mrs. Song San laughed angrily.

If the Miao family pays 20,000 taels of silver as a dowry, then the Song family will have to pay 40,000 taels of silver as a betrothal gift. By this calculation, the Miao family still earns 20,000 taels of silver.

She couldn't help but sneer, "When our prince got married, he only prepared a dowry of 20,000 taels of silver. Second Master is the younger brother, and there is no reason for him to surpass the elder brother of the prince. Aren't you afraid that your lady will compete with the prince's wife after she gets married? In terms of status, the prince's wife is the legitimate daughter of Dou's family in Beilou; in terms of wealth, the prince's wife's dowry plus the two loads of silver notes is a dowry of 200,000 taels of silver."

If the eldest aunt of the Miao family had not been eloquent, it would not have been her turn to be the blessed person.

She smiled faintly and said, "Why are the words of the Third Madam of the Song family just like the weather in June, changing without a trace? You have all the reasons, how can we sit down and discuss marriage with you? Don't forget that your Second Master is not the Crown Prince! If your Second Master is as good at both civil and military affairs as the Crown Prince, and holds a high position at a young age, we would be willing to sell our land and not ask for a dowry like the Dou family, but to give a large sum of money. Marry a daughter. Since your second master is not your prince, you should not compare our sixth lady with your prince's wife. Anyway, our Miao family has decided to spend 20,000 taels of silver to marry our daughter. As for what your family should do, don't say that you and I are just a blessed family. Even if you are the child's biological father and mother, you still have to discuss with the elders in the family. I think, whether it is feasible or not, you should go back to the mansion and report to the Duke before expressing your attitude and making the decision!"

Mrs. Song San was so angry that she was shaking all over, but she had nothing to say.

The Duke has always been concerned about his reputation. In order to honor the royal family, he might really agree to this.

If I refuse with all my heart, I might end up being rejected by both sides!

She wanted to slap herself twice.

Even Mrs. Song was avoiding this matter, so why should I be in the spotlight?

Mrs. Song San had no choice but to grit her teeth and say "OK", then returned to the Duke of England's Mansion.

Song Yichun was furious when he heard this. Veins popped out on his forehead as he said, "How can they be marrying off their daughter? They are clearly selling her! How did I end up with such a loser?" He then called Song Han over and said, "You should take good care of your wife in the future. After she gets married, don't let her go out easily unless necessary. I don't want to entertain these losers from the Miao family every day!"

Song Han felt ashamed and embarrassed, his face flushed red.

Song Yichun said to Mrs. Song San, "Tian'en's marriage cannot bypass Song Mo, after all, Song Mo is the prince of the Duke of Ying's mansion." He pondered for a while and said, "But I can't let Tian'en down, so I'll go with Song Mo's marriage and take 20,000 taels of silver as a betrothal gift."

Sure enough, he agreed!

Mrs. Song San secretly thanked herself for not insisting and breathed a sigh of relief.

Song Han knelt down in front of Song Yichun and said with tears of gratitude: "Thank you, father! I will definitely listen to you in the future and discipline my daughter-in-law and not let her bring shame to the Duke of Ying's Mansion."

Song Yichun felt better now.

He said "hmm", nodded and served the tea.

※※※※※

Dou Zhao just smiled slightly after hearing this.

Since Song Mo said that he would let Song Han live alone after Miao married in, he would definitely let Song Han live alone. She and Miao did not have to eat from the same pot. What kind of person she was and what the Miao family planned had little to do with her. She had been worried about Yuan Ge'er these days. It was only a month and a half ago, but when the little thing opened his eyes, he was unwilling to lie on the bed and insisted that someone hold his head upright to hold him.

Dou Shiying and Song Mo kept praising Yuan Ge'er for his intelligence, but Dou Zhao thought it was a sign of mischief.

In a blink of an eye, it was already the end of the month. The Song and Miao families set the second day of September as the date for Song Han's wedding, and the bridal chamber was set up in the Green Bamboo Pavilion next to the Osmanthus Courtyard.

That's fine.

Apart from paying respects to Song Yichun, it would probably be difficult for the two sisters-in-law to meet each other, and it also saved them a lot of trouble.

Dou Zhao decided to return home.

Song Mo said, "We are painting the house for Song Han at home. Be careful not to let the smell irritate the child. It won't be too late for you to go back a few days before Song Han's wedding."

He had envied the liveliness of the Jiang family since he was a child. Although Jing'an Temple Hutong was not as lively as the Dingguo Mansion, Dou Shiying's sincere care made people feel warm. He liked this atmosphere very much and wanted to stay here for a few more days.

Dou Zhao chuckled, vaguely guessing what he was thinking. Naturally, he would not insist and followed Song Mo's arrangement.

When Song Mo went to the government office, she asked Gan Lu, "Why is there still no news from Aunt Cui?"

She was afraid that her grandmother would worry, so she only said that she was pregnant but did not tell her how many months she was pregnant. After the baby was born safely, she sent Chen Xiaofeng to tell her grandmother the good news and promised that when the child was two years old and in good health, she would bring the child to visit her.

Grandmother was very happy. In addition to letting Chen Xiaofeng bring back a longevity lock, she also brought back a lot of children's clothes, shoes and socks. From the folds of the clothes, it can be seen that these things were prepared by grandma a long time ago.

She was in confinement and couldn't do needlework, so she asked the sewing room to make a few autumn clothes for her grandmother and asked Chen Xiaofeng to take them back to Zhending.

According to the date, Chen Xiaofeng should be back in the middle of this month, but there is no sign of him yet, and there is no news from my grandmother.

Gan Lu smiled and consoled her: "Maybe Aunt Cui made you something delicious again, and some of the food is not yet cooked, so Guard Chen might have waited at home for a few more days."

That's possible.

Dou Zhao nodded.

When she and Song Mo got married, she wrote a letter of safety and asked Chen Xiaofeng to take it to Aunt Cui. Aunt Cui then pickled a lot of vegetables that she liked to eat and asked Chen Xiaofeng to bring them back. Because she had to wait for the pickled vegetables to be put on the altar, Chen Xiaofeng stayed in Zhending for another half a month.

Dou Zhao changed his mind and put the matter aside.

However, news came from the British Duke's Mansion.

It is said that the Song family went to make up. The painted bed that the Miao family had when they were hired was replaced by a canopy bed, the yellow pear wood furniture was replaced by pine furniture, and the red porcelain teacups and dishes were replaced by blue and white porcelain... The Song family went to The dowry bearers had a big quarrel with the Miao family, and onlookers gathered on three levels inside and three outside.

The Miao family is a dead dog that is not afraid of hot water. They would rather go to the court to sue than have money to buy a dowry.

Song Han, who was accompanying them, was so embarrassed that he covered half of his face, pulled Mrs. Song San out of the house, and carried the dowry back to the Duke of Ying's Mansion.