Chapter 119 Chapter 119 Two Chapters in One
Since Jiang Xian was now working as an attendant, there was no place for Mr. Song, the criminal lawyer, to use his talents. Jiang Xian introduced him to several people who were to be sent out to serve as officials close to the people. Jinniang also gave him six strings of money for travel expenses, and also prepared six pairs of wax strips and a set of shoes and hats.
Master Song had been with them for more than six years and they all got along well with each other. Chen Xiaolang and Liu Doer asked the kitchen to prepare a banquet as a farewell to him.
Mr. Song lived and ate at the Jiang family, and was given new clothes for all four seasons. In six years, he had saved more than six hundred strings of cash. Now the head of the family had found a way out for him, and the salary he received was quite generous, so they parted ways in peace.
Jinniang was talking to Jiang Xian: "Now that you don't have to pay Mr. Song to pay your salary of thirty strings of cash, it's more than enough for our family."
The family's rice, grain, chicken, duck, fish, meat and even eggs were all obtained from the farm. Now, it is just the monthly wages for the servants and ice for the summer. The daily trivial expenses do not cost much money.
Jiang Xian saw that the weather had cooled down a bit, and his wife started embroidering again. He couldn't help but ask, "Is this also an embroidered Guanyin?"
"Yes, I went to the temple with my mother yesterday, and happened to see someone painting a picture of Guanyin, the Goddess of Childbirth, outside the temple. I spent ten coins to buy one, and then I felt itchy to try it out after I came back." Jinniang smiled. She wanted to wait until she finished embroidering the Guanyin, the Goddess of Childbirth, and then embroider hollyhocks on the Tianshuibi satin she bought from Donghuamen.
After listening to her, Jiang Xian lay down on the beauty couch not far away and breathed a sigh of relief: "My wife, I dare not show my head now that I am beside the emperor, but once I have the opportunity, I am afraid that my official position will be promoted faster."
Jinniang also felt sorry for her husband: "You'd better be careful. I'm worried about you."
"It's okay. I feel at peace now that I'm back home." Jiang Xian said.
Jinniang spoke a few words to him again, and seeing that he had fallen asleep, she just embroidered carefully. When her daughter came over, Jinniang instructed her on the needlework and said, "Your father is resting, let's talk quietly. After the Mid-Autumn Festival, our family will find a teacher for you to teach you how to play the Yueqin. I secretly think that we still have to study. If your father hires a teacher for your brother, and you also follow him to study behind the curtain, it will not be learning for fun."
How could a child want to study? Yun Jieer acted like a spoiled child, so Jin Niang could only persuade her: "Mother, like you, studied for three years, which is better than many people. You also only studied for three years. If you study for a few more years, although you may not be able to pass the imperial examination, it will definitely be useful in the future, and you won't be deceived."
She considered two paths for her daughter. One was to have her embroidery skills, which would allow her to make money in the future. The other was to study hard and build a family. If the husband fails in his studies, she can still teach her son to read.
In this world, those who have money but no power will always be bullied.
Therefore, this time she ignored her daughter's coquettish behavior.
Seeing Jinniang so serious, Yunjieer had no choice but to agree. Jinniang smiled and said, "I'll have someone put the food in Huaxie later. Let's eat in Huaxie, okay?"
Sister Yun clapped her hands quickly, then realized that Jiang Xian was sleeping, and stuck out her tongue.
"Tomorrow you will make a set of clothes for your grandmother and grandfather respectively. You can decide what pattern you want to embroider and what shape you want to make it." Jinniang assigned her the task.
Yunjie and Ningge were very happy that their parents lived in the house, because Luo Yu'e liked flowers and plants and had a low sense of humor. The children told jokes and Jinniang was forced to join in the fun, but her mother was very supportive, so the two children got along well with their grandparents.
Now that she was letting Yun Jie'er make clothes to show her filial piety, she nodded quickly: "Mom, don't worry."
The mother and daughter talked softly and continued to do their needlework. When Jiang Xian woke up, the whole family went to Huaxie's room to have dinner. The fragrance of flowers filled the air and the breeze brushed against their bodies, making the family of four feel really comfortable.
There were six dishes and a soup on the table, but they were all eaten up.
After dinner, Jinniang and Jiang Xian walked hand in hand among the flowers. The couple felt at ease. This was their own home, so they were not afraid of what others might say.
Then Jiang Xian asked, "Has Zhou Ersao come to visit?"
Jinniang shook her head: "No, but we can't keep silent about this matter. I only told Zhang Jiulang's wife. Just let her know, but didn't make it public."
"Since she didn't come to your house, she must be angry with you." Jiang Xian immediately pointed out the truth.
Jinniang said, "I don't know about that."
Anyway, they didn't interact much, so she didn't care much. Now Jinniang was moving up, she was related to the Wei family, and if her brother passed the imperial examination and became an official, the Wei family might not be worse off than her in the future.
In the second courtyard, Luo Yu'e also spoke to Yang Ge'er: "Your sister asked your brother-in-law to take you to the imperial examination. This is a treatment that your classmates may not have. Now someone in your family will take you there, so study hard."
"I understand." Yang Ge'er has always been good-tempered.
Luo Yu'e picked up a chicken wing and gave it to him: "If you work hard, your sister will be more confident, and your father and I will be able to stand up straight when we live here."
Yang Ge'er listened to his mother talking over and over again, and then she yelled, but he felt that he was unfilial, so he finished eating in silence.
Fortunately, Wei Xiong and Luo Yu'e coaxed him for a while and he was fine again.
The Mid-Autumn Festival soon arrived, and Jinniang was sending Aying to deliver festival gifts, first to the Wei family, the Fan family, and then to the Liu family who had once taught Jiang Xian. Now Liu Jixiang was not in the capital, but his son Liu Dalang was still there. Apart from these three families who gave the most gifts, there were also relatives such as the parents-in-law, brothers and sisters-in-law in the old house, the two uncles of the Liu family, and finally Jiang Xian’s classmates, friends and colleagues.
The Wei family, which was the first to receive, received six boxes of small cakes (moon cakes) of different flavors, as well as two jars of osmanthus wine, four lactose lions, four boxes of fruits, a sheep, a basket of hairy crabs, a piece of Zhang wool, a piece of green and blue Ruyi peony silk, a pot of green chrysanthemums, and a pot of white chrysanthemums.
For the rest, some had similar amounts, while others had reduced amounts as appropriate.
Soon Jinniang also received gifts in return. First, there was a piece of goose yellow water forest and poultry satin and a piece of Shu brocade with ten kinds of brocade from the Liu family. Then there were two jars of Qiongbo wine, two boxes of osmanthus-flavored cakes, twenty kilograms of white flour, a fresh pig, and six crystal geese. The Wei family also sent a piece of white peony smoke silk gauze, a piece of Xiangyun gauze, two boxes of snacks, two boxes of olives, a can of honey, a box of longans, two jars of Tie Xue Lou's Yao wine, a box of candied cherries, and a jar of rock sugar walnuts.
As gifts came in one after another, Jinniang asked Aying and Qingrong to make a list and keep them, and also told people to give out money as rewards.
Luo Da and Chen Xiaolang were also exhausted after a day's work. Fortunately, Jinniang also gave them some cakes and fruits as rewards, so that everyone could have a good holiday.
At night, Jiang Xian, Wei Xiong and Yang Ge'er drank tea and wine together, while Jinniang and Luo Yu'e took Yun Jie'er and Ning Ge'er to watch the moon and eat melons together.
"Mom, these are the olives sent by the Wei family. One box is candied, and the other box is for making tea. When soaked in tea, it has a sweet taste. I picked some out for you to try." Jinniang said.
Luo Yu'e was a little uncomfortable with the taste of olives, but she knew that eating them was a fashion nowadays, so she learned to slowly put them in her mouth and sip them, feeling a little intoxicated: "I never thought of such a good life."
Jinniang smiled and said, "Then we should cherish the hard-earned days now, help each other, and our lives will get better and better."
After the Mid-Autumn Festival, Yang Ge'er took the examination of the Imperial College. Luo Yu'e prepared an examination box, but was afraid that her preparation was not correct, so she called Jinniang over. Jinniang added a few more items and directly used the examination basket that Jiang Xian had used to pack the things.
Wei Xiong and Luo Yu'e personally sent Yang Ge'er to the examination room. After he came back, he was still distracted and came to sit with Jinniang again. Jinniang was counting the accounts at this time. Her family was different from other families. Most housewives only took care of the affairs in the inner courtyard, such as clothes for the four seasons and purchases for the kitchen. Jinniang was in charge of both the outside and the inside, so she had a lot of account books.
However, Jinniang also had a plan: "Mother, if Yang Ge'er passes the provincial exam this time, we can help him find a marriage first, what do you think? Otherwise, if he fails the provincial exam again, will he have to wait for a few more years?"
"Then don't we have to find a matchmaker?" Luo Yu'e said.
Jinniang knew that Luo Yu'e didn't have many connections, and even Jinniang herself didn't know many people, but she smiled and said, "Why are you worried? Once you pass the test, many people will come to propose marriage."
Luo Yu'e recalled that this was indeed the case when her son became enlightened a few years ago. She had also been tempted by the suggestion, but was afraid it was a trap, so she asked her daughter to come back and think about it. Now hearing my daughter say this, I feel a little relieved.
As for the Zhou family, Jiang Xian did not come to visit during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Madam Zhou was complaining, "People are so cold-hearted nowadays. Jiang Shiliu never came to visit me before, but now he doesn't even come after returning to Beijing. I wanted to ask him about our second daughter."
"Mom, what does this have to do with him?" Zhou Cunzhi said.
Madam Zhou wiped away her tears and said, "Your eldest sister died early, leaving behind a pair of children. It was not easy for your nephew to get married, but he has to look at his stepmother's face. Your second sister is missing. What sin have I committed?"
She had never done anything bad in her life, so why did her children have such a hard life? That Zhang was also an unfilial person. She pretended to obey her parents but secretly disobeyed them, causing her son to suffer as a result.
If Zhou Cunzhi had been impatient to listen to these things before, now he also thought about what the Zhou family was like when his father was at its peak. The second and third wives are just vassals.
Fortunately, he is now an official, so he comforted her: "Wang Sanlang is not a foolish man. He often writes to me. My eldest nephew is studying for his studies now, so how can he be so unbearable? As for my second sister, I am glad she is safe."
After returning to his room from Madam Zhou's place, he did not go to Zhang's place, but to Guo Xiaoniang's place. Guo Xiaoniang had fair skin, a gentle temperament, and was petite and delicate. When she saw Zhou Cunzhi coming in, she hurriedly said, "I just sent my brother to bed."
After that, she asked the maid to fetch water for Zhou Cunzhi to wash his hands, while she herself watched over the tea.
Zhou Cunzhi cleaned his hands and took the teacup again: "My brother is young, let him sleep more, only by sleeping more can he grow taller."
Now that he is the only official in the family, of course he has the final say. Moreover, it was he who helped his brother-in-law Zhang Jiulang get the imperial favor, so Zhang does not dare to compete with him. This Guo was the second wife he married while in office, and she was also the daughter of a good family.
"I just want him to sleep a little longer." In fact, Guo Xiaoniang was reluctant to go out. It was a cold Mid-Autumn night a few days ago and the child was only three years old. Zhang and Zhou Cunzhi wanted to take her son out to enjoy the moon. Fortunately, their son did not have a high fever.
The two chatted for a while, and then Zhou Cunzhi rested here. The two made a lot of noise all night, and Xiang Ming, who lived next door, heard it all clearly and felt sad.
She had been favored before, and then she gave birth to a daughter, who died. She didn't take good care of herself and gave birth to another daughter. When she came to her senses, the Second Master had a new love. She was just a maid, unlike that Guo Xiaoniang, who was originally the second wife of the prefect. The prefect was in his forties or fifties when he married her, a young and beautiful woman, so he naturally doted on her. However, the good life did not last more than two years, and the man died. She was driven out by her stepson, but she still got a lot of silver and money.
When she entered Zhou's house, she brought with her a large black lacquered and gold-painted bed, a pear blossom hollow bed, four boxes and four closets full of clothes that she couldn't fit her hands into, two gold crowns, three pairs of gold bracelets, several boxes of pearls and gems, and two maids to serve her. She was generous and knowledgeable, and Zhou Cunzhi treated her as his special roommate.
It seemed that he was ignoring her. The man didn't come, and she didn't have much money. She felt miserable and couldn't help crying.
Jinniang's room was very lively. Jiang Xian had a day off the next day and could not sleep. The two of them played backgammon until midnight, and then brought the gauze lantern to the bedside to read. Jinniang got up and went to the bathroom to eat, and did not go to bed until early in the morning.
She had her first meal at noon and started embroidering after the meal. Luo Yu'e came over from the front yard to talk to her again.
"My uncle hired a famous teacher for him before, and this time he took him to submit his manuscript. Yang Ge'er should thank his sister and brother-in-law the most."
Jinniang also listened to her repetitive talk. After she said it twice, Jinniang said, "If you want to thank him, it would be better than anything else if you buy him some fruit cakes and inkstones that he likes. This way, I can be a good person."
Now that my parents live in their own house, Jinniang takes care of all their food and lodging. They have a house in a stinky alley that earns three strings of coins and two cents a month, and the fifty acres of land will earn them at least thirty to fifty strings of coins a year in the future. In this way, she and her husband will have seventy to eighty strings of coins.
Jinniang herself doesn't care, but she reminds her mother to be nicer to Jiang Xian and not take other people's efforts for granted, so that everyone can live in harmony. For outsiders, if they help you, you should still show them the three festivals and four courtesies. Does that mean it should be the same for your family members?
The relationship between parents-in-law and son-in-law is the same as that between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law.
Luo Yu'e was sure of that. After Yang Ge'er passed the test, under Jinniang's instruction, Yang Ge'er personally picked out a pound of pine soot ink, a tile inkstone, and two pieces of bamboo leaf paper. Luo Yu'e gave him a plate of fried quail, two bunches of grapes, and two servings of trendy snacks.
"How can I accept it? My mother-in-law is like this, it really makes her feel distant from me." Jiang Xian quickly declined.
It was Jinniang who smiled and said, "Please accept it, sir. This is also a small gift from my parents and Yang Ge'er."
Only then did Jiang Xian accept it, and Jinniang asked Luo Da's son Hutou to wrap it in a felt and send it to his study. The family arranged a banquet and the whole family went to Huaxie to drink.
During the meal, Jiang Xian said to Yang Ge'er, "If you want to pass, don't go out from today on. I will give you questions and you can write ten essays a day. I will help you mark them."
If Jinniang and Luo Yu'e asked Yang Ge'er to write ten articles every day, Yang Ge'er would definitely not listen because he did not have enough energy. But Jiang Xian said that he agreed. Jiang Xian patted his shoulder and said, "We all went through this. Once you pass the exam, you won't have to do this anymore."
Let’s not talk about Yang Ge’er. Jiang Xian hired a teacher for his son Ning Ge’er. This man was originally a successful Jinshi, but because he displeased the ruling party, he was in opposition. Jinniang opened the money box again and prepared the tuition, which was sixty-six taels, two sets of clothes for a year, food and lodging, and she gave him the west side room to live in.
Ning Ge'er and Yun Jie'er usually took classes in the west wing of the second courtyard, and began to specialize in teaching classics, history, and literature.
Jinniang whispered to Luo Yu'e, "If my brother passes the exam, even if he doesn't become an official in the future, one year will be enough."
As the mother and daughter were talking, Jinniang received a note from the matchmaker, "Manager Zhao of the rice shop, his niece is getting married, and the dowry is 200 strings of cash. This is too little, not as much as I had at that time. I had a house and a dowry of more than 2,000 strings of cash, and Shiliulang had no official title at that time."
"This one seems to be from a family that holds official posts." Luo Yu'e pointed at the post and said.
Jinniang picked it up and looked at it, then asked someone to call a matchmaker in a purple jacket over to ask. Matchmakers who wear purple jackets are high-class matchmakers who go in and out of officials' homes. Yang Ge'er is now the brother-in-law of the attendant and a scholar, so he is different.
Soon a matchmaker named Cheng came over. She was called Mrs. Cheng. When Jinniang asked about it, she introduced her, "This is the daughter of Secretary Lang Gao. Miss Gao is also very beautiful. Her family is rich and has a lot of rice. The most valuable thing in her family is the dowry of a piece of red sandalwood furniture. The dowry is also three thousand strings of silver."
After asking the matchmaker, Luo Yu'e was somewhat moved. Jinniang smiled and said, "Don't be in a hurry. Let's ask someone about it. If the girl has a good temperament and good character, we can talk about it later."
After that, Jinniang invited Jiang Yan's wife Zeng to come over. Zeng was the one he remarried after his first wife passed away. She had come to play with Jiang Yan a few days ago and got along well with Jinniang. So Jinniang asked her to inquire openly and asked Chen Xiaolang to go to the nearby beggar leader to conduct a secret investigation.
While they were investigating, Jinniang and Luo Yu'e prepared the betrothal gifts. They had to prepare them no matter who they were marrying. First, it was the gold hairpin used for hairpin insertion. Jinniang chose one from her dressing table, put it in a long box and took it to Luo Yu'e. Luo Yu'e didn't dare to accept it: "I'm afraid that valuable things will be lost if I leave them here."
"What's this? I'll give it to you first so you don't forget it later." Jinniang handed it to her.
Another gift to be prepared is a wine bottle with eight large flowers on it, or raw silk and eight silver beads. Of course the Wei family did not have the conditions to use the silver seal, so they compromised and used eight pieces of colorful satin, which happened to be the ones that Jinniang had once given to Luo Yu'e.
Rich families would give their brides gold armlets, bracelets, and pendants, while ordinary families would prepare silver ones. Jinniang thought that the Wei family was not rich, so she prepared silver ones. As for the betrothal gifts, Jinniang had them ready-made, including a set of red silk with wide sleeves and a yellow silk with gilded skirt, a magnolia flower bionic crown given to her by Madam Dou, two gold curtain combs, a pair of pearl flowers, and a pair of gold ball hairpins.
Luo Yu'e and Wei Xiong and his wife also bought flower buns, gold-plated veils, flower fans for five boys and two girls, pollen, necklaces, and painted money fruits.
Besides, she and her husband had only one hundred strings of cash in their hands because they had bought a piece of land, and they also had three months' rent of only about ten strings of cash. They used one hundred strings of cash as a betrothal gift, and as for the wedding, they could wait until next year.
Also, because the provincial examination would be held in February of the following year, many students were going to Beijing to take the exam. Among them was Hao Erlang, the husband of the eldest lady of the Gu family in Wu County, and the son of the former magistrate of Changshu County. They were also going to Beijing to take the exam and had specially submitted a visiting card. Jiang Xian met him and found that he was also a young talent, so he wanted to let him stay in his house.
When Hao Erlang came to Beijing, he also brought generous gifts, including 16 rolls of Jiangnan silk, 20 cakes of tea, 6 jars of orange wine, and a pair of jade fairy peach cups. As for the extra gifts, Jinniang rejected them and said to him, "Although your family is rich, we have a long history. It's ok to accept the local products, but you can take care of the valuables after you pass the imperial examination."
Hao Erlang only said: "This is what Xiaoke's wife asked Xiaoke to bring. Madam, this..."
"I know that your wife is a considerate and considerate person, but if you are too polite in my house, I will not be able to keep you." Jinniang said with a smile.
So he was arranged to stay in the guest room, and was asked to write essays and poems with Yang Ge'er during the day, and he would explain them to them when he came back in the evening. Originally, Hao Erlang was also a student of the Imperial College. Later, his father passed away, and then Madam Gu passed away, so he was delayed due to mourning. As a child of an official, he was ten times better at communication and speaking than Wei Yang, but Wei Yang was more diligent, cautious and down-to-earth, especially in policy essays, which Hao Erlang did not dare to underestimate.
Hao Erlang stayed at the Jiang family for another half a month, and was provided with three meals a day, tea, rice, and drinks. Jiang Xian also took them to meet his brother Jiang Yan, who was also a Jinshi and had examined his papers before the Grand Secretaries Wei and Fan, so the trip was not in vain.
Jinniang got some news about Miss Gao. Chen Xiaolang said, "Miss Gao is the third child in the family. I haven't heard anything bad about her, but she doesn't have a good reputation either. Minzhi asked the old woman Wang who often sells Cuihua. She said that the girl can also read and write, but she is naive and innocent. She doesn't touch the grass at home."
"That's not so good." Jinniang shook her head. Yang Ge'er was a lazy bum, and his parents weren't particularly opinionated. If they welcomed another person like him, the Wei family would be in trouble.
Zeng came over and just said that the girl had a good dowry.
Jinniang wanted to see the next house, but saw Mrs. Peng Sanlang coming. Peng Sanlang is now a hanger-on in Zhang Jiulang's family. He had come to her house with Zhang Jiulang last time. The two exchanged pleasantries for a while before Mrs. Peng San explained her purpose: "Isn't there a girl in the Zhang family who is in her prime? Why would Sister Sixteen go to such a faraway place?"
"Are you talking about the young lady from the Zhang family?" Jinniang was a little surprised.
Zhang Jiulang came from a prominent family. He later entered the Imperial Academy to study, passed the examinations after several years, and now has been granted the lucrative position of Yuwenlang of the Water Department by imperial favor.
Madam Peng San said bluntly: "Sixteenth sister-in-law, I would say this couldn't be better. Miss Zhang not only has a dowry of five thousand strings of cash, but also a house in Yiqiumen, and six boxes and six cabinets of embroidered robes and brocade skirts that are so full that you can't even put your hands in them. Even if your brother passes the imperial examination in the future, he may not be able to find such a good marriage."
But Jinniang smiled and said, "It's not that I don't agree, but my parents are from a poor family, and I'm afraid I'm not worthy enough for you. I'm afraid the bride will suffer if she comes to my house in the future. Besides, our two families have such a good relationship. If it goes through, it's fine. If it doesn't, it will be hard to get along in the future."
Although she thought Zhang Jiulang was a good person and Miss Zhang had met him twice and had a good impression of him, she still had to talk about the gap between the two families.
Madam Peng San went back and told Madam Zhang, "The lady from the Jiang family said that her brother is a poor boy, with only a few small houses and a few acres of land, and she was afraid that you would find it unworthy."
However, Mrs. Zhang thought that the young man of the Wei family came from a family of scholars, and was a relative of the Hanlin University Scholar Wei. His brother-in-law was Jiang Xian, a double Jinshi from the same family. It was precisely because of the family's poverty that Mrs. Zhang was able to take advantage of the situation.
If someone else's family becomes a Jinshi, how could it be your turn?
Admittedly, Wei Yang's talent and learning were not outstanding, but he was firmly in the upper middle class of the Imperial College, and he had even been in the top ten in recent exams. Because Jinniang was not overjoyed, Mrs. Zhang looked at her with a higher opinion. She heard that her family was short of money after buying a new house, but even so, they handled the matter with caution.
The Zhang family replied that they were willing. Jinniang discussed it with Jiang Xian, and Jiang Xian thought this marriage was a great one.
Jinniang arranged a meeting for everyone on the pretext of worshiping Buddha. Yang Ge'er was wearing a royal blue robe and looked handsome. Miss Zhang was very pretty and polite. She was particularly humble when she saw Jin Niang and Luo Yu'e.
"What book are you reading now, young lady?" Jinniang asked.
Miss Zhang glanced at Jinniang and knew that she was the one who really made the decision. Otherwise, considering the friendship between her father and Uncle Jiang, it would be better to just make the decision. She replied carefully, "It's just reading some "The Analects of Women" and "The Book of Filial Piety for Women."
Jinniang nodded: "The Analects of Women says that when you are at home, you should treat your husband with respect like a guest. When your husband speaks, you should listen attentively. When your husband does something bad, you should advise him earnestly. Don't be like a foolish woman, who will bring disaster upon herself. Although I have read these, it is good for us women to understand the principles."
Miss Zhang's heart was moved, and she smiled sincerely: "You are right."
Madam Wei picked out this passage to tell her that she doesn't have to regard her husband as the most important thing and she shouldn't be afraid to point out her husband's problems.
They chatted for a while, and Jinniang asked the young people to walk in front. She said to Madam Zhang, "I'll tell you the truth. If my brother gets married, my mother and I both want them to live separately and cultivate their relationship. If you have nothing else to do, you can stay at my house for a while."
Mrs. Zhang scolded, "What are you talking about? Taking care of the parents-in-law is her job."
"It's my job, so I'll clean up the cross-courtyard and they can live there for a month. I think if Yang'er is lucky enough to win, they will have something to do on their own. If he fails, it's time for the adults to get married and start a family. Besides, it's inevitable that relatives will have restrictions when living together." Jinniang said.
Madam Zhang then told Jinniang that if that was the case, she could just live in the house they came with as a dowry. Jinniang didn't think there was anything wrong with it because Jiang Xian had been living in the house she came with as a dowry for many years.
Soon Luo Yu'e went over to put on the hairpin. She was wearing the hollow gold flower hairpin that Jinniang had prepared for her. Its shape was extremely beautiful. After inserting the hairpin, she quickly sent the post and chose a date.
Mrs. Zhang knew that Jinniang's parents were just common people and thought they were very poor. However, she saw that the gifts were not luxurious but decent. The bride's side brought back quite a lot of betrothal gifts, including silk scarves, gold and jade handkerchief rings, seven-treasure scarf rings, and some embroidery works.
After the betrothal gift was given, the betrothal gift came next. Because this marriage was a good one, Jinniang gave him an additional set of brocade clothes and her own silver crown. The Zhang family also sent back gold, jade, four treasures of the study, and colorful satin and silk. Luo Yu'e took the gold and jade and gave them to Jinniang. This time, her daughter spent a lot for her younger brother.
After the betrothal gifts were paid, the Wei family sent a hundred strings of cash as a dowry, and then they only had to wait until next spring to welcome the bride into the family.
After this matter was settled, Jinniang breathed a sigh of relief, but she still felt a little nauseous. She asked a doctor to come and take a look, and found out that she was pregnant.
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