Chapter 129 Chapter 129 Two Chapters in One
Jinniang was preparing Mid-Autumn Festival gifts with her daughter. She first took out the lists of previous years and other people's return gifts, and asked her daughter to refer to them before drawing up a list.
"Look, these are from last year and the year before last. The olives sent by the Wei family were very thoughtful, but olives are not cheap, so we have to be considerate. And these small cakes, our family's orange-scented rose shortbread and Xiaoyun's osmanthus cakes are both very good, but the food boxes for the small cakes have to be prepared in advance. The bamboo utensils from Daxiangguo Temple are both cheap and beautiful. You see, I have prepared them a long time ago." Jinniang was talking to her.
In addition, there are fruits, silk, wine, frosting and so on.
There are many things to consider when making a gift list. Sister Yun drafted it twice before finally finishing it. After giving it to Qingrong, Qingrong sent it to various places and asked them to prepare it.
"You can't be a hands-off boss. You have to ask from time to time. Otherwise, if the superiors don't give orders, the subordinates will easily slack off." Jinniang said.
Yun Jieer nodded and asked Jin Niang, "Mother, did you really sell the embroidered portrait for two hundred strings of cash?"
"Yes, that's why I asked you to learn needlework. You are better than mother. If you specialize in painting, you will definitely be better at embroidery than mother. Mother learned this skill from stealing from many masters. In the future, when you are in trouble, with this skill, it will be easy for you to make a comeback." Jinniang warned.
In addition to studying, Sister Yun also has to do needlework and housekeeping, so she rarely has free time. After listening to Jinniang's words, I took the gift list back to look at it first, and did some needlework when I had time.
Next year her younger brother will take the provincial examination. She has already mastered the art of writing poetry, prose and essays, so she doesn't need to learn it anymore. As soon as she left, Mrs. Wei came to visit. Jinniang hurried to the second door to greet her. She looked her up and down and saw that she was thinner, but in good spirits. So she asked about Mrs. Wei's father's illness. As they talked, they went into the flower hall.
Madam Wei held Jinniang's hand and said, "My child has been bothering me for a long time. I feel very uneasy."
"Qilang is very sensible. You may not know this, but his uncle took him and Ning'er to visit a famous scholar. Fortunately, the two cousins were lucky enough to meet the famous scholar and he was inspired to write poetry about both of them." Jinniang said with a smile.
Mrs. Wei originally heard from the old women that Jiang Xian took the children out for a night out, and that her skin was itchy and she couldn't sleep, so her aunt ordered her son to be a servant. She never expected that he was going to visit a famous scholar.
She didn't believe the gossips of the maids at first, but there is no smoke without fire, so she was a little suspicious. Now, after hearing what Jinniang said, she smiled happily: "Madam, thank his uncle for me. This naughty child has caused you so much trouble."
"It's not a trouble. He's very good. I was wondering if he would be spoiled as the youngest son at home, but he acts like an older brother in my family. One day he even took the initiative to say that he and his uncle would help Ding Ge'er take a bath. I said there are so many people at home, why would you be needed? But he did it very well. I said I couldn't let you work for nothing, so I invited him to Panlou Huixianlou as a reward." Jinniang said it as a joke.
When Mrs. Wei heard what happened, she felt very guilty. She knew Jinniang's character very well, but she loved her son so much that she was almost fooled. She also said many words of gratitude.
Jinniang said, "I thought Qilang could stay at my house until the Mid-Autumn Festival, so I made him a set of clothes myself, ready for the Mid-Autumn Festival. Now that my sister-in-law is back, I'll take it out and give it to you."
After a while, Qingrong brought out a set of clothes on a tray. Mrs. Wei saw that it was a goose yellow satin undershirt with a pattern of auspicious grass and cranes, and a light purple gauze gown on the outside. The collar of the gown was a double-layer gauze with hydrangea pattern on a slightly darker purple background, and it was paired with a sky blue skirt. It was very delicately made, and it was obvious that a lot of effort had been put into it.
Madam Wei said, "You, as his aunt, are so kind to him. If he doesn't respect you in the future, I won't allow it."
"Why are you saying this? It's a good thing that you're here today. It's better to come today than to wait for another day. Just consider it as my welcome to you. Qilang will be back soon." Jinniang said with a smile.
The two talked a lot about family matters. When Wei Qilang came back, he saw Mrs. Wei and hurried forward to greet her.
Mrs. Wei saw that her son seemed to have grown taller and more energetic in the past two months. After talking to him for a while, he took the initiative to go to the front yard to do his homework. She was very pleased.
"Hurry up and write. When you're done we'll host a welcoming party for your mother." Jinniang reminded them.
Wei Qilang responded, and Jinniang asked the waiter to bring them tea.
Mrs. Wei had lunch at Jiang's house. She noticed that her son and Jinniang were talking very casually, and said, "Aunt, please tell my uncle to take me and Ning Ge'er to go fishing in Taohua Creek. My uncle won't respond unless you tell him to."
"You two are being too wild to go out for a night stroll. You should finish your studies first. If you make progress, I will tell your uncle. But you have to get your mother's consent," said Jinniang.
Wei Qilang pestered Madam Wei for a few more words, and Madam Wei pointed at him and scolded him with a smile: "You need to make progress in your studies."
After the meal, Mrs. Wei saw that Yun Jie'er had become much more capable. She heard that she had been the housekeeper recently, and she said, "Eldest Jie'er seems to be more outstanding."
Jinniang didn't know why Mrs. Wei said this, and just thought it was a routine compliment. She also knew that Wei Qilang was going back today, so she gave the clothes to him to try on.
The Wei family servants had already packed their luggage, and Ning Ge'er was crying: "Seventh cousin, we had an appointment to go to Taohua Creek to play."
Wei Qilang couldn't help shedding tears, because Jinniang was reluctant to leave, but she was an adult, and she couldn't let other people's children live in her home, so she smiled and said, "Ning'er, just go and play with your seventh cousin in the future."
After that, he said to Madam Wei, "The children are all loyal and righteous."
Mrs. Wei was also very pleased. Seeing that it was getting late, Jinniang said, "The children should also go to bed early. They still have to study tomorrow. I won't stay any longer. Qilang can just come over and play next time. I'll keep the cross courtyard for you."
"Aunt..." Wei Qilang was really reluctant to leave.
Jiang Xian, who had been listening to the noise in the study, was speechless. He used to go to his aunt's house often, so why wasn't she so reluctant to leave? This group of people was too exaggerated. They even started crying.
Jiang Xian came out only after the Wei family left.
"What are you doing hiding here?" Jinniang looked at him suspiciously.
Jiang Xian cried out in injustice: "What do you mean I'm hiding? I can't interrupt you women when they're talking."
Jinniang breathed a sigh of relief: "Now that the Wei family has left, I feel relieved. Let's go back and have a rest."
There are more than twenty people whose food, clothing and other necessities are all provided by the Jiang family, and Wei Qilang's daily life and diet also have to be taken care of, which is very tiring. Now that the person is safely in the hands of his mother, I can finally rest assured.
At the same time, Mrs. Wei waited for her son to come back, and the family of three talked together.
Wei Qilang said, "I usually study at You's house during the day. After I come back, I do my homework first. After finishing my homework, I eat and take a walk. My uncle will help us check our homework. If there are some things we are not good at, he will give us questions to do again. During the break, we will go out to the restaurant to eat and watch sumo. By the way, my aunt asked my uncle to teach me and Ning Ge'er how to mount books. She said that if we fail in our studies in the future, we can open a mounting shop to make money. You don't know that my aunt sold one embroidery for two hundred strings of cash. Inspired by my aunt, Yun Jie'er spends all day doing needlework."
Wei Daxueshi said with a smile: "I didn't expect to learn so much from visiting the Jiang family."
"Yes, I originally planned to teach Ning'er and me how to swim in August. My aunt said that when my uncle was catching thieves outside, he was able to catch the fugitive and made great contributions because of his good swimming skills. Even if Ning'er and I don't become people-friendly officials in the future, we can still escape by being good at swimming." Wei Qilang yawned as he spoke.
Mrs. Wei quickly asked him to go down and rest, leaving the couple alone to talk.
Wei Daxueshi said, "In the past few months, our Qilang has made great progress in his studies and has grown taller. This is why I feel relieved to have him stay in the Jiang family."
"I never thought the Jiang family had such a good family tradition." Mrs. Wei thought so.
After the couple finished talking about Wei Qillang, they seemed to have made a decision, but they had other things to talk about, so they reached a tacit understanding first.
However, this year, the Wei family gave very generous gifts, probably because Wei Qilang had lived in their house for a few months. Jinniang picked out a few good ones and left them in a box, and talked to Jiang Xian about the plans for this year's Mid-Autumn Festival.
"In that case, let's pick up the master and mistress from the old house." Jinniang said.
Jiang Xian agreed, it was just Mid-Autumn Festival anyway, it was no big deal. Jinniang asked him to go and pick her up in person, and Master Jiang Liu naturally agreed. The eldest son went to Yingtian Prefecture, and the second son was adopted. It was better for him to follow his son than his grandson.
In fact, Xu didn't like her father-in-law and stepmother-in-law at first, but when she heard that they were going to Jinliang Bridge to celebrate the festival, she said, "Why don't we ask Shiliu Lang and his sister-in-law to come to our Nanxunfang? My daughter-in-law and I have prepared some small cakes and fruits."
"You are all well. We just don't want to be with you all the time. Let's go over there and take a look." Master Jiang Liu said with a smile.
Xu had no choice but to grit her teeth and agree.
But the two elders came over, and Master Jiang Liu donated several boxes of books to the library here. Jiang Xian asked Ning Ge'er to accompany his grandfather, while Jinniang asked Zheng to sit down and asked someone to serve tea. They talked together.
Zheng saw that there were incense burners and bottles on the table, maids were serving clear premium tea from a red lacquered tray, various bonsai flowers were placed on the table near the window, and the bronze tripod was emitting a sweet fragrance. She thought that Jiang Xian's family was indeed very wealthy, and their financial situation was much better than that of the eldest branch of the family.
As he spoke, he remembered what Xu had once said, that if he could marry her niece's granddaughter to him, he would enjoy a good life.
But she only talked about Yunjie'er's marriage, and then she heard Jinniang say: "I have seen several and none of them are satisfactory. Although our family is not a wealthy family now, we must find someone of similar talent."
After hearing this, Zheng shut up. She was not the kind of person who was so clueless.
Thanks to Zheng's tact and Mr. Jiang Liu's joy, the Jiang family had a very good Mid-Autumn Festival reunion.
But on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival reunion, bad news came from the Feng family. Feng Sheng, who should have been home by now, was poisoned by a viper and almost suffocated to death. He was finally rescued, but he lost half his life.
When the shopkeeper who had gone with them came back to report the news, Lou Si Niang immediately asked her eldest son, Ling'er, to go over, but Ling'er declined, saying, "Madam, you know that my clinic cannot be left without someone for even a day."
Lou Si Niang looked at Guan Ge'er again, and Guan Ge'er stammered, "We can't miss classes in our county school now."
"Since both husbands are not going, can I, the woman, go?" Lou Si Niang did not expect her two step-sons to be so indifferent.
Lin Ge'er and Guan Ge'er both lowered their heads and remained silent. Lou Si Niang had no choice but to close the shop first and entrust her son Yun Ge'er to her sister-in-law. Although she was afraid, she took the servants with her.
Seeing her like this, Lin Ge'er and Guan Ge'er felt uneasy for a moment, but they consoled themselves: "My family originally had a noble relative like my second aunt, but because Dad married her, our career path was blocked. If we had the support of my second uncle, how could it be so difficult for you and me to pass the imperial examination?"
Guan Ge'er was a bit cowardly and only said, "Dad is really something. After marrying this man, he doesn't allow us to have any contact with Second Aunt. He must be afraid that she will be angry."
"Who said it wasn't true? Dad married him in a hurry before mom's body was even found. I had suspected something was wrong a long time ago." Feng Lin said coldly.
It’s a pity that the two of them had no way to investigate, and they couldn’t contact their second aunt’s family without their father’s knowledge, so they could only sigh.
Xu was also sighing, and her confidant, Madam Ge, said, "Madam, the night is as cold as water, let's go back and rest first."
"You see, after the master left, those who used to come to our house disappeared one by one. If there were any good ones, they would send some holiday gifts, which was already very good." Xu lamented the decline of morals in the world. Even her own parents-in-law were extremely snobbish. They did not celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival with the eldest son's descendants, but went to spend it with the youngest son.
Mother Ge curled her lips and said, "Other people are fine, but Third Aunt usually comes to our house to ask for help, but now she doesn't come."
Among all the relatives, Mother Ge dislikes Aunt Xu San the most. She is not a good person. She is the fastest to run away when there is something good to offer, but when others are down and out, she will still pretend to comfort them and go to their home to get some more benefits.
Mrs. Xu knew this too. "Forget it. In a few days, invite the fifth brother's wife to come over to talk. Kang'er could have married the daughter of the prime minister, but unfortunately, he was implicated by the incident with Prime Minister Jixian, so it's hard to say that he can get married now."
"Our Fifth Master and Young Master Kang are both very knowledgeable. It is not impossible for them to make great progress in a year or two. Everything will be fine by then." Mother Ge said with a smile.
Xu said, "Yes, I thought so too. By the way, how is Sister Zheng doing?"
Because of the birth of this little girl, Xu felt much younger than before, but the family expenses also increased a lot. Look at Sister Yun, she is wearing the best clothes and jewelry, and I heard that she even has a dowry worth several thousand strings of cash.
She was once looked down upon by her mother-in-law because her dowry was too small, and even the women from the merchant class could step on her head. If you want to prepare a dowry for your daughter now, you have to prepare it before she turns thirteen. After all, girls usually get engaged in their teens, and the engagement process takes a year, and the dowry list has to be handed over to the husband's family.
Fortunately, there are still many years before her daughter gets married, so she still has time.
While Xu was talking about the dowry, Jinniang's carpenter happened to have made a huanghuali bed and bought a rosewood bed inlaid with marble. In addition, there was a set of huanghuali furniture, including a crescent table, a piano table, an eight-immortal table, a rocking chair, a painting table, a cabinet with bright grids, a large four-door cabinet, and a sideboard.
"We need to make eight boxes out of camphor wood." Jinniang said to Chen Xiaolang.
Chen Xiaolang took the order and went out.
Her daughter's dowry included fields, shops, a house behind the shop, a gold crown, six sets of head ornaments, furniture, and cash. She would not use all her money to buy her daughter's dowry. To put it bluntly, if you have the ability to make money from money, these dowries would be enough. But if you don’t have the ability to make money, if you give too much, you may be cheated in the future.
One should not spend all the money in hand, this is her principle.
Next year will be Jiang Xian’s third year in Beijing. I wonder if he will be promoted. If he is promoted, my daughter will have more choices.
Just as I was thinking about Wei Qilang coming over, Jinniang said, "Your uncle is going to Taohua Creek tomorrow, why is he here today? Doesn't the You family have classes?"
Wei Qilang smiled and said, "Aunt, I wanted to come earlier. It's just right for me to stay overnight and go over earlier tomorrow."
"Since you are here, why don't you bring servants with you? Have you told your parents?" Jinniang asked with a smile.
Wei Qilang nodded: "Don't worry, my parents agreed, so I came here."
He finished speaking, and then added: "My foster-maids are all out, and I have let a few maids go out of the room. Aunt, I am now learning from you that I must make my own decisions."
"Have they all been sent out?" Jinniang was a little surprised.
Wei Qilang said: "I have grown up, and this is what I should do. I am not a baby anymore."
Jinniang doesn't judge these things. Who would like to suffer? Wei Qillang's academic performance has improved significantly. He is a talented person, and most importantly, he and I have similar personalities. We are almost like real aunt and nephew. When he came to his own house, he immediately cut down the number of people, so he was not too squeamish.
Wei Qilang had settled in now, and he and Ning Ge'er followed Jiang Xian out early in the morning.
It was also said that Madam Wei came over right after Jiang Xian and others left.
If they were to tell the Wei family that they had released the older maids in Wei Qilang's mansion, and also released several foster nurses, those people would naturally be dissatisfied. They didn't care that Wei Qillang was almost fourteen years old. He was already a teenager and should have come out. They just wanted to get more monthly money by staying with Wei Qillang.
Last time, they complained to Madam Wei. Madam Wei felt that although they cared about Wei Qilang, it was purely out of selfishness and they were not truly doing it for Wei Qilang's benefit.
Otherwise, if you really listen to these people, how can you get along with the Jiang family?
Besides, my son is indeed getting better. He no longer procrastinates on his homework and his performance has improved significantly. He has even become more lively.
Her family thought it through and acted immediately, so after coming here, they spoke directly to Jinniang without beating around the bush.
Jinniang was still surprised: "Sister-in-law, are you talking about Sister Yun?"
She had never expected that because Wei Qilang had a prominent family background, amazing wealth, and good looks, she herself had previously thought that Wei Qilang was too spoiled and that he did not choose her daughter as his first choice.
Madam Wei said, "In fact, I had already taken a fancy to Sister Yun, otherwise I would not have rejected the marriage proposal with the Shen family. You must not tell anyone about this. But later you found out that my parents' family had some problems, and there were many things going on at home. I came to your house only now. You won't blame me, right?"
"How could that be?" To be fair, Jinniang's last worry was gone.
She has been with Wei Qilang for several months. Although they are not treated as son-in-law, he is a man with high emotional intelligence who can get along with Jiang Xian a little, not to mention his appearance and talent.
However, Jinniang said: "Sister-in-law, it's not something else. Qi Da is not an equal. Qi Lang is just too good. That's why I have this concern."
In her heart, her daughter is the best in her eyes, but she has to speak out the ugly truth first.
Everyone needs to face up to the differences in the family and be open and honest with each other, otherwise, the woman will be forced to bow down to him in the future.
When Mrs. Wei saw Jinniang like this, she admired her even more. If it were another family, they would have taken the initiative long ago, but Wu Shi would have wanted to marry into the family. Unexpectedly, Jinniang was so cautious. She said, "I watched Yunjie grow up. Your husband is still a fifth-rank official at such a young age. Apart from other things, your family tradition is great. Qilang likes you very much."
"Thank you for your consideration, sister-in-law. I will discuss it with Yunjie'er's father and then get back to your family." Jinniang also knew what it meant to be moderate and not to overdo it.
Mrs. Wei was relieved to see that Jinniang had no objection.
He also said that Jinniang told Jiang Xian about this matter after he came back: "I never expected the Wei family to come to propose marriage."
Jiang Xian looked at his wife: "What do you think?"
"Originally, I had taken a fancy to Wei Qilang when I was in Daming Prefecture, but the gap between the two families was so big that I didn't think much about it. I didn't expect my sister-in-law to tell me today that she had turned down all the marriage offers from the Shen family for Yunjie. To be honest, I am a little tempted." Jinniang expressed her thoughts honestly.
Find a wealthy and talented man for your daughter. Besides, the two families are familiar with each other, and Yun Jie'er is also familiar with the Wei family. Most importantly, Wei Qilang sent away the foster mother and the grown-up maid, and is very close to Jiang Xian.
To say something very realistic, even if Wei Qilang failed the imperial examination, it would be easy for him to pass the examination for official positions. Wei Daxueshi is in a high position and has great power, and he may be able to make further progress in the future. Even if Wei Qilang was appointed as an official through imperial favor, he would be an official of the sixth rank.
Not to mention the division of the family in the future, the daughter of the Wei family will get 100,000 strings of cash when she gets married, and the son will probably get even more if the family is divided.
At least the daughter won't have to worry about her husband's future or the family's money. Even if both of them are good-looking and healthy, it will be good for their offspring.
She couldn't choose a son-in-law completely in the way of choosing a son-in-law in modern society, with standards such as both parents being orphaned and having a car and a house. People in ancient times generally did not live long, and if their parents died too young, they would not dare to choose.
Seeing Jinniang made up her mind in a moment, Jiang Xian secretly admired her, "Madam, since you agree, I agree too. In fact, when Qilang came to live with us last time, Wei Daxueshi seemed to hint at me, but he didn't say it clearly, so I didn't dare to say it."
"It's better to arrange such a high-ranking marriage first, so that no one will set their sights on our daughter. As for whether they can get along well in the future, if anything happens to the Wei family, we still have the two of us and can support them." Jinniang said.
Jiang Xian smiled and said, "My lady is really courageous."
Jinniang said, "I've said before that we have no one to back us up, but we can back our daughter. Even if the Wei family is not as prominent as it is now, can't we support our daughter and son-in-law? In this way, I won't worry anymore."
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