Chapter 130 Chapter 130 Two Chapters in One
Engagement is a matter that can be done quickly or slowly. For both the Wei and Jiang families, since they are not small families, they have to act with caution.
Mrs. Wei first sent a matchmaker to the Jiang family, and the Jiang family had to send back a draft note, which not only had to state the candidate's ranking in the family and date of birth, but also the names, official positions, and property of three generations of ancestors, as well as the land, house, and dowry.
Jinniang had already been helping her daughter prepare her dowry, and now she was discussing with Jiang Xian about buying more.
"We should at least keep our daughter until she is seventeen before she gets married. In these four years or so, we can help her buy another two thousand strings of cash." Jinniang said.
Jiang Xian also agreed. A daughter's dowry would also be decent for the family, and they only had one daughter. If not her, who else should I give it to? There is no need to compare yourself with those extremely wealthy people, but you can't be too bad either.
Just when Jinniang and the others finished writing the invitation and sent it over, it was already September, and the Wei family took the woman's birth date and horoscope for divination.
After the eight characters were matched, both sides went through the detailed notes. Previously, what was written on the rough note was just an approximation, for example, 300 acres of land, but the detailed note would have to say 300 acres of land in Wangjiazhuang, Luoyang. Just like if the rough note said a house, the detailed note would have to say a house in Tianshui Lane with a total of 18 rooms, and a shop in Tianshui Lane with a width of three large rooms. There were eight sets of jewelry, a total of ninety-six items, a set of huanghuali wood furniture, and detailed descriptions of two beds, screens, tea sets, camphor wood boxes, twelve boxes of makeup powder...
After the two families exchanged details, they knew each other well and no longer needed to visit each other.
The Wei family chose the eighteenth day of the twelfth lunar month at the end of the year to hold the engagement ceremony. Jinniang and her family also had to prepare return gifts. A total of twelve rolls of purple silk and satin were required, as well as women's needlework such as pearl and jade razors, black silk scarves, gold and jade handkerchief rings, seven-treasure handkerchief rings, handkerchiefs, shoes and socks, as well as half of the original gift of tea cakes, fruits, sheep, and wine. In addition, a pair of fish chopsticks had to be sent back.
Those needlework things had to be done by Yun Jie'er herself. Jin Niang called her daughter over. Yun Jie'er had obviously heard about it and felt a little awkward.
"At the beginning of next year, our sister Yun will be a big girl." Jinniang said with a smile.
Sister Yun was a little embarrassed and asked, "Mom, is it really my seventh cousin?"
"Well, your uncle Wei's mother-in-law came to ask to marry you. We just arrange the marriage first, and then you can get married when you are seventeen. In this way, you can stay at home and do what you want to do." Jinniang looked at her daughter.
Sister Yun was a little worried: "My daughter has never thought about such a thing."
"You are still studying now, and these are things that we adults have to do. Mother will only tell you the pros and cons. Our family is related to the Wei family, so we are relatives. You know everyone in the Wei family, so it is much better than going to a strange family. Besides, your cousin Wei Qi is good-looking and has good literary talent. He has his own opinions and is not the kind of person who can be swayed by a few words from others. Finally, the Wei family has a prominent family background. Even if your cousin Wei Qi does not take the imperial examination, he can still get an official position, and you two will not have to worry about money." Jinniang talked about the practical things first.
Yun Jie'er has been helping Jin Niang take care of the household these days. She knows very well the importance of money. How to organize finances, how to give gifts, and interpersonal relationships are all based on money.
She felt that her mother's words made some sense, but the word "marry" was too unfamiliar and too unknown for a little girl. She just wants to be at home with her parents and brothers.
"Mom, you and Dad must be doing this for the good of our daughter." said Sister Yun.
Jinniang smiled and said, "Of course. In fact, your father and I considered Cheng's second son, but you also know that Madam Cheng favors the eldest son over the youngest son, so we didn't propose marriage. It is very difficult to live under a biased mother-in-law. Your grandmother had a very hard life because of her biased mother-in-law."
She does not ask for any special treatment from her daughter's in-laws in the future, it would be good enough if they could treat everyone equally.
This is a topic that Yun Jie'er rarely touches on. She will always remember that evening when her mother said many things to her, many things she had never known before.
Of course, the Wei family knew the news that Wei Qillang was going to get engaged. Even the Shen family knew it. They were all a little surprised, but they felt it was reasonable.
After all, a daughter of a family is sought after by hundreds of families. Although the Jiang family is not as prominent as the Shen family and the Fan family, the Jiang family has two Jinshi (imperial examination candidates) in the family, so they live a fairly comfortable life. The two are also cousins, so everyone is happy to see the relationship between the two families become closer.
Wei's sixth grandmother, Wang, returned home and mentioned this matter to her mother, Madam Wu. Madam Wu thought that everyone looked down on Madam Wei in the past, but now he married the daughter of the Jiang family.
"Although there is not much difference between legitimate and illegitimate children, the son-in-law is not Madam Wei's biological son after all. You should still persuade the son-in-law to study hard."
Wang sighed, "Mother, I don't need to worry about what you said."
When she was getting married into the Wei family, she didn't care much about the legitimate or illegitimate child. Only Wei Liulang was about the same age as her daughter. At that time, she felt that the Wei family had extremely high requirements, and it was good enough to be able to marry into the family.
But I didn't expect that the requirements would be lowered at the Jiang family.
Madam Wu stroked her belly and said, "Your sister-in-law Fan is too emotional. She can't stand it if a man takes a concubine. This gives others an opportunity to take advantage of her. My son, don't be as stupid as her. We women must follow the Three Obediences and Four Virtues. This doesn't mean that we don't have temper, but you should use these to make yourself invincible."
Wang nodded secretly. Her father respected her mother very much. Even though she had illegitimate brothers, as long as her mother was pregnant, her father would only recognize the younger brother in the belly. This was respect for his legitimate wife. Ever since she was old enough to understand, she had never seen a woman as perfect as her mother, who was virtuous, simple, self-reliant, dignified and generous.
I would rather sacrifice myself than protect others.
It is precisely because she is such a "perfect person" that she can be respected by her father. It may be difficult for her to have this kind of experience in her life.
"I wonder how much the Jiang family's daughter's dowry is?" asked Madam Wu.
Wang thought for a moment and said, "When the note was handed over before, it was said that there was a dowry of ten thousand taels."
Madam Wu raised her eyebrows: "If that's the case, then it's more than you."
Wang's dowry totaled 6,000 strings of cash, which was already a lot. Wang also had half sisters and half brothers, so her mother certainly couldn't favor one over the other. Her dowry consisted of 800 acres of land in Xiangzhou Prefecture, 3,000 strings of cash, clothes, jewelry, etc., which was already a lot.
I just didn't expect that Jiang would have so much more, a dowry of 10,000 strings of cash.
Wang lowered her head and said, "My daughter has heard that Madam Jiang is quite good at business, so it's not surprising that she has all these."
“Well, having said that, you still have to study hard, so that no matter you become an official or pass the imperial examination, your life will be better. Unlike your cousin, who married into the Jiang family’s eldest wife, her father-in-law resigned and her mother-in-law is stingy, so she has to buy bird’s nests with her own money.” Madam Wu felt distressed when she mentioned her niece.
Wang thought that her cousin had a similar temperament to her mother, but her cousin was not very lucky. As soon as she got married, her husband's family fell into decline. Her mother was different. When she got married, her grandfather was just a Tongpan and her father was just an ordinary scholar, far inferior to the Wu family. But later, the Wang family climbed up step by step and was able to support the Wu family.
The fate of life is really unpredictable. For example, her grandfather was the prefect of Daming Prefecture, and Jiang Liqing (Yun Jie'er)'s father was just a magistrate. She married a concubine's son, while others married a legitimate son.
Jinniang was doing needlework with her daughter. She had finished embroidering the purple-robed Guanyin and was now embroidering the fertility-giving Guanyin. In between embroidering the Goddess of Childbirth, she also made a gold satin tasseled robe for her daughter, so that Minzhi didn't have to do anything else and could only help Yunjie with needlework.
Even Aying and Qingrong gathered together to sew soles and paste uppers, and they were very busy.
But everyone was very happy. The Jiang family was now married to the Wei family. They had seen the Wei family's pomp and circumstance, and a mansion like this was extraordinary. Xi Qiu was even happier. She listened to her wife and served her sister well. In the future, she would be able to go to the Wei family with her husband. Her future was bright.
It happened that Fan Si came back to pay the rent in Luoyang, a total of 270 strings of coins. He used 20 strings to buy cattle and farm tools, and took the rest of the money back. Even so, Fan Si still had some extra money, because in addition to food, the farm also had poultry, livestock and trees. His wife told him to deal with them on the spot and use them as travel expenses.
He had some extra money, so he bought some silk flower makeup powder and a fashionable handkerchief from Luoyang for Xi Qiu.
Xi Qiu went to the kitchen to prepare tea and food for him, and then said with a smile: "Our sister has proposed to the young man of the Wei family. This is a great thing. The two of us must go with her. The lady has already told me that we should help her take care of the farm and land outside."
"Is this true?" Fan Si was also happy. He didn't expect that his sister's marriage would be settled so quickly.
"That's right. The young master of the Wei family has lived in our house for more than two months. He is very popular with our master's wife. Madam Wei came to ask for his hand in marriage in person. I wonder how happy she was." Xi Qiu knew that her daughter was outstanding. He added, "Now that the daughter has a good place to go, I'm afraid many people want to snatch her away. You and I must not take it lightly."
Fan Si said solemnly: "Don't worry."
Of course, news of Yun Jie'er's marriage also spread to the old house. After all, this was a family event, and the entire Jiang family was proud of it. Only Xu was somewhat incredulous: "Wei family? Hebei Wei family? The residence of the current Wei Grand Secretary?"
"That's right, Madam Xu, our wife also said that Qi Dafei and I didn't agree, but Madam Wei just liked our girl and said that our wife taught her well." Aying was not going to be polite. The poor guy that Xu had introduced before dared to covet her own girl.
This is not a marriage at all, it is clearly treating their own daughter as a blood bag and pushing her into a fire pit.
The man the girl is talking about now is the son of the deputy prime minister. He is both talented and handsome, and he can finally be proud of himself.
Mrs. Xu smiled and said, "As the saying goes, marrying a woman who is above you means swallowing needles, marrying a woman who is middle-aged means swallowing air, and marrying a woman who is below you means swallowing gold. Originally, it was inappropriate for me to say this, but as an aunt, I have met many people and I just felt something at the time."
"You are right. It is better to marry a lower class man. If marrying a lower class man is really like this, then in the future I wish Miss Zheng to marry a lower class man and eat gold every day." Ah Ying was harsh in her words, but also smart. After she finished speaking, she quickly said that she had something to do and ran away.
Xu was so angry that she wanted to arrest someone, but Ge's mother persuaded her: "Madam, you can't let outsiders see the joke."
Xu slumped in the chair: "I am a joke now. Even the maid from the third room dares to bully me. Wait until my husband comes back and see how I deal with her."
Jinniang was also talking about Aying: "It's good that you're helping Yunjie to vent her anger, but she is the master after all. If she gets angry and wants to arrest someone, you will suffer. Don't be greedy for words in the future."
"I just can't stand her behavior. Our sister's marriage is a good thing, but she has such a long donkey face and says such things." Ah Ying didn't like Xu from the beginning. She was hypocritical, mean, narrow-minded and selfish.
If it was just a disagreement between the sisters-in-law, then what had Yun Jie'er, a little girl, done to offend her to make her speak like that?
Jinniang smiled and said, "I can understand your anger, but as the saying goes, don't beat a drowning dog. The better we live, the more uncomfortable she will be. There is no need to provoke her."
"Madam, you said that since Master Dalang has gone to Yingtian Prefecture, does he have a chance to be reinstated in the future?" Aying asked.
Jinniang nodded: "Perhaps, but when he comes back, even if he becomes a high-ranking official and rises to the top, what will Xu gain?"
Even Jinniang is thirty-four this year. In a few years, she will be forty. Xu is a few years older than her. According to the life expectancy of people in the Song Dynasty, half of a person's life has passed, which is not very interesting.
Of course, the best outcome would be that Jiang Yan could come back in a few years. If we have to wait for ten years, then the Xu family would have to endure it for ten years.
Suddenly, she could understand Jiang Xian. He might not be a great official who served the country and the people, but being able to provide shelter for the family was enough.
Because the Jiang family has actually experienced ups and downs. Although they are still in this circle, they have to please others when their family is in decline, and their mood can be seen from this. No one is born with the ability to speak or guess what other people are thinking. At his age, Wei Qilang is much worse at reading people's expressions than Jiang Xian, simply because they grew up in different environments.
Thinking of this, Jinniang asked the kitchen to add two dishes that Jiang Xian liked.
When Jiang Xian came back from the government office, he was shocked to see Jinniang holding the lamp for him. "My sister, what are you doing?"
"Since I've served you once, you should just enjoy it." Jinniang just smiled.
Jiang Xian held her hand and said, "You have to worry about your daughter's dowry now, how can I trouble you?"
He knew that his wife had to help their daughter prepare her dowry and manage the household business, but she was very tired.
Jinniang held his hand and told him about what Xu said about swallowing needles when marrying. Jiang Xian sneered, "Those who say they are indifferent to fame and fortune, do they really not want to be high-ranking officials? Do poor people not want to be rich? Obviously they don't have the ability. I saw that her family was very happy to marry the Wu family at that time, so why are they shouting about this now?"
"Who said it wasn't? However, I think we still have to keep a low profile. It's not because of this person, but because people have made a fortune in silence since ancient times." Jinniang had her reasons for saying this. If you are too conspicuous, it is easy to be hated for no reason even if you have not done anything.
Jiang Xian felt the same way: "In the past, when I did something, everyone said I did it well. But now, just because I got promoted quickly, those people say I am greedy and reckless."
"Forget it. The rent for Tianshui Lane has been delivered. Dou'er will be back at the end of this year, so Mr. Fan and Manager Yao won't have to make any more trips. We will have income again. Thinking about these things, I feel very good." Jinniang said with a smile.
This year, the rent from the land in Luoyang increased by more than 200 strings of coins, which is another extra income. After Fan Si took care of the land in Bian Jing, at least he didn't have to buy food outside often.
After they finished their meal, Jinniang asked Bai Yangniang to bring Ding'er over.
Ding Ge'er has grown eight teeth. Because his teeth are itchy, he is biting on a teething stick made of prickly ash wood. Jinniang took the child over, asked a few questions about his daily life, and asked Bai Yangniang to go down and relax. She said to Jiang Xian, "I want to wait until the child is two years old next year, and then he will live in the east wing of our courtyard."
"Okay, but the staffing needs to be arranged more carefully." Jiang Xian said.
"Of course I don't need to worry about this. Aying's son will be able to come and serve us in two years. Then we can let the child be a servant and follow our Ding'er." Jinniang discussed.
Speaking of Ding'er, there is also Ning'er, who is preparing to take the provincial school entrance examination in September this year. They are indeed very young at this age. But Ning Ge'er started to learn at the age of three, which means he had actually been studying for seven years.
These are the top priorities, and Jinniang also has to worry about her eldest son's studies.
Sister Yun was busy embroidering. Even Miss Li from next door came over and said, "Why don't you find an embroidery shop to do it? Why bother doing it yourself?"
"My mother said that I have to make these things myself to be sincere." Sister Yun thought to herself, if I buy them all from the embroidery shop, then you will spread the news.
Before, Sister Yun and Miss Li were neighbors and the age difference between them was not that big, so they talked for a while. But soon it was discovered that she turned around and told others about it.
She's not that stupid.
Since she was young, she went to a girls' school, learned social skills, and often interacted with people.
Miss Li's father is also well-known for his virtue, and her future husband is also a child prodigy. Logically speaking, she should have no worries in life. However, the Wei family's style, Mrs. Wei's dignity, and Wei Qilang's bearing are incomparable to ordinary people. Her father-in-law is just a minor clerk in the yamen, and her mother-in-law is also very vulgar, and they are completely incomparable.
She looked at Yun Jie'er's attire again. She was wearing a honey-colored casual shirt, her hair was tied in a loose bun with two gold hairpins inserted in it, and a white jade bracelet on her hand. She exuded an air of wealth even in her leisurely manner.
Miss Li sat for a while and then left. Sister Yun shook her head and said, “There are people in this world who are truly happy for you, and there are also people who are jealous of you.” But even so, do I have to remain unknown just to avoid attracting attention? She can't do it.
But when Miss Li returned, she saw her mother coughing and her old illness recurred. She asked again, "Why don't you ask Miss Lou to come? Doesn't she often treat my mother?"
"Mrs. Lou is so pitiful. She went on a long journey and the clinic is closed." The servant sighed.
…
On the first day of October, Wei Qillang personally brought food for the stove, including crispy yellow mulberry, golden jade soup, and minced melon.
Originally, Jinniang and her nephew got along very well, and now with another layer of relationship, it's even better.
"Why did your mother ask you to come here? Come and sit down." Jinniang hurriedly asked someone to bring hot tea.
Wei Qilang smiled and said, "Mother said that my aunt loves to eat melon shreds, so she asked me to bring it to her."
"Your uncle told me yesterday that he would take you two to learn swimming in August. But it's too cold today, so you can't swim even if you want to," said Jinniang.
Wei Qilang hurriedly said: "Aunt, there are hot springs. We can go to the hot spring village when the time comes."
spa? Jinniang didn't expect this.
The aunt and nephew talked for a few words, and then Wei Qilang went to talk to Ning Ge'er, who was writing an article at the time.
"Why are you still writing today?" Wei Qilang asked with a smile.
Ning Ge'er said, "Today is a festival, so I wrote relatively little, only one article. On normal days, I would write two articles. If I don't write for a day, I always feel like I've missed something."
Wei Qilang felt a little ashamed and thought that he couldn't lose. After saying that, he went back and went into the study.
After Ning Ge'er finished writing his article, he went to the backyard to shoot arrows. After that, he went to the library to read books. He reads every kind of book; books are his world. Even when his family sits around the fire, he has to invite them to do so.
After dinner, they went back to the library. Jinniang asked Chen Xiaolang to buy a lot of new books from the bookstore and send them to the library. She always felt that reading was a way to take a shortcut in life. Things that she had not experienced could be understood through books, so she never stopped them. Instead, she would buy books on the market for her children to read.
Whether it is Chengwen, Mojuan, travel notes, or even vernacular legends, they are all there.
After finishing her meal, Jinniang went to the warehouse to get some cloth. She had to sew a wedding quilt, gauze curtains and door curtains for her daughter. Anyway, there are still several years to go, so she can do it slowly, and this can be considered as her own intention.
After finishing his meal, Jiang Xian took a short nap on the couch and then went to the study. He is also anxious because he doesn't know whether he will be promoted next year.
The whole family calmed down after their daughter got engaged. Even Mrs. Wei said, "The Jiang family is really patient." After saying that, she became even more looking forward to this marriage.
In the twelfth lunar month, Jinniang invited Madam Zhang to be her bride's groom. Madam Zhang was their relative and also an old acquaintance. The Wei family came to the Jiang family early in the morning of that day, presenting pearls, jade, jewelry, and gold articles, as well as gilt skirts, satin tea cakes, and a pair of goats leading the way. They also presented eight bottles of wine in gold bottles decorated with large silver square cups with flowers, and red and green gilt wine robes covering the wine.
The Wei family sent a total of four sets of gold, silver and jade head ornaments, each with twenty-eight pieces, weighing nearly fifty taels. The designs were also beautiful, including peony and pomegranate, peach and lily, plum, orchid, bamboo and chrysanthemum, and phoenix hairpins, all of which had excellent meanings.
Jinniang also gave a lot in return, including four rolls of gold-thread gauze, one hundred strings of cash for the matchmaker, tea, fruit and wine utensils, and two pieces of jewelry. She also gave Mrs. Zhang, the rich lady, and similar gifts to the matchmaker.
Although the Zhang family is not short of money, it is still decent to receive a gift.
The Wei family came to deliver the betrothal gifts on an auspicious day at the end of February of the following year. In addition to the three gold gifts, there were also jewelry such as a special bun made of pearls and jade, a pearl and jade flower crown, a crown with four-season flowers, and pearl and jade rings, not to mention the finest colored satin cloth, tea cakes and fruits.
The girl's family sent back eight pieces of official green silk, eight pieces of jacquard purple silk, two sets of top-quality study treasures, two crowns for men to tie their hair, one jade crown and one purple gold crown, and a pair of jade pendants. There were also clothes for Wei Qilang, including six sets of straight robes, overcoats, shoes and socks, and two hoods.
In June, the man sent another dowry, a total of one thousand strings of cash.
Everyone from the Wei family wore green jackets and red belts, looking very festive.
Mrs. Zhou Si was asking Mrs. Zhou San: "Whose wedding is this?"
"You don't know this yet. He is Jiang Shiliu, the same age as your husband and also my husband's younger brother. His daughter married into the Wei family, who is now the Grand Secretary. It was such a lively occasion, wasn't it? I went to the engagement ceremony that time." Mrs. Zhou San said with a smile.
Mrs. Zhou was a little confused for a moment: "Could it be with Wei Qilang?"
"Yes, how did you know?" Mrs. Zhou San asked curiously.
Mrs. Zhou Si leaned back and saw that it was indeed Wei Qilang. She remembered that in the book, he did not marry a girl from the Shen family. The book also said that the girls of the Shen family were good at poetry, and they wrote poems to complain about their mothers-in-law. As a result, their marriage was not harmonious, and the Wei and Shen families eventually fell out.
Because it was near the end, she read it carefully.
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