Chapter 56 Chapter 56 Two chapters merged into one
Jiang Xianzheng, Feng Sheng and Anping were sitting at the same table with the other sons-in-law of the Wei family. The three of them exchanged their ages and given names. Anping said "Huh?" "Speaking of which, Shiliulang is three years younger than my second aunt."
"What's the problem?" Jiang Xian himself didn't care. He was still wondering why An Ping said that to him. If he did it on purpose, it meant that this person was not worth making friends with. If he didn't do it on purpose, it meant that this person was really a bit stupid.
An Ping was really just curious, so he asked. Seeing Jiang Xian's indifferent response, he felt a little embarrassed and tried to cover up his embarrassment by drinking. Feng Sheng, who was standing aside, laughed so hard that his stomach hurt. He thought Anping was a fool. No wonder even Yingniang could play him around.
But he certainly wouldn't come out to smooth things over. For some reason, he didn't like Jinniang very much. He always felt that she was too scheming. He didn't know how she managed to climb up to an aristocratic family like the Jiang family. When he read the draft just now, he really thought that the Jiang family had been in decline for several generations. He never expected to hear Master Jiang Liu say that his uncle was now an official in the Censorate and his son-in-law was from a famous family. He didn't dare to say anything excessive.
But there will always be some people who are unwilling to accept the fact that they work hard, but these so-called officials just sit back and enjoy the fruits of their labor.
However, Jinniang's marriage really opened up a new idea. These so-called officials' sons were actually short of money. It turned out that money could buy a good marriage.
Luo Yu'e was very caring towards her son-in-law. She personally brought a bowl of lotus root and pork ribs soup and said, "This is the nine-hole lotus root from our hometown. If we hadn't found a fellow villager from the north and south shops, we wouldn't have been able to find this. Shiliulang, try it. This lotus root soup is the best. I cooked it myself."
Jiang Xian took a bite and found it really tender and glutinous. He smiled and said, "Thank you very much. It's really delicious. But it's so hot, you should take a rest."
"Just eat and don't worry about me." Luo Yu'e likes people praising her the most. Unfortunately, her son Yang Ge'er is a taciturn person, and her daughter is busy from morning to night and rarely accompanies her. But her son-in-law is very sweet.
Mrs. Jiang Liu asked her daughter-in-law Xu to pull Luo Yu'e over to sit and talk. In fact, after Luo Yu'e no longer had too many financial difficulties, she rarely lost her temper and was even quite humorous. Rongniang and Yingniang were also at the same table. They found it a bit ironic to see their second aunt (second aunt), who usually had a frown on her face, smiling like a dog's tail flower.
Especially Rong Niang, she could find that although the Jiang family seemed friendly to the Wei family, they were actually condescending.
Unexpectedly, at this time, Chen Xiaolang welcomed a female official in. The female official was wearing a round-necked, crotch-less robe with a green damask pattern on it, and a yellow belly band tied around her waist with a silk tie.
As the hostess, Luo Yu'e stood up first and said, "Miss, who are you looking for?"
"I am a female official in the Wenxiuyuan, and I have something to ask Madam Wei."
Luo Yu'e hurriedly called Jinniang down. Jiang Xian looked over immediately and saw that Jinniang was relieved when she saw the female official. The two of them talked to one side: "Zhu Tingfang, did you pass the exam to become a female official?"
"Yes, after you left, I, as the inspector, had nothing to do. Just then, a group of female officials in the palace left, and I was lucky enough to pass the exam. I was originally assigned to the Shangfu Bureau, but later the new embroiderer in the Wenxiu Academy fell ill, so I was asked to take on the job concurrently. When that embroiderer was in office, he didn't care at all, so that on the Mid-Autumn Festival on August 15th, many clothes were not made in time. So I wanted to ask you, Madam Wei, to help with some of the work. You are an acquaintance of the Wenxiu Academy, so there is no need to follow so many rules." Zhu Tingfang said with a smile.
Then she added: "I went to Cheng Ya to find your address, and she told me."
Jinniang thought, this is a big deal, she quickly agreed, but said: "You need it urgently, but my embroidery shop has a small capital, I am the only one, I am afraid I can't take it."
"It's okay. There are only seven pieces in total. I'll bring the cloth and silk thread when the time comes. You know how much the wages are."
The clothes in Wenxiuyuan were very complicated, much more complicated than those outside. But if one worked hard for a month to make these seven pieces, it would cost thirty-five taels, which was a good deal, so she agreed immediately.
In fact, Zhu Tingfang was just a female official in the Wenxiu Academy, but because she came in official uniform, everyone thought Jinniang knew everyone in the palace, and even speculated about her background. After Zhu Tingfang left, she felt that everyone looked at her differently.
It was Luo Yu'e who asked, "What does this lady-in-waiting want to see you for?"
"It's nothing big. They just asked me to help make a few sets of clothes for the palace." Jinniang didn't think it was a big deal.
But for those who have never been involved in this business, it may seem a bit confusing.
After the Jiang family finished their meal and left, Luo Yu'e packed up all the unfinished dishes and asked the restaurant staff to come and clear the table, dishes, etc. They were small families who knew how to live prudently. They would save half for tomorrow and the other half for the afternoon.
"Xiaolang, go open the door. I'll change my clothes and start embroidering in the front." She had to finish the work in her hands, and she had to use the rest of the time to embroider the dowry and the work for the Wenxiuyuan.
After all, after the draft proposal, the man will start the engagement ceremony.
This was the first time that Yingniang and Rongniang realized that Jinniang was actually not worse off than them, because she managed to make and embroider a dress in just one afternoon, with seven or eight kinds of silk threads crisscrossing together, which was truly amazing.
But Rong Niang kindly reminded her: "Jin Niang, I see you always bow your head like this, don't your cervical spine and waist hurt?"
Who knew Jinniang would say calmly: "So you should make a name for yourself while you are still young and save some money, so that you don't have to work so hard in the future."
In fact, now that she is a boss, she has half the work to do than before and can earn much more money.
"Second sister, have you told the Jiang family about the loan for your house?" Yingniang asked. She had just heard her second aunt bragging about Jinniang buying land and building a house, and her words were exaggerated.
Jinniang smiled and said, "I paid it back all by myself, there's nothing much to say."
Yingniang thought to herself, isn’t this a lie? She was already very jealous. After all, she was the only one among her sisters who bought a house, but Jinniang came from behind and she also had the most obedient and handsome husband among her sisters. Now Jinniang came from behind again.
Of course, the comparison between Rong Niang and Jin Niang was at most that between sisters. They talked a few more words on the way back, but they hardly interacted with each other on weekdays.
Jinniang didn't take these things to heart at all. At dinner that night, she told everyone that the Jiang family had brought an ice jar over, which they could use when the hottest time came. They could also use it to chill mung bean soup, melons and fruits.
Everyone in the family cheered. Wei Yang loved drinking the most and was the happiest. Ju Xiang also smiled and said, "Now we don't have to buy food every day."
Feng Sheng also said to Rong Niang about the ice jar: "Why don't we ask someone to buy one for us?"
Rong Niang shook her head: "That's not cheap. You have to buy ice after buying it. Forget it, our family doesn't have that much money."
It can be said that Rong Niang had very low material desires. For example, she didn't want any clothes that cost less than 200 coins. She would only wear nicer clothes when she was going somewhere. Most of the gifts she received on a daily basis were given to her by other people.
Feng Sheng knew his wife's personality very well, so he didn't blame her too much. It was precisely because she was content with her poverty that she could take care of him calmly when he was sick.
Compared to the Feng family who dared not buy, the Zhou family had already started using ice. The cool air here was a little cold for the fourth young lady, so she asked the maid to get some clothes to put on.
Her marriage had already been arranged. She was with the son of the prefect of Caizhou, who was the same age as her father. After she failed to marry Han Xiao, no one in her family paid attention to her. Her stepmother even hoped that she would not marry well so that she could prepare less dowry.
Yuxing came back holding the box: "Miss, the old lady sent someone to bring you some jewelry."
The fourth girl opened the box and saw three sets of head ornaments made of gold, silver and jade, each with twenty-eight pieces in all kinds of patterns.
Then Yuxing laughed and said, "I heard that each piece weighs fifty-four taels and is for the girls to wear for fun."
The fourth girl closed the box and said, "Grandma is so kind to me."
It's a pity that my grandmother was old and could no longer do anything about her marriage. Fortunately, I heard that her husband was good-looking and talented, and had already passed the imperial examination. This was why my father decided to marry her off.
In the past, she was not good at needlework and was even very annoyed by such laborious manual work. But now she has to start making embroidery herself. Speaking of embroidery, she thinks of Jinniang again. However, unless someone passed the message, it would be inappropriate for the Fourth Young Lady to inquire about a maid.
Jinniang started to use an embroidery frame to do the work of the Wenxiu Academy. The work of the Wenxiu Academy seemed very complicated, but in fact, those who were familiar with it knew roughly how to start. She usually looked at the picture first, then found the silk thread, and then hooked the pattern on the robe, and then started embroidering according to the blocks.
But she had to spend more time preparing her dowry and betrothal gifts. The matchmaker had already said that the Jiang family's betrothal gift was quite heavy, so their return gift could not be too light. There are also gifts for the matchmaker that need to be prepared, but her parents are unable to take care of these, so Jinniang has to prepare them herself.
A small mother-of-pearl bed cost sixteen taels, and the armchair, embroidered stool, beauty couch, and desk, which were slightly cheaper, cost eight taels. The carpenter has already started making them, and the deposit has been paid.
As for silks, she took out thirty strings of cash to buy them. The ones she was betrothed to the Jiang family were a piece of bright red peony silk and a piece of hibiscus silk for six strings of cash, four hundred coins, two pieces of purple gauze for three strings of cash, a piece of small peony silk and a piece of small grape silk for three strings of cash, two pieces of dark-patterned silk for five strings of cash, and a piece of jacquard satin for five strings of cash.
The remaining eight strings of cash would be used to give to the matchmaker two rolls of silk, four rolls of gauze, and two rolls of silk; these would be slightly inferior to the above.
As for jewelry, when she was in Zhou's family, she collected two gold hairpins, a pair of pearl hairpins, a pair of pearl flowers, three pairs of earrings, seven rings, and three silver hairpins. In the following years, I also bought a gilded comb and a silver curtain comb. Now I am only preparing a set of head ornaments, which cost a total of 29 strings of cash, for a total of eight items.
He also spent another 1,500 coins to buy a fish pillow crown.
Jinniang spent money like water, and thought that her family didn't have much money, so she made some embroidery pieces for each of her husband's families. The same was true for the Jiang family. Before August 15th, Jinniang had just completed the job at the Wenxiuyuan and received 35 strings of cash.
The Jiang family presented a gilt silver crown, the "three golds", gold bracelets, gold shawl pendants, as well as gold-plated yellow silk with wide sleeves, gold-plated satin skirt, and a long red skirt, some fine colored satins and silk fabrics, and of course, scented tea, fruits, reunion cakes and other snacks.
Jinniang secretly said to Luo Yu'e, "You see, the Jiang family gave us a betrothal gift according to the rules of an official family."
Luo Yu'e was very satisfied. Who wouldn't like a son-in-law who is rich, speaks well and is good-looking?
The matchmaker in the yellow jacket also brought back the return gift from Jinniang, and the Jiang family thought it was good. It was led by a piece of purple gauze and a piece of broken-branch hibiscus silk, followed by five pairs of shoes in a grape purple rattan box. Two pairs of women's shoes were pointed-toe shoes with bright red satin uppers and a pearl inlaid on the toe. The other three pairs of men's shoes were cloud-toe shoes. There was also a red rattan box that contained a set of men's clothes, a Tang Sancai colored straight gown with white edges, and a pair of white silk trousers.
Jiang Xian took a look and thought of what Jinniang said that day. He felt happy. He looked at the matchmaker and said, "Look, there is a plain silk gown underneath. The stitching is really good."
There was also a plain wooden rattan box containing ten pairs of white silk socks, and another box filled with various exquisite purses.
There were also one box each of silk and velvet flowers, two pairs of belts for topknots, two sets of women's clothing, fruit wine, tea cakes, and so on.
Jinniang's marriage was settled, and she breathed a sigh of relief. She had been very busy this month. In addition to the clothes from the Wenxiu Courtyard, she also earned almost 20 strings of cash from the wages in the shop. This made 55 strings of cash this month. Six strings were paid on credit, and she had 49 strings left. One string was paid as wages as usual, and two strings were spent on living expenses. She saved the remaining 46 strings.
However, business became extremely slow in the month between the Mid-Autumn Festival and the Double Ninth Festival, with only sixteen strings of cash earned a month. But Jinniang also had more time to embroider the quilt covers. In the summer, she spent ten strings of cash to buy a woolen Buddhist blanket from Western Xia, and three strings of cash to buy sweaters, woolen trousers, woolen socks, etc. These became good things in winter.
The Buddhist rug can be used as a seat cushion or as a cushion on a couch, and it is very comfortable.
As for the clothes she wore in the summer, she asked Aying to wash them, fumigate them, iron them, and then pack them in boxes. When the time comes, I will send the boxes over. This box of clothes will be enough for models, all for summer wear.
By October, business had picked up a little, thanks to Jinniang's perseverance. Except when absolutely necessary, she opened the store from morning to night every day.
Unlike some nuns living in Xiu Lane, most of them do not have shops and can only sell some collard green flowers when Xiangguo Temple is open.
October 1st is the stove-warming party. It is the folk custom of the Northern Song Dynasty that every household would start to warm themselves by the fire and have a feast.
Small families would just add a few more dishes to the meal, while large families would gather together to chat. Jiang's husband was given an assignment outside the capital this time, and she happened to return to her parents' home, only then did she learn that Sixth Madam Jiang was actually engaged to Jinniang.
"Sixth sister-in-law is really a nobody. She actually married that businessman." Jiang said.
Aunt Jiang didn't want to say anything bad about her sisters-in-law, so she just said, "Aunt, not to mention that Sixteenth Brother is going to marry a merchant's daughter, even Thirteenth Brother's wife's family runs a spice shop. It's fine as long as they feel good about these things."
Jiang frowned: "That being said, Thirteenth Brother is unlearned and incompetent, but Sixteenth Brother is now extremely talented and knowledgeable."
Xiang Ming, who was standing by, was delighted when she heard this and felt very fortunate. She prepared two pieces of satin, a pair of silver and two silk flowers as gifts. However, there was nothing she could do as the Zhou family was no longer the same as before and Jiang's hands were much tighter than before. Even for the fourth young lady's marriage, the family could only offer three thousand strings of cash at most, of which five hundred strings of cash came from the old lady, and another five hundred strings of cash was taken from the second wife.
Jinniang was very touched when she received Xiangming's gift. She always prepared for a rainy day and had to look for some furs starting in October. She used to wear cotton-padded jackets, which were filled with cotton and linen, making her look very bloated. She had to wear several layers. This makes her, who is used to wearing down jackets in modern times, feel like she can’t walk every winter.
So seeing that she had earned twenty-six strings of cash in October, had finished embroidering the quilt cover and was halfway through making her wedding dress, she got up early and went to Daxiangguo Temple, spent three strings of cash to buy a sheepskin, made a fur coat, and used the extra cashmere to make a lamb warm wind hat.
Ah Ying went to the hat shop and couldn't help saying, "They sell a lamb hat for ten strings of cash."
"Anything that is made to look a little bit nice will be sold at a higher price." Jinniang used a cloth with camellia and ruyi patterns on the outside, used the gold-printing method, and then sewed it onto the hat. She planned to give it to Jiang Xian as a gift for the Winter Solstice.
Also because Jinniang's fur coats were light and beautiful, a fur merchant came to her for cooperation and gave her some furs. Of course, not many people could afford to wear fur coats, and only two people made them before the winter solstice.
Before the winter solstice, the Jiang family sent a matchmaker to offer a betrothal gift of 500 strings of cash, and agreed to get married on March 28th of the next year. Later, Dongzhi sent two sets of brocade clothes. Brocade was very expensive and most people could not afford it. Only a few people who worked for Jinniang and made clothes could wear brocade robes, and only officials or wealthy businessmen could do so.
Jinniang returned with a wind-warming hat, a long coat made of ivory satin, two strips of gold-printed silk, and a blue brocade coat with a crane pattern. This crane-patterned brocade weighed one hundred and eight coins per ounce, and one piece cost sixteen ounces. Jin Niang only cut a few feet to make a shorter jacket, and then embroidered the Ganoderma lucidum pattern on the collar.
The clothes were first sent to Madam Jiang. Madam Jiang Liu was coughing in the room. Mother Fang said happily, "Madam Wei's craftsmanship is really good. It's worth it for you to take out the brocade from your home to make clothes and send them to her."
Mrs. Jiang Liu took a sip of hot tea and then smiled slowly, "Yes, Balang's wife secretly complained that I loved my youngest son. She didn't think about it. When my family sent the betrothal gifts, her family sent some scrap copper and iron. She also used all the gifts I sent to buy land and sent it as her dowry. But this Wei family is different. They brought thousands of strings of cash as dowry. I sent two sets of brocade clothes, and they sent gold seals and brocade jackets. Go, send these to Shiliu Lang."
Mother Fang immediately sent it to Jiang Xian, who was writing at the moment. His handwriting was graceful and beautiful, with light strokes, like a swimming dragon.
When Jiang Xian saw the clothes Jinniang sent, he immediately tried them on, especially the hood, which looked much better on his head than the hat he had worn before.
Liu Douer smiled and said, "Brother was just saying that hat was not good because it always made the hair flat. Now this hood is very cleverly made."
"That's right, you didn't even look at who did it." Jiang Xian was very happy.
After the engagement, the man and woman could not meet each other. Even if Jiang Xian wanted to go to Tianshui Lane, he could not go there. He had to go through two matchmakers to pass the news.
Jinniang suddenly had an extra five hundred strings of cash and she had an urge to pay off all the loans she had taken out. But she felt that she couldn't do that because this was the money given by the Jiang family. If she paid it back in full, she would know that there is no such thing as being impenetrable. How would others think of her?
What's more, she doesn't know what will happen after marriage, so she has to put the money away now. Anyway, she can still earn money.
After the winter solstice, the weather was unusually cold. Jinniang sewed a pigskin leather jacket for her brother and asked her father to send it to the academy to keep him warm. There was no other way. Last time, she asked her mother to buy some while the weather was hot and these were on sale cheap, but her mother refused to buy them.
Fortunately, her parents were working hard in the store in the morning, and they could warm themselves by the fire when they came back at noon. Jinniang had prepared enough firewood and charcoal in advance.
The door curtain was directly covered with felt. Jinniang was taking out the booklet on making winter clothes. In such a cold day, there would definitely be many people making winter clothes. If possible, she would rather earn less money. Otherwise, in such a cold day, many people would be left without clothes and might even freeze to death.
But no one expected Rong Niang to come running over at this time. After she came into the store, she couldn't help sneezing because it was warm inside, and she came over with her two sons in her hands.
"Jinniang, I just went to pick up Yingniang's home. I was so cold on the way that I couldn't stand it anymore. So I came here to warm up." Rongniang shivered.
Jinniang quickly asked Aying to serve hot tea, "Have some hot tea, or you can stay at our house today. Yangge'er is not at home, so the two boys can sleep in his room. You can sleep with me."
She was also trying to keep them with good intentions, otherwise it would be terrible if something happened in such heavy snow.
Rong Niang wanted to leave, but when she thought of what had just happened in the car, she agreed to stay and just sent the coachman back to tell Feng Sheng.
After everything was ready, Rong Niang looked at Jin Niang and said, "Why are you wearing such light clothes? Aren't you cold?"
Before Jinniang could say anything, Ah Ying said, "Our wife is wearing a cashmere coat, so she definitely won't be cold, even if she stays up until the second watch."
Rong Niang recalled that when she was the coldest, she just stuffed more cotton and linen into her clothes. Feng Sheng's most expensive clothes was just a paper fur coat. Jin Niang is becoming more and more extravagant now. When she went to the back, she saw Luo Yu'e still wearing her old cotton-padded jacket.
She couldn't help but ask, "Why didn't Jinniang make a fur coat for you?"
"That thing is precious. Jinniang bought her own dowry. We didn't contribute anything in the first place, so how could we ask for this." The reason why they got along so well with their daughter was because everyone had made the money matter clear. Even the rent for the stinky alley, Jinniang asked them to use it to pay for Yangge'er's studies first, and also hired servants to help with cooking and washing clothes. As a dowry, she and her husband took out 20 strings of cash, and she paid the rest of the money herself.
Rong Niang was so angry that she took her child back home. Jin Niang didn't expect that someone would come to her house to make winter clothes in the cold weather. Seeing that the price of Jin Niang's work remained unchanged, she couldn't help but say, "Thank you, Madam Wei."
"It's okay." Seeing that the weather was cold, Jinniang bought a lot of cotton and kept it for later use.
She always felt that in ancient times, if one could wear warm clothes and eat enough, one would not get sick, and not getting sick was the greatest blessing, because this was an era where a cold could take someone's life.
As expected, Rong Niang did not agree with her. As a result, she and her two children were all cold when they returned home after the heavy snow that day. The youngest son was in worse health and actually caught a severe cold.
Even though Feng Sheng was a doctor, he treated the child for seven or eight days after returning, but the child was still coughing. Feng Sheng thought it was just a cough and nothing serious, and the child could still go to school. However, Rong Niang felt that sending the child to such a far place to study was the reason why the child got sick, and she firmly disagreed.
The two had another big fight over the child.
It was Jiang Xian who took a sedan chair to Fanlou in winter. When Jiang Xian came in, everyone was already in a lively mood. He took off his dark blue cloak with a dark pattern of foreign flowers, revealing a blue brocade jacket with a pattern of cranes, a folded skirt of the same color, a gold-printed silk belt in the middle, and a warm hat on his head that was also made of gold.
All the people sitting here are children of noble families. Although they look nonchalant, they are actually paying close attention. Some people secretly say that Jiang Shiliu has married a good man, and now it seems to be true. He looks more elegant and outstanding, especially the wind hood, which seems to be much lighter and warmer than their felt hats.
Even when Jiang Xian took it off, his hair wasn't even a mess.
Someone asked, "This hood is really nice, unlike mine which always weighs down my hair. Where was it made?"
Jiang Xian thought to himself, "My wife did this."
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