Chapter 2: Marriage Exchange
Finally, Liu couldn't stand Jiang Mingyue's persistence and found Jiang Jiu.
"Jiu'er, look... this marriage..."
Jiang Jiu smiled and agreed: "Aunt, please don't make it difficult. Jiuer has been raised by you since she was a child, and I should repay you for your kindness. As long as my cousin doesn't mind that the Chang family is poor, Jiuer agrees to marry in exchange."
Liu heaved a sigh of relief and looked at Jiang Jiu with even more loving eyes.
"If your sister was half as sensible as you, your aunt wouldn't have to worry about her all day. But as for the dowry... you know, the Lu family is rich, they don't care how much your dowry is. On the contrary, the Chang family may have to rely on your cousin to supplement it in the future."
The Lu family gave a betrothal gift of three thousand taels, and Liu naturally prepared a generous dowry for Jiang Mingyue.
The Chang family only gave a betrothal gift of two hundred taels, so Jiang Jiu's dowry was a little meager.
Now that the marriage has changed, the dowry also has to change...
Jiang Jiu lowered his eyes, a hint of coldness flashed through his eyes, but the words he spoke were still steady and sensible: "Auntie was able to raise Jiuer, and the effort she put in is more than money can compare to. Since the marriage has been changed, auntie will take care of the dowry."
As long as Liu doesn't think it's shabby, Jiang Jiu doesn't have to have a dowry. It's not her fault anyway.
However, the news reached the ears of Jiang Mingyue's father, Jiang County Minister, and he was so angry that he slammed the table and scolded Liu for her stupid behavior.
"Exchange the bride? If you only want to exchange the bride, it's fine. No one will know about it. After the bride is married, she will belong to the Lu family. But you want to change even the dowry. What's wrong with you?"
"You are afraid that others will not know that our Jiang family is treacherous and has temporarily replaced the marriage. I don't care. Even if you give the eldest girl's dowry to Jiang Jiu, you can't lose face for me, the county magistrate..."
Not only was County Magistrate Jiang angry, but Aunt Qian also felt a pain in her chest from anger.
"Miss, when we first came to the Jiang family, we gave them five thousand taels of silver. Five thousand taels, even if you ate and drank to your heart's content and wore gold and silver in the Jiang family, you wouldn't have spent more than two thousand taels in fifteen years."
"If she had married into the Chang family, which only gave a betrothal gift of 200 taels, it would have been fine for Madam Jiang to give a dowry of 100 taels. But now that she is marrying into the Lu family, which gave a betrothal gift of 3,000 taels, Madam Jiang must have given at least 100 taels as a dowry. Doesn't she have any? Or does she want to embezzle the money..."
Obviously, Liu was unwilling to give it.
Jiang Jiu put on her bridal gown. Her face was as rosy as peach blossoms, her hands were as soft as catkins, her skin was as white as cream, her smile was charming and her eyes were beautiful. It would not be an exaggeration to say that she was enough to conquer a whole country.
The more beautiful Jiang Jiu was, the more sad Nanny Qian felt. Her appearance was one of the best in the whole capital, but she had to marry a playboy in this small county.
It's really like a flower stuck in something.
"Don't be angry, Mammy. Money is just a thing outside of our body. Any problem that can be solved with money is not a problem. Besides, we have plenty of money."
"Since she wants to change even her wedding dowry, let her do what she wants. In the end, it's the Jiang family that will lose face anyway."
Aunt Qian said helplessly: "But the dowry is the confidence of the girl. The Lu family is so rich. If the girl's dowry is too little, they will look down on her."
Jiang Jiu snorted coldly: "That's perfect. If you don't like me, then divorce me. If you want to divorce me, then that's fine. After this, I can actually support myself as a woman."
Women were treated harshly in this era, and husbands were the most important thing for women. However, since the last emperor was a female emperor, the status of women has been greatly improved. Women can now become officials, start their own families, and engage in business.
However, now that the emperor has become a man, things have become a little more difficult.
After all, Liu didn't go too far. She prepared ten dowries for Jiang Mingyue and three for Jiang Jiu. Now that the marriage had changed, she simply added seven more dowries for Jiang Jiu.
This way, at least to outsiders, she seemed impartial towards the two ladies.
The wedding procession arrived. Jiang Jiu and Jiang Mingyue were dressed the same, and no one could tell them apart except Liu.
They said goodbye to their parents and went to their husband's family.
When leaving the house, Jiang Mingyue finally couldn't resist the guilt in her heart and whispered to Jiang Jiu.
"Jiang Jiu, don't say I lied to you. I had no choice but to marry you.
Lu family, please take good care of your dowry and don't be fooled by Lu Yunyang. He has many concubines, one or two of whom are very powerful, especially the one named Mudan, who is vicious and beautiful. You must be careful of her."
"The Lu family is not as rich as the legend says. Lu Yunyang spends money like water, and the family's assets have long been emptied. If, if, you really can't stand it, you can divorce."
"Don't be like me. I was so obsessed with my reputation that I suffered and ended up dying miserably."
At this time, Lu Yunyang, who was rejected by Jiang Mingyue, was already on his way to the bride, but he received some bad news.
"Master, Miss Nishang was assassinated."
Lu Yunyang frowned: "How could this happen? But we have found some clues."
"We have found out that Chang Mingyuan did transfer his property back then, and it is closely related to the Jiangnan Jiang family. However, if we want to get that property, a token of trust is not enough."
Lu Yunyang ordered: "Treat him as soon as possible and make sure he survives."
"yes."