Chapter 161 Proposal
On August 26th, the Jiang family came with a large gift and proposed marriage.
Girls from aristocratic families are precious, and if you want to marry them, the betrothal gifts must be generous.
Among them should be betrothal money, jewelry, cloth, silk, wine, tea, etc., which can be counted into thirty categories.
There must be no less than thirty sets of jewelry and no less than one hundred pieces of cloth. Without thousands of gold (ten thousand taels of silver), it is impossible to prepare a decent betrothal gift.
Jiang Cinian and Baili Boqin parted in a hurry and did not have time to take many things from Yaowang Valley, but he did take some precious medicinal herbs and money. Although it was not much, it was enough for him to prepare a family business and a decent betrothal gift.
As he said, although it may not be very glorious, it will not embarrass her or make her a laughing stock.
After looking at the gift list, Old Mrs. Xu was also very satisfied. Jiang Cinian had put in a lot of effort and thought to prepare all these.
"You are so thoughtful. The Cui family does require quite a bit of betrothal gifts when marrying off their daughters, but the dowry is also much more substantial. The Cui family will only keep 30% of what you sent today, and the remaining 70% will also be used as dowry. When Liu Niang gets married someday, she will also be yours."
"It's up to the old lady." After the things were delivered to the Cui family, Jiang Cinian had no objection to how the Cui family dealt with them.
"Very good." Seeing his calmness and frankness, Old Lady Xu was also very satisfied. "You are a good person. We are relieved to marry Liu Niang to you."
Jiang Cinian had his servant bring up a box: "This was sent by our master not long ago. He said it's not included in the betrothal gifts. It's a gift for you, so please accept it."
"Oh?" This is strange. Since it is a betrothal gift, there are other gifts besides the betrothal gifts.
"Please take a look at it in private, Madam." Jiang Cinian said.
"Okay, I'll do as you say." Although Mrs. Xu was a little curious, since the gift-giver said so, she naturally had no objection.
"Let Lao Ba have a few more drinks with you later. He's still waiting for you to change your name. After all, he's also the matchmaker between you and Liu Niang."
"That's right." Cui Changyou was extremely proud. "I was waiting for him to call me uncle, hahahaha!"
As soon as Cui Changyou said this, everyone was overjoyed.
Old Mrs. Xu asked Jiang Cinian, "How does it feel to have your former friend become your uncle?"
Jiang Ci Nian said, "I'll probably have to get him a few more drinks, then I'll feel better."
Cui Changyou immediately said, "You are wrong. If you want to marry my Ah Si, I should get you a few more drinks."
Mrs. Xu smiled and said, "Then you can drink together and see who can drink more."
Everyone agreed: "This is a good idea!"
For a moment, the scene was lively and joyful. Old Mrs. Xu ordered people to prepare a banquet, and she dined with the Cui family members who came to watch the ceremony and the Jiang family members who came to deliver the betrothal gifts.
Originally, the guests were having a great time and everything was going well, but halfway through the meal, they heard someone come and say that the head of the Cui family had returned and was on his way over.
Old Mrs. Xu's expression changed slightly. She just told people to eat and drink well, and asked Cui Changyou and Jiang Cinian to have a few more drinks. Then she went to see the head of the Cui family with Mr. Cui Er.
The head of the Cui family was exhausted from the journey and didn't even have time to change his clothes. His face was frighteningly cold and sullen.
"Why did you come back suddenly? Weren't you on a diplomatic mission to Xiangzhou? How come the matter in Xiangzhou is completed?" Old Mrs. Xu glanced at him and asked him.
"Second aunt." Patriarch Cui bowed to Old Madam Xu, his expression still grim. "Where did Mrs. Xie go?"
Old Madam Xu sat down in the main seat and asked Patriarch Cui expressionlessly, "What do you want to do with her?"
"She did such a shameful thing, how can we let her go like this?" The head of the Cui family's face turned a little dark, and it was obvious how much anger he was hiding in his heart.
Old Madam Xu took a sip of tea and, without even looking at the other person's expression, said calmly, "She's been married into the Cui family for twenty years. Although she made two mistakes this year, there was nothing to criticize about her in the past."
"This incident was an accident, not her intention. Plus, she gave birth to Erlang and Si Niang for you. Does that mean she must die to end it?"
Although Mrs. Cui deserved this hardship, as they were both women, Old Lady Xu and Old Lady Shen felt a little pity for her. Moreover, they had known each other for many years and could not bear to see her die, so they allowed her to divorce and become a nun, thus saving her life.
Otherwise, perhaps only poisoned wine and white silk would be waiting for her.
The Cui family cannot have a mistress or clan member who has lost her chastity.
Seeing that Patriarch Cui's expression was becoming increasingly grim, Old Madam Xu added, "Besides, she is a daughter of the Xie family of Laizhou. If she dies, I'm afraid the Xie family won't let it go."
"The King of Northern Yan has led his army south, intending to capture Laizhou."
"You also said that it was a plan. If the Xie family came to their senses, or was frightened by the attack, and opened the city gates to surrender, the Xie family, although not as strong as it is now, is still a powerful clan that has been operating for over a hundred years. As long as they are not all dead, there will be a chance for them to turn things around."
"You forgot that the Xie family also has Xie Fangyuan."
This is a famous scholar who is famous all over the world and the pillar of the Xie family.
"Master, let's stop here. Just treat her as if she's dead. From now on, there's no such person. After a while, you can marry again."
Upon hearing this, Patriarch Cui was so angry that his face turned black, then red, and then blue, which was quite a spectacle.
It is hard for any man in this world to tolerate a cuckold, let alone someone as proud as the head of the Cui family.
"Okay, if you have anything to say, we can talk about it another day. Today the Jiang family is here to propose marriage. Since you are back, come and have a few glasses of wine. Just treat it as your uncle giving face to our Liu Niang."
Patriarch Cui took a deep breath and temporarily suppressed the anger in his heart.
Well, since Mrs. Xu won’t tell him, he will just send someone to look for her himself.
"Sixth Lady is now the adopted sister of the King of Northern Yan. Are we really going to let her marry that brat from the Jiang family?"
The head of the Cui family was originally dissatisfied with the marriage between Cui Si and Jiang Cinian.
The previous engagement was because Lady Cui and Cui Yun had a quarrel about wanting Cui Si to be a concubine, and he didn't want to say anything too much, but now Cui Si is a princess, so there should be better choices.
"This time in Xiangzhou, I met a general named Ren. General Ren is only twenty-four or twenty-five, but he is already a general of Northern Yan. The Guo family of Xiangzhou also expressed their intention to form an alliance with my Cui family..."
Old Madam Xu glanced over and said, "Since you're interested, wouldn't it be a good idea to let your daughter marry him?"
Patriarch Cui choked and said, "Second aunt, you know that Fourth Lady is not in good health and is disobedient. Now I don't know where she has gone. If she is a concubine's daughter, it would be a bit lacking."
Mrs. Xu said calmly, "Since it's not suitable, then let's not talk about it."
"We, the third branch of the Cui family, have no reason to sacrifice for the family. You, the daughters of the first branch, are so willful that you can just ignore everything and reap the benefits. We, the daughters of the second branch, must sacrifice for the family and consider the overall situation.
Patriarch, what you did is really inappropriate."
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