On November 12, Shen Zhiyan and his group visited Qinghe Village again.
This time it's much grander than the last one.
The first two carriages carried passengers, while the carriages behind carried betrothal gifts, all adorned with large red silk flowers, winding their way out of the town.
The lead carriage had already arrived at Lijia Village, but the last carriage carrying betrothal gifts hadn't even left the town yet.
Li Zhiyuan's family lives at the entrance of the village.
Granny Li had just finished eating and was picking her teeth at the door when she saw the long convoy of cars and was surprised.
Two villagers happened to be passing by and stopped: "Whose convoy is this?"
"Look, there are big red silk flowers tied on it, they must be going to propose marriage."
"This pomp and circumstance is something even Zhang Fuhu didn't have when he got married back then."
"Ha, Zhang Fuhu only sent a cartload of betrothal gifts when he got married. How can that compare to this convoy? I saw a wealthy man in the county sending betrothal gifts before, but he didn't have this much. Tsk tsk, I wonder which family's daughter is so lucky."
"This kind of extravagance is only befitting a wealthy young lady from the county or the prefectural city. But the motorcade is heading this way. Could it be from our area? No way!"
"Tsk tsk, who cares who they are, it's not my house anyway."
The villagers were both envious and sighing, standing there watching the spectacle.
Granny Li curled her lip, feeling jealous. Her husband, Zhiyuan, had been married twice, and neither time had he been able to put on such a grand display!
As she was thinking, her eyes suddenly lit up.
By the way, when Ye Caiping comes back, why don't we hold another wedding?
They didn't have that much betrothal gift, but Ye Caiping's dowry could fill a long convoy, and a ten-mile-long red procession would be quite a grand affair!
Just thinking about this scene made Granny Li feel wonderful.
By the way, she hasn't visited her two beloved granddaughters in a long time!
How about we cook something delicious tomorrow and go check it out!
......
As the convoy passed through the village, passersby couldn't help but stop to watch the spectacle.
Soon, they entered Qinghe Village. When the convoy stopped in front of Ye Caiping's house, a group of villagers had already gathered around.
Granny Zhao rushed up: "Oh dear, is this a betrothal? Could it be... that Jin'er or Huan'er are engaged?"
The gatekeeper, Shanzi, laughed and said, "No, no, it's my wife, Lady Ye, who's engaged!"
"What?! Caiping is engaged?!" the villagers exclaimed in surprise.
Shanzi smiled and said, "Yes, yes."
As they were talking, Shen Zhiyan and his group got out of the car.
Shen Manman, still dressed like a little red envelope, stood with her hands behind her back and said with a smile, "Auntie is engaged to my father!"
"Is this Mr. Shen?" Fortunately, Shen Zhiyan and his daughter visited each other frequently, so everyone in Qinghe Village knew Shen Zhiyan.
This Mr. Shen was not only a great Confucian scholar with exceptional talent, but his elder brother was also a Minister. They came from an official family, a family that was many ranks higher than the county magistrate.
Now, Mr. Shen is actually engaged to Caiping.
The villagers were thrilled, and most offered their blessings, but some were a little sour. However, their sourness was quickly drowned out by the chorus of well wishes.
Shen Manman said happily, "Xiao Qiu, hand out candy!"
Xiao Qiu quickly led several servants to take out fruit boxes and distribute candy to the villagers.
Besides distributing candy, someone even took out a bag of copper coins and started throwing them around in large handfuls.
The villagers went wild, showering him with praise and compliments.
Shen Zhiyan smiled slightly and led Shen Manman and the others into the Ye family home.
Everyone in the Ye family was there, including Ye Ershen's family, Hu Fen and her daughter, and even Ye Lizheng and other members of the Ye family who were within five degrees of kinship.
Then came the arrival of cartloads of betrothal gifts.
During the Dragon Boat Festival, he stood to the side reading out the gift list.
Old Man Ye and the others listened in a daze, never expecting that there would be so many things besides the betrothal gifts.
Ye Caiping looked on with a smile, saying that she hadn't prepared any dowry at all.
For ordinary people getting married, it's just a few loads of dowry; they can buy and prepare it whenever they want.
But wealthy and powerful families bring lavish dowries in cartloads, emphasizing a grand procession of red bridal processions. These are precious items that a woman begins accumulating from birth. Even if she wanted to prepare, it would be too late.
Upon hearing the announcement of the betrothal gifts during the Dragon Boat Festival, Ye Caiping knew that this was the dowry that Shen Zhiyan had prepared for her.
Ye Caiping couldn't help but look at Shen Zhiyan, she was thoughtful.
Shen Zhiyan looked at her, a smile in his eyes.
The announcements for the Dragon Boat Festival were very loud, and the villagers who gathered in the outer courtyard to watch the excitement couldn't help but exclaim, "These things must have cost at least a thousand taels of silver to prepare!"
A servant from the Shen family, Zhongqiu, said, "My master gave 88,800 taels of silver just for the betrothal gifts, and all these other betrothal gifts are worth tens of thousands of taels as well!"
The villagers' mouths were agape, so wide they could practically fit a stone inside. This... must cost at least 100,000 taels of silver?
One hundred thousand taels!!
What does all this mean?
Is there really that much money in the world? In their minds, even the richest family in Nanzhou didn't have that much money!
Granny Zhao squeezed in and exclaimed, "The Minister of Rites makes so much money!"
Upon hearing this, Zhongqiu's eyes widened: "Pah, pah, pah! Don't you dare slander my master. A minister only earns two hundred taels of silver a year! This money is all accumulated by the Shen family."
“Our Shen family is the Marquis of Dingguo’s mansion! We own thirty or forty estates alone. Not to mention our shops and merchant ships.”
The villagers listened and whispered among themselves, praising Ye Caiping for marrying well.
"I always thought that Caiping was making so much money that she would be at a loss no matter who she married. I never expected that Mr. Shen's family would be so powerful as well."
......
Ye Er's family.
Ye Peng was chopping wood, while Wei Xiaojuan sat to the side eating sunflower seeds.
Mrs. Wei was hanging up the laundry: "Hmph, this father and daughter have already disappeared so early in the morning!"
"I can't believe Caiping is engaged!" A villager's voice suddenly rang out from outside.
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