Chapter 28 The Dowry Controversy
At this time, everyone had finished breakfast and went to the sea or to work in the fields. When someone saw them and asked them where they were going, they naturally would not hide it. Soon the villagers knew that Jiang Hongyu was going to propose to Ye Mingzhu.
When Lu Jingya heard the news, she almost bit her teeth. The marriage had already been arranged, so why did she still need to pay the betrothal gift?
Isn't she just an orphan without a father or a mother? The Jiang family gave her too much face.
When Aunt Jiang and the others arrived, Ye Mingzhu and her brother had already finished breakfast and were sitting and talking with Fang.
Knowing that the Jiang family was coming to propose marriage, Ye Mingzhu boiled a pot of water in advance and put sugar in it.
A few people came in, Aunt Jiang put down the things she brought, Mrs. Fang came up to talk to them, Ye Mingzhu went to the kitchen to get a few clean bowls, and poured a bowl of sugar water for each person.
"Aunties, drink some water." Ye Mingzhu said with a smile.
Someone picked up the bowl and took a sip. Her eyes lit up instantly. It turned out to be sugar water. She touched the arm of the aunt next to her, raised her chin slightly, pointed at the bowl on the table, and made a mouth shape of sugar water.
Seeing her expression, the other aunts took the food and took a bite, with the same smile on their faces.
It seems that the second son of the Ye family is gone, and Ye Mingzhu is also a sensible person.
When Aunt Jiang saw the satisfied expressions of the other aunts, the smile on her face became even more pronounced.
The Jiang family has been exiled to a remote place, but they cannot be careless with their only daughter-in-law. Seeing Ye Mingzhu's graceful and elegant demeanor, she felt relieved.
"We are here today to propose marriage. These things are for Mingzhu. I hope you two can live a good life in the future." Feng Guilan gestured at the things on the table with her eyes.
Ye Mingzhu lowered her head and glanced at Fang.
Fang immediately took over the conversation: "Mingzhu is the only daughter of our Ye family. She was also spoiled when she was growing up in her mother's family. Hongyu must not let Mingzhu suffer any injustice in the future."
Aunt Jiang nodded immediately: "From now on, I will treat Mingzhu as my own daughter."
Fang nodded.
Feng Guilan's smile grew even brighter. "You two are a perfect match, a talented man and a beautiful woman. Your best days are yet to come."
Fang smiled and said, "Then I'll borrow your good words, sister-in-law."
Feng Guilan said a few more polite words, and Fang responded with a smile.
Finally, Aunt Jiang spoke up: "There are only the two of us in our family, so there aren't that many rules. As long as you live a good life in the future, that's all that's fine."
Ye Mingzhu blushed slightly, nodded slightly and lowered her head.
Seeing that the matter was settled and the others were about to leave, Ye Mingzhu poured each of the aunts a bowl of water.
When seeing everyone off, Aunt Jiang held Ye Mingzhu's hand and said, "Hongyu is so lucky to marry you."
Ye Mingzhu smiled and nodded, then calmly put away the two silver ingots in her hand.
Back in the house, Ye Mingzhu placed the two silver ingots in her hand on the table.
Fang picked it up and examined it. "It seems the Jiang family values this marriage very much. These two silver ingots are new. They must have been exchanged in the town specifically for them."
Ye Mingzhu felt a sweet feeling in her heart. Although their marriage was unexpected, the fact that the other party valued her so much was a good start.
When she opened the bags of snacks and food, Fang could no longer hide the surprise on her face.
"I didn't expect the Jiang family to be so wealthy?"
There are two kinds of dim sum, osmanthus cake and dragon and phoenix pastry, which are the most expensive dim sum sold in town.
The food is actually rice and white flour, both of which are fine grains.
Even if you take out just one of them, they are all extraordinary.
Fang closed the bag and told Ye Mingzhu, "Keep all these things safe and don't let anyone know. Although our village is relatively peaceful, there are always people who don't like others getting what they want. Losing things is a small matter, but I'm worried that someone might ruin your reputation. Be careful when you go to bed these days."
Ye Mingzhu nodded: "Thank you, Uncle San. When you leave later, take a box of snacks for Yunli and the others."
Fang quickly waved her hands. She couldn't bear to eat such an expensive thing.
Ye Mingzhu took up a box of snacks and stuffed it into her hands: "Yunli is my brother, just like Yunan, no matter how good the snacks are, they still have to be eaten."
Fang had no choice but to accept it.
She originally wanted to help Ye Mingzhu out of kindness for Uncle Ye, but since Ye Mingzhu was so sensible, her smile became more sincere.
Outside the courtyard, several aunts curiously asked Aunt Jiang, "Doctor Jiang, what did you prepare for Mingzhu? Several big bags."
Aunt Jiang smiled and said, "Two pieces of cloth, two boxes of snacks and food."
Several people looked at each other with shock in their eyes. Even Feng Guilan was a little surprised. This was a big deal from the Jiang family.
Before noon, the news that Jiang Hongyu's betrothal gift was two pieces of cloth, two boxes of snacks and grain had spread throughout the village.
When Lu Jingya heard the news, she was fiddling with the silver she had earned from her wedding dress. After repairing the dress, she sold it for seven taels of silver. After deducting the six taels she gave to the Jiang family, she still had one tael left.
She was just wondering how to spend the remaining tael when she heard the news.
Lu Jingya clenched the change in her hand until it hurt.
"Could it be that the Jiang family has any demands on the Ye family?" Lu Jingya really didn't want to believe that Jiang Hongyu had set his eyes on Ye Mingzhu, otherwise how could the Jiang family be willing to offer such a large betrothal gift.
Although no one knew what kind of food was given to the Ye family, the two full bags must have weighed at least 70 or 80 kilograms.
Not to mention anything else, just this amount of food is enough to marry a wife.
The more Lu Jingya thought about it, the sadder she felt, as if there was a fire burning in her heart. She put the silver away and walked towards the village.
"Oh, isn't this Miss Lu? Why are you strolling around the village at this time?" Ye Yunkang had nothing to do after dinner, and as soon as he came out he saw Lu Jingya.
"I came out to digest my food after dinner." Lu Jingya took two steps back.
Ye Yunkang showed a sarcastic smile. As soon as the news of the Jiang family's betrothal gift to the Ye family spread in the village, she came out for a stroll. She thought everyone knew about it.
"Are you upset after hearing that my cousin received a high betrothal gift? Logically speaking, your family and the Jiang family were exiled from the capital together. You and Jiang Hongyu are about the same age, so why didn't he value you?"
Ye Yunkang said this indifferently, but his eyes were fixed on Lu Jingya.
Lu Jingya wanted to argue, but didn't know how to say it. She suddenly remembered that Ye Yunkang was Ye Mingzhu's cousin.
Then, if she marries Ye Yunkang, will she be her cousin's wife? Isn't she marrying Jiang Hongyu? If she marries Ye Yunkang, even Jiang Hongyu will have to call her cousin's wife.
As for whether Ye Yunkang was willing to marry her, she didn't think it was a problem. After all, she was a lady from a wealthy family in Beijing. Wouldn't it be easy for her to seduce a country boy?
In the evening, a piece of gossip that shocked the whole village spread. Ye Yunkang and Lu Jingya were caught having a secret meeting at the end of the village. Ye Yunkang said on the spot that he was going to marry Lu Jingya.
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