Chapter 120 Chapter 120

During the confinement period in March and April, the temperature was still very comfortable, neither too hot nor too cold, just the right temperature. Yao Niang and Shen Linfeng named their little son, Zhi.

The daughter Ruofu looked very much like a Hu girl from the Western Regions, with a high nose bridge, fair skin and big eyes. The son looked different from his mother Shen Linfeng. He had some feminine features and was more delicate than his sister.

When the baby was one month old, Yan Jingzhao held his nephew and looked at him for a long time. Shen Linfeng remembered that his son was only three days old, and his brother-in-law was not as experienced as his father-in-law who had raised so many children, so he made an excuse to let the wet nurse take the child away.

This time Yan Jingzhao returned to the Imperial Academy, which was a very important matter, as Jieshizhong was not an ordinary position.

Pang Qian from the Pang family and Pang Fuyin and his wife have all come. Yao Niang has been in confinement for a full month and a half and is in good spirits now, so she is in high spirits when she comes out to meet the guests.

"My dear madam, I didn't expect you to come here in person. It really brings honor to our humble home." Yao Niang said with a smile.

Madam Pang saw that Yao Niang was young, capable, and not a person who looked down on others. She even introduced her to the wife and daughter-in-law of Yan Gelao, her natal family. These were not people that Madam Pang could come into contact with on a daily basis. She also saw Yao Niang talking to the wife of Commander Liu and the wife of the Duke of Fuguo, Princess Jianing, and she felt that her family was of high status.

Yao Niang had met Madam Liu last year on Sister Fu's birthday. They hadn't seen each other for a long time, but she was still thinking about Sister Shan. "How is the marriage going? Has it been settled?"

Mrs. Liu shook her head and said, "It's hard to find a good husband these days. You can't even find a husband like yours even with a lantern."

Shen Linfeng is indeed handsome and talented, otherwise Yao Niang would not have agreed in the end.

However, she comforted Mrs. Liu, "Don't worry, with Miss Shan's talent and appearance, she will definitely find the best man in the world."

Madam Liu nodded and said, "Today is your son's full-month celebration. You don't need to entertain me. Go and get busy first."

Yao Niang smiled and went to find her daughter Fu Jie'er. The child was still a little unfamiliar after not seeing her for a month. Fortunately, Yao Niang teased her for a few times and she fell into her arms again. However, Xie Shi was reluctant to let her go: "Fu Jie'er had a good time at our house. Run'er and her uncle played together every day. When she suddenly came back, the two children were not used to it."

"Mom, I know you can't bear to leave Sister Fu. But, since you can't bear to leave me and I can't bear to leave you, isn't it a good thing for us to visit each other more often? The more we visit each other, the closer our relationship will be." Yao Niang smiled.

Xie said quietly, "You don't know, it's all because Fu Jie'er was placed in our home, your second sister seemed to want to place her daughter with your sister-in-law, but luckily your sister-in-law said that Run Ge'er was tough and independent, so it was difficult to agree."

In fact, Li is a very easy-going person. She is very kind and generous. Unlike Yaoniang, who is too clear-cut, she doesn't take many things to heart. Moreover, Qianniang's attitude towards Yaoniang and Li is also different. Qianniang has always been a pushover towards Li. When Run'er came back last time, he had a cough and it was Qianniang who helped him find folk remedies everywhere to cure him. Although Yaoniang is good to her nephew, she still puts her family first and won't be too involved.

She always felt that after getting married, everyone had their own family. She would help her relatives as much as she could, but her own family should always be the priority.

But this time, Li refused. A very important reason was that she was afraid of what the first wife would say. After all, Qianniang was from the first wife's family and she was very clear about this.

Yao Niang was speechless: "She only has this one daughter, why should she leave her mother's house to take care of her? I don't know what she is thinking. Last time Gong Ding was promoted to a senior official, Brother-in-law Wen came to celebrate, but she didn't come. I think she is even less thoughtful than Ying Niang."

"Mrs. Ying never comes to visit unless she has something important to do. Every time Mrs. Zhen sees Miss Shen coming to visit, she hopes that Mrs. Ying will bring back Miss Xu." Mrs. Xie said.

Yao Niang smiled and said, "Ying Niang is a poor and incompetent girl. She came here last month and talked nonsense, so I scolded her and she ran away. She is an open person, while the second sister is a secret person. They have different ways. But it is not realistic to ask Ying Niang to go back often."

The Yan family is now busy with Yan Ningxin's marriage. Yan Yingqi does not want to make a big fuss because his daughter had made a scandal before, and of course he does not want to do it this time. The dowry is 12,000 taels of silver from the public treasury, and Zhou Lingguang's betrothal gift is very small, so Yan Ningxin's dowry is not much either.

Zhou Lingguang was only a Hanlin, and the salary of the Hanlin Academy was not much. It was also a poor government office. It was not easy for him to manage everything. The Yan family did not mind giving up anything. In view of Yan Ningxin's criminal record, Yan Yingqi would naturally not marry her off generously. You know, marrying a daughter may drain the family's money. The public court was willing to pay 10,000 taels, and Yao Niang also returned about 20 taels of dowry to compensate her in time, which almost made up half of the dowry, a total of 64 taels.

When the dowry was delivered, the young ladies of the Yan family also rushed back from their husband's house. Yan Ningxin was filled with mixed feelings when she saw her sisters. She was now only focused on getting married, and she always felt that time was passing quickly. She was inevitably a little nervous about becoming a stepmother in the future.

"Thank you, sisters." Yan Ningxin didn't care what they thought, now that she was able to come over, she felt that there was no need to worry.

Yao Niang smiled and said, "Big sister, today you are sending your wedding dowry, and tomorrow you will be leaving the palace. Your husband and my husband are both in the Hanlin Academy, so you should keep in touch with each other."

"Well, third sister, I haven't thanked you for the dowry yet." Yan Ningxin said.

Yao Niang shook her head, saying that she only needed to do her part well. However, Ying Niang thought to herself that her third sister took a hundred loads of dowry from her eldest sister, but only returned twenty or so loads. It was really like the sheep paying for the wool.

But she couldn't tell the story directly, because her father had said at the time that marrying off his daughter was to compensate the Shen family. It was said that after her third sister married into the Shen family, someone made things difficult for her on the first day of her wedding. Moreover, Yingniang was afraid that if she told the story, her third sister would come and fight with her.

However, she was somewhat dissatisfied that her father favored her third sister, and even favored her third brother-in-law. It was really...

Thinking of this, she didn't want to stay here anymore, so she went to Zhen's place. She dared to say more to Zhen: "Eldest sister is only sixty years old when she gets married, and her dowry is too shabby. Why don't you take her dowry back from Third Sister?"

"Take it? How are you going to get back the things you gave away? Yingniang, you've been married for several years and have a son, but I think you still don't look far enough. What kind of person is your elder sister? Your father didn't even prepare a big banquet for the guests, for fear that something might happen during the process and people would laugh at him. Besides, where is the family with so much money now? The 10,000 taels from the public treasury were all collected from selling fields and shops." Zhen shook her head.

In the past, Zhen Shi was much better off than Xie Shi, and she had more money to spend. When her father-in-law passed away, she spent a lot of money on the funeral. Later, when Ying Niang got married, she secretly gave her a lot of dowry and bought a house in Beijing as a dowry for her daughter. She did not use her private property, and almost all of it was from the first house. This time, Yan Ningxin was getting married in the eldest house, so where would she get so much money?

This time, Yao Niang returned more than twenty pieces of dowry, and the relatives each sent more than ten pieces, so Zhen saved a lot of money.

The prime minister's family can have whatever they want, right? Now the family has a small opera troupe, and the old man usually appreciates famous paintings and holds some elegant gatherings. All these things require expenses, and the family is big and prosperous.

Yingniang was surprised: "Has it come to this?"

"You think everyone in the world is rich? The life of the third house is better than ours. You also know that your father is partial to you." Zhen used to sit on the fishing platform and fish, but now she has just woken up from her dream and feels that her position as the mistress is not stable. Just look at how Yan Jingzhao's wife married the daughters of high officials, but her daughter-in-law is still an orphan like Xin Wan.

I also heard Yingniang complaining: "Dad is only nice to my third brother-in-law, but always indifferent to your son-in-law."

Zhen was getting more and more upset, but she couldn't vent her anger. She seemed to know a fact in her heart. She used to think that if she had power and wealth, she wouldn't have to worry about anything, and that was what women should pursue. But later she felt that the older she got, the more empty she felt, and the more she needed someone to accompany her.

If Xie encountered any problems, her husband would help her out and she would have to face them alone.

"My daughter, you must hold on to a man's heart." Zhen sighed.

In just a few years, Zhen had taught her to only value glory and wealth, and Yingniang agreed indifferently.

The Yan family was still so lively, with several sons-in-law surrounding Yan Yingqi. Yan Jingzhao felt that he could hardly squeeze in, and thought that he should have more daughters so that his potential sons-in-law would please him in the future.

…

Yan Ningxin's marriage was handled in a very low-key manner. She got married so smoothly, and the Yan family was relieved of their worries.

Three days later, when Yao Niang returned home, she saw Yan Ningxin's charming face and felt that Zhou Lingguang treated her well. Yan Ningxin went through all kinds of hardships. When she returned home, Yan Yingqi called her over and explained: "Your cousin didn't say a word for you after you committed a crime. Now you are married, and you don't have any dowry. The Duke has sold a manor in Xiaotangshan and four shops along the street to buy your dowry. I don't need you to remember any favors from the Yan family. Your father's official position here will always be your support. Your mother passed away early, and some words should have been said by her. Now only I can say them. I know Zhou Lingguang has a child. I am not worried that you are not good to the child, but I am worried that you are too good to the child. After all, you still have a son of your own, which is better than anything else. That is your real blood relative. Don't think that what you think is right. Unless you can also be a prime minister, you have to listen to me."

If he was talking to Yao Niang, she would know the end as soon as he mentioned the beginning, and he would never do anything bad. Yan Ningxin was a person who meant well but did bad things, and he had a very unclear self-awareness. He had to make his words so clear.