In mid-July, it is already the beginning of autumn, and the weather is not as hot as the previous few days.
The sky has just revealed a ray of morning light, and the huge city of Bianjing is already busy. Businesses and restaurants have set up their stalls to prepare for business. The morning mist and oil smoke are rising, making Bianjing look like heaven on earth.
Tianbo Mansion, located in the northeast of the inner city, is particularly lively. Bright red lanterns and brocades decorate the entire mansion. Today is the day when the eighth sister Yang is getting married.
In the boudoir, Sister Yang started to get up in the middle of the night to put away her makeup, but she always felt dissatisfied. She was both nervous and excited, and felt that time was really hard.
The maid Mei Jian handed over a glass of wine and said:
"Why should I worry, madam? If there is anything wrong, Mr. Cao will cover it up for us."
Sister Yang was not worried and could not explain her mood at the moment to the maid, but after hearing these words, she relaxed a lot, so she took the wine and drank it slowly.
When she put down the wine cup, her pretty fair face was already stained with a blush.
The maid was about to speak when she saw Sanniang and Wu Niang walking in hand in hand. Sanniang said with a hint of joking on her face:
"I didn't expect that my eighth sister would sometimes be timid about getting married."
When Sister Yang heard this, she became arrogant and denied:
"I won't be timid. It's just a change of place. What's so scary?"
When Sanniang saw this, she wanted to laugh, so she couldn't help teasing her a few more times, and then said with a smile:
"We are here to tell you that your dowry has already amounted to 200,000 yuan, which is no worse than the young lady from the Pang family. You can marry into the Cao family with confidence."
Hearing this, Sister Yang fell silent for a moment, frowned and said:
"Is this too much? The family has always been in a tight situation, and I don't want to compete with the Pang family for power. Cao... Bin won't even care, so why bother with the dowry?"
"If the family spends so much money, won't it mean that they will owe a lot of debt?"
Although the salaries of officials in the Song Dynasty were high, they could not cope with the Yang family's lack of other income. Most of their money was used to support soldiers and aid disabled old troops, so they lived a very frugal life.
Not to mention 200,000 guan, even 10,000 to 20,000 guan would be very difficult for them to come up with.
However, the customs of the Song Dynasty attach great importance to dowry. This is the pride of the daughter's family and their confidence. The husband's family cannot use it.
When an ordinary family marries a daughter, the dowry must be at least twice the bride price. Otherwise, she will be looked down upon by her husband's family and even more despised by her neighbors.
So Sanniang waved her hand and said:
"The old lady said that you and the Pang family's wife have the same status in the Cao family. Even if you are not in charge of the Marquis' Mansion, you cannot be compared with others in terms of dowry."
"Brother Bin may not care about the money, but our Yang family can't be too shabby, let alone lose face. It doesn't matter even if the Yang family borrows huge debts..."
As she spoke, she put on a pitiful look and said:
"Eighth sister, because of you, the third sister-in-law may have to eat chaffy vegetables in the future. If your Cao family is rich, you should think more about your sister-in-law in the future..."
Seeing Sister Yang's troubled and uncomfortable expression, Wu Niang was speechless and quickly interrupted:
"Don't listen to Sanniang's nonsense. Our Yang family has no debt at all. Juncai has already helped solve it."
As she spoke, she took the eighth sister's hand and said with emotion:
"Juncai is very careful and worried that giving us dowry would hurt your face, so he arranged for many shops to deliver business to your door."
Sister Yang was a little confused and said:
"What's our family's business?"
Wu Niang showed a slight smile:
"Yesterday some shopkeepers came to our house. They said they wanted to use your wedding to build a reputation for their products, so they gave a lot of gold and silver jewelry and other items in the name of congratulating the newlyweds."
"Although they didn't explain it, we have guessed that most of those are businesses of the Zhongjing Hou Mansion..."
After saying that, a hint of envy flashed across her eyes, and she looked at the eighth sister and said:
"There are few men in the world who are so careful. If you find a good husband, you should be gentler to others in the future."
Although this method seems a bit philistine and tacky, it can solve the problem at hand, and those merchants have found a good excuse, so it is harmless.
When the eighth sister heard this, she pouted and muttered:
"Where am I not gentle?"
As he spoke, he said with an almond-shaped smile:
"He does have good intentions. Actually, I don't care about this."
Even so, she couldn't help but feel a sense of sweetness in her heart.
Seeing this, Sanniang couldn't help laughing and said:
"Thanks to the eighth sister, we have made a lot of money this time. Who made Brother Bin our brother-in-law?"
Sister Yang was stunned when she heard this, and immediately reacted, saying angrily:
"How could you do this? Cao Lang had good intentions, so he sent the money."
"If he knew that the Yang family intercepted me privately, wouldn't he think that my Yang family is greedy?"
Saying that, he got up and went out regardless of his head full of pearls and his body covered with rosy flowers:
"No, I'll go find my mother and ask for clarification!"
Wu Niang stopped her quickly, and was speechless as she glanced sideways at Sanniang and tried to dissuade her:
"Eighth sister, don't pay attention to your third sister-in-law. She sees you marrying well and feels sour, so she talks crazy and has no integrity."
Seeing that Sanniang was still biting her tongue, Wu Niang smiled softly and said:
"If you dare to speak again, don't blame me for telling you your good deeds!"
When Sanniang heard this, she immediately became unconvinced, glared and shouted:
"Oh, you dull gourd has become a prodigal. I want to hear what good things you can say about me?"
The two of them have always had a good relationship, but Wu Niang is usually taciturn. Now when she heard her threaten him, she suddenly became dissatisfied and angry.
When Wu Niang saw her rude words, she gave her a hard squeeze and sneered:
"Don't think I don't know. When you were in Jiangnan, you took advantage of Juncai to steal money..."
Sanniang's expression changed, she quickly covered her mouth and begged for mercy:
"Good girl, I was wrong. Isn't it okay that I was wrong?"
Wu Niang looked at her with a half-smile and said:
"Sanniang, do you know what to do?"
Sanniang said depressedly:
"I didn't expect you to be the most insidious one. That was a favor given to me by Brother Bin... Forget it, I'll give you 30%, no, 20%, okay?"
Sister Yang glanced at them suspiciously, but had no intention of watching them fight, and asked anxiously:
"Wu Niang, please tell me quickly, what is going on?"
Wu Niang smiled bitterly and said:
"Juncai was too courageous. He was afraid that your dowry was not enough. In addition to the advertising business, he also used the name of your adopted daughter to extort a large amount of money from the Queen Mother."
"So, your dowry has exceeded 200,000 yuan."
"When the young lady from the Pang family married into the Cao family, she had the same amount. We can't exceed her and ruin the harmony of the Cao family."
"So we can only discuss leaving part of the money for the time being, and then slowly replenish it and return it to Juncai..."
After hearing what she said, Sanniang was a little speechless and said:
"I kind of know why Brother Bin asked you to recognize the Queen Mother as your adoptive mother. He had already planned to ask the Queen Mother to help you with your dowry."
"You didn't see the old eunuch's face when he gave us money. I'm afraid the Queen Mother already has a grudge against Brother Shang Bin."
Hearing this, Sister Yang's face suddenly brightened up, and she was a little speechless. Although Cao Bin was considerate, this method was too unethical, and even the Empress Dowager had no idea.
The old man went to Xixia for a trip, and there was not much treasure left over the years. Now that Cao Bin had cheated him again, he probably didn't even have any money left...
