"Where are Zhuo Lengping's parents?" A steward wearing a bright red coat and many of his minions carried a heavy box of betrothal gifts to the door.
Leng Ping was sitting in front of the kang, peering through the paper window to see what was going on outside, when she saw her mother had already rushed out to greet her.
"I am Leng Ping's mother." Old lady Zhang saluted and said.
"Since the two families exchanged Geng invitations, and the eight characters match, the marriage is done immediately. Mr. Lu then taught me to wait for the betrothal gift, a total of ninety taels of silver, do you want to see it?"
Although Mrs. Zhang felt that the betrothal gift was small and she didn't look like she was marrying a real wife, she was extremely poor in her daily life. When she saw such a big box of money, she couldn't help but be moved. She flattered her and said, "Master Lu is so generous! He did things like this. Zhou Quan, how dare we, the Zhuo family, not retaliate with death!"
"Just understand." The steward sneered.
"I wonder when the wedding date is?"
"Master Lu, after reading the almanac, will marry you two days after tomorrow. Just take this money and make your daughter dress up!" the steward said in a commanding tone.
Old lady Zhang was very happy at this moment. She quickly said 'yes' with a smile and sent them out.
"Daughter, mother, use this silver to buy jewelry now!" Old lady Zhang looked at her daughter's scorched face, and then looked at the dazzling box of snowflake silver. She felt sour in her heart that she sobbed and shed several lines. tears.
"Mom, why are you crying..." Zhuo Lengping comforted his mother while feeling suspicious.
Old lady Zhang stopped crying. Without saying a word, she picked up a few silver grains and headed out of the house. When Zhuo Lengping saw her, she quickly calmly persuaded her: "Mother, I know you want Lengping to live a good life as soon as possible. But we have to weigh it first."
"What are you still weighing? No matter how stingy his family is, it's still better than living a life of having one meal and no next meal!"
"Mom, this matter must not be taken lightly. I think his family is acting so sloppily. He didn't explain to his mother how to plan the marriage. He didn't even send the groom's family a letter of approval at the beginning. He just said that 'everything matches'. How could it be possible? Is this the truth? Besides, the betrothal gift is too small, which violates the regulations. I think it is clear that I want to take a concubine. Why not just hold this box of betrothal gift still and not take any of it. When the time comes, it will be revealed, and it will be easy to keep it with the government. If you fight hard, you won't suffer the consequences of being dumb." Zhuo Lengping doesn't talk often, but now he had to make it clear to his mother.
But Zhang Laozi curled her lips and said: "No matter if his family asks you to be his wife or concubine, won't we all have enough food and clothing? If you had followed Magistrate Ye back then, how could you be where we are today? My daughter, don't worry about it. ”
Zhuo Lengping didn't take it seriously, but he was afraid of hurting his mother's heart, so he just fiddled with the corners of his clothes and remained silent.
Her mother was overjoyed, picked up the money, closed the door happily, and ran to the street.
"Sir, I took someone to see it. The mother and daughter's family is not ordinary poor. It's hard to say poor. It's simply abject poverty!"
The steward knelt in front of a grand master's chair, and sitting on it was the master of the Lu family, the father of Lu Jishou, Lu Zhengfu. This Lu Zhengfu was a well-respected local wealthy man. Because his family's shops were all over Yangzhou, he had been famous in Yizheng County for a long time. Even the county magistrate had to respect him.
His son Lu Jishou was already in his twenties, but he did not take the exam or do farm work. He had nothing to do all day. He not only looked for flowers and willows everywhere, but also muttered some nonsense about Yin Yang, Five Elements, the nature of heaven and earth, etc., which made the whole area of Yangzhou Prefecture. None of the powerful men in his family dared to marry his daughter to him, so his father had to pick and choose, and so far he has no wives or concubines.
Lu Zhengfu was out for business the day before yesterday, so Lu Jishou was left to do whatever he wanted at home. When he came back these two days, he found out that his son had made his own decision, and had taken a liking to someone else's daughter, and secretly made an engagement to the Zhuo family. He was very angry, but he always doted on his son, so he never scolded him, he just sighed. Later, he paid a betrothal gift because he wanted to take this opportunity to find out the details of the Zhuo family.
After hearing what the steward said, Lu Zhengfu was very angry: "My longevity is really poor! You have to choose a woman like this... teach us how to marry the Lu family! We are really not afraid of our ancestors being humiliated!"
"Otherwise, please advise the young master to write a letter of revocation of the engagement." The steward advised.
Lu Zhengfu squinted his eyes: "What are you talking about! Shou'er wants to marry this woman, but we can't break his heart."
"Then this slave doesn't know what to do."
Lu Zhengfu picked up the folding fan and shook it in his hand. After thinking for a long time, he suddenly had an idea and hit his head with the handle of the fan: "Let's do this! Our Lu family only told her family that we would marry her, and when the woman came in, How about just taking her as my concubine?"
"If they file a lawsuit..."
"Sue the magistrate?" Lu Zhengfu laughed heartily, "They dare not! If these mother and daughter are really so bold, all I have to do is write a secret letter to the magistrate myself and get through. How difficult is it? I only need to live for a long time. I agree, everything is easy to talk about!”
The steward retired and asked Mr. Lu about taking concubines. Mr. Lu hurriedly said: "Anyone who can get this beauty will be my wife or concubine!"
When the steward heard this, he felt much more at ease. He reported back to the master and sent someone to deliver the wedding invitation and went to Zhuo's house to welcome the bride.
Zhuo Lengping held a bronze mirror and sat in front of the Kang. The mirror had a unique luster she had never seen before. She stared at herself in the mirror in surprise, looking directly at the pair of brows with light clouds and the two really mesmerizing eyes.
Unfortunately, he has been poor for a long time and has not applied makeup, so his face looks yellow and thin. She then glanced at the rouge box on the table and took it gently, fearing that the box of rouge would fall to the ground because of a shake of her hand.
When she opened the box, a strong fragrance hit her nostrils, almost making her dizzy. Her face turned red, like an immature girl, and she excitedly wiped it on her face in front of the mirror. She felt the rouge was cool, like a drop of dew falling from the sky to soothe her soul. The corners of her eyes gradually became moist, and she realized in a daze that she deserved such a right that seemed insignificant to outsiders.
She took out a hosta as thin as needle thread and slightly tied up her loose green hair. She looked in the mirror one last time and saw that her cheeks were rosy, her skin was as white as snow, and a bit of bright rouge on her lips made her face even more beautiful.
She was so excited that she didn't want to leave even half a step away, and she was stunned.
"Where is the bride? The Lu family is here to welcome the bride!"
But the noisy voices outside the house were still urging her desperately, urging her to see the husband who didn't want to marry.
"I came out with my daughter!"
Mrs. Zhang smiled at the steward who came to deliver the wedding invitation, and held her daughter's hand as she walked over.
"Where is the young master? It's not about welcoming the bride..."
"What?" The steward looked puzzled.
"The young master is waiting at home, just let me guide you!"
