Most of the people living in De'an Lane are scholars. The scholars have gone out to study, and those who stay at home are the old, weak, women and children.
After Mrs. Cheng moved here, she felt a little inferior to her status as a country girl at first. After being complimented for the first time when she went out, she knew that her eldest grandson's status as Tanhua Lang was enough to establish the Cheng family in this area.
Within a few days, Mrs. Cheng became acquainted with the old ladies nearby, and even invited them to a wedding banquet.
A large group of people gathered around the gate of Cheng Mansion and started talking lively.
"The Situ family is quite generous, one carriage after another. How much dowry is this?"
"She looks like she's sixty-four, which can be regarded as Shili Hongzhuang. When we marry a wife in De'an Lane, no one has such a big pomp."
"That's because the two families are well-matched. Mr. Cheng is currently only in the seventh rank, but once he enters the Hanlin Academy, he will have a bright future. The Situ family can't wait a little, because they are afraid that their daughter will be wronged in the Cheng family."
"The Situ family is really rich..."
"Mrs. Situ is the legitimate daughter of the Bai family in Jizhou. The Bai family are salt merchants. Do you think they are short of money?"
The people around looked at the boxes of dowry being lifted off the carriage, and their mouths almost watered with envy.
Old Mrs. Cheng has never felt so happy, and her life seems to have reached its peak at this moment.
In the past few days, she had heard many people talking about her eldest grandson's marriage. Many people said that her eldest grandson could have married a concubine of the He family.
After asking around, she learned that the He family was a second-rank official. If he became Lord He's son-in-law, would Zhao'er still need to worry about promotion?
If she had some regrets before leaving her eldest grandson's marriage to Cheng Wanwan, now, that trace of regret has disappeared.
Marrying a second-grade He family, marrying a concubine of the He family, the He family will definitely not pay attention to this marriage, but will overtly and covertly suppress their Zhao'er.
They, Zhao'er, finally managed to leap over the dragon's gate, how could they suffer such cowardice in the He family.
And this Situ family is just right, a fifth-rank official, neither high nor low, well matched. Miss Situ San is the legitimate daughter and is loved by all. So Zhao'er also has the right to speak in the Situ family. Master Situ will definitely support this outstanding son-in-law.
Now that the Cheng family has raised their heads and become human beings, they can no longer let others step on them.
Mrs. Cheng, dressed in red, welcomed the Situ family in with a smile on her face. Sixty-four carried the dowry, and the servants carried it for a while before they all carried it in.
The eldest young master of Situ's residence stood tall and tall, and the butler Li Bo began to read the dowry list.
"The phoenixes and the phoenixes sing in harmony, let's look happy when the makeup is on!"
"Rose sandalwood enamel bed, bright red brocade embroidered mandarin duck wedding quilt, western screen bronze mirror stand, glazed dressing box..."
"Red lacquer descendant bucket, bird and animal hand warmer..."
"Jadeite pearl tiara, jasper butterfly green hairpin, Tuanhe and Begonia earrings..."
"Fox fur pieces, mink fur robes, brocade silk..."
"Eight villages in the suburbs of Beijing, eight popular shops in the capital, eight houses in the city..."
Li Bo was methodical and read slowly, pausing to take a sip of water after reciting a category.
The onlookers were okay. After all, they had lived in the capital for many years and had never seen pork or pigs running around. The dowry for the legitimate daughter of a wealthy family was at least sixty-four, and those with a rich family might even have one hundred and twenty. It's just that they didn't expect that a fifth-grade official could raise so much dowry.
The Cheng family had long been stunned, as if each one had been struck by lightning.
They still remember that when Ergou married his wife, many people who went to Dahe Village to see the excitement came back and reported that Ergou's wife brought gold and silver to marry her to Dahe Village. At that time, they were almost jealous to death.
Unexpectedly, the Cheng family also married a daughter-in-law who was worth a fortune.
Old Mrs. Cheng was the first to react and said with a calm smile: "The Cheng Mansion has prepared a generous banquet for a long time. Master Situ, Butler Li, and all of you are here to invite us."
Today was not a formal wedding banquet. Only those who came to deliver dowries could take their seats. The crowd watching at the door dispersed immediately.
Cheng Zhao led Young Master Situ and others to their seats and asked people to bring out the food and wine.
There were four or five tables in the yard. Cheng Wanwan, Mrs. Cheng and others sat together. The banquet was indeed quite sumptuous. She heard from Mrs. Qi that Cheng Zhao had invited the chef from Qianlixiang Restaurant in Beijing to cook. The tables, chairs, dishes and dishes are also provided there. You only need to pay for them, which is quite convenient.
"I didn't expect the Situ family to be so rich..." Sister-in-law Cheng whispered, "If a little bit of Zhao's daughter-in-law's money leaks out from her fingers, it will be enough for us to spend a while."
Mrs. Cheng ate her food without saying anything.
Cheng Wanwan said softly: "If a mother-in-law in Dahe Village uses her daughter-in-law's dowry, she will be stabbed in the spine. There should be such rules in the capital. If the sister-in-law wants others to see Zhao'er's jokes, she can do it. Use your daughter-in-law’s things.”
Upon hearing this, Mrs. Cheng immediately threw down her chopsticks: "Boss, wife, you should change your habit of taking advantage. Think about it, can Zhao'er's wife be an outsider? She is the relative of Zhao'er's future child." Mom, if she can’t spend all her things, she will definitely spend them on her children, that is, on the Cheng family. Do you want to calculate what belongs to your grandchildren? "
Thinking of this, Sister-in-law Cheng felt relieved immediately. She quickly gave Mrs. Cheng a piece of food with chopsticks and said with a smile: "I was just joking, why are you so anxious... But Zhao'er's wife will definitely bring it." Many maids and mothers-in-law come in, do we have to buy a few people in our family..."
"We country people have hands and feet, so why do we need people to take care of us?" Old Mrs. Cheng looked calmly, "My old lady doesn't need people to take care of her. If you want to use my wife's money, then earn money and buy it yourself. people."
Sister-in-law Cheng had no choice but to shut up.
She doesn't have the same social skills as the old lady. She's in total darkness when she goes out. She can't tell the difference between east and west, so where to make money.
Mrs. Cheng was eating her food, but she had her own plans in mind.
The Situ family must not be willing to let their daughter suffer. There will definitely be more than a dozen maids, wives and boys. Some will clean the yard, buy vegetables and cook, and chop wood and boil water... From this look, the Cheng family needs to do it themselves. There are not many things...
After the luncheon, Master Situ left with his people.
The Cheng family still needs to continue to be busy. The dowry needs to be stored in the warehouse, and all the things used in the new house have to be put out... With these things, the new house finally looks decent.
Cheng Wanwan left Mrs. Qi and Mrs. Yang behind, and went to the outskirts of the city to pick up Zhao Sanniu.
Tomorrow Cheng Zhao needs to go to pick up his bride. There are only two young brothers in the family, so it is not suitable to ride on horseback to pick up his bride. Old Mrs. Cheng arranged for Shen Zheng and Zhao Sanniu to go there together. Now she can’t care about the details of whether her surname is Wai or Wai. , we cannot let the Situ family find fault.
That night, the Cheng family was destined to have no sleep.
Cheng Wanwan had a good sleep, got up early to dress up, and headed to the outskirts of the city to attend the wedding.
