0p0 Chapter 883 Dowry!
Chapter 883 Dowry!
"Haven't we already given her gifts? Besides, she's a married woman, how could we give Ah Xuan so much?"
Mu Qingxuan frowned and said, "Sister Chunyu, I dare not accept so much money. You should take it back to your sister. She will probably need more money in the future."
"Don't worry, Your Highness. Who is the Lady? Would she be short of money? The Lady said that this portion was given to her by the Madam and Master when she got married, and it did not come from the public funds. Therefore, the Lady thought that now that you are getting married and are an adult, she would give this to you. Please accept it."
"This is a 200,000 tael silver note! No, I can't accept it."
At this moment, Madam Li stepped forward and said with a smile, "Ah Xuan, since it's your sister's idea, just accept it. Later, see what Princess Qing likes, and buy it for her. Your sister is backing you up."
Mu Chang'an and Mu Qingxuan only realized what was happening at that moment.
Duanmu Qing is a princess and a member of the royal family. Mu Xin Nuan was worried that Prince Su would look down on the Mu family, which is why she was so generous. She also gave so many gifts on the occasion of the marriage of Prince Ming's heir. At the same time, she took out 200,000 taels of her own private money. To put it bluntly, she didn't want people to look down on the Mu family.
When Mu Chang'an saw how thoughtful his daughter was, he felt a pang of sadness.
He was a scholar, and although he had served as an official for twenty years, he had never been good at managing the affairs of the household. If it weren't for Madam Li managing things all these years, he wouldn't know if the Mu family had become poorer day by day!
“Young Master, Madam is right. Please accept this gift. It is Her Majesty’s kind gesture. Besides, you are the eldest son of the household, so this should be done in a respectable and grand manner.”
Mu Qingxuan nodded heavily. "Go back and tell my sister that I know what to do. I will definitely not let her down. The Mu family will only get better and better. Moreover, no matter what happens to the Mu family in the future, we will always uphold our scholarly traditions and remain a distinguished family."
Chunyu's eyes lit up. This young master really understood what the Empress meant.
Mu Chang'an's eyes flickered slightly, but he only nodded silently and said nothing more.
The old man stroked his beard, thinking that his granddaughter's ability to think so far ahead was truly beyond his expectations.
However, with such a granddaughter, the Mu family can go further.
Subsequently, the Mu family was the first to send betrothal gifts.
Firstly, the Mu family's marriage was arranged earlier than Duanmu Xing's land betrothal.
Secondly, this was also Mu Xin Nuan's idea. The Mu family's betrothal gifts should be generous, but they should not exceed those of the Ming Prince's Mansion. Therefore, the Mu family should send their betrothal gifts first to set an example so that the Ming Prince's Mansion could readjust its approach.
This was also to save face for the royal family, and more importantly, to ensure harmony between Prince Ming and Duanmu Chuze, so as not to be instigated by villains.
Duanmu Xing and Mu Qingxuan were originally like good brothers. It's just that they are from different generations.
On the day the Mu family sent out betrothal gifts, Duanmu Xing came along as well.
This not only demonstrates the good relationship between the two families, but also adds weight to Mu Qingxuan.
Prince Su ordered someone to accept the list of betrothal gifts, gave a few more instructions, and then set up a banquet for everyone to have a few drinks.
Generally speaking, the bride's family keeps a portion of the betrothal gifts, and then adds some more.
It's quite rare for someone to marry off their daughter again after the original number has been used.
Back then, Mu Xin Nuan was one of those rare cases.
Duanmu Qing, along with Princess Su and Lady Lu, looked at the betrothal gift list and couldn't stop smiling.
"Just the things bestowed by the Emperor and Empress alone would be enough to make the nobles in the capital look at them with new respect. I never expected there would be so many antiques and paintings, and even a pair of live geese. This Prince Mu is indeed a meticulous person."
Duanmu Qing blushed and remained silent.
Madam Lu teased from the side, "Why isn't my sister saying anything? Is she too happy to express it?"
“My sister-in-law always teases me! If you keep doing this, I’m not going to talk to you anymore.”
Madam Lu covered her mouth and chuckled softly, and Princess Su also chuckled twice. Now that Madam Zhuang was gone, the Prince Su's mansion was much quieter.
After that, Prince Su rarely rested in the other concubines' quarters. For some unknown reason, he ordered the steward to inspect all the concubines' courtyards.
Any item worth more than twenty taels of silver was confiscated.
Prince Su's actions were all too clear: the matter concerning Lady Zhuang had deeply hurt him and made him extremely angry!
For a time, the concubines in the mansion dared not speak out in anger, and could only vent their anger on the unfortunate Zhuang Shi!
If it weren't for her wanton provocation of the princess, how could the concubines have been implicated?
Because he harbored resentment towards the Zhuang family, he naturally had no good feelings towards Duanmu Ya, the daughter of the Zhuang family.
They didn't dare to bully Duanmu Ya openly, but they would inevitably do some dirty tricks behind her back.
So, although Duanmu Ya's food, clothing, and daily necessities haven't been too bad these days, she's still been somewhat miserable.
Since she was no longer a princess, all clothing and utensils that violated the regulations were confiscated.
This made Duanmu Ya hate Princess Su and Duanmu Qing even more!
If it weren't for them, her mother wouldn't have ended up in this state, and she wouldn't have lost her title of princess.
At this point, Duanmu Ya was consumed by jealousy and hatred, secretly cursing Duanmu Qing to make her marriage unsuccessful.
But seeing the many betrothal gifts sent by the Mu family today, many of which she had never seen before, fueled her jealousy even more.
"Duanmu Qing, you bitch, just you wait! I'll teach you a lesson one day."
Duanmu Ya stood at the corner, her eyes filled with malice as she looked at the betrothal gifts. After uttering those words through gritted teeth, she turned around angrily and returned to her own courtyard.
After she left, a young maidservant glanced in her direction, raised an eyebrow, and went to the princess's courtyard.
Princess Su ordered someone to help Lady Lu back to rest. At this time, Duanmu Qing was massaging the princess's legs, saying that she was fulfilling her filial duty.
"Greetings to the princess."
When the princess looked up and saw it was her, she knew that something must have happened to Duanmu Ya.
This time, she no longer allowed Duanmu Qing to avoid her. She couldn't always be kept in the dark about things in the inner quarters.
"But that girl is causing trouble again?"
Duanmu Qing was puzzled, and simply turned to look at the little girl.
The little maid repeated every word that Duanmu Ya had said outside, which made Princess Su so angry that she almost smashed the table!