Chapter 98: Getting Married (Part 1)

  Shu Hua and Zhao Xuanhuan sat quietly side by side without saying anything else.

  Shu Hua took half a day to make up her mind and leave the house alone, without bringing anyone with her, heading towards Yao Hua's courtyard.

  Yao Hua was resting in bed when she suddenly heard Xiang Zhu say, "Eldest Miss has arrived." She quickly sat up with a start.

  Xiang Zhu followed Shu Hua into the house, "Second Miss hasn't slept yet, she's been waiting for Eldest Miss all along." She said with a smile as she moved the quilt to Yao Hua's bedside. After Shu Hua sat down, Xiang Zhu retreated and went out.

  Yao Hua saw Shu Hua, curved her lips and smiled slightly, "I thought sister wasn't coming, I heard during the day that sister had arrived and was waiting anxiously, so I asked Xiang Zhu to support me to go forward and see sister, who knew that after walking halfway, I got tired and couldn't move." But didn't mention being scared by Zhao Xuan Huan.

  Shu Hua frowned as she looked at Yao Hua's warm and gentle smile, but Yao Hua didn't notice anything out of the ordinary and continued to chat with her enthusiastically. "Sister, how are you feeling?" She asked carefully, examining Shu Hua closely. "Your complexion looks much better than before." As she spoke, she reached out to take Shu Hua's hand.

  Yao Hua's hand was icy cold, but she still cared about her.

  It's been a few days since I've seen Yao Hua, and she seems to have lost a lot of weight. Her big eyes sparkle as she looks at her, with a tired face that evokes sympathy.

  Shu Hua thought for half a day before making up her mind, took out the sachet from her sleeve and threw it on Yao Hua's bed. "Tell me, what's going on here?"

  Yao Hua looked at the sachet that had been thrown over with some confusion, and raised her head to look at Shu Hua, "Sister, what's wrong with this sachet?"

  Shu Hua said coldly, "Don't think I don't know, those nuns who pretend to be mysterious have some powder that is specifically used to harm people, and the sachet you made has those things in it. I heard that mother listened to Ma Dao's words a while ago and almost let her build a family temple in the mansion. This Ma Dao often comes to your room, tell me, do these things have anything to do with you?"

  Yao Hua's eyes widened suddenly, and it wasn't until after a while that she finally understood Shu Hua's meaning. It was as if she had heard something unbelievable. "Sister means I made this sachet on purpose to harm sister?" Her whole body seemed to have all its energy sucked out of it, going limp against the headboard, her mouth tightly closed and biting her lips, her face full of grievance, no longer speaking.

  Shu Hua said: "I thought carefully, and indeed during that time when I had a miscarriage, I often went to smell this sachet. I found someone to identify it, and inside there are ingredients that can cause abortion."

  "Is sister because of this spice that had a miscarriage?"

  Shu Hua was slightly stunned, she asked Lang Zhong, although there were abortifacient spices in it, but that wasn't the main reason.

  Yao Hua's lips trembled, "Why would I harm my sister? Don't I want to see my sister do well? Don't I want the Tao family to prosper?"

  Shu Hua took a glance at Yao Hua and said her guess: "Maybe you want to marry into the Zhao family."

  Yao Hua initially couldn't believe it, then looked at her sister with a disappointed face. "Sister, why do you have to use such words to belittle me? Have I been so poisonous all these years? Is the sisterly love between us for over a decade all fake? I didn't know you thought of me this way. What did I do to make you distrust me?" As she spoke, she suddenly became anxious and started coughing nonstop.

  Yao Hua's thin body kept heaving, unable to catch her breath. Shu Hua habitually reached out a hand to pat Yao Hua's back.

  Yao Hua said: "From the beginning, Miss didn't like me. Later, after the incident of falling into the water, sister truly started to treat me well. Although these years sister has been saying that she owes me, I never thought that way. Instead, I think it's better this way. The most important thing in life is relationships. With parents and siblings by my side, I'm already content." She smiled wistfully, "I'm like this now, what else can I hope for? Others are one thing, but sister still has feelings for me, right? If not, then I've truly lived a useless life."

  Yao Hua is no longer young and has been staying at home due to her illness, the house always smells strongly of medicinal soup.

  "I only used perfume to cover up the smell of medicine on me, I was just afraid that when I went out, people would dislike me. As for my sister... how could I possibly understand? If I understood, even if I died, I wouldn't give this kind of thing to my sister. I know that in these years, I haven't been a burden to the family and my sister, so don't worry, sister, from now on..." as she spoke, tears fell, "I won't have much time left at home."

  Shu Hua frowned, "What do you mean? Who said what?"

  Yao Hua took out a handkerchief to wipe away her tears, "It's nothing, as long as sister is fine." She said, lowering her head and lying down on the bed.

  Xiang Zhu finished taking her medicine and tears continued to fall down.

  Shu Hua asked Xiang Zhu, "What's going on?"

  Xiang Zhu said: "Miss said that she wants to marry a man named Gu Ying." Then he told Shu Hua about Gu Ying's situation.

  Shu Hua didn't know much about Gu Ying, and upon hearing this today, she was shocked.

  "With so many people in our family, why do you have to marry him? I'll go ask mother what's the reason."

  Yao Hua smiled slightly, "I'm like this now, if I can do something for my family, that's the best, it's also my heart's desire. Why bother to ruin others? So, sister said that part of my thoughts, I don't have them, I can use it to prove it too. I just hope sister won't think of me like that again. I've lost everything, only thinking about grandmother, mother, and sister can hold on, otherwise why would I suffer such a fate? If I had left earlier, it would be more peaceful."

  "I've been ill in bed all my life, and if I don't leave a good name behind, that's okay. But in my sister's heart...I really haven't gotten anything out of this life." Yao Hua said these words with difficulty, and Shu Hua felt a pang of sorrow seeing Yao Hua's expression, her previous suspicions and anger dissipating by half.

  "Don't say that for now, I'll go ask Mother." He said, getting up to let Xiang Zhu take care of Yao Hua, and then walked straight out of Yao Hua's room towards the main courtyard.

  After Shu Hua left, Yao Hua got up and drank the medicine.

  Xiang Zhu asked with a worried face, "Miss, your body is like this, what should we do?"

  Yao Hua felt suffocated in her chest and couldn't help but gasp for breath, it took a long time to calm down. She shook her head at Xiang Zhu, "Nothing."

  Xiang Zhu couldn't help but ask, "Miss, what about that matter?"

  Yao Hua lay down, saying softly: "Now it's probably too late to turn back, can only wait for the future to think of a way...". She looked at Xiang Zhu and continued: "It's just that I'm afraid of implicating you, having to suffer with me together... If I really have to marry him, I will find a way to let you stay in the mansion."

  Xiangzhuzi's eyes welled up with tears, "Miss, what are you saying? No matter where Miss goes, I will always follow."

  ……

  Shu Hua walked into the main wife's room, and the main wife was calculating Rong Hua's dowry with Chen Mama. Seeing Shu Hua coming over, the main wife smiled and beckoned her to sit down, "You also help calculate, see if these dowries are enough."

  Shu Hua didn't have the mood to watch these things, but she mentioned Yao Hua's affairs to the big wife.

  The old lady sighed, "This is also an unavoidable thing, now I can only hope that your eighth sister will get married first and then we'll drag it out here and make plans later."

  Shu Hua frowned, "Mother just watched as the daughter born outside was married off to the Hou Mansion as a lady?" Looking at those dowries, there were even more than she had back then. "But letting a concubine's daughter take advantage of it, and your own biological daughter go sacrifice for the Tao family, what kind of logic is this."

  "Eldest Lady said, "What can be done? The Hou Estate has set its sights on Ronghua. Today, the Third Elderly Lady's side was only suppressed because of your eighth sister's matter. Do you think I'm willing to do this? All these years, I've been fighting for the sake of you two sisters. Now that things have come to this point, there's no use thinking about anything else."

  Shu Hua heard what the old lady said, and thought that Yao Hua had suffered a great loss. Then she heard the old lady say, "Yao Hua has been unfortunate since childhood, I didn't expect her marriage to be like this too. No matter how you put it, we Tao family owe her."

  Shu Hua didn't say anything else and could only sit in the main wife's room for a while before returning to her own courtyard. Shu Hua thought about it repeatedly, feeling that she must have misunderstood Yao Hua, but didn't know how to explain it to Zhao Xuan Huang, so she could only wait until later to slowly clear up this misunderstanding.

  Zhao Xuan Huan saw Shu Hua wanting to speak but stopping, and knew that Shu Hua was again being manipulated by her own sister. Although deep down in her heart Shu Hua had a bit of kindness, it was all used on foolishness, and she didn't even bother to bring up the matter with Shu Hua again. The couple returned to the Hou Mansion together without mentioning it.

  Because of Yanhua and Xiuhua sneaking out to watch the archery competition, the Tao family tightened their control over their daughters who were approaching marriageable age. At banquets, they would only hastily fulfill their obligations before being sent back to their rooms, unable to play with their siblings. Fortunately, this wouldn't last long.

  After the New Year, it was suddenly the day of Ronghua's wedding.

  Early in the morning, Mrs. Dai invited everyone to come and dress up Ronghua's hair. After finishing dressing up, firecrackers were already sounding at the door, and Meng's family came to welcome the wedding.

  Yan Hua's heart tightened, and she couldn't sit still anymore. It was the second aunt who noticed something was amiss and accompanied Yan Hua to change her clothes. Yan Hua looked embarrassed, but the second aunt kept reassuring her on the way, "Everyone is like this, it's no big deal. When I married your uncle, I also had to change my clothes several times."

  Yan Hua's face turned red as she asked in a low voice, "I'm not ready yet, will I miss the timing?"

  The second lady smiled and said: "It won't be that soon, the groom still has to pay respects to his ancestors, kowtow to his parents, and eat the waist food, it'll take a while"

  Yan Hua felt anxious and uneasy in her heart, not knowing what the Meng family was like, and what the situation would be like when she married into their family. What if Meng Chunzi couldn't pass the imperial examination, she didn't know how many years it would take for her to see a way out.

  Yan Hua felt anxious in her heart, while Rong Hua listened to Jin Xiu talking about the excitement up ahead.

  "The sixth young lady and her husband have eaten their wedding cake, now the sixth young lady has gotten into the sedan chair. The young lady hears the music outside is for welcoming the new bride."

  Ronghua listened intently, lost in thought, thinking that in a few days it would be his turn, and he didn't know what would happen then. Thinking this way, his heart couldn't help but feel a wave of panic.

  On the second day, the Tao family sent someone to the Meng's house to investigate. Chen Mama smiled and said: "The mistress is overjoyed. The Mengs are having a grand feast for their guests, it seems there's no problem, soon the Mengs will send gifts over."

  The old lady smiled and nodded, "Just wait for tomorrow's return." When marrying off a daughter, one has to wait until the night of the new marriage is over and the husband's family confirms that the bride's reputation is intact before they acknowledge this daughter-in-law. Only then can the wife's side be called "great joy" and put their minds at ease.

  The next day, Yan Hua and Meng Chun returned home. They first paid respects to their ancestors, then to their parents and relatives. The groom went to the front yard to chat, while Yan Hua went to the flower hall to gather with her sisters.

  After chatting with several sisters, Yanhua went to Ronghua's courtyard again to see Ronghua.

  Ronghua saw Yanhua coming and hastily invited her in to sit down.

  Yan Hua wore a red embroidered phoenix and peony jacket, her face rosy and more radiant than before the wedding, smiling as she sat beside Rong Hua.

  Rong Hua asked: "And what about Liu Jiafu?"

  Yan Hua smiled and said: "I was talking to Father just now, I originally wanted to listen to a few words, but what he said was something I couldn't understand, so I thought it wasn't interesting and came over to see the younger sisters."

  Xiang Qiao chimed in from the side, "It's because Master is afraid that Grandma will find these things uninteresting, so he had Grandma come over to chat with the young ladies."

  Yan Hua smiled with pursed lips and deliberately raised her eyes to look at Rong Hua.

  Yan Hua thought that Lord Hou was a cold and unfeeling person, unlike Liu Ye's husband who was more considerate, so she said something like this.

  Xiang Qiao and Mu Jin went aside to talk, their mouths were also full of Meng's family affairs.

  "Uncle's family is indeed the descendant of Mencius."

  "It's not like those official families outside, even in our own family, there aren't many who take concubines, people from such families are quite particular about this."

  Each sentence is boastful in meaning.

  Yan Hua asked Yong Hua kindly, "How's your preparation going? Do you need me to help? Anyway, I'm also free now."

  Ronghua smiled and said: "I don't have much to do either, but I have a few pieces of embroidery, which is also a way to pass the time."

  The daughter-in-law who came back had to return before dark, Yanhua sat for a while and then followed Meng Chunzi back to the Meng's house.

  After seeing off Renhua, Mugen returned and sneered: "Listen to what the sixth lady says. It seems that we still have to watch our lady's joke. Every sentence boasts about her husband without being ashamed of her red face."

  Jinxiu said, "Forget it, you're not unaware of Sixth Miss's temper. As for whether it's good or bad, only she herself is clear about it." She sat back down beside Ronghua and continued, "However, the Meng family really does care a lot about Sixth Miss. Yesterday they gave quite a few gifts in return, and today Sixth Uncle and Sixth Miss entered the door early in the morning too - no wonder Sixth Miss would be delighted."

  Mu Ge pouted, "Even if you're happy, you shouldn't speak like that in front of others. It's just our young lady's magnanimity, if it were someone else, they would have been scolded by her a few times."

  Jinxiu smiled with pursed lips.

  At the end of March, the Xue family will send over the betrothal gifts.

  All were packed in red lacquer chests with intricate designs and filled an entire house, more than when the Zhao family had betrothed their eldest daughter.

  The lady of the house watched as these gifts were carried in, a smile spreading across her face. She counted twenty-four loads, but as she did, her expression gradually became awkward. Last time, according to what Lady Xue had said, the main household of the Xue family was always quite frugal, so she had guessed that their betrothal gifts wouldn't be many. Moreover, since Yao Hua hadn't married yet, she hadn't prepared too much for Rong Hua either. Now it seemed that if she had followed her original plan and given a modest dowry, she would have lost face.

  After all, she is the eldest son of the main house, and besides, Madam Xue's family has to rely on... She hadn't thought it through before.

  Xue's family had already given seven times seven, which was considered the greatest courtesy.

  Money is secondary, what's important is etiquette. In the marriage of both sides, whether it's the man's betrothal gift or the woman's dowry, there must be a balance, so that neither side covets the other's property. This is the way of a large family. Moreover, the betrothal gifts sent by the man will mostly be used for Brother Hong's marriage in the future, and this also shows people that the young ladies of the Tao family are all properly married out.

  So the Xue family sent a lot, and Mrs. Wang prepared more dowry to match. Moreover, some of the things sent by the Xue family were obviously palace treasures, which must have been given by Old Lady Xue as a token of her prestige.

  It seems that the amount of dowry to be added is not small. The big wife couldn't help but furrow her brow, as last night the old lady had specifically called her over to discuss Ronghua's dowry and had also asked her to bring the family's account book over. If they really were going to allocate money for Ronghua, the old lady would discover that some of the silver had been embezzled by her.

  Once this is said, it's all over.

  Xue's family sent betrothal gifts and presented the wedding invitation.

  The wedding is scheduled for June 2nd.

  The old lady called the big lady to discuss Ronghua's dowry, and after looking at the list, she felt that it was not enough. "How much silver is left in the mansion? Otherwise, allocate a portion of it for use."

  The old lady's heart skipped a beat, and she calmed down to discuss with the elderly lady, "Even if we take out silver, it's also for purchasing goods. At this urgent time, we might not be able to buy anything good. I have some good things in my dowry, why don't we take them out to add to Ronghua's dowry?"

  The old lady heard this and naturally felt happy, smiling kindly, "That's good."

  The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law chatted for a while longer before the elder lady got up to attend to other matters.

  When everyone in the house had gone downstairs, the old lady collected the benevolent smile on her face and let Rui Qing call her sister-in-law over to ask questions.

  Rui Qi's family entered the house, and Rui Qing immediately brought out a brocade stool for her to sit on.

  The old lady and Rui Qi's family chatted for a while before getting to the point, "Have all the officials in the government been replaced over the years? Is there anyone reliable left inside?"

  Rui Qi's family way: "The old lady used to have people, except for those who were sent away to the Zhuangzi, a few of them were not reliable from the beginning, and now that time has passed, they can't be used anymore. Some big ladies also mentioned their own children, I suppose they are useless too."

  The old lady nodded.

  Rui Qi's family asked again: "What does the old lady think is wrong?"

  The old lady shook her head, "Nothing, just asking."

  Rui Qi's family sat for a while and then left.

  Rui Qing brought up a cup of tea and asked, "What does the old lady think?"

  The old lady sighed, "This marriage is not what the eldest daughter-in-law wanted. How can she suddenly take out her own dowry to add to Ronghua's trousseau? I'm afraid there's a problem with the accounts in the public house. Now all these people at home are hers, and it won't be easy to investigate."

  Rui Qing thought of Cui's family and said, "Otherwise, there is a chance for Old Lady to ask Cui's family."

  The old lady thought for a moment, "Don't rush, let's see and talk later."

  These two days of house hunting are exhausting, and the child is sick again, with a fever and cough. I'll go buy medicine after updating.

  It's really inconvenient living in someone else's home, even writing doesn't feel as good as it does at my own place.

  That syndrome.

  Depressed. 200 votes for additional updates.