Chapter 99: Getting Married (2)

  The next day, Chen's mother had someone send the silk fabrics, rings, earrings and hairpins that Xue's family had sent over to Rong Hua's house.

  Madam Chen smiled and said with a respectful attitude, "The mistress says to let the young lady take a look and choose which fabric she likes first, then make two sets of clothes."

  Ronghua smiled and asked Mrs. Chen to sit down, and also asked Mugen to pour tea. The two of them chatted for a while, and then Mrs. Chen said: "Miss Ba has good fortune, yesterday the Xue family sent over so many betrothal gifts, it's clear that the Xue family holds Miss in high esteem."

  What does Chen Mama mean this time?

  Ronghua smiled with pursed lips and listened as Chen Mama continued speaking.

  "Even the dowry that Madame Wang brought from her parents' home was added to Miss's trousseau, so she won't be humiliated when she goes to the Xue family."

  It turns out that you came to tell the mistress these words, telling her that even if she marries into the Xue family, she will have to rely on her natal family in order to stand firm in the Xue family.

  The lady was looking at the Xue family's face, so she would give her more dowry, but she didn't expect to add the dowry that came with her from her mother's house.

  It must be that there is no other choice but to do so.

  Mrs. Tai's approach was deeply felt, "I know how good my mother is to me." Those things from back then no longer needed others to remind her of them. As she spoke, Ronghua lifted her head to look at Chen Mama, with a moving light flashing in her eyes, "No matter where I go, I will never forget, and in the future...I will definitely repay my mother's kindness." She said, lowering her long eyelashes, and smiled slightly.

  Although it was a soft and gentle voice, it made Chen's mother feel inexplicably frightened. Looking at Rong Hua's smile, she was stunned for half a day before regaining her composure. "Even the old lady said that Eighth Miss is the most suitable person."

  Madam Chen sat for a while and then went back to tell Lady Tai what Ronghua had said.

  The old lady nodded, "If she wasn't so obedient, even if we didn't form an alliance with the Xue family, I wouldn't have married her off," especially after hearing what Chen's mother said about Rong Hua wanting to repay her, the old lady felt a bit more at ease, "As for repaying me, it's not necessary, as long as she listens to my words, that's already filial piety."

  Mrs. Chen was slightly stunned, but still said: "Don't worry, ma'am"

  Madam Chen was talking to the mistress in the house, when Yaqin came in and whispered: "The old master has come out of Old Mrs.'s room and is now in Eighth Miss's room."

  The old lady's mouth twitched, her face jumped twice, and a relieved smile appeared on her face. "What's the use of suddenly becoming pious? Isn't she usually the one who dislikes this polite and reserved Eighth Miss the most? Now that Eighth Miss is going to marry into the Xue family, he's putting in so much effort... In Eighth Miss's heart, how much weight can this father figure have?"

  Madam Chen smiled and said, "Now that Seventh Lady is gone, the Eldest Lady treats Eighth Miss so well, can Eighth Miss not be grateful?" This remark seemed to comfort the Eldest Lady as much as it convinced herself, "In the future, we will still have to rely on the Eldest Lady to win over Eighth Miss."

  The old lady snorted, "He's a father who can't always go to his in-laws' home to see his daughter. What's the point of having me around?"

  Mrs. Chen nodded repeatedly.

  The lady finally let out a long sigh and put her mind at ease.

  Tao Zheng'an went to Rong Hua's courtyard, except for the fifth young lady, he rarely personally visited his daughter's courtyard. Moreover, since the eighth young lady was born outside of the family, he didn't pay much attention to her. Unexpectedly, one day he had to rely on this very daughter for help.

  Tao Zheng'an entered the courtyard, and a little maid hurried in to inform Rong Hua, "Eighth Miss, the old master has arrived."

  Everyone in the house was shocked.

  Everyone was caught off guard and didn't know what to do, they were all at a loss.

  Mugunghwa and Jinxiu came down from the kang, and then helped Ronghua put on her shoes.

  Ronghua instructed Mugen calmly, "Go and make tea for the old master with the best Longjing from the cabinet." She instructed Hongying, "Bring me that yellow goose-down jacket of mine."

  Hongying hastily helped Ronghua put on his clothes, and the old man had already lifted the curtain and entered the house.

  Rong Hua hastily went forward to pay his respects.

  The old master helped Rong Hua up, and a smile appeared on Fang Zheng's face. "Get up quickly. I was talking to your grandmother earlier and passed by here, so I came over to take a look."

  Every day I go to the old lady's place, how come this time I just passed by.

  Tao Zheng'an looked back and found that Rong Hua was slightly unnatural, probably because he rarely met him and couldn't help but feel constrained in front of him.

  Tao Zheng'an sat down, and Hong Hua personally brought over a cup of tea and handed it to him before sitting down quietly beside him.

  Tao Zheng An quietly observed this daughter, and indeed as the big wife said, she was obedient, gentle, and not very brave. Such a child is dull but listens to words.

  Just... Tao Zheng'an thought and thought, he couldn't lose his dignity in front of his children, how could he bring up his own affairs? Thinking of this, Tao Zheng'an slightly furrowed his brow, then came back to himself, saw Rong Hua looking at him with a worried face, and mustered the courage to ask him, "Dad, is there something on your mind?"

  Tao Zheng'an thought for a moment before saying, "Your grandmother has already told you about Gu Ying."

  Ronghua nodded, also furrowing her brow, "What to do about this? Father can't really let Second Sister... if that person really makes a false accusation in the future, Father should think of a solution sooner rather than later."

  Tao Zheng'an sighed, "I also want to think of a complete solution," paused and looked at Rong Hua, "Gu Ying told me that it's nothing but my connection with Su Xiuyue, Wu Mu Hou is very familiar with this case, in the future when you get married, think of a way to let Lord Hou help."

  Finally said. Rong Hua smiled slightly in her heart, wanting to hold on to her dignity, but having to say it, and others had to bring it up first before she could follow the conversation and get things out.

  Ronghua looked at Tao Zhengan's face again, was it really just this one thing? But how could he say it out loud after saying this, and yet Tao Zhengan's expression still didn't relax a bit. What other secrets did Tao Zhengan have that he couldn't bear to mention?

  Thinking of this, Rong Hua looked at Tao Zheng'an opposite her and spoke softly, "Dad, don't worry, I'll think of a way to do what I can. As long as we don't have to be afraid of that person, Second Sister won't have to marry him, and our Tao family will also be able to get through this difficulty."

  Tao Zheng'an nodded slightly, his face hesitant as if he wanted to say something but stopped himself. Should he bring up that matter? Should he let Xiao Ba try to get a read on Hou Ye's intentions?

  Tao Zheng'an hesitated for a moment, "There are some other things... let's talk about them later. For now, your marriage is the most important thing."

  She still didn't quite trust her, but one day Tao Zheng'an would tell her about that matter. Anyway, she had already waited for so long and wasn't in a hurry. Thinking of this, Rong Hua smiled shyly and stopped talking.

  After saying all this, Tao Zheng'an suddenly felt that there was nothing more to say, sat for a while and talked with Ronghua about the Classic of Tea, then got up and left.

  Ronghua saw Tao Zhengan off at the door.

  If she just waited patiently for two more years, Hong Ge would grow up and she wouldn't have to rely on her natal family to stand firm in the Xue family. At that time, whether it was Tao Zheng'an or Madame, they would all have to repay their debts to them. The premise of making them repay their debts was that she had to live a happy and enviable life, making those who harmed her unable to catch up.

  ……

  Xue's second wife went to Xue's wife's place and saw the new house prepared for Xue Mingrui. On her way back, she felt proud, thinking that the main house was nothing special, and if she waited until Mingxiang arrived, the interior decoration would surely be much more beautiful than Xue Mingrui's new house. After feeling proud for a while, Xue's second wife became disheartened again.

  They are not the main family, and Xue Mingrui has a noble title, so no matter how Mingying's marriage is arranged, it cannot be more grand than Xue Mingrui's, and Mingying's house cannot be decorated too extravagantly.

  However, if we have to consider Changning Bo's face, then it can be done a bit better... Xue Ertao thought about hurrying to pay respects to Old Lady Xue.

  The two women-in-law laughed and said a few words, making Old Mrs. Xue happy, and Second Mistress Xue took the opportunity to say: "Mingrui's marriage has already been settled, Mother should also think about Mingying's matter."

  Madam Xue put away her smile and thought for a moment before saying, "There's no hurry, we can talk about it again after Mingrui gets married."

  Mrs. Xue Er was afraid of delay and change, "Last time the Imperial Observatory came to calculate for Ming Liang, Ming Liang is also the best marriage in these two years."

  "Is there still such a thing?"

  Mrs. Xue smiled and said, "Yes, otherwise I wouldn't be in a hurry either. I'm afraid that after a few years, Mingxiang will get older, and besides, I also hope to marry a good daughter-in-law to take care of Mingxiang."

  Xue Mingyu and the maid in his house, Old Mrs. Xue had also heard about it. Now that the second wife mentioned it, Old Mrs. Xue felt that this made sense too. The ancestral rule of the Xue family was that one could not take a concubine before marrying a first wife. Mingyu was very close to the maid in his house, and who knows what might happen in the future...it would be better to marry a first wife early.

  Xue's second wife saw the old lady's attitude change, and hurriedly said: "Mother still remembers what I said last time about the fourth daughter of Changning Bo's family. If mother agrees, I will go find a suitable matchmaker to discuss it."

  Mrs. Xue glanced at the second wife and said, "Don't rush to find Bao Shan, go ask around first."

  The old lady was still worried that the Changning Bo family would not agree, but she didn't know that the fourth young lady of the Changning Bo family had already taken a liking to Mingxiang. However, since the old lady said so, it wouldn't hurt to ask again, thinking of this, Mrs. Xue nodded happily.

  Two days later, Mrs. Xue sent someone to investigate and returned with unexpected results.

  "I heard that Madame Zhao of Changning is going to send Fourth Miss back to her hometown."

  Mrs. Xue was shocked and thought that since the Changning Bo family was in such a hurry to send the fourth young lady back home, could it be that they wanted to avoid this marriage?

  "Did you hear clearly?"

  "Wu's mother said: 'I've inquired clearly, the Zhong Poben in Fourth Miss's courtyard is from the same hometown as me, we've known each other for a long time. I asked her and she told me everything. She also said that before this, Changning Bo had a big temper and locked up Fourth Miss for several days. It was only after Zhao Furen begged for mercy that they were going to send Fourth Miss back to her hometown.'"

  Could it be that Chang Ningbo found out about Fourth Miss's poem?

  Mrs. Xue thought carefully and asked Wu's mother to investigate again, "Go ask again clearly, what is going on."

  On the second day, Wu's mother came back and said: "It's probably related to Fourth Miss's marriage, and also mentioned our Xue family, but didn't know any more details."

  Xue's wife nodded and had someone bring 500 yuan to give to Wu Mama.

  Mrs. Xue was just thinking that this marriage might not come to fruition, when Xue Mingxuan came to ask about the outcome of this marriage and then comforted her, "Mother, don't worry, I naturally have a way."

  Madam Xue was only delighted, but she didn't expect that Xue Mingyai would suddenly take a liking to this marriage.

  Took the train home today, wasted time on the way.

  So I won't add more for now.

  I'll code tonight and try to finish it by tomorrow.