The west wind cuts off the works of a humble daughter to be married off. A first-class noble's consort, a humble daughter to be married off. A first-class noble's consort, a humble daughter to be married off. Volume 1 Chapter 76 Dazzling Dowry

  Since ancient times, when a woman gets married, her natal family prepares dowry for her, which is a matter of course.

  Nowadays, there are even new brides who prepare their own dowry. As soon as everyone heard Xia Ting's words, they immediately had different expressions on their faces.

  Even Xu Shi, who had been calm and composed all along, looked up at Xia Ting Cong. Ji Niang was even more incredulous.

  The queen's face also looked very surprised, she originally thought that no matter how bad the relationship between her daughter-in-law and her natal family was, they would still give her at least some of the fifty sets of dowry. She didn't expect that all of these were actually prepared by her daughter-in-law herself. Does this summer family not want to save face anymore? Can they really do such a thing without fearing being ridiculed by outsiders?

  Previously, Li's wife came back and reported to her that Mrs. Xia and her daughter were some unscrupulous people who dared to privately swallow the betrothal gifts sent over in front of their own family members. Fortunately, her daughter-in-law arrived in time and took back all the gifts to her own courtyard. After hearing this, she had long felt contempt and shame for those people, and at the same time was also glad that her future daughter-in-law did not lean towards her own natal family.

  I didn't expect the Xia family to be so ruthless, they even didn't prepare dowry for their daughter-in-law, isn't this intentionally letting her be ridiculed after she gets married?

  The King's face sank, clearly extremely displeased after hearing this. What kind of family is this that can do such a thing?

  The two old men's eyes narrowed, and this Xia gentleman usually seemed to handle things very smoothly. How could he let his wife do such a thing now? Did the other party have no say in the affairs of the mansion?

  The second lady secretly shook her head in her heart, alas, no wonder the dowry was so little. It turned out that it was all arranged by this eldest daughter-in-law herself. I suppose the fifty sedan chairs of dowry also cost her a lot of thought.

  Baili Rongjin furrowed his brow, grasping Xia Ting's hand, with a face full of worry and self-blame. He had not thought it through earlier and hadn't considered this for her, and didn't expect his Ting'er to have to prepare her own dowry, something he should have taken care of long ago.

  Xia Ting looked at Baili Rongjin with a faint smile, grasped his hand and shook it gently, indicating that he was fine.

  To her, this wasn't a big deal at all. As a modern person's soul, she was used to being independent and self-reliant in everything she did, so she wouldn't put any importance on this small matter. Even if the Xia family had prepared a dowry for her, she still wouldn't want it in the slightest.

  Besides, all these things she has prepared for herself are top-notch goods.

  Ruan Shi's face was filled with shock and surprise after hearing Xia Ting's words, her eyes wide with astonishment as she digested the explosive statement. It took her a long time to come back to her senses, and when she did, she spoke in an incredulous tone, "How is this possible? You prepared your own dowry? I'm afraid it was the Xia family who gave you silver to prepare it, wasn't it?"

  In her opinion, Xia Ting was just a concubine's daughter. Where would the silver and money come from to prepare this fifty sedan chairs dowry? Don't deceive her, this is simply an impossible thing.

  Looking at Ruan's impossible expression, Xia Ting calmly said "Second sister, you're wrong again. These dowries were indeed prepared by me personally, without spending a single penny from the Xia Manor."

  Ruan's expression changed at once, the other party said so solemnly, could it be that it really didn't work out? But where did she get the silver from? These fifty sedan chairs may look shabby, but they are not something a commoner girl can afford with her own strength.

  Ruan's brow furrowed in deep thought, could it be...?, a sudden flash of inspiration struck her mind.

  Could it be that all the dowry and silver money were stolen by the other party? Ruan Shi suddenly felt that she had figured out the truth, the more she thought about it, the more reasonable it seemed. Yes, it must be so.

  Wow, now she's got a hold on him, how can this thief still stand in the mansion? Now even the words of Father King about giving him power can be taken back.

  Ruan thought of this, suddenly came to spirit, a pair of eyes like X-ray machine scanning Xia Tingning, really the more she looked, the more she felt that the other side was like a thief. She immediately put on a stern face and said, "Sister-in-law, since you say that all these dowries were prepared by yourself, aren't you just a thief?"

  She made an even greater effort to widen her eyes, wanting to make a sharp gaze. When she was at home, every time her mother received her father's concubines, she would put on this expression. Before long, she would make those women submit to her completely. Having watched for so long, she had learned eight-tenths of her mother's true transmission.

  Xia Ting almost choked on her own saliva when she heard the words, and looked at Ruan Shi's eyes with incredulity. Is this person crazy? How did she come up with such a conclusion? Thief? It's really surprising that she could think of it.

  Ruan saw Xia Ting's disbelieving face and was secretly delighted in her heart, she had guessed it right, this Xia Ting must have stolen the silver money from her own mother's house to buy these dowries. Just look at her expression, isn't it a sign of guilt?

  Baili Qianfu's face changed to one of astonishment upon hearing this, "Second sister-in-law, how could eldest sister-in-law be a thief? You must have misunderstood." What does preparing the dowry for so long have to do with being related to thieves?

  Others also looked at Ruan with a puzzled face, asking her to give an explanation.

  Baili Rongjin's cold and gloomy gaze swept towards Ruan Shi, making the latter shiver with a chill.

  Ruan's expression changed slightly, but she immediately straightened her back and corrected her facial expression. "Big brother, don't stare at me like that, I'm just telling the truth. Second sister, you're still young and don't understand these things. How could this be a misunderstanding? Although the dowry is only fifty sedan chairs, it's not something a commoner's daughter can afford. The only explanation is that big sister-in-law stole money from her natal family, otherwise where would she get the silver to buy all these?"

  The more she thought about it, the more she felt that her own ideas were correct. Those illegitimate daughters who couldn't even get on stage, what kind of unscrupulous things wouldn't they do? Just like her mother's family's fifth younger sister, didn't she dare to sneak into the kitchen to steal food? This older sister must have also stolen silver money from home to prepare this fifty-trunk dowry.

  Baili Qianfu frowned and said, "But Big Sister said that the silver used to prepare these dowries is not from the Xia Manor."

  "Second Miss, you're too naive. This sister-in-law is a thief, how can you believe what she says? Besides, once the silver is stolen, doesn't it become hers? The summer house is managed by her mother-in-law, so these silvers must have been stolen by her when her mother-in-law was not paying attention."

  He nodded as if there was something important.

  The queen listened and twitched the corner of her mouth, was it just because of this reason? Did she determine that Jin'er's wife was a thief? This dust queen is too self-righteous. Before speaking, didn't she think about it for a moment? Jin'er's wife was only a concubine daughter in the Xia household, how could she have such great magical powers to steal silver money from her legitimate mother's hands? If it were just some small change, that would be okay, maybe there's still a possibility.

  But these fifty sedan chairs of dowry, even at the lowest estimate, would cost no less than five or six thousand taels to prepare. Which concubine could steal such a large sum of silver from her legitimate mother's hands without being detected? Isn't that just daydreaming?

  Jing Wang listened and also glared, saying "This is simply nonsense."

  This second daughter-in-law is taking everyone for fools, isn't she? The servants of the Xia family aren't all eating free meals, are they? They can teach the eldest daughter-in-law to steal so much silver under their noses. What a load of nonsense, talking about catching someone off guard. She should go and steal one herself to see what it's like. Truly stupid beyond measure.

  The two old masters were even more helpless and shook their heads. These two wives thought about what was going on without using their brains to think carefully.

  The two madams couldn't help but feel a little tongue-tied, wondering if these two daughters-in-law had gone crazy. How could they say such ridiculous things with so many loopholes and still put on an air of being in the right? Fortunately, she didn't give birth to such a daughter, otherwise, she would have been driven to death by anger.

  Ruan thought that his ingenious conjecture would convince everyone, but unexpectedly, he was loudly rebuked by King Jing, and instantly became stiff with fear.

  After a while, she came back to her senses and said with a face full of discontent: "Father King, how can this be nonsense? My daughter-in-law's words are all reasonable. Why do you favor Eldest Sister so much? I am also your child..."

  Ruan's words were not yet finished when he was interrupted by Bai Lixun with a loud shout: "You still don't shut up for me."

  He now only feels suffocated to death, how did he end up marrying such a dim-witted wife back then. Before his elder sister-in-law came over, she seemed okay by comparison. But after his elder sister-in-law arrived, within just one morning, she has already lost face several times. Yet she still doesn't know when to stop, and insists on crashing into the south wall, with a look of not stopping until she dies. It's really going to be the death of him.

  Xu's eyes also shot towards Ruan with hidden anger and discontent, originally to let Xuan Er marry the eldest daughter of this Chengxiang Fu, she did not hesitate to provoke Wang Ye. The purpose was that after the other party married in, they could borrow the power of their mother's family to help Xuan Er ascend to the position of heir.

  I didn't expect this to be so stupid and impatient, not only did they lose as soon as they went on stage, but they also became more and more courageous like a fool, without any insight at all. After returning, she must be taught a good lesson.

  Ji Yiniang didn't care about these things, she had been delighted from the very beginning. In her heart, she couldn't wait for Ruan Shi to make a bigger fool of herself, which would only be more beneficial to her.

  Ruan Shi was taken aback by Bai Li's rebuke, and she suddenly felt a bit wronged. She had done so much for him, yet in the end, he still blamed her.

  Xia Ting was leisurely sipping the tea handed to her by Baili Rongyin, a look of delight on her face as she watched the family drama unfold before her eyes.

  At the end of the play, she finally spoke out in a leisurely tone, "Since my younger brother and sister think that I stole the silver from our mother's house to buy these dowries. In order to make you see clearly where you are wrong, I have no choice but to let you take a look."

  Ruan heard the words and turned around, her face still with unresolved grievances, now added with confusion. What is she being shown? What did she do wrong? It's clearly your fault, you thief, yet you dare to say it's her mistake.

  Xia Ting's hand lifted slightly as she instructed Wan Yu behind her, "Go and open those boxes."

  "Yes." Late Jade walked over, took out a string of keys, opened the lock on one of the boxes, and gently lifted the lid, revealing the golden objects inside.

  Everyone saw that in the box, various exquisite hairpins were slowly placed, each one was made of gold. Inlaid with colorful gems or pearls, the body of the hairpin reflected a dazzling light, so dazzling that it couldn't move its gaze away.

  At a glance, it gives people the feeling that the entire box is filled with these exquisite gold hairpins. The crowd in the hall couldn't help but gasp, a whole box of gold hairpins? How many must there be? It's really extravagant to put them together like this.

  Ji Yiniang unconsciously murmured, "It's actually a whole box of gold hairpins."

  Ruan's eyes grew cold as she stared at the exquisite golden hairpin in the box, and after a long while, she let out a shrill cry: "No, this is impossible."

  She immediately ran over and parted the hairpins in the box until she saw the red bottom underneath, then let out a sigh of relief.

  Turning her head to sneer at Xia Ting, she said, "Sister-in-law, is this the box full of golden hairpins you were talking about? Don't be deceived by her, everyone. These hairpins are just placed on top and once I sweep them aside, it's empty underneath. There must be nothing below, and counting these hairpins carefully, there are only around fifty or so."

  She knew that this concubine-born daughter couldn't possibly produce anything good, and yet there were boxes of gold hairpins. How was this possible? When she got married, her mother had only prepared two hundred gold hairpins for her, among which more than a hundred were thin hairpins, which were inferior goods used to reward servants.

  Everyone listened and turned their attention to Xia Ting Cong, only to see her smiling faintly and saying "Second brother and sister, don't be in a hurry, you can't make a rash judgment until the end."

  She said and gave Wan Yu a glance. Wan Yu naturally understood and smiled, saying "Second Young Master's wife, please take a look."

  After finishing speaking, she reached out and pinched the two slightly protruding parts on both sides of the dowry box, and with just one lift, she lifted up a tray-like thing, revealing the items underneath, which were again exquisite gold hairpins, packed tightly and neatly. It was dazzling to behold.

  Late Jade smiled and explained, "There are nine such trays in this box, each neatly stacked with fifty gold hairpins. Just now, the second young lady moved aside the gold hairpins to reveal the bottom, which is actually the bottom of the tray. As long as you lift up the top layer, you can see what's underneath."

  Wan Yu's explanation made everyone suddenly enlightened. So it was like this.

  Xia Ting looked at Ruan Shi and said faintly, "How about it, Second Brother's wife, did you understand?"

  Ruan's eyes stared blankly at the exquisite golden hairpins exposed in the box, the golden light flashing around the pins seemed to be mocking her foolishness.

  She suddenly turned her head to look at Xia Ting, gritting her teeth and saying "This is impossible. How could you possibly have so much silver to buy so many gold hairpins? I don't believe it, I don't believe it."

  She couldn't believe it, she absolutely didn't believe that such a thing could happen. The dowry she had brought with her at the beginning was already thick and enviable enough. But just this one hairpin alone, she lost to the other party, how is this possible? The other party is just a concubine's daughter, where did they get the silver to buy such a dowry? Just these hairpins, without tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of taels, it's absolutely impossible to afford. A dowry from a dignified prime minister's legitimate daughter, can't even compare with that of a fourth-rank official's concubine's daughter? This is impossible, absolutely impossible.

  Ruan Shi thought about it more and more anxiously, the noble status she had always been proud of had always brought her the best, but now a small concubine-born girl was compared to her, which made her wonder how she could hold her head up in the future.

  The people in the hall heard Ruan's words and also showed a puzzled expression on their faces. Yes, these hundreds of gold hairpins that are obviously all high-quality at first glance, how could a fourth-rank official's daughter possibly afford them?

  Facing the crowd's puzzled gaze, Xia Ting smiled cleverly and said, "Second brother and sister, don't take things for granted. I can also tell you that this box of golden hairpins is just a small part of my dowry. With the status of the Xia family, even if my father saved up for ten lifetimes, he wouldn't be able to afford such a box of golden hairpins. So, will you still say that the money I used to buy my dowry was stolen from my mother's house?"

  Ruan's expression paused, and she opened her mouth but couldn't say anything.

  Xia Ting continued, "You must be very curious, where did I get the silver money to buy such a dowry."

  Ruan Shi heard this and suddenly stared tightly at Xia Ting Cong, no mistake, she was indeed extremely curious, this matter was impossible, why could the other party do it.

  The rest of the people also looked at Xia Ting Cong with curiosity, wanting to hear her explanation.

  Xia Ting's lips curled up slightly as she said calmly, "My maternal grandfather was a merchant. Our family has been in business for generations and had accumulated quite a bit of wealth. Later, my maternal grandfather fell ill, and with no male heirs to inherit his property, he could only rely on my mother. Unfortunately, my mother was just a weak woman who didn't understand business. My maternal grandfather knew her nature well, so before he passed away, he reluctantly sold many of the family's shops and exchanged them for silver coins. He left behind several fertile estates that produced a substantial income each year to support my mother. Before I got married, my mother gave me half of the property she had inherited from my maternal grandfather. Of course, all this was not enough to prepare such a large dowry for me. The reason I have so much silver is because I discovered a coal mine in one of the estates left behind by my maternal grandfather. Although it's just a small mine and the output isn't that high, it's already enough to support my mother, younger brother, and me for life."

  She had already thought of an explanation for the source of the silver used to prepare these dowries, so when she spoke about it, she was even more eloquent and natural in her demeanor.

  The King nodded calmly, so that's how it was. Indeed, a ordinary mine would be enough to make a family worry-free for generations. Not to mention this Ji'er daughter-in-law also had the property left by her maternal grandfather. Merchants are all about profit, which one doesn't have some family assets?

  The queen listened and smiled "So that's how it is, no wonder. However, your mother must have doted on you to give you so many things."

  It seems that the daughter-in-law's own mother is actually not bad, able to treat her own daughter so wholeheartedly, especially when there is also a son, and still thinking of dividing things equally between her children.

  Xia Ting's face floated with a smile "Mother is indeed extremely fond of me."

  Ruan's face was filled with stupidity, and there was such a thing. Xia Ting not only had half of the family property left by her maternal grandfather, but also dug up coal mines for her. How could such good things happen to a small concubine like her? She just felt jealous in her heart, almost going crazy.

  The Queen looked at the fifty boxes of dowry and couldn't help but sigh in her heart. Just one box had so many gold hairpins, and here there were fifty boxes. The dowry inside must be breathtaking.

  But then she asked with some doubt, "Ning Er, why did you squeeze so many dowries into fifty dowry boxes?" One box was packed too full, which made her feel curious.

  The rest of the people also looked over after hearing this, and they seemed to want to know why too.

  Digression

  Everyone, I'm 10 minutes late tonight, sorry about that. For some reason, I've been feeling like my face is burning all day today.