[75] Zhao Yan falls into a dream

No matter what dynasty or generation, marriage is a family event, not to mention the Song Dynasty where rich marriages prevailed.The matter of Mu Yan's marriage is the top priority of the Ren family. There is no other reason. Everything in the family is earned by this girl, and it is not a loss to give it all to her.

After the ceremony of Xiaoding, Mrs. Liu began to take Zhang Luo Muyan's dowry as the top priority, first urging Mu Yan to list the existing property of the family.Mu Yan originally refused, saying that a big girl gave her a dowry, and became a loser.

Unexpectedly, as soon as this remark came out, the usually soft-spoken Mrs. Liu actually knelt on the ground like a shrew in the market, wailing and hugging the rankings of Ren Xiucai and Mrs. Chen, causing Mu Yan a headache, and hurriedly expressed that all of them were done by her. She arranged that she and her family members would not say much, and then pulled Liu Shi up from the ground.

Mrs. Liu got on the bed, sobbed and said that she was said to be difficult to be a stepmother, but now that the dowry is not brighter, wouldn't she be drowned by someone's saliva.After listening to Mrs. Liu's words, Mu Yan could only obediently write down the family's property list, and she was taken aback by the rough calculation, unknowingly she was already a middle class.

There are nearly 200 taels of bank notes in the family, three shops, one ancestral house, one new house, 13 acres of fertile land, 20 servants in the family, and at least [-] taels a month for the three shops.After writing these things, Mrs. Liu was taken aback. She didn't feel anything about receiving money and paying bills here and there on weekdays. Only after listing them all did she realize that the family already had such a large amount of property.

Mrs. Liu said: "Everything in the family is earned by the eldest sister. The eldest sister took two of the three shops. I will be ashamed to leave our mothers to live in this one in the county. I bought the land at home last year. At that time, it was said that it was for the eldest sister’s dowry, and the remaining five acres of future would be enough for us to eat. Except for the dowry, the remaining silver and the betrothal gifts from Huihuijing were all given to the eldest sister. Here I am There are still some private houses that are enough for the family to spend."

Mu Yan didn't agree when she heard it, didn't she give her everything in the family?Listening to Liu's arrangements one by one, Mu Yan felt sour in her heart. Although Liu is a stepmother, she and her younger brother have respected her all these years.But she has always kept her duty, and it can even be said that she lives at home cautiously. The bottom line is that she is afraid that Kefu's name will be used as a talking point.In order not to bear Ke Zi's reputation, she began to burn incense and offer offerings in the temple when she was pregnant. After Xing Yun was born, she valued her own life more than her own, and even Mu Yu couldn't care less about it.In addition to the traditional patriarchy, there is also the motivation to survive!

Mu Yan looked at Liu shi in a daze, Liu babbled for a long time without getting a response, then looked up and saw Mu Yan staring at her in a daze.After saying hello to her, I came back to my senses: "What are you thinking? I told you that I would also like to give you a few good facials. Would you like to go to the capital or the county?"

Mu Yan said to Mrs. Liu: "Aunt Liu, I don't agree with the dowry list you just mentioned. It's not because I got married and emptied the house, Xingchen is still studying, and the annual Shuxiu costs 60 taels, not counting. Gift money, pen, ink and paper for the two seasons. Xingyun will have to open Meng in a few years, which is an expense, and Mu Yu will marry when she turns back. It will be an expense. How much income can a shop with five acres of land, your arrangement is absolutely not acceptable .”

As soon as Liu Shi heard that Mu Yan rejected her proposal, she became anxious: "Eldest sister, marrying a girl is not so easy now. Besides, you are marrying Mr. Zhan, although his parents are gone, but there are brothers and sisters-in-law up there, right? Don’t say you have no face when the dowry is less, even Zhan Zhao himself is not good-looking. Besides, we can’t afford it, and there is nothing we can do about it. As for what you said, it will be a few years later. By then, you are subsidizing us, and others will not I can't say anything, can't I? Aunt Liu knows you are filial, but we have to do everything we can on the surface. Only when the dowry is rich and the in-law's family can respect you. You can't rely on you for this matter. If you are stubborn, I will take it with you. You can make arrangements for the three children to go back to the village!" As she spoke, Liu pretended to be angry and prepared to pack up and return to the village.

Mu Yan was also troubled when she saw it, and after thinking for a while, she said: "It's fine as you said, but I will pay for Xing Chen's study. I will also take Mu Yu and Hua'er to Beijing to help me do business. In the future, Mu Yu will tell her where to live in Beijing. Anyway, Xingyun will go to Beijing to study in a few years, and you will go there and our family will still be together. I will take half of the money at home, and you will keep the rest. That's it. Since you said you bought the land for me, I won't refuse it. When Mu Yu gets married, I will follow this standard. Later, I will pay for a few more acres of land. There is no reason why my son has less land than my daughter. That's what I mean, if you can't do it like this, I won't marry. "

Hearing that she had corrected her mind, Mrs. Liu had no choice, but she was still very firm in her heart, so she agreed to Mu Yan's plan.While urging to write the list, he said: "Just do what you want, anyway, I can't hold you back. When you grow up, I will go back to live in the village and let you go outside! I know you are a good person. Yes, my brother is not bad, and the second girl and the second boy will rely on you in the future."

When Mu Yan heard what Liu said, she asked tentatively: "Aunt Liu, what do you think of Boss Han? I think he cares about you very much. I heard from the stove that what is the store doing when we are away?" He does all the work." Hearing her question, Liu sighed and silently looked at the rankings on the table without speaking. "Aunt Liu, I don't mean anything else. I just think that you are still young, so there is no need to live in the rankings. If you are really interested in Boss Han, Xingchen and I will not object. It will definitely make you famous Go out." Mu Yan looked at Liu's expression and hurriedly explained in case she might misunderstand.

"Elder sister, I understand what you mean, and I also know what he means. But I want to look again. After all, it's time for people to contribute at home. The second boy hasn't started school yet, so it's too early to talk about it. But you It surprised me, everyone is afraid that the stepmother will marry into the family again, so you can find someone for me, are you afraid that I will occupy the family property in the future?" Liu obviously let go, and asked Mu Yan jokingly.

"What are you talking about, Aunt Liu, am I that kind of person? Otherwise, I'll change the shop in the county town to your name to save you from worrying." Mu Yan said casually, but her heart lit up.Yes!Changing the shop in the county seat to Liu's name will save her from worrying too much.

Liu thought Mu Yan was joking, so she just laughed it off.Then the two discussed the distribution of the servants in the family.Mu Yan said that Dou'erhua'er is still following her, Chou Ya can also help take Xingyun here, and Mrs. Jing still manages the shop with Mrs. Liu.Qi's mother and daughter Mu Yan wanted to stay at home, but Liu said that Mu Yan didn't know how to be a female celebrity, and asked them to go with them, and there would be someone to help with needlework in the future.If you feel that the two of them are too busy, it would be beneficial to set up a small embroidery room to keep the two of them busy. Mu Yan considered this reason and no longer declined.

Because the wedding is in a rush and there are too many things to buy, Mrs. Liu still asks Boss Han for help.Boss Han was also unambiguous, and directly took Mu Yan and his wife to find the best carpenter in the county.The old man was no longer taking jobs, and he didn't know who Boss Han was, so he agreed because of his face.Mrs. Liu decided to order a set of Qiangong bed, a dressing table, a screen, a clothes hanger, several cabinets, and even a set of buckets and washstands. The delivery was agreed to be two months.

Originally, the wood was made of popular paulownia, but Mu Yan suddenly asked if there were any hardwoods such as sandalwood or yellow rosewood.These are all very valuable woods in modern times. I didn’t have any hope at first, but the master craftsman said that he has these materials. However, hardwood is hard and difficult to carve. An increase of 40%, but the wood itself is cheaper than paulownia wood. In the end, a total of [-] taels of silver was calculated. Mu Yan happily urged Liu to pay the money, looking proud of taking advantage of it.Thanks to Boss Han, Mu Yan and Liu Shi continued to purchase again.

After a busy month, the matchmaker and Mr. Gongsun arrived as scheduled, but Zhan Zhao didn't come this time, saying he was on business.Gongsun Ce presented the dowry list, and Mu Yan looked at it dumbfounded.This cat is quite rich, thanks to listening to Mrs. Liu, otherwise he would be ashamed.I saw that the list read: 200 taels of betrothal money, five catties of betrothal cakes, five catties of pork, three animals and four rituals, tea post boxes, and wedding candles.

Mrs. Liu took the dowry list and nodded in satisfaction, and then took out the dowry list from the box containing the cursive post and handed it to Gongsun Ce. The husband was taken aback when he opened it, he didn't expect Mu Yan's house to have such a complete set.The dowry list also included a long list ranging from pavement and fields to clothing and jewelry, and from crude furniture to delicate and soft.

The two sides exchanged gift lists, and there was a symbolic invitation to set a date.After the ceremony was over, Mu Yan invited Gongsun Ce aside to ask about Zhan Zhao's situation.He was relieved when he learned that it was not dangerous to just collect evidence, and blushed at the rare sight of Gongsun Ce's teasing eyes.Then he asked Gongsun Ce to convey his intention to let Xingchen and Mu Yu follow him, and asked Zhan Zhao to help find a house for Yunyun.

The days that followed were busy measuring the wedding dress, ordering jewelry, and buying odds and ends.It's not easy for Zhan Zhao, when he read Mu Yan's dowry list and learned of Mu Yan's plan, he started to find a bigger house, but there are few people in the capital, so it's not easy to find a house.If it is not too biased or too old, the condition of the lot is not bad but it is too small.

When there was nothing to do, the Beijing Xiuwan Institute sent the title deeds and house deeds of the small courtyard of Kaifeng Mansion and Tongfang Lane, the back street.Surprised by surprise, Zhan Zhao couldn't help wondering, he went to the repair house a few days ago and said there were no vacancies, why did he send the land deed just a few days ago?After asking, I found out that it was arranged by the Eighth Prince.It turned out that Zhan Zhao had a good personal relationship with the head of the guards of the Nanqing Palace, and had asked him to help find a house. Later, when the prince learned about it, he arranged for the house to be repaired and searched for files.

After a search, I found out that the small courtyard allocated to Kaifeng Mansion for temporary use at that time was the second half of a large courtyard.A wall away from the yard is the garden and front hall of that house.Because it was confiscated at the time, and half of it was allocated to Kaifeng Mansion, the front yard has been locked and not opened.After a long time, I forgot that there was such a thing.

Because the prince was in charge of the case at the time, I vaguely remember it, but I didn't expect the house to still exist.The prince thought of Zhan Zhao's hard work for many years, so he told the emperor to give Zhan Zhao a house as a wedding gift.The Holy Majesty also ordered the Ministry of Industry to help Zhan Zhao with the repairs, and the work must be completed before the wedding.

After discussing with the craftsmen, Zhan Zhao and the craftsmen decided to continue to build an ordinary house, and the garden was also reduced a lot. A part was circled and built as a servant's house, and a door was opened on the wall of the small courtyard of Kaifeng Mansion to connect the two courtyards.In this way, the gates of the yard and Kaifeng Mansion were blocked, and Zhan Zhao could only make a detour to go to the yamen, but it only took a cup of tea.Much better than the house I saw before.

The two are busy in different places for a common future, and they cannot meet according to the agreement.Even when Zhanzhao sent New Year's gifts during the New Year, Mrs. Liu sent Mu Yan out with excuses and missed it.The longing was also tormenting the two of them deeply, thinking and looking forward, the pointer of time finally jumped to the first half of the marriage.