activa-t Chapter 180 Supplies
Chapter 180 Supplies
It rained all morning, cleared up at noon, and then rained again in the evening. I don’t know when it stopped. When I woke up the next day, the sky was basically dry except for some water in the small puddles.
The sky was clear and blue, and the air was fresh. After Shen Tang had breakfast, he took Ginkgo to Songhe Hall to pay his respects.
When Shen Tang arrived, the Second and Third Madams had just arrived. The old lady said kindly, "I'm sorry to have troubled you these past few days."
These words were said to the Third and Fourth Wives. The wedding banquet was held in a joyous and lively manner. The Second Wives tried to intervene several times, but was stopped by the old lady. It was all the Third and Fourth Wives who were busy.
The Third Wife hurriedly said, "We are part of the family. If the wedding banquet is grand, it will also bring us honor..."
The third wife spoke loudly at first, but her voice faded towards the end.
Wrong thing to say.
The marriage of the daughter of the Marquis of Pingyuan was smooth sailing, but the marriage of the Second Prince was far from peaceful. However, if it was going to rain, no one could stop it. It was just that the day chosen was not very good. As the day was set by the Imperial Astronomical Observatory, there would inevitably be punishment.
Thinking of yesterday's rain, the old lady's mood became gloomy. The second wife said, "Yesterday, when Xian'er got married, more than a dozen loads of dowry were damaged, and many calligraphy and paintings were also damaged by the rain. The Marquis's Mansion should compensate her..."
The third and fourth wives looked at each other and frowned.
It was indeed a pity that Shen Xi's dowry was damaged, but since it was taken out of the Marquis's Mansion, there was no reason to repair it. Besides, the calligraphy and paintings were packed in boxes. Although it rained heavily yesterday, they were not destroyed.
However, Shen Xi was the daughter of the eldest son of the family. The second son of the family wanted to be married, and the third and fourth sons were illegitimate daughters. Even if they had opinions, they dared not express them, so they would not be disliked.
But the Third and Fourth Madams didn't dare, but Shen Tang did. "Second Aunt is really thinking about the eldest sister in every way. It won't be too late to discuss this matter after the eldest sister returns home tomorrow and brings back the damaged dowry, right?"
Letting Shen Xi marry off as the eldest daughter of the family was already a great favor to her. The rain yesterday might have been God's way of preventing her from taking advantage of this.
The Second Wife also knew that she was anxious. She said, "Being married is tiring in itself, and with the terrible weather yesterday, Xian'er must have felt wronged. I thought I'd prepare it early so she can take it back with her when she returns home."
Shen Tang said, "How can we prepare if we don't even know what's damaged? Are we going to rely on guesswork?"
This sentence left the Second Wife speechless. She wanted to refute but didn't dare. The Old Lady had not allowed her to interfere in the affairs of the Second House in the first place, and now that Shen Xi was married, she was even less allowed to do so.
Shen Tang's words were meant to stop the Second Wife and Shen Xi's thoughts. Shen Xi didn't have as many opinions about her dowry as Shen Tang did, and she even dropped her dowry on the way to the wedding. She took this opportunity to ask for more compensation, but Shen Tang's words directly rejected their idea of sending a list back and the Marquis' Mansion would follow the preparations. Compensation was not guaranteed, and even if compensation was required, it would be based on the amount of damage.
Trying to deceive the Marquis' Mansion?
No way!
The old lady didn't want to talk about it either. "Let's wait until Xian'er comes home."
The Second Wife didn't dare to say anything more. Outside, Steward Li compiled the gifts sent by various mansions in the past two days into a booklet and sent it to the Old Lady for her review.
The Third Wife said, "Last time, Tang'er refused to marry the Prince of Jingyang, and the gifts from the various mansions were returned. This time, they are basically the same as the ones sent last time, except for the Ning Wang Mansion..."
The old lady opened the booklet, and the gift list from Prince Ning's Mansion was clearly listed first.
The Second Wife was serving tea when she heard the Third Wife's words and asked, "What happened to Prince Ning's Mansion?"
The Third Wife said, "The gifts sent by Prince Ning's Mansion are quite a lot, more valuable than those sent by Prince Jingyang's Mansion."
The Marquis' Mansion and the Jingyang Prince's Mansion were engaged, but the second girl had not yet married. It was normal for the Jingyang Prince's Mansion to send a heavier gift for the Marquis' Mansion's wedding, but it was strange that the Ning Prince's Mansion sent an even heavier gift than the Jingyang Prince's Mansion.
It was the Prince of Ning who saved the second young lady of their Pingyuan Marquisate, but it was not the second young lady who saved the Prince of Ning. Old Prince Ning proposed marriage for his grandson, but the Marquis politely declined. Old Prince Ning was so generous and magnanimous that it was rare that he did not feel embarrassed. Because he found it strange, the Third Wife brought it up and talked about it separately.
The old lady also felt that the gifts from Prince Ning's Mansion were too heavy. She knew that Prince Ning felt bad that his elder brother Yan'er could not come back to see his younger sister off, so she gave a heavier gift.
Although she knew that Xiao Huan was her own grandson, the old lady had never met Xiao Huan. She thought that Xiao Huan would come to the wedding banquet held by the Marquis' Mansion, and she would take the opportunity to meet him. However, only Prince Ning came, and Xiao Huan did not come.
The old lady asked Shen Sui about it later, and Shen Sui said that it was he who stopped her. There were so many guests coming to the mansion for the wedding banquet, and the old lady refused to see anyone except Prince Ning, which would definitely arouse suspicion.
In addition, in order to get herself married, Shen Xie did not hesitate to plot against Xiao Huan. When Xiao Huan came to marry Shen Xie, Shen Xie was not embarrassed, but Xiao Huan was.
Although the old lady was a little disappointed, she had nothing to say.
The old lady scanned the gift list and had a general idea of it in her mind. The second wife was sitting there, and seeing that the old lady was not at all surprised about the expensive gifts from Prince Ning's Mansion, she felt more and more that something was wrong.
Shen Tang had a terrible headache, thinking that his elder brother's life story would soon be exposed. Although his father had promised Prince Ning not to let his elder brother return to his ancestral home for the time being, Prince Ning could no longer do the same as before.
Old Prince Ning is of noble status. If he were to discuss matters with his father, it would arouse suspicion. Giving generous gifts to the Marquis' Mansion would also make people feel strange. The eldest brother's eyebrows and eyes are so similar to his father's. If the two of them stand together, it is hard to guarantee that someone will not guess who is behind.
Although this was not a bad thing for the Marquis's Mansion, as it would allow her eldest brother to return to his ancestral home and marry Princess Roujia as soon as possible, she was worried that Princess Ning would not be able to withstand the blow. This was also what Prince Ning and her eldest brother were worried about.
On the one hand, he was afraid that his elder brother's background would be known to others, and on the other hand, he did things that aroused suspicion. However, human relationships are inherently complicated and not that simple. From the perspective of Prince Ning, he was also in a difficult position.
Shen Tang stayed for a while and then returned to Qingyi Garden. He didn't know whether Chunlan could return to Beijing tomorrow, and no one could give her a definite answer.
Shen Tang spent the whole day reading and doing needlework to pass the time, and finally made it to the evening.
When I woke up, it was the day for Shen Xi to come home.
Shen Tang went to Songhe Hall to have breakfast with the old lady. After breakfast, he and Shen Luo admired the flowers in the courtyard. Shen Luo said sadly, "Since my eldest sister got married, the mansion seemed to have suddenly become deserted..."
Although the sisters often quarreled in the past, their life was lively. Now that the eldest sister is married and the third sister has returned to live with her parents, Shen Luo misses the days when the sisters went out together to go shopping and have fun. It seems that they can never go back to the past.
Shen Tang teased her, "It won't be long before you get engaged. You like the hustle and bustle, so ask Third Aunt and Grandmother to pick someone with lots of family members for you to marry."
Shen Luo's melancholy froze, her face flushed, and she stamped her feet in shame, "What are you talking about, Second Sister?! I'm ignoring you!"
Shen Luo turned around and was about to leave, but as she turned around, a maid came over and said, "Second Miss, Fourth Miss, Second Prince... Prince Qi is accompanying the eldest aunt to her parents' home..."