coobybook Chapter 220 Grandmother Jia 22
Chapter 220 Grandmother Jia 22
"Okay, ask your wife to come and get 10,000 taels of silver, and buy a few sets for each girl, along with matching jewelry. Don't skimp."
Jia She patted Yun Xi's shoulders with a playful smile and asked in a flattering manner, "Mother, are you the richest man alive? Please give your son some pocket money to spend."
Yun Xi glanced at him sideways, "The eldest wife is still short of money? Your family's assets, managed by your wife, bring in 90,000 taels a year, while the expenses are only a little over 20,000 taels. There's also your wife's dowry and the things your grandparents left you..."
The more Jia She talked, the darker his face became. He said angrily, "Oh! My old mother, my wife manages the money, how can I spend it? I'm lucky to have a thousand taels a month. I have five children now. The betrothal gifts for my three legitimate sons are 50,000 taels each, and the dowries for my two concubines are 80,000 taels. I have to spend money everywhere..."
Moreover, he had to frequently look for good things to send to the emperor. Although he was useless to the emperor in political affairs, he could not lose even his ability to be funny. Everyone around the emperor had their own needs, and they either wanted money or power.
Yun Xi thought about it and realized that Jia Zheng was definitely not short of money. All the pretentious things in his study were bought at a high price, and his contribution to the family was basically zero. Apart from having a few children, Jia She did have a need to spend money, as he was working hard for the family.
Yun Xi quickly convinced herself and pushed a small box over. "Here, take this ten thousand taels and spend it. Don't let your brother know about it, and don't spend it on things you shouldn't. Also, tell your wife that she will reimburse you for the money she spends on work outside."
Jia She happily returned to the courtyard with the money in his arms, and said to Zhang with a proud look on his face, "Mother is calling you over."
Zhang, who was confused, took a look at his box and brought people to Yunxi to get the money. Just then, news came from the second house that Aunt Zhao was also pregnant. Zhang raised her eyebrows, thinking that the second house was really fertile. Yunxi felt the same way, she was indeed fertile.
Zhang thought about how when she gave birth to Zhang, she had married her husband a concubine, Li, who was a good concubine with a strong body and gave birth to Shaochun. Later, she married her husband a concubine, Wu, who was his concubine. Although she died during childbirth, she gave birth to Yingchun.
But now it seems that the first wife still has one less child than the second wife. She will go back and give Xiuyan and Xiumei to her husband, and give birth to a few more children for the first wife, preferably all girls...
Yun Xi gave Zhang some money and wanted to send her away so she could take a nap, but Zhang didn't leave. She said, "Mother, should we put Zhu'er's marriage on the agenda? He's not young anymore."
"Do you have a suitable candidate?" Yun Xi was also troubled by this matter. She deliberately did not choose Li Wan, and found a Taoist fortune teller who said that it would be better for Jia Zhu to get married after he turned 20 years old. This was because she was afraid that Jia Zhu would not be able to overcome his death. This would be a mistake for Li Wan, making her a widow.
Fortunately, Li Wan is now married and is said to be living a good life.
Zhang took out a list and said, "My second sister-in-law was saying how wonderful her niece Feng Ge'er was and wanted to give her to Lian'er, but I refused. There's a daughter of the Wang family in the second house and a daughter of the Wang family in the first house. What do you want? When the time comes, will the child listen to me, the mother-in-law, or her aunt?"
That's right, in the original novel, Wang Xifeng never listened to her mother-in-law. She always listened to Wang's words and worked for her. She was not in a clear mind.
"You're right not to decide. Wang is always messing around, thinking about everything that benefits her. She doesn't consider the family at all. Is the uncle's second son a good match for her eldest brother's eldest daughter? Not at all." Yun Xi looked at the list of names that had no problems and said, "You can choose a wife for Zhu'er who is good at being a first wife. If Wang doesn't want to, I won't take care of you. You can choose Lian'er yourself as well."
"Okay, then you must choose your daughter-in-law carefully."
A few days later, Zhang asked Wang and Jia Zheng to talk about several girls, including the eldest daughter of a fifth-rank civil official or the second daughter or youngest daughter of a fourth-rank civil official, etc. The fifth-rank official and Jia Zheng had the same official rank, so they were considered a good match. The fourth-rank official was a bit too high a match, but fortunately the second wife still lived in Rongguo Mansion, so she was barely a match.
After hearing this, Yun Xi felt that Wang should be satisfied. Choosing the eldest daughter of a fourth-rank official would be of great help to Jia Zhu. In the original novel, although Li Wan's family was noble, her father was only a third-rank Imperial College Jijiu (Minister of Education). His influence on the Jia family was both good and bad. The good thing was that they had many disciples, and the bad thing was also because they had many disciples.
Yun Xi had carefully chosen the youngest daughter of the Minister of Rites for Jia Hu, a woman of equal status and one that wouldn't arouse the emperor's suspicion. (The Ming and Qing dynasties didn't have prime ministers; yesterday's prime minister had changed.)
Therefore, Jia Zhu's marriage to a girl from a fourth-rank official family would only benefit the Jia family and not harm it.
But what no one expected was that Wang Shi didn't choose the daughter of a fourth-rank official, let alone a fifth-rank official, but secretly arranged for Wang Xifeng to marry Jia Zhu...
He simply didn't take Yun Xi's words seriously. She had said long ago that people with blood ties within three generations would not be considered for marriage. Jia Zhu and Wang Xifeng were just cousins.
Yun Xi was so angry that she called Jia Zheng over and scolded him, asking him to cancel the verbal agreement immediately. She also gave him a pair of jade pendants as an apology to Wang Xifeng. As for Jia Zhu's marriage, she would find a good girl for him. Jia Zheng went to do his job in a dejected manner.
In short, Yun Xi finally arranged for Jia Zhu to marry Xu Changqing, the eldest daughter of the Xu family, who was the director of the Imperial Medical Bureau and a fifth-rank official. Although the Xu family seemed to be just a family of doctors, they were a century-old medical family. They not only cured diseases and saved lives, but also did business in medicinal materials. They were not short of money and had enough background. Most importantly, Yun Xi was afraid that Jia Zhu would die suddenly, so it would be great to have a wife with medical skills.
Seeing that her mother-in-law had arranged a marriage for Jia Zhu, Zhang immediately arranged a marriage for Jia Lian with the only daughter of the fourth-rank Minister of the Ministry of Rites, Lord Wei. That's right, Lord Wei had no sons, neither legitimate sons nor illegitimate sons, only one legitimate daughter. They privately agreed that they would fully support Jia Lian, but at that time, one of Jia Lian's sons would need to be adopted by the Wei family.
Zhang Shi felt that this was not a loss. The class of scholars, farmers, merchants, and artisans was always lowly. Lian'er was not bad at entertaining people. He could follow his father-in-law for a few years to gain experience. When the time came, the family would pay for him to get a small official position and slowly work his way up. When the time was right, he could take over the position of Lord Wei. Wouldn't that be perfect? Was there such an advantage in marrying Feng Ge from the Wang family? Not at all. Wang Shi just couldn't stand the fact that the first wife was better off. Humph!
Yun Xi didn't dare let Wang interfere in Fengchun's marriage anymore. She was really afraid that Wang, that fool, would marry Fengchun back to the Wang family. Three of the Four Kings and Seven Dukes had already been dealt with. They all couldn't see the situation clearly and thought that the emperor could still be fine. The new emperor also had a hard time using the other families. If the Wang family couldn't see clearly, they would have no future.