coobybook Chapter 11 No Dowry
Chapter 11 No Dowry
The couple's words almost made Ye Gengxin jump up from his chair in anger.
Even the entire You Jianchuan family of four frowned as they listened.
You Jianchuan couldn't help but speak up, "Brother, sister-in-law, Shu'er only jumped into the moat. What if someone rescued her? Even if... even if something really happened to her, you shouldn't bring up such things!"
Madam Ge glared at him with displeasure, "You grew up in the capital, don't you know how deep the moat is? I think you just can't stand seeing Rou'er being adopted into the Ye family!"
"You..." You Jianchuan was so angry he wanted to jump up and down.
But before he could argue with Madam Ge, Ye Gengxin stood up from his seat, his face ashen, and roared, "Shut up, all of you! No one is allowed to say she's dead until we see Shu'er's body!"
He then coldly ordered, "Hao Fu, escort the two uncles away!"
He stopped looking at anyone, angrily flung his wide sleeves, and left the hall in a fit of rage.
He was afraid that if he stayed any longer, he would be unable to resist strangling You Jianbin and the Ge family, that unscrupulous couple!
The vast fortune of the Marquis of Yufeng was squandered in less than ten years in their hands, which shows how unreliable this couple was!
Now that his daughter's fate is unknown, they're thinking of giving her up for adoption to the Ye family. What kind of idea is that? Do they think he's really brainless?
The next day.
Ye Gengxin submitted a memorial requesting leave and did not attend court.
He didn't send anyone to the Wei family, but after Wei Guangzheng left the court, he brought Ge Shi, Wei Yonghuai, and Luo Lixian to the general's mansion.
Looking at the mansion as usual, not to mention the mourning hall, even the servants were doing their work in an orderly manner as usual. There was not a trace of sadness in the huge mansion.
"General, aren't we supposed to be arranging Shu'er's funeral? Why..." Madam Ge asked, puzzled.
Looking at the sorrowful faces of the family, Ye Gengxin said in a low voice, "I really didn't want the elderly to bury their children, so I didn't have anyone set up a mourning hall."
Madam Ge frowned. "Then how should we arrange the marriage between Shu'er and Huai'er?"
Ye Gengxin looked at Wei Yonghuai, "Nephew, although I did not set up a mourning hall for Shu'er, your marriage with Shu'er will still proceed as planned. I have someone pick a date, tomorrow. Come and take Shu'er's memorial tablet back. I will consider it as Shu'er marrying far away to another country, and that we will never have the chance to meet again in this life."
tomorrow?
Madam Ge quickly said, "General, tomorrow is the wedding day, and we haven't prepared the betrothal gifts or Shu'er's dowry. Isn't this too rushed?"
Ye Gengxin said, "Now that Shu'er is gone, let's just go through the motions so that her soul can rest in peace. Betrothal gifts and dowry are customary rites for the living, so let's skip them." After saying that, he looked at Wei Yonghuai, "Nephew, you were truly devoted to Shu'er, so you shouldn't care about these elaborate formalities, right?"
Wei Yonghuai's expression froze, his mouth agape, unsure how to respond.
Ge Shi, Wei Guangzheng, and Luo Lixian all simultaneously fell silent.
No dowry...
What's the point of them taking a memorial tablet back with them?
They have plenty of ancestral offerings at home, so asking them to make offerings to someone else's short-lived daughter is not only bad luck but also a huge joke!
Ye Gengxin squinted, observing the expressions on their faces, and asked, feigning ignorance, "Is there something wrong?"
The person who found it most unacceptable to not provide a dowry was Madam Ge!
Seeing Ye Gengxin's stinginess, Madam Ge could not hide her dissatisfaction. "General, since ancient times, what woman has ever married without a dowry? Although Shu'er is gone, even if Huai'er doesn't remarry, he will definitely choose a child from the clan to be adopted by him and Shu'er. For the sake of the continuation of the family line, our two families must leave something for that child. If Shu'er has no dowry, what will we leave for that child? Don't you think that makes sense?"
Ye Gengxin almost got angry after listening to her seemingly reasonable words.
This was all instructed to be done by his daughter in the note.
The purpose was to test the Wei family.
When he first read the note, he was somewhat displeased, thinking that his daughter was just being temperamental and making trouble for no reason!
But after he actually did as his daughter said, looking at the Wei family's faces, which were drooping with disappointment and resentment, he could hardly believe that this was their reaction.
Fortunately, the daughter's death was faked...
If his daughter were truly gone, and he were to hand over his deceased wife's dowry to complete strangers, wouldn't he become the biggest fool in the world?!
He looked at Wei Yonghuai again, his gaze sharpening. "Yonghuai, tell me, if there's no dowry, you won't marry Shu'er?"
“I…” Wei Yonghuai was stumped once again.
"General, why are you asking about Yonghuai?" Madam Ge immediately took over the conversation. "The marriage of our children is decided by their parents. Our two families have already agreed on this matter. Your change of heart will not only break the hearts of our Wei family, but I'm afraid Yueqin will not be able to rest in peace even in the afterlife!"
This wasn't the first time she had brought up her deceased wife, but this time, Ye Gengxin found it particularly jarring to hear her name being called out!
He hardened his heart, his face grim, and said coldly, "It is true that marriage is a matter for parents to decide, but my Yueqin is gone, and I am not dead yet. Shu'er's marriage is naturally up to me! I'm saying this on behalf of Shu'er right now: I don't want betrothal gifts or dowry. If you want to marry me, then marry me; if you don't want to marry me, then break off the engagement!"
Upon hearing this, Ge Shi and Wei Yonghuai turned pale.
Wei Guangzheng silenced the mother and son with a look, and said in a soft tone, "General, please don't be angry. We're not after Shu'er's dowry. We just want Shu'er to have a grand wedding like a normal person. Think about it, if Shu'er goes like this, she won't be able to enter the ancestral hall. If we don't get the wedding done quickly, are we going to let her live as a lonely ghost? We're asking for a dowry for Shu'er because a dowry is a woman's source of confidence. Even if Shu'er is no longer alive, she shouldn't lack that confidence."
Ye Gengxin clenched his fists tightly.
He keeps talking about dowry. Does that mean his daughter can't get married without a dowry?
Just as the atmosphere was about to break down, a report came from outside the door: "General, Prince Cheng has arrived, saying he has come to mourn the Third Miss!"
Ye Gengxin frowned slightly.
The note from his daughter said she had been rescued by Prince Seung's men. Prince Seung knew his daughter was still alive, so why was he mourning?
But he couldn't turn the person away, so he immediately sent Hao Fu to invite them in.
Before long, Prince Cheng appeared in the public eye, sitting in a wheelchair and being pushed by his guards Wen Yan and Wen Mo.
When they reached the threshold of the hall, Wenyan and Wenmo worked together to lift the wheelchair into the hall.
Ye Gengxin and the four members of the Wei family stopped talking and bowed to each other.
After saying "No need for formalities," Yu Chi Ling asked them, "Weren't you discussing the ghost marriage yesterday? Have you reached an agreement? The Third Miss's remains are still missing, so you must expedite the process, otherwise the Third Miss might become a wandering ghost."
His words didn't sound like he was there to mourn; he was clearly there to watch the spectacle!
But Ye Gengxin knew that Prince Cheng was most likely back to find out what was going on for his daughter.
So he didn't hide anything and simply explained what the two families were discussing.
As soon as he finished speaking, Madam Ge interrupted, "Your Highness, please be the judge. How can a girl get married without a dowry? We just want the Ye and Wei families to have some dignity, so that Shu'er and her mother can rest in peace in the afterlife. But the general is so ignorant of etiquette, it's really putting us in a difficult position!"
Yu Chi Ling's eye twitched slightly.
Is he to be in charge?
"Ahem!" He cleared his throat. "General, the Third Miss is still waiting for her memorial tablet to be erected. Since you can't reach an agreement on the dowry, why don't I take the Third Miss's tablet away? Emotionally speaking, the Third Miss once saved me, and I owe her a debt of gratitude. Logically speaking, she and I had intimate relations, and I should take responsibility for her."