sjar Chapter 36 Betrothal gift and dowry
Chapter 36 Betrothal gift and dowry
Zhang remained frozen in place.
She never expected that Wen Jiayue would agree to the proposal.
"Mother, let's go," Wen Jiayue said with a gentle smile, "Let's go quickly."
"This……"
Zhang swallowed hard and gave Wen's father a wink, signaling him to find a way to stop it.
What could Wen's father do? He sat there blankly, like a block of wood.
Unable to rely on her husband, Zhang turned to her daughter, Huan'er, who was usually very clever and would surely be able to stop Wen Jiayue.
Wen Ruohuan then said, "Sister, you suddenly said you wanted to see the dowry. Mother didn't have time to prepare it. Why don't we look at it another time?"
Madam Zhang quickly said, "Yes, Yue'er, you didn't even give me a heads-up. I put them away in such a mess, how am I supposed to find them now?"
Wen Ruohuan then said, "It's already noon. My sister and brother-in-law must be hungry. Let's have lunch first."
Zhang nodded vigorously.
The mother and daughter sang in unison, and Wen Jiayue remained all smiles.
"No rush, I had breakfast a little late today, so I'm not hungry yet."
Wen Jiayue looked at Zhang Shi and said sarcastically, "I'm just looking around. What are you worried about? You're not going to secretly sell my dowry, are you?"
Zhang's heart skipped a beat, and she said awkwardly, "How could that be? Yue'er is overthinking it."
She quickly calculated in her mind how much stuff had been used.
Shen Fuhan suddenly stood up.
"In that case, let's go take a look. I'm also quite curious about the lady's dowry."
Wen Jiayue took Shen Fuhan's arm at the opportune moment.
"Husband, let's go."
The two of them went out of the house first, and the three people inside exchanged a glance and had no choice but to follow.
Wen Ruohuan asked softly, "Mother, how much did you pawn in total?"
"It's not much, just a few pieces of jewelry. You probably won't notice it unless you look closely."
Father Wen sighed, “I told you not to sell it, but you wouldn’t listen. Now look what’s happened, Yue’er wants to see the dowry.”
Zhang glared at him: "Hindsight is 20/20! If your monthly salary weren't so low, I wouldn't have needed her dowry!"
Wen Ruohuan shushed her: "Keep your voice down."
Zhang gritted her teeth: "What's wrong with that little bitch today?"
Wen Ruohuan guessed, "Perhaps it's just a whim to take a look, Mother, don't worry."
With her words, Zhang felt much more at ease.
Wen Jiayue has always trusted her daughter the most since she was a child, and her daughter has also figured out Wen Jiayue's personality quite well, so there is nothing to worry about.
But... it's best not to watch it.
Zhang quickly came up with an idea and breathed a sigh of relief: "Let's go!"
Wen Jiayue and Shen Fuhan stopped in front of the warehouse.
She glanced at the Wen family members behind her and whispered, "Thank you, Lord Marquis."
Shen Fuhan's words were worth ten of hers; if he hadn't spoken, she didn't know how much longer she would have argued.
Shen Fuhan looked straight ahead and said calmly, "You switch between titles quite freely."
Wen Jiayue was stunned for a moment, and before she could understand what he meant, the Wen family members had already walked over.
Zhang slowly reached for her key, but couldn't find it after a long while.
"Oh dear, where are the storeroom keys?" she exclaimed in alarm. "How did they disappear?"
Wen Jiayue comforted her, "Don't rush, take your time looking."
Wen Ruohuan took her hand and suggested, "Sister, let's go have a meal first, I'm starving."
Wen Jiayue didn't move, and asked curiously, "Huan'er, the storeroom key is lost, how can you still have the appetite to eat?"
Wen Ruohuan's smile froze for a moment as she realized she had been too calm and composed.
She quickly added, "Mother must have just forgotten where she put it. This key has never been lost before."
Wen Jiayue glanced at her with a half-smile.
Wen Ruohuan bit her lip, not daring to say anything more, afraid of giving herself away.
After a while, Zhang was still frantically searching, putting on a show, and even sent Wen Ruohuan to search in the bedroom.
Wen Jiayue pursed her lips. She knew the key was on Zhang Shi, but since Zhang Shi wouldn't cooperate, she was helpless.
Are you suggesting we search them directly?
She subconsciously looked at Shen Fuhan.
Shen Fuhan said solemnly, "Losing the warehouse key is a serious matter. We should immediately seal off the Wen residence, break into the warehouse, and take inventory of the valuables."
Seeing that they were determined to see the dowry, Zhang gritted her teeth and said, "I'll keep looking; I'm sure I can find it."
After dawdling for a while, she took out the key.
"Hey, how did you find me here? I've been looking for you for ages."
Wen Jiayue quietly gave Shen Fuhan a thumbs up before speaking with relief.
"It's good that it was found. I thought it had been stolen. I was really worried about it."
Zhang reluctantly opened the warehouse door.
“Your dowry is here,” Zhang said, pointing to a trunk. “There are some odds and ends inside. It hasn’t been cleaned in a long time; it’s covered in dust and very dirty.”
Zhang was still unwilling to give up and tried to get her to leave in this way.
Wen Jiayue said nonchalantly, "I'm not afraid of getting dirty."
As she spoke, she squatted down, lifted the lid of the box, and silently examined it.
Zhang said, "They're all here. Doesn't Yue'er believe me?"
Wen Jiayue quickly stood up, smiling, "Of course I believe you."
Zhang breathed a sigh of relief. If she had known that the woman wouldn't be able to tell, she wouldn't have gone to such lengths.
Unexpectedly, Wen Jiayue pointed to the stack of chests covered with red silk cloth and asked, "Is this my betrothal gift?"
The Marquis's family presented a generous dowry, consisting of forty-eight loads, neatly stacked.
Zhang nodded, a bad feeling creeping into her heart. She quickly said, "Yue'er, now that you've seen it, you can rest assured. Let's go have our meal."
Wen Jiayue said slowly, "No rush, let's check the dowry and betrothal gifts first."
Zhang was stunned: "Yue'er, what do you mean by that?"
“Naturally, the dowry and betrothal gifts should be brought back to the Marquis’s residence.”
Wen Jiayue sighed: "I just gave birth to a daughter, and I'll need money for many things in the future. My parents have been keeping it safe for a long time, and I should take it back with me."
Zhang almost couldn't maintain her smile.
She just took all that stuff with her?
"Moon, what are you saying? To put it bluntly, it sounds like the Marquis's mansion isn't feeding you and your daughter."
Marquis Jing'an, Shen Fuhan, raised his eyebrows slightly; these words were actually meant for him.
He said solemnly, "The Marquis's mansion will certainly not mistreat Yue'er and Zhaozhao, but these are Yue'er's things, and she can do with them however she wants."
Wen Jiayue couldn't help but tremble slightly.
I was surprised to hear him call out "Yue'er" again, each time with an even more intimate and natural tone.
She banished the jumbled thoughts from her mind and spoke earnestly.
“I have made up my mind. My parents raised me for many years and left me eighteen loads of betrothal gifts. I will take the rest back to the Marquis’s mansion.”
The betrothal gifts are not only for her; her family also needs to keep a portion, otherwise people will criticize them for being unfilial.
She had already done everything she could. If they still didn't agree, she would have to resort to force instead of persuasion, and directly have the guards who had accompanied her today come and move the things.
Zhang felt a pang of heartache; these were all her belongings, and Wen Jiayue was simply moving them out without any reason!
But then she looked at Shen Fuhan, who was standing up for Wen Jiayue, and she didn't dare to act rashly.
After thinking it over, she could only compromise and say, "Moon, let's go have our meal first, and we can talk about this later."
If we can delay it for a while, we might come up with a solution.
To everyone's surprise, Wen Jiayue asked directly, "Mother, you don't want to give it to me anymore?"
Madam Zhang said with a forced smile, "Why would Yue'er think that way? Mother didn't mean it that way."
Wen Jiayue smiled and said, "In that case, I'll have the guards move the things."
Her tone was clearly one of notification, not a request for opinions.
Zhang was completely flustered, and then she heard her say, "That's right, Mother, why are three hairpins, two pairs of earrings, and three bracelets missing from my dowry?"
Zhang was sweating profusely. How could this little bitch remember so clearly!
Wen Jiayue smiled gently: "Mother must have put things in a mess. Let's look carefully in a bit."