strictlysupreme Chapter 184 The Zhang family gave way too much.
Chapter 184 The Zhang family gave way too much.
When Cui Ruixin recalled the scene from that day, she felt extremely humiliated.
For money, Yu Kangping sold his eldest son's lifelong happiness.
She had always looked down on Shen Jinzhu, that merchant's daughter, but it turned out that her own son had married a merchant's daughter.
But there was nothing she could do.
After all, the Zhang family gave them far too much.
Neither the Marquis nor his eldest son were on her side, so she had no choice but to swallow her anger.
Later she learned that in addition to giving 500,000 taels of silver, the Zhang family also sent the Marquis a pair of twin sisters as concubines.
She nearly vomited blood.
The two sisters were even about the same age as the eldest son.
Absolutely ridiculous!
But what's done is done, and there's no use in Cui Ruixin being angry.
She couldn't interfere in her eldest son's marriage, so she was extra cautious about her second son's marriage.
But now it's not her turn to choose whomever she wants.
After all, the second son had not yet passed the imperial examinations, and the eldest son had married a merchant's daughter. Many families were unwilling to have their daughters marry into a family where they would be considered inferior to the merchant's daughter.
Therefore, the second son, Yu Ziqing, has been very picky about marriage and has not yet found a suitable match.
Yu Ziqing is two years older than Yu Ziheng.
Cui Ruixin couldn't help but feel anxious.
She urged someone to invite Yu Kangping over.
"My lord, do you have a suitable candidate for Ziqing's marriage?"
Yu Kangping said expressionlessly, "What kind of people do I have to choose from? Didn't you complain that the wife I chose for Ziche wasn't good enough? You insisted on choosing Ziqing's wife yourself, so why are you asking me now?"
Cui Ruixin choked and immediately became angry.
"No matter what, Ziqing is still your son. Aren't you going to care about him?"
Yu Kangping said impatiently, "If you can't handle this, then leave it to Ziche's wife."
"Hand it over to her? If it weren't for her, Ziqing wouldn't have had to keep searching for a wife." Cui Ruixin became increasingly annoyed.
"If she doesn't want her daughter to be sisters-in-law with a merchant's daughter, what kind of good wife can she choose for Ziqing?"
"Heh, what do you mean you don't want to be sisters-in-law with a merchant's daughter? That's all because you haven't paid enough. Increase the dowry, and I refuse to believe you can't find a good daughter-in-law," Yu Kangping sneered.
"If you can't even handle this simple matter, then you should just hand over the management of the mansion to Ziche's wife."
After saying that, he turned and left.
Cui Rui was so upset she wanted to die.
She invited Yu Kangping here, but instead of coming up with a good solution, she was disgusted.
But Yu Kangping's words reminded her.
If we could increase the dowry, we might be able to choose a different one.
The specifics of the betrothal gifts for the children were determined when the family divided the property.
The old Marquis and his wife had already divided the spoils among their grandsons. Ziche was to inherit the title, so his betrothal gifts were the most.
Everyone else will receive 10% less.
After thinking for a moment, Cui Rui called her eldest daughter-in-law, Zhang Yunyi, over.
No small talk, straight to the point.
"As the eldest sister-in-law, you should lend a hand in Ziqing's marriage proposal."
Zhang Yunyi lowered her eyes and said, "Mother is right, I will do my best."
"If that's the case, how much more silver do you plan to add to Ziqing's betrothal gifts?" Cui Ruixin asked.
Zhang Yunyi sneered inwardly.
That Marquis's mansion is truly greedy.
She has given so much money since she married into the family, and now her second son is getting married and she has to pay for it too. Is she some kind of money exchange that has no money left but keeps spewing out more?
"I will discuss this with my husband and then report back to my mother," Zhang Yunyi replied indifferently.
Cui Ruixin was very dissatisfied with her answer, and slammed the tea lid down, splashing two drops of tea stains onto the rosewood table.
“With a sister-in-law from a merchant family, which respectable family would be willing to propose marriage? As the eldest son’s wife, since you hold the title of eldest sister-in-law, you should think about the reputation of the Marquis’s mansion.”
Zhang Yunyi sneered: "Mother, this isn't my first time being a merchant's daughter."
Seeing that Cui Ruixin was about to get angry, she added, "It's not that I can't pay, but my mother has been managing the household finances for many years and she's tired. I should..."
Cui Ruixin's eyes twitched, and she rebuked sharply, "You want to change the household leadership? You've only been married into the Marquis's mansion for a short time, and you already want to seize power from your mother-in-law?"
"Mother is joking. What talk of seizing power? I just want to share your burdens," Zhang Yunyi said with a faint smile.
She has already given birth to the eldest grandson of the Yu family.
The child has now turned one year old.
It's time to let the Cui family rest.
"But Ziqing is getting married, so we need to free up some people to prepare the betrothal gifts. How about we have Granny Wang bring over the keys to the property, and I'll take inventory of the storeroom tonight?"
After scrutinizing her face with a sharp, piercing gaze for a moment, Cui Ruixin smashed the teacup on the ground, shattering it into pieces.
The maids around were completely silent, not daring to even breathe loudly.
Zhang Yunyi, however, calmly handed her a teacup and poured her another cup of tea.
"If Mother agrees, I will draft a new list of betrothal gifts tomorrow and come to you to exchange it for the head of the household's token."
Cui Ruixin remained silent for a long time before finally speaking.
"Let me see it first."
“Okay.” Zhang Yunyi smiled slightly and agreed.
The next day.
Zhang Yunyi took the betrothal gift list.
After carefully reviewing the documents, Cui Ruixin discovered that the amount was nearly 20,000 taels of silver more than she had prepared before.
With this betrothal gift, perhaps we can give Ziqing a better chance to choose.
“After Ziqing’s marriage is settled, Ziyuan’s must also be settled. Since you are the eldest sister-in-law, and both of them are your younger brothers, you must treat them equally.” Cui Ruixin looked at her.
Zhang Yunyi nodded: "Mother is right. If I take over the household at that time, I will definitely prepare a dowry for my third brother just like my second brother's."
“You’ve been married into the Marquis’s household for several years now, it’s time for you to help me out a bit. Starting today, you’ll begin by managing the kitchen. Let me see what you’re capable of. If you manage it well, I can confidently entrust the entire Marquis’s household to you.” Cui Ruixin patted her hand.
She ordered her trusted maid to fetch the main kitchen's access card and hand it to Zhang Yunyi.
"Yes, daughter-in-law will certainly not disappoint mother's expectations." Zhang Yunyi successfully wrested a piece of the housekeeping power from Cui Ruixin.
……
"Madam, why did you give the kitchen to her? There's so much lucrative business there. If she replaces her with her own people, then what will happen in the future..." The maid couldn't help but speak up.
“That’s exactly why I’m giving it to her.” Cui Ruixin squinted her eyes and had the maid gently massage her head.
"The kitchen staff are all trusted confidants I've trained over the years; they won't betray me. If they don't do a good job, I can rightfully take back the control of the household, let alone take over the reins."
"Madam is wise." The maid suddenly realized.
Meanwhile, Zhang Yunyi's maid also stood up for her.
"Young Madam, are you really going to give the Second Young Master and the Third Young Master a dowry? It's tens of thousands of taels of silver."
"A mere forty thousand taels is only something a shallow old woman like Cui would think is too much. Trading forty thousand taels of silver to take control of the household is a good deal for me," Zhang Yunyi said with a slight smile.
She is not short of money.
What's lacking is opportunity.
Forty thousand taels of silver is a very worthwhile opportunity to legitimately place one's own people in the Marquis's mansion and turn it into one's own territory.