Zhulan was very relieved that she did not see any reluctance in the boy's eyes. When Yu Lu and Wang Wei met, Zhulan could not help laughing. These two people really looked like a couple.
The engagement was officially confirmed, and the wedding date was set after Yu Lu reached the age of 15.
The formal engagement took less than seven days, which was very fast. The two families became related by marriage, and the benefits were obvious. Zhou Shuren's official duties went more smoothly.
Once again, Tao let the cat out of the bag, and Zhulan then understood why, after they had matched their horoscopes, Tao was so particularly fond of Yu Lu and was so generous to her that he gave her two sets of head ornaments as a gift.
It turned out that Tao secretly calculated Yu Lu's horoscope, which showed that Yu Lu was destined to have many children and good fortune. The fact that she had many children made Tao's daughter-in-law, who originally had some opinions, very satisfied with Yu Lu.
After Yu Lu got engaged, Zhou Lao Da and Zhou Lao Er also prepared to return to their hometown to worship their ancestors.
In the evening, Zhou Shuren came back from taking a bath with his son. "What are you tidying up? Haven't you finished yet?"
Zhulan put down her pen and said, "I asked someone to count the dowries prepared for Xuemei and Xuehan in the warehouse today. Xuemei's dowry is to supplement her. Originally, she was supposed to have what Xuehan had, but you also know Rongchuan's background, so we can't keep our promise."
Even if she and Zhou Shuren sold all their property, it would still not be enough to provide dowries for two princes' wives.
Zhou Shuren took the list written by Zhulan and said, "So, should we count out the amount for Xuemei?"
Zhulan nodded, "Yes, I'll count how much we have first. We have enough leather and wood in stock. What we lack now is the farm and the shop. I think the eldest brother will bring back Xuemei's dowry when he goes back to worship his ancestors. What do you think?"
Zhou Shuren put down the list in his hand and said, "I'll do whatever you say. You don't need to ask me."
Zhulan took the list and said, "I mean, there is no need to add to the leather and other items currently in stock. I will give Xuemei a shop in the capital and a farm in my hometown. I will also buy her a house and two shops in my hometown. When I have more money next year, I will buy her a house in the capital. These are all the dowry I have prepared."
Zhou Shuren quickly calculated the money in his mind and said, "As a mother, you have made sufficient preparations. Although you cannot compare with Xuehan, Xuemei also understands."
Zhu Lan shook the list and said, "This daughter of a family really drained the family's savings. I am worried about Xue Han's dowry just thinking about it."
Zhou Shuren took the list and said, "Don't look at it anymore. You won't see anything even if you look at it more."
Zhulan opened the box and motioned Zhou Shuren to put the list inside. "We'll pack it tomorrow and ship it together when the boss leaves."
Zhou Shuren closed the box, feeling extremely upset. He and Zhulan had worked hard for several years to build up their family fortune, and when their daughter got married, all of it would be given as a dowry to the royal family. What a shame, he had to give up all of it after working so hard.
When Zhulan slept at night, she always dreamed that gold was falling from the sky. Soon a mountain of gold fell down, which made Zhulan very happy. But when she wanted to touch it, the mountain of gold turned into a mountain of stone.
In the morning, Zhou Shuren woke up and saw Zhulan sulking. "What happened?"
“I’m angry about my dream.”
Zhou Shuren laughed out loud, "You, how old are you, and you're still angry about such a small thing."
Zhu Lan glared, "What do you mean how old I am? I am obviously very young, very young."
"Well, well, young old woman."
Zhulan, "Then you are the old man with white hair."
Zhou Shuren touched his hair and said, "My dear, I think we can stop hurting each other."
Zhulan chuckled and said, "Wake up."
After breakfast, Zhulan took the list and checked the leather and other items and sealed the boxes. Zhulan picked out the dowry to supplement Xuemei and did not hide it from the family.
Li and Zhao came to see it. It was Li's first time to enter the storeroom in the main courtyard. Her eyes widened. "Mom, when did you save so many good things?"
Zhulan, "I have received a lot of gifts in the past few years. I saved the good ones. I have saved a lot without realizing it."
Li looked at the sealed boxes and thought to herself that her parents were really fair to their children. Even their married daughters were given dowries. Just looking at the items put into the boxes, it was a considerable dowry.
Zhao didn't dare to touch the ornaments. She looked around the storehouse. The second room also stored a lot of things, but there were really few treasures. She silently calculated in her mind how much dowry the sealed boxes could be exchanged for. Zhao took a deep breath. This was a huge dowry, not counting the land and shops.
Zhao thought that her eldest daughter was not young anymore, and recalled the second house's storehouse, which really couldn't produce much dowry. It seemed that she had to spend more money and save it.
By the time all the boxes were sealed, it was already afternoon.
Zhoujia Village was in an uproar. Many villagers gathered at Zhang Datie's house. Xuemei went to the clan school to find her husband and they came together.
The front door of Zhang Datie's house was open, and the door inside the house was also open, but Zhang Datie's family was gone. Nothing in the house was damaged and nothing was lost. The Zhang family members found silver, money, and deeds, but Zhang Datie's family was gone.
Xuemei and Jiang Sheng were the only people who knew about the situation, but they could not say anything. They knew in their hearts that Zhang Datie and his family must have been arrested, but they had no idea whether they were alive or dead.
Xuemei only realized from listening to the discussions that the door of Zhang Datie's house was not open in the morning, and no one responded when someone came to look for him at noon. They thought something had happened and someone had jumped into the yard, but got scared when he didn't see anyone, so they told the whole village about it.
The Zhang clan leader walked up to Xuemei and asked, "I heard that Zhang Datie came to see you a few days ago?"
Xuemei did not hide it, "Yes, she said she wanted to ask about Rongchuan and hoped that I could write to her and ask."
As for the other things, Xuemei didn't say them. If she said them, it would only cause unnecessary trouble. So it's better to say them or not.
Patriarch Zhang understood Datie's feelings. It seemed that he could not get any more information out of him, so he waved his hand and said, "Everyone go away."
Xuemei and her husband left first, and then met Dong Yiyi. Dong Yiyi waited until there was no one around before whispering, "You and your wife should also pay attention to your safety."
Xuemei thanked him and said, "We will be careful."
Xuemei returned home and said, "It seems that Rongchuan's life experience is really not simple."
Jiang Sheng was worried, "I hope it won't affect my father-in-law."
Xuemei said: "It shouldn't affect Dad, after all, our Zhou family has done a great favor to Rongchuan."
Jiang Sheng thought so too, "But you and the child should not go out recently."
"Um."
Jiang Sheng, "I'll write a letter to my father-in-law first and tell him about the situation here."
"good."
In the evening, Zhou Shuren and Zhulan sorted out the banknotes at home. They spent a lot on this trip to the capital and borrowed some from Zhao Bo. Fortunately, they made a lot of money last year, plus the savings before, they still have 18,000 taels left.
Zhulan took out three thousand taels and said, "This three thousand taels is for Xuemei to keep in the bottom of the box."