The old lady in a bright red robe sat on the high hall, slightly bent over, talking to the Marquis.
She was very old, with wrinkles all over her face, but her hair was adorned with pearls and jade, and she was dressed very festively, as if she was a bride today instead of just hosting a banquet.
"Just give whatever you want as a betrothal gift, around ten taels. As for the dowry..." She turned to look at Lady Chen next to her, "Old dog, how much silver do we have?"
It is true that Lady Chen loves money and she has earned a lot over the years. When it comes to the bride price, she intends not to give in at all because the dowry is quite a lot.
When she heard the old lady say it was within ten taels and that she had almost sold the big bag and given it away, her face turned a little unhappy, especially when she heard the old lady call her an old dog, her face turned green, but due to etiquette, she still answered humbly: "There are many people in our family and the expenses are high. We haven't left anything after all these years, probably..." She raised a finger, meaning that ten taels of betrothal gift and a hundred taels of dowry would be enough.
The old lady nodded and said to Lord Xiao happily, "As for the dowry, we will give you 10,000 taels."
Chen Taijun held her hand and said, "No, old lady, our family can only..."
"One hundred thousand?" The old lady's eyes widened. "You have so much silver? You old dog, you hid so much?"
Zi'an burst out laughing, and when she saw the murderous look in the old lady's eyes, she quickly turned away and buried her head in Murong Jie's chest.
Murong Jie seemed to be used to hearing this and didn't find it funny at all.
Zi'an asked softly, "Why do you call Chen Taijun like that?"
"The old lady's adoptive father's surname is Gou. The custom in your hometown is that once a woman gets married, she has to add the word "old" before her surname. That means if she calls you, she'd call you Old Xia, and if she calls your mother, she'd call you Old Yuan." Murong Jie explained.
Zi'an made a sound. She knew this. It was also the case in some places in modern times.
"Is Lady Chen's surname Gou? Isn't her surname Chen?" Zi'an remembered that Lady Chen's surname was also Chen, and he asked at that time why both husband and wife had the surname Chen.
"My adoptive father's surname was Gou, but later he took his biological father's surname again."
"He is both my adoptive father and my biological father. He sounds like a man with a story." Zi'an said.
Murong Jie smiled faintly, "Mrs. Chen's story? I can't finish it even if I talk for three days and three nights."
On the other side, everyone was talking enthusiastically about the marriage gift and dowry, but Marquis Xiao couldn't get a word in. It was all Lady Chen and the old lady talking.
Finally, the old lady was so angry at what she said that she slammed the table and said, "Old dog, you still dare to talk back to me? You know it's a blessing for our Liu Liu to get married. How much do you want as a gift? If you want, then give it. Can't we afford it?"
When the old lady saw that the old lady was angry, she didn't dare to say anything, because the old lady began to gasp for air. She was in poor health and would faint if she was angered. Although she was full of indignation, she had to endure it.
Instead, Xiao Tuo poked Lord Xiao on the back and whispered, "Grandfather, give more. Their family has a lot of dowry, including all kinds of weapons."
Lord Xiao glared at him angrily, "What are you capable of? Get out of here."
Xiao Tuo stood behind him with grievance, mumbling: "Now my elder brother is going to marry the princess, with so much money, how can you be so stingy? What's wrong with giving more? Giving more won't hurt you."
Zi'an pulled Murong Jie and tried to leave. She had never seen anyone talk about marriage in this way. It was really embarrassing.
Just as she was about to come out, she heard the old lady angrily ask the old lady, "Tell me the truth, how much is the betrothal gift? What if it's too much and they don't want it? Are you willing to give ten taels? If you are willing, then it will be settled."
Lord Xiao also asked the old lady, "Lady Chen, ten taels is indeed too little. Just tell me how much you want as a betrothal gift."
Chen Taijun opened her mouth and sighed, "There are ways to do more, and there are ways to do less."
"How much is that? Our family can't afford more than that. My grandfather is a stingy person. The most he will do is not to marry you." Xiao Tuo asked impatiently.
Lady Chen was silent for a moment and said, "Okay, ten taels." Xiao Tuo's words of not marrying her scared her. In fact, she was willing to pay for him as long as Xiao Tuo was willing to marry Liu Liu.
When Liu Liu heard that she was worth ten taels of silver, she was so angry that her lungs almost exploded.
However, Lord Xiao was naturally not that kind of person. Even if he was, he would not give him another ten taels after being accused by Xiao Tuo of being a miser.
The final betrothal gift was settled at 10,000 taels, and the dowry was optional.
The old lady kept saying to the old lady, "What a good family! Where can you find one? If it were another family, they would not want your granddaughter even if they gave them 10,000 taels of silver."
There were quite a lot of people attending the banquet, including hundreds of businessmen and politicians, which shows how wide the old lady's network of contacts is.
Zhuangzhuang arrived before the banquet started and caused a sensation. Many people surrounded her to greet her. Zhuangzhuang just smiled and stood in the middle of the crowd, with Qinzhi and Qionghua protecting her.
Lord Xiao looked over from afar with a complicated look in his eyes. When Zhuangzhuang saw Lord Xiao, his expression also became a little stiff.
When the Chen family held a banquet, they didn't have each person sitting at a table, but instead had ten people sitting at a round table. Zi'an knew that modern wedding banquets are all held at round tables, but that was not popular at the time.
Zi'an, Murong Jie, Zhuangzhuang, Hu Huanxi, Liang Rouyao, Prince Li, Prince An and others sat at the same table, next to the old lady.
Zi'an had never seen such a frustrated old dog... No, Chen Taijun, she wanted to drink. The old lady glared at him, "You kid, you dare to drink?"
The old lady spoke to people with the status of a lady. The old lady glared at him and said, "Where are your manners, kid?"
The old lady couldn't refute the man who kept calling her child. She had lost face in front of her colleagues, relatives and friends tonight.
The old lady didn't let the old lady drink, but she drank two glasses herself and toasted everyone at the table.
When he came to Zi'an's table, Murong Jie lowered his head and tried not to look at the old lady.
But the old lady saw him at once and said with great joy: "Erhuozi is here? Why didn't you say hello to me, the old lady?"
"Erhuozi?" Zi'an looked at Murong Jie in surprise.
Murong Jie coughed and pretended not to hear what the old lady said, as if the old lady was not calling him.
Seeing that he didn't agree, the old lady walked over and grabbed his ear, "You little boy, I asked you a question and you don't agree?"
General Chen Long saw this and quickly grabbed her hand, "Grandma, you can't do this. This is what the prince, the regent, told you."
"Regent? Isn't the Regent the Erhuozi?" The old lady looked at Murong Jie in confusion, "Now that you're the Regent, you don't recognize me anymore? Didn't you always follow me around to get candy when you were a kid?"
Murong Jie's face looked very ugly, and he was very angry in his heart. He knew long ago that he shouldn't be greedy for the fine wine in the Chen Mansion. However, now she only called her a nickname and didn't say anything else, so he had to send her away quickly.
Thinking of this, he stood up and said, "I offer a toast to the old lady, wishing her a long life and good health."
"Good boy, so good!" The old lady smiled happily. Her toothless mouth was like a black hole, and her face sunken when she smiled, which was particularly funny.
(End of this chapter)