About ten days before the official marriage, accompanied by several blessed people, Wei Tingyu went to the Wen family in person to propose marriage.
However, before leaving the house, he encountered a small problem. It was because the betrothal gifts seemed a little too generous. In addition to the usual betrothal cakes, seafood, three kinds of meat, fish, wine, four kinds of Beijing fruits, four kinds of sugar, gift boxes, glutinous rice, sugar and other items, there were additional things, such as silks and satins, various jewelry, calligraphy and paintings, antiques, spices, etc., plus some furniture, real estate, medicinal materials and the like - there was reason to suspect that these things were not suitable to appear in the betrothal gifts, otherwise Wei Tingyu might really fill them in - it was almost a complete set of dowry, so this was not a betrothal gift at all, but clearly a dowry for the woman.
To put it more bluntly, it was probably to transform the property of Pingyang Marquis Mansion into Xiaocao's private property through the betrothal gift.
Although Wei Tingyu is now the actual person in charge of Pingyang Marquis Mansion, he still lacks a status. Moreover, even if he has complete control over it, there is no reason for all these things to be transferred to his future wife's name.
During the preparations, no one except close ones knew about it, so it was fine. But now the things were about to be carried out of the house, and the list of betrothal gifts was in the hands of the lucky man, so there was no reason for him not to know about it.
Those who hurried over to stop Wei Tingyu were not only Marquis Pingyang, but also the relatives of Wei family. Although the relatives of Wei family usually did not interfere in the affairs of the Marquis' Mansion, there were a few who were of high seniority and had more say in the entire Wei family. They could not touch most of the industries of the Marquis' Mansion, but they did profit from the Marquis' Mansion every year. Wei Tingyu squandered the things of the Marquis' Mansion too much, which naturally hurt their interests, so at this time they could not care so much and followed Marquis Pingyang in jumping up and down.
"People outside say that you, Wei Tingyu, are where you are today because of Princess Anguo. Even if you want to curry favor with her, there is no reason for you to empty the Marquisate. You are cruel and ruthless, unfilial and unfraternal. It's fine if you control the power of the Marquisate, but don't forget that you are only the son of Marquis Pingyang, not Marquis Pingyang. How can you do whatever you want with the foundation accumulated by your ancestors!"
"You are a grown man, but you don't care about your dignity and face, and flatter a woman without any bottom line. That's your business. Don't drag Pingyang Hou into this and make the entire Hou Mansion and the entire Wei family embarrassed with you."
"… "
Surrounded by a group of people and attacked, Wei Tingyu remained calm and looked as if he didn't take these people seriously at all, which made people so angry that they jumped to their feet. The most senior elder of the Wei family blew his beard and glared, shouting that he wanted to use family rules. Some people even fanned the flames from behind, saying that they wanted to expel him from the family and drive him out of the Pingyang Marquis' Mansion.
Speaking of expelling the clan, it is obvious that someone is trying to take advantage of the situation. No one can make a sound, and to be honest, no one dares to say it openly. Although Pingyang Hou and Wei Jincheng knew Wei Tingyu's methods best later, such a big thing would make the Wei family members ask about it, and of course, they would know about it.
Wei Tingyu raised his eyes and glanced at them lightly. His voice suddenly became much softer, and some people even visibly shrank their necks.
Wei Tingyu finally set his sights on Pingyang Hou. Compared with the Wei clan members, he was quieter. Obviously he knew that he could not do anything to Wei Tingyu, so he wanted these clan members to put pressure on Wei Tingyu. As long as Wei Tingyu backed down, he might even have the possibility of regaining power over Pingyang Hou's Mansion. This plan was really going well.
Wei Tingyu had probably anticipated this situation, so he waved his hand. Someone came up with a few booklets and distributed them to several influential elders of the Wei family. Wei Tingyu motioned for them to take a look.
“You are all elders of the Wei family and have made great contributions to the Wei family. As the younger generation, I naturally respect you. However, I personally think that it is better for you not to interfere in some matters.
Although the betrothal gifts given to Princess Anguo are a bit more, they are far from enough to empty the Pingyang Marquis's mansion. In addition, the reason for these betrothal gifts is not because of Princess Anguo's status, but simply because of her personality. Believe me, if she did not have her current status, the betrothal gifts would only be more, not less. I hope you all know this."
Originally, according to Wei Tingyu's original plan, he would overthrow the entire Marquis' Mansion and give all the properties to Xiaocao. However, the current betrothal gift, when converted in total, is less than 30% of the Marquis' Mansion's properties. In his opinion, his Xuan'er suffered a great loss. These people are still jumping up and down and are not satisfied. Perhaps his methods are too gentle.
The booklet is not thick, and there is not much content on it, so it seems to be read quickly.
Seeing their expressions change, Wei Tingyu was in a rather happy mood and lowered his voice, "If you want to stop me, then this booklet will appear in front of the emperor within an hour."
The elder of the Wei clan looked at Wei Tingyu with wide eyes, "You, how dare you?"
Wei Tingyu chuckled, "Why wouldn't I dare? The Pingyang Marquis's Mansion is gone, I can just marry into the family, it's such a simple thing."
That’s right, on the booklet is the evidence that could cause Marquis Pingyang to lose his title.
"You are an unfilial son. How are you going to face your ancestors in the afterlife?"
"If I marry into the family, I will no longer be a member of the Wei family. What relationship do the ancestors of the Wei family have with me? It's not early now. It will be bad if I go too late. So, do you still want to stop me?"
They were so angry that their lungs were about to explode, however, they could only glare at Wei Tingyu angrily, and then reluctantly gave way, because they could see that Wei Tingyu could definitely do what he said.