Chapter 192: A Happy Marriage
November 2nd, Rongguo Mansion, East Living Room.
Master Jia wore gold-rimmed reading glasses on his nose. His round body was slightly leaning forward, and his two fat and short arms were leaning on the desk. He stretched his neck like a thousand-year-old turtle, staring intently at a fan with jadeite on the table.
"Good stuff, really good stuff!"
After a long while, he straightened his back, shaking his head, carefully closed the jade-frame fan, and carefully put it into the box.
Then, like a drug addict who was full of opium, he slammed his whole body into the armchair, his face filled with an intoxicated look, like a pile of mud.
The material of this fan alone is very valuable, not to mention that it has the authentic calligraphy of Cai Xiang, a great calligrapher of the Northern Song Dynasty, inscribed on it. Therefore, it cost Mr. Jia 1,700 taels of silver to bring this treasure home.
After redeeming the treasures that had been mortgaged, paying off half of the outstanding debts [the other half were owed by creditors of low status and ability, so Master Jia was 'too lazy' to repay] and buying this precious fan, Jia She had spent more than 80% of the 7,000 taels of silver that he had obtained from selling his daughter, leaving only a little over 1,000 taels.
However, Jia She did not think there was anything to worry about. Since Sun Shaozu was willing to pay 7,000 taels of silver to form a marriage alliance with the Rongguo Mansion, what would be a big deal if he paid another 8,000 taels of silver?
That's right~
In fact, Mr. Jia never thought about breaking off the engagement.
How could he be willing to give away such a wealthy son-in-law who was willing to spend real money to someone else? The reason why he acted so hypocritically was just to raise the price!
Logically speaking, since Sun Shaozong was fooled away the day before yesterday, Sun Shaozu should come to my house in person in the next two days. Should I ask for a huge amount of money from him directly or take it slow and steady?
These two options...
It’s really hard to decide!
"Master, Master!"
Master Jia was just immersed in sweet troubles when he saw the housekeeper Zhou Rui rushing in from outside, breathlessly saying, "Master, someone is outside... someone is outside... "
“Here?!”
Jia She jumped up from his chair and said happily, "Then why are you standing here like an idiot? Why don't you invite them in quickly?"
He had been refusing visitors these past few days, waiting for the Sun family to come, so when Zhou Rui reported this, he thought it must be Sun Shaozu who had arrived.
Unexpectedly, Zhou Rui took the order and went out, and soon brought in a middle-aged man dressed as a butler.
Sun Shaozu actually only sent a butler over?
Jia She was a little unhappy again, and when he saw that the butler held his head high and showed no respect at all, he became even more unhappy. He thought to himself, your master is my future son-in-law, how dare a small butler be so rude? !
So he didn't wait for the housekeeper to speak, and asked in a gruff voice: " Why doesn't your master come here in person?!"
The butler was stunned at first, but then he bowed his hands defiantly and sneered, "My prince is busy with official duties, so it is inconvenient for him to condescend to you."
"Your Majesty?"
Jia She was stunned and asked, "Which prince?"
"Which prince could it be?"
The butler raised his hands to the sky and said proudly, "Of course it is the old man, Prince Zhongshun. I am not talented enough, but I am appointed as the chief historian of the palace."
"Loyal...loyal, loyal, loyal, and obedient king?!"
Jia She's tongue was numb, and he didn't care about the 'respect of the host'. He hunched his back and smiled, "Misunderstanding, this is a huge misunderstanding! If I knew you were the chief official of the Zhongshun Palace, I would never dare to say such nonsense just now!"
"I thought so."
The chief clerk sneered and pointed his nose at Jia She, saying, "I originally wanted to report to the prince and ask him to come to ask for advice in person, but seeing what General Jia said, it seems that there is no need for that."
"No need, of course not!"
Jia She shook his head like a rattle, and said flatteringly, "Master Changshi, please take a seat. Zhou Rui, where have you been? Hurry up and make a pot of the best tribute tea for Master Changshi!"
Although the Chief Secretary of the royal palace is only a fifth-rank official, they are all the most trusted confidants of the princes. To offend the Chief Secretary is like to offend the prince himself, so Jia She lowered himself so much.
However, the chief clerk had no intention of sitting down, and continued arrogantly, "I cannot afford the tribute tea, so let's talk about the most important things first. Your Majesty heard yesterday that you accepted a betrothal gift of 10,000 taels of silver from Sun, the lieutenant commander of the patrol camp, and wanted to marry the daughter of your family to him."
"My prince loves the hustle and bustle, and he has some friendship with both sides, so he specially sent me to deliver two gifts."
As he said this, he took the initiative and waved toward the door, and immediately someone brought in two boxes of snacks.
The official pointed at the snacks and said, "One box of 'White Head Together' is for your family, and the other box of 'Hundred Years of Happiness' can be sent to the Sun family."
When Jia She heard this, he was dumbfounded. Prince Zhongshun had only accepted some money to buy an official position, so was it necessary for him to personally interfere in such private affairs?
But he had no idea that what King Zhongshun really valued about Sun Shaozu was actually the trade route that brought in annual profits of more than 100,000 taels!
"how?"
Seeing Jia She was in a daze and had no intention of stepping forward to take the snacks, the chief clerk raised his eyebrows again and said unhappily, "Is it possible that General Jia is dissatisfied with the prince's reward?"
"How could it be!"
Jia She finally realized what was happening, and hurried forward to take it personally , pretending to be grateful and crying, and said, "I am too happy, and I don't know what to do for a moment!"
" That's good."
The Chief Secretary cupped his hands and said, "In that case, I will not bother you any more. I will come back to ask for a glass of wine next year when there is a big wedding in your mansion."
Big celebration next year?
He even set a marriage deadline for himself!
Is this my daughter being married off, or is it the Prince Zhongshun's Mansion that wants to marry off their daughter? !
Watching the chief official of the palace walk away, Jia She's anger suddenly flared up. He suddenly raised the two boxes of snacks high up, but after hesitating for a long while, he did not dare to throw them on the ground.
He had no choice but to carefully place the snack next to Cai Xiang's fan, then picked up the writing brush, ink, paper and inkstone on the table and smashed them all over the place, finally collapsing on the armchair, panting heavily.
However, the chief secretary of the palace acted flamboyantly and spoke with great vigor. Coupled with Jia She's violent reaction, it was clear that the nearby servants could not hide what was going on.
Therefore, it only took half a day for the news that Marquis Jia En had sold his daughter to Lieutenant General Sun of the Patrol Battalion for 12,000 taels of silver to spread throughout the Rong and Ning mansions like wildfire.
Jia Yingchun, the person involved, naturally also got the news.
But she just became more and more speechless, as if she had evolved from a piece of wood to a piece of stone.
But the one who reacted the most was Jia Baoyu, who always regarded himself as the flower protector!
