Volume 2: Eagle vs. Dragon Chapter 25: Marriage Discussion
After the meal, everyone left, only Aunt Yang and Cai Qiaozhu stayed.
Wu Guoying sent Aunt Yang to get familiar with the changes in the backyard over the past two months, but asked her daughter-in-law to sit next to her and said happily, "Sister-in-law, what do you think of this marriage?"
Cai Qiaozhu saw Wu Guoying's happy face and knew that he approved of this marriage. Although Ye Youyu was born out of wedlock, she was still the daughter of an honest family and was much better than an otaku. So she smiled and said, "I heard that the master had seen this girl."
Wu Guoying smiled and said, "Yes, I have seen her. She is a very pretty girl. What's rare is that she has good character. She and our Haoguan are also destined to be together."
In fact, if Ye Youyu had been discussed at the beginning, with Wu Chengjian's current reputation and Wu Guoying's expectations of him, he would definitely think that Ye Youyu was not worthy of his son. But with the comparison of Tan Sanniang, who had a seriously tainted background, Ye Youyu suddenly became a flawless white wall.
Cai Qiaozhu also smiled and said, "If the master thinks it's good, then this girl must be the best. It's rare that Hao Guan finally figured it out on this matter. It seems that he is really a person of his nature. But..."
Wu Guoying asked, "What else does my sister-in-law have to worry about?"
Cai Qiaozhu said, "It's not a big deal. Our two families were engaged in the past, but the Wu family's marriage was ruined because of the Ye family's betrayal. Now we have to discuss the marriage again, and change the marriage from a legitimate sister to a illegitimate sister. How should we go to their house now?"
Wu Guoying understood that Cai Qiaozhu was talking about the Wu family's face problem - the Wu family is now prosperous, and from the perspective of family background, although Wu and Ye are well matched, the Ye family is now slightly above the status quo - not to mention that Ye Youyu is a concubine's daughter, and the Ye family has betrayed their loyalty before, so if the Wu family were to propose marriage at this time, it would be embarrassing for the Wu family. Although Wu Guoying felt a little unwilling about this matter, since this girl was the one Wu Chengjian liked, he had to find a way to solve it anyway - it was better than Wu Chengjian going back to marry that courtesan if things didn't work out.
He was just hesitating, thinking about how to save face, when Wu Qi knocked on the door. Wu Guoying let him in and asked, "What's wrong?"
Wu Qi said: "On the way to Haoguan, I suddenly remembered that I forgot something, so he asked me to bring it to the eldest young lady." Then he took out a list and handed it to Cai Qiaozhu.
Cai Qiaozhu took it and asked, "What is it?"
Wu Qi said: "Hao Guan said... he asked Ye Da... to ask the Ye family to prepare the dowry."
Wu Guoying scolded, "Nonsense! How can you write a dowry list and ask them to prepare it before you even propose marriage?"
Cai Qiaozhu took it and glanced at it. She was surprised and quickly handed it to Wu Guoying : "Master, please take a closer look."
It was already dark. Although Wu Guoying's room was not as lonely and stingy as Cai Shiwen's, the lights were not as bright as day. Wu Guoying had some difficulty reading the note. When he was looking for his glasses, Cai Qiaozhu said, "Let me read it."
He took the note again and started reading it. After reading only two or three lines, Wu Guoying shouted, "What...what is this!"
This is not a dowry at all. If the Ye family really does this, they will be removing Ye Dalin’s bones and cutting Ye Dalin’s flesh!
Cai Qiaozhu finished reading it in one breath.
After Wu Guoying heard this, she was silent for a while before she said, "No, I won't agree to this marriage."
Wu Qi was surprised: "Ah?"
Wu Guoying said: "With the momentum of our Wu family now, we don't need to use Hao Guan's lifelong event to handle such things."
Wu Qi experienced almost all of these things personally, but he just couldn't understand what Wu Guoying said.
Cai Qiaozhu understood: "If the Ye family really agrees... this will not only hurt their bones, but also ruin their family."
What is required in the list is not just money, it also involves the two lifelines of the Ye family's business.
"It's not like the family will be ruined." Wu Guoying said, "This is the dowry. We also have to pay the betrothal gift."
Cai Qiaozhu understood immediately: "If that's the case... then both families will benefit, but the Ye family will be inseparable from our Wu family in the future."
In this game of sharing the food among the beasts, the Wu family swallowed up nearly half of the Xie family's industries, and the assets in their hands expanded rapidly, making the Wu family very fat. Some of them were indeed suitable to be distributed to the Ye family for management. In addition, with such a leap forward, the focus of Yihe Bank's future operations would inevitably change, so some of the original industries could be gradually let go, and there happened to be some that were suitable for the Ye family to take over.
In other words, if the betrothal gifts and dowry from this marriage are used to reconfigure the industries of the Wu and Ye families, and if the operation is done properly, both families can benefit, which is a win-win situation. However, looking at Wu Chengjian's list, it involves the lifeblood of the Ye family's business. If Ye Dalin agrees, the Ye family may not lose money in terms of assets, and may even make a small profit in the short term, which is more than enough to maintain its position as one of the top five families. However, the key to the lifeblood of the business is controlled by the Wu family, and the Ye family will become a vassal of the Wu family in the future.
Wu Qi had followed Wu Chengjian for a long time, and he finally understood after hearing this. But he still didn't understand. Since it was something that would be of great benefit to Yihehang, why didn't the master agree?
But Wu Guoying said, "Marry a virtuous wife, someone who will support you for the rest of your life. If you have a choice, it's better not to get involved in such a complicated exchange of interests. Besides, given the current situation, we don't have to use marriage as an excuse to force Ye Dalin to submit. Alas, Hao Guan ignored his future and interests for that courtesan before, and now he has gone to the other extreme and is even trying to use his own marriage as a business... Why did Hao Guan suddenly become like this!"
Wu Qi couldn't help but pout when he heard this. Unexpectedly, Cai Qiaozhu had sharp eyes and saw it. She asked, "Ah Qi, is there something else that we don't know about?"
Wu Qi thought about it and felt that Wu Chengjian had not explained this matter, and it seemed that he had no intention of keeping it secret, so he said: "This list was not drafted by Hao Guan."
Wu Guoying was stunned and asked, "Then... was that drafted by Master Zhou?"
Zhou Yijin had never been to the Wu family mansion in Xiguan, but when he first came to Guangzhou, Wu Guoying ran into him when she was out one day. She happened to see Wu Chengjian and Zhou Yijin arm in arm and being very affectionate. At that time, Zhou Yijin greeted him as a nephew. Because Zhou Yijin was so handsome and Wu Chengjian was doing all kinds of romantic things at that time and was reluctant to marry, Wu Guoying thought that "master" was just an excuse, and that Wu Chengjian and Zhou Yijin were together for a southern affair - the Fujianese have a long tradition in this area - so Wu Guoying did not have a good impression of Zhou Yijin at first.
It was not until this thrilling turn of events that Wu Guoying heard that Zhou Yijin had been in charge of the situation while Wu Chengjian was trapped that she realized that this advisor was a man of real ability. She used to judge him by his appearance, but her opinion of him changed overnight and she showed great respect for him in her words.
Wu Qi said: "Not really."
Wu Guoying waved her hand: "Hurry up and tell me, don't keep me in suspense!"
Wu Qi said: "This list was roughly drawn up by the third young lady of the Ye family. However, Hao Guan made some additions and deletions."
Wu Guoying and Cai Qiaozhu exclaimed at the same time. This really surprised them.
Cai Qiaozhu asked: "When did they meet?"
Wu Qi said, "Master, you know the first half of this matter. It was the little stutterer who came to our house and made a lot of noise last time. Do you remember?"
Wu Guoying said "oh" and nodded.
Wu Qi said: "They made the appointment at that time. They met the night before yesterday on a boat at Baietan. They talked for a long time."
Wu Guoying asked, "So this list... is it Ye Dalin himself who is willing to surrender?" He suddenly denied it himself: "No! Impossible!"
They were old friends who had known each other for most of their lives. How could Wu Guoying not know what kind of person Ye Dalin was?
"It will take a while for Old Ye to take out these things, unless the sun rises from the west."
Wu Qi said, "It should be... not. I was listening nearby at the time, and it seemed that Miss Ye San herself brought it up... Oh, the situation at the time... The two of them were talking in a confusing way. Although I listened to every word, there were some things I couldn't follow, and I couldn't explain clearly. Master, why don't you call Hao Guan over so you can ask him clearly?"
In fact, Wu Qi was not really unable to explain it clearly, he just wanted to make it clear from beginning to end. It involved Wu Chengjian's love affair, and he didn't want to tell Wu Guoying and Cai Qiaozhu everything, so he made an excuse that he didn't understand it clearly.
Cai Qiaozhu said, "Let me ask you. This list was drawn up by Miss Ye San, but she didn't say it was instructed by her father?"
"Yes." Wu Qi said, "The list was written by Hao Guan later, but the content is similar to what Miss Ye San said that day."
Cai Qiaozhu asked again: "So, they also discussed this marriage on the boat?"
Wu Qi thought that they were talking about taking a concubine, how did it become marrying a wife? But taking a concubine should also be considered a marriage, so he said, "Yes. But the situation is a bit complicated. If you want to understand it more clearly, it's best to ask Hao Guan."
Cai Qiaozhu didn't respond and asked again, "You just said that they talked all night long?"
"Yeah, it took a long time." Wu Qi said, "Normally I can stand for an hour without any problems, but that night my legs were sore from standing so much."
Cai Qiaozhu said: "Hao Guan didn't care about you at all?"
Wu Qi said: "What is there to worry about? At that time, he was just busy talking to the Third Miss."
When Cai Qiaozhu heard this, she smiled and said, "Okay, you can go back."
Wu Qi said, "Don't you want to let Haoguan come?"
"No need." Cai Qiaozhu said: "Since Haoguan did this, he must have his reasons."
After Wu Qi left, Cai Qiaozhu said, "I think this marriage can be arranged according to Third Uncle's idea."
Wu Guoying asked, "Sister-in-law, what did you see?"
Cai Qiaozhu said: "Although there are still many things hidden here, if you think about it carefully, it is obvious that Hao Guan was willing to give up the courtesan and choose Miss Ye San, not just out of considerations of interests. Otherwise, why would he give up his legitimate sister and marry a concubine's daughter? I'm afraid there is some affection involved here."
Wu Guoying was stunned. He had treated his late wife with respect all his life, and his relationship with his two concubines could not be called love, so he was far less sensitive to matters of love between men and women than Cai Qiaozhu. However, he suddenly remembered that night, Ye Youyu's behavior was very unusual - it was obviously not the first time she and Wu Chengjian met! She called him "Third Brother" as soon as she opened her mouth, and mixed in one or two inexplicable words, and seemed to have some token. If he hadn't interrupted, who knows how long the two of them would have talked - these two people were clearly up to something.
Cai Qiaozhu said: "Uncle San didn't tell us much about this matter. It's really hard to tell others about such a love affair. But from various clues, it seems that this marriage is not just a business plan for Haoguan."
"Okay, okay!" Wu Guoying said, "If that's the case, then there's no problem. Then you can go and find a matchmaker and propose marriage, sister-in-law."
