Volume 2: Eagle vs. Dragon Chapter 26: Hao Guan wants to marry me?
After hearing Wu Guoying say that she would be the one to handle the marriage, Cai Qiaozhu thought about it and said, "Is there any difference between asking the Ye family for a matchmaker this time and the last time?"
This is asking what attitude to adopt towards the Ye family.
Wu Guoying pondered and said, "In fact, our Wu family has been flourishing for the past two months. Outsiders are envious, but they don't know that there are many hidden worries inside. Hao Guan must be under a lot of pressure. If we can turn the Ye family, our enemy, into a helper, it will be of great benefit to our family and the business. But now we are in the upper hand and the Ye family is at a disadvantage. Old Ye has let us down. You can't be too polite to him. If you are polite to him, he will just take it for granted and will not be grateful and repay you - so that old account still needs to be settled."
Cai Qiaozhu asked: "How do you calculate it?"
Wu Guoying said: "You should follow the etiquette of marriage according to the etiquette and feelings. As for the dowry and betrothal gifts, you should make your plans according to the list issued by Haoguan."
This sets the tone: in-laws are in-laws, so they must be polite and affectionate; interests are interests, so they must be structured and calculated.
Cai Qiaozhu understood, but said: "But considering Uncle Dalin's temper, we'd better take two steps forward and one step back, otherwise things will be difficult to handle. I don't know if my wife's guess is right."
Wu Guoying smiled, thinking that her daughter-in-law was so virtuous, and said, "My sister-in-law is right! Come, get a pen and paper, and I'll add a few more items to this list."
The Ye family finally received a response from the Wu family amidst their anxiety. However, what surprised them was that the person who brought the news was not the head of the Wu family, Wu Chengjian, but Cai Qiaozhu, the eldest lady of the Wu family.
Cai Qiaozhu has been the head of the family for many years. As Wu Chengjun's virtuous wife, she has been trained in the circle of wives of wealthy merchants in Xiguan for many years. In the past two years, she has become very adept at foreign relations. Although she has not done anything shocking, she has never been at a disadvantage to anyone. She has always acted cautiously and did not go to the door herself, but asked a relative who was related to both families to go to the door and tell them the news.
When Ma heard this, she was surprised, surprised, and secretly happy. As soon as the relative left, she quickly went to Ye Dalin to discuss the matter. After telling him what happened, she said, "Boss, the Wu family said they want to form a Qin-Jin relationship with us again... What does this mean? He... Aren't they gaining the upper hand?"
Now that the Xie family has fallen, the Wu family has firmly entered the list of the four major families. In the near future, even the Cai and Lu families are not as powerful as them. Ye Dalin and his wife have always been aggressive and ruthless. Judging from their own experience, they think the Wu family will be the same. Therefore, Ye Dalin did not understand the intention of the Wu family's operation for a while, and thought to himself: "Could my guess be correct? Is the Wu family in trouble?"
He said, "Let's go talk first. No matter what, the Wu family is now in power. If we can repair our old friendship, that would be a good thing."
Ma nodded and said, "Then I will ask my daughter what she thinks."
After Ye Dalin left, Ma called Ye Haocai over and revealed the news. Ye Haocai asked, "What does Qin and Jin mean by friendship?"
"Hey, you're blind!" Although Ma was not well educated, she had married off her daughter and daughter-in-law before, and after so many years, she knew a little bit of the jargon in marriage occasions: "It means that the Wu family wants to remarry with us."
Ye Haocai's eyes lit up when he heard this: "Mom! Are you saying... Hao Guan wants to marry me?!"
Ma smiled and nodded: "Of course. Hao Guan is the only unmarried bachelor in the Wu family. His nephew is still young. Who else could it be but him?"
Ye Haocai had no girlish reserve at all. She pulled Ma's sleeve and said, "Hurry up and agree! Mother, hurry up and agree!"
The Wu Chengjian in her heart now is no longer the Wu Chengjian from a few months ago. In the circle of young ladies in Xiguan, countless stories about Wu Chengjian's majesty have been spread in the past two months, such as how he defeated the general merchant with a flick of his hand, how he convinced Jishan with a smile, and how he killed the general in a rage. In short, he is as majestic and legendary as he can be.
Especially these young ladies from Xiguan all knew that Ye Haocai and Wu Chengjian were originally engaged, but Ye Haocai herself regretted it before the Wu family turned the tables, so they all deliberately spoke well of Wu Chengjian in front of her, making Ye Haocai very angry.
But the more angry she was, the more regretful she felt. Who would have thought that the money-losing person she had watched so hard would suddenly become a super-rich person? She woke up from her dreams several times in the middle of the night and gnashed her teeth with anger. If she hadn't been afraid of the pain, she would have almost wanted to slap herself a few times.
But I never expected to hear this news today. I was so surprised and incredulous at the same time.
Ma looked at her daughter and knew that there were some questions that she didn't need to ask. She smiled and said, "We are so lucky that the lost cooked duck can actually fly back by itself."
Since her husband nodded and her daughter agreed, Ma went to arrange the follow-up matters and prepared to ask Cai Qiaozhu to come out for a meeting.
When Ye Haocai heard the news, it was as if he had fallen into a jar of sweet wine. He felt sweet and drunk, and his heart was filled with this good news. He only regretted not telling everyone. He felt uncomfortable if he didn't share it with others. He walked towards Yingyang Garden unconsciously. When he walked in, Ye Youyu was teaching the maid to learn to read by drawing on the sand table.
Ye Haocai stomped the sand table and messed it up, then sneered with his hands on his hips. Changzi was the most serious and absorbed in learning calligraphy, and he looked up in anger, and was stunned again when he saw Ye Haocai.
Ye Youyu knew that she would not have a peaceful day today, so she shook her head slightly. Changzi walked away with his head down, and the maids also stepped aside.
Ye Haocai was standing under the bare-branched kapok tree, smiling triumphantly, "I just got some good news today, and I didn't have time to tell anyone else, so I hurried over to tell my sister."
Ye Youyu said, "Thank you so much, sister. Would you like to come in and have a cup of tea and talk slowly?"
“No need.” Ye Haocai said.
Ye Youyu asked, "Should the maids leave?"
"No need." Ye Haocai said, "It's not a secret anyway." More importantly, it would be unsatisfying to say this without anyone else present.
Ye Haocai said, "It's good to let my sister know that the Wu family has decided to reconcile with our family. You don't need to worry about it in the future."
When Ye Youyu heard this, she guessed that Wu Chengjian must have made some moves, and she said softly. But when she saw Ye Haocai's joy almost leaking out of her eyes, she was a little curious about what news Wu Chengjian had sent her - logically , even if she was going to be a concubine, Ye Haocai wouldn't be so happy.
Wu Chengjian was in power and young at the moment, and becoming his concubine was low in status, but as a concubine's daughter, such an ending was not the worst, and it did not seem worth Ye Haocai's happiness.
"There is another good news." Ye Haocai said, "The Wu family just asked someone to tell my mother that the Wu family not only wants to make peace with our Ye family, but also wants to form a 'Qin-Jin friendship' with our Ye family!" This is an idiom she just learned. Although she herself did not understand it very well, she just used it. She thought Ye Youyu was a female bookworm and should be able to understand it.
As expected, Ye Youyu was stunned when he heard it: "Qin Jin's friendship?"
Seeing Ye Youyu's stunned expression, Ye Haocai was so proud that he couldn't help but giggle and said, "You probably can't imagine it, haha, sometimes you just have to believe in fate! If it's yours, you can't throw it away no matter how hard you try! If it's not yours, it's useless no matter how hard you fight for it!"
After saying this, Ye Haocai finally felt extremely satisfied and walked away laughing.
Several maids looked at Ye Youyu. Even if some of them didn't understand "Qin Jin's good relationship", they guessed it from Ye Haocai's tone. Dongxue couldn't help but said, "Miss..."
Ye Youyu said, "Don't worry about these things. Call Changzi over and let's continue learning to read."
That being said, when Changzi entered the yard to continue learning to read, Ye Youyu wrote the wrong strokes three times in a row.
Changzi was smart, so he said, "Miss San...I'm tired, how about we do it another day?"
Ye Youyu sighed, "Okay, let's practice another day."
She went back to her room to rest, thinking about it over and over again, but she couldn't figure it out. She didn't know how things turned out like this, nor did she know why Wu Chengjian changed his mind.
Ma was very quick to act when it came to something beneficial. She was not one to be reserved, and she went to see the relative again that day, and then made an appointment with Cai Qiaozhu for tea the next day.
When Cai Qiaozhu heard the invitation, she smiled and said, "You are really anxious." But she did not refuse, and had morning tea with Ma the next day.
In Guangdong, morning tea is not necessarily served at breakfast time. It is often served after 8 or 9 in the morning, or even after 10 o'clock. People can continue to drink until 1 or 2 in the afternoon, and have lunch at the same time.
However, after breakfast, Cai Qiaozhu did not mention the matter again. When Ma couldn't help but speak, she agreed and said, "Then let's change the horoscopes later to see if they are compatible."
Ma said, "It has been agreed a long time ago, and everything will go smoothly."
Cai Qiaozhu asked curiously, "When did they get together?"
Ma said, "Last time... that, didn't we agree on it?" She really couldn't bring herself to bring up the matter of breaking off the engagement when she met the eldest daughter-in-law of the Wu family.
Cai Qiaozhu was stunned for a moment, then she guessed it and said with a smile: "Is there some misunderstanding? The one our Wu family is going to hire this time is not the second daughter, but the third daughter."
Ma was stunned: "What?"
Cai Qiaozhu said, "The one our Wu family wants to marry this time is your third daughter. Aunt, do you still remember that our master came to our house in the middle of the night two months ago? At that time, our Wu family was in a bad state. When we went out, the road was dark and we didn't even have a guide. Only your third daughter was sent out. It was that time that impressed my master. After returning, he praised this girl for her good family style. This time, when Haoguan wanted to discuss marriage, my master thought of her, so this marriage came about."
After hearing this reversal, Ma finally reacted after a long time and said, "This... but that little hoof... that Ye Youyu is a concubine's daughter. Besides, our daughter is lucky enough not to be married yet. How can the younger sister go out before the elder sister is married?"
Cai Qiaozhu smiled and said, "We are not a family of officials, so we don't care much about the distinction between legitimate and illegitimate children. What we want in the Wu family is a person of good character, so we should put the distinction between legitimate and illegitimate children aside. If you really feel that we have been treated unfairly by Haoguan, you can just ask the Ye family to give you a bigger dowry. As for when you will marry, although it is usually the elder sister who gets married first, there are also younger sisters who get married first, so it's not a big deal."
Ma was really angry and said, "But it was Hao Guan who decided it in the first place, so we are lucky."
Cai Qiaozhu smiled and said, "But the Second Miss doesn't like our Haoguan. Good horses don't turn back, not to mention the head of our Yihehang, one of the four newcomers in the Thirteen Hongs..." She gently pointed out Wu Chengjian's status, and then said, "Aunt, don't you think so?"
Ma was startled by her words. She knew that under the current situation, the Wu family was willing to put aside their past grudges and marry into the Ye family, which was already a concession, not to mention marrying a concubine's daughter? If she didn't know what was good for her, she would add to the hatred, so she didn't dare to say anything.
