The Wedding Approached
One antique painting had cost the matriarch all of her savings, and they had allowed the old man to estimate the value of some jade items. Only then did they manage to scrape together 120 thousand taels for them to take away.
Seeing the old man walk away with the large sum of banknotes, the matriarch truly wanted to arrange for someone to rob him later. The money that she had saved up in this lifetime had been taken away because of a damn painting. She felt unreconciled! She was truly unreconciled!
Who knew what she was thinking, as she began to get angry at Feng Yu Heng, glaring straight at Feng Yu Heng. She roared and cursed endlessly internally. Do not assume that she did not know. Although the shops belonged to Yao shi, it was still Feng Yu Heng that managed them. As long as Feng Yu Heng said the word, that 120 thousand could have been written off.
Unfortunately, Feng Yu Heng had already spoken; however, she said the opposite. Without her speaking up, perhaps the Feng family would have continued refusing and denying it, but with her saying what she had said, who still had the face?
You are getting married to a damn new wife, yet you still go ask for money from your ex-wife? Do you have any shame?
Feng Yu Heng watched the matriarch continue to glare at her, and she could not help but say: “Grandmother, don’t feel so distressed. A mother naturally ought to provide a bit of help for the grand marriage of her son. This is considered love between mother and child.”
The matriarch angrily snorted and no longer wanted to continue sitting in the room. Holding granny Zhao’s hand for support, she stood up, “We are returning!”
Granny Zhao quickly helped her back to Shu Ya courtyard, leaving behind a room full of concubines and young misses.
Looking at the room full of gold and jade furniture, everyone’s expressions became a little ugly. Even Chen Yu was unhappy. That was how the matriarch behaved. After receiving some benefits, she would continue to desire them. After receiving the title of noble lady, the others did not express much, but she had sent her a large number of nice things and money; however, she continued to ask for more today! She truly was a wolf that was never sated.
Han shi, however, looked at the room full of things and was even more unhappy. She thought of how favored she had been; however, Feng Jin Yuan never gave her anything good. Her room was extremely shabby.
Everyone left with their own thoughts. Along the way back to Tong Sheng pavilion, Huang Quan was no longer able to hold back her laughter, “Young miss, that really was entertaining. Did you see elder madam Feng’s face? She was so angry that it began to turn purple.”
Feng Yu Heng shrugged, “This is truly the first time I have ever seen someone so shameless. From top to bottom, they truly are cut from the same cloth.”
“But of course.” Huang Quan said: “I heard that the things that are sent to elder madam Feng only go into the storage room and never come out. This time, she had to pay on her own. Perhaps she will end up falling ill for a while. But young miss thought this through very accurately. Just by having someone mention that the eldest princess of Qian Zhou liked Fan Zhong Tian’s paintings, Prime minister Feng really went to go and buy it. I really don’t know how he became the prime minister with that brain. I heard that he ranked at the top when he took the imperial exam. Tsk tsk, it truly was a miracle.”
Feng Yu Heng smiled wryly and said: “I heard that Feng Jin Yuan is not careless in the slightest in court. This includes going to relieve the disaster in the North. If he had not done things so well and beautifully, the Emperor would not have given him so much praise. If he had not already risen to the rank of standard first rank, perhaps his promotion would not be far away. This goes to prove that it’s not his brain that is faulty. It just shows that he has a deficiency when dealing with the matters of his inner courtyards. When it comes to plotting and scheming, men are definitely no good. Add on the fact that there was no decent head wife to take care of the family over the past few years, and the fact that he has such a greedy mother, it would be odd for him to not have fallen into disarray.”
When Feng Jin Yuan returned to the manor that night, he was immediately brought by He Zhong to the matriarch’s Shu Ya courtyard. Along the way, He Zhong roughly explained what had happened during the day, and Feng Jin Yuan felt his head swell.
He had never managed the manor’s finances, so he never had an accurate idea when spending money. In addition to this, there had truly been too many things happening over the past little while. In the end, precisely how much money he had to spend was something that he did not know clearly. How could he know that he actually would not be able to afford it!
Upon entering Shu Ya courtyard, he could tell that the atmosphere was off. Although all of the servants bowed to him, he did not know if it was a psychological effect or something, but it looked as though the servants and grannies looked at him with contempt. Upon recalling that he had lost face because Wonderful Treasure House belonged to Yao shi, Feng Jin Yuan gritted his teeth. Filled with anger, he was prepared to visit Tong Sheng pavilion later to cause a scene.
The matriarch saw him in her bedroom. Because she had spent a lot of money, the matriarch had already fallen ill and was lying in bed. A warm towel rested on her head, as she continued to whimper.
Feng Jin Yuan hurried over to the matriarch’s side. Before he could say anything, he heard the matriarch shout at the top of her lungs: “Unfilial son! Kneel!”
He was stunned then glanced at granny Zhao, who was standing to the side. Feeling that it was disgraceful, he did not kneel.
The matriarch angrily slammed on her bed, crying and screaming: “The wife has not even entered the manor, yet you have already cast your mother to the side. My life is so miserable! A first rank noble lady like me was actually forsaken by my own son. Granny Zhao! I will go kneel at the palace’s gates tomorrow. I must plead my case with the Emperor! No! Not tomorrow, I will go now!”
The matriarch struggled and tried to sit up, scaring granny Zhao, who rushed to hold her down and urgently said: “It’s already night time. The palace’s gates have already closed. Even if you kneeled until daybreak, there would be no use!” Granny Zhao was very good at understanding the situation. Seeing Feng Jin Yuan’s stubbornness, she knew that it was because she was present, thus she said: “Elder madam, if you have something to say, say it properly to master. You are mother and son. There is no conflict that cannot be resolved. This old servant will go stand guard outside.”
Seeing that the matriarch stopped causing a fuss, granny Zhao hurriedly exited the room and closed the door from the outside.
Only then did Feng Jin Yuan begin to take things into account, as he kneeled in front of the matriarch’s bed, “Son has caused trouble for mother.”
The matriarch was so angry that she was nearly unable to breathe “What I am worried about is not trouble!” If it was just trouble, it would be fine. What she lamented was the money!
“There is also nothing son could do. This was all for the Emperor to see!” Feng Jin Yuan feared that the matriarch would take things badly, thus he brought out the Emperor’s name.
Who knew that the matriarch would not fall for it: “Why would the Emperor care if you buy nice things for your new wife?”
Feng Jin Yuan was helpless: “The Emperor does not care. After all, the one son is marrying is the eldest princess of Qian Zhou. Perhaps mother does not know of Kang Yi’s standing with the ruler of Qian Zhou. That ruler’s mother passed away very early, and it was effectively just Kang Yi that raised him. His eldest sister was like a mother, moreover, this eldest sister had helped him ascend the imperial throne! Is it possible for the Emperor to not pay attention to this marriage?”
Hearing him say it like this, the matriarch’s expression recovered slightly. Feng Jin Yuan then quickly said: “Because the prince of Gu Shu came to request a marriage, the Emperor has had many sleepless nights. If there were any changes to the marriage, the possibility of a political marriage between Qian Zhou and Gu Shu would have been extremely bad for our Da Shun. Only because of this did son arrange to have the marriage during the first month. Qian Zhou is too far from Da Shun. Normally, we should be sending betrothal gifts, but there truly is no place to send them. Only then did son procure these things and place them in Tian Xiang courtyard. In any case, it is expressing our attitude.”
You mean to say that you procured all of those things for a betrothal gift?” The matriarch pondered a little then said: “Normally, when marrying an eldest princess, spending a few hundred thousand taels is not much, but the betrothal gift should be sent to the maternal family, yet you placed them all in her courtyard. If the people from Qian Zhou come, what should we do?”
“Mother, don’t worry. Kang Yi has already said that Qian Zhou does not want any betrothal gift. Moreover, the distance is too great. If we sent it, it would not arrive in time, and them coming to retrieve it is even more impossible.”
The matriarch nodded, “That’s also true. But if you bring up betrothal gifts, what about her dowry?”
Feng Jin Yuan knew that the matriarch would ask about such a thing, as he quickly said: “The Emperor has already written to the ruler of Qian Zhou personally. I figure that he will not make it in time for the wedding. From the time that the letter arrives, they will need another three months to arrive at the earliest. Kang Yi said that the ruler of Qian Zhou values her the most. He has already said that if his elder sis married once more, regardless of who she married, they would not ask for a betrothal gift, and the dowry would be extremely brilliant.’
The matriarch finally managed to become spirited, as she sat up in bed and asked Feng Jin Yuan: “You make it sound quite good, but have you ever thought about what the family should do if you spent all of the money in the communal funds? Also, I paid for that antique painting worth 120 thousand.” She avoided mentioning that she tore it to shreds.
Feng Jin Yuan comforted her and said: “Mother, don’t worry. We will manage financially. Each courtyard has their own savings, and the servants have already received their salary at the end of the year. As for the 120 thousand that mother paid, son will repay it twice over when Kang Yi’s dowry arrives at the manor.”
“Twice over?” The matriarch became spirited once more, “Are you truly able to decide this for Kang Yi?”
“I am naturally able to. Kang Yi and Ru Jia also view mother very favorably. Even if mother does not want it, they would not treat mother poorly.”
“That’s good. That’s good.” The matriarch finally calmed down. Thinking a little, she asked: “For such a grand event, his Majesty should personally officiate this event, right? Ah! There is no greater honor! Do I need to have some better clothes made?”
Feng Jin Yuan said: “His Majesty’s health is not too great. He has not left the palace in many years. Although his Majesty will not be able to come, he has sent his Highness the eldest prince to come officiate it. Mother, there is no need to make any preparations for clothing. As son sees it, your court dress would be most suitable.”
With him saying this, the matriarch managed to remember. That’s right! No matter how expensive the clothes were, it was just cloth; however, the court dress truly represented her status as a noble lady. “Then I will wear the court dress!” Joy appeared on her face, but when she heard that the eldest prince was coming to officiate the wedding, she became a little worried, “Jin Yuan! You must keep an eye on the current situation. Pay a little more attention and think a little harder. Although you have already chosen the third prince, you are still capable of changing your mind! Recently, his Majesty has been favoring his Highness the eldest prince. Think things through carefully. Is his Highness the third prince worth supporting.”
Feng Jin Yuan nodded and said: “Son understands. Mother, please do not worry.”
The matriarch sighed, “There is no need for an old woman like me to talk too much about the matters of the court, but you must remember, your decisions alone are related to the rise and fall of the Feng family. It’s fine to be wrong. What’s important is seeing if you can make corrections in time. Now that Kang Yi is about to marry into the manor, since you said that she had the great ability to support her younger brother into a position of power, it would be good for you two to have a discussion. See if she can think of any good ideas for you.”
Feng Jin Yuan repeatedly praised: “Mother is extremely right. Son will remember this teaching.”
The matriarch did not speak for a long time, as she did not know what her own son was thinking. Feng Jin Yuan stood up and poured a cup of tea for her. When he brought it to the matriarch, she finally said: “The cost of the wedding will not be cheap. You are the prime minister, and his Highness the eldest prince himself will be coming to officiate. Even the officials that have disagreed with you in the past will need to come. You must think of a plan. Where will this money come from!”
These words caused Feng Jin Yuan’s heart to stop. That’s right! The wedding banquet and entertainment would not be cheap.
But it was not like he was completely out of options. He was still, in the end, the prime minister. Finding someone to finance him would be fine.
In the blink of an eye, with people busily bustling about in the Feng family, the day of the 28th approached very quickly…