LRAB Chapter 51 Return to Yangzhou
Chapter 51 Return to Yangzhou
A hint of impatience flashed across Gu Tingye's face; he had no interest in listening to the Yuan family's history of change.
However, since he had boarded the Yuan family's betrothal ship and arrived in Yangzhou, he would need Yuan Wenchun to verify his identity. At this point, he couldn't afford to turn against them, so he could only listen indifferently.
Yuan Wenchun didn't notice the change in Gu Tingye's expression and continued to recount how her family had become a laughing stock in Bianjing because of what happened back then.
As a result, his younger brother, who was nearly twenty, still had not been engaged.
In the end, he had no choice but to lower his standards and marry a girl from a different social class.
Worried that the Sheng family was of low social standing and that they wouldn't know the proper etiquette after entering the family, they wanted to give the Sheng family a hard time.
Since the two families are related by marriage, he felt awkward and wanted to ask Gu Tingye for help.
Gu Tingye felt a wave of disdain upon hearing this. Although he was young, he was not stupid.
How can it be that while both parents are alive, the elder brother and sister-in-law go to the bride's family to present the betrothal gifts when the younger brother is married?
If the distance is too far and the parents have other things to attend to, then it should be the elders of the clan who go.
By doing this, the Yuan family was essentially sending a message of threat to the Sheng family.
Yuan Wenchun is now asking him to find opportunities to embarrass the Sheng family, which is mostly out of self-interest.
As for what Yuan Wenchun was really thinking behind doing this, he had no interest in knowing.
It's nothing more than using his identity to embarrass the Sheng family. If things escalate, they'll reveal his identity.
Thus, the Sheng family could only suffer in silence, after all, he came from a marquis's family and was a well-known playboy in Bianjing.
It's normal for them to do whatever they want.
However, doing so also aligns with Gu Tingye's objectives.
Gu Tingye was silent for a moment, then nodded and said, "I thought it was something serious. Don't worry, Dalang, I'm very familiar with this kind of thing."
Yuan Wenchun was worried that Gu Tingye would make things too big, so she earnestly advised, "Zhonghuai, you should also be mindful of your words and not let things get out of control."
When the Yuan family was stripped of their title, not only was their ancestral home confiscated, but all their ancestral property was also confiscated.
When the government restored their titles, their ancestral home had already been given away to others, and their ancestral property had all gone into the national treasury and had long been spent.
There was certainly no way to return these to them. After the emperor restored the Yuan family's titles, he only bestowed upon them a house and a few estates in the outer city.
This would certainly be enough for ordinary people, but the Yuan family wanted to maintain the dignity of an earl, so the expenses were quite high.
We usually live a very frugal life.
Under Madam Yuan's scheming, she planned to use her second son's marriage as a pretext.
The Yuan family is, after all, a noble family. Even if they can't find a suitable match, they can still find a family of slightly lower social standing.
The reason why Yuan Wenshao's marriage has been delayed until now is because the Yuan family is choosing a suitable candidate.
The family must be of decent social standing, with sufficient wealth to provide a generous dowry for their daughter.
In the end, they chose the Sheng family.
Sheng Hong felt that although the Yuan family had declined somewhat, they were still a noble family.
He sent someone to inquire about Yuan Wenshao's background and found him to be a very good person, which is why he arranged the marriage.
The Yuan family's goal was to seize the dowry that Hua Lan brought with her. However, after a woman gets married, the dowry actually belongs to the woman, not her husband's family.
Whether it's a divorce or a mutual separation, the woman must take her dowry with her.
It is considered a shameful act for a man to use his wife's dowry, and he will be looked down upon by others.
Sheng Hong looked down on his brother-in-law because he had been living off the dowry of Lady Kang.
The Yuan family wants to take over the dowry, and the Sheng family will definitely not tolerate it once they find out.
If the matter goes to the authorities, the Yuan family will not only lose face, but they will also be unable to take over Hua Lan's dowry.
Therefore, it's best to give the Sheng family a hard time during the wedding, and ideally, cause some unpleasantness between the two families.
With this arrangement, the two families will have less contact, making things much easier to manage.
As the eldest son of the legitimate wife, Yuan Wenchun will inherit the Yuan family's title and business in the future.
Since annexing Hualan's dowry meant it all belonged to him, he naturally took it very seriously.
Seeing that Gu Tingye agreed, Yuan Wenchun thanked him happily before returning to her cabin.
"So? Did Gu Erlang agree?"
When Yuan Wenchun's wife, Gou, saw him return, she hurriedly asked him what was wrong.
"I've already agreed."
Yuan Wenchun laughed and said, "With Gu Erlang in charge, even if the Sheng family is angry, they can only endure it."
"So, will we still proceed with our previous arrangements?" Gou asked.
Gu Tingye was pleasantly surprised; he and his wife had already discussed a plan.
Yuan Wenchun pondered for a moment and said, "We can't abandon the original plan either. A two-pronged approach will be more effective."
…………
As evening approached, the boat carrying Wang You slowly docked at the pier.
The Grand Canal is frequented by numerous boats, and at night, lighting can only be provided by lanterns and torches, which poses a certain danger.
In order to reduce the number of ships sailing at night, the imperial court stipulated that private ships were not allowed to sail at night, and only grain transport ships and official ships were allowed to sail at night.
Therefore, as it gets dark, the boats either need to find a dock to moor or dock at the shore.
Not long after Wang You's ship docked, a ship flying the flag with the character "Yuan" also sailed into the dock.
Seeing this, Xiaoman got off the boat and returned to it after about an incense stick's time.
"Young master, I've found out that the ship adorned with red and colorful decorations is the betrothal ship of the Marquis of Zhongqin of Bianjing, which is heading to Jiangnan to propose marriage," Xiaoman said.
"Understood. Go tell the boatman to set off at full speed tomorrow morning, and then get some rest," Wang You said, waving his hand.
Judging from Xiaoman's words, he probably didn't know that the Yuan family had gone to the Sheng family in Yangzhou to propose marriage.
Wang You simply pretended not to know.
"Yes!" Xiaoman bowed and withdrew.
…………
The next morning, as dawn broke, the ships that had been moored at the dock set off again.
By daybreak, Wang You's boat had left the Yuan family's betrothal boat far behind.
The boat Wang You was on was a medium-sized passenger ship on the canal, while the Yuan family's betrothal boat was a large vessel.
Because the ship had a lot of cargo and many servants, its sailing speed was actually slower than the ship Wang You was on.
The reason why the two ships entered the dock so close together yesterday was entirely because Wang You instructed the boatmen to deliberately control their speed.
Otherwise, they could sail a little further and rest at the next port.
Now that it's been decided, there's no need to delay any longer.
In the courtesy of Baidi Caiyun, Qianling Jiangling returned one day.
Ancient poems sometimes exaggerate; even when traveling downstream, a boat could travel more than a hundred miles a day.
This speed might not seem like much in later generations, but it was considered very fast in ancient times.
The ancient saying about urgent delivery over 800 li was actually an exaggeration.
In reality, depending on the quality of the journey, the average distance is around 400 li.
This was only possible because the horses were provided by the post stations along the way, and the people could not rest even when the horses stopped.
Even with horses, ordinary people can't travel more than a hundred miles a day.
Wang You departed from Bianjing, and his ship finally docked at Yangzhou Wharf half a month later.
That's right, it's Yangzhou.
Upon learning that the Yuan family had extended a betrothal gift, he changed his plans.
If we were to return to Shouzhou, there simply wouldn't be enough time.
The reason was simple: he had just returned from Bianjing and was visiting his aunt, so no one could say anything against him.
Although it's on the same route, it's not exactly on the same route either.
Wang You was unaware that no sooner had he left the capital than a letter from Lady Feng arrived in Bianjing.