Chapter 39: Marrying Off Glamorously

Proofread By:- Mim

When Tang Xinyi heard Qin Yi’s words, his brow jerked. What did the Crown Prince’s words mean?

Tang Xinyi’s heart was in turbulence, but his facial expression still remained calm. After a while his sanity returned, and he could finally calm down enough to think about the ins and outs of the matter. He served the Crown Prince closely, so naturally he knew the Crown Prince’s whereabouts like the back of his hand. That year when the Crown Prince left the capital, he took the road on Shan Bei and came directly to Datong, thus he had never been to Taiyuan, let alone encountered the Young Lady of Marquis Changxing residence. Theoretically, the Crown Prince had never seen the Chu family’s daughter so that words just now should not be taken literally…

Qin Yi saw that Tang Xinyi kept his head down and knew not what he was speculating that he dared not raise his head to look at him. Qin Yi was too lazy to speak, stretched out his hands and said, “Give it to me.”

Tang Xinyi did not even ask a question and immediately handed Marquis Changxing’s invitation to the Crown Prince.

With a slight tug from Qin Yi’s fingers, the lacquered seal was opened. His fingers held the card making them look slender and his knuckles clearly defined against the bright red invitation.

Qin Yi felt that this invitation was tacky and too bright. He glanced at it coldly as his dark eyes gradually moved down and finally landed on the words on the red invitation.

With good fortune, a joyous marriage was forged… The young daughter of the Chu family and Eldest Son of the Zhao family has joined…

Young daughter of the Chu family? Qin Yi’s brows raised. Wasn’t Marquis Changxing’s young daughter Chu Jinyao? In his impression, Chu Jinyao did not have any Di-younger sister… Wait! Chu Jinyao seemed to have an older sister.

Qin Yi was stunned for a moment before looking at the name of the invitation again, focusing on the name at the male side. Tang Xinyi’s face was expressionless, but his eyes were fixed on Qin Yi. He first saw the Crown Prince looking at the invitation in a dignified and indifferent manner before suddenly going back to read the words on the invitation card. Finally he traced it with his fingers and frowned somewhat helplessly.

Tang Xinyi finally spoke, “Your Highness, regarding…”

“Remove it. I do not have any contact with Marquis Changxing, so there is no need for me to send a gift when they hold a wedding.”

“Yes.”

Tang Xinyi should have withdrawn, but today he stood unprecedentedly on the spot and asked in a casual tone, “Your Highness, what did you mean just now?”

Qin Yi raised his head, and that pair of glass-like eyes lightly glanced at Tang Xinyi, “Are you questioning me?”

“One doesn’t dare.” Tang Xinyi bowed his head and stepped back as he bowed down to his waist, “This servant will relay the orders. This servant will withdraw.”

When Tang Xinyi walked halfway out, he suddenly heard a voice, “Stop.”

“Your Highness, are there other orders?”

“Weddings, funerals and marriages are all important events. Go to the storeroom to prepare some gifts and send someone over.”

Tang Xinyi was stunned for a moment and wanted to ask why but in the end did not dare to let the Crown Prince speak a second time. Tang Xinyi lowered his head and replied, albeit muffled, “Yes.”

Qin Yi then shifted his attention onto the official matters. After a while, one of his brows slightly jumped and then he said, “Why are you still here?”

“Your Highness, you have just recovered from a serious injury and the Army Head was thinking of asking you to recuperate for a few days in Taiyuan. The prefect of Taiyuan has already made arrangements for it. Your Highness, the sandy winds at the borders are strong and the swords and blades do not have eyes, so it is not a long time solution to stay here. You are being schemed by traitors and only woke up a few days back. Why not go to Taiyuan to avoid accidents?”

Qin Yi only pursed his lips and smiled. “I am the Crown Prince anyways. If even I am superstitious, how can one fight in the battles at the border? It would be better for everyone to disperse and flee.”

“This servant does not dare.” Tang Xinyi bowed down to apologise in a hurry.

Qin Yi waited for a while before speaking, “Get up. I would not look into who was it that asked you to pass the message, but Tang Xinyi, remember that this one is the Crown Prince.”

The Son of Heavens guards the gates of the Empire, the monarch dies for the country. Since he has arrived at the border to guard against the enemies, he would never take half a step back. To hide behind the city walls like a boneless coward and watch as the frontline soldiers fight for their lives and seek the joys of life in the city. His Imperial Father could do these kinds of things but he, Qin Yi, could not do it.

When Tang Xinyi heard Qin Yi suddenly using the Crown Prince title, pea-sized cold sweat dripped down from his forehead. Tang Xinyi knew that it was impossible to persuade the Crown Prince to rest, so he did not dare to mention it again and hurriedly bowed to his waist as he stepped back.

After Tang Xinyi left, the room returned to silence. Qin Yi sat quietly, and it was a long time before he picked up the brush to continue his work.

Qin Yi of course knew that Tang Xinyi’s remarks were done due to Datong General and Taiyuan’s prefect. This was to test out his thoughts.

Chu Jinyao was in Taiyuan and the final moment when he left was still vivid in Qin Yi’s mind to this day. It was a scene where the thick wood fell and landed onto Chu Jinyao’s hand. He really wanted to know if that fool had seen the medication that he sent over and what the current condition of her arm injury was.

However, he was the Crown Prince. As long as he was still alive and the Tartar did not retreat, he would not leave the border.

In the end, Qin Yi suppressed that smidgen of hesitation in his heart. He would not go to Taiyuan. He would stand guard at the frontier in Datong, so that his people, including Chu Jinyao, would be able to live peacefully in the city.

Besides, he had already placed the Jade Soothing Cream that was obvious. If Chu Jinyao still could not see it… Then it was useless for her to have eyes and she deserved to suffer in pain.

Qin Yi picked the brush up and did not intend to be bothered with that blind person, but after only three lines of words, he put his brush down reluctantly. Forget it. He could not count on a silly goose, so he would call Wei Wu in. He would instruct Wei Wu to use the guise of sending accounts to enter the residence of Marquis Changxing to take a look and see if Chu Jinyao’s hand was healed.

He remembered that Chu Jinyao’s Older Sister treated her well, so he would not brush her face off. Marquis Changxing had sent an invitation over, even though he would not personally go, he would instead send a congratulatory gift back. Qin Yi knew that Chu Jinyao liked the gorgeousness of Yun brocade and that when she went to the jewelry store, she also liked those gemstone headdresses. This was not a big issue, as long as she liked it, he would just instruct people to fulfil her wishes. He had left this time and most likely would never be able to see her again. For all these small and loose ends, he would take care of it as much as he could.

With regards to the marriage of the eldest Di-daughter of the residence of Marquis Changxing, preparation had started since a year ago. However, even in the month before the marriage, the residence became busier as if no matter the amount of preparation there was, it was still not enough.

Due to the sudden visit of the Crown Prince’s confidant a few days ago, the residence of Prince Huailing had cancelled their invitation. After the wind finally passed, the residence of Marquis Changxing was busy with Chu Jinxian’s wedding and did not have any time or energy to pay attention to other matters. The fifth and sixth lunar month was spent in the midst of the bustle till the tenth of the eighth lunar month, when Chu Jinxian’s day to step out of the boudoir finally arrived and the entire residence of Marquis Changxing could breathe out a sigh of relief.

On the day to return (third day of marriage), Chu Jinyao wore a red dress and had been waiting long for the arrival of Chu Jinxian and the Eldest Maternal Brother of the Zhao family. Chu Jinxian was married very honourably, with ten miles of dowry, brothers guarding the sedan and the most face-gaining thing was that the Crown Prince sent a congratulatory gift. Even though the gift was according to Palace regulation and looked like it was prepared by Palace servants at first glance, not mentioning the entire Shanxi, in the entire Empire, which female had the fortune to obtain the Crown Prince’s additional dowry? Moreover, how would the Crown Prince remember the wedding of a boudoir Young Lady without any rhyme or reason? This made everyone think about her father and brothers.

The residence of Marquis Changxing had passed down to the final generation.

Because of this reason, Chu Jinxian’s status in her husband’s family had risen again. The Madams in the banquet had seen Chu Jinyao and the few unmarried Young Ladies and they rushed forward to praise. Because of these two joyous events, everyone in the Chu family was filled with happiness and even the servants walked around with wind around them.

When Chu Jinxian’s matter was finally over, the residence of Marquis Changxing slowly returned to its former order and Chu Jinyao could finally have time to take care of her own matters.

Like meeting the manager of the shop that was nominally owned by her.

A man by the name of Wei Liang came in. He was young, fair complexioned, clean and always had a smile on his face, showing the two dimples on his cheeks. He first bowed to Chu Jinyao and spoke sweetly, “This lowly one, Wei Liang, greets Fifth Young Lady.”

Chu Jinyao from spoke across the screen, “Manager Wei need not be polite and get up.”

Wei Liang complied and slowly stood up. Chu Jinyao asked, “Manager does not seem old. At such a young age, one has become the First Manager?”

“My father is the one in charge of the business but because he was out seeing goods today, he could not come over to meet with Young Lady thus instructed me over. Even though I do not understand everything, I usually follow my father around and am familiar with the matters of the store. If Young Lady has any questions, do ask me directly.”

Chu Jinyao nodded. So he turned out to be the son of the First Manager, no wonder he was so young. Chu Jinyao replied, “One does not dare. Not to hide from Young Manager Wei, I was inexplicably included as a shareholder and don’t even know where the shop is located. I am really embarrassed to be included in your business. Some time back, because of the matter with Tang GongGong, my family has exposed it a little, so after thinking about it, I felt that it was not appropriate to be a shareholder so shamelessly. The accounts that was sent over two months ago have not been reviewed, so why not Young Manager Wei bring it all back together? From now onwards, this ironic contract has never been executed. You will continue to do your business, and there is no need to be worried about me. If this doesn’t work, then when the above questions, you can continue to use my name.”

“How can this be acceptable?” Wei Liang was taken aback when he heard those words. To dare to pay lip service, agreeing but opposing in secret, that was saying that his family was tired of living. No matter what orders there were from above, Wei Wu and Wei Liang dared not neglect in the slightest. Wei Wu was managing many farms and shops, so this small Yun Brocade workshop was just one of the small businesses. The small money generated could not even entire their eyes, and it was just only giving a Young Lady some dividends. If they could not do this well, then it would be a disaster!

Wei Liang quickly spoke, “Young Lady, listening to your words, one fears that you are somewhat aware of the relationship between the brocade shop and the Imperial family. Even though our Yun brocade shop bears the name of an Imperial merchant, there is not much communication with the Palace. It is only limited to the filial gifts sent to the Palace during the various festivals. Lately, there are more merchants who have taken the route of GongGongs, so the number of Imperial merchants has increased several times as compared to the previous years. The older Imperial merchants, like us, are in difficulty. We only have the namesake and have to pay a certain amount of surplus yearly but still do not have the above-mentioned’s care. Other than that, we still need to manage all the relations. If this goes on like this, the brocade shop would not be able to last.”

Even though Chu Jinyao was surprised upon hearing these words, she could understand it. The current Emperor liked to be entertained and have fun, he would favour his close ministers and ignore state affairs. Therefore, flattery and slanderous words were prevalent in court. As long as that official had eloquent words, official titles would fly in and rewards freely flooded in. This was the case in officialdom, thus it was no better with the commoners. A number of merchants would entrust others to gift the eunuchs valuable gifts so that these eunuchs would speak a few good words of them to the Emperor. When the Emperor was happy, he would reward them with the title of Imperial merchant. And people like Manager Qi’s family took this route.

Even though the current Imperial merchants were illustrious, it could not be compared with the previous Imperial merchants. Many of the older Imperial Merchants looked down upon the new Imperial merchants, but they could not stop the rookies from spending money or gifting valuables. With the eunuchs looking after, the prefectures dared not make things difficult excessively, and even the tax office would not dare to touch those with the Emperor’s favour. Only one tenth of the usual ten percent of tax was collected before these people and their goods were passed through. If this goes on, the older Imperial merchants would be angry. What Wei Liang said was indeed likely to happen, thus Chu Jinyao slowly believed half of it.

Chu Jinyao asked tentatively, “Then the Yun brocade shop…”

“Ai. Father had made a lot of connections in the early years and now with old friends taking care, the brocade shop still makes a profit. However, after deducting the money for tribute and removing the necessary management expenses, there is not much profit remaining. We can still have it for a few years but afterwards, one fears that it would be suppressed by the newer brocade shops. Father has been worried about this for a long time now, and a few days back heard about Tang GongGong’s matter, and after discussing with the other managers, decided to change to this route. If we were to seek for the Palace’s GongGong’s protection, then that would be a bottomless pit and most likely one would need to spend a lot of money and be unable to even have it worked out. It would be better to give Fifth Young Lady a share since Taiyuan is Marquis Changxing’s territory, with Young Lady’s name, we would have some confidence when we go out.”

Those words were straight-forward and logically reasonable. Chu Jinyao paused before asking, “That is to say that you all are willing to be in contract for dividend?”

“That is right!”

“If you really want to seek protection, why not show your sincerity to my Father? To have it under his name, won’t it be more useful than having it under an unmarried female like me?”

“Ai. This is something that Young Lady is unaware of.” Wei Liang said, “The Emperor of the founding dynasty strictly forbade the collusion between officials and merchants. Even until now, no officials dares to blatantly do business. All these shops are recorded under their wives, daughters and mothers’ name. If we were to really write Marquis Changxing’s name, then this would not be helping but implicating!”

Chu Jinyao was finally persuaded, “Is it really true?”

Wei Liang was thinking to himself that this Young Lady Chu was quite vigilant. When someone gifted money to a normal Young Lady, she would accept it happily. Why would anyone think and ask these things? When Wei Liang finally saw that Chu Jinyao finally let go of her guard, he quickly responded, “That is absolutely true!”

In fact, what Wei Liang said was not considered wrong. The current business environment was indeed getting worse. The long-old merchants were so squeezed by the officials and eunuchs that they had no way to breathe. Wei Wu was in charge of such a big scale of business and reasonably it would be targeted by these eunuchs so that they would tear a piece of meat for themselves. However, Wei Wu had not been blackmailed or threatened by others and this was because Wei Wu was acting on behalf of the Crown Prince.

However, this beautiful Young Lady did not need to know these things. With Wei Liang’s half-truths, Chu Jinyao finally drop the idea of withdrawing and he took the initiative to present the accounting books, “Fifth Young Lady, this is this month’s accounts. Kindly review.”

Wei Wu had sent someone over to deliver the accounting books two months before, but as everyone was busy with Chu Jinxian’s wedding, Chu Jinyao could only put aside the matter and did not even read it. At that time, she did not want to get too involved in the affairs of the Palace, so it was naturally best to decline a business with such a complicated background. However, now that the Yun brocade shop and her were in a mutually beneficial relationship, Chu Jinyao was relieved. It was good if the other party had wishes, and if they really gave her money without wanting returns… Chu Jinyao would not dare to accept it.

After inquiring about the other party’s details, Chu Jinyao was then in the mood to look through the accounting books. Even though she did not understand it, she now had responsibility with it, so Chu Jinyao read it with all her efforts. Wei Liang stood outside and through the blurry screen saw that Chu Jinyao had finished flipping the pages and thus spoke, “Young Lady Chu, the shop will send you the accounts monthly and also that month’s dividend. During the two months, the people who came over did not see you personally and thus dared not hand over the money, thus it was delayed until I brought it all to you today. It is too ostentatious to move the taels over when entering the residence, and my Father also said that it was not safe, thus he has made the decision to change it to notes. Young lady, please take look…”

“This is good. Manager Wei is very thoughtful.” Chu Jinyao was after all an unmarried Young Lady. Even though ChaoYunYuan has undergone major changes, it was complicated when they were so many people around, and she dared not reveal too much to others. If the taels were brought in, one would not be able to hide it no matter what. However if it was changed into notes, then it would be more secretive. As long as she did not speak about it, and Wei Liang did not speak, who would know her true wealth? Chu Jinyao continued, “Then one would trouble Young Manager Wei. In the future, please change the monthly dividend to notes too.”

Wei Liang responded and handed Chu Jinyao a box with both hands. The maid went around the screen and checked it briefly before bringing it over to Chu Jinyao. Chu Jinyao opened it up and glanced roughly at it and her brows could not help but jump, “This much?”

“Yes. These are the dividend accumulated in four months. My father instructed me to bring it all in for Young Lady.”

Chu Jinyao pressed the middle of her brows and calmed down with great difficulty. She took a quick glance and saw several notes of thousand taels. There were also many hundred and fifty taels of notes underneath it. For a normal family, ten taels was enough for half a year. This was calculated factoring the cost of living in the city. It would be even less for families in the village. Chu Jinyao used to think that getting two tales of allowance was sky high and now without any rhyme or reason, the Wei family gave her six thousand taels of notes.

Even Chu Jinxian’s dowry on paper was only six thousand taels. And that included the large pieces of furniture, like the bed and dressing table but Chu Jinyao was actually holding six thousand taels of cash.

After being shocked multiple times, Chu Jinyao was instead calmed down. She remembered that initially when she carried thirty taels back, Qin Yi said disdainfully, “I don’t consider thirty taels as money.”

If one were to go along with the Wei family’s scale, then thirty taels indeed was not considered money.

Chu Jinyao closed the box and spoke after a long time, “Young Manager Wei, are you really determined to add me as a shareholder?”

Wei Liang replied hurriedly, “Yes!”

Chu Jinyao looked at this wooden box and felt that it was really hot. She sighed and said, “All right. Then I will accept it. Anyways, this would not make any difference.”

When Wei Liang saw that Chu Jinyao was willing to accept the stuff, the heavy stone in his heart finally disappeared. He could finally return with the task completed. Wei Liang wiped his sweat quietly from an angle that no one was able to see. However, as soon as Wei Liang’s hand came down, he heard Chu Jinyao asked, “Young Manager Wei?”

Wei Liang replied hurriedly, “This lowly one is here.”

Wei Liang had thought that this Young Lady of the Marquis residence would have some more questions but strangely, she only asked about the daily operations of the Yun brocade shop. He answered every one of the questions and Chu Jinyao nodded her head thoughtfully, “I understand. Young Manager Wei, since the brocade shop has a complete weaving and selling process, why not turn it to a clothing business? Isn’t it more profitable to have ready-to-wear instead of fabric?”

It turned out to be like this. Wei Liang breathed a sigh of relief, “We have also thought about this point, but the shop started out with weaving so no one in the shop is good at ready-to-wear business. Moreover, to make ready-to-wear, there would be a need to follow up with the trends. It is not comparable to weaving where there are only these few patterns, where one can just follow. There is really no one in the store that can take care of it so we have to put the matter down.”

“No one that can take care…” A thought flashed in Chu Jinyao’s mind and she quickly spoke, “I know of one such person. She does things very quickly and has a pair of skillful hands. She was the one who taught me needlework. Young Manager Wei, how about inviting her over and let her try managing for a period of time?”

Wei Liang responded quickly, “There are no problems with it. Young Lady can directly speak of arranging someone in. The people above have long instructed, no matter what Young Lady Chu wants, everything must be agreed to. What’s more arranging a person. The brocade shop is so big, supporting one more person will not matter.”

Chu Jinyao finally smiled, “That is good. Many thanks to Young Manager Wei.” After speaking, Chu Jinyao stood up to bow to Wei Liang but he was almost frightened by it and quickly avoided it, “Young Lady, that cannot be done!”

“Why can’t it be done? Manager Wei has helped me a great deal.”

“One does not dare.” Wei Liang smiled stiffly and invited Chu Jinyao back to her seat, “Young Lady please quickly sit down. This lowly one cannot accept your greetings.”

After Chu Jinyao sat down and saw that Wei Liang still looked frightened, she laughed, “Why is there a need for Young Manager Wei to be like that? In the future, we are cooperating partners, so how can we be so punctilious? Young Manager Wei, to be quite honest, the person that I am introducing is my Older Sister. I previously grew up in a farmer house and was only brought back by my father in the beginning of the year. I have no way of going out and dare not send a message to my Older Sister rashly. Why don’t I write a letter and you can help me bring it to Older Sister’s house so that she understands? She has been a good worker since young, so definitely nothing will go wrong if she helps out in the store.”

Wei Liang of course complied. After so many days of anticipation, Chu Jinyao finally had a chance to resolve the matter with Su Hui. She quickly went to the study to write a letter and thinking that Su Hui did not know how to read, she drew a few pictures and roughly explained the matters. Afterwards, she walked out and locked it in a box before handing it to Wei Liang, “Young Manager Wei, one has troubled you.”

Wei Liang quickly replied that he did not dare. Su Hui was already married and her husband was a power butcher. Chu Jinyao was not afraid that her Older Sister would be bullied because whether her sister came or not, her husband would definitely accompany her. Chu Jinyao had no manpower and could not send messages out of the residence, so she could only pin her hopes on this Young Manager Wei.

Chu Jinyao sent Wei Liang off before heading to the western room to place the box stuffed with silver notes in the mahogany box and locked them all up. Chu Jinyao then took out a few pieces of fabric, intending to give them to her sister as a greeting gift. As she came out carrying the items, she suddenly felt an unspeakable strangeness.

Chu Jinyao found out that no matter what she did recently, everything went very smoothly. It could be said that whatever she wanted all came true. Why was that so? Could there be such coincidences in this world?”

*****

As the days gradually entered autumn, the matter of Chu Jinxian’s marriage gradually came to a completion. The residence of Marquis Changxing finally had the capacity to handle other matters.

Chu Zhu returned on the second month and mentioned about inviting the nieces to the Prince residence for a gathering but in the end, incidents happened one after another. After Tang GongGong’s matter was resolved, it clashed with Chu Jinxian’s marriage preparation. After all these things were settled, it was already the ninth month.

Prince Huailing Consort officially sent an invitation to the residence of Marquis Changxing, inviting the three Madams and Young Ladies of the Chu family over to the Prince residence for chrysanthemum appreciation.