Chapter 436 — Discussing the Betrothal Gift
Purple Streets of Chang'an · Page 2 of 4
Wanping was a county of the capital, and its assistant too must be a graduate of the two lists.
Ma Hao had been secretly congratulating himself that today he need only play the secondary guest; never had he thought that in the blink of an eye he should become the chief host. His face changed at once. He sat in the eastern厢 chamber set aside for guests, drinking tea and chatting, and would not come out to play the host.
The Miao family could do nothing about it. They invited the two matchmakers of the Song family into the western chamber to be seated, and let the "complete-fortune" women of both sides exchange pleasantries and greetings and present the betrothal gifts.
A gold necklet set with many gems; earrings of rubies the size of lotus seeds; a heavy pair of red-gold bracelets in twisted-wire pattern; and yellow, gleaming horse-hoof rings.
At the sight of these ornaments, Miao's mother's eyes narrowed to slits of smiles.
The Song family's "complete-fortune" woman was none other than the Third Madam Song.
She put the necklet, the earrings, the bracelets, and the rings all upon Miao Zhi.
A gleam of a smile entered the depths of Miao Zhi's eyes. Supported by her maid, she rose and bowed her head in salute to the Third Madam Song.
The Third Madam Song took two gold-flecked kerchiefs as the gift of homage, and then had the young servants who accompanied her bring up the gifts for each branch of the Miao family.
And with that, the betrothal was concluded.
The Miao family's eldest married daughter and the Third Madam Song went into the main hall to discuss the betrothal silver, the dowry, and the wedding date.
Miao Zhi's personal maid came darting in then, all smiles, and said, "Madam, young miss, I have seen clearly now—what the Song family sent is tea and wine. The Fourth Lord says the tea is the finest West Lake Longjing, and the wine the genuine northern Shaanxi thick wine."
Miao Zhi pressed her lips together and smiled.
Miao's mother shot her daughter a glance and scolded fondly, "Are you satisfied now?"
Miao Zhi tugged at her mother's sleeve and began to play the spoiled child.
In the main hall, the Third Madam Song's face had turned cold as frost.
She lowered her head and took a sip of tea, slowly set the cup down, and only then said, "As the saying goes, a man takes one pick, a woman one turn. A grand betrothal of thirty-six palanquins and ten thousand taels of betrothal silver—for our Ying Protector's Estate, that is not so very much. In the year the heir took his bride, the betrothal was one hundred and twenty-four palanquins and cost a full twenty thousand taels. But the heir's lady's family returned a betrothal of one hundred and twenty-six palanquins, two of which were nothing but silver drafts of ten taels each, no less than forty thousand taels in all, the whole worth more than a hundred thousand. By that reckoning, your honored house should at the very least provide... thirty thousand taels' worth of dowry."
The other party said nothing.
Had she stung them to fury?
The Third Madam Song raised her head, and saw that the Miao family's complete-fortune woman—Miao Zhi's eldest aunt—was staring at her with a mouth wide enough to swallow a toad whole.
She could not help but sneer inwardly, several times over.
A dowry of less than three thousand taels, and they wanted a betrothal gift of ten thousand taels—since when did such a fine bargain exist?
When she herself had married into the Song family, the betrothal gift had been no more than two thousand taels.
Were it not for a certain exalted personage in the palace lending a hand, the Miao family—by their own merits—would not have been fit to carry the Song family's shoes, and they still dreamed of making their daughter her nephew's wife? Dream on!
The more she thought along these lines, the more she suddenly felt Dou Yan had become very dear to her.