Exile with Storage Space: Family Fortunes in the Barren Lands-Chapter 499 - 473: Generous Dowry (1)

Princess Consort Luling did not stand up, but remained seated in the chair, merely smiling slightly and nodding toward Lady Lou, "Please have a seat."

Although this was not the Capital, and she couldn’t put on royal airs, she was Chengye’s mother-in-law, and thus, a senior to the Lou family’s first couple.

A senior only needs to nod and greet the younger generation, standing up to welcome is unnecessary.

Standing up to welcome is reserved for noble guests or elders visiting for the first time.

But Lady Lou was neither.

Her composed demeanor left Lady Lou unsure of how to respond.

However, as the eldest daughter-in-law of the Prefect’s house, how could she bow to a village woman?

She mildly said thank you, without even nodding, and walked to the guest seat to sit down.

Princess Consort Luling slightly raised her eyebrows and said to Er Niu, "Prepare the tea."

"Yes, madam," Er Niu responded.

She placed her hands together in front of her, slightly bowed, and behaved very properly like a maid from a wealthy family.

Fifteen-year-old Er Niu was very sensible at home, and ever since Liu Da Niu got married four years ago, she was the one to greet guests at home.

Making tea, directing her younger sister to move chairs, cooking, serving dishes, setting the table, etc., she did it all.

When the Li family came today, Princess Consort Luling only had to remind her a little, and she remembered it instantly.

Er Niu rolled up her sleeves, first bringing out the tea canister from the cabinet in the room, scooping tea leaves with a small wooden spoon into a large white porcelain teapot, then walked to the stove in the corner, and poured a small amount of hot water from the steaming copper kettle into the pot.

Lady Lou watched her brew the tea, waiting for her to pour out the tea so she could criticize her for not rinsing the tea.

Unexpectedly, Er Niu poured the first brew into a cup for leftover tea, and then filled it with hot water.

She covered the pot, and shortly after, she took the inverted tea cups and poured several cups of tea.

She first picked up a cup and steadily placed it on the small table beside Lady Lou, then handed another to Princess Consort Luling, and the third to Li Yuzhu, who was sitting in the room.

After finishing, she returned the kettle to the stove and stood at Princess Consort Luling’s side.

San Niu stood by Li Yuzhu’s side.

Both young girls stood properly, not engaging in any improper movements like shrugging shoulders, turning heads, picking fingers, scratching, or twirling hair.

This was not much different from the behavior of maids from large households.

Lady Lou watched, mouth agape.

Why were these village girls unlike the ones she had seen before?

Princess Consort Luling lifted the teacup and slightly smiled, "Sister Lou, please drink the tea."

Li Yuzhu also lifted her teacup, nodded, and smiled at Lady Lou, "Sister-in-law Lou, drink the tea."

Lady Lou slightly pursed her lips and picked up the teacup.

She found that the tea leaves were actually silver leaf tea.

In Zhen An Prefecture, this was considered top-grade tea, but could the silver leaf tea from the countryside be any good?

She stirred the tea leaves with the lid but didn’t drink it and put it down.

"So it’s silver leaf tea," she smiled slightly, "As far as I know, the best silver leaf tea is for tribute, and the common folk aren’t allowed to have premium grades, right, Mrs. Li?"

Her implication was that the good tea leaves the Li family had must have been begged from others, perhaps from the county magistrate’s family, or that they were drinking defective silver leaf tea.

The best ones are handed over, and the leftovers are sold to country folks.

This is a very common thing.

However, she doesn’t drink inferior tea.

Li Yuzhu raised an eyebrow, was Lady Lou here to create trouble, not discussing business first but instead talking about tea, with words suggesting disdain for the Li family?

Princess Consort Luling was used to these barbed words; she smiled faintly, "Sister Lou, you only know part of the truth." She turned to Er Niu, "Er Niu, would you explain?"

Er Niu nodded and looked at Lady Lou, "Granny Lou, our madam is correct; you only know part of the truth."

Lady Lou felt reprimanded and wasn’t pleased.

She frowned, "What do you mean, only part of the truth?"

Er Niu explained, "Newly roasted silver leaf tea tastes the best, and the longer it’s kept, the more the flavor fades. The tea we are drinking now is freshly roasted this year by the tea roaster from our village. Though it doesn’t match those for tribute, it’s new tea. The premium tea that is sent as tribute to the Capital or the Prefecture is selected after thorough screening, and this year’s new tea is still being selected. Granny Lou can’t possibly be drinking new tea at home; what you’d be drinking is last year’s selected tea. If you want to taste the new tea sent by the official, you’ll have to wait until after spring next year, or you could buy second-grade tea from countryside families."

Lady Lou, "..." Is there such a thing? She couldn’t believe it, "Who would dare to send last year’s tea leaves as tribute? No one would have the guts, right?"

Princess Consort Luling glanced at Er Niu and blinked.

Er Niu said, "If Granny Lou doesn’t believe it, you can ask Mr. Lou, or inquire from other government officials. Although no one says it explicitly, everyone knows this fact."

Lady Lou, who prided herself on her knowledge and experience, was unexpectedly bested by a simple village girl today.

She herself was drinking last year’s tea while mocking the Li Family’s new tea.

Some teas are better aged, but silver leaf tea is prized for its fresh taste.

Even the finest green tea is inferior to second-grade new green tea after a year.

Being embarrassed in public, Lady Lou’s face turned red and then white.

The Princess Consort of Luling noticed her awkwardness and intention to vent, so she changed the subject, saying, "Sister-in-law Lou, did you come to see me for something important?"

Lady Lou composed herself and said, "Indeed, I wanted to ask how much Mrs. Li is providing as dowry for the second young lady."

Her family had sent four to five thousand taels as bride price, but the Li Family did not provide any dowry, which seemed unreasonable.

She looked at the Princess Consort of Luling with a leisurely air.

The Princess Consort of Luling said, "Of course there is. Twenty bolts of various silks, ten bolts of various fine cloth, one thousand two hundred taels of silver, four sets of jewelry worth a hundred taels, sixteen sets of seasonal clothing, one carriage, two mules. One driver for the dowry, one housekeeper, two young men, two maids."

These fabrics and cloths, some were gifts sent several times by the County Magistrate’s Wife, some were dowry items bought by Chai Eying for the Second Princess, and some were bought with money saved by the Princess Consort of Luling.

As for the one thousand two hundred taels of silver, part of it was money the Second Princess earned herself, and the rest was pooled together by the family.

In preparing dowry for the Second Princess, the family had a unanimous understanding.

Even the self-centered Great Princess generously contributed a hundred taels and encouraged everyone to contribute a little to make the sum larger.

Her argument was that a small dowry would cause the Lou Family to look down on the Second Princess, which equates to looking down on the three sisters of the family, something she could not tolerate.

Each of the brothers contributed one hundred taels, Chai Eying and Li Yuzhu who were the wealthiest each contributed three hundred taels.

The money for purchasing items was provided by Prince Luling and his wife, without costing the Second Princess anything.

The mules had not yet been purchased; Li Xingmao was searching for strong mules in several villages.

Twenty taels of silver for each, which the Li Family could now easily afford.

The carriage used Li Xing’an’s big black horse.

The dowry personnel were already in place.

There was no problem with the seasonal clothing. The Princess Consort of Luling had already asked Li Xingmao to buy two sets of winter cloaks for the Second Princess. Chai Eying gave one, the County Magistrate’s Wife also gave one, and for the other seasonal clothing, skilled embroidery girls from the village were urgently working on them.

The Princess Consort of Luling discovered that although these embroidery girls were villagers and had hardly been to the county, their craftsmanship was not crude, and some of their embroideries were comparable to those of embroidery girls in the Capital.

These elderly women, having done embroidery for decades, had perfected their skills.

The reason they had always lived in the village and didn’t rely on their embroidery skills to make a living elsewhere was that they didn’t want to leave their homes and didn’t want to leave the familiar place.

Their needlework was neat, the tailoring of the fabric was perfectly fitting, aside from the designs being old-fashioned. But that was not a problem; the Princess Consort of Luling had the Great Princess draw up several fashionable clothing designs for them. Once they saw them, they could sew them accordingly.

The newly sewn four sets of spring clothes and four sets of summer clothes were even more exquisite and fitting than those the Second Princess wore in the Prince Mansion, and the four sets of autumn and winter clothes were almost completed.

Shoes were not a problem either; the Second Princess had small feet and could find fitting shoes anytime.

Lady Lou listened as the Princess Consort of Luling listed everything, secretly startled. The Li Family actually provided their daughter with such a generous dowry!

It’s almost the same as the dowry for her other sisters!

They originally thought they could outshine the Li Family’s daughter, but it seemed hopeless now.

"So Mrs. Li has already prepared, then I’m relieved." She smiled slightly, "By the way, how many tables should be prepared for the banquet, and which guests will be invited?"

"For the banquet, we will invite all the villagers, no less than a hundred tables, I suppose. Our family has invited everyone from both villages who can come to the feast."

Qingshui River Village and Taohua River Village together amount to nearly two thousand people.

Excluding those not at home, or for whom it would be inconvenient such as infants and the elderly, the Princess Consort of Luling estimated that more than half the people would come. Therefore, at least a hundred tables would be necessary.

Lady Lou laughed and said, "Indeed, inviting more people means more gift money collected."

The Princess Consort of Luling smiled and said, "Our family doesn’t collect gift money; they come just to enjoy the feast."

Lady Lou was even more astonished, "Not collecting gift money, doesn’t that..." Isn’t that a loss when marrying off a daughter?

The Princess Consort of Luling noted her astonished expression and inwardly sneered.

Loss?

She wasn’t losing out like this!

If she collected gift money, those with no connection to the Li Family wouldn’t come. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Then how could she publicly declare that her daughter was getting married?

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