nycdaug Chapter 228 Extra 4
Chapter 228 Extra 4
Upon seeing Jiang Chun, the man couldn't help but exclaim, "General, this military camp is really hard to enter!" If he hadn't encountered Jiang Chun's personal guards at the camp gate, he might have been arrested on charges of being a spy.
Jiang Chun: "Li San, what brings you here?" Did something happen at home? At this thought, his heart began to pound.
Li San quickly lowered his voice: "General, the master said that you are getting married soon, and the journey is too far, so he won't come. Therefore, he sent me to deliver 20,000 taels of silver notes! General, please take me inside; the silver notes are sewn into my cotton coat!"
"Okay, come with me!" Jiang Chun quickly led Li San to his room and personally poured him a glass of water: "You must be tired from your journey. Sit down and have a drink of water first."
"Thank you, General." Li San was indeed thirsty after the journey. He picked up his teacup and drank it all in one gulp. Then he took off his cotton-padded coat, asked Jiang Chun for a pair of scissors, cut open a corner of the coat, and took out a stack of silver notes wrapped in oiled paper.
"General, here is a silver note for twenty thousand taels. Please keep it safe! The master told you to prepare more betrothal gifts so that the Mo family won't look down on you!" Li San said to Jiang Chun with a simple and honest smile.
Jiang Chun accepted the silver notes; they were twenty notes, each worth one thousand taels. Li San must have been very uneasy bringing so many silver notes to the Northwest.
“Okay, I understand. I’ll take you to Green Leaf City right away, find you an inn, give you a couple of days to rest, and then we’ll go back to the capital!” Jiang Chun said.
Li San was his father's trusted subordinate and an honest and upright man, so he had to make proper arrangements for him. However, he couldn't stay in the military camp, not even if his father came.
Li San said gratefully, "Thank you, General."
Jiang Chun asked the marshal for a day off and took Li San to Green Leaf City. After settling Li San in, he also made a trip to the Mo family.
Old Master Mo was chatting with his eldest son when a servant came to report, "Master, the eldest son-in-law has arrived!"
Now, Liuli has become the eldest daughter of the Mo family.
Grandpa Mo: "The eldest son-in-law has arrived, so please come in quickly!"
Jiang Chun waited in the courtyard and soon followed the maid to Old Master Mo's study.
Grandpa Mo was very pleased: "Oh my, what a rare guest! What brings you here today?"
Jiang Chun greeted the old man and Master Mo, then replied with a smile, "In that case, my father sent someone to find me. I'm here to bring someone to Green Leaf City to settle down. After settling them in, I'll be returning to the military camp. Before I leave, I'd like to let you know that my father has agreed to my marriage with the young lady!"
Although the marriage was settled and there was no going back, it was still a good thing to have his father's approval. Otherwise, if his father disagreed, he would still feel bad. He had been at the border for so many years and hadn't been able to take care of his father. How could he live with himself if he did something against his father?
Upon hearing this, Grandpa Mo was overjoyed: "That's wonderful! I was worried that your elders might not agree!"
Jiang Chun: "No, my father is very open-minded and respects his children's choices. Besides, I'm over twenty years old, an adult, so my father has nothing to worry about."
Grandpa Mo: "That's true, you're already a general!" Maybe soon you'll even be a marshal! If parents aren't at ease with a son like this, then they're really strange parents.
The two got along very well and had a pleasant conversation. Seeing that it was getting late, Old Master Mo insisted that Jiang Chun stay another night: "Don't leave until tomorrow morning. Don't travel at night; it's very unsafe!"
Jiang Chun couldn't refuse, so he had to agree: "Then thank you, Grandpa! However, I need to go to the inn to say hello to my father's men." Originally, he planned to stay at the inn for the night and also to learn about the situation in the capital from Li Sanduo.
Grandpa Mo: "Go ahead, and come back early tonight!"
Jiang Chun: "Okay, no need to wait for me to eat. I'll have a meal with my father's men. I'll also take this opportunity to learn more about the family situation."
Grandpa Mo: "Alright, we'll have plenty of time in the future!"
Jiang Chun returned to the inn, had dinner with Li San, and the two chatted in their room.
Jiang Chun mustered his courage and asked, "How is Princess Yulin doing these days?"
Li San: "Very good. Princess Yulin has given birth to twins, a boy and a girl. Over the years, Prince Duan has not taken any concubines and has treated Princess Yulin very well." It was no secret that their young master liked Princess Yulin. Everyone in the Jiang family, except for that ignorant little one, knew about it.
Jiang Chun: "That's good, I can rest assured now!" She then asked, "Is the master unhappy that he knows I'm engaged to the Mo family's daughter?"
Li San: "No, Master is still very happy." How could Master not be happy that you are willing to get married? In Master's heart, he has always been worried that you will never get married in your life, which would not be good for anyone, and would also affect Princess Yulin.
Jiang Chun: "How are the flowers these days?"
Li San: "Miss is very good. She is good friends with Princess Yulin. With Princess Yulin's guidance, Miss is very sensible and has a very cheerful personality!"
Jiang Chun: "That's good. I'll write a few letters, and you can take them back for me!"
Li San: "Yes, sir, I promise I will personally deliver the letter to you, sir."
Jiang Chun asked the shopkeeper for a brush, ink, paper, and inkstone, and began to write furiously. In an hour, he wrote three letters. One was for Hua'er, one was for his father, and the other was for Shangguan Mufeng.
Li San received the letter and was quite surprised, not understanding why his young master would write to Shangguan Mufeng. Although he had doubts, he dared not ask.
Upon receiving the letter, Shangguan Mufeng read it quickly and breathed a sigh of relief. Good, he was willing to get married; otherwise, that silly girl Zisu would never have peace of mind for the rest of her life.
Yu asked curiously, "Husband, what did Jiang Chun say in his letter?"
Shangguan Mufeng smiled broadly: "Jiang Chun said that he is already engaged, and the woman is a daughter of the most prestigious family in the Northwest. He will get married next spring! The engagement has already been made."
Upon hearing this, Madam Yu was overjoyed: "Great! I can rest assured now! Zisu can also rest assured! If he never gets married, Zisu will feel very guilty."
Shangguan Mufeng: "Yes, if Fang Heng were to get married too, that would be wonderful!" Zisu is such a kind-hearted child. If these two never get married, she would be very uneasy. Also, if they don't get married, and Zisu happens to run into them outside and they exchange a few words, it could be used by someone with ulterior motives, causing Prince Duan to misunderstand, and that would be terrible.
In his letter, Jiang Chun also said that he would treat Zisu as a younger sister from now on, and thanked Zisu for treating his sister Hua'er kindly. He also said that he hoped the Shangguan family and the Jiang family could continue to maintain their relationship like relatives. Since he was not in the capital, he asked Shangguan Mufeng to lend a helping hand if the Jiang family encountered any difficulties in the future.
Shangguan Mufeng couldn't help but sigh, "Sigh, this child is really something. Why does he have to force himself into this situation? Even if he doesn't want to stay in the capital, he can go to Jiangnan. Why does he have to stay in the Northwest?"
Ms. Yu: "Perhaps he has developed a deep affection for the Northwest! Putting aside him, I myself am a little reluctant to leave Xiaoxi Village."
Shangguan Mufeng: "Yes, you're right. Xiaoxi Village has now become a paradise for veterans. It is said that Xiaoxi Village now has as many as 5,000 people and has developed several military reclamation farms."
It was Zisu who suggested the idea of the military reclamation farm.
Yu said nostalgically, "Xiaoxi Village has an endless grassland with a wide view. Except for the cold winter, it's actually quite nice. I like it very much!"
Shangguan Mufeng couldn't help but laugh: "I've never heard of anyone liking a place of exile before, but this is all thanks to Zisu. If it weren't for her, you might have run into trouble on your way to exile."
Madam Yu sighed, "Yes, who can say otherwise? This child is better than many men. She has made the most of her exile. Only she has such ability."
Another month has passed in the blink of an eye.
On this day, Jiang Chun arrived at the Mo residence with betrothal gifts.
These betrothal gifts were worth 15,000 taels of silver. For the Mo family, this was far too meager. It should be noted that the dowry the Mo family had prepared for Liuli was worth 100,000 taels. In addition, there was the dowry left by Liuli's birth mother; Liuli's eldest brother had decided to divide their mother's dowry in half, giving half to his younger sister.
Although her stepmother had embezzled some of Liuli's mother's dowry over the years, it was still quite substantial, amounting to at least 120,000 to 130,000 yuan. This brought Liuli's total dowry to around 150,000 to 160,000 yuan. In addition, Grandpa Mo and other relatives and friends contributed extra, bringing the total to nearly 200,000 yuan!
Such a lavish dowry could only be achieved when a princess gets married.
However, a dowry of 15,000 taels of silver is a very generous sum for an ordinary family. For Jiang Chun, this was likely all he had, so the Mo family didn't look down on it; on the contrary, they were quite pleased.
Previously, Old Master Mo had mentally prepared himself, guessing that Jiang Chun's betrothal gifts would be around five thousand taels. Now, with ten thousand taels more, Old Master Mo was actually quite surprised. Because it was an unexpected joy, the old master was very happy.
It seems the Jiang family has some wealth. Liuli won't need to use her dowry to support Jiang Chun's family after marriage; she just needs to support the young couple. In that case, Jiang Chun seems like a truly good grandson-in-law.
The more Grandpa Mo looked at Jiang Chun, the more he thought he was a very good person, an extremely good person!
Besides Jiang Chun, his ten personal guards also came with him to deliver the betrothal gifts. Two adjutant generals also accompanied them. This group of handsome young men was a striking sight, enhancing everyone's positive impression of Jiang Chun.
Although there were many guests this time, Old Master Mo had already instructed his family to prepare a small courtyard for them. Jiang Chun and his comrades stayed at the Mo residence for one night and took their leave early the next morning.
Liuli hid behind a big tree, gazing intently at his retreating figure, motionless, her heart filled with a sweet, honey-like joy. This sweetness blossomed into a smile, spreading across her lips.
In just a few months, this handsome and refined general would become her husband! Before her adoption, she had never even dreamed of such a wonderful thing. Back then, she was struggling to survive under the thumb of her wicked stepmother, and she would have been grateful if her stepmother had even a shred of humanity and hadn't married her off to such an unreliable person!
Now, she actually has such a heroic fiancé; it's like being hit by a pie falling from the sky. Everything seems so unreal, so dreamlike.
She pinched her arm hard—ouch, that really hurt! The pain meant it wasn't a dream! Jiang Chunzhen had come to propose marriage today! This meant that in a few months, he would be her husband!
In this life, she truly found a good marriage, truly found someone to rely on! As a daughter, marrying a good man is what truly gives her security in this life. No matter how good her maternal grandmother was to her, they would all grow old one day and couldn't protect her forever.
As for her uncles and her current father, Master Mo, they treat her very well now. But who knows if they will stand up for her once her maternal grandparents pass away? So, marrying a good man is the only way to have someone to rely on for life.