si-mexico Chapter 108 Demanding Gifts
Chapter 108 Demanding Gifts
When they turned against You Qingbo and You Qingrou, that was their plan: to make You Qingrou lose her chastity and then marry Wei Yonghuai!
Ye Shiting said in a low voice, "A while ago, the Wei family went to the You family to propose marriage, but was rejected. The Wei family was dissatisfied, and the two families seemed to be severing ties. It is understandable that You Qingrou is in a hurry to get married because she is pregnant with another child, but it is somewhat unreasonable that the Wei family agreed so readily and rushed into marriage."
Ye Shijun stroked his chin and thought carefully. "That makes sense. The Wei family lost face when they offered betrothal gifts. Logically, they should at least put on a show of respect. Besides, the wedding date was set so hastily. Given the Wei family's character, this doesn't seem like their style. Could it be that there's some inside story we don't know about?"
He then sternly ordered the servant, "Keep an eye on those two families, and report back immediately if anything happens!"
"Yes!" The servant acknowledged the order and left.
……
The residence of Marquis Yufeng.
After returning home from discussing the marriage with the Wei family, Madam Wen happily began making arrangements for her daughter's wedding.
Instead, You Qingrou looked worried and pulled Wen Shi into the room, anxiously asking her, "Mother, I'm pregnant now. What should I do if Wei Yonghuai sleeps with me on our wedding night? Putting aside whether it will harm the baby, what I fear most is that he will find out I'm not a virgin..."
Madam Wen held her hand and said smugly, "What's so difficult about that? I've already prepared everything for you. As long as he drinks the nuptial wine on the wedding day, he'll be at your mercy. All you need to do then is get some blood to make it look like a wedding."
Upon hearing this, You Qingrou's eyes lit up with excitement. "Okay! I'll do whatever Mother says!" Then, as if remembering something, she suddenly asked, "Mother, after we rejected their betrothal last time, the Wei family has been quite dissatisfied with us. How did you and Father persuade them to agree to the marriage this time?"
Mentioning this, Madam Wen proudly raised her chin and chuckled, "Of course, it's because they need my help! Moreover, the Wei family said they would give me a thousand taels of gold if I did a good job for them!"
You Qingrou was astonished. "A thousand taels of gold? When did the Wei family become so wealthy?"
Wen said disdainfully, "Of course they don't have it, but now they've climbed the social ladder by relying on Luo Lixian. Of course, the one who can come up with a thousand taels of gold is that high-ranking one! Speaking of which, I'm really not convinced. The Wei family 'lost' Ye Shishu, and their dowry was about to be gone. Unexpectedly, another princess from Beilin Kingdom popped up. If I had known that Luo Lixian was that kind of person, I should have had your brother snatch her back to our Marquis's mansion. If a princess from a country were to become my daughter-in-law, wouldn't I have everything I wanted?"
You Qingrou comforted her, "Mother, you don't need to be jealous of them anymore. I'm about to marry into the Wei family. Once I give birth and establish myself in the Wei family, no matter how many high branches the Wei family climbs, aren't they all helping me climb them?"
You know what, that makes perfect sense!
Madam Wen immediately beamed, "Rou'er, don't worry. Although the wedding is rushed, I promise you'll have a grand and glorious wedding!" Then, a calculating glint appeared in her eyes, "As your aunt's family, I have to call Ye Gengxin over and have him add to your dowry! We can't get You Yueqin's dowry, so we can't let that Ye family get it too. If they give too little, I won't stand for it!"
Upon hearing this, You Qingrou hurriedly urged, "That's right, their family should provide me with a dowry, and it can't be less! Mother, please go and arrange it quickly, and have them send the good things to the Marquis's residence as soon as possible!"
……
Ye Gengxin also learned of the marriage alliance between the Wei and You families.
Less than an hour later, the You family sent someone to the General's Mansion to invite him to the Marquis's Mansion to help You Qingrou with her wedding attire.
Ye Gengxin was furious. "That family is so shameless!"
Colluding with the Wei family, they wanted Wei Yonghuai to tarnish her daughter's reputation, and then they plotted to take advantage of his second son. The Ye family was just about to sever ties with You Jianbin and the Wen family on the surface, but unexpectedly, You Jianbin and the Wen family had no self-awareness at all and shamelessly came to ask for gifts!
Hao Fu sighed and said, "General, we haven't openly fallen out with them. If we don't give them this gift, given Wen's shrewish nature, she might use this as a mistake to slander us."
Ye Gengxin's face was grim. It wasn't that he was reluctant to part with the money, but rather that the thought of what You Jianbin, the Wen family, and their two children had done filled him with resentment.
"Where are the eldest young master, the second young master, and the second young mistress? Haven't they returned yet?" he asked Hao Fu irritably.
Those brats sneaked out without saying goodbye, and none of them have come back yet!
Hao Fu couldn't help but chuckle, "General, the eldest young master and the others were just afraid of disturbing you and Ninth Aunt. This old servant heard that they went to Ziqiong Manor, and I guess they won't come back until they've had their fill of fun."
Ye Gengxin pursed his lips awkwardly and asked, "Is Ninth Aunt up yet?"
Hao Fu said, "She got up half an hour ago. She heard you were busy in the study, so she didn't send anyone to inform you."
Ye Gengxin's ears inexplicably turned red.
As if trying to cover something up, he immediately waved his hand, "For Madam's sake, go to the storeroom and pick out two gifts to send to the You family." He paused, then added in a deep voice, "Don't pick anything too expensive; they don't deserve them!"
"Yes!" Hao Fu replied with a smile.
Just as he was about to leave the study, he saw Ninth Aunt walk in carrying a food tray.
He nodded to Ninth Aunt.
Ninth Aunt nodded at him as well.
Seeing her arrive, Ye Gengxin stood up and said, "Let others do these menial tasks; you don't need to do them!"
Aunt Jiu placed the food plate on the desk, lowered her eyes, and said, "I don't need special treatment."
Ye Gengxin frowned when he saw that there was only one dish on the plate. "Aren't you going to eat?"
Ninth Aunt said, "General, the Prince and Princess are at Ziqiong Manor, I have to go there."
Upon hearing this, Ye Gengxin said with dissatisfaction, "They go out to eat, drink, and have fun, what are you going to do? Besides, Shu'er is not the kind of person who can be waited on hand and foot, you don't need to spoil her too much! Even if you want to spoil her, that's the prince's business. If he, a grown man, can't even take care of his own woman, then he's really useless!"
"..." Ninth Aunt didn't respond to him, but the corner of her lips twitched slightly.
……
Wen was quite pleased to hear that Ye Geng had sent someone to deliver gifts.
However, upon seeing the two meager gift boxes, the smile on her face vanished instantly. Pointing at the people from the General's Mansion, she angrily rebuked them, "My daughter is getting married, and this is all your general sends as a dowry? My daughter calls him uncle, is that title just for show? Take these worthless things back and tell your general that if he doesn't provide my daughter with a proper dowry, don't blame us for talking behind his back!"