Quick Wear: Reversing Life

Chapter 487: The eldest daughter-in-law of a wealthy family (9)

The old lady valued people of social status the most, and she actually chose the son of a local official as a husband for her precious daughter.

Seeing the surprise on Fu Huaiying's face, Chu Yuexiang smiled and said, "Don't underestimate Wang Qinghe's father, who is only a local official. His ancestors were the famous Wang family of Langya, and their family was very wealthy."

"Besides, Wang Qinghe's mother died young, so he didn't have to serve his mother-in-law. His father was a loyal man. After his mother died young, he never remarried, not even taking a concubine. If his son marries his father, he will surely live happily ever after."

I have to say that the old lady has a very good vision.

Although Wang Qinghe's appearance wasn't particularly outstanding, he was the top scorer in this year's imperial examination! After passing the exam, he was granted the rank of Third Rank Imperial Censor and later became Prime Minister.

He is not only extremely talented, but also humble and low-key, down-to-earth and sincere, and honest and upright in his official duties.

In the previous life, after the original owner knew that the person her mother-in-law had her eyes on was Wang Qinghe, she took special care of him.

At first, Wang Qinghe was not outstanding among this group of young men. Later, Wang Qinghe became the top scorer in the imperial examination, and matchmakers came to the Wang family one after another.

But Wang Qinghe finally chose Zhao Ying and came to propose marriage with full sincerity and courtesy.

After marriage, he indeed made it a point to have only Zhao Ying, without taking concubines or maids, and never frequenting brothels.

Now that Wang Qinghe has not yet graduated from high school, Zhao Ying naturally looks down on the son of such a small local official.

After everyone was gathered, the banquet began. Everyone took their seats and the servants had already set out tea, cakes and pastries.

Only then did Fu Huaiying notice the extravagance of the banquet.

The golden nanmu table was piled high with lychees shipped from Lingnan by express horses. The peeled lychees were placed on ice jars, looking like round pearls in the white mist.

The clear glass cup is filled with rich Western wine, which tastes sweet but will not make people too intoxicated and lose their manners.

At this time, a breeze blew, and the drooping silk tent danced in the wind, and the beautiful scenery of clusters of flowers behind him emerged from the haze.

A noble lady saw the gilded grape bowl on the table and praised it, "This container filled with snow mountain cheese is truly exquisite and luxurious."

The banquet was indeed lavish, and the garden was planted with Yaohuang peonies worth a fortune.

Zhao Ying was very satisfied with the banquet, which greatly enhanced her reputation among the noble ladies.

Although Chu Yuexiang was smiling, it seemed a bit forced.

Such a small flower-viewing banquet cost nearly a thousand taels of silver.

Although a thousand taels of silver is not the most spent on a royal banquet, only the head of the household knows that a thousand taels of silver is not a small sum even for a family as big as the Marquis' Mansion.

One thousand taels of silver could cover the annual clothing expenses for the entire family in the marquis's mansion.

It was only after looking at the account book that Chu Yuexiang realized that this huge marquisate had long been running at a loss.

The old lady of the Marquis's Mansion looked down on businessmen and did not allow the mistress to spend too much time on the shop. The annual income of all the shops in the mansion was only 5,000 taels of silver.

But this money has to support a large family and pay servants, not to mention the maintenance of the house garden, carriages and other miscellaneous matters.

Fu Huaiying was already very frugal as the head of the household. Even when she was the mistress, she didn't have many sets of gorgeous new clothes and headwear, but her expenses last year alone reached over ten thousand taels of silver.

The accounts clearly stated that last year the first house cost a total of 1,500 taels, the second house 2,400 taels, the third house 2,700 taels, and the old lady's yard cost 2,000 taels.

My sister-in-law Zhao Ying alone spent nearly three thousand taels of silver.

Chu Yuexiang has three children to raise, so it is understandable that she spends more.

But the third wife has no children, and my sister-in-law is not even married yet, so how can they spend so much money! ?

No wonder Zhao Ying’s clothes and headgear are more exquisite and luxurious than the previous ones.

In the past few years, under Fu Huaiying's management, the income and expenditure could barely be balanced. But this year, Chu Yuexiang just took over and spent one thousand taels to hold a flower viewing banquet.

But if they spent less, not only would Zhao Ying lose face, but other noble families would also laugh at the poverty of the Marquisate.

Chu Yuexiang tried every possible way to save as much as possible, but in the end he still spent one thousand taels of silver.

At this time, a group of children learning to play the zither walked to the center of the banquet and began to play music.

What about the piano student?

Confusion appeared on everyone's faces.

Zhao Ying's expression froze, and Chu Yuexiang quickly explained with a smile, "The child's clear voice complements the beauty of the flowers."

"These children are orphans raised by the Charity Bureau. I figured I'd have to hire musicians to entertain them, so I'd rather spend the money on the Charity Bureau and do some good deeds."

This move won the favor of most of the noble ladies.

"Madam really has a kind heart."

Only then did Zhao Ying smile happily.

The piano-learning children began to perform. Although they were not as good as the musicians, the young children still had their own kind of fun.

Halfway through the banquet, Chu Yuexiang said, "The century-old magnolia tree next to the Liuxian Pavilion has bloomed. If you are interested, why not go and take a look."

"The ground is filled with the fragrance of jade flowers in Yunlong, and the green sand and red water fill the red hall. The jade flowers are the most pure and beautiful, and I believe that their blooming must be a magnificent sight."

The person who spoke was a young man wearing a royal blue round-necked robe and a black fu hat. He had a handsome face, red lips and white teeth. He was the only son of Princess Zhao Hui, Wei Changheng.

As soon as Wei Changheng finished speaking, Zhao Ying said, "Liuxian Pavilion is the summer resort of the mansion. If you like it, why not go and have a look?"

Chu Yuexiang's eyes fell on the two of them, and she immediately understood that Zhao Ying was interested in Wei Changheng.

This group of young men and women could not sit still, so they stood up and left their tables, going into the flowers in groups of three or four.

The three sisters-in-law saw Zhao Ying walking towards Wei Changheng and inviting him with a bright smile to go to Liuxian Pavilion to appreciate the flowers together.

Zhao Yingsheng was even more beautiful than the peony next to her. Wei Changheng and several of his friends were stunned.

Seeing this, Chu Yuexiang curled her lips and smiled, saying to the other two: "Ying'er's face is as beautiful as a lotus. I believe that after today, she will definitely find a good marriage."

Fu Huaiying smiled and did not comment.

On the contrary, Liu Shuyu, who was standing by, lowered her eyes and gently skimmed off the foam with the tea lid, saying calmly, "Beauty fades and love fades. Talent and beauty come first, and beauty comes second. A woman's talent, character, and moral integrity are what are most important."

Chu Yuexiang glanced at Liu Shuyu and felt that her words were a bit sour.

Liu Shuyu was indeed a talented woman, and she was excellent in all kinds of arts, such as music, chess, calligraphy and painting, but her appearance was not particularly outstanding. At most, she could be praised for her outstanding temperament.

So Chu Yuexiang smiled and said, "What Third Sister-in-law said is true, but most young men are full of youthful energy and only care about the beauty of women."

Liu Shuyu was too lazy to talk to someone as shallow as Chu Yuexiang, so she drank a few sips of tea and left.

Before leaving, he even said, "The fragrance of the flowers here is too strong. I'm afraid it will attract bees. I'm leaving now. My two sisters-in-law, please leave."

After Liu Shuyu left, Chu Yuexiang snorted and turned to Huai Ying, saying, "I heard that Third Brother originally had his eyes on the girl from the Liu family, not Third Brother's wife. But later on, when the Liu family fell into decline, he married her."

"That girl from the Liu family is famous for her beauty."

Fu Huaiying didn't say anything, just looked at the spring scenery in the garden, enjoying the view and sipping tea.