newbobooks Chapter 319: My Sister is as Gentle as a Chrysanthemum (1)
Chapter 319: My Sister is as Gentle as a Chrysanthemum (1)
"As for this marriage, since you have just finished mourning, according to the master and mistress of the Zhao family, there is no need to make it too ostentatious. You know the family tradition of his family. They have always been frugal, but they are kind people. They will definitely not treat the eldest daughter harshly in the future. This is the list of betrothal gifts. You may want to take a look. Uh, colorful silks, satins, jewelry, rouge and so on, the total value can be 500 taels..."
Ning Ning came in and sat in an ancient hall.
Below him, in the seat of the female relatives, sat a woman with a cold expression, her thin lips slightly pursed, and an aloof look, as if everything happening before her had nothing to do with her.
There was a maid standing behind her. She looked a little indignant, but she was suppressing her anger, as if she knew it was not her turn to speak here.
The person who had just spoken was sitting in the guest seat. She was in her forties, wearing a red flower on her head, dressed like an official matchmaker.
At this time, the official matchmaker was pushing the list of betrothal gifts over to the female relative for her to review.
Unexpectedly, the female family member didn't even look at it, but signaled with her eyes for the maid to take it and bring it to Ning Ning.
"It's not my place as a girl to have a say in marriage. Since my parents are gone, my brother will make the decision. Ah Ning, what do you think?"
She kicked the ball to Ning Ning, but Ning Ning didn't even look at the list of betrothal gifts and returned it intact.
"Although the Ning family is poor, they don't rely on betrothal gifts to survive. Don't worry, we don't care about the amount of betrothal gifts. I will put all these betrothal gifts into your dowry. As long as your sister is willing to marry, it's fine."
As soon as these words were spoken, the female relative finally stopped being indifferent. She looked at Ning Ning with some surprise, as if what Ning Ning said was completely beyond her expectations.
But then she realized that now was not the time to stare at Ning Ning, as everyone in the hall was waiting for her answer.
Therefore, she could only bite her lip slightly, and then said, "Money is something outside of one's body, and one should not care too much about it. Just live your life according to how much money you have. Since this marriage was arranged by my parents, I, Ning Zhen, have no reason to regret it."
The matchmaker smiled wider after hearing this. "Miss Ning is right. In fact, the Zhao family is frugal, which is also the way to build a family. Miss Ning is not greedy for fame and fortune, and has a noble character. The master and mistress of the Zhao family will definitely look at you differently if you marry into the Zhao family. Then let's make a deal and pay the betrothal gifts on this date. Haha, I'm leaving now. Congratulations to Miss Ning and Master Ning."
She congratulated and left. The maid couldn't help but say, "The Zhao family is really too much. They see that our master and mistress are gone and they bully us! How dare they offer such a simple betrothal gift! It's only because you are kind that you don't bother with them! Master, why don't you say a word for the young lady!"
"presumptuous!"
Ning Ning slammed the table heavily, "Ying'er, you are really losing your temper! What qualifications do you have to talk nonsense here about the master's marriage? Why don't you slap me in the face!"
"Woo, miss, save me!"
Unexpectedly, he turned hostile as soon as he said so, and Ying'er hurriedly asked Ning Zhen for help.
Ning Zhen didn't want to see her being punished either. "A Ning, Ying'er has been with me for many years, she is like my sister. She is used to speaking her mind, and it was an unintentional mistake. Please forgive her this time."
"Sister, it's not that I don't forgive her, but what she said is really hateful. Obviously, you don't pursue fame and fortune, and you don't covet money, but she keeps finding fault with the betrothal gifts. People who don't know the truth may think that she is talking about your opinion, but it's inconvenient for you to say it yourself! Isn't this ruining your reputation!"
"Besides, she is going to be your maidservant. If she goes to the Zhao family and still doesn't know the rules, won't the Zhao family laugh at my Ning family for not being able to manage the family properly?"
He turned his head and said to Ying'er, "If you don't obey me anymore, I won't let you go with my sister as a dowry! You have to go to the farm and do rough work right away! I will pick two good maids for my sister as a dowry!"
"Don't! Master, please don't bother with me. I have been with the young lady since I was young. I must marry her and stay with her through life and death! I will never dare to say anything nonsense again!"
As she said this, she fell to her knees with a plop and slapped herself in the face, causing blood to flow from the corners of her mouth.
She was used to being a deputy lady, so of course she didn't want to do rough work.
Ning Ning was right, and Ning Zhen couldn't say anything. She could only let her be punished. When Ning Ning was satisfied, she took Ying'er away and went back to the house to apply medicine for her.
After leaving the main hall, Ying'er whispered to Ning Zhen, "Miss, why doesn't the young master protect you anymore? Is that so..."
"Shut up. You just got a lesson. How dare you talk nonsense again? If you continue like this, I won't want you anymore!"
"Yes, yes, I know I was wrong."
She lowered her eyes, hiding her thoughts.
Ning Ning looked at their backs and took a sip of tea.
If I speak up for Ning Zhen, I'll be trapped again.
He was originally the son of an official, and his father once served as a prefect.
The word "曾" is used because his father died while in office, and his mother became ill due to worry and died soon after.
His father was an honest official, so his family didn't have much wealth.
It was for this reason that his parents had previously arranged a marriage for his sister Ning Zhen, the Zhao family in the city.
But the Zhao family, seeing that their parents were both dead, there was no one in the family serving as an official, and the family wealth was not great, wanted to cancel the engagement.
But they did not want to bear the bad reputation of breaking off the engagement, so they deliberately withheld the betrothal gifts on the pretext that the Ning siblings had just finished filial piety and were frugal, hoping that they would voluntarily break off the engagement.
However, Ning Zhen is a noble person who has always valued reputation above all else. She refused to cancel the engagement and felt that money is external to one's body, so why bother about it so much!
So she insisted on getting married, and then her original brother couldn't stand it anymore.
He believed that his sister was his only relative and he must protect her, so he chose to stand up and fight for Ning Zhen.
The Zhao family wants to lower the betrothal gift, no way!
As soon as Ning Zhen entered the house, Mrs. Zhao started to make things difficult for her.
She took a concubine for Zhao Ruowang and deliberately let Ning Zhen be the housekeeper, but in fact she wanted Ning Zhen to fill the household with her own dowry.
Ning Zhen always looked like she was not competing or arguing, and was very noble and elegant. The original body could only stand up for her everywhere, argue for her with the Zhao family, support her in the Zhao family, and let the Zhao family know that there were people in her mother's family who should not be underestimated.
As a result, the one with a bad reputation became the original owner. Everyone in the Zhao family said that their young mistress was obviously a hassle-free person, but the young master of the Ning family was not a good person and always interfered in his sister's family affairs.
Even Ning Zhen advised the original body, "To stick to poverty is the nature of a gentleman. Besides, the Zhao family will never let me starve or freeze. You care too much and you won't be happy!"
After a few times, the original body became a little disheartened and didn't want to care about Ning Zhen anymore.
Unexpectedly, one day he met Ning Zhen sneaking into a yard on the street.
He was still worried about Ning Zhen, so he went over to check.