After being reborn as a man, the woman improved her family's fortunes through education.

Chapter 352 Jiang Lan'er's Wedding

On the sixth day of the first lunar month, Jiang Lan'er got married.

Although it wasn't a grand wedding procession, the dowry list still surprised Madam Xue when it arrived at the Xue family.

Fortunately, our family took it seriously and prepared a dowry of 20,000 taels, which prevented us from being outdone.

However, our family wasn't exactly putting on a show. Many of the businesses our father had during his lifetime were unknown to the first and second wives. The first wife only managed to swindle a few of the more visible ones.

For Xue Xu's wedding, Madam Xue only notified a few elders of the Xue family, who then sent a young man to represent the clan.

This young man is the eldest son of the current head of the Xue family and will be the next head of the Xue family.

The Xue family patriarch was also a good person. He knew that the Xue family was at odds with the eldest and second branches of the family, and that the eldest branch had caused a shameful incident in their hometown of Puyang.

So he didn't notify either family, and only sent his eldest son. Due to the difficult journey, Xue Yang didn't arrive until the third day of the Lunar New Year.

As Xue Xu's cousin, Xue Yang naturally had to go along to welcome the bride.

Who told Li Haisheng, that disloyal brother-in-law and colleague, to insist that he was from the bride's family and couldn't be married off, and that he had to be responsible for blocking the door?

Hmph, he just wants revenge. This guy is too vengeful. Besides, I didn't really try to block the door when Li Haisheng got married.

Xue Xu inwardly cursed Li Haisheng for being disloyal and holding a grudge, while Li Haisheng had long been eager to avenge the time he was blocked on the road years ago.

Helpless, Xue Xu had no choice but to find a few junior scholars from the Hanlin Academy with whom he had previously had a good relationship. He didn't want to find the second-ranked scholar, as that person still looked resentful towards him and Li Haisheng.

Sigh~ I have no idea what they did to offend this person, how strange!

The two houses were too close together; the dowry from one family had entered the Xue family's home, while the dowry from the other family hadn't even left the Jiang family's home yet.

This has become a unique sight in Beijing, attracting many people who are not afraid of the cold to stop and watch.

"Grandpa, are you sure the Jiang family's daughter who's getting married is an illegitimate one? This dowry... looks like it's even more than the dowry of the legitimate daughter of the Prefect of the Capital!"

"What do you know? There are techniques to packing dowries. How could a legitimate mother give her illegitimate daughter so much dowry? She just packs it into several boxes so it looks nice when it's carried out."

If you opened it, you'd see the difference. A legitimate daughter's dowry is stuffed full, while a concubine's dowry? Enough to fill the bottom of a trunk—that's considered a sign of a loving stepmother!

"Oh, I see. Grandpa knows a lot. It seems the Jiang family is a vain and face-saving family. They don't have that much dowry but still try to put on a show. Haha."

"Shh~ Keep your voice down! No matter what, he's an official, at least a seventh-rank official. We're just commoners, let's not cause trouble for ourselves!"

There were countless similar conversations along the way, but no one from the Chiang family came out to refute them, nor was there any need to.

The principle of not flaunting wealth is something even children understand. Why argue with others about it? Just know your own business and that's enough.

Are you really going to let these onlookers open the boxes and show them off? Wouldn't that be crazy? Are you trying to make sure everyone knows how rich you are?

If this incites covetousness and plunder, how can the Jiang and Xue families live in peace? This is a marriage alliance, not a feud.

Of course, once the dowry entered the Xue family, there was still a tradition of showing it off.

However, the dowry was only shown to family members. Since no one from the Xue family came, the dowry was meant for Xue Yang and his wife.

The two of them would tell the other elders of the Jiang family about this scene anyway, so they weren't worried about not having a chance to show off. The Xue family members were far away in Puyang and couldn't come to the capital to beg for money.

The land and shops were all in thin contracts, which Jiang Lan'er had kept close to her body and had not put in her dowry chest at all.

However, the dowry list clearly states that Madam Xue will not accept her daughter-in-law's dowry. All of this, along with the previous betrothal gifts, belongs to Jiang Lan'er as her personal property.

No one else in the Xue family can use it; only Jiang Lan'er's future children can use it. The children's marriages will all come from their mothers' dowries.

The government will provide assistance, but the amount is uncertain, as it involves a generational gap. The primary responsibility for a child's marriage rests with their parents, not their grandparents.

"Husband, is the Jiang family really just a seventh-rank official family? They don't seem like it."

Xue Yang's wife, Xue Fengshi, exclaimed in surprise, "These boxes of dowry aren't just filled out; they look like they were forcibly stuffed in!"

Things that clearly needed to be packed in two large boxes were squeezed into one box, leaving no gaps whatsoever, like a wall, without any gaps at all.

"I heard that the Jiang family has a clan head who is a fourth-rank official. He seems to be a vice minister in the Ministry of Works. The Jiang family members are very closely related. I suppose this vice minister has helped his clan members a lot."

"Does my husband mean that Minister Jiang and the Jiang family clan also contributed some money? That's incredibly generous, especially considering she's just an illegitimate daughter!"

Madam Xue felt a mixture of envy and jealousy, and tried her best to control her expression. However, the perceptive Madam Xue noticed it and immediately frowned in displeasure.

This future matriarch of the Xue family is nothing special; she's so petty.

No matter how hard the younger generation of the Xue family tries, they will never be as successful as the younger generation of the Jiang family.

For a clan to prosper, the leader is of paramount importance.

With a wife like that, Xue Yang will hardly be of much use in the future; there will always be someone pulling his back.

Sigh, it's best to avoid contact with other members of the clan from now on, except for ancestral worship. It's not easy for her Xu'er to have come this far with her frail body.

We cannot allow members of our clan to hinder or even exploit us in the future.

Xue Yang stopped his wife from saying something sarcastic, but what he had just said couldn't be taken back.

"I've said it many times, you need to watch your mouth. It's one thing at home, but this is the Xue family in the capital, not our own private room where you can say whatever you want!"

Madam Xue was unwilling, but she kept quiet.

She once thought she had married very well; as the daughter of a scholar, she wouldn't have to worry about finding a husband in Puyang.

But she still chose Xue Yang, who was expected to become the clan leader. Wouldn't the wife of the clan leader be someone everyone would fawn over?

But after marrying into the family, she discovered that her father-in-law was only in his early forties and could remain the clan chief for at least another twenty years.

By the time it's her husband's turn, how old will she be? How can she show off then as freely as she did when she was young?

This man always speaks highly of himself and others; he absolutely regrets this marriage!