A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Starting from the Village Chief

Chapter 132 Listen to me once

Pingkangfang, Li Yi's residence.

After dinner,

Ji was explaining some palace rules to Xiuzhi, while Li Yi and Yu Shu were sorting money and silk.

Gold ingots, gold leaves, gold beans, gold melon seeds, and gold bars were scattered on the table, shining brightly.

Yu Shu took the Sima scale and weighed them one by one.

"Ah Lang, this gold totals one hundred and eighty taels."

Li Yi knew that most of these golds had stamps and weights on them.

"Where's Juan?"

"One thousand five hundred pieces of silk,"

The total value of gold and silk was 1.98 million coins.

Guo wanted one million yuan as compensation for the loss of the family and one million yuan as a betrothal gift.

"We still need 20,000 yuan."

"The remaining 20,000 will be used in copper coins. There are still more than 200,000 copper coins at home."

Yu Shu looked at the gold and said distressedly, "Does the Du family really want one million as compensation plus one million as a betrothal gift?"

"Ah."

"No dowry?"

Li Yi smiled and said, "It doesn't matter."

Yu Shu couldn't help but ask, "How could a family as famous as the Jingzhao Du family sell their daughter?"

Even Ji Shi on the side couldn't help but interrupt, "Although I've heard that in recent years, some of the illegitimate daughters of the five surnames and seven clans in Guandong have asked for high compensation to sell their marriages, but I've never heard of the daughters of the legitimate descendants of the aristocratic families also selling their marriages."

"It's even more impossible to ask for so much without giving any dowry."

A woman's dowry is also the confidence of a woman after she gets married. The money, silk, land, shops and slaves in the dowry all belong to her personally. Even if she divorces or dies in the future, the dowry will be given to her children. If she has no children, it may even be returned to her parents' home.

Especially nowadays, people emphasize cohabitation and sharing of property. When grandparents and parents are around, they are not allowed to have separate residence or property, and the family property cannot be divided. All money has to be managed by the head of the family. At this time, the small family has to rely on the dowry as private property.

Girls from poor families have to have a dowry when they get married, otherwise they will have no status in their husband's family. If they don't have a dowry, they may not even be able to get married.

It is unheard of that the daughter of the Du family did not have any dowry at all.

Li Yi didn't care anymore.
Guo may have thought that this marriage was arranged by Li Yi, who was flattering her in every possible way and deliberately trying to get close to Du, in order to rely on their family background and influence, but to be honest, Li Yi did not care about that.

In fact, if he hadn't been moved by Shi Niang's sincerity, he might not have been willing to find such a big family.

Guo used the money she gave him to pay the family income and not give him any dowry to disgust him.

Li Yi endured it, because he knew that the Du and Guo families were actually very disgusted by this matter.

Everyone is unhappy.

Get married as soon as possible. After Shi Niang gets married, just have less contact with that side. There's no need to make a fuss now and make Shi Niang feel embarrassed.

"Alang, you can use my thirty taels of gold, three hundred pieces of silk, and one hundred thousand coins first," Xiuzhi said.

Li Yi smiled and said, "That's enough. These gold and silk plus 20,000 coins are enough."

"Don't you need to buy any more gifts?"

Li Yi said no, he planned to send the 180 taels of gold, 1,500 pieces of silk and 20,000 coins directly to the place tomorrow.
I'm too lazy to prepare any gifts.
Just cash it all in and give one million coins in gold, silk and money. The Du family won’t give any dowry anyway.

Since the Du family felt that this marriage was an insult to them, they just wanted to get the matter done quietly and quickly.
Then let them do whatever they want.

"When will you personally arrange the wedding?"

"Brother said the 26th is a good day,"

Ji couldn't help but feel very emotional. This marriage was too hasty. Today was her twentieth birthday, and the betrothal gifts, the name, and the marriage proposal were all completed in one go. Tomorrow the betrothal gifts would be given, and then the bride would be welcomed into the family in just five days.

From the first visit to discuss marriage three days ago to the wedding, it took less than ten days.

This is the Jingzhao Du family. Even though it ranks last among the six major families in Guanlong, it is still the top family.

The branch of Fengxiang Houfu is the direct line, not a side branch or illegitimate branch.

It's unbelievable.

Like child's play,

Even from the proposal to the engagement to the marriage, Shi Niang's parents were not involved.

Li Yi thought it would be better to cut the Gordian knot quickly to avoid dragging Du Yan into the mix and causing all sorts of complications.
"I'm sorry for what I have done to Shi Niang," Ji sighed.
Thinking back to five years ago, when she got married, it was such a grand occasion. There were hundreds of carriages for the wedding, the scene was as grand as it could be, and the wedding procession was ten miles long.
It was also very prosperous back then.

But in terms of family background, the Ji family of Henan is far inferior to the Du family of Jingzhao, even though her grandfather and father-in-law were both prominent and powerful officials in the court.

"I will treat her well in the future."

It wasn't that Li Yi didn't want to give Du Shiniang a grand wedding, it was the Du family's Guo who refused to give it. If Du Ruhui hadn't lied to Guo that Shiniang and Wuyi were actually married, and hadn't threatened Guo with Du Yan, there was no way Guo would have agreed to this marriage.

"I have to thank Mrs. Guo for only asking me to pay one million yuan as compensation. If she had asked for more, I really couldn't afford it." Li Yi laughed.

Pingkangfang, east of the north gate, middle curve.

In the night, in a house of about three or four acres, candles were brightly lit, pipa accompanied by flute sounds, and a Hu girl was dancing.
Several well-dressed men were drinking and chatting.

Not far away, on a big elm tree in the corner of the yard, a young man in black was lying on a thick branch, listening to the music with his eyes closed.

After a long time,
The banquet was over.

The dancing and music stopped.
Gradually, the candles dimmed.

The young man opened his eyes and jumped down from the tree as quietly as a cat.
He walked to a house with ease and started to knock rhythmically.
The door opened a crack, revealing a slightly tired face, with no time to remove makeup, and a high bun with silver hairpins.

The woman had powder on her face, rouge on her lips, and a flower ornament on her forehead. She saw the man open the door a little.

The man walked sideways into the room and closed the door behind him.

"Where have you been recently? I haven't seen you for a long time?"

"Some time ago, I was helping someone get revenge and accidentally killed someone. After burying the body, I fled to Luoyang and have only been back for a short time."

The woman didn't seem surprised.

"hungry?"

"I've been outside in that old elm tree, feeling the cold wind for a long time. I'm a little hungry. By the way, your flute playing tonight is just average."

"The host today is my father's former subordinate. I don't know who he's attached to, but he's become a bit of a scoundrel. He came to show off and even made advances on me. How could he be in the mood to play the flute?"

"Which dog slave is this? I'll chop him up and feed him to the dogs."

The woman handed the man a plate of snacks and said, "This is all we have. Just make do with it to fill your stomach." After saying that, she sat aside and removed her makeup.

The man took the cold pastry and ate it, not caring at all.

"Young lady, I've got a big job this time. I'll get a lot of money after it's done. Come with me, and we'll run away."

"Fly away? I'm a courtesan of the Pingkangfang Jiaofangsi, and you're a fugitive who's a robber and hostage-taker. My wings would have been broken long ago. How could I fly?"

The man put down the half-eaten cake,

"I'm serious this time. I've thought about it for a long time. I don't want to see you continue to make jokes here. I don't want to be in this muddle-headed state anymore.
After this is done, I can get fifty taels of gold. This money is enough for us to go to the foot of Zhongnan Mountain, buy a few hundred acres of land, build a yard, and then start a new life in anonymity. We can even buy a few slaves and build a wooden house in the mountains, where we can escape the heat in the summer and go hunting in the autumn...

After the young lady removed her makeup,
Looking at myself in the bronze mirror, no longer young,

If it were ten years ago, I would have followed him.

"Fifty taels of gold. Do you know how much a woman from the disaster-stricken areas outside Chang'an costs right now? Those fake mothers in Sanqu go to the disaster-stricken areas outside the city and pick out young girls with good voices and good looks. They can buy one for just five dou of rice."

If you buy a girl who has no talent and serves tea, pours water, and makes fire, she will only cost two or three dou of rice.

There is also Beiqu, where a new group of girls will be replaced every once in a while. They will accept all kinds of customers and just sell themselves, but they only make a few hundred dollars each time, which is enough to buy a few kilograms of rice.

Fifty taels of gold, do you know how much? My fake mother's house, along with the few servants and maids here, is only worth this much.

Someone wants you to assassinate the prime minister or kidnap the princess?"

"Xiao Shisan, don't risk your life. Even though our lives are worthless, worthless as dust, it's better to live a miserable life than to die."

"I don't want to continue living like this,"

The young man called Xiao Shisanlang suddenly became angry, stiffening his neck and saying, "Why, why can we only live in the mud like this?

Back then, you were the daughter of a rich and powerful family, and I was the son of a noble family. We grew up together as cousins, childhood sweethearts. We were so carefree back then.
But suddenly the sky fell, you were sent to the Jiaofang as a prostitute, and I was exiled to Dunhuang.

Do you know how much suffering I endured over there? Do you know how I escaped alone, how I crossed the vast desert, and how I narrowly escaped death before returning?

I returned to Chang'an because you were still there.
My family has all died, and you are the only one left to worry about."

The young lady's eyes turned red.

"What's the point of saying that? I used to be a rich girl, and you used to be a young master, but that was in the past. Now I'm a courtesan in a music school, and you're a fugitive in the underworld. I'm no longer innocent either."

"Young lady, I'm ready this time. After we finish this business and get the gold, we'll run away. You don't have to make fun of others anymore, and you don't have to flatter those disgusting people.
We live in seclusion in the mountains and lead a peaceful life."

The young girl turned around,

He came and sat down beside Xiao Shisan, "I greet and see off people every day, and meet those officials and nobles every day. None of these people are good, and not even a single one is stupid.
If someone gives you fifty taels of gold, it is too much money and it is definitely not a good thing.

Either you fail and lose your life, or after you succeed, the client will kill you. Listen to me, don't take this job.

I've saved some money privately over the years. You can use it to buy a new identity, go to a more remote place, register as a resident, and even get land. Then you can marry a virtuous woman, have children, and live a stable life."

"Young Lady, you have to believe me. This job isn't difficult. The other party is just a young upstart. I've been secretly watching him for a long time. I'm absolutely sure I can kill him and get away with it."

"Don't worry about my patron. He's a very nice guy. The last time I ran to Luoyang after something happened in Chang'an, I took refuge with him."

Yu Youyu reached out and stroked Xiao Shisan's face, "Listen to me this time."

(End of this chapter)