Zhutian: Starting from the Space-Time Merchant

Chapter 332 Guo Tianci Worried About His Dowry

"What do you say?"

What does it mean to be pregnant?

Lin Dao, who was busy preparing for the Northern Expedition, was also stunned by this news.

Hit on the first try?
This physique~
Ma Xiuying covered her face nervously and shyly, her body trembling slightly.

Lin Dao immediately understood that she was afraid.

If she doesn't admit to this, she'll have to die the moment she leaves the house.

"I see."

Taking a breath, Lin Dao nodded. "I've heard that you have a close relationship with Chang Yuchun's wife. I live next door to Chang Yuchun's house, so I'll arrange accommodations for you."

"You should take Guo Tianci and the others and move over there to wait."

Ma Xiuying left the house in a daze, looking completely disoriented.

The girl, who was once quick-witted, was now in a state of utter confusion.

"What does the King of Light mean by this?"

Why was I made to live next to Chang Yuchun's house?

"Does he want me or not?"

Back in his room, he absentmindedly packed his luggage.

Before long, Lan Yu, Guo Tianjue, Guo Guo'er and others rushed in.

"Sister~~~"

Guo Guo'er, carrying a small package on her back, looked at everyone with a puzzled expression in her pretty eyes.

She had no idea what had happened or why she was suddenly leaving.

Guo Tianci did find out, and his expression was strange and complicated, a mixture of emotions that were hard to describe.

So I've suddenly become a member of the royal family?

Congratulations, sister!

During her voice change, Lan Yu smiled like a flower.

The sycophant stepped forward, showering the victim with flattering words.

Ma Xiuying wanted to laugh, so she raised her hand and pressed it against Lan Yu's forehead. "What nonsense are you talking about?"

"The King of Ming made me move all of this~"

"Sister." Lan Yu chuckled at this, "How come you're just like my sister?"

"What kind?"

"Getting pregnant makes you stupid!"

"You~" Ma Xiuying angrily raised her hand to pinch his ear. "You're the stupid one."

Lan Yu quickly covered her ears and explained, "The Prince Ming is asking you, sister, to prepare for your wedding!"

"Preparing for marriage?!" Ma Xiuying was overjoyed and couldn't believe her eyes.

She had prepared for the worst.

He was willing to accept being punished, exiled, or even executed by the Ming King.

After all, they had drugged King Ming.

That was her greatest sin.

Can be considered for marriage~
Only a wife is qualified to use the word "marry".

Those talented women from Wu region who lived in the mansion were all directly taken into the household.

She didn't even have the chance to ride in a sedan chair through a side gate; it would be a stretch to call her a concubine.

If she's getting married, wouldn't she be the legal wife?

"You...you must be kidding me!" The surprise came so suddenly that Ma Xiuying could hardly believe it.

"Why would I lie to you?" Lan Yu tried to appear mature. "Arranging for you to live next to my brother-in-law's house is to prepare for your marriage. My brother-in-law's family will then be your in-laws. This is so that my brother-in-law and his family can prepare your dowry."

"How did you know?"

"The King of Ming told me," Lan Yu said smugly. "The King of Ming asked me to tell my sister that, given her status, he should prepare a dowry for you, Xiuying."

"You don't need to bring any of these things."

He gestured to the packed luggage, saying, "We'll be back in a few days, oh dear~"

Ma Xiuying had already reached out and pinched his ear.

"Sister Xiuying, why are you pinching me?"

I'm so happy!

Guo Guo'er looked completely bewildered.

She looked at Guo Tianjue in confusion, "Brother, what's going on? What do you mean by dowry? I don't understand."

"Sister Xiuying is getting married."

Guo Tianjue's feelings were complicated.

He hoped his elder sister would marry well, but with Prince Ming, this marriage is just too high a rank!
She'll be a princess from the start, and might even become an empress in the future!

'My sister isn't that pretty, what did the Prince see in her?'

In terms of appearance, compared to the talented women in the Prince's mansion, Ma Xiuying could only be considered pretty.

But this status, position, and treatment...
I can't figure it out, I really can't figure it out.

The group rode in carriages and on horseback all the way to the gate of the Chang residence.

After Lin Daokai established his own government, he began to bestow official titles in the name of righteousness.

Everyone used their accumulated rewards to buy houses, and Chang Yuchun was no exception.

Upon arriving at the entrance and getting out of the car, the Lan clan, who had been notified in advance by Lan Yu, were already waiting there.

"Sisters~"

"sisters!"

Having not seen each other for a long time, the two shook hands and greeted each other with great joy.

Just as they were about to go inside, they saw a group of people punching and kicking a beggar at a street corner not far away.

Ma Xiuying was greatly puzzled: "The Ming King has already banned the Beggars' Sect and set up shelters, so how come there are still beggars?"

"No violence or injury is permitted."

“Sister.” Madam Lan pulled her back. “That’s not a beggar. That’s Li Shanchang’s adopted son.”

She recounted the story of the Temple of the Goddess of Fertility.

"The master went to the White Tiger Hall to find the Junior Sima, and the man immediately agreed to give an explanation."

"It is said that after they went back, they were dragged to the ancestral hall and beaten, and their family was expelled from the genealogy on the spot."

"After that, they left him there and sent people to beat him every day, and they wouldn't let him leave."

After hearing the whole story, Ma Xiuying shook her head and turned to enter the mansion with Madam Lan.

She is indeed kind-hearted, but she is not a saint.

Although this person's fate was pitiful, it was entirely their own fault.

If the people they bullied had not been Chang Yuchun and his wife, but ordinary people, it would have been a completely different tragedy.

All I can say is, he deserved it!
"Yes?"

"Really?!"

When Lan and Ma Xiuying met again, they naturally talked about everything they could.

Upon learning that her best friend was carrying the Ming King's child, Lan Shi's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. After confirming it, her expression was a mixture of joy and regret.

I'm happy because my best friend got what she wanted.

The regret is, "Let's just forget about what we agreed on before."

I had previously considered inviting my children to become in-laws or forming a sworn brotherhood.

But now he is the bloodline of the Ming King. If he is a son, then he is most likely the Crown Prince!

Marriages between people of such status are not something they can decide.

Ma Xiuying was also in a dilemma.

She didn't want to break her vow, after all, there were still many people in this era who believed in it.

But after all, their identities are different.
After thinking it over carefully, she reassured him, "I will find an opportunity to inform the King of Ming about this matter."

"The specific arrangements should be made according to the King's opinion."

"It's natural."

Such news will undoubtedly spread very quickly.

In the following days, officials and military officers from all walks of life came to visit and bring various gifts.

Even Chen Youliang, who was far away in Qizhou training troops in preparation for the Northern Expedition, sent someone to deliver gifts after hearing the news.

Fortunately, Ma Xiuying understood that she was polite to everyone, but she would never accept gifts.

她心里明白.

If I accept the gift now, I'll be indebted to them.

When someone asks for a favor, should you help them or not?

Rather than doing that, it would be better to simply not accept anything at all.

The person who was most distressed at this moment was Guo Tianjue.

It wasn't because his older sister was getting married, but because, as her closest relative, he didn't have the financial means to prepare a dowry!
A dowry is supposed to be prepared by the elders in the family to give the woman a place in her husband's hometown for self-defense.

But their Guo family elders were all slaughtered by the Mongols.

As the only male heir in the Guo family at this time, Guo Tianjue had to shoulder the responsibility.

The problem is that when they escaped from Haozhou, they didn't bring anything with them at all.

Although he managed to secure a position within the Prince's Palace, his salary and benefits were quite good.

But after all, I haven't been working for very long and don't have much savings.

Preparing his elder sister's dowry at this time was really giving him a headache.

"Brother~"

Guo Guo'er took a small package and stuffed it into Guo Tianjue's arms. "This is the pocket money I've saved up. You can take it all."

Upon opening the package, one finds mainly copper coins and a few military notes.

"Thank you, sister."

Guo Tianjue affectionately stroked the girl's hair.

Although it wasn't much, the sentiment was very thoughtful.

"Brother~"

Guo Guo'er asked in a low voice, "Ming Wang is so rich, why don't you go ask him for some money as a dowry for my sister?"

Guo Tianjue was left speechless, both amused and exasperated by these words.

"Don't talk nonsense."

“This is my elder sister’s dowry. If Prince Ming pays for it, people will laugh at us to death.”

"As for the Ming King, we can only provide the appropriate dowry according to the established system."

"The rest we have to do ourselves."

Guo Guo'er was still puzzled: "Didn't the Ming King give betrothal gifts?"

Guo Tianjue chuckled irritably, "Those are all for my older sister; I won't touch a single penny of them."

"Don't worry about it, I have my own way."

Guo Tianjue invited Lan Yu to have drinks at a famous restaurant in the city.

Upon entering the private room, they were surprised to find Shi Nai'an and Luo Guanzhong, master and disciple, both there.

He didn't invite those two.

"Sit down and talk."

Shi Nai'an beckoned Guo Tianjue to sit down.

After he sat down, Luo Guanzhong took out an IOU and handed it to him.

Guo Tianjue was shocked when he saw the numbers above.

"so much?"

Seeing the interest at the end, he gasped in shock, "So much?!"

Lan Yu, munching on a chicken leg, exclaimed, "There has to be interest, and it can't be too little, otherwise your sister definitely won't accept it."

Guo Tianjue rolled his eyes at him. "That's your sister too."

"Yes, yes, yes~"

"Liu Bowen consulted the ancient book Zhou Li." Shi Nai'an added, "It was determined that the special items and the number of false loads were 128, which were to be prepared by the Prince's Palace."

"If it's the bride's family, the dowry should be sixty loads."

“If Madam Chang has agreed to pay thirty loads, you must also pay thirty loads.”

He pointed to the IOU and said, "You can't afford this amount."

Guo Tianjue scratched his head, "I can't afford to pay my salary back."

"Your salary?" Lan Yu chuckled. "Including interest, you couldn't pay it back even if you worked for a hundred years."

"However, King Ming will definitely reward you afterwards."

"Moreover, the Northern Expedition is just around the corner. We can seize the credit for being the first to charge into battle and kill enemy generals, and the rewards will be more than enough."

"Shut up." Shi Nai'an glared at him. "You still want to steal a few credits?"

"You're just like a toad yawning~"

Lan Yu scratched his head and chuckled sheepishly, completely unconcerned.

Although he was from Haozhou, he mingled with people from Jiangnan.

This was a deliberate act after being enlightened.

Lin Dao also chose to acquiesce to this.

Shi Nai'an solemnly informed him, "Apart from the things that cannot be moved, everything else from the Ming King's rewards can be sold. There will surely be a great reward after the Northern Expedition, and that will be about it."

"This is the result of the strict management of the wise king."

"If it were the Yuan Dynasty or even the former Song Dynasty, they could earn several times the dowry just by accepting gifts."

Everyone nodded.

The Ming emperor was extremely strict in his oversight of this matter, especially forbidding the acceptance of gifts!
"Come~"

Shi Nai'an raised his wine glass. "That's settled then, let's drink to our hearts' content!"

The group raised their glasses.

"Enjoy your drinks!"

(End of this chapter)