Golden Age Legitimate Fei

Chapter 2: Dowry

Ye laofuren was also someone who has become fiendish*, how could she not be aware of Wang shi's own hidden selfish calculations?

((*NOTE: ACCORDING TO THIS , "成了精" OR THE MORE STRAIGHTFORWARD "成精" MEANS TURNING / TURNED INTO A "妖精 – YAOJING", WHICH MEANS 'EVIL SPIRIT' OR 'ALLURING WOMAN'. THE WORD 'FIENDISH' SEEMS MORE APT IN THIS SCENARIO THOUGH.))

Thinking about it for awhile, she said, "The date for this Li yatou (丫头 – young girl) hasn't been confirmed yet, let's be more urgent about Ying er (儿 – term of endearment for one's child / child) then."

Hearing laotaitai's words, Wang shi joyously agreed.

Ye laofuren looked at her two sunnu and ordered a yatou (丫头 – young maidservant) to bring out two boxes to set them on the table before saying, "You two yatou (丫头 – young girl) are both blessed. One is getting married to Li wang and the other is marrying Ding wang. I as a zumu am also not one for favoritism, these things are one for you each. In the future, fifth yatou (丫头 – young girl) and sixth yatou will also be the same. My dowry of a couple of hamlets will also be given to you one each. As for whether the public will be adding anything more or not to the dowry is something for your muqin (母亲 – respectful or intimate way of addressing mother) and fuqin (父亲 – respectful or intimate way of addressing father) to handle."

Accompanied with a smile, Wang shi said, "It's still laotaitai who spoils the granddaughters, xifu (媳妇 – daughter-in-law) and laoye (老爺 – master / lord of the household) have discussed that if the dowry for Ying er's marriage with Li wang were to be lessened, we fear the imperial family won't be satisfied. The public has used twenty two thousand taels to buy the dowry, and there are still six hamlets and six shops. From xifu's own dowry, have also brought out two hamlets for her."

Ye laofuren frowned and said, " Isn't that a bit too much?" Although she said that adding a bit more dowry for Ye Ying's marriage with wangye would be preferable, but if the remaining guniang (姑娘 – young lady / girl) were to get married off and there was too big of a difference between their dowries, that also wouldn't be good for the reputation of the Shangshu fu (尚書 – title or position of official in charge of presenting memorials to the emperor and official correspondence | 府 – official residence / family residence compound / household / term for family and home put together).

"How do you intend to prepare Li er's dowry then?" Laotaitai in the end was a bit more experienced than Wang shi. Although Ding wang was considered trash, he was still trash from a clan with an extensive background. If it weren't for his own situation as an individual, he would've been more deserving to be honoured than compared to Li wang. If they were to be too harsh on Ye Li's dowry, then the people from the Ding guowang fu who had been loyal for generations would have something to say about it.

Wang shi obviously didn't think that laotaitai would ask this directly and hesitated for a bit before saying, "Ding wang after all is different from the emperor's own tongbao (同胞 – of the same womb / of the same mother) younger brother. As for our fu, it's also really a bit...xifu was thinking whether we should wait for Ding wang fu's betrothal gifts to be delivered and then see. By that time, we could just add on two hamlets." The meaning was that the betrothal gifts that Ding wang would send could then be sent back as the dowry. As for how much they could send back in the end was left out in ambiguity*.