The road to wealth of a peasant widow

Chapter 211 Engagement

So, the next day, Chen Cui went out to the bookstore and bought two medical books, put them among a pile of gifts, and sent them to the Qin Mansion as a response to Miss Qin's tentative request.

Not to mention how excited Miss Qin was when she saw these two ordinary medical books, Chen Cui had already asked Zhang Ruomei to act as a matchmaker and find a good day to go to the Qin Mansion to propose marriage.

Zhang Ruomei naturally agreed happily. It was her first time to act as a matchmaker, and Chen Cui's daughter was from an acquaintance. Moreover, the two families had already reached a tacit understanding, so she was just responsible for going through the motions.

Chen Cui was busy preparing the betrothal gifts at this time. This was the marriage of their eldest son, and the other party was the daughter of a third-rank official, so it naturally could not be neglected.

Even if the two families have already had a tacit agreement on the marriage, it cannot be done in one visit, otherwise it would seem that the woman is not reserved.

Zhang Ruomei went there three times in total. The first two times she just sat there with Mrs. Qin drinking tea and chatting. It was not until the third time that the matter was settled.

After that, the wedding process quickly began, with the three books and six ceremonies.

Qin Ruozhi is already seventeen years old this year, which makes her relatively old among the unmarried girls in the capital. Many girls from official families have their marriages arranged before they reach the age of 15 or sixteen.

The reason why she was able to wait until this age to get engaged was inseparable from the indulgence of Lord Qin and his wife.

Lord Qin seems to be a serious and upright person, and he is meticulous in his official duties, so he was promoted to the position of Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice based on his real talents and hard work.

But internally, he doted on his daughter, otherwise, Miss Qin would have been married into a wealthy family long ago to consolidate the official positions of her father and brother.

Without the permission of him, the head of the family, Liu Changping, a farm boy from a remote area, would not have had the opportunity to become the son-in-law of a third-rank official.

Mrs. Qin's family was a family of scholars from the south of the Yangtze River. Poetry and literature were passed down from generation to generation, and there were many famous doctors in the family. Their years of medical experience enabled them to study the relationship between a woman's childbearing age and the health of her offspring. Therefore, they have always been against women getting married early, nor are they in favor of giving birth too early.

Therefore, she felt that it was just right for her daughter to get engaged at the age of seventeen. After completing the three letters and six ceremonies, the earliest they could get married would be next year. It would not matter if she got pregnant immediately after the marriage.

Chen Cui had carefully prepared thirty-six sets of betrothal gifts, and they were not just show-off items. Whether it was the snacks, dried fruits, jewelry or cloth, they were all from time-honored shops in the capital, and they were all top-quality goods, very decent.

More importantly, the betrothal gift was as much as two thousand taels, which made Mrs. Qin very satisfied.

Although no matter how much the betrothal gift is, it will be put into the dowry for the daughter to take back, the betrothal gift given by the man is, firstly, to prove his family's strength, and secondly, to show his importance to the woman.

A betrothal gift of two thousand taels of silver was considered a considerable sum of money even among the families of officials of considerable stature in the capital. The betrothal gift she gave to her second son last year was only one thousand taels.

She had heard from her son before that Liu Changping came from a remote area in the northwest. His family had been farmers for generations. His mother started doing business after his father died. The family's financial situation was just okay.

Moreover, Mrs. Qin heard that Liu Changping had previously lived in someone else's home in Beijing. She thought that the Liu family was probably not well off, and her daughter might suffer after marrying into the Liu family.

But since Liu Changping's mother came to Beijing, the situation seemed to have changed suddenly.

Not only did the Liu family buy a large three-story house with an excellent location to settle down, but from what she saw with her own eyes, Mrs. Chen's speech and manners did not seem like those of a peasant woman. She had a gentle temperament and polite manners. It was from that time that Mrs. Qin finally felt relieved.

Although her husband, Lord Qin, felt that as long as the young man was talented and would not let his daughter suffer in the future, it would be fine, but as a woman, she knew that a woman's life after marriage is not just about living with men!

Although my daughter is a little eccentric and has an unrealistic ambition to practice medicine, she has been brought up according to the standards of a lady from a wealthy family. She has good manners and etiquette, and can be the mistress of any official family.

If my daughter's future mother-in-law is an ignorant village woman and the two of them cannot communicate with each other, how will they live in the future?

After meeting Chen Cui, Mrs. Qin felt that she was worthy of being the woman who could raise three sons with honors!

According to Liu Changping, he started to go to school at the age of thirteen. At that time, his father had passed away and he had separated from his uncle and grandparents. He and his brothers were all dependent on their mother to go to school. He is where he is today thanks to his mother's encouragement and motivation.

After the three letters and six ceremonies were completed, it was already the end of the year. Changping and Qin Ruzhi's wedding date was set for March 28th of the following year, which was the closest auspicious day that could be calculated.

Although Changping's engagement was not deliberately publicized, the news still spread, and his colleagues and peers were all envious.

That's the daughter of the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice. Liu Changping is so lucky. It's really enviable!

With the status of future son-in-law, Changping's visits to the Qin family became more legitimate. He would visit almost every holiday, and the gifts he brought were not very expensive, but they were in line with the Qin family's preferences, and there would always be items specially given to Miss Qin.

Qin Ruozhi's eldest brother has married and has children. He now works in the Ministry of Works. He is a gentleman as serious and upright as Lord Qin. Her second brother is Changping's classmate and colleague. He has a slightly eccentric personality and will get married at the end of the year.

Although these two brothers have different personalities, they both love their sister very much. In the beginning, they couldn't help picking on Changping. It was not until Changping showed her sincerity and won the approval of Lord Qin and his wife that the two brothers calmed down.

Chen Cui felt it was a good idea to spend the New Year in Beijing this year instead of going back to her hometown to worship her ancestors and attend social events. She was just a little worried about her two sons in her hometown.

Now they have both passed the imperial examination and become famous in their hometown. Chang'an was fine and wrote to Chen Cui in a proper and steady manner. However, Changfu complained to her in the letter about all the discomforts of returning to his hometown to worship his ancestors.

Apart from that, the two of them have no other problems. In life, they are taken care of by Mai, Da Niu and Xiao Man. They themselves are not lazy and usually do things that they can by themselves and do not rely on others for everything.

Before leaving, Chen Cui left behind three hundred taels of silver and two thousand taels of silver notes, which she gave to Chang'an for safekeeping.

Silver is for daily expenses, and banknotes are for emergencies. After all, the capital is too far away from Longnan. If money is needed for something, it will take at least two months to go back and forth, which is too time-consuming.

Although Chang'an is a quiet kid, he has plans in his mind, so Chen Cui feels at ease handing the money over to him.

The second elder brother of the Qin family got married on the twenty-eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. On that day, Changping went to serve as his best man and helped to welcome the bride. He also took the opportunity to learn about the wedding process in the capital and prepare for his own wedding.