Free Web NovelChapter 945: Chapter 2: Wedding Procession
The first half of next year has no auspicious dates, so the wedding date was set for the tail end of winter this year.
Wen Wan, as a Commandery Princess who had once represented Chu Country to visit Bei Yan, cousin of Emperor Xuanjing, daughter of the Princess Guardian, had countless people contributing to her dowry.
First, Emperor Xuanjing Zhaoxi sent Eunuch Sanbao to deliver a person-high red coral, eight Ruyi scepters, a hundred East Pearls weighing five taels and four qian, a dish of Green Stone Court Beads, a dish of catalysed stone beads, a dish of honeycomb beads, a Purple Sandalwood Mountain and River Fortune and Longevity Pattern Bed, a Purple Sandalwood Inlaid Glazed Screen, and a Purple Sandalwood Carved Gourd Pattern Three-Panel Long Couch, ten boxes of ivory combs, twenty boxes of Yellow Willow Wood Brushes, twenty comb boxes, a pair of silver powder makeup boxes, four silver pots, eight jade cups, a golden Buddha, one Green Jade and one Purple Jade Guanyin, and a pair of golden lotus bonsai.
The Empress sent two boxes of sable fur, two boxes of sheepskin, one box each of fox fur and silver rat skin, twenty bolts each of Yun Jin and Shu Brocade, ten bolts each of Moonlight Silk and Jue Pearl Gauze, fifty bolts each of palace gauze and spun silk.
Additionally, there were finished crane feather cloaks, twenty pieces each in various colors and styles.
Besides the Emperor and Empress, various palace concubines, Princess Consort Qing living outside the palace, various mansion madams, and several Jiuli concubines sent wedding gifts one after another.
With the Lu Family as her maternal family, having Prince Beijing Lu Xingzhou, the National Duke and Princely Heir Lu Pingzhou present, her dowry was destined to be extraordinary.
Stepping beds, Arhat beds, dressing tables, screens, folded screens, table screens, writing desks, incense tables, Qin cases, bookshelves, flower stands, antique shelves, altar tables, kang tables, Eight Immortals Tables, wardrobes, medicine cabinets, and square corner cabinets.
These are furniture, matched in pairs, all made of top-quality wood like purple sandalwood, rosewood, and blackwood.
Next are gold, stone, and antique jade pieces.
This section mostly comes from Duke Lu; Wen Wan was seeing her grandfather’s private collection for the first time. His treasures, hidden for decades, now became her dowry, and Wen Wan looked at each piece, like the Four-link Lotus Incense Burner, Yue Kiln’s Five-legged Furnace with Brown Pattern, Ding Kiln’s Brown-spotted Bowl, all authentic antiques with a long history. Furthermore, there was a complete set of twelve green jade zodiac figures, eighteen small golden Buddhas, and a collection of Mo Bao from various famous calligraphers throughout the ages filling a large jar.
These antiques, any piece of which is worth a fortune.
At this moment, Wen Wan’s mind was left with only three words: I’m going to be rich!
She once heard Song Wei say that her grandfather had a place to hide antiques, right below the Qiao Family’s Charity House, but back then it was intruded by Hao Yun and eventually blew up, leaving nothing behind.
If those antiques were still around back then, today’s dowry might be even more.
Wen Wan turned her gaze, seeing boxes upon boxes of clothes, shoes, socks, cloaks, and capes. They had prepared for every season, with at least a hundred sets per season.
Apart from what was before her eyes, the piles stacked behind were full of gold and silver jewelry, cat eyes, and agate.
There were two boxes that were most exaggerated, one filled with large-denomination silver notes, another filled with house contracts, land deeds, shop leases, and a large bunch of keys, estimated to be the keys to shop fronts.
Wen Wan was already shocked by Song Wei’s betrothal gifts, her heart pounding, and now she was directly numbed by the wedding dowry that couldn’t even fit in a yard, turning to Zhao Xunyin, "Mother, I’m just going through the motions with Third Son, isn’t this a bit too much?"
Twelve years ago, when she wed Song Wei for the first time, her dowry was just a frame bed and a few quilts, now it would be seen as worthless.
"Too much?" Zhao Xunyin said, "Then you should really go look in the storeroom; your grandmother is still directing servants to move things out! The Lu Family’s numbers aren’t flourishing, so we’ve saved the family fortune for decades, all for the sake of you younger ones. When Qiao got married, she didn’t take much with her; you’re different, you’re a Commandery Princess, so you must follow the Commandery Princess’s standards." She said with a troubled expression, "Plus, adding what the palace and other mansion madams have sent, it’s way too much. A hundred and twenty-eight carriage loads aren’t enough; anymore, and it will exceed the standards. Why don’t we have people prepare several bigger boxes to stuff in what can be stuffed, though it might be a bit heavy, and the wedding procession will have to work hard."
Wen Wan looked up at the sky speechlessly, is this the Commandery Princess standard? It’s already at the Princess standard, isn’t it?
Zhao Xunyin seemed to see through her thoughts, saying, "I’m already a Princess, Your Majesty naturally wouldn’t title you again. Actually, in his heart, he likely tacitly agreed for you to have the Princess standards for your dowry; otherwise, he wouldn’t have sent so much."
