Chapter 47: Ten Li Red Dowry

Yu Xiaowu runs a restaurant and is obsessed with cooking; he believes Wu Chengyu is absolutely a kindred spirit, surely a connoisseur of food, so along the way he chatters endlessly, reciting the famous dishes and snacks of these prefectures and counties in Zhejiang.

Wu Chengyu also loves to eat, but he really cannot stand someone buzzing in his ear; most importantly, back in the broken temple things were so perilous he completely forgot to eat, and now he and A Ku are already starving, yet someone is still releasing poison from behind the curtain.

Seeing they are about to reach Ningbo, Wu Chengyu, tempted by Yu Xiaowu, cannot help but deeply yearn for Ningbo's cuisine, wishing he could enter the city right now and fill his belly.

Unfortunately, although the distance to Ningbo — that is, today's Qingyuan Prefecture — is right before their eyes, and Wu Chengyu can even see the moles on the faces of the guards at the Qingyuan Prefecture city gate, this city gate just cannot be entered.

A group beating gongs and drums, dressed in red, wearing flowers in their hair, faces beaming with joy, first crowded a four-person flower sedan through the city gate, followed by an unbroken procession; some pushing carts, some carrying pole-loads, stretching continuously — with Wu Chengyu's eyesight he actually could not see the end of the line.

Yu Xiaowu also watched, entranced, and murmured: "Brother Chengyu, it looks like a great household in Qingyuan Prefecture is marrying off a daughter today; look — this is the rarely seen Ten Li Red Dowry."

Finished, he clicked his tongue twice and swallowed a mouthful of saliva: "The wedding banquet must surely be full of delicacies; a pity we have no chance to take part and feast to our heart's content."

Wu Chengyu ignored Yu Xiaowu's last sentence, but his attention was also drawn by those four words "Ten Li Red Dowry" — rare in ancient times, let alone modern times; this really broadened his horizons. Even A Ku and He Zhiyu lifted the curtain to observe carefully.

'Thousand mu of good farmland, ten li red dowry.'

'When my long hair reaches my waist, will you marry me in your youth? When your green silk is coiled properly, will you lay out ten li of red dowry?'

Thinking of these words, one can experience the romance between ancient men and women; of course, the premise of ten li red dowry is thousand mu of good farmland — romance is also built on an economic foundation; ordinary families marrying off a daughter, if they can manage a wooden box as dowry it's already not bad.

But the scene before them is truly astonishing; when Wu Chengyu and the others arrived the flower sedan had already entered the city, so they did not see the legendary top-grade flower sedan representing the pinnacle of Hua Guo's ancient craftsmanship.

Wu Chengyu once saw a gold-foil pasted painting flower sedan at the Zhejiang Museum, using precious woods, vermilion lacquer flooring, adorned with pure gold foil, and employing round carving, openwork carving and other techniques to carve hundreds of auspicious patterns.

The flower sedans used by wealthy families in the Jiangsu-Zhejiang region for weddings are all of this specification — master craftsmen's works of years of painstaking effort, even enjoying the reputation of "Ten Thousand Work Palanquin."

Such a dowry, is it not more face-saving than the bride's family providing a luxury car in later generations? When it comes to playing with style and comparing extravagance, one still has to look at our ancestors.

Although the Ten Thousand Work Palanquin cannot be seen, the dowry before them still makes people sigh in admiration — large furniture carried by two people, sets of red foot buckets carried one at each end by one person, small wooden items like lifting buckets and porcelain bottles all placed inside red carrying boxes carried by two people.

All boxes are vermilion-lacquered and gold-gilded, a dazzling array; beds, tables, utensils, chests, quilts — everything is complete, covering all daily necessities without exception.

The winding several-li red dowry procession stretches from the natal home all the way to the groom's home, like a fluttering red silk ribbon, and also like a golden dragon draped in a red robe.

Wu Chengyu watched and watched and even forgot his hunger, nodding repeatedly — ancient men really had it good; marrying a wife surprisingly didn't require bankrupting oneself with a mortgage to support a brother-in-law; the bride's family is truly too conscientious, and the groom's family directly gets rich.

Not only that, but people keep adding to the bride's dowry.

From time to time one hears someone shout loudly: "Sihai Chamber of Commerce adds five hundred taels of silver and twenty bolts of brocade for the Liu family's daughter's marriage."

"Huitong Money House presents a set of top-grade head ornaments for the Liu family's eldest daughter — ten pairs each of gold hairpins and jade bracelets."

As soon as the words finish, a red cart immediately joins the dowry procession; such interludes actually occurred seven or eight times — not counting the brocade and jewels, the silver alone totals over a thousand taels, more than what Wu Chengyu and the others earned in one night killing over a hundred people.

Quite a few onlookers surround the scene, whispering and gesturing; Wu Chengyu's sharp ears immediately catch countless gossips.

"This Liu family is the owner of Han Hai Chamber of Commerce, with a caravan of sixteen ships, and ten thousand mu of good farmland in Ninghai — truly one of the few great households in Qingyuan Prefecture."

"They say not only these dowry items, but also a large farmstead and the house deeds to over a dozen shops in Qingyuan City are included as dowry — these alone are at least tens of thousands of taels of silver; the Liu family is truly generous marrying off their daughter, but which family's son is she marrying into?"

"That you don't know — it's the Wang family in the east city; this Wang Laoye is a jinshi by origin, served as a Prefect, now retired but serves as Festival Wine at the nearby Ju Slope Academy, with countless old friends in court and students everywhere — even the Qingyuan Prefect must treat him with the disciple's courtesy upon meeting him."

"Besides, he has an elder brother who is now Minister of Rites, holding high position — absolutely no ordinary family."

"That's not right — I heard the Wang Laoye has only one son, a sickly ghost who looks like he won't live much longer."

"Wang Laoye is doing this to bring luck to his own son; if they can leave behind half a son or daughter, the Wang family won't die out."

"But the Liu family's eldest master is willing to spend so much dowry to marry his flower-like daughter into the Wang family as a daughter-in-law, and she'll have to be a widow afterwards — what is he after?"

"That you don't know — the Liu family are merchants after all; in status they are far below the Wang Laoye's family; normally when the Liu family's eldest master sees Wang Laoye he has to perform the grand ceremony."

"The Liu family's eldest son currently studies at Ju Slope Academy; they say his aptitude is not bad, but his origin is truly poor, his future prospects dim."

"Now the Liu and Wang families are joined by marriage; with the Wang family connection, the Liu family's son might be able to pass the provincial exam early, even gain an official post."

"Then the Liu family's status would rise with the tide, transforming in one leap into an official-gentry family."

"If it really works out, never mind just marrying the daughter to Wang Laoye's sickly ghost of a son — even if the Liu family's eldest master himself married along, I think he'd be willing."

"Pfft, where do such wolfish words come from, yet they strike deep into my heart — truly a fellow traveler. Come come, let's find a secluded place and study this thoroughly."

That last sentence nearly made Wu Chengyu fall off the carriage — listening to gossip and almost becoming a witness to some kind of intimate relationship.

The more Neo-Confucianism flourished among Song people, the more wildly they played in private.

The dowry procession is still entering the city continuously; at this rate Wu Chengyu and the others won't be able to enter for at least half an hour, and they'll have to keep enduring hunger.

And Wu Chengyu no longer has the initial mood of watching the excitement and broadening his horizons; his own hunger doesn't matter, but A Ku is already so hungry she's dizzy.

He Zhiyu, on the other hand, is somewhat sighing with emotion — she also heard the conversation beside her just now; a young lady in the bloom of youth marrying a sickly ghost for her father and brothers' benefit, spending the rest of her life guarding a living widowhood — in her eyes this is a life tragedy, heaven is unkind.

But Wu Chengyu feels nothing about it; no matter what, this young lady will probably still live in luxury, without worry for food and clothing — three months ago he was still limping and begging for food.

Thanks to Zhongdi Zhu for the reward when he finally had time.

Thanks to Nicholas Baihan, lg Dudu, Xiao Xiao 520, Yuan'an Weitongguo, Mabian, Chouduan Yu, Zi Hai Letter, Xiezi Lai Lai Duobao, Wu Li Kan Hua Wu Jian, Wei Wei Feng Lin Lin, Pai Da Tian, Reader 9503, Dongfang Cangqiong, Xiaoyao You Yi Zhuangzi, 12321456, Reader 7517, Reader 8781, Feng Zhong Qing Yu, Linghu Jiangshan, Reader 3359, Di Bian, Ji Ye You Feng, Reader 8905, Zhang by, Le Le Chao Chao, Reader 8238, Wu Wu Nong Nong, Kaopu De Mei Tou Nao, Reader 0896, Tongdi Zhu, Xiang Chi Waipo Zuo De Baozi, Handan Sword God for the monthly tickets.

Also, thanks to the readers who went to read my previous book Marvel's Paper Funeral Talks — that book had zero subscriptions for a long time, but these past few days it actually gets subscriptions every day, truly a pleasant surprise.

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(Chapter End)