Ming Dynasty: I, Yan Maoqing, am truly radiating auspicious energy!

Chapter 90 Losing Face

Yan Maoqing remembered very clearly that he had no servants at all.

He even declined the two maids that Guo Xun had previously ordered Zhang Xian to send to him, citing his existing marriage and the inconvenience of living with an unmarried woman before the wedding.

After all, his goal was to retire and return to his hometown.

Moreover, he's always been preparing to leave anytime, anywhere, and women will only slow him down his departure from Beijing!

Although it cannot be ruled out that he suddenly moved into a larger house and Zhang Xianxian sent several servants to guard his home.

But this still isn't enough to explain what's going on with this "madam"!
Even if Guo Xun bought young women or forced eligible women from the Guo family to him in order to win over his adopted son, she should not have been called "Madam" before the marriage.

As for that servant who looked somewhat familiar to Yan Maoqing...

He had absolutely no clue.

Even after careful recollection, only one thing can be confirmed:

He had never seen this person in the capital, and he couldn't remember where he had seen him.

The servant seemed to recognize him, and recognized him at a glance.

and so……

Just as Yan Maoqing was still pondering what exactly was going on...

"Husband! Husband!"

Accompanied by a melodious female voice, a graceful figure with flowing robes leaped out of the threshold like a light deer.

She glanced at him in the crowd, her beautiful eyes immediately welled up with tears, and she rushed towards Yan Maoqing without hesitation.

The moment they heard the voice, and then saw the figure clearly...

Yan Maoqing's expression changed instantly, and he jumped off the oxcart abruptly:

"Oh no, it really is Madam!"

The visitor was none other than his fiancée, with whom he had been engaged back in his hometown in Jiangxi.

—White Dew!
Yan Maoqing, the fiancée, has never met him in person; all her impressions come from the memories of the previous owner.

However, it is undeniable that this fiancée did leave a very deep impression on the former owner, so much so that even Yan Maoqing, who only inherited the memory, was extremely fond of her appearance, her figure, her voice, and her every smile and frown.

Even a few days ago, when I was living alone in Beijing and couldn't sleep through the long nights, I used these fragments of memory to guide my thoughts twice...

However, at this moment, seeing his fiancée in person, Yan Maoqing could not feel happy.

Just as he had previously thought:

His goal is to retire and return to his hometown as soon as possible; women will only slow him down his departure from the capital!

Especially since this is his fiancée, a proper married woman.

Now that she has come to the capital, Yan Maoqing is no longer the carefree person who only has to worry about himself.

Instead, he is the head of a family with many members to support, and in the future, he will inevitably have an extra weakness and an extra layer of constraints in whatever he does...

"Suzhen, what brings you here?"

Faced with his beautiful and charming fiancée, Yan Maoqing couldn't bring himself to smile, but he could only force a smile.

Bailu was named after the day she was born on, which is one of the twenty-four solar terms, while Suzhen was her courtesy name.

Yan Maoqing actually liked this name very much, because it meant that he and Xu Xian were not ordinary people. What Xu Xian dared to do, Yan Maoqing could do as well.

"My husband, aren't you happy that I've come?"

Bai Lu was considered a lady from a respectable family, and for a moment she had the urge to throw herself into Yan Maoqing's arms.

But when she ran up to Yan Maoqing, she still maintained a minimum of restraint and did not lose her composure in front of the group of Imperial Guards. She simply performed a gentle marital greeting.

She really didn't want to admit that she had been forced to come this time. Ever since the news of Yan Maoqing passing the imperial examination was sent back home, the first people to worry about it were her father and elders.

She was constantly plagued by worries such as how high-ranking officials in the capital loved to spend huge sums of money to recruit newly appointed scholars as sons-in-law, how men were most likely to change their minds once they passed the imperial examinations, and how she feared losing her position as the principal wife if she didn't hurry up.

So, having just finished her mourning period, she, who had already grown into a young woman due to this delay, was taken by her father to the Yan family to hold a wedding ceremony in which her husband was absent but her parents and elders were present. Then, she was packed up and sent to the capital along with her dowry.

Even her father had inquired about it beforehand.

When high-ranking officials in the capital took newly appointed scholars as their sons-in-law, the starting dowry was one thousand taels of silver.

If a newly appointed scholar achieves the highest rank (状元, 榜眼, 探花) or is selected as a junior official (庶吉士), the dowry will likely be even higher.

Therefore, in order not to lose face, his father was looked down upon by Yan Maoqing.

He gritted his teeth and gave her a dowry of one thousand taels of silver, not even counting the items that came with the dowry and the dozens of maids and servants who escorted her to the capital.

However, after arriving in the capital, she could not find Yan Maoqing at the Yuzhang Guild Hall.

After making some inquiries, the people at the Yuzhang Guild Hall told her to go to a bookstore called Lumingge to ask.

Manager Liu of Luming Pavilion was a kind-hearted person. After learning her identity, he not only treated her with great respect, but also personally led her to the residence where Yan Maoqing currently lived, and then...

Bai Lu could hardly believe her eyes.

Is this the kind of grand four-courtyard mansion that Yan Maoqing, a newly appointed Jinshi who has only been in the capital for a year, should have? Could he have already become the son-in-law of some high-ranking official?

Upon further inquiry, Bai Lu even began to feel frightened.

The neighbors living in this alley are no ordinary people.

What about Grand Secretary Zhai Luan, or Minister of Rites Yan Song? If they were to cough just once, the whole alley would probably tremble.
Even this house was once the residence of Yang Tinghe, the former Grand Secretary.

However, after Yang Tinghe was dismissed from his post and returned to his hometown of Xindu in the seventh year of Jiajing's reign, his family members were also demoted and dismissed one after another, and the house was left vacant until now when it was sold to become Yan Maoqing's house.

When she learned that Yan Maoqing had actually become the godfather of the Duke of Yi, and that he was currently accompanying the Duke of Yi to Shanxi to oversee relief efforts, and that this house was purchased by the Duke of Yi and given to Yan Maoqing, she was even more surprised.

Instead of feeling at ease, she became even more worried.

Because after she arrived in the capital, she heard people say that the Duke of Yi's reputation wasn't very good, and that he wasn't a good person...

Also.

When she learned that Yan Maoqing was no longer an ordinary newly appointed Jinshi, but had been selected as a Shujishi.

She has already started to consider another issue.

Was the thousand taels of silver her father gave her as dowry this time a waste?

After all, one thousand taels of silver was just the starting price for a newly appointed Jinshi (进士), while a Shujishi (庶吉士) would certainly be paid more, starting at three thousand taels of silver.

So... she sent a letter back a few days ago.

Although she knew that after her father received the dowry of one thousand taels of silver, he seemed to be short of cash on hand.

But with the Bai family's wealth, they can definitely squeeze it out if they try.

Therefore, she still asked her father in the letter to find a way to send another two thousand taels of silver as soon as possible, so as to make up for the dowry that should be given.

After all, that was the money of the Yan couple!
Even if it's your own father, you can't just owe money and not pay it back; that's just too shameful...

But at this very moment.

While watching Yan Maoqing, Bai Lu also felt a little curious about the dozen or so oxcarts covered with tarpaulins behind him.

So many armed guards were needed to escort them, and there were also officials wearing flying fish robes among them.

The oxen pulling the cart were so tired that they kept snorting. The contents of the cart must be very heavy and valuable.

What could it be?

(End of this chapter)