【Quick Wear】My Years as a Mother-in-law

Yun Xi shook her head and calculated, "The Guan family is in the grain business, and they have a strong backer, so their business is very large. Even if they only have half of their wealth, it's still a lot, at least 20,000 taels of silver. After the marriage, they can't skimp on the annual festival gifts for my stepmother. The mistress of the Guan family has made a good calculation."

After the separation, the gifts given during festivals and holidays cannot be too bad. If the two old people of the Guan family live for a few decades, the gifts they give out will be worth at least 50,000 taels of silver.

Matters involving interests have to be calculated clearly. If the young master of the Guan family is capable, these matters can be ignored. I am afraid that the other party is not cut out for business and will just keep living off his old capital.

Matchmaker Li also thought so. If the family does not divide up when the parents are still alive, who would divide up the family property as soon as the marriage is held? If they wait until the old couple of the Guan family pass away, they can probably get more of the family property. Of course, it is also possible that the Guan family's business will fail by then and the young master will not get much money, but it is highly unlikely because the children of the Guan family are not prodigals.

All I can say is that everyone in the Guan family has their own plans.

"Old lady, having said that, there are also advantages to marrying into the Guan family. After the separation, the new daughter-in-law will not have to serve her mother-in-law, and the young couple can live their own lives at home." Matchmaker Li felt that the Guan family was okay, with both good and bad sides.

Yun Xi took note of the young master of the Guan family in her heart and said, "Let's see him when the time comes. If the young master of the Guan family doesn't have the ability, it won't work."

"That's right." Matchmaker Li nodded and pointed at the eldest son of the Chen family. "Old Madam, look at the eldest son of the Chen family. He's only fifteen years old and has a good reputation. He's handsome and good at studying. He's already a student at the age of fifteen. His family doesn't want him to get married early and affect his studies, so they plan to marry him at eighteen. He's a perfect match for your fifth daughter. If he can pass the imperial examination before the wedding, he'll be a scholar's wife when he gets married."

Yun Xi glanced at Qi Xiaowu. The girl's beautiful face was already flushed with shame. Not counting the concubines' sons and daughters, the Qi family had a total of fifteen children, four of whom were legitimate sons and daughters, and the remaining eleven were all illegitimate children. The illegitimate children were all beautiful and handsome, but now only six of them are alive, and the other five died young.

The Ninth Miss and the Tenth Young Master are only seven or eight years old now, they are still young.

None of the concubines of the illegitimate children were ugly. The original owner's cheap husband only loved beautiful women. The concubines he brought home were all plump and slim, and as beautiful as flowers. There were also many concubines, young and old. Yun Xi had never asked the system how many concubines he had, as she was too lazy to ask.

The mother is good-looking, the father is not bad either, and the children born are exceptionally beautiful. Otherwise, why would the original owner's husband want to use concubines' daughters as tools to win over the powerful?

"The old lady's daughters are all so beautiful that they can shame the moon and the flowers. No matter who they marry, they will live a happy life." Matchmaker Li loves to arrange marriages for beautiful girls. Every time, her match goes smoothly and she gets a lot of rewards. After all, everyone loves beauty. Under the same circumstances, everyone still hopes to find a beautiful wife.

"I have a clear idea about the children's marriage. The most important thing is character. You, matchmaker Li, need to inquire more about this aspect. You also know that in our Qi family, we don't need our children to marry out, and the dowry will not be small. We just hope that our daughters can be happy in the future, so the man's character is very important." Yun Xi said it sincerely, and the five people in Qi were moved to tears. How could they have deserved that their stepmother valued them so much.

"Yes, yes, the old lady is very kind."

Together with matchmaker Li, I went through all the young talents in Nandu City and temporarily selected about ten suitable candidates. I plan to go to Lingyin Temple to take a look at them ten days later.

Dong Zhu sent matchmaker Li away and handed her a bag of silver. Yun Xi gave each of Bai De's four daughters a set of golden headpieces. "These headpieces are in the shapes of plum, orchid, bamboo and chrysanthemum. You can choose. If you don't have good looks when you meet your date, you'll be looked down upon."

"Daughter thanks mother." The four girls' eyes lit up and they picked up a box without even looking at it.

It's not their fault for being short-sighted. It's because my grandmother was too stingy when she was in charge. The Qi family is rich, but it has nothing to do with them. They have never had any monthly allowance since they were young, and they have never been given any jewelry. They are only given one new set of clothes for the New Year every year. The food is delivered on time by the kitchen every day, and each meal has no more than two dishes and one soup. They live a very shabby life. If the concubine is favored, it would be better. The father will give the concubine a reward. Otherwise, there is really no extra income.

All their father did for them was to hire a teacher who was proficient in music, chess, calligraphy and painting to teach them, nothing else.

Therefore, although these people are beautiful, they are somewhat timid in character.

Yun Xi had long noticed the four people's plain attire and ill-fitting clothes, and then said, "Dong Zhu, ask the tailor from Caiyi Pavilion to come tomorrow to take measurements and make two sets of summer clothes for each master in the mansion. After the mourning period is over, all masters in the mansion will be made two sets of fashionable clothes every quarter. Each servant will also be given two new sets of clothes a year. This must also be agreed with the shopkeeper."

Dong Zhu nodded, "Yes, I will remember it."

"All four of you go back. I'll ask the nanny and the female teacher to teach you. From now on, you should run in the yard every morning before meals to keep fit. In the morning, you should come to my place to learn how to handle household chores. In the afternoon, you should read and learn to read. In the evening, you should study etiquette for an hour before you rest. Understand?"

The four of them agreed without objection and went back with excitement.

After finishing these things, Yun Xi was so excited that she wanted to shake her legs, but she held it back and looked at her right-hand man and said, "Dong Zhu, you can arrange the matter of hiring a master. It would be best to find a female master who is literate and knows etiquette. She can live in the Qi family and come to teach every afternoon. She can leave as she pleases. As for the remuneration, just follow the standards of other families."

Dong Zhu had just returned and was assigned new tasks, so he could only nod and say, "Okay."

At this time, Yun Xi thought about the concubines. Logically speaking, after their husbands died, the concubines could choose to leave, especially since ten of the eighteen concubines had never given birth.

Xiaoxi was puzzled and full of curiosity. "Madam, why do you have to teach these young ladies? I heard that other girls only need to learn one or two skills before getting married."

"You don't understand. Girls from other families all go to girls' colleges, but our girls have never been. Keeping fit is good for having children, being literate makes it easier to manage the family business and not be deceived, and learning some rules and etiquette will prevent the children from being uneducated. Alas! These should have been learned earlier. It would have been best to go to a girls' school for a few years. It's a pity that we can only cram before marriage." Yun Xi sighed.

"Madam, what you said makes sense." Dong Zhu seemed to be thinking. "By the way, Madam, the clan leader came to see me a few days ago and told me that the son of the village beggar had passed the examination and was planning to celebrate. Would you like to go?"

A leper? Yun Xi had some impression of him. His child was only seventeen or eighteen, right? He passed the exam and became a Tongsheng (Tongsheng)? Not bad, he had a bright future. If the Yun family could produce a scholar or a Juren, it would be a great benefit to her and the Qi family.