Marrying a concubine and swallowing her dowry? The mistress turns around and marries a high-ranking

Chapter 14

Shen Lingjun stopped and looked at Qin Shaoze.

He actually knows what face is?

The entire Qin family is so ugly that you can't even put a face together!

Shen Lingjun no longer needed to pretend and let out a cold laugh.

"My lord, when I noticed you were walking behind me and had disappeared, I was afraid something might have happened to you, so I turned back to look for you. Everyone was worried and helped look for you, which is quite normal, isn't it?"

She was anything but polite: "You and Miss Liu were making such a racket in the rockery that everyone present could hear you clearly, and not just a few words. Even if I wanted to cover for you, how do you think I could have covered for you? By hitting everyone on the head until they were all knocked out and lost their memories?"

"..."

Qin Shaoze's face was so dark it looked like it was about to drip water.

He was speechless for a while before forcing himself to say, "Then you shouldn't have made sarcastic remarks! You are my wife. When something like this happens, shouldn't you stand by my side? As my legal wife, you should be tolerant and magnanimous, not kick me when I'm down!"

Shen Lingjun felt so disgusted that she was about to throw up her breakfast.

“My lord, my Shen family has a clean and upright family tradition. There has never been a case of women engaging in premarital sex or men having extramarital affairs. I am truly sorry, but I cannot stand on your side.”

She looked at him with disdain: "You wanted to take a concubine, and I was tolerant and magnanimous. Did I ever say a word against it? If you had married Liu properly, then of course there would be nothing wrong with it. But at the Duke of Li's birthday banquet, you had an affair with Liu in broad daylight, which is despised by the whole world. Go ask the wives in the capital, who thinks that such a shameful thing should be tolerated!"

"you!......"

Qin Shaoze's face turned purple from Shen Lingjun's words. He was utterly speechless and couldn't utter a single word for a long time. Finally, he flung his sleeves and angrily turned and left.

Shen Lingjun watched his retreating figure with a cold smile.

You feel ashamed now?

This is just the beginning. There's a long road ahead, and they'll face many more humiliations in the future!

......

The Yongning Marquis's mansion sped up the wedding preparations, rushing through each step. By mid-September, the wedding process had reached the stage of betrothal.

This means that the groom's family sends the betrothal gifts to the bride's family.

Liu Manman is an orphan with no maternal family. She currently lives in a rented house in Kyoto, and the betrothal gifts will be sent directly to her current residence.

Recently, Liu Manman hasn't dared to step out of the house even once.

Rumors were flying everywhere, and Qin Shaoze, probably to avoid the limelight, had no contact with her, let alone come to see her.

Liu Manman is now only hoping to get married as soon as possible. Once married, she and Qin Shaoze will be a legitimate couple, and their reputation won't be so bad anymore.

But when Liu Manman saw the betrothal gifts sent by the Marquis of Yongning's mansion, her face immediately turned black.

Having lived in ancient times for so long, she has gained some understanding of ancient betrothal gifts.

She had originally thought that a family of such high social standing as the Marquis of Yongning would offer a very generous dowry.

It wasn't that she was greedy for the money; the more dowry the man gave, the more it showed his respect for the marriage and the woman.

But what exactly are these betrothal gifts?

Not to mention precious jewelry and jade, there are hardly any gold items; most of them are silver plated with gold.

Although there was a lot of fabric, it was all cheap material, clearly just filler.

She only had 1,500 taels of silver, less than the dowry she had seen from ordinary families before.

Even the lacquer boxes used to hold the betrothal gifts were crudely made, cheap knockoffs bought from who-knows-where...

Liu Manman felt a surge of anger rising within her!

She heard that the marriage was arranged by the mistress of the Yongning Marquis's mansion, Madam Shen. Madam Shen must be narrow-minded and jealous, and she was unhappy that she entered the mansion as a secondary wife. In addition, after the incident at the Prince of Li's mansion, Madam Shen deliberately treated her so poorly!

However, with only a few days left until the wedding, there was no way she could possibly go to the Yongning Marquis's residence to cause trouble at this time.

Forget it, let her marry into the family first, then I'll talk to Qin Shaoze about it.

......

At the end of the month, the wedding day arrived.

Although things haven't been going well lately and Liu Manman is feeling unhappy, she still looks forward to this day with great anticipation.

She could finally become Qin Shaoze's wife legitimately. Although she was a concubine, she was still a wife. Moreover, in her heart, only a marriage based on mutual affection was a true marriage.

Since she had no family members, she found a matchmaker herself to dress her up in her finest attire.

To her surprise, Yao Sujuan actually came to her door.

Yao Sujuan had her maid bring over a set of soft cushions with a mandarin duck pattern, and said with a smile, "I heard that Sister Man is getting married, so I shamelessly came to add to her dowry. This is something I embroidered myself, it's nothing valuable, I hope Sister Man won't find it offensive."

Liu Manman was pleased to see that the embroidery was exquisite and meticulously done. Although it was not expensive, it made her very happy.

Because her premarital affair was exposed, women in the entire capital city looked down on her. It was rare for anyone to show her kindness at such a time.

Liu Manman said sincerely, "How could I possibly mind? Thank you so much, Miss Yao."

Yao Sujuan smiled and said, "Sister Man, please don't call me Miss Yao anymore. My sister is a few years old. If you don't mind, please call me my younger sister."

As he spoke, he helped Liu Manman get ready for her wedding.

According to the customs of the Northern Yi, the bride's family prepares the wedding dress. Liu Manman had both the phoenix coronet and the embroidered robe custom-made by herself. The bright red brocade embroidered with gold was dazzling with pearls and jewels, making it extremely gorgeous and beautiful.

However, from the moment the bridal sedan chair arrived to pick her up, Liu Manman began to feel unhappy again.

What is that bridal sedan chair? Can this really be called a bridal sedan chair?

It's so small and simple! Even the bridal sedan chair used by a rural landlord for his bride is more luxurious than this!

When Liu Manman arrived at the Yongning Marquis's residence and saw its furnishings, her heart sank even further.

Marrying a concubine is still marrying a wife, and it was a marriage bestowed by the emperor. Such a joyous occasion should have been celebrated in the Marquis's mansion with lanterns and decorations, a grand and solemn affair filled with festive cheer.

But what did she see?

The Marquis's mansion was simply decorated with some cheap red silk and lanterns, and the word "shabby" was written on both the inside and outside.

It was just like some low-budget web series she had watched in her previous life. The production team had no money, so they cut corners on the sets, resulting in shoddy and cheap productions that gave off an embarrassingly cheap vibe.

It was a far cry from the grand and magnificent wedding that Liu Manman had imagined!

Liu Manman sat in the bridal sedan chair, her face turning green!

She now feels that this marriage has become a complete joke!

Who knows how the people outside are laughing at her right now! Laughing at her poor treatment shows that she is not valued by the Yongning Marquis's mansion at all!

So, how could the Shen family decorate even the Marquis's residence so perfunctorily?

Qin Shaoze could definitely see all of these things that were out in the open, yet he ignored them?

Liu Manman, seething with anger, was sent to the Marquis's residence and married Qin Shaoze.

Qin Shaoze was in a very awkward situation at this moment.

He gradually sensed something was wrong when Old Mrs. Qin started preparing for the wedding.

He gave Old Madam Qin nine thousand taels of silver, which is not much, but it shouldn't have been handled like this, right?

When he asked, Old Mrs. Qin started complaining to him about how expensive things were and how difficult it was to arrange the marriage.

Qin Shaoze didn't understand these things and didn't want to question his mother, but he felt increasingly guilty for mistreating Liu Manman.

However, Manman is an extraordinary woman, unlike those vain and shallow women, so she probably doesn't care too much about these superficial things.

The wedding was not only simple, but also had few guests.

The banquet, which had dozens of tables set up, was not even half full.

Originally, Qin Shaoze and Liu Manman, a perfect couple, had just received an imperial reward and were considered newly prominent figures in the capital. Most people were willing to give them face and attend the banquet.

However, they were caught having an affair before marriage, which became a huge scandal. Many high-ranking and wealthy families looked down on them and were unwilling to come.

However, one person showed up uninvited without an invitation.

After Qin Shaoze escorted Liu Manman back to her bridal chamber, he came out to toast the guests. He immediately noticed that there was a table with only one person sitting there, and all the surrounding seats were empty, as if no one dared to sit with him. It was very conspicuous.

It was none other than Mo Chonggui, the head of the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs, known as the Nine Thousand Years Old!