Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

The day before the wedding was the day the bride's dowry was to be delivered. The dowry, piled high with items, was finally about to be transported from the Marquis's residence to the Shen residence. In the past few days, the servants of the Marquis's residence had heard the most frequent sound of Madam Liu directing the servants to pack her daughter's dowry.

"Oh dear, squeeze a little more in, we can fit some more in."

"If you pack this in a bigger box, and you've arranged everything, you can fit even more in."

“They’re all piled up together; that counts as one lift.”

Lady Liu excitedly prepared her daughter's dowry, but she forgot that Da Huai had old customs. The Empress's dowry could be up to two hundred loads, a princess's up to one hundred and eighty-eight loads, and others depended on their own circumstances without a fixed rule. But even the wealthiest family could not exceed the number of loads for a princess's dowry. Therefore, according to custom, Xia Yu could only bring a maximum of one hundred and eighty-eight loads of dowry when she got married.

This posed a real challenge to the servants in the Marquis's mansion. The things Lady Liu had prepared were far too much; even if another 188 loads were brought, they still wouldn't fit. Thus, the scene described at the beginning occurred.

In other families, a single gold basin constitutes a dowry, but Liu Shi, wanting to bring everything she had prepared for her daughter, piled up all the gold and silver basins, large and small, together, counting it as one load. There were also paintings, calligraphy, and antiques. While others might count one item as one load, Liu Shi brought a whole box, filled with all the paintings and calligraphy, and counted that box as one load.

The servants in the Marquis's mansion were all bestowed by the Emperor and had seen a bit of the world, but even they had never seen such a pile of servants.

Even with such elaborate preparations, 188 pallets still couldn't hold all the dowry that Madam Liu had prepared for her daughter. Finally, seeing that there was simply no more room to fit, Madam Liu became anxious. Finally, Aunt Ma came up with an idea.

"Madam, why don't we leave the dowry items behind and pack the princess's dowry into their trunks? That way, the dowry can be brought along without violating ancestral customs."

Her words made Liu's eyes light up.

"Aunt Ma, you are so thoughtful. How come I didn't think of that?"

Therefore, the servants who accompanied the bride only brought some simple clothes, and the rest of the clothes were all Xia Yu's dowry.

The people who escorted the bride were Wang, Li, and Qin, Zhang Chengwen's wife, who had specially returned from out of town. The three of them represented the Marquis's mansion in delivering the dowry.

On this day, early in the morning, the streets were crowded with onlookers. Even the private rooms in the restaurants along the street were reserved in advance, all for the sake of witnessing the grand procession of the Princess Zhenguo.

The first piece of the dowry was a five-panel screen made of golden nanmu wood, depicting magpies and plum blossoms, bestowed by the Emperor. The carvings on it were exquisite and lifelike. This first piece of dowry stunned everyone present. Golden nanmu wood! This was not something ordinary people could afford. But since it was a gift from the Emperor to the eldest princess, no one had anything to say. They could only feel envy. The young ladies in the private rooms of the restaurant were even more envious, their eyes reddening with envy.

"Hmph, what's there to flaunt? The higher you climb, the harder you fall." Fu Fen'er's mentality had long since become abnormal. She wasn't young anymore, but no good families came to propose marriage. Because of some past grievances with Xia Yu and Zhou Luo, people had dug them up. No one dared to marry her. She didn't dare hate the Emperor, blaming everything on Xia Yu.

Her cousin, who was standing next to her, heard her muttering and turned around in surprise, only to see her looking at the lively scene downstairs with a gloomy face. After pondering for a while, she moved to the side.

She was going to tell her mother when she got home that her cousin from her aunt's family was probably crazy.

The first load of dowry entered the Shen family's gate, while the last load hadn't even left the Marquis's residence yet. The onlookers, amidst gasps of astonishment, were at a loss for words.

In another restaurant, Jiang Qile also watched the lively wedding procession downstairs, pursing her lips and remaining silent.

"Miss, this Princess Zhenguo's family is too ostentatious. With such a lavish dowry, how can any other princess compare when she gets married? They really come from a small town. They can't wait to show off their good things so that the whole city knows about them..." The maid beside her continued to chatter on, but Jiang Qile didn't listen to a word.

She didn't know about the other princesses, but she knew that the Jiang family could never have provided her with such a lavish dowry. It wasn't that they couldn't afford it, but rather that the Jiang family had more than one daughter. Although she was the future empress chosen by the late emperor, the Jiang family wouldn't place all their hopes on her alone. Her aunt, Empress Dowager Jiang, was the best example; the family had learned its lesson once, and the same thing wouldn't happen again.

Jiang Qile sighed inwardly. She would be the Empress, and according to custom, her dowry should be two hundred loads. But she knew without a doubt that even two hundred loads wouldn't be as lavish as the 188 loads the Princess had received today. Suddenly, she felt immense pressure; she didn't want to become a laughingstock. She needed to talk to her mother again when she got back.

The last load of dowry was finally carried out of the Marquis's mansion. Just when everyone thought it was over, they discovered that many more carriages were following behind, each loaded with boxes.

"Hey, why are there more boxes in there?" Passerby A asked, puzzled.

"It must be the dowry's luggage!" Passerby B replied.

"Tsk tsk, this Marquis's mansion is really rich. Even the servants use such fine trunks," Passerby C replied.

"Oh, Lord Shen is truly blessed! He's won the heart of a beauty and received such a generous dowry. He's a model man indeed!" remarked passerby Ding.

"You didn't see the betrothal gifts Lord Shen gave to the Princess. If you want to marry this beauty, you'd better prepare a betrothal gift like that first!" someone nearby sneered when they heard his lament.

He personally witnessed a hundred catties of gold being carried to the Marquis's mansion. Putting aside everything else, how many families could do that?

"Hmph," Passerby Ding was somewhat displeased to hear the man treat him like that, but he didn't say anything more. If he had the ability to produce such a dowry, he would already be enjoying himself with a beauty, instead of standing here envying others.

The Shen family used two courtyards to store the dowry sent by the Marquis's family. Many relatives and friends from the Marquis's family came today, and all of this dowry was to be displayed to everyone.