5 Shangguan Yong's Distress

"Second Miss went to the Concubine Xiu place?" In the main room, after Madam Qin had heard her report, her expression didn't change, but she waved her hand for her servant to withdraw.

"Why would she go there?" Third Miss An Jinge had a look of disdain on her face as she sat there and said, "At this moment, An Jinxiu remembered that she wasn't born from a mother, but from concubine?"

"Shut up!" Madam Qin's face sank. "Who taught you to be so sarcastic?"

An Jinge lowered her head. She actually wasn't too afraid of her father, Grand Preceptor An, but of Madam Qin, her biological mother.

"Do your needlework well!" Madam Qin slapped the table. "You must be dignified and magnanimous, so that your future husband will love you and respect you!"

"How old am I?" An Jinge said shyly.

"You are only one year younger than Ah Jin," Lady Qin's tone sounded cold as she said to An Jinge, "If she has already left the house, your father will definitely let you marry into the Shangguan family! Do you think you're still young? "

"Then he might as well kill me!" An Jinge cried out, "I heard that Shangguan Yong is a lousy person, he can scare people to death!"

"Pah!" Her youngest daughter was simply incomparable to the eldest daughter of the Crown Prince's consort. The Crown Prince's wife, An Jinyan, was truly dignified and generous. She didn't show any emotions on her face, but the younger daughter was always reckless.

Under the pressure of Madam Qin, An Jinge lowered her head to embroider her needlework. An Jinxiu's fate had already made An Jinge laugh out loud several times in her room. This girl who thought herself to be the direct descendant of the Residence of An, was finally sent out by her father as a form of thanks. No matter how beautiful she looks, so what if she reads more poems? This little one is this little one's little one. No matter what, it couldn't pass through the sky! An Jinge was embroidering the Winter Plum Blossom in her hands. Thinking about An Jinxiu marriage, she was too happy that she almost hummed a little tune.

When Madam Qin saw her daughter like this, she shook her head and didn't speak another word to lecture An Jinge. An Jinxiu actually went to see the Concubine Xiu, which surprised née Qin. After she was born, she had raised this humble girl by her side. An Jinxiu had always been taught to look down on her own mother, so why did she suddenly run over to pay her respects this time? Could it be that this girl had found out about the plot of the marriage?

"Mother, what do you think about the embroidery of this flower?" An Jinge finished her embroidery of a cold plum blossom and showed it to Lady Qin.

"That's right," Lady Qin lightly said. Just a single plum blossom was embroidered to the point of collapsing. Thinking of the flowers, birds, fish and bugs that were embroidered on An Jin's embroidery, as well as looking at her biological daughter's embroidery, née Qin was filled with displeasure. When Madam Qin thought back to the fact that An Jin had been born under a concubine, she once again confirmed that this lowly servant had been born to obstruct her view and obstruct her heart.

"Mom, are you unhappy again?" Seeing her mother like this, An Jinge asked, "Who dares to provoke you?"

"It's fine," Lady Qin said. "You embroidered it." It was hard for her to tell her daughter, but she thought of the woman from the side courtyard. The eldest daughter of the Qin Clan, Madam Qin, came out of the pavilion together with Madam Qin's wife, who followed the bridal sedan into the Residence of An. At that time, she was ten years old. Née Qin saw that this little girl was honest and was also a servant girl that was raised by her mother, so she let her accompany her. Who would have thought that when a ten-year-old girl grew up, she would actually be as beautiful as a flower. A little girl who served tea and passed water had actually lured her master onto the bed, and even secretly created a pearl.

In the An clan of a hundred years, they had never had a concubine who was born into a servant. Lady Qin was once a joke in the imperial court, how could she possibly be a blind housewife like her who kept a seductive fox by her side for five years. She was a bastard who was about to give birth to a concubine.

The more Madame Qin thought about it, the angrier she became. Every time she recalled the past, she felt stifled and suffocated. She originally wanted to ask An Jin about this visit, but née Qin changed her mind. An Jin was going to marry a military man in a month, and this bastard's entire life would be doomed to be ruined. What was she going to do about it? This concubine was her tool in retaliating against that lowly servant. Now that her goal had been achieved, An Jinxiu would become a member of the Shangguan family. This had nothing to do with her anymore.

It was time to think of a way to get rid of An Yuanzhi. Madam Qin looked at An Jinge, which was focused on embroidery, and her mind drifted off into the distance. Now that she had settled an An Jinxiu, there were still many things in the mansion that she needed to worry about.

An Jin had been sitting in her mother's room for a long time that day, so she didn't have much time left to make up for her family love. An Jin just wanted to do her best, and didn't want to leave any regrets in this life.

At the same time, in General Shangguan's residence, Shangguan Yong didn't have An Xianxiu's kind of wholehearted expectation for the wedding. General Shangguan sat in the main hall with a frown on his face. He hadn't thought that Grand Preceptor An would actually marry his daughter off to him. The marriage was set for a month later. Right now, the matchmaker was waiting right in front of him, but Shangguan Yong was too embarrassed to tell the matchmaker that he couldn't take out much of the betrothal gift.

Madame Wang patiently waited for Shangguan Yong for half a day, even drank three cups of tea, but still couldn't get Shangguan Yong's reply. Thus, Madame Wang habitually smiled and said, "General, it's better if you give me a reply."

Only then did Shangguan Yong say: "Can you cut the betrothal gift a bit less? A thousand taels of silver, even if I sell this house, I won't be able to exchange it for a thousand taels of silver."

Madame Wang's fake smile froze. Shangguan Yong was an honest man, if he didn't have money, then it meant he didn't have money. But Madame Wang said to Shangguan Yong, "My general, the one you're marrying is a young lady from the Grand Preceptor's estate!"

Shangguan Yong nodded and said: "I know." Then he just stared blankly at Madame Wang.

Madame Wang waited for Shangguan Yong for a long time, but seeing that the bridegroom did not speak again, she could only say: "General, please give me a word of permission, how much do you plan to pay for this betrothal gift?"

Shangguan Yong gritted his teeth and said: "Three hundred taels."

"Three, three hundred taels?" Madame Wang almost bit her tongue. Three hundred taels was a large sum of money in a commoner's house, but the other side was the young miss of the Grand Preceptor's estate. Even though she'd been born out of a concubine, she was still the Grand Preceptor's daughter. How could there be such a good thing in this world?

Shangguan Yong's forehead was covered in cold sweat. He was a fifth grade Wandering General, his salary was already limited, he still had a pair of siblings to support, three hundred silver was all he had left, he couldn't marry and starve them to death right?

"Three hundred liang."

"I, I only have this many left."

"There can't be more? "The one you're going to marry is the Grand Preceptor's daughter, ah."

Shangguan Yong paused, but still shook his head, "Mother Wang, if I had more, I would have sold the house."

Madame Wang looked at the hall she was in. Even the tables and chairs were old, not half old yet. It was the kind of old furniture that had lost all their paint. Madame Wang had also heard of General Shangguan. Amongst the generals of the Zhaosheng Dynasty, the poorest was this General Shangguan. He seemed to be treating his stepmother's illness, so the family's wealth was gone.

"How about …" Shangguan Yong clenched his teeth again, "I'll add another fifty silver taels, and then there won't be more."

Madame Wang's eyes twitched. She really wanted to follow up with Shangguan Yong and tell him the truth. If he added another fifty taels, it would only be three hundred and fifty taels.