Prime Minister Li, although an honest official, still received countless fine items bestowed by the Emperor of Xiyun, and since the imperial gifts couldn’t be sold, they were reverently stored in the warehouse. Now, Prime Minister Li gave them all to his only daughter as her dowry.
He had only one daughter, Li Wuyu. If he didn’t give his belongings to her, whom else could he give them to?
The dowry provided by Prime Minister Li consisted of genuine, precious items, with some even being invaluable. As each piece of the dowry was carried out of the Prime Minister’s residence, it practically blinded the onlookers with its splendor.
When Wang Youbao saw these dowry items belonging to Li Wuyu, he was completely taken aback, something he hadn’t expected at all.
Actually, Wang Youbao didn’t care about how much dowry Li Wuyu had, but he had thought that she wouldn’t have much, given that the Prime Minister’s residence was even less impressive than his own, because Prime Minister Li was an honest official, and because Li Wuyu always seemed to be short of funds. But now, any single item from Li Wuyu’s dowry could match the entire bridal price he had brought.
Many came to mock Prime Minister Li for marrying his daughter to a merchant, thinking that no matter how much he had to marry her off, he wouldn’t stoop to giving her to a merchant.
Yet, when the Emperor of Xiyun sent Eunuch Fu to offer congratulations on behalf of the emperor for the joyous occasion of Prime Minister Li’s daughter’s marriage, and even bestowed more fine items as part of Li Wuyu’s dowry, those who came to scoff were instantly green with envy.
Even if Prime Minister Li had an especially unconventional daughter, even if Prime Minister Li was the butt of many jokes, after all, he was deeply favored by the Emperor!
No sooner had Eunuch Fu left than an envoy sent by Crown Prince Su Chengyu arrived to extend congratulations to Prime Minister Li on the joyous occasion of his daughter’s marriage.
The Crown Prince’s gifts were quite generous.
Those who came to mock Prime Minister Li: "..." Fine, he is also deeply favored by the Crown Prince!
Wang Youbao was a bit slow to react. He had expected to meet many officials and distinguished people during the wedding, as he had mentally prepared himself, given that his father-in-law was the Prime Minister.
But he truly hadn’t anticipated that the Emperor of Xiyun and the Crown Prince would both send gifts...
Receiving congratulatory gifts from the Emperor and the Crown Prince was indeed a supremely glorious honor. If Prime Minister Li hadn’t cleared his throat to remind Wang Youbao to maintain his composure, Wang Youbao would have been completely lost in the moment for a long while.
Meanwhile, during the time of Wang Youbao’s wedding to Li Wuyu, in Qilin County:
"My lord, today is the eighth day of the eighth month, Youbao should already be at the Prime Minister’s residence," said An Jing, standing at the doorway of the main hall, as she looked towards the direction of the Imperial Capital and smiled at Xiao Changyi.
Before Xiao Changyi could respond, An Jing added, "We won’t get the chance to tease the newlyweds today, but once Youbao brings Wuyu home, we’ll have a good time making fun of them."
"Hmm," Xiao Changyi replied, not indicating that he would really tease Wang Youbao and Li Wuyu later, but simply acknowledging An Jing’s words to show he was listening.
Seeing that Meng Zhuqing had the carriage ready, An Jing then cheerfully suggested, "My lord, let’s go. We promised to take the children to town for some fun today."
Among their four children, Su Yi Jing, Su Yixing, and An Yiqing could already walk on their own quite well, only the youngest, An Yiyun, was able to walk by leaning on things.
And now, all four children were able to call out "Daddy" and "Mommy."
An Jing and Xiao Changyi placed the four children into the carriage, and then they set out for the town.
Yet, halfway to town, the carriage suddenly came to a halt.
Subsequently, they heard Meng Zhuqing, who had just reined in the horses to stop the carriage, report respectfully and cautiously from outside, "My lord, madam, there is something unusual."