Chapter 234.1: Sky-High Betrothal Gift
This chapter has a lot of lists, I’ll try my best to provide picture examples, all in footnotes because some things need extra explanation on the symbolic meaning. And please excuse for the weird translation for things that don’t have english names. I wanna pat my old self from last year that cried over Sun Yi Jia’s dowry list, that was nothing in comparison.
Looking at the betrothal gift again, in the very front was the monetary gift, ten thousand taels of gold, and three hundred thousand taels of silver. Luo Old Madam suspects that he might have also hid even more money among this pile of things, not actual gold or silver, but rather gold banknotes and silver banknotes. Seemingly, in the past, when each prince got married, the monetary gift at most was also just five thousand taels of gold, and a hundred thousand taels of silver, and that was even for Kang Qinw.a.n.g. He was the eldest di son, so the ones behind him all can’t exceed him. The imperial family had their own rules, yet it was broken when it came to Jin Qinw.a.n.g. The monetary gift the Internal Affairs Department prepared were all equal to Kang Qinw.a.n.g’s. ———-Fortunately, there wasn’t a rule where the officials and commoners must also follow the imperial family’s example, not allowed to exceed.
The essential things afterwards had ones with practical meaning, and ones with symbolic meaning. These things, regardless of how meticulously prepared, in reality, they still weren’t worth that much. For instance, comb, ruler, ruyi scale[1], mirror, doudou[2], scissors, abacus, and such things, you can even cause waves? Betrothal flat cake[3], seafood, the three sacrificial animals[4], fish, coconut[5], wine, four capital fruits[6], four color candy[7], tea leaves, sesame seeds, small box[8], incense, firecracker, gunpowder, gold bracelets (dragon and phoenix pair), one duo of two grains[9], what can be added were all stuffed vigorously, this can’t…………..
Jin Qinw.a.n.g, where did your three sacrificial animals go? Of the living animals, only saw those two golden deers. You can’t just because those animals aren’t presentable and pretty also have them shoved into chests, right? What if they suffocate to death?
Afterwards, it was just the additional items, also all kinds of rare and valuable fur, not counted in sheets, but rather in rolls. In addition, there was moonlight silk, peac.o.c.k silk, mermaid muslin, these top-notch material, each all having twenty bolt. Then there was cicada wing muslin, soft mist gauze, jacquard silk, and so on, each over a hundred bolts, various colors of the highest quality silk each four hundred bolts, various colors of satin four hundred bolts, figured satin four hundred bolts, folded brocade four hundred bolts, yun brocade four hundred and twenty-four bolts, sichuan brocade four hundred and twenty-four bolts, various colors of juan(thin, tough silk fabric) four hundred and twenty-four bolts, velvet four hundred and twenty-four bolts, high quality palace silk four hundred, palace satin four hundred, palace cotton four hundred, and yun satin six hundred.
This was still just the fabric materials. There were also various overcoats[10], mantle, cloak, ready-made clothes, at least over a thousand pieces each. Square boots, near a hundred pairs, pointed boots, also near a hundred pairs, all kinds of embroidered shoes, four hundred pairs, various colors of jiang silk damask socks, four hundred pairs.
This was still just those packed together. If all subdivided out, afraid it was just even more terrifying.
The ones in the back, Luo Old Madam just glanced a few times, no longer wanting to continue reading.
But, in just those few glances, heheh, that old heart of hers was already somewhat unable to bear. For instance, various colors of pearls four chest, all kinds of gemstones one chest………See, not just a few small boxes, but rather counting by chests. The complete sets of head ornaments were thirty-six sets, and although details weren’t written, one can well imagine, it was definitely good things…………
When did these things become this ‘cheap’? Looking at this hand of his, he just completely didn’t care, so wasn’t it precisely ‘of little value’, ‘little playthings’ given to Jing Wan, things to ‘waste money on’ for fun.
Luo Old Madam had the gift list set aside in hand, catching her breath, finally………….still unable to calm her breathing! Wasn’t it said that regardless of how much betrothal gifts there were, and regardless of how valuable, when sending the betrothal gifts, one’s words can’t appear petty and lowly, nor appear arrogant, and need to give the other party respect? It’s true that you, Li Hong Yuan, from the start, just didn’t say anything, but these things of yours…………..
“If w.a.n.gye loves Wan Wan dearly, can just give to her after marrying.”
“Can that be the same?” Li Hong Yuan faintly retorted.
Luo Old Madam was left speechless. It indeed wasn’t the same. After marrying, no matter how much one obtained, it was nothing more than just showing the husband’s pampering. But sending these over now, as Jing Wan’s dowry, that was genuinely Jing Wan’s things, her private property, manifesting as Jing Wan’s own backing. Even if someone suspects that these were given by Jin Qinw.a.n.g, but these things right now simply won’t be revealed to the public. Moreover, when Luo Old Madam received the gift list, it was clearly sealed. It was very clear, this gift list, afraid even the good fortune madams, as well as the matchmaker, all didn’t see. It goes to show that Li Hong Yuan, in this aspect, all seriously considered.
Luo Old Madam then looked to the other people that accompanied along, all just here to go through the motions. There simply wasn’t any business for them.
The Luo family arranged a banquet to entertain the guests.
The gift list got sent to Jing Wan’s hands. Sun Yi Jia although didn’t go to the front, she still knew that a certain someone was causing a ruckus again.
Today, quite a few relatives came. There were actually some that made noise on wanting to see the betrothal gift list, but Jing Wan wasn’t an idiot, how can she possibly let them see, smiling as she directly ignored them. Even if they were discontent towards her, there still wouldn’t be anyone blurting it out.
Those things at the front of the gift list were all separately organized out. As for the remaining things, they were all lifted into a small courtyard behind Elegant Haitang Residence. That place originally was for temporarily placing Jing Wan’s larger dowry, but afterwards, just became her temporary storage, which was perfect, because otherwise, these things Li Hong Yuan sent over today, there was simply no place to put them.
(T/N: This is like having a second house as your storage lol.)
It can be seen, the Luo family, from the start, just never had ideas on the betrothal gift.
Shortly after, all the monetary gifts were all given to Jing Wan. Fortunately, the gold was just ten thousand taels, and the silver also just ten thousand taels, the rest all in banknotes. Otherwise, this much money will also take up quite a bit of s.p.a.ce.
When Li Hong Yuan was about to leave, they naturally still needed to give a return gift. Of course, they can’t just have the betrothal gift split in half and given to him, and he himself also won’t take, so it was just the fixed amount of things, the rest also according to the rules. How outsiders will think, they already don’t want to go question.
The friends and relatives were sent off, and the next day, Jing Wan finally began sorting the things.
For the sake of letting herself be able to sleep well, she actually didn’t look at the gift list yesterday. Seeing it now, Jing Wan felt she really had foresight. Afterwards, along the big and small chests, she opened them one by one, going from the initial shock to already thorough becoming numb in the end. She knew he would cause trouble, but can you not make it this big?
Sun Yi Jia fell silent for a long time before faintly opening her mouth, “Little sister Wan, I just thought that my dowry was already very abundant, but compared to Jin Qinw.a.n.g’s betrothal gifts for you, seemingly just a drop in the ocean. Even if you just mindlessly eat and wait for death for a lifetime, wasting money however you please, you still won’t be able to finish squandering these things. Work hard.” She patted Jing Wan’s shoulder.
Jing Wan gloomily glared at her. Is this talking properly?
However, Jing Wan once felt she was already a rich lady, and her sister-in-law was immensely wealthy. Comparing it now, oh, sure enough, her sights were still a bit short and shallow. Compared with the true stack of gold, they were all just poor people.
But these things can’t possibly all be lifted back to Jin Qinw.a.n.g Manor again as dowry, for instance these bolts of fabric. There was truly too many. She won’t be able to finish using in this lifetime. Moreover, as time pa.s.ses, perhaps they’ll just go bad. Furthermore, the single color ones were still okay, but those have designs, there were new ones practically every year. In a few years, perhaps there will be big changes. If at that time, a certain someone is still the same towards her, would he let her wear clothes made from expired material?
Rather than letting it pile and get wasted in the future, it was better to just give them away now.
Thus, Jing Wan began greatly distributing things again, letting the servant girls by her side go one by one, several bolts each time, repeatedly sending out like this.
[1] Ruyi Scale – 如意秤; it’s the ancient chinese balance scale where you hang a weight on the other end, and you measure the weight using the distance from balance point, you can see the indentions on the handle. The scale is actually of symbolic meaning as it’s a pun with the idiom ‘称(chen)心(xin)如(ru)意(yi)’, meaning ‘everything going as your heart desires’. The first word in the idiom 称(chen) sounds similar to 秤(cheng), meaning to weigh.
[2] Doudou – 都斗; a tool used to measure grains, so like, ancient measuring cup for dry food. Originally in ancient marriage ceremonies, this was used on the groom side to show off how rich their family was, a symbol of wealth, but later it became part of the female side’s dowry. It’s main purpose is for the sake of showing the maiden family’s blessing towards the bride, hoping the bride can be well fed after marrying, and live a carefree and prosperous life. So the word 斗(dou) is actually an ancient unit of measurement for grain, and it’s also name for cup or dipper shaped objects. I tried to see if I could find a conversion for dou to a modern measurement, which I did find this article on converting one dou to catty(500g). The article also has charts on how the standard for unit of measurement has changed through the dynasties, and even high official’s provision for their salary in the Northern Song dynasty. But then I got a headache after reading the first two paragraphs so I stopped, too many numbers for my 4am brain.
[3] 聘饼 – This is actually more commonly known as 喜饼, I was very lost for a good 5 minutes because I couldn’t get any results searching 聘饼. These are still used in traditional chinese weddings and other happy occasions nowadays. In some places, they’re pretty similar to mooncakes. It’s purpose is mainly for spreading the festivity and good fortune. Also, you need like one dan(~50kg) of it.
[4] Normally referring to cow, sheep, and pig, but in marriage ceremonies, it’s two pairs of fowls, two male, two female. And if the parents aren’t all present for either side, one pair is enough. Additionally, also need three to five catties of pork meat cut in a specific way.
[5] I do hope people know what coconuts look like because I’m not adding a picture for it. I just wanted to add this footnote for the purpose of coconut, because I like puns. So the set number is two pairs of coconuts, and if either side has parent missing (aka dead), then one pair is enough. It’s a pun on ‘grandfather and son’, the chinese word for coconut is 椰(ye)子(zi), which similar to grandfather 爷(ye), son 子(zi); the meaning is to have lots of descendants.
[6] Four capital fruits – 四京果; dry lychee, dry dragon eye fruit, walnuts, and peanuts. These are also still commonly used in modern times for weddings.
[7] Four color candy – winter melon candy, crystal sugar, jie cookie(桔餅), fuyuan(福元); these things all have auspicious meaning, I also have no idea what the last two things in the list are, but fuyuan is the package on top, and the jie cookie is the orange thing.
[8] 帖盒 – The name translates to like ‘snugly fit small box’; they are filled with various things that have auspicious meaning, such as lotus seeds, lily, sesame seeds, red bean, mung bean, jujube, etc.
[9] The groom side will prepare twelve catty of glutinous rice and three catty and two tael of granulated sugar. This is for the bride’s family to make tangyuan with, which has the meaning of fulfilling, sweet and blissful.
[10] This kind of overcoat, you can see the difference between having it on and off.