Crowned by the Treacherous Big Shot
Chapter 135 - 130: The Wedding Bed

Chapter 135: Chapter 130: The Wedding Bed

The Yu family matriarch fell silent.

The Marquis of Anyuan’s household was already considered a respectable lineage in the Capital City, yet that Sacrificial Officer of the Imperial College acted so high and mighty, refusing to give even the Marquis face.

The Yu Family in You State was also a literary family, and Yu Li was an extremely promising young talent. Otherwise, the Yu Family would not have specially written to her, asking her to send Yu Li to the Imperial College.

This was the second request from the Yu Family in all these years. She had refused the first one, but the second she had handled earnestly. Who would have thought—

The Marquis of Anyuan, seeing her at a loss, comforted her, "Don’t be too anxious. This year, let Li’er stay at the Marquis Mansion. Let Yan’er teach him more. He’ll have a better chance next year."

Xie Yan, the third-ranking scholar of this year’s imperial examination, was extraordinarily talented. The Three Excellencies and the elders praised him endlessly. Ordinary people simply had no chance to seek his mentorship.

Xie Yan was about to enter the Hanlin Academy as an official.

If this matter hadn’t been bungled, the Marquis of Anyuan wouldn’t have even suggested Xie Yan personally tutoring Yu Li.

Seeing Yu Shi remain silent, the Marquis of Anyuan assumed she wasn’t satisfied. Smiling, he said, "Do you know how rare this opportunity is? Studying under the Tanhua for a year is far better than attending the Imperial College."

Not that the Imperial College lacked quality, but given its sheer number of students, only exceptional ones could gain extra guidance from the scholars there.

Yu Shi sighed, "Li’er is unwilling to move to the Marquis Mansion."

The Marquis of Anyuan frowned.

Yu Shi said, "He doesn’t know about Yan’er’s willingness to teach him. I’ll talk to him later. Once he knows he can study under the Tanhua, he’ll be thrilled."

Forget a scholar from You State—even the sons of Capital City elite families would give anything to learn from Xie Yan.

She had been away from the Capital for five years. Upon her return, re-integrating into the circle of noblewomen had been made significantly easier thanks to Xie Yan’s reputation.

Meng Qianqian and Yu Li returned to Fengshui Alley.

When they arrived home, only Nanny Hu and Lady Du were there.

Meng Qianqian was surprised, "Huh? Where is everyone?"

Nanny Hu replied, "They were taken away by Steward Cen."

Meng Qianqian hesitated, "All of them?"

Here’s what happened: As soon as Meng Qianqian and Yu Li left for the banquet at the Minister’s Mansion, Steward Cen arrived to escort the seventh great-uncle, Meng Tianlan, Uncle Meng, and Nanny Li to tally the betrothal gifts.

By tradition, betrothal gifts were to be delivered to the bride’s family. However, firstly, Meng Qianqian’s impending marriage had to remain secret to avoid any interference from the Imperial Palace; and secondly, there were simply too many gifts to fit in Meng Qianqian’s property.

So, the Governor Mansion made a grand gesture and purchased a large estate in the Capital City, solely to store Meng Qianqian’s betrothal gifts.

Nanny Li always viewed Lu Yuan as a manipulative, deceitful Great Traitor and was terribly reluctant, muttering all the way. But as she counted, she could no longer find the words to complain.

"Good heavens!"

Nanny Wan, who had just come to watch the fun, was stunned the moment she entered the courtyard. "Has the groom emptied his entire fortune to take a wife?"

The groom?

Steward Cen cast a meaningful glance at Nanny Wan—promising indeed.

Uncle Meng looked at the inventory of betrothal gifts in his hand, then at the items that overflowed from the house into the courtyard, and rubbed his eyes hard.

Meng Tianlan was utterly speechless. "Uh... are we sure... that I broke the Grand Commander’s arm, compensated him with Qianqian, and not the other way around, where he broke me and compensated us with himself?"

The seventh great-uncle chimed in, "Are we sure he doesn’t have some damning evidence against the third granddaughter?"

Meng Tianlan swallowed hard, "What if the trunks are just empty? They could just be for show."

Nanny Wan laughed, "Empty? Who would be so shameless as to send empty trunks as betrothal gifts? Pretending to be generous? Hahahaha!"

Seeing the serious faces of Nanny Li and the others, she awkwardly stopped laughing. "Wait... is that really the case?"

Indeed, it wasn’t unheard of. Back in the day, the Lu Family had done exactly that—poor and pretentious.

On the surface, they carried in trunks, but inside were worthless trinkets far less valuable than the trunks themselves.

Nanny Li, Meng Tianlan, the seventh great-uncle, and Uncle Meng began inspecting the contents of the trunks.

It didn’t take fifteen minutes before their eyes were practically blinded—dazzled by the gold.

By midnight, they finally returned to Fengshui Alley, legs wobbling and hands trembling. Don’t bother asking; just know that counting the betrothal gifts nearly broke them.

The next day, Nanny Li relayed the details of the betrothal gifts to Meng Qianqian.

Meng Qianqian responded with a simple "Oh," indifferent as though it was merely for show. After all, it was merely moving the gifts from the Governor Mansion to the larger estate, essentially just switching storerooms—for Lu Yuan’s gifts, of course.

Nanny Li then asked, "With such extravagant betrothal gifts, how much dowry should we prepare in return?"

Meng Qianqian replied, "Whatever we have, give it all."

Nanny Li was momentarily stunned.

Meng Qianqian smiled faintly, her tone calm. "When I married Lu Lingxiao, didn’t we give a generous dowry? Are you saying the Grand Commander is worth less than Lu Lingxiao?"

The main point being, Lu Yuan would never covet her dowry. Once brought into the Governor Mansion, it would be far safer than leaving it outside.

Nanny Li looked at Meng Qianqian with a complicated expression.

Something about the young lady didn’t seem forced. Could it be that the young lady had already fallen for Lu Yuan, wholeheartedly loyal to him?

In her head, Nanny Li cursed Lu Yuan several hundred more times!

This marriage seemed rushed on the surface, yet it was far better organized than her last one in You State. Firstly, Steward Cen took care of everything. Secondly, the Governor Mansion didn’t have the endless messes of the Lu Family, nor did they act so imperiously as if the Meng Family owed them gratitude. Back then, it was clearly the Lu Family seeking to marry Meng Qianqian, but the way they behaved made it seem as if they were bestowing a great favor upon the Meng Family.

And while the Governor Mansion wasn’t entirely devoid of meddling elders, those who attempted to cause trouble were swiftly stopped by Lu Yuan.

The matron still refused to give up.

But the Grand Commander, adept at dealing with people, stilled her efforts with one sentence: "Consort Li also wishes she could make her son my brother-in-law. Are you certain you want my mother to lose to Consort Li?"

The matron immediately surrendered.

The only unresolved matter that worried Nanny Li was the wedding bed.

When wealthy families married off daughters, they usually prepared wedding beds far in advance. Unlike ordinary stepping beds, wedding beds were crafted with one worker a day, taking three years to complete—hence their name, "Thousand-Worker Beds."

When Meng Qianqian was young, her previous marriage had been rushed, leaving no time to craft a Thousand-Worker Bed. Who would have thought the same would happen this time?

Nanny Li fretted, "There are many so-called Thousand-Worker Beds for sale in the Capital, but most are just gimmicks, not authentic ones."

Meng Qianqian responded, "It doesn’t matter; they’re all fake anyway."

A fake marriage with a fake wedding bed—perfectly matched.

Nanny Li looked at her in astonishment.

Meng Qianqian smiled. "I mean, the Grand Commander won’t mind."

Concerned about her young lady’s status and dignity in her married life, Nanny Li resolved not to settle for less. She planned to visit the city later to search again for a genuine Thousand-Worker Bed. If she couldn’t find one, at least she’d buy an expensive stepping bed.

Suddenly remembering something, Nanny Li asked, "By the way, the young master went out. He said he was meeting a friend. Does he have any friends in the Capital?"

When Yu Li was young, he had protected the lady and the two young masters well, leaving a favorable impression on Nanny Li.

Meng Qianqian responded, "Mm, he just made one yesterday."

After breakfast, Nanny Li went out to look for a wedding bed.

Meng Qianqian went next door to treat Granny Feng’s leg.

"Granny Feng, I’m here." She didn’t forget to bring Lady Du’s spicy chicken cubes along.

The Blood Coagulation Ointment worked well, combined with Meng Qianqian’s acupuncture skills. Granny Feng’s leg pain had long subsided.

Granny Feng accepted her spicy chicken cubes. "I heard you’re looking to buy a bed?"

Meng Qianqian was startled, "Huh, how do you know that?"

Granny Feng replied offhandedly, "Ask the carpenter. He might have one for sale. No guarantees about its quality, though."

Meng Qianqian asked, "The carpenter is...?"

Granny Feng answered, "The one with the big axe."