Fortunate Life of the Rural Beauty
Chapter 300 - 299: Entering the Capital

Chapter 300: Chapter 299: Entering the Capital

The dowry was extraordinarily rich, covering everything she could possibly need. The dowry list was very detailed, featuring everything from farmland, store property, treasure box silver, to furniture, and even down to earrings, toilet bowls, and mouthwash bowls. Everything was clearly listed.

Not only was this dowry honorable, but it was also very practical. Four hundred acres of land plus a manor in the suburbs of the Capital City, a small shop in the city, a set of rosewood furniture; all of these added up should be worth more than five thousand taels of silver. Plus fabric, clothes, hides, medicinal materials, books, gold and jade jewelry, these were worth more than three thousand taels of silver. And one thousand taels of treasure box silver made up about ten thousand taels of silver in total.

She was just a fake legitimate daughter; it was already quite difficult for Mrs. Jiang to take out so much money from the public funds to outfit her dowry, and she did it with such dedication. She can conclude that neither Chen Yuhui nor Chen Yuxia, both of whom are concubine daughters, would have even half the dowry she has.

This was not only because Chen Shiying favored her, but also because she was marrying into the Chus, and Mrs. Jiang wanted to ingratiate herself with her.

Additionally, four maids and two rooms of people were sent to accompany her.

The Ding family had already gone to the Capital City, in charge of the four hundred acres of farmland and the manor, and their family would live there from now on.

The other family surnamed Li, the man Li was over forty years old, previously worked in the Chens’ Mansion’s accounting room. His wife, who people call Mrs. Li, previously managed the sewing room in the Chens’ Mansion, and she was specifically assigned to serve as Afu’s head maid. Their son, Li Mu; daughter-in-law from the Li Mu family; and two grandsons, aged six and two.

The four maids included Qingfeng, who had been serving her since she arrived at the Chens’ Mansion.

Mrs. Jiang, who was in charge of the main court, led the people to the Rose Courtyard to pay their respects to Chen Afu.

Chen Afu paid special attention to Mrs. Li, a woman in her forties, not too fat, not too thin, and spoke clearly and directly. Chen Afu had a good impression of her; if trained well, she should be a good right-hand woman. She still somewhat trusted Mrs. Jiang. Considering that she has made such a show of face, she would not send a fool or a spy to her as head maid.

Mrs. Jiang even specifically stated that both Mr. and Mrs. Li were not born from the Chens’ Mansion. Now, they followed Chen Afu and were completely irrelevant to the Chens’ Mansion.

Of the four maids, except for Qingfeng, who was born from home, the other three maids were all bought a few months ago and were just trained. All of them were thirteen years old and were named Xiao Hong, Xiao Lu, and Xiao Zi.

Mrs. Jiang commented that their names were given so simply so that Chen Afu could rename them later.

After these people got up, Xia Yue gave each of them a wallet containing six silver ingots.

Then, Mrs. Jiang took the keys from her waist and led Chen Afu to see the dowry.

Except for the furniture that had already been shipped to the Capital City, the remaining dowry was all placed in the ear room of the Rose Courtyard.

The door was opened, and a room full of boxes was revealed. Mrs. Jiang opened the boxes, revealing an array of items. The fabrics and jewelry were of good quality. In a small box, there were neatly stacked silver ingots that made up the thousand taels of treasure box silver.

Chen Afu expressed her gratitude to Mrs. Jiang, and Xia Yue handed her a wallet containing two silver ingots.

Mrs. Jiang smiled as she received the wallet, handed the keys to Chen Afu, and Chen Afu handed them to Xia Yue for safekeeping. From then on, Xia Yue would be her first maid.

Except for leaving the three maids behind, Chen Afu told the others to go home and prepare. They were heading to the Capital City on the boat early tomorrow morning. She didn’t require Li Mu’s family, including his wife and two grandsons, to accompany her to the Capital City, as they would have to travel back to Dingzhou, and there was no need to put the two children through the unnecessary upheaval. Instead, she told Li Mu’s family to go to the Senator’s Mansion to find Chief Steward Yang, who would arrange their place of stay and duties.

The family of Mrs. Li paid their respects to Chen Afu again.

Chen Afu had only rested for a short while when she heard laughter from the courtyard. The twin sisters - Chen Yuqing and Chen Yuxia had arrived.

The young girls’ faces were flushed with excitement, especially Chen Yuxia, she had never been to Capital City before. They were here to enhance Chen Afu’s dowry. Chen Yuqing presented a solid gold hairpin adorned with pearls, while Chen Yuxia gave two embroided scarves that she "stitched herself".

Shortly after they left, another visitor arrived. It was Chen Yuhui. Because of her thinness, her cheekbones were higher, her nose narrower, and the ferocity in her eyes was difficult to mask.

Chen Afu didn’t even bother to be polite with her. She said, "You surely aren’t here to enhance my dowry. If you have nothing pleasant to say, save it. It won’t dampen my mood."

Chen Yuhui sneered coldly, and declared, "Of course I wouldn’t enhance your dowry because you don’t deserve it. You snatched the fiancé that grandma chose for me, then induced our father to marry me off to a country bumpkin. Bitch, you are so mean!"

Once she finished speaking, she suddenly reached to scratch Chen Afu’s face.

As Chen Afu was on her guard against her, she evaded her attack and grabbed her wrist. Chen Yuhui’s nails were long and sharp; she had deliberately planned to disfigure her.

Enraged, Chen Afu slapped her twice on her face with her free hand and pushed her down on the ground using all her strength. She scolded her, "I am a country bumpkin, so I have strength. You dare to try to ruin my face with your spindly strength! Let me tell you this, even if you were the last woman on earth, my fiancé would rather remain unmarried. Drop this dream of yours." She then instructed Xiao Hong, "See how sharp Miss Chen II’s nails are? Go report to Madam, let her know how malicious Miss Chen II’s intentions are."

Chen Yuhui’s face had swelled up from the slapping. She was in pain, humiliated, and upset. She got up, sobbing, and ran away. Xiao Hong went to the main court to report to Mrs. Jiang about Chen Yuhui’s deeds.

In the evening, the three sisters of the Chens went to the main court for dinner. Chen Shiying and Chen Yulan didn’t come because Chu Lingxuan had arrived and they were dining with him in the Outer Court.

Chu Lingxuan was going to stay for a few more days before returning to Capital City.

By the time Chen Shiying returned to the main court, the sisters of the Chen family had already left. When he came to know about Chen Yuhui’s deeds, he shook his head in anger. He told Mrs. Jiang, "Once Afu’s marriage matter is settled, let’s finalize Yuhui’s betrothal, and it would be best if we could marry her off by the end of this year."

Mrs. Jiang scoffed, "She said that we had arranged for a country bumpkin for her."

Chen Shiying replied, "Madam, don’t take it to heart. She was spoiled by her mother. As she grows older, she will realize that we are doing this for her well-being."

Later, Chen Shiying visited Rose Courtyard to talk to Chen Afu. He advised her not to bear grudges against her sister and to be a happy bride-to-be.

A night without words, and then the dawn arrived. The main gate of the Chens’ Mansion was wide open, and more than a dozen carriages trotted out. Under the protection of over twenty guardians, they went straight to the Canal Wharf outside the city.

The boat arrived at Tong County in the evening. They then went to the post station, where someone had already reserved a courtyard for them and prepared a lavish dinner.

Mrs. Jiang led the children to eat. After their meal, everyone went back to their rooms to rest.

After breakfast the next day, the entire family got on the carriages. By midday, they had reached the Capital City.