Chapter 485

“So, you actually have an older brother?” Cheng Qingli found this utterly unbelievable. Moreover, just now, she had seen Brother Li, and he truly was exceptionally handsome.

“Stop right there. Don’t forget, you’re already taken.” Seeing Cheng Qingli like this, Li Zhiwei interrupted with a mix of amusement and exasperation.

“I am taken, but my little sister-in-law isn’t,” Cheng Qingli said without a shred of embarrassment, pointing at Wen Xiu beside her and speaking with a straight face.

“Sister Wenxiu, huh? That wouldn’t be bad either.” Li Zhiwei looked at Wen Xiu, thinking to herself that if Wen Xiu became her sister-in-law, it would be perfectly fine.

“What nonsense are you talking about!” Wen Xiu hadn’t expected that the two of them would bring the topic around to her.

Unlike Cheng Qingli, Wen Xiu didn’t have such thick skin.

Now, she never imagined they would openly discuss her marriage so casually.

“Sister Wenxiu is shy now. But Sister Wenxiu, my brother is a man of refined appearance. If you’re willing, I’ll go talk to my mother—after all, good fortune shouldn’t be shared with outsiders, right?” Li Zhiwei nudged Wen Xiu playfully and teased her.

Wen Xiu’s face flushed bright red, and for a moment, she didn’t know what to say.

By tradition, such matters should be decided by one’s parents with a matchmaker’s involvement. However, in the Wen family, it was only her and her elder brother. Her brother had been stationed at the border for years and couldn’t attend to her marriage arrangements.

And she, herself, could hardly broach the subject of her own marriage with others.

She had seen Jiang Yuanrang from a distance—he was indeed a man of fine bearing—but she didn’t feel she could simply agree.

“Sister Wen, if you truly fancy Brother Li, just tell me in secret,” Cheng Qingli said, winking at Wen Xiu.

Then, the young women burst into laughter again, huddling together.

Back at the mansion, Li Tianyou stood in the storeroom, looking at the dowry prepared for Li Zhiwei, feeling uncertain.

“My lady, what do you think would be a suitable amount of dowry for Weiwei?” Li Tianyou asked Lady Yao with a troubled expression.

“It was agreed earlier that we shouldn’t be too showy,” Lady Yao replied hesitantly. Back then, the thirteen hundred palanquins’ worth of dowry had been far too extravagant.

This time, they had originally planned not to give too much.

But now, the betrothal gifts from Prince An’s mansion amounted to three hundred and sixty palanquins, the Emperor and Empress had contributed three hundred palanquins as wedding gifts, and Second Miss Cheng and Miss Wen had just sent another two hundred palanquins of gifts. That made eight hundred and sixty palanquins in total. Even if they wanted to keep a low profile, it no longer seemed possible.

She couldn’t very well add too little of her own.

“I wanted to keep things modest, but given the situation, do you think that’s still feasible?” Li Tianyou looked at the collected items with a headache.

“In that case, why not follow the previous plan?” Lady Yao ventured cautiously. It wasn’t that they wanted to give so much—it was that others had already given generously.

To be fair, the previous thirteen hundred palanquins of dowry had all come from the Li family.

But this time was different. Not only had Prince An’s mansion given generous betrothal gifts, but the Emperor and Empress had also been lavish.

For an ordinary family, even one hundred and eighty-eight palanquins of dowry would be considered quite a lot.

Li Tianyou pondered Lady Yao’s words. Now that they already had over eight hundred palanquins, following the previous standard of thirteen hundred palanquins wouldn’t be impossible.

Besides, now that Jiang Yuanrang had returned, giving less might invite gossip.

“Then let’s—”

Just as Li Tianyou was about to decide on the previous amount, a servant came rushing in breathlessly. “Master, Madam, the Uncle has arrived!”

Li Tianyou and Lady Yao exchanged glances and smiled.

Both thought the same thing: their elder brother must have brought something for Li Zhiwei as well.

When Lady Yao and Li Tianyou reached the front of the mansion, they saw Yao Qisheng directing people to unload items from the carriages.

“Elder Brother, what are you doing?” Lady Yao hurried forward to ask.

“Sister, these are wedding gifts I’ve brought for Weiwei,” Yao Qisheng said with a smile.

“Elder Brother, you coming in person is enough. Bringing all these things—” Li Tianyou felt a bit guilty seeing the several carriage-loads of goods.

“What kind of talk is that? My niece is getting married—how could I, her uncle, not do my part properly?” Yao Qisheng said firmly.

“Exactly! Would he dare come empty-handed?” Lady Qin chimed in with a smile.

“Sister-in-law Qin, you must have had a long journey.” Lady Yao quickly went to the carriage to personally help Lady Qin down.

“Not at all. You arranged everything so comfortably that my husband and I didn’t suffer at all on the road,” Lady Qin replied with a laugh.

“Why ​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‍didn’t the young ones come?” Lady Yao asked curiously.

“Aunt, I’m right here!”

A young man popped out from the side, his eyes curving like little crescent moons as he smiled.

“Oh my, this is Shuyi? You’ve grown so tall! I almost didn’t recognize you!” Lady Yao said, smiling at the young man before her.

“That rascal, exactly. Shuheng has to look after the household affairs, and Shuwen just got into Linchuan Academy, so we told him to stay and focus on his studies. If luck allows him to come to the capital someday, he’ll come to visit you,” Lady Qin explained.

“Really? I didn’t expect Shuwen to get into Linchuan Academy. There’s no rush then.” Lady Yao felt happy for Yao Shuwen upon hearing this.

“I didn’t think he’d get in either,” Lady Qin said, though her tone was dismissive, her expression brimming with pride.

Lady Yao didn’t ask too much about Yao Shuheng. After all, given what had happened before, it was understandable that he might not have the face to come.

His absence, in fact, was a relief for everyone.

Lady Yao led Yao Qisheng and Lady Qin into the inner courtyard.

Li Tianyou glanced at the few carriages and sighed inwardly. He had been hoping to scrape together thirteen hundred palanquins of dowry for his daughter.

Now it seemed they wouldn’t even need to lift a finger—others alone could already make up thirteen hundred palanquins.

Thinking of this, Li Tianyou felt nothing but worry.

“Uncle, what’s bothering you?” Yao Shuyi noticed Li Tianyou’s troubled expression and asked curiously.

“Nothing. You’ve brought so many things—it couldn’t have been easy on the road, could it?” Li Tianyou thought about the long journey from Qujing to the capital, especially with so many goods.

“Hehe, don’t worry, Uncle. We took the official roads the whole way, and no one dared trouble us. Plus, the escort sent to pick us up was really skilled,” Yao Shuyi said excitedly.

Li Tianyou was momentarily stunned before understanding. Xu Heping must have sent someone to escort them.

“You’ve worked hard on the trip,” Li Tianyou said, patting Yao Shuyi on the shoulder.

“Not at all. We’ll just be imposing on you and Aunt for a few days.” Yao Shuyi finished speaking and scratched his head shyly.

At that moment, at the Grand Princess’s Mansion:

“Prince An’s wedding is coming soon. Send someone to the Li mansion with some wedding gifts,” the Grand Princess instructed Nanny Qi.

“Your Highness, we have no connection with the Li family. Would it be appropriate to send gifts there?” Nanny Qi asked, puzzled.