Chapter 265: The Boxes

Once the conversation started, it didn’t take long for everyone to start chatting away, voices flying from all directions.

The Yan father and daughter quickly picked up on everything they wanted to know.

This year, Linhai Prefecture had been blessed with good weather. While other regions were hit hard by drought and suffered poor harvests, Linhai had remained relatively calm and stable.

As they ate, the two listened in on the lively chatter. Occasionally, Yan Lao’er would toss in a few words of his own—half-truths, half-nonsense, all fueled by wine. Who knew whether these people were speaking facts or just talking out of their cups?

Yan Yu gnawed on a chicken leg while catching a round of gossip about Prince Ying.

She finally pieced together the relationship between the Lord of Changping and the prince.

Apparently, Prince Ying’s royal consort was surnamed Zhao, and the Lord of Changping was also a Zhao. In terms of seniority, the prince actually had to call Lord Zhao “uncle.”

Serving under your own nephew? That had to be awkward.

And this wasn’t just a matter of pride. If what Chai Tou and the others said was true, Lord Zhao had barely set foot in the prefectural city, let alone visited the prince’s residence. Clearly, something was off between them.

After settling their bill, the father and daughter headed back the way they came, planning to make it all the way to Linhai in one go.

Buying grain and medicine was their specialty. If they could save money, they absolutely wouldn’t overspend.

But before they even reached the city gates, they found the road ahead blocked.

“What’s going on?” Yan Lao’er muttered, standing on tiptoe to get a better look.

“The lord has brought someone back.”

“Look at the beads on that carriage curtain. So beautiful. And the girl sitting up front—what a beauty.”

“Whose daughter is that? So grand!”

“Look at all those boxes behind them. What do you think’s inside?”

“Whatever it is, it’s worth a fortune, that’s for sure.”

“You lot don’t know anything. See the color of those boxes? Red! That’s a bridal procession. The one in the carriage is our Guanzhou’s Crown Princess Consort!”

“Tell us more! Is the Crown Prince really getting married? That’s wonderful news! Haha, come to think of it, he’s not that young anymore. About time he settled down. Whose daughter is she, to have such good fortune?”

“Her family must be top-tier. Just look at all those boxes. So many people, and you still can’t see the end of the line.”

“Top-tier doesn’t even begin to cover it. You know what a royal marriage means? This wasn’t arranged by just anyone—it was bestowed by the emperor himself. You hear me? Bestowed! The emperor personally chose a bride for his grandson. A girl chosen by His Majesty himself? She must be the best of the best.”

“Ah, may the Crown Princess Consort bear two children in three years, three in five! Then our prince will have grandsons to hold! Hahaha!”

“I remember when the prince first arrived, he disembarked right here in Changping. The Crown Prince was just a little boy then—three or four years old. Not shy at all, peeking out the carriage window and smiling at me. Such a cute little thing. And now, in the blink of an eye, he’s getting married and becoming a father.”

The crowd buzzed with chatter, reminiscing about when Prince Ying and his family first arrived at their fief…

Yan Yu: So Prince Ying has been stationed in Guanzhou for over ten years now.

He has two sons and a daughter.

The Crown Prince is the eldest, probably fifteen or sixteen years old. The daughter is two years younger and has been raised in the palace. The youngest son was only born two years ago.

That’s quite the age gap. The eldest and the daughter are over ten years older than the youngest.

Which means the two eldest were born in the Capital, and after moving to Guanzhou, there were no children for ten years. This youngest son could be considered a late-born blessing.

Yan Yu thought that, given Prince Ying’s status, having only three children seemed a bit thin.

But after listening a while longer, it all made sense. The current Princess Consort was a second wife. The original consort had passed away, and Prince Ying had remained single for several years out of deep affection for her. It wasn’t until his father couldn’t bear to watch anymore that he arranged a new marriage for him.

That would explain why the second son was so young.

The procession finally reached its end.

Yan Lao’er, curious as ever, had been counting the whole time.

He turned to his daughter with a grin. “Haha, girl, exactly one hundred and eight sedan chairs. Not one more, not one less.

Tsk tsk! That’s a mountain of stuff. Just the dowry alone would need its own room to store—and not a small one either, or it wouldn’t all fit.”

Yan Yu had something to say about that.

“A woman’s dowry is her personal property. There are usually several copies of the dowry list—one with her natal family, one with her husband’s family, and even one filed with the government. She uses her own things for daily expenses, so she has financial independence.

The husband’s family isn’t allowed to touch it. Once she has children, the dowry gets passed down from generation to generation.”

Yan Yu had read plenty of books that described dowries in great detail. From head to toe, inside and out, everything a woman might need in daily life was included.

What kind of feeling did that give?

It was like marrying a man and then using your dowry to completely surround him…

Beds, cabinets, washbasins… even chamber pots!

What was even more interesting was that, in large extended families that hadn’t split their inheritance, the man’s earnings had to be handed over to the family pool. He’d get a monthly allowance, barely enough to scrape by. If it wasn’t enough, guess what? The wife had to dip into her dowry to cover the shortfall.

Every time she read about this, Yan Yu couldn’t help but sigh.

No wonder the trope of “splitting the family estate” showed up so often in novels. It never got old.

If it were her, she’d feel the same way.

Why should she? Marry a man and feed and clothe him too?

All the hard-earned savings her parents scraped together—why should they be used to cover someone else’s expenses?

Cover what? Cover my foot!

Yan Lao’er figured he ought to prepare something for his daughter too.

Never mind whether it counted as a dowry or not—just having a copy of that list filed at the Government Office gave a real sense of security.

“Yu, your mother and I will prepare one for you too in the future. A big one. We’ll try to pay for it ourselves, stand tall and proud.” Yan Lao’er felt that for this goal, he could tighten his belt a little more.

“Dad! Why would I spend my own money? I’m marrying into someone else’s family! Spending your own money after getting married—isn’t that just stupid?!” She couldn’t believe those words had come out of her father’s mouth.

Was this really her dad?

Wake up, my dear father!

The Yan family’s tradition of frugality must be upheld without compromise!

Yan Lao’er slapped his forehead.

“Right, right, what was I thinking? That long line of red chests must’ve dazzled me silly.

Eat their food, use their things—nothing wrong with that. My daughter’s such a gem, marrying her is like their ancestors’ graves are smoking with luck! They’re getting the better end of the deal!”

Yan Yu: …

“Dad, can we drop this topic? Look at me, I’m nowhere near getting married.”

They hadn’t even reached the matchmaking stage, and he was already going on and on.

Yan Lao’er glanced at her petite frame and nodded in satisfaction.

Staying small wasn’t so bad—meant he could keep his daughter at home for another ten years or so.

And who said she had to get married? They could always follow the Song family’s example, heh heh!

When they reached the outer dock, the boatman at the bow kept trying to persuade them to stay another day.

“His Highness the Crown Prince’s wedding is a once-in-a-lifetime spectacle. Are you sure you don’t want to stay just one more day? I’ve heard they’re setting off from Changping tonight, timing everything perfectly to arrive in Yongning by tomorrow evening. Not even a full day’s journey. Just stay half a day longer!”

“The excitement in the streets today is already enough for us to brag about back in the village. My goodness, I’ve never seen such a long wedding procession—it was truly eye-opening.” Yan Lao’er sighed with regret. “But we didn’t sell the ox, and we really can’t afford to stay in Changping any longer. Everything’s so expensive here.”

“You should’ve listened to me and sold the ox in the city. Now you’re heading to Linhai? Prices there won’t be as good as Changping’s. But, well, forget it. You’ve already left, and going back would just cost more…”

Though the boatman grumbled, his hands were quick. He untied the ropes, retrieved the bamboo token, and once the father, daughter, and ox were all aboard the raft, he gave it a strong push with his foot to help them drift away from the dock more easily.

Neither Yan Lao’er nor Yan Yu found the wedding procession all that impressive.

The bride was inside a carriage, sealed up tight. It wasn’t like the Crown Princess Consort would lift the curtain and wave.

All they could see were boxes and people carrying boxes.

“Dad, look over there.”

Yan Yu pointed with her pole.

Yan Lao’er turned to look—and wow, what a sight! So many boats!

At a larger dock nearby, several massive ships were moored, one of them even double-decked.

Plenty of people bustled about on board, clearly still loading or unloading.

“That must be the bridal fleet. Aside from the dowry chests, they’ve got so much more. Tsk tsk, must be a seriously wealthy family.” Yan Lao’er marveled.

“That ship is amazing.” Yan Yu had her eye on something else entirely.

She was especially fascinated by the double-decked vessel.

“Dad, they’re taking the sea route. All of these are sea ships.”

Her first impression was how tall they were.

Even the deck required looking up.

As they got closer, she noticed how deep the ships sat in the water.

No wonder they hadn’t gone further inland—the inner dock’s water level was too shallow for these sea vessels.

This was Changping’s outer dock, specifically for large ships.

Yan Yu steered the raft to keep a safe distance from the big ships.

They were just there for a look. No need to get too close.

But sometimes, the more you try to avoid trouble, the more it comes looking for you.

A small boat suddenly sped toward them.

A man aboard shouted, “Stop! Don’t go any further!”

“Can’t you see those are official ships? Are you blind or just looking to die?”

Yan Lao’er: …

Yan Yu: …

Father and daughter exchanged a look, both baffled.

They hadn’t gone anywhere near the ships. In fact, they’d gone out of their way to steer clear.

Yan Lao’er put on a smile and said, “We’re just a couple of country folks, sir. Not very worldly. This raft is newly built, and we’ve never seen an official ship before.

Would you be kind enough to point them out and explain a bit? That way, we’ll know better next time.”

The man wasn’t actually an official, but he sure acted like one.

“So you’re a couple of bumpkins. No wonder you’ve got no sense of rules.

Look over there—those are official ships. In the future, when you see them from afar, pull over and wait. Only after they pass can you go.”

Yan Yu instinctively gauged the distance between them and the sea ships.

Saying they were “a million miles away” might be an exaggeration, but the space between them was definitely wide enough for those ships to roll around in the river side by side.

This river was huge. The area was massive. And they still had to give way?

Fine, give way it is.

The father and daughter obediently moved their raft to the side.

The man on the small boat seemed quite satisfied with their compliance and rowed back.

With nothing to do, the two of them just sat there waiting.

Yan Lao’er lit the charcoal stove, set a pot on top, and poured in some water.

Once the water boiled, he tossed in a handful of dried shrimp from Granny Rong, along with some dried vegetables.

They’d already eaten their fill at the tavern—this soup was just to round things out.

Yan Yu slurped her soup while watching the activity on the big ships.

There wasn’t much else to do—it was boring, really.

But the more she watched, the more something seemed off.

“Dad, something’s weird about those people.”

“What’s wrong? Still moving stuff? No big deal, we’ve got time.” This was the Crown Princess Consort’s bridal fleet. Whatever they were told to do, they’d better do it. No point in arguing—nothing good would come of it.

“No, look closely. They’re taking boxes off the ship and stacking them on the dock. Then they open them, pull something out, tuck it into their clothes, and toss the rest into other boxes… then move those onto a different ship… What are they doing? Why go through all that?”

Yan Lao’er squinted for a while. Sure enough, something was off.

When things go against the norm, there’s always something fishy going on.

Yan Yu grabbed the bamboo pole and gave a strong push. The raft drifted toward the shore.

She tossed the reins onto the ground and didn’t even care if her shoes got wet. With quick steps, she ran up the bank and tied the reins securely around a tree.

“Dad, come down quick. Let’s hide for a bit.”

She crouched behind the tree, letting its trunk and the thick underbrush shield her completely.

“Sanbao, get down and stay low.”

Sanbao obediently followed her instructions.

Yan Lao’er, now more alert, hurried over and took cover behind another tree.

The two of them held their breath and focused their gaze for a long while.

Finally, that boat started moving.

It sailed off in the opposite direction of Changping.

The other large boats remained still.

The remaining crates on the dock were loaded onto carts and hauled away.

Then, the small boat that had called out earlier began to approach.

Father and daughter exchanged a glance, grabbed Sanbao, and ran far off. Only when the small boat reached the spot where their raft had been did they slowly walk back.

“What were you doing just now?” someone on the small boat asked.

“This kid must’ve eaten something bad. Had the runs. Took him over there to do his business,” Yan Lao’er replied.

“Alright, just hurry up and get going. Next time, use your eyes and pay attention.” Thinking they had been discreet and, seeing the family returning from a distance, the boatmen relaxed and started shooing them off.

Yan Lao’er was more than happy to oblige. “Got it, got it. Next time we see an official boat, we’ll steer clear. Won’t even get close.”

Yan Yu didn’t want to pole the raft while they were still watching.

Luckily, the people on the small boat left first.

Once they were out of sight, Yan Yu quickly jabbed the pole into the water twice.

The raft drifted downstream, and by coincidence—or perhaps not—it was headed in the same direction as the departing boat.

Once they were far enough away,

Yan Lao’er wiped the sweat from his forehead and handed the bamboo pole to Yan Yu.

“I’m exhausted. You think they’ll come after us?”

Yan Yu said, “Should be fine now. Dad, do you think they were stealing something?”

That was the only explanation for their suspicious behavior.

“Looks like it,” Yan Lao’er said.

One person might misinterpret things, but there was no way both of them saw wrong.

“That was the Crown Princess Consort’s ship. They’ve got some nerve, stealing from her? Are they river bandits?” Yan Yu quickly shook her head. “No, if they were bandits, they would’ve taken everything. They wouldn’t bother opening the crates and picking through them. It has to be an inside job!”

She fumed, “These people are disgusting. Who steals a bride’s dowry?”

Then she paused. “Wait, Dad, if anything’s missing, wouldn’t a simple inventory check catch it? Even if the Crown Princess Consort doesn’t look into it herself, she’s got people managing this stuff. There’s no way they’d let it slide.”

Yan Lao’er frowned and thought for a moment, then suddenly said, “The crates! The color was wrong. They weren’t red!”

(End of chapter)