Fortunate Life of the Rural Beauty

On the tenth day of the month, Third Madame and Chen Afu accompanied Chu Hanyan, her two little brothers, and Yu’er, as well as the daughters of the second branch’s concubine, Chu Lin and Chu Bi, to An Royal Mansion. Chu Lin and Chu Bi were already thirteen years old. From the previous year, the process of finding them suitable husband’s families had begun. Even though they were daughters of a concubine, with a father lacking in accomplishment and a legitimate mother lacking in refinement, as the Chu family’s status had risen and they themselves were delicate and lovely, they could still find sons of concubines with respectable families or legitimate sons of lower social status families.

A few months ago, a marriage proposal came for Chu Lin. Mrs. Li and the second master surprisingly agreed. The family of the prospective groom was quite eminent – the second son of the Cheng’en Marquis Residence. However, everyone in Capital City knew that not only was Mr. Xiao inclined towards the same sex, he also had a violent temper, lacked ambition, and no respectable family would willingly marry their daughter into his house.

Previously, the Xiao family set their sights rather high, always seeking to marry their sons to princesses of matching social status. Hence, even now, Mr. Xiao remains unwed at the age of twenty-five.

At the end of the previous year, Mr. Xiao caused a scandal by beating a young servant of the Chu family to death. The Xiao family was able to suppress this incident by paying a large sum of silver and finding a scapegoat. The Xiao family has now lowered their conditions and are content with a concubine’s daughter of equal status and decent appearance.

The Xiao family set their sights on the Chu family, and had the head Madame of their family approach Mrs. Li with a proposal. They hint that if the marriage proposal goes through, apart from the openly-stated dowry worth ten thousand silvers, they would also privately give five thousand silvers as a betrothal gift.

Upon hearing this, Mrs. Li agreed and persuaded the second master.

The second master thought about it: sacrificing a concubine’s daughter would not only net them five thousand silver, but would also benefit a son’s future. Therefore, he also agreed.