"Just shut up with your nonsense!" Ye Ziāan, who had just come down from upstairs, heard this conversation and his handsome face darkened.
Mu Shaofeng was unaware that Yang Chuxia had previously given Ye Ziāan an earful over the affair of some silver.
At this moment, he genuinely felt that Ye Ziāan treated Yang Chuxia very well, so he took the opportunity to boost his friendās image in her eyes.
"How am I spouting nonsense? What I said is clearly the truth," Mu Shaofeng retorted, "You know the Second Princess and the Eldest Princess have always been at odds. Hearing that the Eldest Princess had made a purchase, she wanted to buy the last set. Unfortunately, she has a limited amount of silver as sheās yet unmarried. After finally scraping together enough silver to make the purchase, she heard from someone inside that a young gentleman had just bought it - and a very handsome one at that, clad in white, with graceful manners. The Second Princess immediately had people find out who he was. Tsk tsk, turns out it was you."
"Thirty thousand taels of silver!" Mu Shaoling exclaimed with a chuckle, "Thirty thousand, do you know? When the daughters of noble families and officials get married, those of legitimate birth usually only bring a dowry of twenty to thirty thousand taels. For the daughters of second or third-rank officials, ten thousand taels is already quite good, while those born out of wedlock receive just a few thousand."
"That little?" Yang Chuxia thought to herself. Werenāt those noble families quite wealthy? And yet their dowries amounted to so little? Her own dowry was already that substantial.
Hearing this, Mu Shaoling rolled his eyes and said, "Large households have many children!"
Indeed, now that he mentioned it, she remembered hearing that those large families had rankings stretching to the teens and twenties. With ten or twenty children to marry off, a few thousand or even ten thousand taels each was indeed a substantial burden.
"So, you see, your husbandās managed to make quite the impression again."
"Hmph..." Ye Ziāan scoffed dismissively. "Nonsense, I only paid fourteen thousand taels for this set."
"What?" On hearing this, Mu Shaoling was taken aback. Less than half the price, how could it be so cheap? He gave Ye Ziāan a suspicious look for a while, and then suddenly asked, "Did you sell yourself?"
"Pfft..." Luo Linhaoās mouthful of tea sprayed out, almost hitting the resting Lele and Yangyang.
Ye Ziāan moved his sonās baby carriage aside and then turned to Luo Linhao, "Get lost, if you spray my son, Iāll beat you to death!"
"Whoa... Cousin, was that really necessary?" Luo Linhao almost jumped up, he hadnāt done it on purpose.
When Mu Shaofeng heard him mention his son, his attention immediately shifted to the two little buns, chubby and round, with squishy little fingers. One of the buns was even grinning with pitch-black eyes that glistened like ink-stone jade, shimmering with laughter, twinkling like little stars in the night sky.
No wonder Ye Ziāan was so protective. If it were his child, he too would be utterly enamored. He suddenly realized that Ye Ziāan was living the dream ā a beautiful wife, small children, bright prospects, silver aplenty at home, lacking in nothing, and without any of the worries that plagued people like them. On the surface, they might look impressive, but their lives were filled with innumerable vexations.
Tsk tsk, no wonder his older cousin always picked on him upon sight; it was out of envy, jealousy, and hatred.
"Xiaxia, give me one of your sons," Mu Shaofeng couldnāt help but blurt out enviously.
Hearing this, Ye Ziāan quickly moved the baby carriage even farther away, "Go home and make your own, and stop eyeing my son."
Seeing his protective reaction, Mu Shaofeng was completely baffled.
"Sigh! I was just saying, no need to be so tense," he said.
Mu Shaoling snorted coldly, "Donāt mind him. Heās foolish like that, doesnāt understand a joke." During his stay here, heād lost count of how many times heād witnessed this guyās foolishness.