save the bachelors

Chapter 4753 4756 [Marriage Matters]

Soon, it was the first month of the new year, and the Jia family began to celebrate the New Year again.

There were many happy events in the Jia family this year.

For example, Jia Yuanchun successfully gave birth to a prince and was named the crown prince by Emperor Jiaxing; for example, Yingchun married the son of the Duke's Mansion; for example, the Jia family's relatives, the Shi family and the Wang family, were both highly valued by the emperor, and so on.

These were all things worth celebrating, so the Jia family's New Year was very lively. Xiang Nan, Sanchun, Daiyu, Baochai, Xiangyun and others naturally laughed to their heart's content.

After the New Year, Xue Pan was nineteen, Baochai, Yingchun, and Xing Xiuyun were seventeen, Xiang Nan, Li Wen, and Xue Baoqin were sixteen, Tanchun, Daiyu, Xiangyun, and Li Qi were fifteen, and Xichun was thirteen.

Except for Xichun, all of them are almost at the age of marriage. Among them, Yingchun and Xue Baoqin are already married, so there is no need to worry.

Xiang Nan, Daiyu, Tanchun, Xiangyun and others have all reached the age of marriage.

Grandmother Jia was also preparing to arrange a marriage for Xiang Nan.

According to the "Great Ming Law", Xiang Nan, as the prince of Rong, can marry one wife and two concubines.

The wife is the crown prince's wife, and the concubine is the concubine. Although the concubine is actually a concubine, in feudal society, class is far above everything else. In name, she is still the master.

Just like in the imperial palace, although there is only one main wife, the other imperial concubines, noble concubines, concubines, imperial concubines, honored ladies, maids-in-waiting, and maids are all concubines.

But this "concubine" is not that "concubine", and the ministers still have to kneel down and kowtow when they see her.

Moreover, Xiang Nan was not only of high social status, but also of greater ability. After all, who wouldn't want a son-in-law who was like a god? Therefore, since the year before last, there were countless people who proposed marriages to him, including princes, nobles, and high-ranking officials.

……

However, Grandmother Jia had her own ideas about Xiang Nan's marriage.

She decided to marry her granddaughter Lin Daiyu to her grandson as the Crown Prince's Consort; and she decided to choose her niece's granddaughter Shi Xiangyun as the concubine.

There is also a concubine vacancy, which is reserved for the daughter of Shuichen, Prince Beijing, one of the four kings and eight dukes.

In the book, Shi Xiangyun is said to be married to the prince Wei Ruolan.

But that was because historians intended to cut ties with the four major families, and Jia Baoyu really was a bit like a hopeless person.

Unlike the declining Jia and Xue families, the Shi family, one of the four major families, was very foresighted and began making preparations early on to prevent their family from declining.

For example, the needlework workers were laid off, and all the knitting and sewing work was done by the women in the mansion, which saved a lot of money. Other aspects were even more economical. For example, Shi Xiangyun did not have much pocket money, and she had to rely on Xue Baochai's support to prepare for the poetry club.

At that time, the Jia family had already shown signs of decline, and even Leng Zixing, an outsider, knew it. The Shi family naturally knew it better, so they were unwilling to marry their own daughter to the Jia family.

Moreover, there are two marquises in the Shi family, namely, Marquis Baoling Shi Nai and Marquis Zhongjing Shi Ding.

In comparison, apart from Jia's mother, the Duchess's wife, Jia She was only a first-class general, and Jia Zheng was only a fifth-rank official in the Ministry of Works. By the time of Jia Baoyu's generation, there was no title left to inherit.

If he doesn't work hard and doesn't take the imperial examination to get an official position, he will be a commoner in the future, and at most he will be like Jia Lian who donated money to get an official position.

Donating official positions has never been valued in all dynasties. Most of those officials who donated their money never got a real position in their lifetime. Without a real position, there is no real power, and naturally no benefits.

Therefore, in the book, although Jia Baoyu is very favored and is called a "living dragon" and a "phoenix egg", in fact, his status in the aristocratic circle is not noble, and he is at risk of slipping down the social ladder at any time.

In addition, he was well-known for not liking reading and imperial examinations, and was destined to have no hope in official career. Therefore, historians were naturally unwilling to marry into the Jia family. The person they chose for Xiangyun was the prince Wei Ruolan.

Wei Ruolan was the son of General Shenwei, the grandson of Marquis Xiangyin, and the grandson of Duke Qi, so he had a high status in the aristocratic circle. In ancient times, it was important to "marry a woman from a low-class family and marry a woman from a high-class family."

Therefore, the general's son Wei Ruolan and the marquis's daughter Shi Xiangyun are a perfect match.

But Jia Baoyu is just a commoner without any title, so he is not worthy of Shi Xiangyun, the daughter of a marquis.

Therefore, when choosing a husband for Shi Xiangyun, even though Shi Xiangyun was more familiar with Jia Baoyu and had a relationship with Jia's mother, the Shi family did not consider Jia Baoyu at all.

……

However, times have changed. Xiang Nan is now the prince, and his status is much higher than that of a marquis. Naturally, historians want to climb higher.

And it was also very good that Grandmother Jia was willing to help her nephew and let Shi Xiangyun be the concubine of her grandson.

After all, Lin Daiyu is her granddaughter and the only descendant of her only daughter. Seeing her granddaughter reminds her of her, she wants to arrange the best marriage for Lin Daiyu.

It is said that Beijing Wang Shuichen's daughter is also a very beautiful and quiet girl. In her opinion, she is a good match for her grandson.

As for the so-called "golden marriage" that had been rumored in the Jia family for two years, Grandmother Jia simply disdained it.

On the one hand, the Xue family did not have a good foundation. The Jia, Shi, and Wang families all had titles, but the Xue family's ancestor was only a Ziwei attendant. Although he was highly valued by the previous emperor, he had no title and was not a prince or noble.

On the one hand, the Xue family could not even maintain their business as an imperial merchant after the death of Xue's father. It can be said that they had no power and no money, and could not gain a foothold in the capital at all, so they lived in the Jia family for two consecutive years.

Although Xue Baochai is dignified, virtuous, well-educated and a rare good girl, her brother Xue Pan is not a good person.

At such a young age, he was uneducated and unproductive, and spent his days eating, drinking, playing, picking flowers and willows, fighting cocks and running dogs. What's more abominable is that he even committed violence in the street and beat others to death.

The Xue family only has one son and one daughter, Xue Pan and Xue Baochai. Therefore, no matter who marries Xue Baochai, he will be responsible for cleaning up Xue Pan's mess in the future.

Even if Xiang Nan had great abilities, Grandmother Jia didn't want her grandson to work hard.

So even though Xue Baochai is a good girl, Grandmother Jia does not consider taking her as her grandson's wife.

First, their family background is not good enough for each other; second, there is Xue Pan, a burden.

……

After hearing the old lady's arrangement, Xiang Nan didn't say anything.

To him, it doesn't matter who he marries.

After all, he had been around many women. He had seen all kinds of beautiful, intelligent and capable women. Whether it was Xue Baochai, Lin Daiyu or Shi Xiangyun, there was not much difference to him.

Instead, Mrs. Wang hoped that her son could marry Xue Baochai as a concubine.

Firstly, Xue Baochai was her niece after all, and for the sake of her Aunt Xue, who was from the same mother, she was willing to matchmake this marriage; secondly, Xue Baochai was a sensible and good housekeeper, so she was relieved.

Otherwise, how could it be possible if Lin Daiyu was mean and petty, Shi Xiangyun was careless, and there was no reliable woman around his son?

As for the daughter of Prince Beijing, she is good and has a more noble family background. But nowadays, the Jia family simply disdains to seek help from outside forces, so it is naturally more appropriate to marry a girl who knows her background well.

Therefore, Mrs. Wang secretly mentioned this to Jia Yuanchun, hoping that she would intervene in Xiang Nan's marriage as the queen, so as to prevent Grandmother Jia from taking control of the matter.

Yuanchun also felt sorry for her mother's painstaking efforts, so when she gave gifts to the palace on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, she arranged for Xiang Nan, Lin Daiyu, Shi Xiangyun, and Xue Baochai to receive the same gifts.