Jiapingguan Chronicle

"Forced to agree?" Shen Cha exchanged glances with Jin Miaomiao and Jin Jing, and shook his head at Xue Ruitian, "I can understand why he was forced to agree, but with Ningchang's national pride, he If he regrets the marriage, I'm not surprised at all, but I'm still quite surprised that he agreed to this marriage and agreed to this seemingly absurd request."

"What Xiaocha said is true." Jin Miaomiao nodded, "This is not in line with his usual style of doing things. Is it because of the situation and there is no way?"

"One more question, what is the origin of the royal family of Songjiang Mansion?" Shen Cha looked at Shen Haolin, at Xue Ruitian, and then at Jin Jing, "The Chaozhou Ning family is already considered a rich family, and this Songjiang Mansion royal family can surpass Chaozhou Ning's family." Shi?"

"Listen, the master nicknamed the two of you a problem girl back then. It's not an exaggeration at all. There are just too many problems, one after another. But..." Xue Ruitian saw that the two of them were about to turn their faces, and turned to please her. They smiled, "However, it's all about the point." He poked Jin Jing, who was suddenly enlightened, and raised his chin at him, "Isn't it, isn't it?"

"Yes, it's all on the right point." Jin Jing nodded, "Although the Chaozhou Ning family is also on the list of restricted imperial examinations, to be honest, they are far less important than I thought."

"What do you mean it's not as important as you think?" Jin Miaomiao tilted her head and looked at her elder brother, "In other words, it's really not as good as the Wang family in Songjiang Mansion. How about compared with the Lu family in Changzhou Mansion?" She Tsk-tsk twice, and said to Shen Cha who also had a masked face, "Sure enough, Uncle Qin is right, these big families in the south of the Yangtze River have a lot of twists and turns."

"Uncle Qin himself was born in a family in the south of the Yangtze River, so he naturally knows the key points. In addition, their Qin family is not a scholarly family. It belongs to a family of merchants and merchants. It is still different from these famous families of literati. Merchants and merchants fight back and forth. What they are fighting for is just money, but what these literati and prominent families are fighting for is not only money, but also power and fame, but they don’t say it clearly.”

"If you say that, I understand." Jin Miaomiao sneered, "It's actually the difference between a real villain and a hypocrite."

"Well, it's not impossible for you to understand this way." Jin Jing smiled, waved her hand towards Jin Miaomiao, picked up the chopsticks at hand, and picked up a chopstick of vegetables for herself, "Don't talk about Uncle Qin's house , let’s get back to the topic, let’s talk about the Wang family of Songjiang Mansion, the Lu family of Changzhou Mansion, and the Ning family of Chaozhou. In fact, you can tell their status by listening to the order I mentioned.”

Jin Jing finished eating the vegetables, put down the chopsticks in her hand and stood up, ran to the corner and dragged the board that Shen Cha usually used, and wrote the names of the three families on it.

"This is the order of their families?" Shen Cha held his chin and looked at the board curiously, "Brother Xiaojing, you mean the Wang family of Songjiang Mansion and the Lu family of Changzhou Mansion. above."

"It's the historical background and foundation, far above the Ning family in Chaozhou." Jin Jing wrote a number under the name of the royal family in Songjiang Mansion, and looked at Shen Cha and Jin Miaomiao, "I know what the three hundred mean. ?”

"There are [-] people in the Wang family of Songjiang Mansion?" Jin Miaomiao blinked, still with a dazed expression, "Isn't it?"

"Of course not!" Xue Ruitian laughed angrily at Jin Miaomiao, "Who ranks their families according to their population? There are many villages outside Xijing City with the same surname, with a population of thousands of people. Could it be that their status is higher than that of the village? Is the royal family going to be tall?"

"It's the continuation of the family." Shen Cha looked at Jin Jing, "Is the Wang family in Songjiang Mansion 300 years old? Never heard of it."

"The Royal Family of Songjiang Mansion, if we only talk about itself, has about 150 years, but their family's history is more prominent, any family, even ours can't compare." Seeing Shen Cha, he rolled his eyes unceremoniously. , Jin Jing chuckled softly, "Don't be unconvinced, the royal family of Songjiang Mansion came from the Langya Wang family, do you think it is a prominent family background? Is the concubine of the Wang family of Songjiang Mansion qualified to raise conditions with the Ning family of Chaozhou?" ?”

"Are you actually from the Langya Wang family?" Shen Cha withdrew her contemptuous expression, "If it's from the Langya Wang family, then she is indeed qualified." She raised her chin, "Where's the Lu family in Changzhou Prefecture?"

"Although the branch of Dongyang County is not as prominent as Langya Wang's, it is more than one piece higher than Chaozhou Ning's, right?"

"These two wives of Ningchang Kingdom are really distinguished. Where did he get the luck to marry two noble girls?" Jin Miaomiao thought for a while, "I can almost understand, Chaozhou Although the lintel of the Ning family is not low, it is at best a newcomer to a prominent family in the south of the Yangtze River, with a history of no more than 100 years. Compared with those established clans, they only have something to look up to, right?"

"Yes, that's what it means."

"If that's what you mean, it's very wrong."

Shen Cha stood up and walked slowly in the flower hall to digest her food. There was still half of the noodles in her noodle bowl to eat. If she didn't take a stroll, she might find someone to compete in the middle of the night.

"That's right, that's very wrong." Jin Miaomiao nodded, "Let's not talk about the first daughter of the Lu family in Changzhou Prefecture, but the young lady of the Wang family in Songjiang Prefecture. Why do you want to marry the Ning family? This young lady is completely married. Could it be that although she is the eldest daughter, she is not favored at home? Use this marriage to humiliate her, right? Can you do such a dirty thing?"

"This lady is very favored at home, and she is very assertive. I heard that she is the most talented woman born in the Wang family in the past 20 years." Jin Jing sneered, "But being born in such a family, there are some things that you can't live without." It's up to you. In addition to opening doors and preaching, the Wang family also has a relatively large and important source of income. They have a fleet of ships that specialize in maritime business. However, although they do maritime business, They don’t have their own pier. However, Ning’s in Chaozhou has their own pier at the port, and every time the Wang family returns from sea, they have to borrow the pier of Ning’s in Chaozhou three or four times out of ten. A very important reason for the marriage."

"There are many families with docks, why is it Ning's?"

"Although they are upstarts from a prominent family, they are all scholars anyway. It is true that other families have docks, but they all look down on them."

"That's true. These scholars always have their eyes on the top of their heads. They clearly run their own business, but they always talk about scholars, farmers, businessmen, and businessmen. They always say that businessmen have a smell of copper and are indecent." Shen Cha Shaking his head lightly, "However, the reason why the Wang family wants to marry their eldest daughter is not particularly sufficient for a wharf."

"Of course, there is another reason." Jin Jing looked at Shen Cha and Jin Miaomiao and smiled, "Thanks for saving my life."

"The grace of saving life?" Shen Cha frowned slightly, "Who saved whose life?"

"The Ning family saved the life of the Wang family." Jin Jing smiled, "Isn't that incredible?"

"It's really incredible." Shen Cha nodded, "Are you sure it wasn't arranged?"

"There are still coincidences in this world." Jin Jing sighed, and wrote another line on the board, "The place where this life-saving grace happened is very subtle."

"Liantai Temple in Songjiang Prefecture?" Standing in front of the board, Shen Cha sneered when he saw the name written by Jin Jing. The development of the sect in the south of the Yangtze River is inseparable from the help of these big clans, they are the most loyal supporters of the Qinglian sect."

"That's how it happened. Liantai Temple is a relatively large dojo of Qinglian Sect in the south of the Yangtze River. On the day of the accident, Liantai Temple was holding a big Dharma meeting. Many believers came to Liantai Temple from thousands of miles away. Once there are more people, the stampede will inevitably happen. Fortunately, at that time, the royal family of Songjiang Mansion and the Ning family of Chaozhou were arranged in the same row. It brought up the overthrown Mrs. Wang, who was later the biological mother of the young lady of the Wang family. At that time, Mrs. Wang was already pregnant."

"That's reasonable." Shen Cha nodded, "The one who saved her life was..."

"Speaking of it, it's really fate. The one who saved the life was Mrs. Ning, the mother of Ning Changguo. What's more, Mrs. Ning is also pregnant. Because of this accident, the condition of the two ladies is not very good. Well, thanks to being on the territory of the Wang family, the two wives were quickly sent to the Wang family's other courtyard near the Liantai Temple, and a holy hand was invited to treat them, so nothing serious happened."

"It turned out to be like this. With such a life-and-death friendship, the relationship between the two families will become closer, right?" Seeing Jin Jing and Xue Ruitian nodding, Shen Cha gave a smirk, "Brother Xiaotian knows it's a matter of course, Xiaotian Why does Brother Jing know this so clearly?"

"Because this incident is hailed as a good story in Jiangnan. Almost everyone knows that the Wang and Ning families became inseparable because of this accident. Later, they were married by the two elders and the sisterhood of the two eldest wives. Under the deep and like-minded agreement, the two unborn babies were married by fingertips, so that the two families became closer. However, the world thought that after the two children grew up, the two families would break off the engagement. Thinking that they got married in secret, the Wang family even made such a request."

"Oh, I understand." Shen Cha nodded, "Because of this accident, the Ning family of Chaozhou climbed into the royal family of the Songjiang Mansion. For the Ning family of Chaozhou, it is a surprise, isn't it?"

"Yes!" Jin Jing nodded, "The Ning family knew about the Wang family's maritime business, so they proposed to give half of their wharf to the Wang family. In this way, the Wang family also benefited from it. However, Mrs. Ning and Mrs. Wang's relationship It was very good, and the dates of the two people's pregnancies were very similar, so the idea of ​​a marriage contract came up. Later, the decision was made by the two elders, but it was purely for the two ladies to fulfill their wishes, or for the sake of the two families. If the interests are completely tied together, no one will know."

"Becoming in-laws is an unbreakable relationship. If the two families disagree on any position in the future, they will treat each other carefully, right?"

"That's right." Xue Ruitian snapped his fingers and smiled at Shen Cha, indicating that she guessed right, "Of course there are family marriages where the relationship is good, but there are also those whose benefits outweigh the feelings." He raised his eyebrows lightly , looked at Shen Cha, then looked at Shen Haolin, and said with a smile, "Uncle Shen and Aunt Shen are together purely because they like each other, love each other, and rely on each other. It's rare in this world."

"Of course." Shen Cha raised his chin proudly, "Father and mother are the best in the world."

"Indeed, Uncle Shen and Aunt Shen are the best in the world!" Jin Miaomiao sighed softly, "With such a comparison, the young ladies of Ningchang Kingdom and Wang's family, when they were not born, were born because of The respective interests of the two families are ruthlessly tied together, which is pitiful when you think about it."

"That's not so pitiful." Shen Cha nodded in agreement, "It's just..."

"Just what?"

"The Wang family proposed such a condition, and the Ning family just agreed? Didn't they fight? Although their status and prestige are not as good as those of the Songjiang family's Wang family, they are still okay, and their foundation is considered stable. Even if they turned against the Wang family and ruined this A marriage contract is worse than agreeing to this request, right? Based on what I have learned about the Ning family in Chaozhou these days, they don't seem to be the type who would be bullied and beaten but not fight back."

"Then I don't know, but one thing is obvious." Xue Ruitian stretched out a finger, "Their reputation and foundation in the south of the Yangtze River are all because of the support of the Wang family. If they lose the support of the Wang family , turned against the Wang family, and they will soon be nothing. Don’t say that there is one Ningchang country in the family, even if there are ten Ningchang countries in the family, it will not help.”

"That's right!" Jin Jing sighed, "The clans in the south of the Yangtze River have always been big fish eating small fish, and small fish eating shrimps. Chaozhou Ning's family is not shrimps, but they are not big fishes either. They also need some connections and connections The best way to pave the way for your own children is to maintain a seemingly good relationship with a family that is bigger than the Ning family. From this point of view, they have no reason to resist when the Songjiang Mansion Wang family puts forward such a condition. Right?" Seeing Shen Cha and Jin Miaomiao nodding, he continued, "After thinking about this, I know that the Ning family will definitely accept it, even if Ningchang Kingdom itself does not accept it, from the patriarch to those patriarchs will also accept it." forced him to agree."

"However, the Wang family's request is obviously to regret the marriage, don't they understand?"

"That's not the way to say it. Ms. Wang knew about the marriage contract since she was a child. She didn't agree to it or object to it. She grew up until she was 20 years old. At this time, there is no other way to choose besides fulfilling the marriage contract, isn't there? Besides , her family promised her that as long as she disagrees, Ningchang Kingdom will not be able to enter her door, so her purity can still be preserved."

"This young lady probably doesn't intend to get married, so she used this marriage contract as an excuse and used Ningchang Kingdom as a shield in front of her."

"That's almost what it means, and the Ning and Wang families don't care whether Ning Chang can enter the door or whether they have a good relationship with Miss Wang's family. As long as they have this marriage, the interests of the two families will be tied together. What's more, At this time, Ning Changguo is already a member of the Ning family in Zhongzhou, and both the Wang family and the Ning family are actually happy to see the two of them maintain their superficial relationship as husband and wife."