"Mother." Yang Baixiang was even more uneasy now, having quickly chased out to block Yang Anshi’s path. "What exactly is going on?"
"What’s going on is none of your business. In short," Yang Anshi, waving her hand dismissively, spoke with a tone laced with grievance, "your mother has been worried sick about Dani and the others, I can’t allow my own son to resent me all day long."
"Mother?" Yang Baixiang was all the more confused.
"Alright, stop dawdling, hurry back now. When things work out, you’ll understand your mother’s painstaking efforts..." Yang Anshi, waving her hand impatiently, saw that he still wouldn’t budge and suddenly glared at him, "What’s the matter? My words don’t carry weight with you? Get back quickly, I shouldn’t have told you, you’re just an ingrate..."
Yang Baixiang dared not say anything more, and could only return to his own room filled with confusion.
Yang Anshi also called up the second wife and had Feng Caie accompany her to the Gu Family, instructing Yang Baichuan to keep a close eye on Yang Baixiang and prevent him from running out and spoiling the plans.
Though Yang Baichuan and his wife didn’t know the specifics, they were aware it definitely had something to do with Yang Dani’s silver. Thus, Yang Baichuan eagerly had his wife accompany his mother. They had taken five taels back before, and the second branch hadn’t gotten a share at all. If they could get more this time, the second branch might get a piece of the pie too.
"Mother, where are we going?" As soon as they stepped out of the courtyard, Feng Caie couldn’t wait to ask.
"We’re going to propose marriage for Dani," Yang Anshi glanced sideways at Feng Caie.
"Propose marriage?" Feng Caie’s eyes widened in surprise at the news. "To whom?"
"To Gu Lao’er," Yang Anshi said while glancing askance at Feng Caie. "We should never have gone to that Zhao Feihu last time."
"Mother, this..." Feng Caie was surprised into silence.
"Don’t you know what kind of person Zhao Feihu is? Not to criticize you, but you really are too shallow. Dani was interested in Guan Qingshu before. How can Zhao Feihu measure up to Guan Qingshu?"
Feng Caie immediately felt guilty and muttered, "But didn’t Guan Qingshu turn her down?"
"Even if he turned her down, she shouldn’t settle for someone worse than him," Yang Anshi glared.
Feng Caie immediately fell silent.
"Now I realize, she actually took a liking to Gu Lao’er a long time ago... The two of them slipping away into the woods when they get the chance, that doesn’t sound good if it gets out. It would be better to just accommodate their wishes and marry them off..." Yang Anshi was not planning to dwell on Zhao Feihu with Feng Caie at this moment, so she moved past it, "We’re going as the elders this time, you need to be on your best behavior."
"Don’t worry, Mother, I’ll make sure to smooth things over," Feng Caie instantly felt relieved at the avoidance of old grievances and perked up. "But Mother, how much dowry do you plan to ask for? We can’t ask for too little, it ought to be at least thirty to fifty taels, right? After all, Dani is the eldest daughter of the main branch of the Yang Family... If her reputation is tarnished, it will affect her sisters and Ruyu..."
"Do you even need to mention that?" Yang Anshi shot a look at Feng Caie. "Why do you think I brought you along? It’s to help me out, not to spout nonsense all the time and then mess up when it really matters..."
"Oh Mother," Feng Caie quickly brought a smile to her face, trying to ingratiate herself. "It’s a happy occasion, how could there possibly be a slip-up?"
"That’s settled then, let’s go," said Yang Anshi, waving her hand as mother-in-law and daughter-in-law strode towards the village with heads held high. In reality, Yang Baihe was also supposed to go, but she liked to sleep in, and Yang Anshi simply didn’t have the heart to wake her dear daughter.