In the Qiao family in Yizhou, the closer to the New Year, the busier the ancestral home becomes. From dawn to dark, people come and go in the ancestral home.
The ancestral house where Qiao Mingjin lived was the residence of the ancestors of the Qiao family in Yizhou. Originally, the ancestors also moved from other places, and then they gradually multiplied and multiplied in Yizhou. Later, they established another ancestral genealogy and set up another ancestral hall.
This ancestral hall is located in this ancestral house.
Originally it was just a small house, with only the memorial tablets of the ancestors' grandparents and parents set up. Later, when there were more descendants, the ancestral hall was not moved out of the house. On the contrary, it became bigger and bigger, and the number of memorial tablets erected in the ancestral hall also became larger and larger.
Come more and more.
The ancestor surnamed Qiao did not know what considerations he had, but he never moved the family temple and ancestral hall out of the house. Although the ancestral hall and the family temple now have their own courtyard, they are still within the high walls of the ancestral house.
However, although this ancestral hall with the surname Qiao is different from the ancestral hall with other surnames in Yizhou in that it is located in an inner house, one has to praise the ancestors of the surname Qiao for this approach.
Because no matter how many years pass in the future, even if the Qiao family's first-in-law is in dire straits, unable to afford support, as long as the ancestral hall is still located in the ancestral home where the first-in-law is, the status of the first-in-law will remain stable.
During the four o'clock and eight festivals, the concubine's side members always go to the ancestral hall to worship, so they cannot turn a blind eye to the direct family living in the ancestral home. If the direct family is in trouble, they must always support the direct family one or two. The direct family's grandchildren will not suffer
Living outside without food or clothing.
In the end, even if there is no one left behind by the direct wife, the concubine's side branch will adopt the heir to inherit the incense of the direct house. Even if it is not passed on, the memorial tablet of the direct house in the ancestral hall can still bear the incense of the concubine's side branch.
Because the descendants of the concubine's family will be here a hundred years later, the memorial tablet will also be welcomed into the ancestral hall of the ancestral home.
Not only does this move have great benefits for the concubines, but during the four o'clock and eight seasons, through the tribesmen coming here to offer sacrifices, the people of the concubines can naturally have good contact with the concubines and the people from the side clans.
Furthermore, the position of patriarch is clearly stated in the ancestral genealogy to be filled by the direct family members. Therefore, the status of the direct family members with the surname Qiao cannot be ignored.
But for the common people, it is not without benefits if the ancestral hall is located in the ancestral home.
Because even if the concubine's family has no one in the end, and the family has no heirs, after the death of the ancestors of the concubine's house, the memorial tablets will still be welcomed into the ancestral hall. And the concubine's concubine who lives in the ancestral house is obliged to pay homage to the ancestral home on weekdays.
Those who clean and burn incense and wipe the memorial tablets will not stop offering incense to these concubines and side branches after their death, even if the family has no heirs.
Furthermore, the ancestral hall is located in the place where the concubine's family lives. The clan members of the concubine's side clan all focus on the concubine's family, and the clan members will gather at four o'clock and eight festivals. The descendants of the concubine's family and the side branch's descendants will never be seen by the clan members.
Even if you don't save him, you will always support him. As the head of the clan, your first wife will not just sit on the sidelines.
This ancestral hall is located in the inner chamber. Now it seems that it has great advantages.
This not only clarifies the status of the concubine, but also rarely connects the concubine and the concubine closely together. To the greatest extent possible, the family is close to each other.
If the ancestral hall is set up outside, each family will perform sacrifices on its own, so there will naturally be no chance to gather together. Even if the ancestral hall sends people to guard it, there will always be people who slack off.
I'm afraid that the money for the incense candles may be swallowed by the guards in the end. Then how can the ancestors enjoy the offerings of the four seasons and eight festivals?
If it doesn't work well, no one will pay attention to the ancestral hall until the end, with the roof leaking and a thick layer of dust.
People at this time believed in reincarnation and that there was another world after death. After death, they naturally looked forward to offering incense and incense to their descendants.
I heard that Yizhou and other nearby places want to imitate the Qiao family and build their ancestral halls in their ancestral homes.
Naturally, Qiao Mingjin had heard a lot about the much-talked-about ancestral hall of the Qiao family. When she and her family returned to Yizhou, the acting patriarch and others took them to pay homage to the ancestral hall.
It's just that they, the female relatives, can only take a look outside the door. The writings on the several layers of black tablets cannot be clearly seen, and the female relatives are not allowed to enter.
Now that the New Year is approaching, many people from each branch of the Qiao family have returned. This is a rare gathering of the Qiao clan. The ancestral tablets of their side branches are also in the ancestral hall of the ancestral home, and as long as each branch of the Qiao family returns
When you have descendants, you can't forget your ancestors. This is the biggest festival, so naturally you have to go in and worship.
Therefore, during these days, there is an endless stream of people visiting the ancestral home.
Qiao Mingjin met many tribesmen with the Lan family. Many tribesmen warmly invited her family to visit their homes during the year.
The Lan family is naturally happy to see the goodwill shown by the tribesmen towards her family. For the sake of her son and grandson, she is naturally willing to have more interactions with the tribesmen.
Therefore, not only the Lan family, but also Qiao's mother, Qiao Mingjin, Mingyu, and Mingqi all knew many clan members.
And Qiao Mingjin sometimes didn't see the two sisters all day long. She only heard from servants that she was picked up by some other family to talk to them.
She rarely sees even Wan'er.
On the one hand, she helps her grandmother with housework, and on the other hand, this little thing knows more friends than she does. Every day, she is either picked up or someone comes to play with her.
The ancestral house is large and has several gardens. Even though it is winter, there are many evergreen trees in the garden, and the scenery is beautiful.
The little thing is having so much fun that he doesn't miss his childhood.
Not to mention Wan'er, even Yue Zhongyao was rarely seen by Qiao Mingjin during the day.
Father Qiao took advantage of the time when his clan members returned home in the new year, and took Yue Zhongyao, Mingjue, and Mingheng out to visit each other every day. They would not be able to see the father, son, son-in-law, and son-in-law until dark.
But no matter how late he came back, Yue Zhongyao would always go into his wife's room to sit.
Even if Qiao Mingjin had already rested, he still had to enter the room and lift the curtain to take a look.
I don’t know if I am afraid that the person will disappear.
On the one hand, Yue Zhongyao was grateful to his father-in-law for supporting and caring for him, but on the other hand, he felt deeply guilty because he came back too late and could not spend time with his wife and daughter.
When he comes back every night, he must sit in Qiao Mingjin's room.
Qiao Mingjin didn't know how to communicate with this man at first.
It seemed that I had not had many long conversations with this man. Most of the past topics were related to my daughter.
Sometimes when she heard his footsteps entering the hospital, Qiao Mingjin would climb into bed and pretend to be asleep.
And slowly, Qiao Mingjin got to know something about Yue Zhongyao from his interactions with Wan'er and from his interactions with his family.
From the beginning, Qiao Mingjin's heart was tightly closed, and she was neither far nor close to Yue Zhongyao. At the beginning, she also wanted to accept the current situation, accept her own identity, live a good life with him, and live a good life in another world.
But because of Wu, Qiao Mingjin's heart was closed to him again.
Now, because of what Yue Zhongyao had done, splitting up the family for their mother and daughter, and going to Kyoto, a place he was unfamiliar with, to work as a subordinate and be driven by others, Qiao Mingjin couldn't help but feel a little moved in her heart.
These days, watching his actions and actions with cold eyes has made some changes to him as a person.
That night, when the moon was high in the sky again, Yue Zhongyao returned to the courtyard.
After waiting for a long time, Wan'er couldn't help but fall asleep first, and was already placed on the bed by Qiao Mingjin.
As usual, Yue Zhongyao tiptoed into the inner room. The curtains on the ornately carved bed were already hanging down.
The dim light came from the palace lantern beside the bed, shining on Yue Zhongyao's drunken face.
Yue Zhongyao rubbed his hands, which were a little cold, and then opened the curtain.
After opening a small crack, he froze there.
Qiao Mingjin was leaning on the bed, with only half of her body covered by a brocade quilt, and she was looking at him with bright eyes.
"Jin, Jin Niang..."
He didn't understand why he stuttered. Yue Zhongyao quickly collected his thoughts and asked in a low voice: "Why are you still not sleeping?"
After saying that, he stretched his head and glanced at the bed. His little daughter was covered with a brocade quilt and sleeping soundly.
Yue Zhongyao couldn't help but raise the corners of his mouth.
"This girl must have been waiting for a long time."
Qiao Mingjin looked at him and nodded.
Yue Zhongyao then looked at his wife.
He saw his wife, with long hair loose, wearing a coat, arms folded in front of her chest, looking at him with bright eyes.
Yue Zhongyao's heart felt soft and indescribably sweet.
He leaned over and helped Qiao Mingjin pull up the quilt.
"It snowed heavily again today. It's freezing. Don't freeze." After saying that, he turned back and looked into the room. Two charcoal pots were burning brightly in the inner room.
He turned to look at the window again, fearing that the maids would close the window tightly and his wife and daughter would be poisoned by charcoal.
Seeing that everything was in place, he looked at Qiao Mingjin and asked, "But have you prepared Tang Pozi?"
After saying that, he was about to lift up the quilt at the end of the bed to check.
He remembered that Jinniang's hands and feet would be so cold in the winter. In order for Jinniang to sleep well at night, he would burn Jinniang's feet every night before going to bed, and he would use his own legs to hold her feet between them before going to bed.
He held Jinniang's feet to keep them warm.
Now that she was sleeping alone, she didn't know if she could sleep well. Yuboshi didn't know if she was prepared.
Seeing his movement, Qiao Mingjin quickly pressed the quilt with her foot and whispered, "It's ready, it's at Wan'er's place."
After hearing this, Yue Zhongyao carefully opened his daughter's quilt to take a look. Sure enough, he saw his daughter sleeping soundly in her arms with Mrs. Tang.
Yue Zhongyao smiled, helped his daughter cover the quilt, and then said to Qiao Mingjin: "This girl is also afraid of the cold. Qingchuan is much warmer than here. In winter, it is rare to have one or two snowfalls, and there is no snow.
It's so big here. This girl must be very excited, right?"
Qiao Mingjin also laughed after hearing this.
Isn't it? The little thing is very excited.
Not only Wan'er, but also Ming Qi, Ming Heng, Ming Yu and others have never seen such heavy snow. As soon as it snows heavily, several people will go crazy in the courtyard, screaming and dancing.
As soon as the snow stopped, they would take people to the yard to have snowball fights, build snowmen, or shake the snow off the branches and run away with their necks curled up.
Aren't you very excited?
Seeing Qiao Mingjin smiling and in a good mood, Yue Zhongyao took advantage of the fact that he was still drunk and had the courage to stick out half of his buttocks and sit on the edge of the bed.
As soon as he got on the bed, he glanced at Qiao Mingjin uneasily.
Qiao Mingjin saw it and didn't say anything. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendations and monthly votes. Your support is my biggest motivation.)
