The drizzle is like mist, and the list is released in February. The lucky ones who are on the gold list are so proud of the spring breeze that they can see all the flowers in Chang'an in one day.
In this happy spring scenery,
Cheng Chumo also ushered in a great event in his life, his wedding.
Wu Huaiyu also put aside his distinguished status as prime minister and specially became the best man, accompanying Cheng Chumo to the Cui family in Qinghe, Chang'an to greet him.
Pingkangfang,
Qi County Duke's Mansion.
The Cui family is also dressed in red and colorful today and is full of joy.
Cheng Chumo's bride was from Wushuifang, the southern ancestor of the Cui family in Qinghe. Her ancestors followed Murong De south to cross the Yellow River and later settled in Wushui, Qi County.
The bride's great-grandfather was a Duke of Qi County in the Northern Qi Dynasty, and her grandfather was Biejia of Qizhou in the Sui Dynasty. Cheng Yaojin's second wife, Mrs. Cui, was her biological aunt.
The Cheng family's welcoming team was huge.
The Cui family warmly entertained the Cui family. Compared with the Northern and Southern ancestors, such as Zhengzhou and other families, the Cui family's Wushui Fang is now much inferior. Ms. Cui's father is now a doctor of Guozi. Although this is an official position of the fifth rank, it can
Wear Fei and wear silver.
But in the final analysis, he was just an academic official. There were five PhDs in Guozixue in the Imperial College. He was a respected official but had no real power. In future generations, he would be a relatively respected university president.
For the Cui family of Qinghe, especially Wushuifang of Qijun County, they still value Cheng Yaojin and Cheng Chumo. The marriage between the newly rich Cheng family is not just wishful thinking of the Cheng family.
The Cui family's Wushui house in Qijun and the old Cheng family in Dong'a are actually half neighbors.
Widow Cui first had an affair with Cheng Yaojin for several years, then married Cheng Yaojin, and now her niece is married to Cheng Chumo.
The bride's father, Master Cui, was dressed in a scarlet robe and his face was glowing. He was very satisfied with Cheng Chumo, his third-grade son-in-law, and he tried his best to show his identity as father-in-law and elder.
But in front of Wu Huaiyu, the best man of the Prime Minister Jin Guogong, who was a third-rank disciple of Tongzhong Shu, he could not put on any airs.
Although he is a son of the fifth surname, there are actually quite a lot of people in the seven families with the fifth surname.
From the Wude Dynasty to the Zhenguan Dynasty, there were not many people who could stand out in the past ten years or so. He was able to reach the fifth rank of Guozi doctor today. In addition to his status as a fifth-class son and Cui's family background, he actually relied on Cheng Yao.
Jin's power helped.
"Prime Minister Wu, you must drink a few more glasses of wedding wine as a reward."
Master Cui's smile was a bit flattering, and thinking about Wu's famous family status, he looked a bit coy and naughty.
Wu Huaiyu came today as the best man, so he smiled back at Master Cui, a so-called famous man who had not looked down on him before.
The old and powerful families like the Five Surnames and Seven Families actually have quite a lot of talents. For example, Cui Dunli and Lu Chengqing are still very capable.
Even Scholar Wang, who is a good drinker, can be said to be talented in poetry, but not good at common affairs.
Of course, there are many people like Master Cui who are famous but actually have no special abilities. Although they have indeed read a lot of books and even studied classics at home, their reputation is greater than their talent.
Standing in the Qi County Duke's Mansion in Chang'an Cui's Wushui House, one can see that although Cui is not as good as before, she has indeed gotten better and better in the past few years.
In fact, these famous families are also afraid of chaos, and they are also afraid of troubled times when dynasties collapse. Every time there is a big chaos, there will always be some thousand-year-old families, and hundreds of years of wealthy families will weaken or even perish.
As the saying goes, in the old days, kings and queens flew into the homes of ordinary people.
The rebellion in the south of the Yangtze River by the general of the universe, Hou Jing, overturned Wang Xie.
The water in the spring river is warm, and once the world is unified again, those famous families will always be the first to recover.
Although the Cui family was also suppressed in the early Tang Dynasty, it had a deep foundation and recovered quickly. Today, Cui Mansion is filled with guests from all over, including seven families with five surnames from Shandong, six surnames from Guanlong, etc.
But on this happy occasion today,
No one who is ignorant dares to openly belittle and ridicule the Cheng family or look down on Cheng Chumo, although these people all agree that the Cheng family is a nouveau riche.
In the past, when their five surnames and seven families were powerful, families like the Dongacheng family were just local tycoons.
But now no one dares to look down upon him anymore.
Not to mention that Cheng Yaojin was also the title of Duke of Zhenguan and Yuancong. His eldest son, Cheng Chumo, was so young that he was already in the third rank. He had already served as governor for two times and was given the title of County Duke. His future was definitely bright. His second son
He is already engaged to the princess, and has also won the title of county duke. Naturally, he will have a bright future in the future.
What's more, look at Cheng Chumo's groomsmen today.
Headed by the Prime Minister Wu Huaiyu, and then the Governor of Guangzhou Wu Huaiyi, as well as Niu Jianhu, Doulu Huairang, Li Dejiang, Wang Da, Wei Siren, Wu Shisheng and other young people,
These people are not only the children of the nouveau riche and military elite in their eyes before, but more importantly, this group of young people have now risen up. They are no longer just attached to the wings of their father and brother.
All of them are at least fifth grade, and some have even reached third grade.
The future of this group of young people is also unlimited.
Cheng Chumo's groomsmen group shows the strong alliance of the Cheng family.
In other words, these people are originally from a powerful military upstart group.
In front of this group, even the old Guandong clans like the Five Surnames and Seven Families felt a little intimidated.
Afternoon.
The Cheng family's wedding team finally picked up the bride.
Lady Cui cried goodbye to her parents and got on the sedan chair. Then Cheng Chumo, draped in red flowers, mounted a horse and took the bride back home.
Along the way, it was very lively, attracting countless Chang'an people to watch.
The servants of the Cheng family went to the crowd watching on the street and sprinkled handfuls of peanuts, red dates, longans, dried lotus seeds, etc.
This scene is much more lively than when the new Jinshi and Mingjing scholars parade through the streets after passing the exam.
dusk.
Newlyweds pay their respects.
Wu Huaiyu and other guests watched Cheng Chumo and Lady Cui salute one by one.
Cheng Yaojin smiled extraordinarily brightly, and Mrs. Cui was also full of joy, especially when the bride served tea to her uncle.
"Uncle, aunt, please have tea."
Lao Cheng quickly took it and said, "You're welcome, bride."
Mrs. Cui was even more happy when she saw that her familiar niece had now become her daughter-in-law, and she couldn't help wiping her tears.
It is a good thing for her that her natal niece marries into the Cheng family and becomes the eldest daughter-in-law. She has many family members around her, who are caring and reliable.
This call made her particularly happy. Their identities had changed, but the title remained the same.
When the master of ceremonies announced that they would be sent to Qinglu,
The wedding reception begins.
Wu Huaiyu, the best man, was dragged by Lao Cheng to drink, and he became a brother.
The wedding of Cheng and Cui in February was a bit hasty, but very lively. Cheng spent a lot of money and even made it a bit extravagant and ostentatious.
But it gave the Cui family a lot of face,
And after this perfect and lively wedding, the Cheng family gained more face.
The two fathers of the Cheng family married two aunts and nephews of the Cui family.
The newly married Cheng Chumo was very happy, at least that's what Wu Huaiyu saw. This guy wanted to escape from the marriage before and ran to Lingnan. But now after the wedding, the newlyweds are inseparable.
Even when the couple visits the homes of relatives and friends, it is still a bit too intimate.
"I want to go to Lingnan later." Cheng Chumo said bluntly when he came to visit the Wu family.
"Can't you bear to leave Mrs. Cui?"
"As a newlywed, I really can't bear to leave. I want to spend more time with her, and she also wants me to stay longer." Cheng Chumo was honest.
Huaiyu smiled, it was not like Cheng Chumo had never had a woman. He even had several children. If he hadn't been mourning his mother for twenty-seven months and couldn't touch women during this period, he would probably have many more children.
But he could indeed be called a single noble before, because he did not marry a wife, but only took in concubines, maids, and tricks.
"Where is the bride?" Huaiyu joked. Cui was in the backyard with the female family members of the Wu family. The two brothers could have some tea as they pleased.
"It feels different,"
"Why is it different?"
"A concubine is a concubine, a wife is a wife," Cheng Chumo couldn't say what was different, but it was indeed different.
"Do you think that since she is a girl with the fifth surname, she will be good anywhere?"
"Maybe it has a little to do with it, but it's not all because of that. She is indeed very good, gentle and virtuous..."
Seeing the happy look on his face, Wu Huaiyu felt that maybe he should be assigned another job and let him stay in Chang'an.
"No, I'll just go south later and stay with you for a few more days."
"I also said that I would go to Pingkangfang later for a drink, listen to music and dance. Seeing how you are now, I don't need to call you."
"Well, I really have no interest in going to Pingkangfang to drink flower wine."
After Wu Huaiyu saw off Cheng Chumo and his wife, he went to Pingkangfang alone.
It's not like he went to drink flower wine.
It was Foresta who asked him to meet. Knowing that Huaiyu was about to leave Chang'an for Lingnan and didn't know when he would come back, his old lover Foresta made an appointment to meet him.
Forresta Winery has just been renovated, and some land next to and behind it has been purchased for expansion. Now it looks more upscale, the place is more spacious, there are new people in the winery, and the business is better.
The two met upstairs in the back,
Forresta poured Gaochang wine for Huaiyu, and then brought him the account book first.
Wu Huaiyu smiled and said, "Let me show you what to do."
Forresta Winery now has three branches in Chang'an, branches in Luoyang, Xianyang, Sanyuan, Taiyuan, Youzhou, and Yangzhou, and there are even plans to open new branches in Guangzhou and Jiaozhou.
The business of Hu Jiu Restaurant, which specializes in Hu Ji Hu wine, is still very good.
Especially in the past few years, with Wu Huaiyu as a big backer, business has been easy to do and has become more and more smooth.
Forresta is also quite capable in business, and with the support of various wines from the Wu family, plus Hu Jiu, Hu Ji, and Hu Wu, the business is getting more and more prosperous, and it is not an exaggeration to say that every day makes money.
"You can just send 20% of your profits to the Jin government on a regular basis. It's the old rule."
Time seems to have left no trace on her face. Forresta seems to have not changed much from when we first met a few years ago. Not only has she not aged, but she has become more charming and charming.
She sat directly in Huaiyu's arms, "Now the business is getting better and better, more and more branches are opened, and more and more money is made. Although 20% of the profit is sent to the house every month, but
The money left in my account is getting more and more, and I’m scared,”
"What are you afraid of?" Huaiyu said with a smile, "You are now a famous woman in Chang'an."
"That's all because everyone knows that I am your stay-at-home wife."
"To be able to do this business, it's not enough for me to take care of you. I just make sure that flies don't bother you,"
"I'm just a little uneasy. I feel panicked when I have too much money. I might as well send all the money to my house in the future."
"No need, just agree on two and a half, and the rest you can expand your business, open a semicolon or do other things,"
Forresta put her arms around Huaiyu's neck and looked at him affectionately, "Now the business is getting more and more popular, the stores are opening bigger and bigger, and the money is making more and more, but I am getting more and more panicked,"
"Why are you panicking?"
"I just always feel empty, Alang, why don't you take me back to your house,"
She said hesitantly, "I, I don't want to be a coward and sell wine. I want to have a child. Every time I go to the house to deliver money and bills, I look at your wives and concubines in the house and see that they all have children.
I just feel so sad,
I’m not young anymore, Alang.”
She wants a status.
Looking at the woman with a pitiful tone in his arms, Wu Huaiyu was moved in his heart, "Are you really willing to let go of this place?"
"I'm just a woman. If I have a man to rely on, why would I be willing to show my face outside?"
"I ignored these things before," Wu Huaiyu thought for a moment, "How about you follow me to Lingnan in a few days, and you stay with me and spend more time with me."
"Really? Are you willing to take me down to Lingnan and let me stay with you?"
"Um."
"Then, can I have a child?"
"Of course, you can have a baby if you want,"
This sentence made the woman in his arms so happy that she suddenly burst into tears. She was already thirty and was very sensitive at this age.
Looking back on the first thirty years, I actually don’t have many good memories. What’s more, I have to be pushed away by fate. This Persian woman was born a slave and was as humble as dust. From distant Persia, to the middle of the river, and then to the west of the river.
, and then all the way to Chang'an.
After thirty years of drifting, before she met Wu Huaiyu, she had been a slave and was sold to many owners. Finally, An Yuanshou gave her to Wu Huaiyu along with Forresta Winery.
Following Wu Huaiyu for several years, the changes have been huge.
"Don't cry, you must like children, and we will have more in the future."
"Can my child be named Wu?"
Wu Huaiyu nodded without hesitation, "I will give you a marriage certificate in a moment, and you will be my concubine. Our child's surname will naturally be Wu."
Foresta burst into tears.
She used to be a slave, but later Wu Huaiyu released her as her husband and still let her manage the wine shop. Except for sending two people over, one to take care of the accounts and the other to take care of the money, they did not interfere with Hu Si's management, or even hers.
free.
Hu Si's income is only 20% given to the government, and the rest is managed and used by herself.
"I don't deserve it," she cried.
Huaiyu stroked her hair, held her head, made her look at him, and finally reached out to help her wipe away her tears.
"Actually, I should have brought you back home, but I thought you preferred the freedom outside,"
"No, it's more like a stray cat outside, homeless and without any warmth."
"Then you didn't tell me earlier. If you had told me earlier, you would have been taken to the house as early as Banu."
"I just feel like I don't deserve it."
Forresta felt that she was old, and she had a bad past before she met Wu Huaiyu. Not only was she a dancing queen, but she even gave birth to several children. Unfortunately, those children were taken away by slave owners as property.
Huaiyu felt very distressed when he heard that the now famous Hu Si proprietress in Chang'an was very capable in doing business, but she was so hesitant and uneasy in her heart.
"From today on, you are my concubine and a member of the Wu family."
