Mrs. Sheng returned home and the Shenghai family began to celebrate the six rites. The Hai family was a famous family in Dongyang. Sheng Hong was determined to follow the full set of ancient rites. After poking the poor goose, his mouth was pricked and he just rolled his eyes at Minglan.
"Is it work?" Minglan whispered, "Aren't they all carved with lacquer now?"
Ru Lan also said flatly: "The scholarly people from generation to generation are all about catching them a few days ago and raising them as if they were serving their ancestors."
Sheng Hong specially invited his friend Mr. Liu of Dali Temple to ask for marriage in front of the Hai family. Because Mr. Hai was about to leave Beijing and his wife had time limit, he brought back Ms. Hai's horoscope on the same day. Then Sheng Hong pretended to ask the official media for verification. He already knew the horoscope. After offering it in front of the ancestor's tablet for two days, of course it must be a good omen.
Only in this way can the betrothal and marriage be decided, and it will be auspicious on the 18th day of the twelfth lunar month next month.
There are a lot of things going on at the end of the year. This year, Princess Pingning's father, the Marquis of Xiangyang, held a big banquet. Since the Sheng family is a distant relative of the Qi family, Chang Bai and Qi Heng's classmate for many years invited him together.
Early that morning, Cuiwei picked up Minglan and dressed her up in a long silk jacket with light silver and red scattered gold all over. She wore a cinnamon pink pleated skirt and rich hair. She tied it into a gentle crescent moon and used a big red gold hairpin inlaid with emeralds. Hold it still on your temples and wear a small, tired silk hairpin with beads. The hairpin-shaped hairpin has flat wings and trembles slightly, which is very smart.
This outfit was all newly made in Youyang. I saw the other two Lans in the wife's house. They were also all dressed in dark orchids, a long silk jacket with magnolia branches all over the light blue, and a dark silver embroidered lotus green moon skirt with a slender waist and a clear and beautiful face. It's a red butterfly wearing a flowery robe, but it still gives off an aura of wealth.
Wang sat in the hall and asked the three girls a few words, such as "Behave, listen more, talk less" and so on. Ming Lan knew that this was about Mo Lan peeking in, but Mo Lan didn't have any strange feelings at all.
@Infinite good things are all in Jinjiang Academy
After wandering around in the carriage with thick cotton curtains for more than an hour, we arrived at the Marquis Mansion in Xiangyang. The gate of the Marquis Mansion in Xiangyang was opened and hung with gold and red couplets. There were also dense red firecrackers hung high. Since Wang and his party were female guests, they entered through the side door. The carriage was replaced by a soft sedan in the inner alley of the Hou Mansion. After a while, the female guests from the second door got off the sedan.
A maid and a woman were already waiting at the door to pick up Wang and others. Only then did Wang and others have a chance to take a look. They felt that their eyes suddenly opened up. The mansion was high and spacious, and in the distance there were small bridges, flowing water, hills and woods. A middle-aged woman led Wang and others all the way. Entering through a barbarian gate and walking slowly along the corridor, Wang and the girls looked around at the surroundings without moving their expressions. They saw carved galleries and painted buildings everywhere, which were really grand and rich. The doors, windows and pillars were all painted with gold.
Wang was secretly surprised and said, Princess Pingning's eyes were bulging on the top of her head. He turned to look at the three girls. Mo Lanli's envious expression was still calm, but the smile on his face was a little stiffer, and Rulan was more straightforward. There was no concealment of envy in his eyes. Wang Zai Looking at Minglan - paused for a moment
Minglan looked as if nothing had happened, her attitude was natural and smooth, and she didn't seem to be pretending, as if she really didn't care about the wealth in front of her. The king couldn't help but look at her with admiration.
It’s not Minglan’s vision. Working in the Supreme Court every day is either committing adultery or committing crimes, or the family ethics are miserable. The staff is emotionally depressed at work. The big company organizes trips every year. Minglan doesn’t fall behind.
She has been to the Forbidden City, the Royal Palace, Shenyuan Garden, and climbed the Temple of Heaven. She has seen the world. She only saw the underground palace in "Lord of the Rings 1" in front of a 3D screen. Ming Lan was "wow" several times and couldn't help it. Capitalism has invaded the world. Modern people’s architectural aesthetics are inherently more Westernized.
The lady in charge who was assigned to guide the way was very articulate. She pointed out various scenery and briefly explained the scenery along the way. The king smiled casually and said: "There are so many rich and noble mansions in the world. It is rare that the layout of your mansion is elegant. It is a good sign of good mountains and good water."
Rulan whispered in Minglan's ear: "Sixth sister's place is much better than the eldest brother-in-law's house." Minglan nodded. She had not passed Zhongqin's house and had no right to speak. She just walked according to the rules.
Although the upper class and the powerful in ancient times intermarried, the boundaries were clearly defined. Most of the children of the powerful relied on their admiration or the emperor's appreciation to find positions in the army or the garrison. Otherwise, they would have a false title in a certain department, while the scholars took the official and imperial examination route.
Those with good grades as Jinshi and those who enter the Hanlin Academy usually stay in the Sixth Department for qualifications or are sent to other places to accumulate grades and either become high-ranking officials or go home to become idle and become a country squire.
Of course, many children from gentry families are not concerned about taking official positions and taking the official examination, but they are just trying to reduce some taxes or provide a protective umbrella for the family; the real key is those who are considered to be low-grade Hanlin bachelors, especially the Jishi.
Since the previous dynasty, the imperial court has established a practice: non-Jinshi will not enter the Hanlin Academy, non-Hanlin will not join the cabinet. Therefore, Jishi is also called the "preserver prime minister". In other words, Chang Bailai may rise through the ranks and directly enter the cabinet to take power.
When Minglan went to bed last night, she felt that there was no need to invite a popular and powerful person like the Marquis of Xiangyang to have sex with him. Later, after some evaluation, he realized that this was just for the sake of Changbai and Haijia; if Changbai really had a chance to make a fortune earlier,
It’s always good to make emotional investments, not to mention the amount of investment is not large.
Just as I was thinking about this, I arrived at the main hall. Since the king and his entourage had arrived early and the guests had not yet arrived, the princess simply asked the king to bring the girl to kowtow to Ji Xingweng and say hello. As soon as she arrived at the door, she heard bursts of voices and laughter coming from inside.
Minglan lowered her head and entered, only to feel her feet go soft. It turned out that the room was covered with thick scarlet camel hair felt rugs with "auspicious blessings" patterns. The room was very large, and it seemed that there were several rooms connected. There were only a few Duobao lattice, and there were many beautiful things shining in them.
Luxurious porcelain antiques for decoration
There was a lot of noise in the house. Many men and women were sitting or standing talking animatedly. However, Princess Pingning’s charming smile reached Minglan’s ears most penetratingly.
"Sister Wang, you are here." Princess Pingning walked slowly over and Wang smiled and said in a friendly manner.
Wang is down-to-earth at best and short-sighted at worst. Ever since she interrupted the idea of marrying Qi Heng, she felt that she had nothing to ask for from the princess, so it was natural for her to interact with the princess without much flattery.
On the contrary, we can make friends
After the king exchanged greetings with Princess Pingning, he immediately bowed respectfully to an old man sitting in front of him, put a smile on his face and congratulated him: "I say goodbye to the old marquis, I wish him good luck as far as the East China Sea and Jibinan Mountain!"
"Get up well, get up well." Mr. Gu has white hair and is described as clear. He is dressed in an ocher-red brocade with straight embroidery. He is tall and full of energy. He looks like he is no more than sixty years old.
He smiled at the king and said: "My late emperor, your father and I worked together under the governor of Gansu and Shaanxi. He held the account books and calculated food and grass all day long, so I led the big soldiers to look for him for things every day, okay? Before we started arguing,
I saw your family a few days ago, and you looked exactly like me... Time has made us grow old in a blink of an eye, and I am the only old thing left."
When she mentioned her late father, the corners of her eyes were slightly moist. Princess Pingning shook the old Marquis and said with a smile: "Oh, Sister Wang is here to pay homage. Why are you talking about it if you have nothing to do?" The old Marquis seemed to love this girl very much and kept saying: "Okay, I won't
Having said that, why don’t you come and watch the seats; are these little girls behind you your daughters?”
The king hurriedly asked the three orchids to come forward and kowtow. The girls hurriedly knelt down and kowtowed three times respectfully, as they had rehearsed beforehand. They all said crisply, "I wish the old marquis that the pines and cypresses will always be green, and he will be blessed and prosperous!"
After Lord Gu accepted the gift, Princess Pingning hurriedly asked the maid to hold a tray and deliver three embroidery bags as a gift to the old Lord. Minglan took the embroidery bags and raised her eyes slightly. Finally, she had the opportunity to look up, only to see the old Lord huffing behind him.
There were quite a few young people standing there. They were no more than eight years old and no more than 20 years old. They all looked similar and were probably members of Gu Ben's family.
Princess Pingning pointed at them and said with a smile: "This is all because my brothers and nephews came to kowtow to my father before the previous guest arrived. We are all members of the same family, so there is no need to imitate the Taoist master to avoid suspicion."
According to the ancient rules of large families, all female members of the family who are not yet married are considered minors and do not need to be strictly avoided.
On the other side of the old marquis stood many daughters-in-law and girls, all surrounded by pearls and emeralds, with dignified makeup. Princess Pingning introduced her again: "These are my sisters-in-law, my nieces, all of you, come and get to know each other."
The women came forward and chatted and joked again, but the three sisters were confused. They bowed to many wives in a daze, and then called uncles and brothers. The whole room was kowtowed by Minglan, who was dizzy. She stood up and turned around. Unexpectedly, Rulan was strong and unsteady on her feet.
She put all her weight on Minglan, causing Minglan to almost fall to the ground and eat the mud. Thanks to her good character, she managed to hold on with a smile.
Ming Lan stuffed many more brocade bags into her hand. She weighed them out of habit. The weights varied greatly, and then she glanced at her two sisters, Ru Lan. It was obvious that she hadn't recovered from the dizziness. Mo Lan lowered his head and muttered with a solemn expression.
As she read the words, Minglan turned her head slightly and raised the corner of her mouth. It turned out that she was memorizing the origins and names of these ladies. But the most pitiful one was Wang. Today, she has lost all her money.
After a few words about the inconvenience of both men and women, Princess Pingning took the lead and led all the women to another courtyard. Many brocade high chairs were set up in a spacious lobby room. Then the women sat down and the maids served tea and fruits.
Then we chatted easily and waited for the guests to arrive one after another.
Minglan sat obediently in a corner, holding a tea bowl, looking at the pastel paint on her head and secretly sighing that it was really exquisite. Next to her, Mo Lan was chatting with a girl from the Gu family, who seemed to have known each other for a long time.
"Didn't anyone from Duke Qi come? Oh, didn't you come earlier?" Rulan looked at Minglan but glanced at the girl from the Gu family.
Minglan didn't know who she was asking, and the girl from the Gu family obviously didn't understand. Minglan sighed and said casually: "Maybe you are like us and want to sleep more in winter?"
The girl from the Gu family over there burst out laughing when she heard it. She was cute and innocent. She smiled and said to Mo Lan, "You're such a funny sister." Mo Lanpi twitched the corner of his mouth with a smile and pretended not to care, "
What do you mean? Even my sister Shicai didn’t see Mr. Hou’s grandson?"
Sister Lian is the niece of Princess Pingning, but most of the girls from the Gu family in this room are children under the age of ten. Only a few of them are the same age, so they came over to talk.
"My class came last night and I paid my respects this morning. I don't know where to help." Sister Lian deliberately pretended to be old-fashioned, and the three girls all laughed.
As soon as they smiled, the four of them sat down to talk. Sister Lian was very talkative and chatted for a long time. She talked for a long time about the famous opera troupe's hairpins, Huasheng's popular styles, and the Beijing ladies' poetry club... Mo Lanwei chatted with her.
They sang very harmoniously. In fact, Ru Lan and Mo Lan knew each other from the same family, but Mo Lan was obviously more sociable. Ming Lan didn't talk much and just smiled and listened.
As she spoke, Sister Lian glanced at Minglan again and again, as if she wanted to ask something but hesitated, and finally couldn't help but said: "I heard your sister said that you are best friends with the granddaughter of the eldest brother Yuge in Dengzhou?"
Minglan glanced at Mo Lan. Mo Lan was swept away by Minglan's gaze and moved to sit down. Minglan turned her head and considered her tone and said: "I can't say that it's the best, but I just want to say a few more words."
Sister Lian was a person who couldn't hide anything and immediately said: "Then why doesn't she marry my second cousin?"
Minglan was completely confused and asked: "Who is your second uncle?" Seeing Minglan's confused face, Sister Lian shouted anxiously: "That's the second son of Ningyuan Houfu! The old Houye was standing just now
Around you!"
Minglan understood instantly. She leaned back as if she had been slapped, and cursed that she was a pig. She was kowtowing and was so confused that she forgot about this.
The original Marquis of Xiangyang and the Marquis of Ningyuan were brothers. However, the second generation of the Marquis of Xiangyang had no heirs. He did not adopt his nephew from his own brother. Instead, he chose an heir from the Gu clan in his hometown who was almost unrelated to him. From then on, the Marquis of Xiangyang and the Marquis of Ningyuan were brothers.
Marquis Ningyuan broke off all contact with him and his descendants even had different names.
However, now that the old Marquis of Xiangyang's only son has died young, he has only one daughter, Princess Pingning. He worked hard until he was in his fifties or sixties and knew that he could not have a son after all, so he had to adopt his nephew as his heir. That's why there were so many people around the old Marquis just now.
A large group of Gu family members are probably here for this title. Sister Lian's father is a nephew of the old Marquis.
Yanran’s ex-fiancé was standing there just now? She didn’t even pay attention!
Minglan tried her best to recall the scene just now. It seemed...it seemed...among the group of cousins she had worshiped, there were two deer-headed and rat-eyed ones. But was it the deer-headed one or the rat-eyed one? Minglan wanted to scratch her head but she couldn't remember.
"Our two families have never been in contact with each other. This time, my eldest uncle specially asked Ningyuan Marquis to help choose an heir. It was also the first time I saw that family. The eldest son was not in good health and did not come. Here are the second and third masters.
"
Sister Lian raised her head and pouted, then continued to ask Minglan, "Tell me, why is the eldest lady of the Yu family unwilling to marry? Have you heard any bad rumors?" Although Sister Lian said it as if she was worried about her family, her expression was
She betrayed her by clearly looking excited and just wanted to know the gossip.
Minglan Yu's family made up their first excuse and said nonchalantly: "No, it was just a verbal engagement between Mr. Yu Ge and the Duan family in Dali. Later, the two families separated and everyone forgot about Duan at the beginning of the year.
A letter from home mentioned the marriage; Yuge, always a man of his word, agreed to the marriage without saying a word."
Sister Lian couldn't hide her disappointment: "Is that it?"
"Yes, what else can we do?" Minglan tried her best to sound sincere, "Actually, Mr. Yu Ge is interested in the marriage of Ningyuan Hou's family, and the second lady has agreed to it. Has the marriage been decided? When?"
Sister Lian was very disappointed when she didn't hear the news. She shook her sleeves and said casually: "It's decided at the end of the first year."
@Infinite good things are all in Jinjiang Academy
Then she changed the subject and started chatting with Mo Lan Rulan. Ming Lan was relieved and clasped her hands under her sleeves like a king, thinking to herself: Amitabha, it’s lucky that the Yu family has done a good job in dealing with the aftermath and didn’t make any noise, otherwise I’m afraid she would have to do it too.
After turning in Taishang Laojun to testify, she will no longer be impulsive.