Under the questioning of Chen Ke and others, Brother Xiaoliang hesitated to tell the whole story:
The matter starts from seven years ago. Chen Xiliang passed the provincial examination and became a "provincial examiner", also called a tribute scholar. "" Because since the "Zhang Yuan Incident", the palace examination in the Song Dynasty no longer deposed people.
A fallen scholar only ranks in rank. So he is already a preparatory scholar...
On the day when the results were released, the most classic "catching a son-in-law under the list" of the Song Dynasty was performed again.
In Bianjing City, as long as the family of a high-ranking official or a wealthy businessman and gentry family has a daughter to be married, the whole family will go out to compete for the son-in-law of a noble scholar... Even wealthy gentry from Luoyang and Nanjing will join in the robbery.
.The intense scene of you fighting for it is just like a rugby match in later generations.
In recent decades, the list has been basically every four years, with a maximum of 400 Jinshi in each list. And based on the average age of the Jinshi at 32 years old, there will definitely not be more than half who are unmarried. On the other hand, Bianjing,
It can be imagined that the daughter of a large family in the country who has been saving for four years will have more wolves and less meat. At this time, the birth date, family background, body shape and appearance of the new scholars are no longer important, and even whether they are married or not can be ignored.
...I rushed home and asked slowly.
A man like Chen Xiliang, who has good grades, is good-looking, has no spouse, and is not too old, is naturally a sought-after commodity. But he refuses all the father-in-laws... Under people's questioning, he
Finally, the reason was revealed: 'The reason for choosing a son-in-law is because of Tu's status as a Jinshi, and the one he married as an 'official'; not to mention that I have four sons, how can I bear to let the apple of my eye become my stepmother?'
Actually, to put it bluntly, I just can’t stand your behavior!
But there are those who do not believe in evil, and their level is astonishingly high - he is the brother-in-law of the current official family, Queen Cao's younger brother Cao Guojiu... yes, that is the one among the Eight Immortals... who came to help him and the Queen's sister
, Mrs. Cao from the State of Chu proposed marriage.
Speaking of the Cao family, she was also a miserable person. Not long after her wedding, her husband died in the Northwest battlefield. After that, she remained a widow for eight years and remained unmarried. Not to mention Empress Cao and Uncle Cao, even her father-in-law was very anxious...
In the Song Dynasty, there was no such thing as observing festivals. If a woman was widowed and had no children but still lived in her husband's family, this would put great pressure on her husband's family.
One will be suspected of coveting his daughter-in-law's dowry, and the other's father-in-law and brother-in-law are also in danger of being criticized. Ouyang Xiu, the leader of the literary circle, was slandered as a dust collector just because his daughter-in-law had been a widow for a year and had not married.
He was disgraced and quickly married off his daughter-in-law, but it left a stain forever.
One can imagine how much pressure the Cao family's father-in-law, the old man of the Liu family, was under... As soon as he was ranked in the imperial examination, he wanted to choose a step-husband for his daughter-in-law. Everyone felt that he was a good son-in-law with both talent and appearance.
Unfortunately, I couldn't pass Cao's test.
During the past four years, he thought carefully and finally understood that his daughter-in-law did not like those men who became impetuous and eager to climb high once they won the first place, so he chose this subject with extra caution. After hearing about Chen Xiliang's deeds,
Suddenly I felt that it was this person.
But I was worried that he was playing hard to get and was waiting for the price, so I told Uncle Cao Guo about my concerns. Uncle Cao Guo said it didn't matter, I was proficient in the art of observing people, and I would wait until I went to have a look. As a result, we met and we didn't have much conversation.
sentence, it was directly upgraded to a marriage proposal...
Naturally, Chen Xiliang would not agree. Mr. Liu had such concerns, and so did he...
Uncle Cao Guo smiled and said it doesn't matter if you don't agree, let's make friends. I invite you to my house for a drink, isn't that okay? Don't worry about anything else, I also invited others, you are not the only one.
Brother Xiaoliang couldn't refuse anymore, so he left that day.
In the end, he was still too down-to-earth. Apart from him and Cao Guojiu and his wife, there was only one female guest that day... Apparently that woman was also tricked. Cao Guojiu and his wife greeted each other, lest they run away.
. almost forcing them to finish a blind date meal.
Youdao is the thread of a thousand-mile marriage. After this meal, Brother Xiaoliang was shaken. And Mrs. Cao also had a slight affection for this cold-faced and clumsy scholar. ("") But the two of them had this and that kind of relationship.
There was no progress until Chen Xiliang left Beijing and was released.
In the following years, the two kept up the swan geese biography... If everything went according to plan, this sultry man and woman would probably carry their ambiguity to the end. However, in the war in the Southwest, Chen Xiliang narrowly escaped death, which greatly stimulated them.
.
Under the huge psychological fluctuations, emotions were like a flood bursting the embankment, and they were out of control. Finally, Cao's figure appeared among the crowd welcoming the army's triumphant return!
After that, the considerate officials kept Chen Xiliang in Beijing and planned to marry him at the right time. Unfortunately, Queen Cao's mother died suddenly, and the marriage was postponed for another two years.
In the twelfth month of the year, Empress Cao and Uncle Cao couldn't wait to arrange their marriage... As a result, in the first month of the year, the emperor became violently ill and suddenly rushed out of the palace gate, shouting at the ministers: 'The empress and Zhang Mao are rebelling!
'
Although the official statement later was that the emperor was shouting crazy things while he was ill. However, the matter of the palace ban was kept secret. From outside the palace, it was naturally true and false, and it was confusing. Many people said that since it was crazy words, then Zhang Mao would
Why commit suicide? It can be seen that there is no reason, but it may not be without reason...
In short, Queen Cao was in tears all day long, and the Cao family was under great pressure, and this troubled marriage had to be shelved again...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"For several years, my father's life has been taken care of by your Aunt Cao." Looking back on the past seven years, Chen Xiliang said with emotion: "No matter how the Cao family ends up, I will definitely marry her!"
Chen Ke and others applauded warmly after hearing this, congratulating the Chen family on the birth of another lover after Erlang.
"I'm telling you this," Chen Xiliang said in embarrassment, "to make you less resistant to her."
The three Chen brothers shook their heads together: "There is absolutely no objection, as long as you like it..."
"Smelly boy..." Chen Xiliang felt a little sore in his nose. For the sake of his four sons, he did not want to be angry with his stepmother, so he did not renew his relationship for more than ten years. Now, even the youngest Liulang is already a big man of fifteen or sixteen. The children are so angry about it.
His understanding and support are the best reward.
After explaining the gossip, he remembered: "Why haven't I seen Brother Laoquan? Didn't Saburo write a letter saying that you guys arrived in Beijing together?"
"Ahem..." Chen Ke coughed and said haha: "Let's see where we live first."
"That's fine." Chen Xiliang took them to visit their new home in the capital.
As the only metropolis in the world, the people of Bianjing have enjoyed all the conveniences brought by a metropolis more than a thousand years ahead of schedule. They have also experienced the pain of big city diseases more than a thousand years ahead of schedule. There are too many people in this damn place.
At the beginning of the Song Dynasty, the designed capacity of Bianjing City was 300,000 people. But now, with the combination of fixed and mobile, the population has reached 1.5 million, which is five times the designed capacity. It can be imagined that every inch of land is expensive.
Buying a house in Bianjing is unthinkable. Even the husband-in-law mainly relies on renting... Of course, it's not that the husband-in-law can't afford it, but their positions change too frequently. No one knows how to work in Beijing.
How many years will it take for me to be an official and how many years will it take for me to come back?
The rent is naturally high. Ordinary people and low-level officials cannot afford to rent private housing, but there is no phenomenon of sleeping on the streets. This is because there are low-rent houses in Bianliang. As long as you go to a house called "Dianzhaowu"
Yamen, pay a rent... Depending on the size of the house, the rent varies. The average is 170 yuan per month, which is only one-tenth of the price of a commercial house. You can rent a place. Although it is small, it has all the internal organs.
Small house.
Chen Xiliang had always rented a public house before. This time the family moved to Bianjing and was getting married, so he was cruel and asked Mr. Cao to help rent a larger residence. Ms. Cao also regarded this place as her own.
Naturally, I care about my home very much. I searched for it for a long time before I found this place, which is connected in all directions. It is quiet in the bustle and has a courtyard with a back garden.
Chen Xiliang said that Cao's intention was to let them all live in the back house, but how could Chen Ke and the others be so ignorant? Just insist on living in the front yard... This residence is naturally incomparable with Qingshen's old residence, but
There are not many rooms at all. In the front yard, there are three main rooms, two wing rooms, three left and right side rooms, and three reverse rooms. It is more than enough to accommodate the few of them.
Although Chen Ke came to Beijing with tens of thousands of dollars in his pocket, there was no blessing that he couldn't enjoy, and there was no sin that he couldn't suffer. I don't think there's anything wrong with living in a more compact place, and it's still lively...
After dinner, Chen Xiliang motioned to Chen Ke to follow him to the backyard. After a while of silence, Chen Xiliang said, "Uncle Su, are you angry with me?"
"Otherwise?" Chen Ke shrugged; "If I hadn't returned to Sichuan, would you believe it, the second monument would have been erected again?"
"Alas..." Chen Xiliang sighed and said, "Who would have expected..."
"Is the Liu family the family of Mrs. Cao's ex-husband?" Chen Ke asked.
"Well, that girl is her ex-husband's eldest niece," Chen Xiliang sighed, "I always thought it was a good thing at the time, but who knew it would end up like this."
"That's strange. Since we are all family members, why can't we discuss it?" Chen Ke frowned.
"Later I found out that the character of the Liu family is quite... domineering." In fact, it's hard to say where Chen Xiliang is going in this matter. He smiled bitterly: "But the problem has been solved... Thank you for asking me.
They have to give face to Mr. Ouyang."
"That's good." Chen Ke said in a relaxed tone, "I would have said no earlier..."
"But, first, you have to come and apologize." Chen Xiliang said in an increasingly quiet voice: "Second, you have to let one of your brothers take over the marriage."
"Holy shit, you're so domineering..." Chen Ke rolled his eyes.