Three days after the Daqing Festival in Liangshan, Chao Gai began to arrange the marriage between Chao Yong and Hu Sanniang.
Although both families had already settled down, they both came from wealthy families and were very particular about etiquette. Although the two families had already made an agreement, they still followed the etiquette and walked through it all over again.
On the first day, the Chao family first wrote a post, and then found a matchmaker to propose marriage. After the Hu family agreed, the Chao family wrote a detailed post, stating Chao Yong's birth date, name of the three generations, and attached some gifts.
The Hu family received the gift post, and also wrote Hu Sanniang's birthday, the name of the three generations, and attached two bottles of fresh water, three live fish, and a pair of chopsticks, named "Fish Chopsticks."
Then each family would ask someone to predict whether they would be married. After both parties agreed, the Chao family would send their female relatives to go on a blind date. If they were matched, they would give Hu Sanniang the gold hairpin they had prepared in advance.
Two sections of colored satin suppress the shock.
Of course, Chao Yong and Hu Sanniang were already in love, and the blind date was just a formality, which was to give them a gold hairpin.
Finally, the Chao family prepared the betrothal gift and fixed the invitation, and asked a matchmaker to go to the Hu family to make the betrothal. The Chao family's betrothal gifts included gold necklaces, gold ingots, gold pendants, gold-pinned satin with large sleeves, yellow ruffled gold skirts, and satin-red long skirts.
A crown of pearls and emeralds, and flowers in a four-season bun. In short, it is the bride's complete outfit, plus a thousand taels of silver as a betrothal gift.
The Hu family received the betrothal gift and the wedding invitation, and the marriage was finalized.
Then the Chao family asked someone to calculate a good time and auspicious day, and informed the Hu family.
The day before the wedding, the Chao family sent Hu Sanniang crown jewels, pollen, etc., and the Hu family gave the groom clothes and hats in return. At the same time, they sent their female relatives to the bridal chamber to hang the tents and lay out the bedrooms, which is the so-called "bedding".
On the day of the wedding, before dawn, Chao Yong was woken up and allowed his mother's maid to put on a green robe and a top hat. Then a two-foot-four-foot red gauze was hung diagonally from his right shoulder and wrapped around his neck.
waist.
What made Chao Yong feel most awkward was that there were two golden flowers on the hat. In later generations, it was women who arranged flowers, but in this era, men who pride themselves on being romantic usually like to put a flower on their temples.
If Chao's mother, Mrs. He, hadn't been watching from the side, Chao Yong would have found an opportunity to pull those two flowers away.
Finally, Chao Yong looked at his whole body and thought it was done. Unexpectedly, the maid picked up the powder box again and wanted to apply powder on him.
Chao Yong hurriedly said: "There's no need for this, I'm a grown man."
But He said: "Silly boy, of course you have to dress up handsomely when you get married."
Chao Yong was about to think of a way to refuse, but he saw Ruan Xiaoqi rushing in and shouting: "Where is the groom? Let me see if the groom is handsome."
Seeing that the savior was coming, Chao Yong hurriedly came to greet him, cupped his hands and said with a smile: "I have to show mercy today."
Ruan Xiaoqi walked around Chao Yong, patted Chao Yong's shoulder, and said with a smile: "Don't worry, my brother will definitely not tease you today, but it's hard for others to say."
While the two were chatting and joking, Ruan Xiaowu and Dong Ping also arrived. They were relatively young among the Liangshan leaders, so they were usually close to Chao Yong, so they all came to the backyard to congratulate Chao Yong.
Wu Yong, Gongsun Sheng, Hu Yanzhuo and other leaders were in the front hall with Chao Gai.
When Mrs. He saw that there were guests coming to congratulate her, she had no choice but to give up the idea of letting Chao Yong apply powder.
After everyone chatted for a while, Lin Chong came and said, "The auspicious time has come. The groom will get into the sedan chair."
Lin Chong was Chao Yong's bridegroom, and taught Chao Yong the etiquette of marriage to avoid being rude.
Seeing that Chao Yong's mother, Mrs. He, was about to get married, she came up to look at her son from front to back and saw that he was all well, then she let Chao Yong and others go out.
When they came out of the courtyard, they saw two sedan chairs, one red and one blue, with peonies, flowers and birds embroidered on them, which were very beautifully made.
Lin Chong smiled and said: "The one in red is the Kun sedan, and the one in blue is the official sedan. When you go there, you take the Kun sedan, and I take the official sedan. When you come back, you sit in the official sedan, and the bride takes the Kun sedan."
When Ruan Xiaoer's son Ruan Liang saw Chao Yong coming out, he also stepped forward to congratulate him: "Congratulations, Uncle Yong."
Chao Yong saw that he was carrying a chicken coop with a big red rooster tied to a red leg, and knew that he was also helping him. He stepped forward and touched his head, and said with a smile: "Thank you, Xiaoliang, for your help."
Lin Chong smiled and said: "Xiao Liang is a chicken holder. I wish you good luck and good luck."
Chao Yong and Lin Chong boarded the sedan, and the drummers waiting outside the courtyard started playing music to clear the way.
The bearers of the sedan chair also worked together to carry the two of them on the road.
This was the first time in Chao Yong's life that he sat in a sedan chair. It was swaying, but he didn't feel anything special.
At first, many villagers in Hujiazhuang went up the mountain together. Chao Gai settled them all in the back mountain and built a new Hujiazhuang for them to cultivate the land. Hu Taigong lived with the original farmers. Hu Cheng and Hu Sanniang had a leader's courtyard in Dazhai.
However, he still lived with Taigong Hu most of the time.
When he arrived at Hu Taigong's gate, Hu Cheng and Li Ying were already there to greet him.
Lin Chong and Chao Yong got off the sedan, and the four of them met. Chao Yong also followed Lin Chong, and bowed to the ground. That is to say, he cupped his fists with both hands, reaching up to his head and down to his knees, not kowtow.
After seeing the ceremony, Hu Cheng welcomed Chao Yong and Lin Chong into the living room and served them tea and wine.
When Hu Cheng saw that the two of them had had tea, he signaled to the drummer outside to start playing.
Chao Yong saw a maid coming over with a red wooden plate with two golden flowers on it. He couldn't help but want to cry. It couldn't be for him again.
Sure enough, Hu Cheng picked up two golden flowers and put them on Chao Yong's head again. Then he took a piece of red gauze and put it on his left shoulder, forming a cross with the previous red gauze.
Chao Yong glanced up and could see the four golden flowers on his head.
Lin Chong guided Chao Yong to thank him for the bonus, and then asked someone to take the makeup clothes and head scarf he brought to the wedding room.
Chao Yong and Lin Chong were waiting for the bride to come out in the living room. Not long after, they saw Hu Sanniang sitting on a chair wearing a make-up dress and a three-foot red veil on her head. She was carried out by the two people and directly got into the red sedan chair.
Lin Chong saw Hu Sanniang getting on the sedan chair, so he led Chao Yong to the upper room to salute and thank the bride. Hu Sanniang's mother was receiving the ceremony inside.
As soon as the auspicious time arrives, the wedding procession begins its return journey.
When they arrived at the entrance of Dazhai, they saw Ruan Xiaoqi and others blocking the door, shouting: "The groom will come out quickly and will only let you in after giving the wedding money."
Chao Yong saw that he was blocked at the door, so he could only get off the sedan first, walked to the door, and distributed the money he had prepared to everyone who was blocking the way.
After posting in a circle, Chao Yong smiled and said, "Can you let me in now?"
Everyone who blocked the door received wedding money, but they still looked at Ruan Xiaoqi in the front.
When Chao Yong saw that the leader was Ruan Xiaoqi, he had to clasp his fists to apologize and said with a smile: "Brother Xiaoqi said in the morning not to tease me."
Ruan Xiaoqi smiled and said: "I won't make it difficult for you, but it's too boring for you to get in so easily."
Dong Ping also smiled and said: "You're right, others have to compose a poem when they get married. Brother Yong, you should also write one."
Chao Yong heard a poem and was about to recall it.
Ruan Xiaoqi said again: "No, we are all reckless men, and we can't understand poetry. So, when we first met, I thought you were good at singing. Now if you say a few words, we will let you in."
"
Dong Ping was also a romantic person and listened to a lot of music on weekdays. He was curious about what music Chao Yong would sing. Hearing this, he smiled and said, "Okay, I'll just follow what Xiao Qi said."
Chao Yong often listened to some songs in his later generations. Seeing that he couldn't escape this level, he thought for a while and sang: "The road can't extinguish the extravagant love in the world, and can't express the grievances and grievances in the world. Generations are destined to share the same blood.
Drinking the same water, the road is long and long. Of course, red flowers go with green leaves. Who will accompany you in this life? I come and go again and again, and the past scenes reappear. Although the lotus roots are broken, they are still connected. I sigh that things in the world have changed a lot.
, Love the country, love the beauty even more. Which hero would rather be alone? A good man, full of courage, great ambition and pride, famous all over the world. Life is only a few autumns. I will not give up until I am drunk. My beauty is in the east, and the Yellow River is in the west.
, come on, have a drink, don’t stop until you’re drunk, don’t worry if you’re worried or troubled.”
After finishing the song, Dong Ping, who felt that he was a romantic, was resigned to his defeat and praised: "What a saying: I love the country more than the beauty. Brother Yong is the romantic person."
Ruan Xiaoqi only remembered the last sentence and shouted: "Everyone, get out of the way. Brother Yong has said that he won't give up until he gets drunk. Let him in and enjoy the wine."
(Thanks to book friends "Gu Yeyu", "Huangquan Patrol Envoy", "Laoping Guangguang" and "Fish-Eating Toad" for the tip. This chapter mainly wants to write about the wedding customs of the Northern Song Dynasty. Like Fan Lou, I checked a lot of information and wrote it.
Yes, I can also learn about ancient customs in my spare time. It won’t be a bit thankless, haha)